A Love as Steady as Stone

Chapters

Remember
Restore
Our Town
Howler
Limestone Went a Courtin'
Love and Marriage
Love, Family, and a Pickup
Rolling Along
Neighbors
Growing
Provisions
Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage, Go together like a... Part 1
Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage, Go together like a... Part 2

Remember

A love as Steady as Stone

A Marble and Limestone in the Vogonverse Story

Chapter 1 ‘Remember’

The arid smell of the stones outside had long since drifted inside. Limestone Pie-Foreman felt her eyes slowly opening. She slowly got up, feeling the recently carpeted floor of the old hotel that was now a very large family home, and looked at her husband. Aaron Foreman was sleeping soundly, and beside him was their daughter Rose Quartz. Giving a smile, for a moment, she turned and walked toward the window. She opened it, looked out at what had been an abandoned mining town, and slowly became the new Pie Family Rock Farm.

She sniffed the air, smelling Pinkie Pie’s muffins, and she rolled her eyes. She loved her sisters, all of them, but a simple bowl of oatmeal would have been fine. She walked toward Aaron, touched his face, and considered the previous night. He was a good stallion, a bit of a pervert when it came to the things they did in bed, but then again she assumed that almost every stallion was to some degree. She almost walked down to the kitchen as she was, but then considered Pinkie’s husband. Andy was a strange one. He was fine with Pinkie’s little Displays of affection, but he was uncomfortable with anypony walking around nude.

So, to spare his feelings, she grabbed a robe, wrapped it around herself, and walked down stairs. The sound of everypony starting to wake up filled the old hotel. The ancient structure had underwent a huge renovation when they had moved into it, and she could see some of the newer parts as she neared the kitchen. The old bar had been turned into a very long counter, an electric stove top, along with an in wall oven, had been added, and at the moment she saw her sister, dressed in an apron, bent over and grabbing something from inside of the oven.

“Muffins, nature’s naked cupcakes!” Pinkie sang as she sat then on the long, smooth, and cool Quartz counter.

“Pinkie,” Limestone said as she neared her sister.

“Morning! I woke up and my tummy was rumbly, so I knew that everypony else was going to be hungry, so I figured that I’d fix breakfast!”

“Thanks, but why are you almost naked?”

“Oh, I always bake like this, and Andy doesn’t really mind.”

I looked at my sister, and my suspicions about all stallions seemed to be confirmed. Apparently her husband was just as much as a pervert, in his own way, as Aaron. I yawned, looked for the coffee, and found a fresh pot already brewed.

“Good morrow my daughters. We hath heard the sound of much commotion in the kitchen and believed that thou were already preparing breakfast,” Cloudy Quartz said as she walked into the room.

Limestone took a moment to look at her mother. She was up, and to somepony that might not have been her daughter she looked like she normally would. But it was the way she was carrying herself. Limestone noticed the slight wince her mother had, and she closed her eyes. She really didn’t want to think about her parents as sexual creatures. As far as she was concerned as soon as Marble came out of her mother, at that exact moment, the foal hole was closed for business.

“Thy father should be roused and prepareth himself for breaking the fast,” she said.

It took Limestone several seconds of thinking about anything else, anything in the wide, wide world, to keep the image of her father, in bed, with the same kind of grin that Aaron usually wore after a full night of love making.

“Pinkamena, wouldst I be in the wrong, or ‘tis it acceptable for thine father to sow his seed in mine rectum?”

Both Pinkie and Limestone stop for a moment, contemplating what exactly their mother just said. Pinkie, after a few moments of contemplation, went back to baking. Lime, on the other hand, couldn’t get the traumatizing scene of seeing her mother and father engaging in anal sex. No matter where she turned her thoughts, the scene revolved back around to the idea her parents plowing the chocolate end of a pony. Her horrified mind reared, unable to comprehend or validate the- vulgarity that issued from Cloudy Quartz mouth.

“Mama,” Pinkie groaned, rising from the depths of the oven, “I don’t think Lime or I needed the idea of you and Papa stuffing it in the ole chocolate starfish.”

“PINKIE!” Lime seethed, “I was just getting the visual out of my head!”"

“Lime, Mama is a pony just like the rest of us, and she’s got needs like us,” Pinkie said.

“Pinkie is right.”

Both Pie sisters looked up to see their elder sister. Maud walked down the stairs, wearing a light blue t-shirt that did little to cover up anything below the waist. She took a seat and barely opened her mouth.

“Wow, Maudie is tired!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Daughter, art thou finished with thy school?”

Maud gave a nod before she lifted a single muffin, “I am, but Cheese and Sarah kept me up most of the night. Having a pregnant herd mate, and a very willing stallion, tends to make for a long night.”

“Nope! I don’t want to hear about it. It’s bad enough that I heard about Mama’s exploits, but I don’t want to hear about my sister’s!” Lime shouted.

“I’m a mare, I enjoy sex, it happens,” Maud said.

“What about relations,” said Igneous Rock as he stepped into the kitchen, “wast your mother rapping episodic on yonder bedroom adventures?”

“No, Papa, not you too. I don’t want to hear about this. All of you are supposed to be chaste, never doing anything, and that’s it.”

“Daughter, art thou sure thou art fine? Wouldst thou, or thine sisters, be here if we were chaste?” Cloudy Quartz asked.

“No, I know that, I do, but after you and Papa were never supposed to again.”

There was a slight giggle that started from Pinkie, and it spread to Cloudy and Igneous. Even Maud cracked a smile, and before long several of the ponies in the room began laughing in earnest. Lime looked at them, a little upset, before Cloudy Quartz touched her hand.

“Daughter, dost thou think that thine father and I would be chaste simply because thou and thine sisters were born? Thou art mistaken, for our love is strong, ‘erefore our need to express ‘tis strong also. Is it different with thine husband? Do thou not think we can not hear thine moans and cries?”

Limestone’s eyes widened, “Mama, I… I… I wasn’t trying to be…”

“Worry not. Thou art not in trouble. Thine husband and thee art simply expressing thy love to one another. Thou and thy sisters have filled me with pride. For each of thee have found a good stallion, and each of thee have bore fine foals.”

Limestone gave a rare smile, looked up and saw their youngest sister. Marble Pie was slowly trotting down the stairs. She looked tired, a bit out of sorts, and extremely happy. The entire reason they were gathered, all of them, was because Marble had found a stallion to call her own. She grinned, and her mind thought back to when she first met Aaron over a year ago.

They had been exposed to the elements. The entire day and night had been rough, and it wasn’t until her father, Igneous, saw the outline of a small town in the distance. Together the four of them began the trek toward the town, letting the sound of their hooves crunching on the sand be the only sound in the silence they had. All of them were too tired, too drained, and far too thirsty to simply talk. Walking into the town they discovered that much of it was abandoned. A sense of acceptance began to cover them. They had followed their instincts, and their insticts had lead them here. Limestone happened to look up, and what she saw brought a new sense of hope. There was a light in the building just down the street. She pointed it out to her father, and the four of them moved toward the building, toward an old Inn.

They approached the building, and her father knocked on the old wooden door. The sound echoed, and after a few minutes it opened revealing a strange looking stallion. As if to accent their need to find a place the sound of thunder, and then a driving rain began to pour behind them. It wasn’t the first rain. Ever since the Pegasi had began controlling the weather even little towns like this had been getting rain. Unknown to the family of Earth Ponies there was a collection of leaks inside.

"Excuse our presence, Young Master," her father said, "Me and mine did not mean to intrude, but as thou hast seen, the out of doors is plagued by a storm most fierce. Mine family and I hast been traveling upon yonder roads, unburdened by much possessions. We find ourselves much destitute and in need of shelter. Prithee, wouldst thou allow us stay in thine in? We may not carry any lucre, but with our backs, we can lighten any labor thou hast here."

Standing there, completely dumbfounded, the strange stallion seemed to consider what was being asked. The hotel, as it was, hadn't been occupied in at least thirty years. Even then the building was old. Much of the town had been a throwback to the old west. It was a mining town that had been created out of an older mining town. He’d heard stories, like anyone who took a chance on some of these old government land auctions, that some of the towns were honestly ghost towns from an age where justice was granted by a quick draw, a hangman’s noose, or an angry mob. It seemed that his little town had originally been that before a mining company took a chance on it, and then lost their backing.

When he showed up he saw that several of the buildings were falling in on themselves, and only a couple could safely be salvaged. So he started on the hotel, which had been more of a challenge than he considered. Looking at the group outside he couldn't turn them away. Instead he stepped back, nodded, and let them come inside.

The antiquated air and heating system was working, but in truth he wondered how long it would work. He'd rigged solar panels on the roof of the hotel, and on a couple of other buildings, hoping that they would supply enough power to the buildings, and the charge batteries, to keep everything working. This storm however had caught him fairly off guard.

"I've got to warn you folks... I've just moved into this place, and I'm certain that it's been deserted for some time."

"Fine," said one of the younger females, a gray coated mare with a short mane, "anything to get out of this weather."

"Limestone Diane Pie," growled the oldest mare in the group, "thou shouldest not speak that way to yonder stallion! The young master hast opened up the inn for our parlay. 'Tis proper that we take upon this boon with thanksgiving."

Showing them in he considered the rooms he had worked on. There was a small collection of mattresses that he had been lucky enough to find. Most of them had to have the dust knocked out of them, aired out, and then placed into a room. He’d found a three quarter mattress, and a frame, that he’d placed in a room on the second level.

In truth most of the upper level was what he was certain was in good enough shape to handle traffic and sleeping arrangements. As they walked he stopped in front of a room and opened it.

“I’ve got some sheets, mattresses, pillows, and blankets in here. I haven’t had time to really put much together, but you are all welcome to what I’ve got,” he said as he looked at them, “And right now I figure that all of you could handle some food, water, and rest.”

He led them into the kitchen, looked at the old stove in the corner, and checked the coals in the wood stove that doubled as the cook stove at the moment. The old stockpile of wood he’d found was still burning, and he added another stick. The drish stick sputtered as it caught fire, and he then checked the pot on top of the old wood stove. He was glad that he had brought several dry goods with him, and right now he was cooking some of the pinto beans that he’d brought.

There wasn’t much for flavor to choose from, so in the end he’d used a trick his grandfather had told him about. Adding a small stone into the mix. As it was the stone he found seemed be flavoring it with more salt than anything. He grabbed a few plastic bowls, dipped up the beans and set them at the old rough hewn table that was in the kitchen. He dug out a few plastic spoons, and put them into the bowls of beans.

“Go right ahead,” he said.

The family of ponies gathered around the beans, held hands, and he watched as the oldest male almost silently thanked Celestia for the meal and hospitality they’d received. He fixed himself a bowl, found a corner of the table, and watched as the beans he served them suddenly disappeared. A quick glance from the eldest of the group told him that they were still hungry. He grabbed something to sit the pot on, used a pair of carpenter gloves he’d bought, and lifted the pot onto the table.

“Go right ahead,” he said.

The invitation was met with the bowls being refilled, muzzles following suit, and soon several contented sighs escaping their mouths. He checked the pot, and saw that it was mostly empty. There was only a thin layer of juice on the bottom. Seeing that his dinner, breakfast, lunch, and possibly dinner for the next day was gone left him with the knowledge that his dry goods he packed might not last as long as he’d like. That meant a trek to a town with a grocery store, and without a transport of some kind that meant a good two or three day walk.

Looking at them, seeing them full, their faces filled with hope, it was worth it. He led them to the room where the mattresses, sheets, pillows, and blankets were. Once each of them had gathered what they needed he led them upstairs. Igneous stopped at a room that their house was offering. He opened it to see a full bed frame, a nightstand, and a window. It was basic, but at least they had a chance to get some well deserved sleep.

Limestone watched her parents go into the room, and then she walked with her sister until the both of them found rooms. Before the stallion could leave she stopped him.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Aaron, Aaron Foreman. What’s yours?” he answered.

“Limestone Diane Pie,” she replied.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I don’t know if you folks have other clothes or not, but if not you’re welcome to wash and dry the ones you have, and I have a few sets that I don’t mind sharing,” he replied.

“Thank you,” she replied.

Watching him leave she closed the door and looked at the mostly empty room. It wasn’t home, but for the most part it was dry, and her family was together, well mostly together. Tomorrow they’d worry about where Maud and Pinkie was, but for now, she was going to get some rest.

Author's Note

(Wow, another Vogonstory? Yeah, but this one has been a long while in the waiting. I’ve been wanting to do a Limestone and Marble Pie story for several months. Seeing them in an episode of MLP just relit the fires. I want to thank L0rd0f7hund3r for his help in fleshing out some of the lines between Igneous Rock and Aaron.)

Restore

A Love as Steady as Stone

A Marble and Limestone in the Vogonverse Story

Chapter 2 ‘Restore’

Limestone looked at the blanket of darkness surrounding her and Marble. Both of the sisters wanted to be close to each other, but neither of them wanted to sleep in the same room as their parents. So it was decided that they would sleep in the next room over. The bedding issue wasn’t much of one. There was a collection of mattresses, mostly twin sized, and the two of them had a bed apiece, but in the end they ended up scooting them together.

Her ear twitched and moved as she heard the dripping sound of the leaky roof above them. Sure, she was happy that they were out of the rain, more or less, but there was certainly quite a bit that needed to be done to this place. The stallion that had offered them room, shared his food, and even offered a hot bath to all of them when they were ready was kind enough, which bothered her.

She was used to ponies being nice, Pinkamena was nice, Marble was nice, even the Apples were nice, but it just made her wonder if he had alternative reasons for being nice. She touched her sheet covered stomach and blinked. Did… Did he want that? Was he after that kind of favors? He didn’t act like it, but then again what stallion would?

She could talk to Pa about it. Then again, did she want to? They had already walked more than a full day’s journey, and this was where they ended up. It felt right, this place felt right, it felt kind of like home. She could feel, honestly feel, the collection of crystals, precious metals, and onyx in the place. It had potential, she knew that, but what did that stallion want to do with it?

He didn’t seem like a rock farmer or a miner, not really, but why own a place that was obviously ready, and practically full, of everything that a pony could need to bring fortune and good luck if he wasn’t going to harvest it.

