The Pros and Cons of Working Over Time

by meanderingNekomata

What the Night Brings

Limestone’s room was a small, sparse place with a bunk bed she shared with her sister Marble. The walls were barren and gray, in one corner there was a desk stocked with stationary, ink, quills, envelopes, and stamps. This was one of the few luxuries the sisters had indulged in so that they could keep in contact when Pinkie first moved to Ponyville. Aside from these, the only fixtures were a bedside lamp on a small table, a night light Marble still used to go to sleep, and a single dresser the girls shared.

The lights were out and Limestone had only just begun to settle down when a sound startled her. She opened her eyes and sat up, noticing the shadow of her sister in the dim light provided by the night light. Limestone rubbed at her eye with her hoof and gave a slight yawn.

“Hey Marble, what’s got you out past sundown? Usually you’re in bed before me.” she rasped.

The younger sister stopped dead. “I… uh… c-c-congra- I mean, I was just finishing… helping out with the...” she looked around the room. “Oh! I was talking to that writer, the one from the paper.”

Limestone facehoofed. “Nice try Marble, but you’re a horrible liar, even if I didn’t already know that writer took the last train back to Canterlot around nine, I know for a fact that you find it hard to say a word to anyone you haven’t known at least half your life. Or do you not remember what a great conversationalist you were when Applejack and family came down for Hearthswarming?”

She blushed, “Th-that wasn’t, uh, I just… I wasn’t that b-bad.”

“Mmhmm, anyways, spill. C’mon, it’s not like you got in any real trouble. Even if you somehow broke a wagon it’s nothing I can’t help fix.”

“Mmrgh, w-well alright, but you can’t get mad.” the lighter mare whispered in as firm a voice as Limestone ever heard from her sister.

She waved a hoof. “Fine, fine. I’m too tired to be angry anyways. You break my pickaxe or something? Used my toothbrush? What?”

“I, okay, I um… I kind of followed you earlier tonight.” Marble’s said, her voice growing softer as she went while she ran one of her hooves back and forth through her mane. “When… when you were showing Minuette the… the Ch-Choosing Stone…”

Her elder sister sat there a moment. Two. She shifted so that her hooves were behind her and her muzzle was aimed at the top ceiling.

“I-It was wrong of me to spy on you like that, but I’ve never really seen you act like that around anypony. You n-never mentioned, I-I mean I never hear you talk about... rrgh...” the younger sister took a breath to steady herself. “It’s just, sometimes you say things that make me think you’re lonely out here. Look, I just, I know it sounds odd coming from me of all ponies, but I feel like you need more than just us in your life. You’re my big sister, you do so much for me and the family, and this seemed like a chance for me to help in some way, maybe.”

Marble heard her sister shift in the bed before her head peered out from behind the wooden railing above her. “So, you saw that, huh? Not sure what you could’ve done, I’m not even sure how I feel about it all yet. Still got a lot to sort out in my head, it’s all surprising and sudden, and I never really planned on any of it. You know how I am, I plan for things, I’m not good with stuff like this. I’m not even sure I can really handle other ponies in more than a business capacity. I know I got onto you earlier about having trouble with the Apples when they came down, but I wasn’t really much better. Even though the Choosing Stone paired us, I can’t help but think this is gonna go at least a dozen different kinds of wrong for both of us.”

As Limestone spoke, her sister climbed up to her bunk and sat beside her. Her expression was hard to make out, let alone read. When the elder sister finished, the younger put a hoof to her shoulder.

“Do you like her?” she asked in a voice that sounded almost as though the words themselves were coated in sugar. It was soft, almost teasing, but still somehow serious. It was a genuine question and Marble expected a serious answer. She never understood how her younger sister could convey her intention so clearly when she still struggled to communicate with unfamiliar ponies to such a degree.

Limestone thought for a few moments before answering. Her sister didn’t push her, didn’t fidget with the plain fabric of the bed, just waited calmly without making a sound. In this way, she truly lived up to her namesake. Anyone who cared enough to chip away at her timid exterior would find that beneath all that anxiety was a strong will and a kind heart. In that moment, she felt compelled to tell Marble how proud she was of her, but she shoved it down. Now wasn’t the time or place and more than that, her sister wanted an answer to her earlier question, saying so now would only come across as deflection anyways.

