A tale of three sisters

by Widow Peak

New faces

It had taken Limetsone one full day, but she had finally decided to leave her room, thought it was obvious she was still in a foul mood, as she has only responded to direct questions, and just giving short answers.

Well, at least she was out of her room. In Pinkie’s mind, that was an improvement. At least now she would be able to try something she had planned since her visit to Agatha’s house.

Despite her best efforts, Limetsone completely ignored all her inquiries and pleads during the breakfast. Not that she had insisted too much. An ever-angrier Limestone was exactly the opposite of what she needed.

So after her sister gave up on her, Limestone had gone to the sitting room and draped on the couch, with a book in hooves, determined to have a tranquil morning, just reading and with no annoying pink sister to make her question her life decisions.

The tranquility didn’t last for too long. About an hour later, she suddenly felt her legs sink. She looked at the other side of the couch, and found her sister sitting next to her hooves, with a small smile. Ugh, can’t she see I am busy? she thought. “What do you want now, Pinkamena?”

Pinkie felt a pang of pain. Since her outburst, Limestone had refused to use her usual name. It wasn’t a big deal, of course, but Pinkie knew her sister was trying to get some reaction for her. What exactly, was a complete mystery for the pink mare. Was she just trying to be hurtful? Perhaps, but it didn’t seem likely. “So Octavia suggested something, and I though you may be interested.” she lied. It was actually her plan, but she had talked to Octavia and asked her to play along.

That got Limestone’s attention, although she didn’t close the book. Octavia was much more level-headed than her sister, so she wouldn’t suggest some stupid waste of time. “Oh? What’s it?”

“She thought about visiting that other family. You know, the one that now digs on the mines? The ones that live on the other side of the valley? You know, we saw them a few days ago when we went to the mines?” said Pinkie. “You know who I mean, right?”

“Yes!” harshly replied Limestone. She made a pause to take a deep breath, release it and let it go. She needed to relax. Not let Pinkie have any effect over her. Be neutral about her. “But why would I want to go there?” she questioned.

“Well.” Pinkie poked one of Limestone’s hindlegs, which she quickly drew away. Pinkie had to bite her tongue to not say anything about that reaction. “I…just thought you’d like to meet new ponies…Who knows, maybe you’ll make friends and you’ll have someone else to spend time with, apart from us…” she slowly said, hoping Limestone wouldn’t understand it the wrong way.

That actually perked her curiosity. “That…Alright, I’ll...” said Limestone. She looked at her book, pondered her situation for a moment. Pinkie seemed to have understood that she didn’t like her childish behavior, and was holding herself. And at the same time, having somepony else to talk to wouldn’t be so bad…specially if said pony was not Pinkie. “I’ll go.” she nodded, closing her book and getting up.

“Great!” said Pinkie, who quickly trotted to the kitchen. “I made us some sandwiches. I hope you’re not allergic to lettuce. I don’t think so, because it’s quite common, but just in case you are, say it now.” There was a pause. “Okay, I’ll wrap them up.”

Limestone let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. No matter what happened, Pinkie would always be an annoyance. “Where’s Octavia?” she asked.

“She’s upstairs.” responded Pinkie, poking her head through the door. “She told me she just needed a moment to groom her mane.”

That got a small smile from the gray mare. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take as long as the last time.

***

Ten minutes later, the three mares crossed the main door of the house, locking it after them. Cloudy Quartz had gone to the market that morning, and Igneous Rock had to sign some papers on the town hall, so they left a note behind.

The three sisters parted on their way, each with a saddlebag draped over their backs. They trotted in silence. It wasn’t exactly awkward, but none of them seemed to have anything to say or the will to start a trivial conversation. Even Pinkie was more silent that usual, just trotting instead of bouncing all the way to the other house.

As the three ponies came closer to the building, they could observe the house with more detail. It was a two-story home, much like their own, but built with dark bricks instead of wood. It was about the same size of their house, with a small barn next to the main door and a chimney poking from the top. A snail of steel tracks wriggled from the entrance of the mine to a small platform next to the barn. There was nopony in sight, but there were voices coming from the mineshaft.

“Are they…singing?” wondered Limestone out loud.

“They are.” responded Octavia, wrinkling her nose. “But they better not try to get a career out of their singing.”

Three stallions emerged from the tunnel, each one pulling a minecart covered with a cloth. The three were singing in full voice, caring little about tempo and harmony. And yet, they were clearly having fun. Pinkie couldn’t help but grin, and she would have surely joined them, if she had known the song.