“Limestone?”

The meek voice was enough to stop her thoughts, and she turned toward her younger sister, the youngest Pie out of them all.

“Marble, something wrong?”

Marble laid there for a moment, and then she finally nodded, “I… I miss home.”

She scooted closer to her sister, wrapping an arm around her, pulling her in close, and hugged her tightly. Pinkamena, or she supposed she could call her that idiotic nickname Pinkie, did have a point. Hugs seemed to be magical in that they fixed almost anything. She felt Marble shiver for a moment before she backed up against her.

“I know, I miss home too, but we’re going to be okay.”

She was sure that they would. They were Pies, descendants of Holder Cobblestone, and Holder Cobblestone had strong ponies for descendants. She felt Marble relax, and soon her baby sister was sleeping. She lay there awake, glad that she could give her sister some comfort. After all, Earth Ponies shared the burden, and right now she needed to share Marble’s load.

Slowly, the storm outside began to die down, and the wind began to calm, only the rain, the life giving rain continued to fall. Listening to the patter of rain outside, and the drops of the leaks inside she began to relax until sleep found her. Slowly her eyes closed, her mind relaxed, and she found herself in the land of dreams.

The morning found Aaron in the kitchen, and mixing up a family sized portion of powdered eggs, some cornbread, and since he wasn’t sure what the Equestrians could, or would, eat he decided to make a little flour gravy.. He’d only met one of them before, a Pegasus that lived, from what she said, a good hour and a half flight away. Blossom something or another. Still, even then he’d only shared a little water since she was busy helping to gather up clouds. That had been a sight. He’d heard of the Pegasi able to actually touch clouds, mess with them, move them, but it was the first time he’d ever seen it.

That had been maybe two days before his house guests had arrived. He looked out the window to see the rain still falling. His Pegasus acquaintance had told him that all towns with inhabitants, regardless of how small, were going to be getting some massive rain. Apparently someone named Rainbow Dash, or something along those lines, had made the suggestion that all liveable towns needed the extra rain to help rebuild their water reserves.

The massive rain was certainly going to cause a flood in the lower sections just outside of town. He’d walked out that way, noticing the places where dried creek beds, and a small water reservoir had once been. Without a doubt the creek would be running again, and he had to figure that the water reservoir would be holding a good deal of water. If the Pegasi managed to keep a schedule of rain it could be possible to distill the water into clean and drinkable water. There was a few older well houses out by the reservoir, and getting those pumps going would be the first step, but that would have to wait until after the rain stopped.

He finished the breakfast he was fixing, prepared to let his guests know, and before he could get the word out he saw a figure standing near the kitchen door.

“Young master, it was not thy place to make a breaking of the fast for mine family,” the older mare said.

She walked in, giving him a smile, and looked over what he had fixed. Her eyes lingered on it for a moment before she spotted the stone from the beans the previous night.

“Wouldst thou wish for mine help?”

He looked at the already prepared food, uncertain of what was left to make, and then nodded. If it made her feel more at home he wouldn’t stop her.

“If you want to, sure.”

She stepped around him, grabbing the small stone, sniffing it, and washing it off. He watched as she quickly grabbed a small collection of pebbles he’d taken out of the beans and sniffed them as well. She placed some away, but most made their way near the larger stone. Finally, she stopped and grabbed a large pot. She filled it with water, placed the stones into it, and then searched around them. He watched as she added in canned green beans, a couple cans of potatoes, and then to top it off a small canister of vegetable broth.

She placed it on the stove, heating it, stirring it, and when it was done she tasted the soup. He watched as she took what looked like one of the pebbles, bit into it, and crunched it around in her mouth for a moment before smiling.

“Thank thee young master for thy hospitality. Perhaps thou shalt enjoy some of mine rock soup.”

She looked around the kitchen again, finding an old triangle hanging up on the wall. She found a small piece of iron that hung by it and within seconds he watched as she created the ringing sound of the too colliding together. He heard steps above them, and soon they were greeted with the sight, and sound, of the other three Equestrians. Together the two of them placed the food in the middle of the table, and he passed plates and bowls out.

The food was divided quickly, and noticed how the Rock Soup divided among them first. He looked at his own bowl and began to eat it. Soon he found a pebble, small, hard, and he looked around the table as the rest of them crunched down on the rocks they were eating. Not wanting to be insulting he bit down, hearing the mini rock crunch under his teeth, and slowly, but surely, chewed it up before swallowing.

Soon after the Rock soup was gone, the largest rock in it going toward the older stallion, which he was fine with him having it, the other food was soon eaten. The older stallion looked at him for a moment before he nodded toward him, “Young master, pray thee need help in thy home? Thou mentioned that thy had only just moved into it. Me and mine would be at thou service to bring comfort unto thee.”

He looked at him a little confused. He almost wished that he’d studied Shakespearean literature back when he was in college, but it was a bit late now. Instead he looked at the shorter haired one who gave him a slight glare, and then huffed.

“Pa is asking if you want us to help out around here. Which I guess that we can since you’ve invited us into your home.”

She was confident, easy to understand, and seemed a little aggressive. Normally, he’d almost consider responding in like kind, but then again He’d watched them eating rocks with no problem. The older stallion actually taking the larger stone and biting it in half and then chewing it. That in and of itself told him that it would be wise to be respectful.

“I would happy accept any help you want to extend. I’m going to be going through the building, finding the leaks, doing what I can to patch them, and of course just doing some general maintenance to the hotel itself. I’m not sure when the rain is going to stop, but when it does I’ll be seeing about getting some of water pumps going. All of you are welcomed to stay as long as you need to, and like I said, if you want to help, I welcome it.”

Nodding, they began to get up. He started to gather up the dishes, but the older mare stopped him.

“Pray thee, leave this to mine daughter and I. Thou hast cooked for me and mine, and it is only just that we clean thy table. Marble, thou shalt in this,” she said.

“Yes Mama,” the shorter mare said.

Standing up he began to walk upstairs. Both the mare with the short hair and the older stallion followed him and he heard the stallion stop for a moment.

“Thou hast said that naught have stayed within these walls for many a year correct?”

“Yeah, this place has been empty for years. I’ve been working on it, patching as I could, but I just didn’t beat the rain.”

“Limestone, does thou seeth?”

She looked where Pa was indicating, and she noticed it. The roof was leaking, but it was leaking only in a few places. Places where shingles and other things had most likely long since blown off.

“I do, we’ll need to patch the roof. Pegasi normally stick to a schedule, and that means that sometime today, or tomorrow, it’s going to stop raining. When it does we’ll get up there, see where it’s been leaking at exactly, and patch it. What kind of repair supplies do you have?” she asked as she looked at him.

Instead of saying he motioned for them to follow him, and he lead them toward a room at the end of the hall. He opened it and they looked in to see several bundles of shingles, several five gallon buckets of tar, hammers, nails, screws, and what looked like some kind of fancy electric screwdriver. She took a moment to see all of this and then she noticed some of the lumber.

“Okay, there’s more than enough here to fix this building, I say we get started with it.”

Feeling that he should say something, anything, he began to speak up when he saw her glance at him. She seemed to look deep inside his soul, and he swallowed back every word that was about to come out of his mouth.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Good,” she said as she grabbed a hammer, a package of nails, a saw, and three of the eight foot long two by four planks, “Then what we’ll do first and start doing some of the minor patches this place needs.”

She looked at him a moment before rolling her eyes, “So what are you waiting for? Grab some tools and get started!”

Author's Note

(AN: Sorry for the late update, that said, I do plan on updating this story about every two weeks, if possible, and when I can get a little extra time I'll do more more often. Thanks to everybrony who's been following this.

Love to all of you guys and gals.

RJP)

Our Town

A Love as Steady as Stone

A Marble and Limestone in the Vogonverse Story

Chapter 3 ‘Our Town’

Limestone studied the patched and repaired roof of the Hotel. The rain, hard as it was, had finally moved on, and they had finished the repairs they could with the supplies they had. She looked at the other buildings, several of which would need more attention than the Hotel did, and let out a groan. She wasn’t upset, not really. Aaron was being nice enough to give them a place to stay, and for the most part he was just asking for a little help to get the town into shape.

She heard him talking about the water pumps being something they’d have to look at today, and she wondered exactly what could be wrong with some pumps? She’d installed the old pump at their rock farm, and while it had to be oiled every so often it worked fine as long as somepony was willing to stand out there and pump it a few times. She walked toward the side of the roof, finding the ladder, and began to climb down.

When she was on the deck for one of the second story rooms she stepped back and looked into the room itself. With the Hotel fixed, and the rooms in far better shape, they had rearranged a little. Marble was still sharing a room with her, but the two of them had took a slightly bigger room than they had first chosen.

“Daughter, art thou going to help the young master?” her father asked.

“Yes, I was heading that way right now.”

He nodded, watched as she left, and headed down stairs. Like his daughter he too would be helping the stallion that was letting them stay here. Once more the stallion had gotten up before them, prepared the early meal, and once more his Cloudy Quartz had insisted that she help him. Right now, he could see her, washing dishes, leaning over the sink and working with the large buckets of water the stallion had brought with him.

Her tail swished slightly as she stood there, and a grin crossed his face. He walked toward her, catching her tail, watching her stiffen up, and then gave her tail a small tug. There was a soft moan, one that he was happy to know he could still cause in his beloved wife. She looked over her shoulder at him. It wasn’t a hard look, but instead it was a mix between playful and stern.

“Igneous Rock Pie, thou art attempting to start that which thou shalt have no time in finishing. T’is best to start such things only when thou can provide what thou has promised.”

“Mine Beloved, that which I have promised shall I provide, and this promise,” he said as he pulled her tail again gently, “is one which shalt be given unto thee at a time past the darkening hour. Perhaps thou and I shalt work together on another young foal. For the pleasure of providing a young one unto thee shalt be mine to give and grant.”

Cloudy Quartz rolled her eyes as she kissed her husband. She watched him as he walked out, heading toward where the young master had went to go and work. There was still quite a bit of daylight left, and she knew that while there was light it would be the best idea to keep working. She looked at the dwindling pile of dishes. In many ways what she was doing here wasn’t too different from what she had done in their home.

She would have been cleaning dishes, with Marbles help, preparing breakfast, and perhaps helping with the mine as the day progressed. It was kind of the young master to prepare breakfast for them, again, but it did make her feel as if she was taking advantage of him. It was silly to think so, and she realized it, but she had long since been the matriarch of her family, and she she ensured that they always had meals, rest, and warm beds.

She let out a small sigh as she finished the small pile of dishes. This place wasn’t so different from home, not really, and she didn’t mind the young master wanting to treat them with hospitality, but perhaps she could try to get up before him and treat him with the same. Deciding that it was worth a shot she stretched, feeling her back pop, and then her eyes turned on the room itself.

This old hotel was nice enough, and through Igneous and Limestone’s assistance it was certainly turning into a more inviting place, but it lacked the touches that one needed to make a place a home. Surely nopony would care if she decorated it a bit.

Marble watched her mother as she began to clean and move around the kitchen. She had helped earlier, but her mother wanted to do the dishes on her on today. There was so much that could be done, but at the moment she wasn’t sure where to begin. Her hobby, what she loved to do back home, was find a piece of white or gray marble, and sculpt it down into little figurines. It had been something she’d done for calming her nerves, and occasionally to help make a few decorations for the farm.

Sure, there wasn’t a whole lot of need for decorations, or at least not a lot of them, but still, it was something she enjoyed, and something she felt that she could do to repay the young stallion that was letting them stay here. She looked around, trying to see if there was any marble, and then she saw it. An old broken vanity. Its entire length was made of a polished white marble. She looked at it, noticing how wobbly it was, how broken down, it was, and slowly she began to move the marble top.

It popped loose, with very little effort, and she stood it on its side. It was finely made, the entire sheet had been polished on both sides, and while time had certainly dulled some of it, she could see the potential in the sheet before her. The marble called to her, begging to be shaped, to be changed, and slowly her hands began to feel it. Like Maud and Limestone she was more than strong enough to crush the rock with her hands, but she didn’t want to crush it. Instead she leaned the sheet of marble against the wall, walked toward the storage room where the supplies had been, and found a small chisel and a hammer. Walking back into the room with the sheet she began to shape it. She worked, letting curves, deep lines, and soft lines form. It started simply, and as she worked she smiled, feeling as if she was going to create something that would help to brighten up their new home.

She continued to carve, chisel, and work with the marble in front of her. For a moment she looked out the window, wondering what her sister was doing. At that moment Limestone was looking at machine that was, according to Aaron, supposed to be able to pump massive amounts of water into a home, or a few homes.

“We’ll have to get the pumps going, and then we can see how much damage has been done to the water lines.”

She watched as he worked on wiring, checked the pump, hit the side of the pump twice with his hammer, and then flipped on a switch. When he did the pump made a dry crackling noise before she could hear it filling with fluid.

“Good, good, so us adding some water to it was a good idea. Alright, I’ve got to think that the buried lines should be okay, but we need to check the lines in the houses, especially the hotel.”

Together she walked with Aaron into one of the nearby houses and watched as he turned on a faucet. It sputtered for a moment, but then water began to pour out of it. He looked around, and together they heard water running in one of the rooms. She watched as he walked toward it, and while he stepped away she put her hands into the flowing water. She let it run in her hands, lifted it up to her face, and washed her face with it. It felt good, really good, to wash the grime off.

“The toilet is ruined, but that’s kind of to be expected.”

“Are we going to check all of these houses?”

He looked at her and nodded, “Yeah, I think it’d be a good idea. We can check them over, make sure that everything is set in them, and later if folks want to move in they can.”

That was something she hadn’t considered. More ponies moving around them. Not that she’d mind exactly, but back on the Rock Farm it was mainly just them. Sure, there was a few ponies that lived a few miles away, but they didn’t really have close neighbors. In a few ways she liked that. It tended to be peaceful, and she was able to concentrate on the farm itself.

“You want neighbors?”

He looked at her, and a grin crossed his lips, “It wouldn’t be terrible. I think that I wouldn’t mind to have some people living here, but I’d hope that it would be people who knew a trade.”

