//------------------------------// // Trial and Error // Story: Lemons // by P-Berry //------------------------------// With a long, deep sigh, she dropped onto her bed; the letter fell onto the sheets next to her. Her hoof was still aching where it had made contact with the face of her roommate moments ago. Yes, she was dependent on him, and yes, giving him a punch that had almost made him fly into the corner might not have been such a good idea, but nopony, nopony would hit on her little sister, especially not some lazy, unemployed city-colt who had had five different jobs in the past two months and never stuck with even one of these because 'they didn't float his boat'. She'll be damned if she let somepony like this near her young, innocent, naive little sister. A feeling of discomfort made itself noticeable as she thought of Marble, and her look fell back onto the letter laying next to her. She had dreaded this day ever since she had moved to Manehatten. No, not ever since she had moved here. Ever since she had moved here and all of her plans had proven to be unsuccessful. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why her family was writing her - Limestone was gone from the rock farm for a little more than two months by now, and it just seemed natural for her family to ask how things were running. And especially after what she had said shortly before her departure - after all the things she had proclaimed and announced - she was sure her family must be expecting quite a lot from her by now. Not that her expectations had been any lower when she had first come here, of course. It was a bright, warm spring day when she had arrived at Manehattens station. While the long journey had certainly taken its toll on her, she was feeling excited - giddy, even. The scenario she had phantasized about for so long now, finally reality. She still hadn't fully internalized it, even as she left the station, accompanied only by her own good will and the two heavy saddlebags on her back. Her mind was being flooded by dozens of questions; millions of impressions. She had been to Manehatten once as a little filly, but had been too young to remember any of it, so this felt like a premiere to her: Manehatten - the big city. Thousands, if not millions of ponies around her, all going after their business, and in between it all was she: the clueless young mare from the rock farm who didn't know the first thing about city life. As much as she hated to admit it, in those first few hours, she was legitimately terrified - not because of what lay ahead of her, or because she was afraid to fail, but because everything just seemed so ... overwhelming. All those huge crowds of ponies, all those massive buildings - it left her speechless; made her want to turn around and jump back onto the next best train back home. But she knew that she wouldn't do it - that she couldn't do it! While they would never admit it openly to her, her family had sacrificed a lot to give her this opportunity: farming rocks was hard work, and no matter how they put it, one pony less -especially a pony as industrious as Limestone- would mean more work for the others, one way or another. Surely, it had taken a while for them to convince her to go. While deep down she had always cherished the dream of leaving the farm and starting a career in the city, it was a dream she had kept solely to herself, never talking about it, and only thinking about it when she could be sure that she was all alone. Up to this day she didn't know what had given it away, but eventually, it had been her little sister Marble who had asked her if she had ever thought about leaving the farm - at the dinner table, of all places! Right in front of their parents! "Have you ever thought about ... moving out?" Marble asked her older sister with a questioning look, her one eye concealed by her mane hanging into her face. "Into the city?" Of course, Limestone's reaction was to laugh unhesitatingly. It was a fake laugh - a rather convincing one, but pretended nonetheless. Her? Leaving the farm? Good one, Marble! However, her laughter ceased when she caught the eyes of her parents, who were both staring at her with their serious looks. "T'was not a joke, Limestone." her father said sternly, "Answer your sister's question." Limestone tried to deny it at first, laughing it off like a silly catch question, but her parents wouldn't let up on her. "What have we told you about lying, young lady?" her mother asked her admonishingly when she, blushing intensely, denied ever having thought about this sort of thing. "Do not lie to us!" The argument dragged on like this for what had felt like an eternity, and ended with Limestone dropping her head onto the table, spilling her rock soup. "Fine!" she shouted, tears forming in her eyes. "You got me, okay? Yes, I've thought about it! Yes, I've