Stone and Sky

by Visiden Visidane

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Soarin, Romance, Limestone Pie
Length: 8317

What the Choosing Stone says, goes.

Stupid shipping story submitted for the approval of Jake the Army Guy's Horse Words Extravaganza, the theme being Obscure Shipping.

Limestone Pie is an expert in making things work. Taking charge of the sprawling family business? She'll take the job. Completely useless, airheaded sisters not helping out? She'll work around them. Lazy, incompetent workers? She'll beat them into shape. The only one concerned with keeping the line of Pies going? Not a problem.

So when the Choosing Stone picks a prospective husband...well, she's got her work cut out for her and she's not backing out.

Published 2017-06-13 08:30:06 UTC
Last updated 2017-06-13 08:30:06 UTC

Limestone Pie Finds a Husband

Author's Note

Obviously not part of Upheaval.

Limestone Pie Finds a Husband

Another day, another cycle of toil in the Pie Rock farm. Out in fields, great rocks, nurturing their bounties of ore, gem, and building stone, grew through magic only earth ponies cultivated. In the quarries, laborers hurled their backs into furious pounding. The farm was approaching peak rock growth season, and they had to keep up. Deep in the mines, more digging filled the maze-like network of tunnels, the endless picks striking stone creating a tune in harmony with the ceaseless rolling of carts on their tracks.

At the center of all this organized chaos was the Foremare, Limestone Pie, directing it all with swift precision. Her eyes, green like her namesake, though harder, searched for ineffiencies and potential problems. Her light gray mane was short and practical, cut straight and swept to the side, all the better to stay out of work's way. Her lips were tight, nearly humorless save for a small smile. This year was a good year after all. Rock growth was at a record high, as was quarry and mine production. Her father had worked hard to put Pie Rock Farm on the map. It fell upon her to take it beyond that.

All around her were the fruits of her efforts already. For one thing, she came upon the idea of hiring laborers. It used to be that her father did most of the work with the help of only his young daughters. Work was in earnest, but slow and inefficient. And, as they all aged, that system just didn't work out. Their father found it more and more difficult to deal with all the physical stresses of rock farming. Maud buried her head in Rock Theory, then went off to college, Pinkamena just wandered off to Ponyville one day and didn't come back, not that she was much help to begin with. Marble...well, she was mildly helpful, Maud graduating early this year inspired her to go to college as well. Marble's first letter from Canterlot University came just a few days ago. Apparently, she was taking this course called Gender Studies. Limestone doubted that it was even remotely useful for the farm. It sounded insane. It probably was. With Maud deciding to go off on even more Rock Theory expeditions, which just translated to not helping out, that left Limestone to deal with the farm. As hard a worker as she was, even she had to admit that more ponies were needed to keep the farm going.

Inspiration had struck earlier when that wandering unicorn magician showed up trying to steal food. Limestone was debating pressing versus the stocks with her father when a bizzare and new idea struck her: make the unicorn work as punishment. The unicorn was lazy, stubborn, and mostly incompetent, but, even then, there was a big difference in work done. At one point, they even paid Trixie, as this unicorn introduced herself, for her work. With Marble gone, Limestone decided to put that inspiration to action.

After Trixie left, there came a gang of Diamond Dogs that tried raiding the farm for gems. After their bones healed up, they worked out a deal. Then, there was the disgraced celebrity agent, Svengallop. After that, some pony from Las Pegasus who got run out of town for being a fraud. After him were the Flim Flam brothers, who also got run out of Las Pegasus for being frauds. At that point, Limestone started to suspect that the dregs of Equestria had a peculiar way of ending up in her beloved Rock Farm. It wasn't that bad. She got to pay them on the cheap. With workers, the farm flourished. Her parents were impressed and grew confident enough to completely stand back and let her manage everything.

"Miss Limestone!" one of the Diamond Dogs, the smallest among them, called out. His name was Rend, if Limestone recalled correctly. "Big trouble in the coal mine! Very big trouble!"

"Again?" Limestone snapped. She broke into a gallop with the dog leading the way. "Did you idiots dig up another balor? I told you to watch out for the smell of Sulfur!"