There was a certain logic to that. Having ponies around that knew how to do things, like a seamstress, would certainly be a plus. But then again it would be one more pony, if not more, that she’d have to warn about disturbing things on the farm. She felt a hand, looked at him, and noticed that he was touching her shoulder.

“We’ve done good today. We’ll check a few more, check the hotel, and then we’ll at least have some running water.”

She nodded, and for some reason she wasn’t getting angry that he was touching her. Instead, she didn’t mind it so bad. He seemed like a good sort. She felt a blush creeping up on her cheeks, and she turned away from him. Good sort or not, she wasn’t going to let him see her blushing.

Howler

A Love as Steady as Stone

A Marble and Limestone in the Vogonverse Story

Chapter 4: ‘Howler’

A quick look around the room told Aaron more about the place than he thought possible. He knew it had to be a part of the town government, but from the looks of it this had been the Sheriff’s office. He let out a whistle as he studied the damage inside of it. The building had used some of the original jail from the original mining town, but it looked like they went back over it in an attempt to modernize it.

In the end it left it very few leaks, but it did have a few other problems. The biggest being that he was finding a ton of the electrical wiring had been chewed all to hell, and from the looks of it the building had an electrical furnace. He pulled it apart, thankful for Youtube for a tutorial, and looked at what was left. For a building that had most likely sat for at least ten years most of the major components looked to be in decent shape. He looked up at Limestone who was busy checking the water pipes.

Igneous had said that he was heading back, and he was going to check on Cloudy and Marble, and he wanted to bring back some lights for them in case they ended up staying late. Aaron checked the furnace once more, worked with the wiring, and finally decided to see if it could support the current needed to turn it on. They’d brought solar panels out with them, sat them on the roof, prepared them, and of course had brought in the batteries the panels would charge, along with powering the building during the day, so that there would be power at night, or during storms. He cautiously made sure every breaker except for the furnace was off, and then he flipped on the main breaker.

There was a single spark, a smell of ozone, and then he heard the sound of the furnace kicking on. From the sounds of it several of the vents were plugged up, and that meant going through and removing old rats nests. Limestone walked into the room where he was, saw that the furnace was working, and leaned against the door frame.

“It’s still warm out, do you really need that on?”

He laughed a bit, found the thermostat, turned it off, and listened as the furnace finally went out.

“We didn’t, but it felt good getting it working. I’ve still got to check the wiring to the outlets, the lights, and make sure that I can turn everything on.”

No sooner had he said that then there was a massive strike of lightening and a blast of thunder that shook the building. He watched Limestone as she jumped a little, and both of them turned to see a storm that was far harder than the one a little over a week ago.

“That’s weird, I didn’t expect there to be another storm,” she said.

He watched it, hearing outside, and his mind went back to when he was a kid. His grandparents had told him about really bad storms, storms that rolled up out of nowhere, that laid waste to everything, and then disappeared. His grandmother had called them Howlers, wild storms.

“It’s a Howler.”

She looked at him, “What?”

“A Howler, a wild storm, and it has just decided to break out on us.”

The sound outside began to get worse. Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and the sound of hail striking the roof, walls, and windows echoed through the building. Limestone moved closer to Aaron as the furious storm attacked from the outside. Aaron thought about it, and to be honest now would be the time to see if the shutters were any good on the building itself.

It wouldn’t do much, but maybe having them closed would save some of the windows. He moved toward the office, and looked just outside. There was large rolling steel shutters that would have pulled down to enclose the windows themselves. He started to not use them when he heard something bounce off of the window, and he could see where it had chipped it. With no other choice he opened the front door, and got drenched as he stepped outside to pull those rolling shutters down.

The pelting hail hit his back as he pulled the shutters down. He felt the resistance from the old roll down shutter, but after a moment it began sliding down until it covered the window itself. He felt it click into place, and then he headed back inside. He felt soaked through and through, and cold didn’t even begin to describe it. He could see Limestone, standing there, her ears folded down against her head, and he could also see the old wood stove that had been near the cells.

From the looks of it she had found a small stash of old wood and had gotten a fire lit. He moved toward the stove, feeling the heat of it rolling off. Shivering he stretched his hands out, and then he felt her own hand on his arm.

“Get out of those clothes before you get sick,” she said. He tried to protest but the baleful glare Limestone gave him told him to do so was not an option. He stripped out of his sodden clothes, being as quick as he could but also trying his damnedest to keep his modesty. He didn’t know what pony standards of modesty were, but he felt that he should be a gentleman even in front of this alien mare.

He looked behind her to see a small stack of blankets, something she obviously had found in a linen closet for the cells. He felt her wrap one of them around his naked form. She hung his clothes up, but the entire time he noticed how she shivered when the sound of thunder would rock the building. After a few moments he watched as she practically froze, dropping everything, almost falling, and he was up, wrapping his blanket covered arms around her.

Together the two of them moved toward an old cot that was hanging from the wall in one of the cells. He held her as the storm raged outside. He hadn’t seen how she had acted with the storm they had before, but he had to guess that she didn’t freak out nearly as much because that weather had been controlled by the Pegasi in the area.

Neither of them knew that right now there was a team of Pegasi above them, attempting to stop the Howler from spreading out further, and trying to end it. But the wild storm had rolled in unexpectedly, and now it was determined to do what it had formed to do. Limestone shivered as he held her, but she seemed a little more relaxed. In a way, he was amazed. Here was a mare that he had been getting to know better, one that had a work drive that well outmatched his own, and she was acting more feminine than he’d ever seen before.

Limestone leaned against Aaron, and she had to admit to herself that she felt safe. That was the thing. The weather outside wasn’t wrong, she felt that it was natural, but wild storms were something she’d been warned about since she was a little foal. She’d been told how wild storms could take ponies’ lives, how they could destroy everything, and how they could form and disappear without any warning.

Most of the time weather, Pegasi were good about keeping them from happening, and so she wasn’t sure why this one had even popped up. It bothered her, no more than bothered her, because it was something that there was no control over. She couldn’t schedule around it, she couldn’t depend on when it would be over. It was beyond her control, and that scared her.

She felt Aaron’s arms tighten around her, and she leaned against him. He was warming up, and maybe it was because of her. She leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes, wishing for the storm to end. She felt his hands on her back, resting near the middle, and he was rubbing it softly.

She was far less frightened now, but she was noticing something else. She noticed his smell. It was pleasant enough, actually more than pleasant, and being curled up with him only made that more prominent. The two of them sat together, getting warm, being comforted, and after a moment she leaned back. Her lime green eyes looked back at him, and she licked her lips. Without warning she leaned forward, catching him in a kiss.

Aaron didn’t have a ton of experience when it came to women. He certainly hadn’t shared a passionate kiss before. He felt her lips opening, his own did the same, and then he felt her tongue moving into his mouth. It was wider than his own, a bit rougher, and he let his own tongue wrestle with hers. A contest of wills emerged between the two as their tongues fought for dominance. Eventually, Aaron had to concede; the mare had a strong tongue to match her powerful physique. The parted when their collected oxygen levels bottomed out but both were a healthy glow besides.

Limestone felt something inside of her click. She felt connected to Aaron in a way that she couldn’t describe. It felt like she was supposed to be with him, that together, they were supposed to be more. She’d heard her mother talk before. How the Choosing Stone had revealed her father to her mother.

Part of her wished that the Choosing Stone was here, that she could consult it, but then again this felt right. Her father had always told her that he trusted her. He had said that she had good senses about things. He’d seen her be able to make decisions that had profited them greatly, and she had great instincts when it came to other ponies.

She felt connected to him, and she leaned back again. He looked at her, seeing how she was looking at him, and if he was honest he had been feeling closer to her. Their working together, eating together, and spending so much time out here fixing up the old buildings, and doing what work they could to the old mine, had certainly brought them closer. He hadn’t expected to see her looking at him like she wanted him though. Her hands went to the hem of her shirt, a shirt that actually she had found out here in one of the houses.

She pulled it up, freeing herself from the garment. She felt his eyes desperately attempting not to look at her chest, and she knew that it was a losing battle. She leaned forward, pushing her bra covered breasts against his naked chest. The kiss was sweet, but full of need and promise. It told everything that she felt, it demonstrated what she wanted, what she desired, and then she felt his hands on the small of her back. They rested right above her hips, and she stood. She looked at him, her decision made.

Earth Pony courting rituals were usually short anyway. That was something she had heard from her parents, and it was something she understood now. She didn’t notice the storm was dying down outside, and she didn’t notice that the thunder and lightening were stopping; instead, all she noticed was the building desire she had. Her thumbs caught the sides of her jeans and panties. She pushed them down, letting them move past her toned hips, down her well defined legs, and finally, past her hooves. The two articles were tossed aside as Limestone prepared to mount her stallion.

“W-w-w-wait-!” Aaron exclaimed, “We shouldn’t do this.”

A look of consternation crossed her face, and she asked, “Why not?”

“What about your mom? A-a-and your dad?”

“I don’t think they’ll say much,” Limestone answered, “though they would want a confirmation from the Choosing Stone.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Aaron retorted, “we don’t really know each other all that well. Hell, we haven’t even been on a single date, yet. Aren’t we moving a little fast, here?”

Limestone smirked, adding a haughty chuckle, saying, “It’s obvious you know nothing of Earth pony customs.”

Aaron rejoindered, “It’s also obvious you know nothing of human customs.”

She looked at him, her hands resting on her hips, her eyes still filled with longing, but at the same time they looked like she was attempting to detect any deception from him.

“Human customs usually, at least western ones, usually have the two dating for at least a few months!”

Limestone’s eyes widened, “For Earth Ponies it’s customary for it to be a fortnight, two weeks, and for our family that’s usually after the choosing stone revealed your beloved to you,” she looked at him, his eyes were full of concern, worry, but not malice or deception. She neared him, and instead of straddling him she touched his shoulder.

“I…”

He could see her struggling and he nodded, “I like you too. I really do, but I want us to take it slow, or at least slower than two weeks. It’s not like we can really date here very much, but I think that the two of us could handle having a dinner, or lunch, alone. Maybe get some time to talk, get to know one another.”

She smiled as his eyes finally betrayed him and looked her over. She had worried that his rebuff might have been because he wasn’t interested in mares, but instead it was because he was a good stallion. She could work with this. From what her sister Pinkamena had told her Unicorn Courtships sounded similar. If that was the case, then she’d treat him like an Unicorn. But when it came time she expected him to scratch her itches.

The next sound to catch their attention was the sound of hooves on the old floor. Both of them looked up to see Limestone’s younger sister. Her eyes were wide as she looked at her sister in such a state of undress with the stallion that had taken them into his home and shared it with them.

“Lime?”

Author's Note

(AN: So, it's been a while, but the Vogonverse stories are returning! I'm working on them, and so are several of the other authors. Expect to see several of these stories making a triumphant return!)

Limestone Went a Courtin'

A Love as Steady as Stone

Chapter 5: Limestone went a courtin’

The Howler had came and went, and Aaron was a little afraid that Igneous and Cloudy would be a bit more angry about the fact that Limestone had nearly taken that next step in what was now a beginning to bud romance. Instead the two of them were a little friendlier toward him. That, in and of itself, seemed odd to him. Limestone was his first real girl, or marefriend rather, that he’d ever really had. He’d heard stories about how parents would be upset about a boy dating their daughter, taking advantage of her, and he’d almost expected that from the two of them.

Instead they were treating him more like a son. He wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about that. He wasn’t upset about the lack of them being upset, but at the same time it felt, odd. So, on this morning he once again got up early, considering everything that was happening, had happened, and as far as he could tell would continue to happen, and walked toward the kitchen. Once inside he spotted Limestone building a fire in the stove, and beside her was a collection of breakfast foods.

He knew she was an early riser, he’d seen the evidence of that, but he’d never seen her beat him to the kitchen before. Her clothing was a little more sparse than he thought it should, or would be. She was wearing a faded old AC/DC t-shirt they had found in the general store, and it seemed to stretch down quite a ways just past the waist panty line, but her tail was keeping it from completely covering her firm ass.

He looked at her panties. Like the shirt they had found several packages of undergarments that had been left behind when the last person left in this town either left or passed. They were hipsters, riding up on her, showing off the curve of her bottom, and he hated to admit that he was staring a bit more than he felt was appropriate to. It wasn’t that it felt wrong, not exactly, but he almost felt like he was trying to take advantage of her without her knowing.

He didn’t dare to make a sound. Not because he was afraid. No, since they had decided to build on what they felt toward each other he had began to learn that she was much more feminine than she appeared. Getting past her pragmatic, and rough, outer personality he began to learn that she was someone, or somepony rather, that was soft and sensitive. They’d had a few quiet dinners together, time alone that they’ve spent without working, without doing anything than just being together.

During that time she was certainly more than happy to lean against him, and while she hadn’t proceeded to undress and practically attempt to claim him, again, she was being far more tactile. He moved, as silently as the old floor would allow him, and tried to near the stove.

“I’m fixing breakfast this morning. Usually you beat mom to it, but I wanted to beat you to it.”

He sighed, feeling a little off that he wasn’t able to directly help with the meal. Instead he watched as she began to mix the powdered eggs, and he could smell the scent of maple flavored oatmeal. The breakfast would be something filling, providing the needed fuel for the day, and would have a pleasant enough taste to not be offputting.

Limestone looked over her shoulder at him, watching as he settled down into a chair. She could see how uncomfortable he was with somepony else preparing breakfast. It reminded her a good deal of her mother, and how Cloudy Quartz seemed to be a uncomfortable about not being able to prepare breakfast for them all. In truth she thought that Aaron’s early rising and preparing breakfast had been a much needed relief to her mother.

She had noticed that while Cloudy Quartz did often mention that she would have gladly fixed the meal to break the fast, her mother’s style of speech not her own, that her mother did get to do something she hadn’t got to do while Limestone was growing up. She got to eat a hot breakfast with her family. Each day they’d been here the entire Pie Family got to eat together, and there was no rushing off to work the mines directly afterwards. Oh, her father, Aaron, and herself went and worked on the town, but that was it.