imagined what it would be like to live in the city and leave this..." she bit her lip, rethinking what she was about to say, "Rock farm!" Her head wanted to drop again, but she did her best to remain strong, sucking her tears back in. "But it's fine! I know that it'll never happen, I know that I'll be here..." she had to pause, swallowing, "Forever... And I know that you..." she pointed a hoof at her little sister, who winced noticeably, "Will do all this. You are going to move to the city, you are going to get rich and famous! You are the pretty one, you're going to be the successful one." she swallowed, drawing in a short breath, "That's just the way it is. Period." And with that, she sunk back onto her chair, wiping the faintest trace of tears from her eyes with a hoof and shaking her head. "It's fine, alright? I don't begrudge you for it." she said with a bitter look directed at her sister, holding a hoof in front of her muzzle and turning her head away to muffle a sob, "It's ... fine." What followed was a long period of silence. Her family looked at her like thunderstruck, none of them sure what to say about this sudden outburst. In the end, it was the one the least likely to speak up who had broken the silence. "Um ... Limestone?" Marble intoned, her voice barely louder than a whisper, "I don't ... want any of this." Her older sister just looked at her in silence, cocking an eyebrow at her; a single bead of sweat left from her outburst ran down her forehead. "I don't want to leave the farm." Marble explained meekly, "I'm feeling fine here, really. I could never imagine..." a shudder ran through her body, "Going out there and..." she shook herself, cutting herself off. "I really want to stay here. With Ma and Pa." "Oh." was all Limestone brought out. "But..." Marble continued, lifting her head, "I've talked to Ma and Pa about this..." A thin smile crossed the gray mare's face, "If it's true ... if you really want to ... leave..." Marble's eyes left those of her sister, wandering over to her mom and dad, who both gave her short, confirming nods, "We will support you with all we have." she finished, blushing slightly. "'tis right." Ingenious Rock Pie agreed with a curt nod of his head, "Thou art a young mare, full of potential. If leaving the farm and seeing the world is what you desire..." the elderly stallion gave his daughter a serious look, but then cracked a thin smile, "We shall not stand in your way." A pleasant warmth filled Limestone's heart as she thought back to this fateful evening - a warmth that was all too quickly replaced by the harsh reality, and a truly horrifying thought: what if her family would ever find out the truth? That she was working as a damned fast food cashier? That she had left her family hanging, promising to fulfill great things, and now was stuck with an underpaid job and a feckless roommate in a filthy, small apartment? Limestone could feel a lump forming in her throat as she tried to imagine their reaction, and she once again felt angry at herself for being so naive. She had come to Manehatten with the ambition to do something, anything. Now that she was away from the rock farm, knowing that she had the support of her family, she knew that the world was laying at her hooves: she could accomplish anything! And while the possibilities for her seemed nearly endless, there had been one job she had been ogling at for quite a while now: on the third day after her arrival in Manehatten -after she had found her current roommate over a note at the city hall's bill-board- she had put on her best clothes and walked to the Manehatten recruitment center of the Equestrian Armed Forces. Though, the recruitment agent's reaction when she had told him about her plans to become a soldier had been ... unexpected. "Ma'am..." he had said, leaning over his desk and resting his head on his hooves, "You ... do realize that you're a mare, right?" As it had turned out, the armed forces would only permit stallions to join their ranks - there were no mares in the military. None at all. This apparently went back to a centruies-old tradition saying that stallions were to protect their families from threats, and that mares -no matter what frame, character or occupation- did not have what it takes to be a 'real' fighter. Limestone hadn't believed him at first, taking his words for a bad and un-funny joke, but when the stallion had asked her if she had ever -ever, ever- seen a female guard, she had hesitated. "Miss ... Pie, isn't it?" his words echoed in her mind like if she had just heard them, "I see you have determination, but I am afraid to tell you that, unless you have a direct permission granted from Princess Celestia herself..." she felt a pang of pain as she recalled those last, ultimate and utterly devastating words, "That you are never, never ever, going to join the Equestrian