//------------------------------// // Foals, Trains and Limestone // Story: Returning Home // by Short-tale //------------------------------// Chapter 2  I knew Starlight was uncomfortable but normal comfort measures wouldn’t work here. Limestone didn’t appreciate displays of affection when Spitfire wasn’t around. The retired Wonderbolt captain was able to relax my sister in ways I never understood but it worked. I at least placed my hoof around my mare. The train clacked down the rail billowing steam past the window. The tea tray cart clinked as it rolled closer. Starlight raised her hoof to hail it which nearly hit me in the head. She ordered tea for the table, Limestone nodded her approval. There were times when I believed my sister deliberately made an uncomfortable situation worse. She had a look in her eyes that was more amused which normally meant trouble. I didn’t see the need to make ponies feel awkward. Most of the time they already did.  “So, Starlight, what do you see in my sister?” My sister started with one of the worst questions on purpose. Does anypony know what attracts one pony to another? It’s chemistry. I never studied that. “Well, we’ve been friends for years and she’s always been there for me. When my wife left me, she was there as I tried to pick up the pieces. She never left, no matter how hard it got. The rest, well, that just seemed so natural that it felt like neither one of us wanted to stop it.” Starlight was bright red but seemed to enjoy telling the story. She left out the part where I slept next to her in her bed for two months. Probably a good idea. “I heard that you guys got together only two months after the divorce. What if this is just one of those rebound things?” Limestone pointed out with a definitive hoof poke in Starlight’s direction.  “Er, it’s not...” Starlight’s ears drooped a little and her eyes lost their glow. “We knew each other before, and I kind of had a thing for her back then. When she started to date Mud Briar, I figured she liked males and I backed off.” “We thought so too. Ma was a little shaken up when she heard. Pa… Well, he had always been the more open one.” Limestone had oddly dropped the sadistic smirk. She was more subdued when she talked about Pa. “She was?”I asked. I didn’t know it would bother Ma so much. I thought my parents were both comfortable with mares in relationships together. Two of my sisters were married to mares and she didn’t have a problem with it. “Well it’s not like she’s against us.” So said the elder sister who had already married a mare. “She’s just disappointed that Pinkie’s the only one that will have grandfoals.” “There is a spell for that,” Starlight said smartly. Then realized what she just advocated. “I, I mean, if that’s what we wanted, of course.” “Well I for one would be terrible with children. So would Spitfire,” Limestone said, leaning back. It made me realize that she was starting to look more and more like Pa. We were all getting older. “Foals could be difficult for me …I don’t know how I feel about them,” I said, as honestly as I could. I watched Starlight’s reaction carefully. Her eyebrow cocked and she looked out the window. The plumes of smoke flowed past and didn’t provide her the answers she sought. I knew that look.  “What about Marble and Vinyl?” I said, taking the pressure off of Starlight.  “They could. Marble would love kids and, well, who knows about Vinyl?” my sister sighed.  “Vinyl?” Starlight’s head snapped over from the window. “Vinyl Scratch? DJ PON-3?” “Yes. Marble’s wife,” I informed her. I should have brought this up a while ago, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her then and I didn’t want to think about my family. Too many memories. “Wait, Marble? As in Marevelous Rocks?!” Starlight’s eyes began to sparkle in their star struck fashion.  “Who?” I don’t think Limestone’s eyes could get much bigger. She stared at my girlfriend as if Starlight had just taken her own head off. “Marevelous Rocks is DJ Pon3’s partner. She shows up as a hype mare and mostly says ‘mmhmmm’ in the background. She also is a record scratcher, or whatever it’s called. It was cute watching the two of them.” “Did you know about this?” Limestone demanded of me. Marble had always talked to her more. I didn’t know why she didn’t know, unless she didn’t listen “No.” I said in my standard deadpan. “So I guess I did meet your sister and her wife and I met Spitfire once,” Starlight said, visibly relaxing. “So Limestone is the only family member I haven’t met yet.” “You also haven’t met Ma,” added my sister.  I felt a little nauseous. If Ma was disappointed, she could make things difficult. But it wasn’t as bad as the choosing stone itself. What if Starlight and I fail? What would my family say? “Maud? Are you ok?” Starlight’s voice snapped me back to the current conversation.  “Yes.” I hoped it sounded genuine. I didn’t want to concern her. The stone was pressing on my mind again, suffocating my thoughts. I didn’t need that right then. I needed to think. Limestone looked at me. She knew I wasn’t okay. She had Limestone sense. She could feel the emotions of everypony at the table. I watched as she turned to Starlight. She was wondering if my mare was going to notice. It was a test. “You seem a bit distracted,” Starlight pressed. “Normally you’re worried about something when you're like that.” I glanced at both ponies that were looking at me. Limestone seemed impressed and Starlight seemed worried. I didn’t know how to tell her about the stone. It wasn’t magic. It wasn’t science. It was more like folklore or mythology. Something ancient and old but still true.  