She had long since realized that while she missed home, this place had been good to them so far. Good enough that she was willing to call this place home, and right now she was making breakfast for the stallion she was interested in. Her heart fluttered a little as she considered that. She was making breakfast for the stallion she wanted to claim, she was following her mother’s example. She looked over her shoulder again, and she caught him trying not to look again.

He wasn’t shy, not really, or at least not like Marble her sister was. No, this was more like he was almost playing a game of trying not to look at what he obviously wanted to look at. Part of her thought this was all kinds of stupid. When it came to Earth Ponies the courtship was simple. You liked each other, you courted for a bit, add in the choosing stone, and then marriage and foals came next.

But Pinkie had said that some Unicorns were like this. Not the real snobby ones that lived in the capital, but the ones that lived in small towns acted like that. Trying desperately hard to both look, and not look, at what a mare had to offer. It just confirmed that he was indeed somewhat like an Unicorn when it came to courting. She finished the breakfast, put the oatcakes she made from the oatmeal on one platter, the powdered eggs on another, and then walked toward the table and him.

She carefully put them down, grabbed the plates, rang the meal bell, and then began to scoop out the breakfast on all of the plates. Her mother was the first down, and she stopped when she saw what was going on. A warm smile crossed her face, and she took a seat near the end that Igneous usually sat at. She looked at Aaron, and the warm smile hadn’t left her face. Instead it had only gotten brighter. He could practically feel her glowing with maternal pride. She’d been acting more motherly toward him, and recently, within the last few weeks she had began to call him by his name instead of young sir, or young master. It had taken loading some reading material into a cheap tablet he had brought out to get what the master thing was about.

They weren’t calling him a master like he owned them, but rather it was a formal term used for a young man. Typically used by servants in a home. He didn’t want them to think that they were servants, because to him they weren’t. They were as welcomed here as if they had been the ones that invited him in. He enjoyed having them say his name, he did, and while he was certainly glad that they weren’t mad about what almost happened, he wondered if they would be upset about the thoughts he’d been having.

Thoughts about their daughter, nude, bent over his bed, begging him to not stop, and he stopped that line of thought right there. He heard more hooves, noticed both Igneous and Marble walking down to the table, and once a quick word of grace was said the group of them began to eat together. He felt Limestone next to him, her body warm, exceptionally so today, and his hand found her own. She looked toward him, her eyes shining for a moment before she settled herself.

The breakfast was a good one, and Aaron felt better having a full belly. There was still work to do, but the consensus was that today would be a good day to keep it light. Igneous had said that if they felt up to it his evening they would check the state of the mine. Like his daughter he felt the presence of various precious minerals, gems, and even some veins of silver beneath their hooves. With that the group began to leave the table, and Aaron headed upstairs. He heard the sound of someone following, and looked back to see Limestone a few steps behind him. There was little he questioned about it. Her room was up here as well. He walked into his room and he thought about what Igneous had said. He decided that he didn’t want to question how he was able to feel it, but instead he went along with it being one of those strange things that they could do and left it at that. So, that left him with the question of what would be on the agenda for today.

He stood in front of his door, hand hand on the handle, and he turned toward the hall. He looked at Limestone who was stealing glances at him now, and the obvious idea came to him in a flash. He certainly wanted to start to move things. Before he had been serious, they knew each other, but he wasn’t sure that they were really that close. The last few weeks had changed that. He felt closer to her, the dinners they shared alone, the time they went for walks, sitting on the roof and looking at the stars, and just all of it together had led him to learn more about this wonderful mare.

He walked toward her, his palms sweaty as he considered what he was going to ask, and breathed out evenly. He wanted this to be perfect, and every single thing he started to think to say just sounded cheesy and corny. He took her hand, again, and the two of them looked at each other. He tried to think of what to say, of what would be a good suggestion, but instead he went with what he felt. His body moved toward hers, his lips touched hers, and in that moment he felt her hand leave his own, her arm moved to snake around his neck, and was followed by the other. Her lips opened, demanding that his follow suit, and soon the kiss, which started as sweet, became passionate.

She broke it first, her eyes blinking, need rising in them, and she let out a shuddering breath.

“Finally, idiot.”

She reached for his door, opening it, and she practically dragged him into the room. The door closed quickly, latching with the loudness he’d come to expect from the antique door itself. He watched as her top came off, revealing the generous, but pert, breasts she had. He watched as she pulled her panties down, and then stepped out of them. The musk coming from her was hard to miss.

He’d heard that girls like fore play, that they enjoyed being cuddled and told they were loved. Limestone seemed to disagree with that notion. As quickly as she undressed her time undressing him was a fair sight quicker. The jeans he was wearing seemed to be missing a button as she stripped them off of him, something that was no easy feat, and then he felt his other clothes follow suit. Soon he was on the bed, looking up at her, her face full of longing, of desire, and she crawled on top. She positioned herself, ready for what was to come, and then… then she waited. He felt the heat rolling off of her, she felt like a furnace, and he looked into her eyes.

She began to back off, she looked timid, and that bothered him. Limestone was someone that was never timid. He touched her and she didn’t push him away, instead she drew him up close.

“Not like this,” she breathed, “Not my first time.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure why he was relieved, but he was.

“I know usually when we’re doing things you lead, so, how about I start us off, and you tell me if you like it or not?”

She nodded, smiled, and he laid her on the bed.

Author's Note

(And so it begins... One does wonder, how is Igneous and Cloudy going to take this?)

Love and Marriage

A Love as Steady as Stone

Chapter 6: Love and Marriage

Marble looked up from her book, something she had found in the small public library of this town, and almost glared at the wall. She was happy for Limestone, really she was, but this wasn’t what she had in mind when she thought she’d be getting a brother.

Thump, thump, thump, thump. “YES! YES! OH CELESTIA YES!!!!”

Thump, thump, thump, thump, “I’M YOUR WHORSE! BUCK ME! OH CELESTIA BUCK MY BRAINS OUT!”

Marble Pie looked toward the large, long, and nearly finished sculpted piece of marble was. Sleep, was obviously not going to come, her sister was currently becoming a mare in the oldest sense, and thus it seemed befitting that she at least do something productive. That productive act came with her walking toward the sheet of marble, lifting it, and carrying it back toward her bed.

She still had the small tools she had found, chisels, rock hammers, but she knew that the precision work that was left needed to be done by hand. As her sister was screaming in delight from what the young… No, after tonight he was her brother. A smile, and a blush, crossed her face. Her brother was rutting her sister. It was funny, lewd, and terribly out of place to even think in that way, but the thought appeared nonetheless. It appeared and she couldn’t help but laugh at the implication. Maybe she was wrong to think it as funny as it seemed, but she did not believe so.

Instead she looked at the long piece of marble. She had began working all of her sisters, her soon to be new brother, her mother and father, and herself into the image she was creating. The general shapes were there, so were their faces, their clothing, but it was the more fleshed out intimate touches which were next.

She could still hear the thuds, the sounds of bed springs squeaking, and there was little doubt in her mind that her parents heard it as well. She knew that her father and mother would be accepting of it. It was fairly obvious that they had given Aaron their blessing already, and the way he and Limestone acted it was just a matter of time until they came together. She looked back at what she was working on, and she began the long processes of making their images appear more realistic.

***** Aaron and Limestone’s Bedroom *****

Limestone lay gasping for air as Aaron held her. His arms made her feel secure, and his scent certainly was driving the more primal parts of her. Earth Pony courting would have been much quicker, but it didn’t matter. They got to the place she had hoped her. She felt his lips on the back of her neck, his right hand moved up her stomach and gently groped her right breast. She didn’t try to stop him. There wasn’t any need to. As far as she was concerned this was it. They were wed as of the moment they took each other.

“Love you.”

She smiled, “I love you too.”

She enjoyed being near him. The morning would come, there would be a need for a bath, luckily they running water, and apparently the boiler for the hotel was working. There was a few things she wanted to discuss with her mother. While she was certainly happy she took this first step there simply was things she wanted to know about when it came to being a wife.

For one, it was simply in her nature to run things. Aaron had proven himself as somepony that needed very little guidance when it came to pretty much anything. And thanks to what had transpired between them she could certainly say that he was quite apt at loving a mare. In a way it felt good to have someone that was able to get straight to work, although part of her certainly wanted to establish that she was there to call the shots.

Sleep began to call to her, and as she answered it a question popped up in her mind. How was Mama and Papa going to take their daughter becoming a mare? Her eyes closed, she found herself falling into a deep sleep, and all of the worries about what her mother and father might would say simply fell by the wayside. There would be no reason to worry about it until the morning.

The sound of the breakfast iron ringing caused Limestone to slowly get up. Both she and Aaron had slept in later than either had really expected. Normally Aaron would be up, helping to get breakfast prepared, but giving all they had done, and how late it was when they actually went to sleep, she wasn’t going to hold it against him. She did however shake his sleeping form.

“Time to get up, and we need a bath.”

He opened his eyes, taking in the view of a very naked, but absolutely beautiful, mare beside him. He stretched, and his mind brought him back to a small place on her side he’d discovered last night. Before she could react his fingers were dancing on her ribs, hitting one of her more ticklish spots, and she began to squeal, giggle, and fall back toward him. The moment she fell into the bed he fell on her.

His mouth found her own, and she didn’t make any effort to push him off. It would have been easy for her to have done so. The both of them knew just how strong she was compared to him, but instead she was willingly surrendering to him. That moment spoke volumes between the two of them. Limestone loved to be the boss, she enjoyed being in charge, but she didn’t want to be with him. The very question she had been asking earlier had been answered.

Of course when he tried to get up she held him in place. She might not want to order him around, to be the boss in the relationship, but she was more than willing to be equals. As he was held in place Aaron considered all that happened. The two of them dated, their dating lead to where they were, and he was fairly certain that the point they were in meant another fantastic round of lovemaking before going down stairs.

At least it would have meant that if the door didn’t open, and a throat didn’t clear itself.

Both of them looked toward the open door and saw Igneous standing there. He didn’t look upset, but instead there was a sort of an unspoken understanding.

“Mayhaps my foals wilt stop their attempts of bringing forth grandfoals, and instead join us in the breaking of the fast.”

“Okay Papa,” Limestone said.

She let Aaron go, and the both of them stood up. They had tested out the pipes, replaced a few bad ones, and they did have a working tub. It was on the second floor, where they were, and that was a blessing.

“You know, we could save time, and conserve water, by showering together.”

She grinned at him, getting his meaning, and they walked toward the bathroom together.

***** Kitchen - half an hour later *****

Cloudy watched as her daughter walked into the kitchen. Limestone had always been headstrong, and while it certainly made her somepony that was more than capable of running the rock farm Cloudy was worried that her daughter would simply never find anypony. She silently thanked Celestia that the young stallion that took them in seemed to be somepony who was able to be the other half her daughter needed so badly.

“Sorry for being late.”

She looked at Aaron and smiled, “T’is fine, although from thy sounds in the night I understand why both of thou art late to the breaking of the fast.”

Aaron wasn’t sure how he felt about the fact that both of Limestone’s parents knew that they were together. It certainly made things easier, but at the same time he was a little worried that they didn’t seem at all angry over the fact that he had deflowered their daughter. Then again the entire time he knew them they seemed to be exceptionally accepting of him. He was almost so lost in thought that he didn’t see Cloudy Quartz until she had him wrapped into a hug.

“We art happy, and blessed, to have thou as our son. Igneous and I feel as though thou shalt make a great son, and that thou shalt make a great father to thine foals.”

“Thank you?”

Limestone grinned, “Thank you Mama.”

She nodded, “By Earth Pony traditions thou art married, but, pray tell, do thou want a ceremony? Say thee yes, please. It has been my fondest wish to see my daughters have weddings.”

Limestone shifted uncomfortably, and Aaron understood what was happening. This was similar to something to how some societies treated their marriages. It happened the night the two slept in the same bed without any sort of precaution. He was thankful for taking that Massive Online Open Course over Anthropology. At the time he almost considered it a waste of time, but at least now he had some insight.

Aaron grinned at her, “I’m okay with it.”

Cloudy looked toward Limestone who was biting her lip, “Mama, promise me that you won’t go overboard, please?”

Cloudy smiled, “Mine daughter, I shalt not do more for thou than what I believe thou should deserve,” she sighed, “I do wish thine sister was here. For she could plan the wedding. Pinkamena hast the natural skill for such things.”

Almost by magic there was a knock on the door. Cloudy walked toward it, knowing that everypony that lived in this small town was already there. Yet when she opened the door there stood a familiar pink pony who had a mane and tail that looked like fresh spun cotton candy. She practically bounced inside and wrapped her mother with a tight hug.

“Yay! It’s soo good to see you! Mama I can’t wait for you to meet Andy, Strawberry, Onyx, and Lemon!”

“P...Pinkamena?!”

Pinkie smiled at her mother’s shocked state, “Yepperoni! I told Andy that it was out this way.”

Pinkie felt herself pulled into another tight hug, “Thou art safe!”

“Mama, who’s that?”

Cloudy looked down at the three little foals standing behind Pinkie. Her smile widened as she realized these were grandfoals. She smiled at her daughter, at the grandfoals she was meeting for the first time, and she welcomed them into the home they shared with their newest son-in-law.

Author's Note

(AN: Wow, it has been a while. So I wanted to update this story, and I plan on updating others in the Vogonverse fairly soon as well. Inspiration just struck me, so I began writing. Sorry it's a bit shorter than normal)

Love, Family, and a Pickup

A Love as Steady as Stone

Chapter 7: Family, Love, and an Pickup

Introductions were made, Aaron soon discovered that Limestones younger sister Pinkie Pie was a ball of hyperactive energy. In truth he had no idea how anyone could even hope to keep up with her. She was talking to Cloudy, Limestone, himself, Marble, cuddling with her husband, and mothering her three children, or foals rather, and doing it all almost at the same time. He didn’t have a clue one how she was able to pull it off. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know how she pulled it off. Part of him wondered if perhaps she was actually some kind of elder god, like some of the authors from the early twentieth century wrote about, that just happened to be locked inside of a pony’s body.