She allowed her thoughts to turn to Minuette, and let the words spill from her muzzle as they formed in her head. “Do I like Minuette? I think so? I don’t know her that well, but she’s a beautiful mare. I’m definitely attracted to her. Still not really sure what it means exactly to like somepony else… that way, but when I look at her, it’s like I don’t want to do anything that might hurt her. I feel like I need to avoid making a fool of myself in front of her.” She shook her head. “This’ll probably sound dumb but… I want to show off more for some reason, I want her to be proud of me. Celestia, I feel like a foal just saying that. There’s more to it though. When I’m around her, I feel happy and warm, but I also feel unsure of myself. I’m not really sure how to explain it all. If I try to focus on those moments I spent with her, I just can’t put it into words. Part of me says I’m exaggerating everything in my head and I’m just so starved for romance that I’m misinterpreting admiration and desire as genuine attraction. It all just seems so confusing and unclear to me. And then that kiss… it was just… I felt weightless for a moment and that can’t be anything less than me making shit up. I’ve only known the mare for one day! Less than that even! And to top it all off, the Choosing Stone had to go and spell out my destiny before I could begin to wrap my head around my own feelings. How am I supposed to react to that? What am I supposed to do now?” Limestone slumped against her sister and was almost startled when she noticed that tears were streaking their way down her muzzle. She quickly sat up and wiped them away with a hoof.

“Lime…” Marble started.

“R-relax Marble, I’ll be fine… I’m… I’ll figure something out. Sorry for getting so overdramatic, maybe I’ll, I dunno, talk to Pa about it later. If anypony knows about this Choosing Stone stuff, it’s him.”

Marble hesitated for a moment. “Okay, but are you sure that’s a good idea? You know how he is about the Choosing Stone. ‘The ruling of the Stone is absolute,’ remember? The moment you bring this up with him, he’s going to ask when the wedding is, whether you’re ready or not. As far as he’s concerned, you’ll learn to love each other like he and Ma did.”

Limestone hung her head at that. “Yeah, I know, bad idea. Even if it is as inevitable as he claims, I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on her… I m-mean on myself? Us! Ugh, I… I mean, I dunno. For now, I just… need to rest. It’s late, you should get back down to your own bed. We have an early morning tomorrow too.”

Marble nodded and obediently made her way down.

The room went silent. Ten minutes passed. Fifteen. As Limestone lay on her futon, she was almost convinced her sister had passed out on her when she heard that familiar tiny voice from the bunk below.

“I th-think she’s good for you, for what it’s worth. She seems kind and caring, and… and I know you always try to handle everything on your own. M-maybe if this all works out, you could… ”

“I’m not going to leave this farm, Marble. Who’d take over when Ma and Pa bite it if not me, huh? Pinkie and Maud are in Ponyville, and I can’t let all this fall to you or worse, one of the cousins or any of the neighbors looking to buy out Pa’s land. Maybe Minuette can help ease the burden, maybe she can’t, but it’s still mine to bear. Besides, if all those stories about the Choosing Stone are true, we’ll find a way. Our parents did, and Ma was Canterlot nobility. I just need to take this whole… thing one step at a time.”

“Okay.” Marble squeaked.

“Look, just, don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out. Goodnight, Marble.”

“Goodnight.”

And with that last whisper, the only sound remaining was the shifting of covers, leaving Limestone alone with nothing but her thoughts and feelings. It would be several hours before she finally fell, exhausted, into the peace of slumber.

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Maud’s old room was a relatively simple affair. In the corner opposite the door, in front of a single small window, there sat a single bed with a dull gray mattress, a slate gray pillow, and matching sheets. Against the opposite wall there was a simple, seemingly hoofmade bookshelf-desk combo upon which various small stone fragments lay side by side. The shelves housed several books with titles that couldn’t be made to sound even vaguely entertaining or enticing to Minuette no matter how they were read.

A closet adorned the space next to the desk-shelf, within which were several matching bland outfits and an old box with frayed edges. Minuette forced herself to avoid peeking at the contents thus far out of respect for her potential marefriend’s sister’s privacy. Sister in-law? She thought to herself. No, that’d be rushing waaaaay too much.

Following her third or fourth casual survey of the room and its contents, she finally sat down on the bed. It was about as soft as a lumpy old couch, but she’d slept on plenty of couches between her sleepovers with Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts when they were kids and all the trips they’d taken since. She thought back to the time they got a shitty motel room because there was a convention in Las Pegasus and all the good places had increased rates for everyone except attendees and VIPs. Couch is good, she thought to herself, I could do couch. That decided, she lay down on the bed and stared at the rocks, some of which shimmered, reflecting the glow of the moon which pierced the window behind her.