I relented. “I am worried about the stone.” I looked at the table, hoping it would call me a silly pony or crazy for being worried. The table wouldn’t answer so Limestone did instead. “You should be. We don’t know what the stone is going to say. It might say this is going to be the best thing for you. It could say this will end in heartache again. We’re never sure. You had a husband, the stone knows that. It might not be like being asked about another mate. Especially since you didn’t consult it first.” Limestone’s tone was sharp and to the point.  “Can that happen?” Starlight looked at me, her eyes wide. “Can it tell us ‘no’ because we were married to different ponies before or didn’t consult it first?” “Yes.” I could feel my heart racing. Fear gripped it. A sensation I rarely felt. Even in the most intense of moments I normally remained calm but this was a fear I had no control over. It wasn’t pleasant. “That’s not fair! We deserve a happy marriage. We deserve to be together. Sure, we were both married before, but you lost your husband and my marriage became a battle all the time.” “The rock is about stability,” I told her. “Permanence. It tells us that our relationship can be like that. That we can be each other’s rock.” “And if you lose your rock, that’s it?!” Starlight was upset. It felt like an argument. I wasn’t arguing. “We only got one shot?” “That’s the way it’s supposed to work,” Limestone piped up. “But there are times when it does bless a second marriage. It’s pretty rare.” “No! If I want to marry Maud why can’t I? Rock or no rock.” Starlight glared at Limestone like she was the cause. “It’s just our way.” The volcano was active again. The old smoke and magma shifted underneath the cooler exterior underneath Pa’s hat. “If you want to be a part of our family then you should respect our ways. You may not like them, but they are solid.” Starlight opened her mouth once more, but I closed it for her with my own. It was the best way to stop a raging Starlight. The heat of anger switched to a passionate look. I sat back down again.  Limestone was not amused. “Well, Maud has learned to be a lot more passionate because of you. I’ll give you that. She wouldn’t even glance at Mud Briar that way in front of family. If she did at all.” “I did.” “Ewww. TMI, Maud.” Limestone made an expression she’d made many times. She had a habit of asking me questions about my sexuality and activities, then getting upset when I answered. I didn’t know why she asked.  “Still, if you're willing to marry my sister, stone or no stone, you have a lot more passion in you than I thought Maud could find. I’m kind of impressed.” Limestone had definitely grown. She would have never admitted that before. “Thanks. But it’s hard not to be passionate for those you love. Maud has just as much as I do but doesn’t show it to everypony. I can’t wait to be her wife.” Starlight looked at me with such happiness I couldn’t help but blush a little. She seemed so certain.  “I am equally excited,” I said, trying to match her enthusiasm but anything that I say comes out dry and flat. But both of them knew what I felt. Limestone put her head in her hooves and sighed. Not that long ago she would just yell at us for being reckless and not following tradition. “It’s not going to be easy to convince everyone that you guys will work without the stone’s blessing. Especially Ma. She’s more traditional than Pa was.” “But we could do it, right?” Starlight sounded almost desperate. “We could still get married without the stone and your family could be ok with it.” “It’s possible,” Limestone sighed. “But it’s not our way. Ma would want to make sure you can follow our ways first. And you might have to throw in that foal thing. That might convince her right there.” This time Starlight blushed. She and I had never discussed foals. I didn’t even know about the spell. I would have to think about that. “I don’t know … I have a pretty intense job and Maud, well, is that something you want, Maud?” Starlight looked at me for any indication. I could feel my head splitting in half at the mere thought of foals. “I don’t know.”  Starlight gave me a little squeeze and leaned her head against me. “No pressure, I don’t know how I’d do either. It’s a huge, hard decision. Not like marrying you.”  “Barf! Come on! I’m, like, right here!” shouted my sister. “I hope Spitfire and I weren’t like that in the beginning.” “Yes you were,” I told her, remembering all their strange kissing competitions and makeout fights. They were almost combative in their wooing of each other.  “Don’t tell me that. Well, we got better and calmed down,” sighed Limestone. She looked kind of jealous. “It’s not like it was when we first began, but it’s better. We’re more at ease with each other. We don’t have to go so far to remind the other how much we love them. It’s not as intense, but it’s still strong. Like anything she and I do could ever be weak.” Her speech wiped the small amount of jealousy from her eyes. She was back to her normal confidence. I wondered if everything was really okay between them.  So much to think about.the stone, marriage, foals, my sister’s happiness, home. These were the normal home thoughts. The three of us fell into silence as the train puffed along. The clouds gathered in the distance but they didn’t look like rain. Just the type of melancholy that hung in the air after awkwardness had passed. A brooding cloud.