He supposed it would have been one thing if it had been just the evening they arrived, but it had been two days already and she still managed to have some insane energy. Not to mention the walls were a little thin in the hotel and he could hear her, and her husband, making their headboard bounce against the wall while she told him to stuff her party cannon. As it was he was sitting up, deciding if he wanted to get out of bed or not, and looking over at Limestone. She was starting to wake up as well, and he wondered if it was because of the smell coming from the kitchen.

There was absolutely not doubt that Cloudy Quartz was an accomplished cook. She did a fantastic job when it came to making breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Aaron could, and would, gladly testify to her abilities when it came to making meals. But Cloudy hadn’t baked any breakfast items either. Aaron wasn’t sure if he was really smelling it or not, but he could swear that he smelled blueberry muffins. Actually he smelled blueberry muffins and coffee, and the two smells together was damn close to heaven.

The two of them got up, dressed, and walked down stairs to see Pinkie fast at work. She was humming, putting what looked like the second dozen blueberry muffins on the table, and he noticed that there was his coffee pot, another another one he had never seen before, both on top of the wood stove full of coffee. Aaron saw Cloudy as she came downstairs, her eyes on her daughter, on the table, and then on the two of them.

“Pinkameana, Thou did not hast to bake for us.”

Pinkie turned toward her, “It’s okay! My little cupcakes like their muffins in the morning, and besides, I haven’t been able to fix breakfast for everypony in a while!”

Cloudy shook her head, took a seat, and looked toward Aaron, “Praytell, what does thine day look like?”

Aaron looked at the muffins, debating if he should take one, or wait, and decided that it would be best to mind his manners and wait until everyone was present.

“We’re going to check the houses, see which ones can be salvaged, which ones need rebuilt. I think that we should be able to start opening the town up again. Igneous said there’s some valuable minerals in the mine still, so I figure that maybe we can make this a mining town again. It might be nice to have some neighbors and the like.”

Cloudy nodded, “Perhaps, although it would be of benefit to ensure that not only miners came. Thou may want to invite farmers, blacksmiths, and the like.”

It was actually something that Aaron had considered before. But it was good to hear someone else agreeing that it would be a good idea to have more than just miners in the town itself. Craftsmen and women, people who knew a trade, farmers, and day laborers, all of them would be useful in creating a decent place to live.

“That’s what I was thinking. I’m sure there’s going to be miners that will come along as well, but I honestly think that we’d do well to have a functioning community. I know that Limestone said you guys ran a rock farm before, but I think that this wouldn’t be that different. Well that, and I think that having a few more people around could really only benefit this place.”

Igneous nodded as he neared the table.

“Thou speaks the truth son. Ponies living around that knoweth a trade would be a boon to this community.”

Shortly Pinkie’s foals, and her husband, made it to the table and she began passing out the muffins. Aaron picked one up, happy to finally be able to eat a muffin and have some coffee at the same time. He scarfed it down, looked at Limestone who was eating her own muffin. She finished, drank her coffee, and then got up and filled a thermos they’d found and cleaned.

“Thanks for breakfast Pinkie.”

“Awww, you’re welcome Captain Grumpy.”

Limestone rolled her eyes, “Unhuh, Well, if we’re going to get this place ready for ponies we better go ahead and get started.”

Aaron got up, stretched, and looked at Igneous who was smiling at his grandfoals.

“I think that Lime and I can handle most of it today if you want to hang back and visit. We’ll head in for lunch a little later.”

Igneous smiled and nodded, “Thank thee. We shall enjoy our grandfoals. If thou needs…”

Aaron shook his head, “It should be fine,” he looked at Pinkie, “Thanks for breakfast. I haven’t had blueberry muffins in about six months.”

She smiled, “I know, glad that you liked them!”

He tried to figure out what she meant, but felt a hand on his arm.

“Trust me, you’re way better off not questioning it.”

He walked out with Limestone and together they headed toward the small town itself. Over the last few weeks they’d made huge strides with a few of the buildings. City Hall was more or less together and could be safely moved through. The library, school, and an old general store had been mostly restored. They were mainly focusing on the houses themselves, and today they walked toward the library. Once they were there Limestone noticed that most of it was boarded up. That wouldn’t be much of a problem, but like Aaron she didn’t want to do more damage than was needed.

So instead she looked around it and noticed a smaller part of it with a larger door. She could recall how a friend that lived at a neighboring farm had a carriage house attached to their home. She could only assume that the same was in place here. She walked toward the large door, lifted, and felt it hesitate for a moment. She pulled a little harder, heard something strain and then give, and then she was gifted with the door raising on up.

She walked into the building and saw something sitting there covered with dust. It was an odd carriage. It seemed to be made of metal, obviously it would be heavy, almost too heavy for somepony to really even consider pulling themselves, and that made her wonder who would want something like this. She heard someone behind her, but she paid them no mind.

Aaron watched as Limestone looked at the cart before her. It was sitting under a thick layer of dust. Her fingers moved some of it, revealing an old faded green paint.

"Wow, I don't think that I've seen one this old still in one piece. I thought most of them had been sold, or stolen, and melted down for the steel."

"Is...Is this a cart?"

He hugged her from behind, and she relaxed in his embrace.

"It's an old pickup, I don't know what year exactly, but I'm guessing certainly mid twentieth century..." he moved some of the dust, "Huh, it's a Ford. You know, if it's all here we might be able to get the engine to turn over. If we had some stout whiskey we might even make it run."

"It runs on liquor?"

He laughed, "Well, it can."

“What can it do?”

There was a ton of answers for that question, but one he thought of straight away. Limestone seemed to prefer for things to have a use. She liked when things had specific uses and weren’t just there to look pretty. He moved forward.

“Well, I guess that you could say they’re something like a cart in that they are able to haul heavy weights over long distances. The difference is that no one has to pull it. There’s an engine inside of it that runs, it’s connected to a transmission that spins one, or more, of the wheels and that makes it go,” he looked at it, “If we could get it to working it would certainly make the prospect of going and getting groceries a little easier.”

She looked at it, then at him, “So let’s get it running.”

He shrugged walked forward, and opened the hood. When it came open he noticed that it looked like the hoses had been removed, the wiring looked okay, and the engine at least was dry. All in all it could be possible to get the truck running. The library most likely had some repair manuals in it, and if they did get it to going then than long trek on foot would be a lot quicker. With that in mind he looked across the street at the library.

“What do you say we see if there’s some manuals that might tell us how to get it running?”

She nodded and two of them walked toward the library itself. Over two hours of searching and what they found was actually a collection of old videos that explained, in basic laymen terms, how to do some simple repairs to automobiles. The solar panels had proven themselves to be effective enough to power most of the buildings in the small community they were putting together here, and once again they were proving themselves as Aaron set up the flatscreen monitor, BluRay player, and plugged them into an outlet. He almost expected it not to work, but instead the monitor flicked on.

Limestone watched as the two stallions on the screen explained each process of what they were doing to the Truck in order to get it to run. Like the one here, their Truck had sat for a fairly long time. She felt Aaron beside her, working along with her, ensuring the engine could turn freely, leaving for a few minutes and then coming back with a few things for them to use.

She didn’t want to ignore Pinkie Pie, or her nieces and nephew, but she did want to get this to working. If it could do what Aaron said it could then it would make life here so much easier. They could make liquor to run it, and they could use it to haul groceries over long distances, maybe even to help with some of the heavy lifting. That was one thing she really wanted. She wasn’t afraid of hard work, and she knew that her father wasn’t, but she also knew that he had worked hard his entire life. Something, anything, that would make his life easier would be most welcomed.

Hours passed, the light had turned to darkness, and she watched as Aaron nodded.

“I think we can see if it will turn over on its own now.”

He had explained that all she had to do was get into the cab, sit down, and turn the key he found for it. She followed what he said, seeing the key sticking out of the dash, and she turned it. Their was a sound for a moment and she let go.

“The engine turns over! Good! We get something strong enough and we might be able to make this thing run!” he walked toward her, “I heard of moonshiners using their cars to deliver their liquor by running it in the tank and then siphoning it out. Maybe we can do the same?”

“What cha doing?”

He nearly jumped out of his skin and turned around to see Pinkie standing there.

“Oooo! It looks like an older version of our Expedition! Except it doesn’t have a cover on the back, and it’s older, but it looks fun!”

“Pinkie, we’re trying to get it to run. It would help out around here.”

She looked at Limestone and grinned, “Why didn’t you say so? Whatcha need?”

Limestone looked at her and then at Aaron, “Didn’t you say moonshine?”

“Ooooo, You know Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny Smith are making White Lightning! Would that work?”

Aaron nodded, “Yeah, that’s about two hundred proof, it’d run about anything.”

“Pinkie Pie, it isn’t going to do any good for it to be there, and not here.”

Limestone watched as Pinkie grinned, walked over toward a cabinet, one she knew was empty, and reached inside of it. A moment later she heard she yelling, and then she saw Pinkie pull a confused Applejack out of the cabinet. The same poor mare had a foal on her right teat, letting it suckle, and her eyes were wide.

“Pinkie Pie! Ah was a feedin’ Candy! What in the fire am Ah a doin’ here?!”

Pinkie grinned, “You mind if we borrow a few gallons of your white lightning?”

She balefully glared at Pinkie, “Ya went an broke the laws of physics ta ask me if’n ya could borrow a couple gallons of hooch? Sure, Ah figure ya can.”

Rolling Along

A Love as Steady as Stone

Chapter 8: Rolling along

Limestone had long since stopped trying to figure out how Pinkie Pie did the things she did. Not a bit of it made any sense, but she couldn’t argue with the results. It had taken her and Aaron a few days to get the old pickup into working order, but when they had she listened to how it started the first time. The old engine rumbled to life, sounding almost like a predator growling at something. Aaron finished filling the tank with the moonshine they had gotten from Applejack, and she watched as he pulled the old truck out on the tires and wheels they had found.

As it moved Aaron considered what this meant for everyone. Having the pickup would help with going and getting groceries, but it would be more than that. In truth the truck honestly meant having the ability to do more with the town. They could go after supplies, use it to help bring rebuilding supplies over to the houses that could use it, and there were countless other things they could do with it. The old truck itself was a guarantee that they could, in theory, have the town open well before what they had believed possible. Of course part of that rested on them being able to reuse quite a bit of the materials already here.

For the most part they had been lucky in that many of the houses were salvageable. From what he’d seen most of them needed some serious TLC, but none of them were total losses. The moment they got a few houses in order was the moment he could start selling the idea of a town to others. They wanted people with skills, trades, and who were willing to work for a living. One thing he considered was selling the idea to some of the people who lived in the Stacks. There were some practically in every part of the country. Finding people who lived in the stacks and would be willing to own a home, have a job, and be invested in a town wouldn’t be a problem.

Of course he did wonder how many of them would be willing to live, and work, with each other while being neighborly. Human nature was a hell of a thing, and part of that nature tended to be to make sure that no one got what you had. In order for this town to work they would need to insist that everyone that lived in it worked toward the betterment of it. That yes, they wanted them to better themselves as well, but that they would work toward the community at large as well. It would be a hard sell, and he understood that, but at the same time it made sense.

It would improving things for everyone, and looking at it like that he saw real potential in what they were building out here. And of course that made the truck itself seem more like a godsent. The door opened, and he watched as Limestone crawled in beside him. She scooted over until she was sitting next to him, and her legs were straddling the shifter that was in the floor. Driving a standard was a new experience for him.

To be completely honest driving anything was a new experience. He had figured out the gears, realized what the petals were, and soon he was driving it forward. The action was jerky at first, but he got better. He felt Limestone sitting near him, studying everything that he was doing, and soon the truck was moving down the street toward the last house that they had worked on. He stopped it, shut it off, and climbed out. She did the same and then she turned toward him.

“What did you think?”

Her answer was to kiss him. He returned the kiss, enjoying it, and then she separated from him, “It was interesting, but most of all it looks like what you said is something we can actually do,” she smiled, “Plus the seat was comfortable.”

There was no denying the way she was acting as she bent over the seat. He could understand what she was getting at as he looked at her. He moved forward, and she bit her lower lip as she felt his hands on her waist. He moved his hands forward, finding the button of her jeans, and then they unbuttoned. They were fairly comfortable, although she admitted that they seemed to be a little too warm most of the time. She felt them move down, along with her panties, and then she felt him lean against her. She could feel his stallionhood freed, pressing against her, and then she felt the tip of it as it entered her.

She let out a soft moan. This was exactly what she had hoped would happen. She had wanted this moment, even though it would mean making up the time somewhere else she didn’t care. She was a mare, in love, and letting her husband rut her brains out. She felt his hands on each side of her hips, covering her cutie marks, and then she felt him increasing the tempo. It wasn’t meant to be slow, sweet, and beautiful. She had wanted it hard, rough, and enjoyable. She felt his hips thrusting hard, the way he dove deep into her, and she grunted in time, her hips matching his own. She felt the way he touched her. It was a way that no other would ever do. She would forever be his. Like her mother and father, and like her sister, she was going to be with just one other.

She believed that most of her family didn’t realize how much of a romantic she actually was. Turning over all of the dominance of what they were doing to Aaron was part of that romantic nature. She wanted him to take control, to put her into the place she wanted to belong. She was his equal, but there were times she just wanted to give up all control. Times she wanted him to use her, to breed her, and to make her his docile little mare. She felt him slip from her well rutted, but still underused, pussy. She began to say something when she felt him pressing against her tail hole.

“Be careful,” she warned.

She felt pressure, bit her lip, and then she felt the first hint of him entering her there. She grunted, and he waited. Then slowly he pushed forward again, and again she grunted. This game continued until he was completely buried inside of her. She had never felt so full, so completely full, and he began to pull back. Just as he made her lose some of that feeling of being full he refilled her.

“Ngh,” she grunted.

“Relax,” he whispered.

She felt her shirt lift, and she had left herself braless for this reason. His hands wrapped around her breasts, and he lifted her up some. She felt him kissing her neck and she began to move with him. It was different, but it wasn’t hurting as bad. In truth there was some pleasure in what they were doing. She wanted this to go slow, to not push too hard too fast, but she felt him as he tensed. She felt herself clench down, and when she did she felt his seed erupt in her rectum.

