The Mare-a-thon

Shadow Spell was hunched over and breathing heavily, his fur all clammy from being drenched in sweat due to a mixture of the hard labor and the hot, unforgiving sun beating down on him as they worked the fields. It was all he could do from just flat out falling to a knee and possibly passing out. The only thing that was keeping him up was his twenty pound sledgehammer he was using to prop himself up.

Jetstream walked over to him with a smug smile. “What’s wrong, Shadow? You’re acting like you’ve never worked a day in your life!”

“...Not like this…” he replied breathlessly.

“Well, this is what real work is like. Don’t let your ego get in the way and try kill yourself. Go get some water and cool off for a little bit,” Jet said, taking off his sweat drenched shirt, revealing his well muscled upper body. He walked up to a nearby boulder and put his chisel on it, beating it in with small taps from his hammer to set it in place. Then he swung his sledgehammer, a resounding sound of iron clashing with iron echoing the area with each successive hit driving the chisel deeper in the stone until it split in half. He smiled when he saw an assortment of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds within it. “Nice!” he said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Shadow grit his teeth together and straightened out his posture. “No. If you can do this, then so can I!” he claimed, walking to a somewhat smaller boulder. He did what he saw Jetstream do, and eased the chisel into place. Then the brought up the sledgehammer and tried to swing it like Jet did, but he missed. He tried to swing again, and this time, he made contact with the chisel. However, it didn’t have that same resounding cling that the pegasus managed to get. So he tried again, and again, but was only able to swing the sledgehammer a few more times before he tired out again.

“You’re not letting the hammer do the work, Shadow. That’s why you’re getting gassed out too quickly,” Jetstream offered.

“How do you mean? What am I doing wrong?”

“Your hand placement for one. You’ve got one hand on the bottom of the handle while the other is just under the hammerhead. With that placement, you’re using all arms and not the weight of the hammer itself. For another, you're not standing square with the rock. You're in an isosceles stance, which isn't good. If you miss with that hammer, you're gonna end up hitting your leg, which is bad news. You've gotta stand square and keep your back straight. Let me show you.” Jetstream placed his right hand just under the hammerhead, and his left on the bottom of the handle. He stood square with the rock, keeping his back straight and squatting a tad, like he was about to sit. He then lifted the sledgehammer above his head, and slid his right hand down the handle, moving the hammer forward and hitting his mark with that same resounding cling. “See? By squaring up with it, I get the leverage I need for the swing, and by working your hand placement like I did you take full advantage of the weight of the hammer, letting it do most of the work instead of you. You don’t really even need to use your arms at that point, thus conserving energy. Though, if you want more power, you can utilize your hips, like so.” Jetstream once again swung the hammer, but this time put his hips to work, thus making a louder cling, then took advantage of the bounce, resetting his hand placement and swinging it again.

Shadow stared at the Wonderbolt, completely perplexed at how he was explaining the task more articulately than he would have thought to hear from him. Who would have thought that somepony that acts so foolhardy could actually have a little know-how in this line of work? “...Duly noted.”

“Oh, fellas!” Pinkie sang out. “How’s it going? Do you guys need anything?”

“It’s going okay, Pinkie. I split open several rocks and hit the jackpot with this one!” Jet said proudly.

“Oh, WOW! That’ll put a big dent on our quota!” she said, gathering the precious stones in her basket. “And how about you, Shadow?”

“I think I’m about to pass out from heat exhaustion…” Shadow said dryly, feeling a sour taste in his mouth from being outperformed by his friend.

“Well why didn’t you say something sooner?” Pinkie giggled. “I’ll have Marble bring you guys some water.”

“Thanks, that would be most…” Shadow was cut off when he saw the pink mare pull a megaphone from her mane.

“MARBLE! WE NEED WATER OVER HERE!!!” she yelled unceremoniously, causing the stallions to cover their ears. “...She’ll be here in a minute. In the mean time, why don’t you boys take a break?” said Pinkie, happily skipping back to her post.

Spotting a nearby tree, the stallions walked over to the shade, setting down their hammers and letting out a relaxed sigh. A small breeze blew over them, cooling off their hot, sweaty bodies significantly, bringing them much needed relief.

“Thanks for coming again, Shadow. But I think it’s safe to say that you got in over your head on this one,” Jet chucked.

“Well, thank you, Captain Obvious,” Shadow deadpanned, causing the pegasus to let out another bout of laughter.

“Nopony’s fault but your own. I’m normally not one to gloat, but that’s what you get for thinking me an incompetent fool.”

