Every Friday after work, Limestone Pie went to Rockville to sell rocks and buy supplies, not that there was much to buy -- they could produce most of the things they needed on the farm, and the town was small, with only a couple of stores. Still, there were always a few things that needed to be done, and Limestone knew neither her parents nor her sisters had time or energy for them. But what she was doing now was nothing productive.
“Another one, Ms. Pie?” the bartender asked, “Already?”
Limestone furrowed her eyebrows and threw a colourful gem on the counter. “Yes, already.”
The bartender shrugged and filled Limestone’s glass with a liquid of the colour and consistency of watery mud, or piss, which it might have been, since nopony exactly knew what the bartender was putting in the pot. Some had tried to guess, some preferred not to. Each batch had a slightly different taste. There were ponies in Rockville who could tell the exact vintage from just smelling it.
Limestone took a large gulp, wincing at the taste. “You really outdid yourself this time,” she muttered, struggling to catch a breath. “Rotten oranges?”
“Half-rotten,” the bartender replied, “Among other things. I bought them at the market last week, for half a price. I couldn’t waste such an occasion. Don’t worry, you won’t get sick from it, not right now, at least.”
He was an old, balding bat pony with one eye, thin and tough, despite his age. The bar itself was one of the oldest buildings in town – a stone bastle house that used to belong to the Royal Guard. Nopony exactly knew how long ago it was, but apparently nopony had bothered to remove the flea-infested Nightmare Moon banner hanging from the wall behind the counter.
The bar was lit with only a couple of kerosene lamps, candles stuck in bottles standing on the tables, and a dingy changellier hanging above the pool table. Limestone noticed that most of the ponies were regulars from the town; only a few were travellers.
Unlike the citizens, they were a colourful group. In fact, they looked like they had run away from a circus. A dirty, rachitic colt with small, almost featherless wings was entertaining the patrons by juggling a couple of balls and other items, including mugs. None of them fell to the floor, even when the colt was busy sweeping the coins patrons were giving him into the pockets of his outfit that consisted mostly of patches and thick thread.
“How come nopony ever dies after drinking this concoction?” Limestone downed the drink and looked back at the bartender, blinking until her vision sharpened.
“It disinfects everything,” the bartender replied.
“Good. Another one,” Limestone sighed. “Maybe it’ll disinfect me."
The bartender looked at her unsurely. “Is something bothering you?”
“Not really.” Limestone rolled her eyes. “I come here every Friday, right? Somehow it wasn’t a problem before.”
“Okay, no problem.” The bartender raised his hooves before going to the barrel to pour Limestone another mug of booze. Then he grabbed an empty mug, spat on it and started polishing it with a dirty rag.
Limestone downed her drink in one go and turned to look at what was going on in the bar. It seemed like a typical Friday evening in Rockville. The juggling colt had disappeared with his money. A local band, consisting of a cellist and two violinists, was playing some fast-paced tune. In the middle of the stone hall, a few dark-haired mares adorned with golden earrings were dancing, while another mare was reading some stallion’s hoof. Some unicorn, probably a travelling vendor, was playing pool with a couple of miners. Limestone noticed somepony else, hiding in the darkest corner of the bar, unseen in the dim light.
The air smelled of sweat, booze, and wet rocks. Limestone took a few shaky steps towards the dancefloor and spun in place to the rhythm of the music. She jumped into the air, clapping her hooves together. A few local mares joined her, jumping over the tables and knocking the chairs down on the hard, earthen floor.
Limestone smirked, alcohol flowing in her veins. The song was a bit too fast for her overworked hooves; she was neither as fast nor as agile as the mares around her, but for once she didn’t care. She closed her eyes, turning in place.
In the dark corner of the bar, an old, drunk miner was staring at one of the newcomers. It was a weird sight. He was an earth pony, like most of them, but he wore a sombrero and a poncho. Also, he spent most of the evening drinking with a rubber chicken propped against the mug standing on the table. The miner had never seen something like this before, especially since the strange pony would often talk to the chicken, calling him Boneless.
“Who is she?”
The miner shuddered, hearing the stranger’s low whisper. He raised his head, propping himself against the wall and looked at the pony in a poncho, trying to figure out who he meant.
“That mare who just started to dance – who is she?” the stallion asked the miner.
“Ah, her?” The miner looked at Limestone. “That’d be missus Pie. Limestone. The oldest daughter of the ole Igneous Rock, Ah suppose…”
“Pie?” the stranger asked. “I’ve heard that name before…”
“Yeah…” The miner smirked. “Ah’m gonna give y’all an advice. You’d better keep away from ‘er…”
The stranger raised his eyebrows. “Why?”
The miner nodded slowly, looking at the dancing mares. “When missus Pie is dancin’, somepony’s gonna be gatherin’ his teeth from the floor.” He let out a gurgling chuckle.
The fight soon broke out, indeed, although Limestone had nothing to do with it. The miners playing pool discovered that their unicorn companion was cheating, using his magic to alter the ball’s course. Before the bartender could protest, a thrown glass smashed against the unicorn’s nose. He rested himself against the table, his blood flowing on the canvas that had lost its green colour ages ago. Despite the screams, he received a few more punches from the miners before being dragged outside.
The music started to play louder and faster. Limestone staggered towards the bar, resting her hooves against the counter. “Hey, bartender!” she exclaimed, making a wide gesture with her hoof. “Another one, will ya?”
“Are you sure?” the one-eyed bat pony asked. “You hardly ever come here to dance. Is everything alright?”
“More poury less talky,” Limestone muttered, her smile faltering. “Of course I’m alright. After all, I’m here instead of freezing my ass off wandering around the backwater with a piece of rope, looking for a tree that’d hold my weight.”