Both of them breathed hard, and then he slipped out of her. Perhaps it was luck or it was destiny that they were at the police station. Regardless it seemed fitting. She pulled up her jeans, looked at him, and smiled.

“Let’s go inside, test the showers, and then we’ll get to work.”

He followed her into the building, toward the shower room they had found, and then he watched as she stripped. He was reminded of exactly how lucky of a man he was. Limestone was fit, well built, and beautiful as all get out. He joined her, stripping off as well, and the two of them moved toward two shower heads near each other. He tried the first one, and it rattled for a moment before finally spurting out some dirty looking water. A moment later it cleared, and then they began to shower earnestly.

As they showered there were kisses, gropes, and then once again she felt herself filled with him. He made her feel like the only mare in the world, and she loved it. Finally the shower ended, and the two of them dried off, forced to use some of the old towels, then they dressed. Once dressed they walked out of the building, and she looked at the house next to the station.

“So, you want to start here?”

He nodded, “Sounds good to me.”

Neighbors

A Love as Steady as Stone

Chapter 9: Neighbors

Work never really stopped, but already Aaron could see the improvement on the town itself. Multiple buildings were repaired, their plumbing now working, and they had managed to restore electricity to them by using the solar panels. There was just massive evidence that things were working out. He looked over at Limestone who was working installing a countertop in the house they were currently working in. The home was a nice enough one, a bit small, but certainly a decent enough home.

He had finished replacing some of the flooring where it had begun to develop soft spots and rott through. Standing in the doorway, watching her, he could see the way her muscles worked. She had removed her shirt, and he could see her bare back as she finished fitting the countertop onto the counter she was working with. The top itself had been made there in the house. Plywood, a few sheets of vinyl, and she had crafted a professional looking countertop. He liked the color scheme she had gone with. The vinyl was a rich green, and she had somehow managed to find a few strips of gold colored vinyl as well. She had taken those strips of gold and managed to make two eighth inch running stips that ran down the countertop. He walked up behind her, seeing her relaxing for a moment, and he wrapped his arms around her.

She tensed for a moment, but only a moment, before she relaxed.

“Finished with the floor?” she asked.

He grinned, “All done. I even managed to get carpet down in the rooms that had it, and I saved the linoleum that was in the hall. It’s been mopped, cleaned, and should be good to go,” he said as he held her, “Looks like the countertop is done.”

She nodded, “Just finished.”

She felt his hand as he held her, his lips kissing the back of her neck, and despite the fact there was so much more work to do she was okay with what seemed to be coming. She began to strip when they heard someone walking into the house. He backed up, allowing her to grab her shirt, which she pulled over her head, and they walked toward the sound. There was Igneous, but beside him was a couple of people he’d never seen before.

“Dad, who’s this?” Limestone asked.

Igneous smiled, “Verily, we were visited, and questioned unto if perhaps there was room for those weary of traveling to stop and stay.”

Aaron smiled, walked forward, and looked at both the man and woman. She was African American, barely five foot, and perhaps a hundred pounds if she was soaking wet. The man was caucasian, well over six foot, but like her he looked as if he’d missed meals. He studied them for a moment and then nodded.

“We’re opening the town up to residences, and if you want to come in and take a seat I’ll explain the rules, what’s going on, and you can decide if you want to settle her or not.”

They both nodded, walked in, with Igneous behind them, and they walked toward the kitchen table. The chairs were all repaired, thanks to Limestone, and they took a seat around the old table. Aaron smiled and looked at both of them, “So, this is was, and is going to be again, a mining town, but we need more than miners. We need people that know a trade, artisans, laborers, and pretty much the full nine yards. Those that agree to move in and agree to work will receive a home of their own. The thing I ask everyone to do is to work toward making the town better,” he looked at them, “I mean actually work toward it. I want to see this place become something worth having. I want to have people move in, and know that by living here they have a shot at more than just surviving.”

The woman looked at him, “I’m a cook,” she said, “I worked as a baker, and I’ve worked in a frying kitchen, so I’ve got a few years of experience in that.”

The man looked at him, “I’m a carpenter. I can build counters, shelves, doorways, even houses if needed.”

He nodded at them both, “Both of those skills could be used here. Would you both be against working with us to repair more of the houses, the buildings, and get them prepared for more individuals?”

The man shook his head, “I think we’d be fine with that, and in return we get our own place? Do we have to share it?”

Aaron smiled, “No, you get to have it to yourself. It’ll be your home for as long as you stay here.”

The woman looked excited, her brown eyes practically twinkled with excitement, “We’re going to say yes, right Bob?”

He nodded, “We’re tired, and to be honest we’ve been traveling for days. Those folks that met us, the Equestrians, were kind enough to feed us, and our kids, and give us some water,” he looked at the ground, “We…”

She touched his arm and smiled, “We’ve managed to get away from a corporate farm. Bob found a backdoor to the system that charged us, and I’m not proud of it, but he exploited it.”

He nodded, “I know it wasn’t right, but they were working us to death. The same with our kids, and when I found that open system I just got in there and erased all of our debt due to the rent, rental of equipment, and rental of clothes. I then applied all of the money we had made toward our debt that we had originally with the hospital and it cleared it up,” he looked at the floor, “The computer disabled our tracking bracelets, and we just left.”

Aaron touched his hand, “Well, you’re somewhere safe here,” he said, “And like I said, our offer still stands, but know that we’re not going to be renting everything to you like they did.”

Limestone looked at them, “No, you keep what you earn. You’ll be expected to work, but what you earn in return is a home, a life, and a place where neighbors watch out for each other.”

Both of them seemed to nod, and then Aaron stretched out his hand. A handshake was made, and then he grinned at them, “We’ll do the paperwork tonight, but welcome to Foreman’s Field.”

Both of them smiled at him, and then they looked at Limestone, “Do you both feel up to starting today?”

Bob nodded, as did the woman.

“Good, we’re getting ready to paint this house, check the roof, and then we’re moving over to that store and going to see what needs to be done with it,” she looked at the woman beside Bob, “I didn’t catch your name,” she said.

The woman smiled, “I’m Anna. Anna Paulson.”

Limestone nodded, “Very well Anna Paulson, if you both feel up to it then as I said we’re going to continue to work. Bob can help us with this home, and the store, and if you don’t mind to follow my dad back to the hotel I’m sure that my mom could use your help in the kitchen.”

She nodded, “Sounds good,” and with that she got up.

Both her and Bob kissed before she followed Igneous out of the home. Bob followed them outside and watched as a ladder was set up beside the house. He followed Aaron up to the roof, and together they looked at the room that was in remarkable shape. Someone had used sheet metal to cover the roof, and their decision had made the roof itself last far longer.

“Well, this certainly is good news,” Aaron said.

Bob nodded, “No kidding,” he said as he walked the roof, “It looks like you’re really only going to have to check the areas where the vent for the furnace is poking through. Although it looks pretty good.”

Aaron walked toward him and looked at the section where the vent was located. Like Bob said it looked to be in good shape. He was surprised at how well preserved it actually was. Seeing that it seemed to be in decent shape the two of them crawled off of the roof and met Limestone at the bottom of the ladder. She was holding it for them, and then she lifted two buckets of paint. Aaron nodded, grabbed a bucket, and found a paint tray, a roller, and selected a section of the house. Most of the paint had long since faded. They had already cleaned the outside of it, and what they were doing was more touch up work than anything else.

He watched as Bob and Limestone joined him. Together they began painting the old house. An hour passed, then two, and finally after six hours the house was repainted. It had been a lot of work for the three of them, but it was well worth it. Limestone wiped her brow, and then looked across the street. The store was one they had already been inside of a few times. They had found a few sets of clothes, some tools, and some dried goods. Originally it had been some kind of small general store, something called a Dollar General, but in truth it reminded her of a discount store like Barnyard Bargains.

They walked into the store, and she noticed that for the most part there didn’t seem to be any water damage. That meant that there were no obvious leaks. From there the three of them began to check on the building itself, and over the course of the next four hours they had repaired shelving, replaced sections of sheetrock that had cracked or collapsed, and even began pulling the boards off of the windows. When they were done the store looked as if it could be store again. They walked outside and Aaron began the process of pulling down the sign over the building.

“What are you doing?” Limestone asked.

He looked at her, “Well, Dollar General still exists, kind of, but the building is ours. I’d rather for a local to open their own store, and not have to worry about a larger corporation coming in and trying to claim that their goods, and services, was theirs.”

She nodded, “Okay, that makes sense.”

The sky was getting darker, and the three of them walked toward the hotel. Both Aaron and Limestone had decided against using the truck today, mostly because they already had the materials they needed at the house, due to using the truck before. Instead they made their trek back only to hear the thunder in the distance. Aaron looked at Limestone, and he could see the fear slowly making its way back to her. He stepped closer to her, took her hand, and he felt her grasp it willingly. They made it back stepped inside, and no sooner had they entered the hotel than the storm started.

Thunder and lighting struck outside, and the sound of rain poured down overhead. The storm was another wild storm, another howler, but they were safe inside of the hotel itself.

Growing

A Love as Steady as Stone

Chapter 10: Growing

The weeks had begun to pass, and as it did Aaron noticed a few more people coming out their way. Some of them had heard about the town trying to come back to life from their trips to get supplies, and in those trips they had explained that the town was beginning to take shape again. So far he had been able to attract people who had a trade. A plumber and his family, an electrician, an honest to God blacksmith, and finally two former store managers had managed to find their way into Foreman’s Field.

The houses most had claimed were ones that they had already made livable. That wasn’t to say that the houses didn’t still need some TLC, because they all did, but they were houses that were certainly ready to be moved into. Everyone that had moved into the town had been assisting with getting it back together, or at least they were mostly assisting with their own buildings. Aaron understood this, and he had stated what the rules would be for moving into the town was. He wanted them to make their own homes and businesses as successful as they could. After all, it was important for them to have pride in where they lived, and where they wanted to go.

He did manage to get assistance from the Bob, and the plumber who’s name was Burt. The town itself had somehow transformed into something far better than it had been. What they had now was a collection of homes, businesses, and buildings that were all ready to have life moving through them again. The hotel, as it was, had undergone even more of a transformation. It went from a two story hotel into a large home, the new center of town, and apparently the mayor’s home. That was something that Aaron wasn’t sure he felt qualified to do or be. He owned the town, and he was giving away homes and businesses to others, but he still owned the town itself.

Limestone had reworked his offer some, and she had stated that the business owners would give the city, thus them, ten percent of all profit. On top of that they would ensure the upkeep of their homes and businesses, and that the contract would not change. Bob and Anna understood and agreed. Especially after she stated that the money taken in from the businesses and the such would go to maintain repairs on the town, continue to get community necessities, and the like. Burt had hesitated, but agreed to the terms after he realized the good that it would do.

The electrician, Alice Smithers, had argued that she could go anywhere, have a job, and not have to give fifteen percent of her earnings. To which Limestone asked if she had ever paid taxes before. At that Alice realized what the fifteen percent actually was, and she agreed to it. Although she did state that she wanted a voice in community projects that would be happening. To which Aaron stated that everyone would have a voice, there would be a town vote, and the majority would be what they would go with.

She had agreed and seemed mostly satisfied with the answer. The Blacksmith, Timothy Andrews, had agreed without question. Aaron began to ask why when he saw another equestrian behind Mr. Andrews. The Equestrian smiled, and held out her hand.

“Nice to meet you, the name is Berry Punch Andrews, and is there a tavern around here? Because that’s what I specialize in doing. I make wine and whiskey, and I make some of the best in the world.”

Aaron nodded, “There’s a couple that are closed up, we’ve gotten them fixed, and I’m going to guess that you want to open one of them up?”

She nodded, “I do. I can get it going, and I’m pretty sure that I can start turning a profit pretty fast. After all, everypony likes to get good and hammered from time to time.”

Behind her he noticed a teenage mare with a horn, and another teenage mare that was an earth pony like Berry. Both shared Berry’s colors, and both were looking at him as they talked. Limestone did her best to indicate, nonverbally, that he was her stallion, and herding was not on the table. They left, and as the day went on each and every person had been given the same information, and most had agreed to it, mostly. They would agree to paying the fifteen percent, and they understood that it being used for the community was in fact benefiting them as well.

Aaron felt that they had done something worthwhile when he noticed a large group coming toward the town. He stood, in absolute awe, as several dozen people came. In front of them was the same Ford Expedition that had brought Limestone’s sister Pinkie Pie to visit them. When it stopped Pinkie stepped out, and she motioned toward the group approaching.

“There’s a lot of folks that needed a new place to live, and Andy agreed that having a place where they could own their own homes, and find a place to work, would be great, so I figured that I’d bring them out here!”

He looked at the number, “That’s a lot of folks.”

She grinned, “Yepperoni! There’s some from the stacks, some from Las Vegas that were being forced to work for some really mean peoples, and then there’s some just followed us out here!”

Limestone facepalmed, “Pinkie, you really didn’t think things through, did you?”

She looked at Limestone, “Uh, yeah, I made sure that everybody that came with us wasn’t dangerous, or at least not really dangerous, and I also told them all about this place, and what you were doing.”

Limestone sighed, “Alright, fine, bring them in.”

Pinkie then bounced, “Oh, and I found a preacher so that you can Aaron can have a ceremony so Mom will be happy!”

She looked at her and shook her head, “Sure, why not, it’s not like I don’t have a thousand other things to do already. A wedding would be a nice break from the insanity we’re already in to insanity that we haven’t touched on yet!”

Provisions

A Love as Steady as Stone

Chapter 11: Provisions

Aaron looked at the list of groceries that he needed to get for his family, and the other folks that lived in the town had brought their own lists. The old truck had enough room for himself, Limestone, and another person comfortably. Igneous was selected to go, since he would be able to help with selecting some of the goods for the household. Aaron took his tablet, toward everyone, and asked what their budget was. All except for Bob and Anna were able to press their thumbs to the tablet and give him a few credits to go toward what they were needing.