Muscles achin’, back near breakin’
Eggs and oath is what we need.
Fore-man houndin’, keep your poundin’
For your bed and for your feed
There ain’t no let-up, must get set up
Pull that minecart, drive that stake.
Want to doze off, take the yoke off
But must keep awake
Swing that sledge and sing that song!
Work and laugh the whole night long!

The trio stopped next to the platform and shared a laugh as they took off the yokes. It was then when they noticed the three mares standing just ten meters away. The first stallion, a bright red stallion with a dark ash mane, took a couple of steps forward and grinned. “Hella! Is it mah birthday and Ah didn’t remem- ow!”

He was interrupted by a shark jab on her ribs, provided by a second pony, smaller and with darker fur but lighter mane. “Sledge, we don’t talk to mares like that!” he reproved him. “Ma taught you better, and if she saw you do that, you’d earn yourself a big slap.”

Sledge ignored his brother and just gave him a hard shove. “Excuse mah brother, gals.” he said with a smile that pretended to be charming. He had a very thick accent, that would have made Applejack proud. “He just never knows when to get the stick of his butt, ya know?” His smile faltered when he noticed that the mares where looking at him in a rather cold way. Except Pinkie, who just wore an amused smile.

“Just-just-just go away!” stammered the other pony, giving him a push and waving to the minecarts. He shared a similar accent with the other pony, but not as strong. It actually gave his voice a charming touch. “Do something useful and start unloading the carts, will ya?” Grunting, the bigger pony turned around and walked back to the platform, from where the third pony was observing the conversation. The stallion let out a sigh and turned to the three mares. “Sorry ‘bout that.” he apologized. “My bother Sledgehammer can be so dense as his namesake, you know? But he meant no offense.” He trotted forward and offered a hoof to Limestone, which she shook after a moment of hesitation. “I am Flint ‘n’ Steel, but everypony calls me Steel.”

“That’s not true!” called out Sledgehammer from the minecarts. He had a pair of saddlebags around his waist and a heavy steel hammer resting on his back. “Everybody calls him Flint, ‘cause he’s dumb as a rock.”

“Shut up, Sledge!” shouted Steel, turning around and waving a hoof menacingly. “Go on your business.”

“Okay, okay. No need to yell me…Flint.” replied Sledge before bursting into laughs.

Steel let out a deeper sigh and rubber his temples. “Don’t mind him he’s just a dumbbell.” he muttered. “Where was I? Oh, right! I’m Flint ‘n’ Steel, he is Sledgehammer and that stallion that’s inside the cart is Gunpowder.” He said, pointing to the last brother, a small pony with dark brown coat and garnet mane. When he noticed that he was in the spotlight, the small stallion ducked inside the minecart. “Don’t mind him, he’s kind of shy.” chuckled Steel. “So, who are you?”

“I am Limestone.” responded the light gray mare.

“My name is Octavia.” replied the musician.

“I’m Pinkie Pie!” happily chirped the party pony. “We’re sisters! We came to visit our parents about a week ago, but we’re staying here for a month, so we decided to give you a visit. We didn’t know there was another family living here now, but mom told us and I thought it would be a great idea to meet the ponies that are working now in the mines, but we didn’t have the chance ‘till now.” she recited, without stopping to breath.

Flint ‘n’ Steel needed a second to process the barrage of words. “Okay, so you must be old Igneous’ daughters, right?” he asked, surveying each mare’s face. “You sure look different from him or his wife. Specially ya.” he said, nodding to Pinkie.

“Her name is Cloudy Quartz.” stated Octavia. “What do you know about our family?”

Steel shrugged. “Not much, honestly. It was ma who signed the contract for the purchase of the mine, y’know? She said Igneous is a very stern and serious stallion, much like Father; and mentioned she was married and had three daughters that didn’t live there anymore, but that’s it.”

“That is right.” commented Limestone. “We left the rock farm some years ago. We liked living here, but…we wanted more.”

Steel nodded. “Of course. Three mares as pretty as ya need to see world, not be stuck in this bowl of dust.” He winked an eye to Limestone, who just rolled her eyes, amused.

“Hey lady killer!” came the voice of the bigger brother. He had finished unloading the minecarts into a small carriage, and had left a small pile of tools on the ground. “We done here. Grab yer gear and let’s go before you actually kill one of them with your blabber.” Both stallions turned around and pulled the cart towards a barn.

“Just go away, Sledge!” replied Steel, raising his voice as well. “But he is right. We gotta go to have lunch.”

