Why not Limestone?
"So then, we all decided 'Hey, wouldn't it be better if we helped other ponies understand their Cutie Marks instead of just constantly tryin' to get ours?' And just like that, bazam! We all got this little beauty!"
"That's a very touching story."
Limestone Pie couldn't help but snicker as she overheard Maud's deadpan reaction to Apple Bloom's Cutie Mark story. She quickly composed herself and took a look around the room. The Hearth's Warming party was just starting to wind down. The sun outside was setting, the flames in the fireplace burned low, and everypony was lounging about and enjoying each other's company. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were talking about their adventures in far-off lands, Marble and Big Macintosh simply sat in stoic silence, and Granny Smith was blathering on about her own Apple traditions while Igneous and Cloudy Quartz lent an appreciative ear. A warm grin formed on Limestone's face as she watched the beautiful display, and she let out a whimsical sigh. She then cleared her throat.
"Hey, um, I'm gonna go whip up another batch of stone scones," she said. "Does anypony want tea or anything?"
"Sure, that sounds great!"
"You'd be doin' us a great service, young Limestone."
"Tea would be lovely. My throat's still a bit parched from all those carols."
"Mm-hmm."
"Eeyup."
"Great! I'll go put the kettle on," said Limestone. "You guys just, y'know, keep on keeping on and stuff. I'll try not to be too long." She then smiled. "It's really nice seeing everypony getting together like this."
She turned and walked into the kitchen. While everypony continued going about their business, Marble simply watched Limestone leave with a concerned frown on her face. After pondering for a moment, she tapped Big Macintosh on the shoulder and gestured for him to come closer. Big Macintosh obliged, and Marble whispered something in his ear. He nodded a few times before giving Marble a wink and turning to Applejack.
"Hey, AJ?" he said.
Applejack perked up. "Yeah? What is it, Big Mac?"
"Marble reckons that Limestone could use some help in the kitchen."
Applejack took a moment to process this before shrugging her shoulders. "Um, alright. Might as well. You wanna help too, Pink?"
"Um, duh! Of course I'll help out!" Pinkie chirped. "I love baking with my friends, and that goes for my family, too! Hey, we should make this an Apple/Pie family tradition!"
Applejack chuckled. "I certainly wouldn't be opposed to that. C'mon, let's not keep Limestone waitin'."
She got up and walked over to the kitchen with Pinkie bouncing right behind her. As soon as she walked through the door, her nostrils detected the unmistakable odor of baked treats wafting through the room, causing her mouth to water. She could see the scones cooking in the oven, slowly turning a nice golden brown. At the other side of the kitchen, Limestone was filling a kettle with water.
"Hey, Limestone!" Pinkie called.
Applejack braced herself slightly for a curt response, but instead, Limestone simply turned her head and gave her a half-smirk.
"Oh. Hey Pinkie. Hey Applejack," she said. "What's up?"
Applejack quickly found her bearings after being caught off-guard by Limestone's subdued reaction. "Oh, uh, we were just wonderin' if you needed an extra hoof here in the kitchen."
Limestone looked over at the oven, and then at the tea kettle in her hoof. She shrugged. "Well, I kinda have everything covered already, but I suppose some more eyes on the oven can't hurt."
"You got it!" said Pinkie with a salute. In a flash, she rushed right up to the oven door, pressing her face against the glass and licking her lips in anticipation.
"Yeah, I'm with you there, Pinkie," said Applejack, smacking her own lips. "Those scones smell delicious."
Limestone's smile broadened. "Thanks. It's a Pie family recipe. We've been passing it down for generations." Her grin then turned into a secretive sneer as she dipped her voice. "And seeing as you're technically family, I can tell you what the secret ingredient is."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess. It's rocks, right?"
Limestone gave Applejack a blank stare of disbelief. "What? No, it's butterscotch," she said. "What made you think it was rocks?"
Applejack's pupils shrank as she swallowed a large lump in her throat. "W-well, I, uh... I thought that, um..."
"C'mon, spit it out," Limestone snapped, tapping her foot impatiently. "I don't have all day."
Applejack took a moment to wipe a bit of sweat from her brow. After all of the boneheaded stuff she did before, the last thing she wanted to do was add another mistake to the pile and make Limestone mad. However, there was simply no tactful way to say what was on her mind. Mustering up her courage, she took a deep breath and averted her gaze.
"W-well, it's just that, we had rock soup for Hearth's Warming dinner, so I just figured—"
She was interrupted by a hearty guffaw. When she turned back to Limestone, she was surprised to see her chuckling and shaking her head.