Unbidden, recent memories washed over her, the Stone, the images of her and Limestone’s cutie marks, the voice, the kiss, the feel of Limestone’s lips against her own. And with those memories, so many feelings swirled around. Even still, she wasn’t sure how to feel about it all. It was as though she was just now coming down from some intense fever dream. Some hot mess of a fever dream with a light gray mane and piercing green eyes.

In the end, it was too much to sit still and she was pacing about the room again like a filly whose parents were taking them to Pony Land in the morning. She couldn’t help it really, she always was the type to get caught up in hype. Stopping at the bedside once more, she allowed herself a few moments to indulge in the memory of that kiss. Wrapping herself in her forehooves, she couldn’t help but let loose a small squee. Looking back at the memory now that the fog had begun to clear, she thought of how forward she had been. More than that, she’d never felt so smooth in her life. In the moment, it just felt like the most natural thing in the world, almost as though Limestone’s lips had a gravity all their own. Thinking about it made her feel torn. Her head said she was rushing things while her heart told her that if she hadn’t, she might’ve regretted it forever.

Minuette considered the kind of pony Limestone was based on what she’d observed over the course of the day. She always acted tough as her namesake, but once her facade was shattered she became so fragile. The look in her eyes after the Choosing Stone had stated its verdict was almost like that of a small animal preparing to bolt. Maybe she would have if things had gone differently. Maybe her barriers would’ve come back up and she’d have run away from it all; if not physically, at least emotionally.

She wouldn’t have blamed her if she had. This whole destiny thing seemed pretty intimidating and even Minuette couldn’t quite shake the feeling of helplessness in the face of it all. It felt wrong in a way, like simply having knowledge of the pony you’re destined to be with screwed with how things were supposed to happen. But then maybe the visit to the Choosing Stone itself was destiny? Would that mean that everyone who went there was never meant to find out about their special somepony in one of those traditional charming ways she’d always heard about from couples or her parents when they told her how they met? Was that how she was always meant to meet the love of her life? No bumping into each other in a coffee shop, no one night stand grown into something more, no rivals to lovers story? Just point A to point B, forced together in the bluntest possible manner by a very literal fate? Where was the romance in that? If this were a romance novel, she’d call out the bad writing almost immediately! Where was the build up, the will they won’t they? Sure, readers usually knew that the couple gets together in the end, but the couple themselves shouldn’t know that!

No, she could still save this. It was an odd circumstance to be sure, but that just made their meeting more… unique, even if it was hard to believe. Besides, Minuette had seen stranger things, even read the young adult book series by the same name when her friends got into it. Point being, she was a grown mare, right? If she wanted to believe in breezy tales or tall tales or old mares’ tales, that was her business wasn’t it? Especially if it actually happened to her, well, so long as both she and Limestone hadn’t completely lost their minds or hallucinated everything. No, she had photographic proof, well, proof of their pairing at least. She didn’t think she could’ve recorded the voice even if she had the right equipment or spell on hoof. It was as though the stone had been speaking directly into her mind. Point being, now wasn’t the time to start questioning her sanity in a world filled with magical artifacts and all manner of crazy creatures.

Unable to contain her thoughts any longer, Minuette began to speak them aloud, “Okay, so then what do I do next? Do I even do anything? I’ve got a train to catch early tomorrow and photos to go through and, wait, I probably need a different shot of the Choosing Stone to use. I mean, no sense broadcasting what happened to all of Canterlot, that would really suck. At the very least I’d probably have the whole office teasing me about it. So, first off I need to do that before I leave. Oh, and should I give Limestone a kiss goodbye or would that be too forward or too much too soon? Maybe I should try to make sure her family’s not there when she sends me off just in case, wouldn’t want to make her explain all this before she’s ready.”

A thought dawned on her, one she didn’t like at all. “Unless maybe she’s having second thoughts. Ugh, I wish I knew for sure whether I should be happy or worried or what. I know I hardly know the mare, but I feel like I want to. At the same time everything’s going so fast, it hasn’t even been a day since we met and half the things Pinkie said about her didn’t prepare me for this. I came here expecting her sister Limestone to be some coldhearted, sociopathic bitch with an attitude and a pickaxe to grind, not a sexy butch farm girl with a gruff exterior and a soft side. Rrrrrgh, why’s romance always gotta be so complicated?”

Minuette groaned as she threw herself on the bed. “I need help.” she mumbled into the lumpy pillow.