“What, already?” asked Pinkie. “But it’s just midday!”

Flint grinned and trotted to the platform. The three mares followed him. “Well, yeah.” he muttered as he fastened a broad belt around his waist. It had several pockets where a small array of hammers and chisels could be fitted, along with a leather pouch. “But we have to go back to the mine later, at least just for a while, just a couple of hours.” he explained as he slid each tool on its place. “Freakin’ Sledge. He took the time to pull out each piece.” he muttered under his breath.

“Aw…” Pinkie’s ears dropped. “I…suppose we will be back another day?”

“Oh, not at all!” said Steel, shaking his head. “Would ya like to stick around for lunch?”

The three sisters shared a look. “Well, we would like to.” admitted Limestone. “But we wouldn’t want to be a hassle.”

“Nah, don’t worry ‘bout that!” replied the stallion with a chuckle. “Mom always makes food for a whole battalion. It will be fine.”

“Well then…I guess we’re staying for lunch, then.” said Octavia, uncertain. The other two mares nodded. Even Limestone seemed quite enthusiastic.

“Grand!” said the young stallion with a charming smile. “Now let’s go.” he said, nodding to the house.

Inside the building the air was hot and damp, but full of the delicious smell of some kind of vegetable stew. When the three sisters crossed the threshold, they couldn’t help but take a deep breath, hold it, and let out a deep sigh. The scent was simply amazing. It took them a moment to realize they were standing on a sitting room, not too different to the one on their house, although this one had a quite elegant grandfather clock made in dark wood.

“I’ll let her know you´re here.” said Steel before taking a deep breath and bellowing. “MA! I BROUGHT VISIT! She’s a bit deaf, y’know?” he explained.

“I’m in the kitchen!” replied voice from a door at the back of the room. A head peeked out and looked at the four ponies in front of her with obvious surprise. “Oh! Why didn’t you say you brought visit? And where are your brothers?”

Steel looked at the sisters and rolled his eyes as if saying ‘See what I meant?’. “Sledge and Gunpowder are still in the barn, mom. They’ll be back in a moment.”

“Give me a second, sweetie.” The head of the mare disappeared inside the kitchen, only to be followed by several seconds of loud clanking and racket. Limestone was wondering if she was tearing apart the kitchen when the pony re-emerged again. The three mares were instantly reminded of their mother. While this pony had a reddish coat and black mane, she had exactly the same manedo and carried herself in the same way. Her cutiemark was an argand lamp. “I was just taking the pot from the fire.” she said as she studied the three sisters. “You must be Igneous’ daughters.” she guessed.

“Yep!” piped Pinkie, nodding with enthusiasm.

“How did you know?” asked Limestone, raising her voice to make sure she would be heard.

“Oh, your mother showed me an old photograph, and you look exactly like when you were a child.” she explained with a small smile. Her expression suddenly turned to worry. “Your parents are fine, are they?”

“Uh…yes.” responded Octavia, surprised by the sudden change.

The old mare let out a sigh of relief. “Thank Celestia. For a moment I thought something had happened to them.” she shook her head and her motherly smile returned again. “In that case, what brings you here?”

“Oh, we just wanted to visit the new inhabitants of the valley, but we just learned you were about to have lunch.” responded Octavia. “Your son insisted that we should join you, but we wouldn’t want to be a nuisance.”

“Oh, not at all, dear!” she responded, waving a hoof dismissally. “You’re more than welcome to stay with us. It will be nice having somepony else for lunch. The table will be a lil’ bit crowded, but that’s all.” She made a pause and tapped her chin. “I feel like I’m forgetting somethin’.” After a moment, she shrugged and went back to the kitchen. “Flint, can you be a dear and prepare the table?”

The red stallion flinched one of his ears. “Okay ma.” he replied. “He never calls me Steel.” he complained as he turned around and opened a cabinet full of tablecloths, sheets and towels. “She also forgot to introduce herself. Her name is Warm Light.”

***

When Warm Light said the table would be crowded, she wasn’t exaggerating. Seven ponies surrounding a table clearly meant for four, plus the dishes and cutlery of the three extra ponies. To make the situation worse, Steel’s family was clearly excited of having visit, and they were talking very loud. There were at least four conversations going on at the same time, and Pinkie Pie was participating in all of them.

Octavia was trying to keep her manners, because they with a family they didn’t know, and that would be the proper thing to do. But it quickly proved impossible, so she decided to relax. Besides, it was nice to have a lunch where etiquette didn’t matter. In the end, however, she was content just with listening to the other conversations.