"Okay. I see where this confusion is coming from," said Limestone, composing herself. "You're not a rock farmer, so you probably aren't aware of this. But a rule of hoof is that you don't typically want to use rocks in baking."
Applejack blinked. "I would never think to use rocks in my bakin' in the first place."
"And that's why you're not a rock farmer," said Limestone. She moseyed over to the stove and placed the kettle on top. "You see, we have a coal-burning oven. As such, anything we bake is already being flavored by the coal fumes. The problem is that coal has a very unique flavor that doesn't mesh well with other rocks. Therefore, baking with rocks is generally not a good idea. The only exception is rock salt, which is used to enhance the sweetness of pastries and all that."
"But cookin' rocks in general is A-OK?" asked Applejack.
"Sure. The Pie family has loads of rock recipes," said Limestone as she turned on the stove. "You just have to know what rocks to use."
"Uh, if you say so," said Applejack, still struggling to wrap her mind around the whole thing. "Sorry, it's just that before I met y'all, the only rocks I ever ate was rock candy."
Limestone smirked. "Strange. You seemed to like my rock soup just fine."
"It was, good," said Applejack nervously. "I mean, I couldn't eat the rock part, but the soup itself, actually wasn't half bad."
"Waitaminute!" Pinkie jolted up from her oven gazing and whipped her head over to Limestone. "You made the rock soup this year?!"
"Yep. All by myself, too," Limestone said proudly.
Pinkie squealed and gave Limestone a big hug. "Oooh~! I'm so happy for you! You're really growing up!"
"Ack! Air! Pinkie, I need air!" Limestone wheezed, flailing her hooves about.
"Oh. Whoops," said Pinkie, releasing Limestone. Limestone took a moment to catch her breath.
"Th-thanks, Pinkie," she panted. "H-hey, Applejack. Do you mind going to the cupboard and getting the tea while I recuperate?"
"Um, yeah. Sure thing," said Applejack. She trotted over to the cupboard and quickly found a small jar filled with teabags. "Say, uh, you wouldn't happen to have any apple cinnamon tea in here, would you?"
Limestone took a deep breath before answering. "F-funny you should ask that," she said. "That just so happens to be Marble's favorite. There are probably a few bags in there."
"Heh. That's a nice little coincidence there," said Applejack, rummaging through the jar. She then came across an odd-looking teabag that appeared to be hoof-made. She brought it to her nose and took a whiff. The sharp citrus flavor cleared out her sinuses in an instant, and she nearly keeled over.
"Woof~! That's some strong stuff," she said, turning to Limestone. "Hey, Limestone. What's this tea here?"
Limestone turned and gave Applejack a coy smile. "Oh, that's my special blend," she said, trotting over and taking the teabag from Applejack. "Lime tea."
Applejack arched an eyebrow. "I've heard of lemon tea before, but I can't say I've heard of lime tea."
"Like I said, it's my special blend," said Limestone. "I made it myself, actually. It's a bit strong, but Mom swears by it."
"She does?"
"Yep. Every time she takes a sip, she says 'What the bloody hay is this?'"
Pinkie giggled at Limestone's joke. Applejack chuckled a bit herself just to be polite, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was up.
"Hey, uh, Limestone?"
"Yeah?"
Applejack brushed the back of her head sheepishly. "Don't, take this the wrong way, but you seem a bit, different."
Pinkie tilted her head. "What're you talking about, AJ? This is how Key Lime normally acts."
Limestone's eye twitched as a bulging vein became visible on her forehead. "Pinkie, you know I hate it when you call me that."
"Wait, Key Lime?" asked Applejack.
Limestone let out a defeated sigh. "It's a nickname our nana gave me when I was little. I'm not exactly proud of it, if you couldn't tell." She then gave Pinkie a dirty look and scoffed. "Heck, I'm surprised Pinkie went this long without calling me that."
Pinkie twiddled her hooves. "Well, I saw that you were being all Captain Grumpy and stuff, and I didn't wanna make you mad."
"Yeah, that didn't exactly stop you from climbing on top of Holder's Boulder constantly after I told everypony not to touch him."
"Hold on, everypony. Let's not get all worked up over what happened," Applejack interjected. "That's all in the past, right?"
Limestone snorted. "I suppose." Her expression slowly softened. "Actually, I probably got a bit too worked up about Holder's Boulder. That's what I get for stressing myself out."
Pinkie's face clouded with concern. "Huh? What do you mean, Key Lime?"
Limestone let out a deep sigh. "Since Maud left to earn her rocktorate, this is my first Hearth's Warming being in charge. I had to make sure everything was perfect. I had to cook the food, put up the decorations, give Holder's Boulder a bath, hide the flag in the mines—"
Applejack raised her hoof. "Hold up there, sugarcube. What was that last one?"