“Uh-huh. Just keep talking, jackass.”

“Hey, don’t be mad because I’m pulling a you on you,” he chuckled. “Besides, every summer when we were growing up, I used to go to my grandpa Forge Hammer’s place and I normally did manual labor for him working the forge. That and my martial arts instructor owned a rock farm too. He implemented working the fields as part of our training, so I already have experience in this line of work.”

“...Touché, Jetstream. Touché.”

Just then, a mare with a light gray coat, a long, straight, dark gray mane and purple eyes approached the two stallions with a tray holding two tall glasses of water, her old fashioned, striped work dress gently flowing with the wind. It was common knowledge that farmers tended to be a little on the traditional side of fashion, but until you saw a dress like this, it’s easy to forget just how traditional a feel places like these gave off. The young mare had a small smile on her face, though her eyes gave away how nervous she truly was. Apparently she didn’t deal with strangers much, or quite possibly, members of the opposite gender. “Um, h-hello, gentlecolts,” she greeted. “I brought you two some water…” she said, but went wide eyed and blushed upon seeing Jetstream’s naked, sweaty, and muscular upper body. “Um, h-here you go.” she offered the tray with extended arms, and averted her eyes as she did so.

“Oh, thank you, ma’am,” Jetstream said with his usual chipper attitude, grabbing a glass and taking a long drink. Shadow did the same, but chugged his glass as if he was dying from thirst. “Ahhh, that’s some good stuff. If I may ask, what’s your name?” he asked, seemingly oblivious to the mare’s plight.

The mare kept her eyes averted, but gave him a polite inclination of her head. “I’m Marble Pie. It’s nice to meet you, Mr…?”

“Name’s Jetstream, but you can just call me Jet, if you want,” he said. “And this poor, unfortunate unicorn is Shadow Spell. Don’t mind his gloomy attitude, he’s just not big on the whole eye contact thing,” he chuckled.

“I’m not amused,” he said. “Thank you for the water, Miss Pie. May I trouble you for another glass?” Shadow asked.

“Yes, of course, Mr. Shadow Spell. Would you like another glass too, Jet?” Marble responded.

“If you don’t mind, sure,” Jet answered, handing her his now empty glass.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, scurrying off a little too quickly.

“Hm. Cute mare. Too bad she seems a little on the nervous side.” Jet stated as soon as she was out of earshot.

“That’s because she obviously doesn’t deal with many stallions outside the farm, and you being shirtless really threw her for a loop. Put your shirt back on, you knave.”

Jetstream laughed, “Jealous or what?”

"Hardly. Just because I don’t have a body like that doesn’t mean I’m insecure about what I have. Aside from that, it hasn’t affected me in my line of work anyways."

"True, true, but then you're not exactly an up-close-and-personal, kind of pony either. You do much better with that stealth bullshit than I do."

“No, you think?” he replied dryly, “It’s kind of a requirement to be a Special Agent.”

“Yeah, too bad you can’t blend in out here. You stick out like a sore thumb with all that gasping for air and shit,” he said with a small chuckle, then leaned on his hammer much like he was earlier making gasping noises.

“Oh, shut up!” Shadow replied indignantly. He picked up a small rock and threw it at Jetstream, only for him to catch it despite the close range.

“How predictable,” Jet chuckled.

Shadow rolled his eyes. “Just put your shirt back on before Pinkie thinks you’re trying to seduce her sister.”

“So what if I am?” he replied jokingly with a wink.

“Then be working in a different part of the farm from me when her other sister finds out.”

“Oh? You mean that grayish-purple mare with the hazel eyes? The one who’s been eyeing you since we got here?” he says, pointing his head to the mare in question.

As Shadow looked to see who he was talking about, he caught her stealing a glance at him, which caused her to quickly avert her gaze and go back to her task of collecting gems. “...No. I mean the one who carries the pet rock around.” he responded, pointing at the gray mare with the purple mane. She was petting a small rock before placing it in her pocket and returning to work. She turned to a particularly large boulder, placing each of her hands on either side of it and with little effort turned it to rubble.

“...woah.” said Jetstream in wide-eyed astonishment.

“I see the gravity of the situation is finally sinking in.” Shadow commented.

“Oh, that’s not it at all. She’s pretty damn cute herself!” he said as the mare turned to look at the stallions, pausing for a time before she went back to work.

“You willing to risk that grip if it turns out she's overprotective? Pretty sure she’s the oldest sister.”

“Heh, heh, sorry, but I can’t help but think of those hands around my yogurt slinger.”