military. Thank you for your interest." She had been devastated at first: surely, there were hundreds of possibilities, but seeing her first and favorite choice going down in flames like this ... it had hurt. It had hurt a lot. Sure, she could try to get an audience with Princess Celestia and ask her for this oh-so-great permission, but really, the Princess didn't even know her, let alone care about her. Why would she take the time to listen to Limestone in the first place? No. No, that was out of the question. Her career in the military was dead - it wasn't nice, but that was the way it was. But she swore to herself that she wouldn't give up this easily. Only a day later, she had gathered up all of her optimism and had headed for her second favorite choice of employer: the Manehatten Police Department. Unfortunately, said optimism hadn't been destined to live long, as her career as a police officer had ended when the pony at the other side of the desk had asked her about her High School Diploma. As it turned out, one needed to have attended at least twelve years of school to be qualified to join the police, and while Ingenious Rock Pie and Cloudy Quartz certainly hadn't raised an idiot on their rock farm, chores and work on the farm had always taken up the lion's share of Limestone's time, and once she was done with Middle School, she had never spent a second thought on any sort of further education - a decision she was now, for the first time in her life, starting to regret as she walked out of the police station with a 'note of ineptitude' in her mouth. The same scenario would repeat itself in pretty much the same manner with most of the other possible future employers Limestone would visit: she would say she is looking for a job, they would ask about her qualifications, she would say that she's excellent at rock farming, they would ask about a High School diploma, she would say that she didn't have one, they would thank her for her interest and send her away - a dozen different companies, the same procedure, every time. It wasn't until when she was walking home from yet another unsuccessful job interview that she came to the uncomfortable, but clear realization: she had to get a job! She had taken all of her savings with her when she had left the rock farm, and even her family had donated her few bits, but she had used up more than half of it already, and she was starting to realize that she would run dry by the end of the month if she didn't manage to get a job shortly! Fortunately for her, her eyes soon spotted a faded 'HELP WANTED'-sign in one of the store windows not too far from where she had stopped on the sidewalk moments ago. Instinctively, she felt a bit of hope that she might find a nice job after all kindling in her mind, and a smile found its way onto her face, but then she let her look wander over the window the sign was standing inside, and the smile slipped from her face. It was a fast food restaurant called 'Jolly Burgers'. Limestone grimaced as she thought back to this day, letting her head drop back onto the sheets where her look fell onto the letter laying on her bed next to her. She let out a displeased grunt, but couldn't get herself to look away from it, her curiosity fighting with her pessimistic nature. "Hrmph." she snorted after a moment, reaching out a hoof for the letter, "Might as well get it over with." She held the envelope in her hooves, tearing it open with her mouth, and pulled out a mouth-written piece of paper with her little sister's stylistic writing on it. Dear Limestone, I hope you are doing well in Manehatten, or wherever you are right now. Ma and Pa are talking a lot about you, and we all miss you. We do get by with the farming work, so please do not worry about us. I hope you are having fun in the Army, and that it's not too hard. I know you're a tough mare and can take a lot, but everypony has their limit, and I hope you haven't reached yours yet. I've read some of Pa's old books about life in the military, and I know it can be hard sometimes, but I'm sure you can do it! You are one of the strongest, toughest ponies I know, and I'm sure there is nothing you can't do. We all are proud of you, and we believe that you can accomplish anything if you really want it. And please, if there's anything on your mind, don't hesitate to talk to us. We love you, and we will help you, no matter what. Please, be safe out there. Manehatten is a dangerous place. I believe in you. We all believe in you. Love, your sister, Marble Pie Lowering the letter with shivering hooves, Limestone took in a shaky breath, then shook her head. She should have just thrown the letter away. Or buried it. Or burned it. Feeling her eyes turn wet, she threw the paper into the opposite corner of her room and let her head sink onto the pillow of her bed. Her pillowcase was soaked within seconds.