"What, hiding the flag?"
"No, before that. You had to give a rock a bath?"
Limestone shrugged. "I don't see why that's so strange. Rocks get dirty just like everything else, and Holder's Boulder had to be presentable. You wash your apples, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"Well, the same applies to rocks."
Applejack placed a hoof to her chin and knitted her brow. "Huh. I, actually never thought of it that way before."
"You can find out a lot when you look at things from another point of view," said Limestone. She then heaved another sigh. "Anyway, I was just trying to live up to our family traditions and make everything run smoothly. This whole celebration was my responsibility, and I didn't want to let anypony down."
Applejack took off her stetson and let out a small snicker. "Actually, I know just how that feels."
Limestone perked up. "You do?"
"Eeyup," said Applejack somberly. "Several moons back, I took it upon myself to organize our own family reunion. Everypony who had the Apple name was there, and I wanted to make it special. But I was so focused on makin' all these fun activities that I lost sight of why we were all there to begin with." She paused. "Come to think of it, I plum made that same darn mistake this time around, too."
Limestone chortled. "Well, hopefully the lesson sticks this time, yeah?"
"Hopefully," said Applejack, putting her stetson back on. "Then again, my stubbornness tends to get me into trouble more often than not."
"Oh, like that one time during Applebuck Season when we made those baked bads?" asked Pinkie.
Applejack blushed and cleared her throat. "Um, yeah. Like that. Point is, I see where you're comin' from, Limestone. And again, I'm awful sorry I tried to force my traditions onto you."
"Ah, that's all water under the bridge," said Limestone. She then let out a self-mocking chuckle. "Heck, if our situations were reversed, I'd probably end up being the jerk foisting my traditions onto you. If anything, I should be thanking you for sparing me the humiliation."
"I suppose so," said Applejack with a laugh of her own.
Just then, Pinkie's left hind leg violently spasmed, her nose itched, and her tongue lolled out. Once the combo was done, she dashed away, grabbed an oven mitt, dashed back, and opened the oven door. The stone scones glittered and glistened, their sweet smell filling up the entire room. Limestone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Saved by the Pinkie Sense," she said. "Nicely done."
"No pwobum," Pinkie replied, her mouth muffled by the oven mitt. She then set the tray on the counter. "Ooh, can I do the glaze? Pretty please~?"
Limestone sniggered. "C'mon, Pinkie. You really think I'm in the mood to say no? Knock yourself out."
"Yay!" Pinkie cheered, getting right to work. Applejack and Limestone shared a laugh.
"Typical Pinkie," they said in unison. Once they realized this, they stared at each other for a bit before letting out another laugh. Just then, a sharp wail echoed throughout the kitchen.
"Whoop! Looks like the tea's done, too," said Limestone, turning off the stove. "Time sure flies when you're having fun, huh Applejack?"
"Sure seems that way," said Applejack. "Well, if you've got everythin' covered, I suppose I can head on back to the others."
"I'll be right behind you," said Limestone, getting some mugs from the cupboard.
"Alright," said Applejack with a tip of her hat. Just as she was about to leave, Limestone pipped up.
"Hey, uh, Applejack?"
Applejack turned around. "Yeah?"
Limestone gave Applejack a warm smile. "Thanks for spending some time with me. It's nice to see everypony bonding and everything, but, well, I couldn't help but feel a bit left out."
"Aw shucks, sugarcube. T'weren't nothin'," said Applejack modestly, crossing her forelegs. "Heck, I'm surprised you didn't say somethin' sooner."
"Yeah, well. Bedside manner's not really my thing," said Limestone sheepishly. "I'm not very good with schmaltzy situations."
"That's okay, Key Lime! We still love you!" Pinkie chirped, giving Limestone another hug.
"Mmph~! Case in point," Limestone grunted, her face turning red. "And seriously, Pinkie! I really wish you'd stop calling me that!"
Applejack chuckled. "You want me to bring the tea out, Limestone?"
"I-it's alright. I've got it covered," said Limestone in a strained tone. "Just as soon as Pinkie gets off of me."
"Oh, whoops! Sorry about that, Key Lime," said Pinkie, releasing Limestone from her grip.
Limestone's eye twitched. "Okay, now I feel like you're making up for lost time just to mess with me."
Applejack simply shook her head and snickered to herself. Pinkie might have a crazy family, but it's a crazy family I have no problem bein' a part of, she thought. And with that, she returned to the living room and left the two sisters to bond.