Gunpowder was almost completely mute, only talking when asked directly, and always shooting sideways glances to the sisters. He almost jumped off the chair when Pinkie reached over the table and touched her hoof to catch his attention and ask about his mark. The small stallion meekly explained that his talent simply involved making a explosive powder that was usually considered military equipment, but they used to help them mine the harder stones.

Sledgehammer kept a somewhat civilized conversation with Pinkie, both of them happily chattering louder than strictly necessary. Every joke of the pink mare sent the large stallion into a fit of laughter, each laugh punctuated with a slam of his hoof on the table.

Warm Light, Limestone and Flint ‘n’ Steel talked during the whole lunch, the older mare asking Limestone about her life on the city, while Steel usually tried to ask more about her tastes and the meaning of her mark.

“Well, it’s quite straight-forward.” she said, looking at the gold ore that decorated her flank. “I am good with rocks. I can remember and recognize proprieties of minerals, sometimes even guessing them.”

“How did ya earn your mark?” asked Steel, resting his chin on a hoof.

A small smile creeped into the mare’s face. “It’s not a very interesting story...Pinkie’s or Octavia’s is better.”

The stallion grinned. “You’re only making me more curious.”

Her smile widened. “Alright, alright.” She made a pause to take a sip of her glass of water. “We were in school, and the teacher as a surprise had brought her golden pendant. I don’t really remember why, I think we had brought gold into a conversation the previous day, so she decided to show us how real gold looked like. I looked at the jewel, and I suddenly realized I knew that it was a soft metal, resistant to acids and oxidation, and that was an excellent conductor of electricity and magic.” She let out a small chuckle. “I recited it out loud, and the teacher just stared at me, completely puzzled and she just nodded. I was confused, because I didn’t understood why suddenly everypony was so quiet, until Pinkie screamed that I had just gotten my mark.”

“As I said, nothing too special.” added Limestone, shrugging. “Most foals get their marks in a similar way.”

“It was still nice to hear.” replied Steel. “And it sounds like a great talent.”

Limestone gave her head a shake. “I disagree. Maybe in the past it would have been useful to learn about new proprieties. But now? Now any mineral on Equestria has a long list of well-known proprieties. There is nothing new to discover in that regard. It just meant I had an advantage when studying geology.”

Steel pondered her words for a moment. “Who knows, maybe you’ll discover something new.”

“I agree.” added Warm Light. “You never know what you may find out.”

The gray mare let out a chuckle. “Odds are against me, but sure, why not?” She made a pause before asking. “What about you? What’s the meaning of your mark? How did you get it?”

Steel grinned and casted a glace to the open chain link on his flank. “This one’s not so obvious.” he replied. “My name is the key, the mark is…not-so-clear, we could say.”

“So I guess…you’re good with flint and steel?”

The stallion let out a chuckle. “More or less. My talent is lighting fires. I always had much more luck than my brothers when trying to light one, but I never considered a very big deal, ‘till one day I managed to light on fire a pile of wet wood at the first try.” he explained with an amused smile. “Sledge was so mad at me.” Warm Light smiled as well, possibly remembering the scene.

“How come?” asked Limestone.

“It’s like a very simple talent, but it’s very handy. Specially with these.” Flint ‘n’ Steel turned his hoofs upwards, revealing a pair of horseshoes attached with steel nails.

Limestone frowned. She grabbed his left hoof and pulled it closer to her face. No, her eyes were not deceiving her. While his right horseshoe was made of shining steel, the other was clearly made of a very unusual material: It was unmistakably flint.

“How is this possible?” asked Limestone, gently rubbing the polished surface of the horseshoe. If she had been paying more attention, she would have noticed that Steel was blushing.

“W-we order them to a unicorn from Canterlot.” explained Steel, grateful because nopony else was paying attention to them. His mother was the only pony that could be listening to them, but she had gone to the kitchen a moment ago. He felt a knot on his throat, and took a sip of water. The knot stubbornly decided to stay.

“That makes more sense.” muttered Limestone, letting go of his hoof. The stallion relaxed visibly. “I suppose they’re not very expensive.”

Steel didn’t answer immediately. He looked at his hoof, then gave his head a shake. “Naw, not that much.” he replied, waving a hoof. “Besides, they last for quite a while, so I don’t have to order them that often.”

Limestone nodded. “I see. So, what about Sledge?”

“What of him?”

“What’s his talent? And, how did he get his mark?” explained Limestone.