The bartender’s hoof froze above the counter, but Limestone snapped the mug out of it. “You’re not contemplating–”
“Nah, of course not,” Limestone replied, taking a sip. “Really, this batch is awful. Besides, I’ll work myself to death before I run out of the will to live. Pa sometimes can’t get up in the morning and I can already feel my joints.” She moved her hoof in the air a few times. “I’m not getting any younger and now that there’s only two of us…” She sighed, resting her head on the counter. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this…”
“What happened?” the bartender asked.
Limestone slowly raised her head and took a long swig from the mug. “Everything…” she muttered. “Anytime Maud or Pinkie visit… It reminds me of all those things I’m missing… Everything just happens elsewhere while I stay at this farm with my parents and sister. Time’s running up. You know what I’m afraid of?” She shuddered, wiping her eyes with her hoof. “That soon I’ll stop caring… I’ll forever be that old, sad mare who never even got further than ten miles away from home...”
The bartender nodded. “Well, when I was your age–”
“Then it was your age,” Limestone replied. “You were a soldier, right? You’ve seen half of Equestria. And you had a wife… Even Maud found a boyfriend, yet who am I to fuck, let alone marry?” She waved her hoof at the ponies around her; two of them just came back with the unicorn’s saddlebags and started to examine their contents. “One of those dirty miners? One of those old stallions? Each of them could be my father!”
“You’d better stop drinking today,” the bartender said. “Also, you can’t say that. You don’t know what the future will bring…”
“Oh, I can afford to learn that…” Limestone stood up and walked to one of the thin mares in colourful dresses adorned with gems and necklaces made of coins. She raised her hoof, holding a couple of bits. “Hey, you! What’ll happen to me?”
The mare snapped the bits from Limestone’s hoof, her brown eyes focusing on it, watching the cracks and irregularities caused by hard work. “Oh, I see many great things in your future… The one you love is closer than you think…”
“Yeah, sure.” Limestone rolled her eyes. “Out of curiosity: what do you see when you look at your own hoof?”
The thin mare furrowed her eyebrows and looked at her hoof. At the same moment Limestone spun, punching her and sending her tumbling on the floor.
“Fortune teller, huh?” she muttered in a chilling silence.
The bartender shook his head, sighing. The mare, her face bleeding, got up, screaming at her companions who surrounded Limestone. More ponies stood up from their seats. Before the crowd reached her, Limestone saw the face of the stranger, observing her from under his sombrero, his eyes wide in surprise.
The dusty road was dry and empty. There was no wind that’d move the sand and pebbles from it; nor were there any plants. All that surrounded the path joining Rockville with the farm was a barren wasteland of rocks and sand, occasionally ravaged by strong wind blowing across the plains.
Limestone walked down the road, taking careful, shaky steps. She gritted her teeth. The bar brawl left her with a black eye and frazzled mane. She was also limping – somepony had landed a good kick on her, shortly before the bartender smacked her with a frying pan, throwing her out of the bar along with the other brawlers.
They would pay.
She'd be back.
Fucking bastards.
Picking on a mare blowing off some steam.
Limestone groaned. A few years ago, she’d still stay in town to enjoy herself. Maybe she’d even take a risk and go to the old wooden cottage where an old, fat mare was making moonshine. It was cheaper than in the bastle house, but it had become much less popular after a couple of miners got blind after drinking it.
Tonight, however, Limestone only wanted to go home. Her head hurt and she needed to drink some water and go to sleep, gathering strength until Monday. At least the sun was low over the horizon; she wasn’t sure how her eyes would react to bright light.
She grit her teeth and seethed. Fucking damnit, she was acting like an old maid!
Suddenly, Limestone noticed somepony walking towards her, pulling a cart. She started to walk faster, trying to get past the stranger as fast as she could.
“Hmm?”
Limestone raised her head and saw Marble standing in the middle of the road. She was indeed pulling a battered cart, filled with some flannel blankets. There was also a bottle of water in the corner.
“Marble? Where are you going?” Limestone asked.
“Hmm.” Marble looked at Limestone.
“To pick me up, huh?” Limestone furrowed her eyebrows. “Why would you think I’d need to be picked up?”
Marble rolled her eyes and focused back on Limestone. “Hmm…”
Limestone took a step back. “Okay, I go to the town every week to have some fun, right? But I always come back by myself, so why would you get an idea that I need someone to pick me up?”
“Mhm.” Marble nodded slowly, shooting Limestone a disapproving glare and looking back at the cart.
“Hey, I usually come back by myself, right?” Limestone groaned, rubbing her temples. The sun was getting up and the temperature didn’t help her in gathering her thoughts.
“Hmph.” Marble shook her head.
“Y– you pick me up?” Limestone shuddered, trying to recall the road home last week. “How often?”
“Hmm…” Marble lowered her head and kicked a pebble lying on the road.
“All the time.” Limestone muttered. “Just great. And Ma and Pa definitely notice, if they don't send you...” She sighed, sitting on the ground and lowering her head. “As if I wasn’t pathetic enough…”
Marble walked to her and embraced her, letting her sink her face in her mane.
“Forgive me, Marble,” Limestone whispered, “I screwed up a lot of things…”
“Mhm,” Marble replied.
Limestone groaned, “Hey, you were supposed to disagree with me!”
“Hm!”
“Okay, tough love, I understand,” Limestone muttered, relaxing only after Marble gave her a bottle of water. “Guess I’ll have to go back to the town, apologise to some ponies. And maybe find this guy I’ve seen...”
Marble raised her eyebrows. “Hmm?”
“Okay, I didn’t give my best impression, starting a fight and shit…” Limestone sighed and shook her head. “So, I’d better start apologising.”
“Hmm?” Marble pointed at Limestone’s eye.
Limestone sighed. “Well, I guess I have a lot of explaining to do…”