When he approached Bob and Anna they explained that they had honestly run out of funds. He studied them, and then within a few moments he tallied up the work they had done. When he was finished the both of them were surprised to see that they had a budget of about sixty credits, that was minus the cost of the house and materials, to spend on groceries. They both agreed to the number, and he set off with Limestone. The truck itself had been used a few times around Foreman’s Field, but this was the first long distance trip they had taken in it.

The road was one that Aaron had partially traveled by bus, and then walked the rest of the way to where Foreman’s Field. The road itself was an old state highway that the state barely paid attention to anymore. Large cracks and potholes had formed over time, and Aaron found himself dodging potholes as much as he was just driving. The other thing he was watching out for was the potential for highway robbers. Bandits had become something of realization in the last decade or so. They had taken to falling on those that would travel long distances, but most bandits tended to be set up for catching individuals traveling along on foot or potentially horseback. That wasn’t to say that some of the more enterprising bandits hadn’t set their sights on the buses that would travel between large cities.

As they drove he paid attention to the potential dangers that could pop up. The last thing he wanted to do was run into a situation that would put Limestone or her father into danger. It wasn’t that he was unafraid for himself, quite the opposite was true, but he was more afraid for his wife and father-in-law. As they drove he saw the exit that led to where they were heading. Foreman’s Field was closest to Elko Nevada. The city they were heading toward had become something of a trader’s paradise.

Aaron sighed with relief as he began to pass the outposts that the police had set up near Elko. As he got closer he had to slow down, explain who he was, where he was from, use his thumb print to verify his identity, and then he drove toward the city itself. The moment he arrived in Elko he drove toward the grocery store he had bought the supplies at when he first made his trip to Foreman’s Field. He pulled up toward it, and the three of them stepped out. At one time it had been something he was certain had been considered a modern and beautiful building. But time had not been kind to it, and what stood before the three of them was a tired old building.

They stepped in through the door, and he noticed the elderly woman that had been here when he first arrived. He waved at her and she returned her wave to him.

“Well, look at that. I never forget a customer, especially one that bought so many non perishable supplies. So, what are you up to hun?” she asked, “Did you make it to that town you bought?”

He nodded, “I did, and it’s coming back to life. We’ve got a few more residents there, and we’ve began to open businesses. Surprisingly there’s been a few people stopping in, and we needed to get some provisions for everyone. I’ve got each of their budgets listed on my tablet, and of course we’ll be selecting our own. Do you mind if I upload their lists to your tablet so that you guys could go ahead and begin getting them together for them?”

She smiled, “That’s not a problem,” she took her tablet, and instead of trying to link it wirelessly she held out an old micro USB cable to him. He plugged it into his tablet, and a few moments later he sent their lists, along with their budgets, over to her tablet.

“Okay,” she said, “It’ll take us about thirty minutes to fill their orders. Anything that’s cold or frozen would you like it placed into thermal bags?” she asked, “The bags are free of charge with orders like this.”

He nodded, “Please.”

She smiled and he watched as she called a few other employees to the front of the store. Within minutes each of them had a printed slip of paper with various items on it. With them running and getting what everyone else wanted he began walking with Limestone. The first place they stopped was the isle with bagged beans, rice, and pasta. He watched as she began loading the beans and rice into a cart that they had brought with them.

Igneous looked at what was being gathered, and then his eyes focused on something else. He walked toward the object in his sight and Aaron watched as he returned with a large container of ground coffee. It made sense that the older stallion would want some coffee. He’d been drinking the coffee that Aaron had bought when he was first stopped here. That coffee had long since run out, and he’d been making do with wild tea. Somehow Cloudy Quartz had managed to find wildflowers that made decent tea, and were completely non-toxic.

He’d quickly decided that it was one of the things that they were just able to do, or that she had done so before. Regardless Igneous had made do with tea, but now he was loading a much larger container of the coffee into the cart. Aaron was fine with it since he did enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee on occasion. Although truth be told he wasn’t the coffee drinker that Igneous obviously was.

They moved toward the next isle and Limestone stopped as she looked over the powdered foods. She grabbed a few containers of powdered eggs, then she grabbed a couple of boxes of soup packets, about six boxes of instant noodles, and finally she grabbed six containers of powdered milk. He watched as she put everything into the cart, and he marveled as she stacked them well enough that not one of them threatened to fall over. As she did this she bent at the waist, her hips shashsaying back and forth in such a way that he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He moved forward, wrapped his arms around her in a hug, and she leaned up to accept it.

She ground her hips against him, let out a soft moan, as he held her, and then there was a slight cough that caught their attention. Both of them separated a little while Igneous simply smiled.

“T’is fine. Thou mother and I were young once,” he grinned, “And both of thee hath shown great restraint in thy desires.”

Limestone nodded, and then she looked at Aaron, “When we get back, unload, and get everything sorted take me upstairs and rut me until I can’t walk.”

He nodded, and they continued to gather the materials they needed. Aaron for his part felt relieved when they walked toward the front of the store itself. He wasn’t rich, by any stretch of the imagination, but over the last few weeks the influx of business to Foreman’s Field had brought him, and his family, a great influx of credits. The stores that had opened had delivered on their terms of the contracts, and currently he had a budget of about a thousand credits to stock up for the month.

He took everything to the front, placed it on the belt, and let it start to move up the line. The store in many ways was a holdover from older times. The conveyor belt they were using was attached to a self scanning station. As he loaded things Limestone and Igneous both stood at the opposite end. Limestone scanned, and Igneous bagged the materials in the bags that the scanner had released for them.

It took a few attempts for Igneous to realize that the scanner had obviously intended for each bag to be filled before getting another one, but once he realized it the assembly line moved easily enough. When all was said and done Aaron moved the cart to the front, and they loaded the bags into it. He walked toward the front of the store and there was about eight more carts, each of them more or less full of similar groceries.

They took the collection outside to the truck and he began loading everything, and separating them as best as he could. When they were done he got into the truck, started it, and soon they were heading back toward Foreman’s Field. Limestone sat beside him, and even though her eyes were on the windshield in front of them, her entire demeanor seemed to be focused on where they were going, he felt her hand on his leg.

It moved up, finding his crotch, and he felt her as she began to rub his cock through his jeans. She never looked down at what she was doing, she never smiled, she didn’t even give any other que that she was jerking him off through his jeans. She was quiet, talking only when Igneous talked to her, and she did her best to not indicate that she was getting turned on and incredibly wet. The moment that they arrived home couldn’t get there fast enough. For Aaron the drive home was far more difficult than the drive to Elko. Finally, he pulled into the designated parking area for their home, and outside he saw everyone waiting. They got out, and together he and Limestone began passing out the bags of groceries until it was just theirs that remained.

The three of them carried in their groceries, and then Aaron looked at the stairs, “I’m going to head up for a moment.”

Limestone nodded, “Yeah, I think that I want to get a shower and change,” she said as she followed him.

The two of them made it to their room, and the moment the door closed Limestone dropped to her knees. She didn’t say a word as she pulled his jeans down along with his boxers. Instead she licked his stiffening cock. She licked it from the base up to the tip and then he watched as she sucked it into her mouth. She began bobbing her head and he couldn’t help it as he rested his hands on the back of her head. She got up, pulled off her pants, which he could see that there was a damn spot on her panties, and they came off as well. She crawled onto the bed, her rump in the air and she looked back at him.

There was no need for words as he walked behind her. There was no need for questions, or statements, there was just a massive need for relief for both of them. He pressed against her, feeling the furnace, and then he dove into it. She let out a throaty moan as he took her. His hands pushed her shirt up, revealing her bra, which found itself moved over the top of her breasts. He cupped them as he thrust into her. She began to match his thrusts, her need and want every bit as large as his own. The two of them mated like animals in heat, and finally after a good fifteen minutes they lay beside each other.

Aaron looked at her as she smiled and curled up beside him. Neither of them cared that everyone likely heard the two of them, instead they were just happy in the moment.

Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage, Go together like a... Part 1

A Love as Steady as Stone

Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage, Go together like a… Part 1

Limestone lay in bed, every inch of her was drenched in sweat, and behind her she felt Aaron. He was holding her, his arms softly engulfed her, and she loved that she felt so safe with him. She looked at her left hand and there on the ring finger was a beautiful ring. It was made from silver, and on the top of it was a cut piece of onyx. Marble had shaped the stone, and the ring had been made by Timothy Andrews, the local blacksmith. She was surprised that he was able to make jewelry, but apparently he had made both the engagement and wedding rings for his wife Berry Punch.

Somehow Aaron had gotten all of this done before she could find out, and then he proposed in front of her family. Her mother had smiled brightly, more than she had ever seen her smile before, and immediately she called Pinkie Pie and began planning for a wedding. Of course her sister sounded excited, and suggested that they could hold that wedding anywhere they wanted to. Limestone just wanted to hold it here in Foreman’s Field. The town was home, and it was growing. It felt right for them to hold their wedding here. She breathed out a contented sigh. She was going to be married. Would that make her Mrs Limestone Pie-Foreman? She actually smiled at the idea. She would be fine with that.

There had been something of a movement before they came here, back in Equestria, where a lot of mares were taking the names of their husbands. She didn’t know too many personally, but she assumed that there were more than a few. Once she had been worried about getting married. She had been worried because the family farm needed her. Her dad and mom needed her to carry on the traditions of their family, and work the rock farm. Fate had removed that obstacle from her path. Foreman’s Field was their new home, and like the rock farm there was plenty of work to do. Luckily she had willing help.

When they’d first arrived she worried that his generosity and kind nature would come at a cost. She had been prepared to tell him to take his demands and shove them, but demands never came. He never asked for a thing. He gave them shelter, he opened his home, and the only thing he seemed to care about was being a decent person to them. She found herself falling in love with him, and now she had him. In the old Earth Pony way they were married. He claimed her innocence, and she chose him. But weddings were a big deal, and she understood that her mother wanted a wedding for her.

Aaron had shown her a building that looked surprisingly like the Celestia temple back near where they lived. He explained that it was a church, and from what he could tell it seemed to be in decent shape. She had asked if it had been used for worship, ceremonies, and the like he had answered that it was. The venue was clear at that point. They’d already cleaned the old church, repaired the floors, repainted it, and now it looked suitable to hold a wedding in. She had absolutely no problem with being married inside of it. She hoped that if her sister was planning the reception, and it was likely that Pinkie Pie would be planning it, that she would keep in mind the size of the location.

Family was the only ones she really wanted to invite. Of course that included the Apples. It had taken quite a while to find the proof, but the Pies and Apples were related. It was several generations back, and they were separated enough by now that Marble could have ended up with Big Mac and everything would have been fine. But that wasn’t how it was supposed to end up. She knew that there was someone out there for her sister. If the universe brought her to a wonderful Stallion, then it was only a matter of time until it brought a wonderful stallion to her sister.

She wasn’t going to suggestion herding though. She loved Marble, dearly, but there was a line. She was happy being the only mare in her stallion’s marriage. Sure, herds were common enough, but it wasn’t something she was interested in. Her parents were monogamists, as far as she knew most of her family was going back several generations. She wasn’t about to go and change that. Besides, she felt that she was a bit too much of a romantic to want to bring another mare into their wedding bed. She’d helped a few mares with their heat before. Mascara was one of them. She wondered what happened to her friend. Mascara had lived with her grandmother, Talltail, who was one of the oldest mares around, and who happened to be the local alchemist.

She hoped that they were here somewhere, and that the two of them were safe. In truth she hoped that Mascara had found somepony to be with. She deserved to be happy, especially after all of the misfortune that usually fell on her. It always seemed that no matter what happened to her that there was almost always something bad that happened to that mare. Some of it was things that Mascara could have easily avoided, and others just seemed to be drawn to her. If she was around somewhere she truly hoped that she would be brought to their town. It was a nice place, and she felt that Mascara, and her grandmother, would fit in well here.

She started to get up when a hand moved down to her hip. She felt the gentle way it moved, the soft way it seemed to linger in some of her more ticklish spots, and then she felt the other arm, which was under her side, move slightly. The hand cupping a breast. She moaned, softly, and there was a gentle bite on her ear. She felt her rump grind against Aaron, and despite the fact that he had just made her feel like a mare she was ready for it again. She was ready for him to claim her again, and again, and for as often as they could.

At some point she had quite decided that she liked being made love to. She enjoyed having him take her, bend her over, and rut her like there was no tomorrow. More to the point she had begun to experiment with him. She loved oral. There was no denying that one anymore. When he would lay down, and she would wrap her thighs around his head while she sucked his cock was an incredibly sexy and fulfilling moment. She was okay with anal. It was still taking some time to get used to it, but she could say that once things were going it felt good.

But her absolute favorite was traditional pony style. Her on her hands and knees, him behind her, buried deep inside of her, thrusting into her while holding her tail, or sometimes he’d pull on her mane a little. Sweet Celestia she couldn’t explain it, but she liked when he pulled her on her mane. She loved the feeling of him setting a pace with her, and she would gladly follow it. Right now they were on their sides, he was slowly pushing into her, and she was letting out a soft moan.

“I love you,” he whispered.

She felt him push completely into her, fully seated inside, and she couldn’t help but marvel at the wonderful feeling of being full, of having him with her, and of him holding her all at the same time. She couldn’t help as she whinnied softly and then moaned as he pulled out only to push right back to where he was. It was slow, it was methodical, and it was going to last for a long time.

“I...I love you too,” she whispered back between moans, “Please…” she asked.

The rest of the question wasn’t needed. She felt him giving her what she wanted. She was receiving the very thing she needed, and soon the slow and methodical was bringing her to the point of a climax. She was nearing a climax, and she knew that he would ensure her passions, he would do what he could to make her feel good, and in doing so he may deny himself the release that she knew he needed. She felt what she was sure was going to the first of several orgasms, and her entire body shook with pleasure as he held her.

“Rut me,” she said.

“Limestone, I am.”

She shook her head, knowing what he meant, “No, I want you to rut me hard. I want you to use me,” she said, “I want you to rut me so hard that it’s difficult for me to stand or sit.”