“Oh. That.” Steel rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh…I think it’s better if he tells you himself.”

“Alright, I will.” conceded Limestone. She then turned her attention to another conversation, leaving Steel with one last question pending. A few minutes later, the stallion had the chance to talk to the other pony again.

“So, what do you do for a livin’?” he asked.

“Oh, I am a professor in Canterlot.” she replied, frowning slightly. The mention of that topic reminded her of the conversation of two nights ago. She let out a sigh.

Steel noticed the sudden change of mood and bit his lip. Had he said something wrong? “Uh…is everythin’ okay?” he asked gently.

“Yes.” she lied. “It’s just that…I have been thinking. And I’ve realized…I don’t really like my job.”

Steel didn’t know what to say. To him, the solution to that problem was so obvious that Limestone had most likely considered the possibility. “Then…look for a new job.”

Limestone let out a tired sigh and shook her head, making her long mane wave. “I can’t do that. It’s just…my job is…”

“You’re the only one that can do it?” guessed Steel.

“No. I am sure there are plenty of ponies who could do what I do, perhaps even better. It’s…it’s hard to explain, okay? I can’t just leave my position, not after how much I worked to get there.”

“Oooh.” Steel smiled knowingly. “I think I get ya.”

Limestone looked at him, and frowned. “What do you mean.”

“You are like Father.” responded Steel, poking her lightly on the chest with a hoof. Seeing her expression, the stallion explained himself. “Ma was born here, in Gravelpit. Father was from Canterlot, and they moved there after the married.”

“There are a lot of couples like that.” commented Limestone.

“Yah, that’s true. But the thing is that Father…got too much into his work.” he continued. “To the point that I barely saw the fella. He was a businesspony of some sort, ya know? I never really knew a lot about what he did. Anyways, the problem is that, even when out income of money was enough for us to live well, Father was always trying to get into a better position. ‘It’s for the future’, he always said.”

“But what’s so terrible about that?” asked Limestone, frowning.

Steel gave her a sad smile. “One day, he suffered a heart attack and he dropped dead before anypony could do anything.” he muttered, his cheerful voice gone. The mare gasped and covered her mouth with a hoof. “With our savings, we moved back to Gravelpit and bought this mine from your father. After so much work, all of father’s effort went to waste. He left behind a pregnant wife and two sons that barely knew him.” Flint went silent for a while, with a bitter expression on his face.

Warm Light placed a dish with a piece of cake in front of each pony. Limestone blinked and looked at the table. She had’t noticed that the older mare had taken away her and Steel’s dish to serve the dessert. On the other side of the table, Pinkie was standing on her chair, waving her hooves on the air and chirping some song. Sledge and Octavia were listening to her, the first laughing out loud while the second tried to hold back her giggles.

“But I am not in the same situation.” muttered Limestone, locking her golden eyes on Steel’s purples. “I would not leave behind anypony.”

“Exactly.” replied Steel with a sad smile. “Father sacrificed his happiness and time for us, to give us a better life. But, who are you doing it for?”

Limestone opened her mouth to reply, but no words came, as she simply had no good answer. She looked to the floor, trying to push away of her mind the despair that for the last two days had been her sole companion. “I don’t know.” she confessed in a whisper. “I really don’t know.”

She closed her eyes tightly, in an attempt to contain the tears that were about to treason her. Then she felt a hoof gently pushing chin upwards, and opener her eyes, only to see Flint ‘n’ Steel smiling at her. “Well, perhaps it’s time for a change.” In smite of herself, Limestone smiled and even managed to choke out a laugh.

“Hey!” called out a voice from the other side of the table. Limestone and Steel turned their heads and saw Pinkie, waving both hooves at them. “Maybe we should leave you two some privacy!”

“Damm ya, Flint!” added Sledge, slamming his hoof against the table. “You gosh darn conqueror!”

Limestone blushed and leaned away from Flint, while the stallion slapped the cake into Sledge’s face, but was intercepted by Pinkie.

“Sledge, you idiot!”

Comments

[Written Note]

Great...MOAR NAO THE PONY GOD DEMANDS IT!

[Widow Peak]

4900930 Hush. A chapter per week is tiring enought.

This was a really long chapter...

[Written Note]

4900980 PONY GOD AGREES

[Widow Peak]

4903436 Good. Because you're not getting more chapter for a couple of days.

[Written Note]

4905341 Alright! The wait has begun!

[danisanerd]

Aw, Limestone geting a colt friend would be adorable! Hopefully it would lightin her up a bit! Great chapter though!