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!)