She felt his arms move around her waist, and soon she was moved. The position changed, and she was on top of him. Her back to him still, but he was still buried inside of her. She leaned up, getting seated, and she felt the fullness of his cock as it seemed to bury deeper inside of her. She began to rise and fall on him, picking up the pace, moving from a slow trot to fast canter. She was determined to go into a full gallop at some point, and she wanted him to completely fill her womb.

“Limestone… I’m close,” he warned as she felt his hands on her cutie marks.

“Do it!” she shouted as she felt him pull hard on her. She felt him explode into her, and she felt his seed as it painted inside of her. She fell forward, feeling spent, and she felt him as he moved. A hand lingered on the dock of her tail for a moment, and she closed her eyes. She knew they needed to get up. There was much they needed to do today, but at the same time if he wanted her ass she would be fine with it.

“If you want to,” she said.

She felt him get up, she felt him press against her, and she prepared herself. She relaxed, waiting for him to split her open, and instead he kissed her neck.

“We’ve got a lot to today, but if you’re still willing tonight or tomorrow morning, I’ll take you up on it.”

She opened her yellow eyes and looked back at him, “You know that I’ll be willing,” she said.

Getting up she looked at her belly. She’d been in heat when they first started being together. She’d seen Pinkie’s foals, and she knew that they could produce foals. She’d become extra hungry, and she had been getting nauseous at times without much of a reason. The evidence was there. She was pregnant. The wedding would need to happen sometime soon. It wasn’t that it bothered her if their foal was born without them having a ceremony. After all, they were already married in her mind.

But she knew that her mother wanted them to have the ceremony. She didn’t want to try to squeeze into a wedding dress being several months along. That’s when she considered the dress. Her mother’s wedding dress was gone, wherever it had been, and that meant that they would need to make a new one. She wasn’t much of a seamstress, but her mother and marble were actually pretty good at it. Of course she knew that Pinkie Pie knew ponies that were professionals, but she didn’t want to have someone else make the dress. It was tradition for the bride to make her own dress with her family. She decided that Pinkie could help, but she wasn’t putting pink into it. Check that, she wasn’t putting pink, balloons, cake, frosting, sprinkles, glitter, or confetti into her wedding dress. It would be a nice white frock. That would be good enough.

The two of them got up, walked to the shower, and bathed each other. While they kissed, held each other, and gently groped one another there wasn’t another session of lovemaking. They finished their shower and Limestone saw the sun rising. The’d been awake for a couple of hours at this point, and certainly they’d acted like a newly wed couple while they were awake, but they were getting around a little later than normal.

The two of them got dressed, and walked downstairs to see a full breakfast waiting. Her mother looked knowingly at her, and gave her a gentle nod. Both of them took a seat, and Cloudy Quartz cleared her throat.

“Limestone, today thou shalt help in the preparation of thy wedding.”

She swallowed the bit of egg she had in her mouth, “Ummm, mama, I really need to help with getting things ready in the town.”

Her mother crossed her arms, “Thou hast put off planning, preparing, and arranging thy marriage long enough. Pinkamena hast said that she shalt be here by day’s end, and she wouldst like to view thy plans and desires for thy wedding.”

She sighed, “Mama, if Pinkie wants to plan it, then just let her plan it,” she looked at the eggs, “I’m good at scheduling things, and I’m great at hard work, but I’m not much good at the more girlie things.”

She felt a hand on her own hand, “You’re plenty girlie,” Aaron said.

“Thy stallion, is correct. Thou art a mare, and it is thy duty. Today thou shalt help in planning thy wedding.”

Igneous stood, “Aaron, thou shalt have mine help today,” he said.

Aaron nodded, “Okay, honestly all we really need to do is meet with our new sheriff, and ensure that he’s settled in,” Aaron said.

Igneous nodded, “After thou hast finished thy breakfast we shalt greet Sheriff Silverstar.”

Aaron nodded, knowing that it would be a day and a half, but he was fine with that. He looked at Limestone who seemed to be pretty understandably hesitant in doing much of the wedding planning. He knew that he should help, but they needed to make sure that Sheriff Silverstar was settled, and of course there was also checking on his deputies as well. Which it felt good to have an official law enforcement in the town. He finished his eggs, kissed Limestone, who returned his kiss happily, and then he walked with Igneous toward the front door and out into the town itself.

Limestone watched as Aaron left, and she looked at her mother. She knew that she needed to help do this. It was a mare’s responsibility after all, but she wasn’t lying when she said that she wasn’t that good at it. Pinkie was the one that had a talent for throwing parties, and doing events. It made sense for her to leave it to Pinkie, but she understood what her mother said. Even with Pinkie helping it was her responsibility to make sure that she had down what she wanted to happen.

“Now, shalt we discuss where thou wouldst like to hold the ceremony?”

Limestone looked at her mother, sighed, and nodded, “Sure, actually there’s a church in town. We’ve painted it, fixed it up, and it seems big enough. I think that we could hold the ceremony there, and maybe hold the reception here. We’ve got lots of room in here, and I’m sure that we can open up the main room for guests.”

Cloudy looked at their new home, “Verily, thou speaks the truth,” she said, “What of thy dress?”

Limestone rubbed her hooves together slightly, “I suppose that we need to make one. I’ve never really been very good at that sort of thing, but I thought that maybe you and Marble could help me with it?” she asked, “I mean that it is if you want to. If you don’t I’m sure that I could find a video for it online.”

Cloudy Quartz shook her head, “Thou hast art correct in that thy sister and I shalt help thou make thy dress.” She looked at her, “What of Pinkamena?”

Limestone looked at her, “I’m fine with Pinkie helping, but no pink, no balloons, no cake, no frosting, no sprinkles, and no glitter,” she said.

Cloudy nodded.

Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage, Go together like a... Part 2

A Love as Steady as Stone

Chapter 12: Love and Marriage go together like a… Part II

Aaron listened as Sheriff Silverstar talked two the two deputies that had arrived with him. One was human, same as any other human, and the other was a gryphoness named Greta Grimfeathers. Greta was a crow head gryphoness, and she was built like an athlete. Her breasts were moderately sized, her waist and hips both on the slim side, but one thing he noticed was how closely she was staying to the human deputy. He understood what was going on, and naturally he had no problem with it.

“Are the three of you set for housing?” Aaron asked.

Greta nodded, “Our home is acceptable. There’s a few minor problems, but nothing that can’t be fixed,” she said, “I also noticed that the sheriff’s office has a small apartment in it.”

Aaron nodded, “It’s one of the buildings here that is from when this place was originally a mining town back in the eighteen hundreds,” he said, “So, at the time the Sheriff, if he wasn’t married, would be able to live in the office. It functioned much the same way a small school house would function.”

She looked at it, “So, Sheriff, are you wanting to trade your town house for the apartment?” she playfully asked.

He grinned, “Naw, I’m fine in the house, besides, I figure it’s time that I might consider the idea of looking for a special somepony.”

Aaron grinned, “Well, I’m sure that you’ll have a chance to do so,” he said, “The town is growing, and I believe that there will be more people coming before too long.”

Once their meeting was done Aaron considered going back to the hotel. He wanted to help Limestone, if he could, but at the same point he knew that there was still quite a bit that he needed to attend to. At the same time it wouldn’t be right to force Igneous into doing any of it. It wasn’t that he didn’t think his future father-in-law couldn’t do it, but he knew that Igneous’ grandkids were most likely already here.

“Igneous, if you want to head back to the hotel and visit with your grandfoals, that’d be fine.”

The older stallion looked toward the Hotel, and then he shook his head, “True, I wouldst love to visit with mine grandfoals, but thou art overseeing more of the township, art thou not?”

Aaron nodded, “Sure, I’ve got a few more stops, but I’m not working on any of the buildings today,” he said, “Igneous, I’m serious in that if you want to go and visit with your grandfoals I’ll be fine. I’m mainly just making sure that everything is up and running, and I’m looking at the last set of homes and buildings that we are going to finish repairing.”

The older stallion stood there for a moment, and then shook his head, “Nay, if thou willst allow, I shalt accompany thou, and thy job shalt be done forthwith.”

Aaron nodded, unsure of how to argue the point any further, and the two of them began heading further into town. The stops were pretty predictable. He was checking in on the houses that were occupied, making sure that the climate control systems were working, that there wasn’t any break in any of the pipes, and that everyone was doing well.

Each house was doing well enough, and that left him feeling better as they continued. He stopped at the first, and currently only, tavern in town. Berry Punch had opened a place that served food along with some strong spirits. She opened the door, welcomed them in, and then to his surprise she offered him the use of the tavern as the reception hall. It was large enough, and he was sure that everyone would fit. On top of that it would give Cloudy Quartz and Marble Pie a chance to relax instead of focusing on cooking everything.

“That’s an awesome idea,” he said, “I’ll run it by Limestone, but I believe that we will take you up on that.”

She smiled, “Good to hear,” she replied, “Also there’s no problems with anything. For the most part everything is working well.”

He nodded, walked out, and noticed that behind the tavern was a crude greenhouse. It was something that she had obviously built, and he could see grapes being grown in there. She was going to be making all of her liquor from scratch, and he could respect that. The greenhouse would give her a leg up, and let her do most of it cheaper. Of course depending on the size the town ended up being it was likely that she would have to import some more grapes, or expand her greenhouse.

He smiled, and from there they walked up to the church. Opening it he saw the local priest. He stood, smiled, and walked toward both Aaron and Igneous with a friendly wave.

“Mr. Foreman,” he said, “I must thank you for repairing and restoring this wonderful house of God.”

He smiled, “I’m glad that I was able to restore it Father Donnelley,” he said, “I did want to make sure that you weren’t having any kind of plumbing, electrical, or any other problems.”

The older priest smiled, “No,” he said, “This house of God is in excellent shape. It merely needed a Shepherd to watch over the flock.”

Aaron nodded, “And we’re glad to have you here,” he said, “I suppose the other reason I am here to ensure that our ceremony is still able to be held here.”

The older priest nodded. Aaron could see that he had done time in far less pleasant places, but regardless it hadn’t changed who he was. He was a kind man, and one that was willing to help his fellow man as much as he could. He truly believed in what he preached, and that meant more than the world to most people. He shook hands with Father Donnelley, and both he and Igneous stepped out and began to walk back toward the hotel. Or they did until he heard the sounds of music being played.

The song was unmistakable. It had become something of an anthem to the disenfranchised, and he followed the sound of the music to a group of about six individuals. They were playing together, and the sounds that they were making sounded almost as if the band that originally played had personally taught them the song. He could see Igneous trying to deal with the sound of the music itself, but he walked toward them, listening as they sung every lyric of Bullet with Butterfly Wings nearly perfectly. Although they changed the entire vampire bit. Instead they were calling it a Lunar Pegasus, but it worked somehow.

They finished, and he walked forward, “Welcome to Foreman’s Field,” he said, “So, do all of you accept job offers?”

The lead singer, who turned out to be a Lunar Pegasus, smiled, “Sure, we’ll accept jobs ya nob goblin,” she said in rich Scottish brogue, “Long as ya pay, we’re good ta play.”

Igneous didn’t look exactly pleased at the style of speech the lunar pegasus had, but he didn’t correct her. One thing he had learned, thanks to the relationship they had with the Apples, was that other ponies had other ways of doing things. Perhaps this mare’s kin were more along the lines of being profane and blunt. The blunt part he could understand and respect. After all, his own daughter was blunt, but at the same time she did show some decorum. Not to mention he’d seen her become far more feminine than she had been before.

There was evidence of a mare that wanted to beloved by her chosen inside of her. In truth, he could ask for no better son-in-law than the young master. And the young master was accepting of everyone that was willing to work to better Foreman’s Field. It was a noble trait, and one that he felt would do well when paired with Earth Pony sensibilities.

He watched as Aaron talked to the young lunar pegasus, which revealed that she and her sister were both here in this world. A few moments later Aaron was introduced to Sveta’s older sister Stella, and more to the point he was introduced to Stella’s fiance a young man named Claude S. Vercetti. Claude explained that until recently he worked in collections and private security. He happened to meet Stella and Sveta, and the two of them needed a place to stay. He had earned quite a bit doing what he was doing, and decided to retire from it, and he heard about the town here.

One thing led to another, and the three of them moved out this way. Claude seemed friendly, but the way he was trying to remain vague about his former employer told Aaron that it wasn’t legitimate. He understood that all too often a man had to take what jobs he could, and he didn’t ask a whole lot of questions about it, because honestly, at the end of the day, any job often mean the difference between starving to death, and living to see another day.

The fact that Claude was willing to leave that job, come out to another place, and make a fresh start was more than enough reason for Aaron to leave the past alone. Instead he explained to Claude that he was interested in a job, if he decided he needed one, that a bar was opening, and he knew that the owner could possibly use some assistance. Claude smiled at him.

“She need a bouncer or the like?”

Aaron grinned, “Well possibly, but I’d imagine that she could use someone that would be willing to learn a few other skills as well. Besides that, as the mayor I wouldn’t be opposed to opening up another shop or business if you know a trade, or have experience running a store.”

He smiled, “Actually, I helped run a pawn shop when I was about sixteen. The old man there taught me how to run it, keep it afloat, and I wouldn’t mind running one again.”

Aaron nodded, and looked where they were. He then looked around them, and spotted an empty business down the street. He motioned for Claude to follow him, and when they got there he opened the door and let him step into the repaired building. Like the other buildings there was some minor things that could be improved upon, but for the most part it was ready to go.

“If you’re interested I’ll give you the same contract I gave the others, the building will be yours, completely yours, and on our next supply trip we can pick up what goods you’d like to have stocked up.”

He nodded, “Okay, I’d like that.”

Stella looked at him, and then at Aaron, “Thanks fer finding ‘em something ta do, but now I’d like ta be doing more than flickin’ my bean and getting a right good dickin’,” she said, “So, I was a guard for Luna, got something like that?”

I smiled at her, “We’ve got a sheriff, and some deputies, and I bet that he wouldn’t mind having an extra deputy on duty. You’d be interested in that?”

She nodded, “Sounds good, I’ll meet with ‘im later.”

With that he officially hired Sveta and her band to play for the wedding. All that was left was the actual service to take place.