Shadow chuckles, “Alright, now imagine that hand doing to your yogurt slinger what it did to that rock and get back to work.”

“Ooo! It looks like Maud really likes you, Jetty! She was giving you ‘the look’ while she was showing off!” Pinkie said excitedly, seemingly coming out of nowhere. The two stallions looked to each other in confusion, but decided not to question it.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘the look’?” Jetstream asked in confusion, “She looked like she was staring at a backed up toilet.”

“Great, thanks for the mental image, Jet.” Shadow deadpanned, “But Pinkie...are you sure it’s appropriate for Jet to be working shirtless in front of your sisters?”

“Oh, sure it is! Marble and Limestone have been…” Pinkie said, moving her hand as she tried to think of the right word, “Shall we say… ‘repressed’?”

“...and having him shirtless helps with that...how?”

Pinkie giggles, “You’ll see!” she says in a singsong voice before skipping away.

“...alright…” Shadow replied nervously, getting back to work.

Just then, Marble returned with some more water, though she seemed a little flushed in the face, and breathing a little heavier than usual and still averting her eyes, “S-sorry I took so long. I had to take care of something else real quick.”

“No worries!” Jet replied, taking another glass of water. Even while he was drinking, he could catch her stealing a glance now and then, “Thanks again.”

“Yes, thank you very much for the water,” Shadow said, handing his empty glass to her.

“No problem. I-I’ll get started on lunch now,” Marble stated as she grabbed the glasses and once again left in a hurry.

The stallions watched as she made her way to the house, once again stealing a glance at them before entering the house.

“Hey, Shadow?” Jetstream called out, “You don’t think that Pinkie meant that her sisters ...you know, want the don-?”

“Shut up and get back to work.” Shadow said a little hurriedly.

Jetstream just finished splitting yet another boulder, letting out his breath as he set his hammer down, “Whew! I think that’s the last of them in this area.” he said as he stretched his exerted muscles.

“I think you’re right,” Shadow concurred. “Thank Celestia. I don’t think I could’ve handled another one anyways.”

Jetstream laughed. “Dude, you only did like, six rocks!”

“I did seven! Get your numbers right!” Shadow shot back.

“Oh, you did seven rocks. Well, that changes everything! I have been remiss!” he responded, once again laughing, causing the unicorn to glower at him.

His laughter was stopped abruptly when he heard some sniffing behind him, “Hm. You smell like a sedimentary rock.” A monotone voice said.

“WHA-?!” Jetstream jumped, completely started by the mare’s sudden appearance, “Damn, girl! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

Now it was Shadow’s turn to laugh hard.

“Lunch is ready. Take a bath before you come to the table,” Maud said simply as she retreated back to the house.

“I think you should take a bath first, Jet, and while you’re at it, find a clean pair of boxers.” Shadow teased with a smirk.

“Oh, shut up!” Jetstream shot back.

“Hey, don’t get mad at me for pulling a you on you.”

“...touché, Shadow. Touché.”

With that, the two stallions entered the house, ready to bathe and feed their hungry stomachs.

Meanwhile, Maud returned to her room, closing the door firmly shut behind her.

“So? Whaddya think? Aren’t those two perfect for this?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“They both seem...adequate,” Maud responded. “The pegasus won’t be a problem to convince. The night unicorn might be...less accommodating.”

“Oh, he’ll do it! Trust me on that big sister! I bet they can even make your day, even if this is really supposed to be for Marble and Limestone.”

“I admit, the pegasus tickles my fancy. Not too bright, but his body is quite...intriguing.”

Pinkie giggles, “Who says we can’t have a little fun either? We can totally have a ‘Pie Sisters Sex Party’!”

“You mean...an orgy?”

“Tomato, tom-mah-to. But first and most importantly, we need to get Marble and Limestone’s cherries popped first! Actually, I don’t know why they call it a cherry, or why they say ‘pop the cherry’, because cherries don’t pop! That’s just silly! I think they should say…”

“What about Marble and Limestone? Will they be ready?”

“Oh, they totally will! You saw how Marble was staring at Jetty when his shirt was off! She rushed in the bathroom and did a little ‘manual stimulation’ get it?” Pinkie giggled.

“Limestone did too, but she didn’t see the unicorn with his shirt off.”

“See? Their bodies are eager to experience the joy of coitus! They just need a little push! Both the girls and the guys!”

“One question. Do you think the guys would let Boulder join us?”

Pinkie giggled once more, “Ooo! Kinky!”