//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Versus // Story: Love from a Stone // by Short-tale //------------------------------// Morning came. Maybe. The wind still bellowed through the shingle. What little light the sun gave made darkness just a little less dark. Limestone was up and stiff. The couch was a mess of cushions and bedding. She didn’t sleep well. Some dream about a glowing stone and a heart. She didn’t really remember.  “Alright, rookie,” boomed a mobile Captain. She had her wings strapped down and her legs shook slightly. But she puffed her chest out in pride. Limestone noticed she looked smaller without her uniform. “Thanks a lot for patching me up and the… umm… food. But it’s time to get back to my team.” Limestone rolled her eyes. “Sure, let me just open the door for you.” The snark was palatable. She swung the door to the farm open and was instantly sandblasted. The darkness remained. The wind didn’t let up. It looked like the world was ending out there. “You ready?” Spitfire looked outside with trepidation. She took a few determined steps forward but stopped. “Alright, alright, you made your point. Looks like we’re stuck here.” “I live here,” Limestone said with an edge. Just try and insult the farm, just try. “Whoa! That couch sleep didn’t do you any favors. I just meant we aren’t going anywhere, I didn’t say your home was bad. Sheesh, lighten up, Limey.” “L-L-Limey?! Where do you get off?! Do you want me to start calling you Spitty?” “Ooh, a soft spot in that thick armor of yours,” Spitfire said cheekily. Who did she think she was? “Hey, it’s no big deal. We all have nicknames in the Wonderbolts.” “And what was yours? Shitfire?” “That was a little harsh. Limey isn’t that insulting. You got some mouth on you, missy.” Spitfire’s words were inches from Limestone’s face. “You need me to take you down a peg?” “As if! Your wings busted. It’s not a fair fight!” “So you wanna fight? After patching me up, you want to fight me? Over Limey?!” “It’s not the name, it's the attitude.” “I could say the same thing about you.” The mares were inches from each other. Limestone’s body shook with adrenaline. This guest was getting on her last nerve. Spitfire was barely standing, but wasn’t backing down. Limestone was taken back a little. Most ponies couldn’t be in the same room as her fury, let alone stand up to it.  The two stared into each other’s eyes. The same fire burned in both of them.  “Mean farm pony” suddenly echoed through Limestone’s high-strung brain, and the fire relented. Was she being mean? She did just threaten to beat up an injured pony over a nickname.  “Gah!” Limestone screamed. “Fine! I’m not a mean pony.” “I didn’t say you were,” Spitfire said, eyeing her up and down.  “You did,” Limestone insisted, letting all the fire out with a sigh. “You said it in your sleep last night.” The pegasus backed up a little. “You were listening to me talk in my sleep?” “Oh c’mon! I’m not some weirdo. You started screaming about pancakes in your sleep. I came up there to bop you to sleep.” “Bop me?!” Spitfire gasped. “What kind of pony hits another in their sleep?!” “I didn’t. You called me mean but I just lightly rocked you back to sleep. I swear,” Limestone cried. “You… you rocked me?!  “Don’t make it sound like that!” “How is it supposed to sound?” Limestone put her hoof to her head. “Look! I just did it to help you sleep. No weird stuff. I’m not like that!” “Okay, I’ll let it slide this time,” Spitfire said, easing out of the room. “But next time you think I’m having trouble sleeping, wake me up ok?” “Fine! Whatever! You’re taking this all the wrong way.” Limestone was getting frustrated and hungry. Why couldn’t this stupid pegasus see that she was trying to be nice? Her stomach growling interrupted any further discussion other than, “I guess I’ll make some breakfast for us, huh?” “Oh no! You are not cooking again,” informed the uncomfortable mare. “Those pancakes nearly killed me!” “It’s my stupid ‘cousin’ Applejack’s fault,” retorted the sulking farm pony. “I followed her recipe.” “Applejack is your cousin?” “Sort of. Pinkie believes it anyway. I don’t see how I could possibly be related to those apples.” “Pinkie? As in Pinkie Pie? Wait, your last name is Pie too. Are you related to her too?” Limestone’s eye roll nearly caused them to fall back into her head. “She’s my little sister. Duh.” “Look, Limey, I just asked you a question,” Spitfire was in her face again. She was just begging for a mouthful of hoof. “No need to act like an ass. If Pinkie is your sister, then do you know Rainbow Dash too?” “I can’t fucking keep track of all Pinkie’s friends. She’s friends with an entire fucking town!” “Uh huh. So, no streamers or balloons are going to pop out of your ass, right?” “Do I look like the type that has balloons in my ass?” “Well, you have something shoved up there.” Spitfire said deftly. She turned to the kitchen before Limestone could retort. The nearby table took a hoof-filled comeback instead.  *** The breakfast the Captain prepared didn’t have a single rock in it. She seemed to replace the rocks with eggs. Eggs on toast. Eggs over easy. Eggs on top of eggs. How many eggs did she find? “Eggs, huh?” It was the only thing that came to Limestone’s mind. They were simply everywhere. “Gotta have your protein,” explained the Captain. “Nothing has protein like an egg. The more protein, the more muscle I can rebuild. Clearer skies for me.” Limestone felt a strange, uncomfortable feeling at the idea of being alone again. The emptiness of the last time got to her. It stirred something in her soul. Luckily, the storm raged outside still so she didn’t have to worry about it.  Worry about it? What was she thinking? This was the most arrogant, bossy pegasus Limestone had ever met. She should be ecstatic to get rid of her.  She chewed the egg on her plate thoughtfully. The texture was soft and rubbery, but it wasn’t that bad.  “Wait!” cried her breakfast chef. “You’re missing the best part. I don’t normally let anypony else use this stuff, but you seem like the kind of mare that would appreciate it.” Spitfire produced a small bottle from under her wing. How did she carry it there? The brown bottle was thrust under her nose and opened. A mixture of spices and some sort of tomato based scent tickled Limestone’s curiosity. She looked at the label. “Hoofbasco sauce?” “Yup! Hope you like some heat, Limey,” Spitfire said with a wink. “Don’t call me that,” the farm pony said with the heat she was promised. “Here you go,” the Wonderbolt snickered as she poured the thin red liquid onto the mound of eggs.  Limestone cautiously sniffed again, but the spices remained the same. She watched as the Captain slathered it onto her own breakfast and ravenously devoured an entire egg in one bite.  The farm pony wasn’t going to let this pegasus get the better of her. She was just as bold. The egg yolk popped in her mouth and was accompanied by a new sweet flavor. It was pretty good.  Until it changed completely on her. Any further flavor was lost as the top of her mouth, her tongue, and her throat caught on fire. It was like licking a flame. It hurt. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to show any weakness.  “You like it, Limey?” snarked Spitfire with a chuckle.  “Yes!” screamed the writhing earth pony. “Give me more!” There was no way she was going to lose here. The Captain was barely breaking a sweat.  “Your face is pretty red, you sure?” “Just give me the hot stuff!” “Okay, miss hot stuff,” Spitfire said with a smirk as she slathered Limestone’s eggs with a huge helping. Limestone immediately tried to wolf it down. The faster she ate, the less burn she’d have to endure. She thought.  She was wrong. The huge mouthful combusted in her throat and she could feel the surface of her tongue melt away.  “Ha ha ha,” Spitfire laughed. “Your-your face looks like it’s going to melt off!” She continued to laugh until tears streamed from her eyes. The pain in her mouth kept Limestone from lunging over the table at her. The only thing that kept all the food in her belly at all was pure stubbornness. She tried to glare at her combatant, but the tears in her own eyes made look more like a sad puppy.  “You okay, Hot Stuff?” the Captain snickered.  “Why do you keep calling me names?” demanded the hoarse-voiced pony.  “It’s what we do in the Wonderbolts. It promotes camaraderie and makes them feel special. No pony else calls them those names, so it’s just an us thing. You get it, Hot Stuff?” “Now it just sounds like you're hitting on me,” retorted Limestone.  “So what if I am?” Spitfire said with a completely straight face. The air became pregnant with hesitation. Limestone waited uneasily to see if the Captain was bluffing.  “Relax, Hot Stuff, I’m just busting your flank,” chortled Spitfire.  “Well, I don’t like my flank busted,” Limestone croaked. “You better get used to it, because that’s my job, and I’m really good at it. And until this storm lets up, we are stuck here.” Limestone looked through the cracks in the shudders. The storm seemed to have no desire to let up. It just swirled dust around like a snow globe being shaken.  “Why haven’t your Wonderbolts stopped it yet?” whined the agitated farm pony. “We tried. This storm didn’t react the way normal storms would,” Spitfire explained. “It should have blown out by now. Usually a storm needs to move to keep the energy it has, otherwise it just balances itself out. This one is staying put.” “So it’s not normal? What is it, then?” “Probably magic.” “Magic,” snorted Limestone. “Why would our farm be under attack by magic?” “It might not be an attack. Sometimes magic wells up in a place and just causes havoc. It happens a lot over the Everfree Forest, but I don’t know enough about that stuff to tell you why it’s here.” “Well, this fucking sucks,” the earth pony said with a huff. “I have chores to do. Those rocks aren’t going to turn themselves.” “This is a rock farm?” gasped Spitfire. “How do you grow rocks?” “We don’t grow rocks, we grow crystals inside the rocks,” said Limestone as she turned from the window. She knew the south field’s bounty still remained out there. She could lose them all if this storm didn’t let up soon. Pa would be disappointed.  Pa, Ma, Marble, Pinkie, Maud. What was happening to them? Were they out there in this? Were they okay? It was the first time in a long time Limestone felt for her family. She shuddered to think of them being stripped by the winds. “You alright? You look kind of pale.” “Just worried about my family,” the farm pony said without thinking. It seemed like a natural thing to admit but the words seemed so odd to spit out. “Your family? Pinkie? Isn’t she in Ponyville?” “I have more family than just Pinkie! My Pa and Ma, all my sisters and their mates are out there. Stupid tradition.” “I’m sure they're fine. Pinkie is tough. And the storm seemed to be centered here,” the Captain assured.  “Here! On my farm? What the fuck? What sort of magic could be… Holder’s Boulder,” Limestone gasped.  She ran to the door again and opened it. She peeked through the crack she made. She saw the swirling anger of the dust and wind spinning like a mad mare. The focal point was her boulder.  “What the...?” She spun on Spitfire. “This is your fault! You cracked it!” “The storm started before it cracked! I cracked it because of the storm,” pointed out the Captain. “What kind of stone is it, anyway? Why is it so important to you?” “You wouldn’t understand, Captain Ass,” Limestone spat. “You’re surrounded with fans, cadets, and your Wonderbolt friends. You don’t know what it is like to be...” “Lonely?” suggested the pegasus. “Of course I’ve been lonely. I practice flying constantly, and not everypony can keep up. While the other foals were playing games, I was training. But that’s what got me to where I am. Sure, I look back at all the fun they had, and the boyfriends and girlfriends I missed, but that can be the price of success.  “Of course, now I worry. I’m getting older, and I can’t keep this up forever. I just broke my wing. I’ll be out for months. I’m not looking forward to hanging out at home by myself for that long.” “Empty house? Aren’t you dating Rainbow Dash or whatever her name is?” “Crash?! No, no, no. I don’t date subordinates, and I think she’s with your cousin, anyway.” “Applejack?” Limestone sighed. Even cousins were finding other ponies. It just didn’t seem fair. “Yeah. So I’m not dating anypony right now. Fuck, I don’t even know where I would start with that. But what does any of that have to do with that boulder?” “Because… it’s my… my best friend,” the red-face pony hissed and hid her face behind the curtain of mane.  “Your… best… friend,” echoed Spitfire with that strange expression she had adopted earlier.  “Fine! Mock me! But that boulder has been there for me when everypony else wasn’t. It doesn’t care about my attitude, or whether I have a special somepony, or whatever. It’s just there!” “Who cares if you have a special somepony?” “My family! They’re not here because they’re out doing some stupid Choosing Stone tradition with my sisters,” Limestone said while she slammed the table with her hoof. “They left me here because I didn’t have anypony!” “Really? That’s harsh. My family’s always on me to find somepony lately, too. ‘You’re not getting any younger.’ ‘Your sister already found a mate and she’s younger than you,” Spitfire complained.  Limestone couldn’t help but notice how similar the sound was to her own mother.  “All my sisters are younger,” she replied, “and they all found somepony. Even Marble, and she barely fucking talks.” “How many sisters do you have?” asked Spitfire with a raised eyebrow.  “Three. Maud, Pinkie and Marble. Pinkie and Marble are twins.” “It’s hard to imagine anypony related to Pinkie not talking. Especially her twin,” snickered the Wonderbolt. “So I understand that families can put a lot of pressure on a pony to find somepony, but is that what you want?” Limestone froze. She hadn’t thought about what she wanted. Normally, she just wanted what her family wanted. Though, lately, she’d felt the need to fight it; to show they didn’t control her.  She looked around the house, wondering what she truly wanted. The chair in the corner of the living room reminded her of yesterday.  “I don’t know,” she finally admitted. “I don’t like the feeling of being tied down, but I’m in charge of the farm. I give it my all here. So I guess I kind of am tied down. I don’t like being by myself though. It just feels like nopony cares.” “So we’re in the same place,” Spitfire said with a hoof to her mouth in thought. “Maybe your rock brought us together to help each other out.” “Holder’s Boulder is not a rock! And who says it called you here?” “Umm… a big sand storm that won’t leave?” reminded Spitfire. “And I was thrown right into it while my team got away.” “But...” Limestone tried to retort but nothing came out. She had a hard time accepting that the boulder was capable of something like this. She used to pretend that it could—that it was so much more than just a large stone that represented their family’s farm. That it had abilities, and actually listened to what she was saying. If Spitfire was right, that actually could be true. Now the thought made her nervous. How often had she shouted, bucked at, and struck that stone? What could it have done to her? “It doesn’t really matter whether the ro… boulder did it,” Spitfire said offhandedly. “The point is, you and I are stuck here, and we both seem to have the same problem. Perhaps we can help each other out.” “How are we going to find a special somepony here?” “Not find one. Train to find one,” the batshit pegasus explained. “Look, both of us are looking, but we don’t know what to do. “ “Who says I’m looking?” “You just said you don’t want to be lonely. This farm isn’t exactly filled with prospects, so you’re going to have to find somepony outside of it. Same with me. I won’t date Wonderbolts, and every other pony around sees me as more of an athlete than a date. I don’t think I could date a fan, anyway. It’s too weird. So we have to work on ways to find dates and, I don’t know… bag them?” “So we’re just going to fumble around here trying to figure this out with no idea what we’re doing?” Limestone deftly pointed out. Spitfire wanted to train for dating? What sort of pony does that?  “I’m sure we could figure this out. How hard could it be? You said your sister who doesn’t talk did it.” “She just found some weirdo that doesn’t talk either.” “So how did she do it?” asked Spitfire earnestly. “Lots and lots of cider, apparently. She won’t say much about that night but I saw them together with quite a few drinks,” the farm pony said in contempt. The night still boiled her blood. “That sounds like cheating. I’m surprised they’re still together if that’s how they started. I want to find someone more conventionally, I think. What is a good way?” “Oh shit!” “What?!” “Pinkie gave me that fucking book on dating,” Limestone sighed. “I refuse to read it. It just seems...pathetic.” “Well what are you waiting for, Hot Stuff? Get that book! Get the lead out!” That stalled all the mare’s forward motion. “Excuse me?! Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” “We’re back to this shit again,” Spitfire said with a snap of her head. “Listen. I don’t know the first thing about this stuff. But I know training. Things have to be done fast, and with as much precision as possible.” “So your plan is to order the pony you’re interested in to date you?”  “Do you have any better ideas?” “You mean rather than demanding others go out with you? Or training for… this.” Limestone could feel her body shaking again. It was always ready to lash out. She made a valiant effort to restrain it. “That’s it! Down and give me twenty!”  “What in the fuck do you think—”  Spitfire squinted at her like she had probably hundreds of cadets. There was little room to argue in that stare—the blaze in the captain’s eye matched Limestone’s own.  A few moments later she found herself doing pushups. It wasn’t hard; she was a strong pony. Still, it felt humiliating to give in. “Now, this is the first part of our training,” the captain informed her. “You were seconds away from decking me for throwing ideas around. How many ponies are going to tolerate that? You want a nice special somepony, you have to work that anger off. Every time you want to hit me, I want you doing this instead. Burn it off. Then think about what you’re really mad at. Is it worth hurting another pony?” Limestone’s brain was fuming. Each stupid word this pegasus said made her want to strike her more. She took that feeling and pushed into her hooves. With each thrust it became less and less difficult to maintain control. After about a hundred, Limestone finally stopped.  “Feel better?” the Captain asked, still standing over her. Limestone said nothing. She marched out of the kitchen and went to her room. She opened the door and nearly screamed in fury. Her bed was in disarray and covered in yellow feathers. How could a pegasus lose that many feathers in a single night and still have any left? She turned to chew out her guest when she saw that fucking quilt again. Fuck! Why was this happening? Why couldn’t she just release her fury on that pegasus and be done with it?