"No balor, Miss Limestone!" Rend yelped. "Big cave in inside new tunnel! Poor diamond dogs trapped!"

The coal mine was the latest addition to the farm, so the tunnels weren't that complicated yet. Igneous had discovered the vein a long time ago, but never did find the time to work on it with the shortage of labor. Limestone had it up and running quickly, and profits rolled in like a tidal wave of money.

They came upon the collapsed section. A single look at the nearby walls and all the pick and claw marks told Limestone enough. "What did I tell you about your digging speed and the support beams?" she asked.

Rend twiddled his fingers. "Diamond dogs were hoping to finish quota early. Have nice big pile of coal for Miss Limestone."

Limestone snorted. "You mean you wanted your gems early, you liar." She struck the biggest boulder in the blockage, reducing it to pebbles. Behind the blockage, the trapped workers cheered and whined. "No slacking!" she shouted at them. "Clear up this rubble, get the support beams up, and keep digging at the pace I told you!"

They nodded their heads rapidly and tripped all over each other in their haste to appease her. With a curt nod, she walked out. The coal mine was a new venture, and, as new ventures tended to experience, it had its fair share of obstacles. When she first got the mine running, Princess Luna slammed her with hard regulations, whining that all the smoke produced by ponies using coal blocked her beautiful moon at night. Fortunately, Princess Celestia, wiser as older siblings tended to be, lifted them. Limestone never thought that the farm could ever reach the attention of the princesses themselves, but she was happy for the challenge. Royal attention only proved that the Pie Rock Farm was a big player in Equestria now. She was lucky that Princess Celestia dug coal.

With prosperity looking pretty good, though, Limestone had the chance to mull over another Pie Family issue.

For a while now, Limestone had taken to carrying around a small pouch. Inside that pouch was a heart-shaped, gray rock, perfectly smooth, symmetrical, and outright ancient. It was the Choosing Stone, the same stone that brought her parents together. Cloudy Quartz had wordlessly given it to her one day with a wistful, almost apologetic smile. The message was clear nonetheless. She pulled the stone out and stared at it, a move that was basically a daily ritual at this point.

Limestone let out a mixture of a sigh and a snort. As the eldest, she was meant to inherit the Rock Farm, but it also primarily fell onto her to ensure that the family business would have an heir, and her parents would have grandchildren. She thought back to her sisters. In truth, heirdom could fall onto one of her future children or that of her sisters'.

However, Pinkamena's last letter gushed about a new marefriend. One of her best friends apparently. Limestone had always suspected that Pinkamena was a dyke. To be fair, she suspected a lot of things simply on the basis that Pinkamena was weird. Maud's last letter was all about a new best friend. Limestone just assumed she was a dyke too. As for Marble...no. Just plain unreliable. Besides, she was attending college. Limestone wouldn't be surprised if she came out of there a dyke. No, there was no relying on those three for heirs anymore than there was any relying on them for help with the farm.

Limestone frowned at the stone. How to do this, though? She would have to leave the farm in search of a suitable stallion. She wasn't sure she could trust any of her workers not to screw up, let alone manage the place. And what was she supposed to do if she found that stallion? She wasn't exactly an oil painting, or...nice. The ritual of the Choosing Stone also wasn't a widespread tradition.

"Stop whining," Limestone told herself. "You sound like Pinkamena. Of course this will be hard work. A husband doesn't just drop out of---"

A series of alarmed yells from the workers tore Limestone out of her reverie. Furious, she trotted towards them. "What's all this racket?" she demanded.

The quarry laborers had gathered around a rising cloud of dust. The farthest from the sight, Flim, looked to Limestone, then tapped his brother urgently on the shoulder. "We were just surprised when this pony fell out of the sky, Miss Limestone," he said.

"Get back to work, lazybones," Limestone growled. She surveyed all the laborers. "That goes for all of you." He swallowed hard, then picked up his sledgehammer. The rest of them scamperd back to their places as well. Limestone waved away the dust. Before she could look, her gaze fell upon the stone she still held in a foreleg.

The Choosing Stone pulsed with a faint light.

Limestone fumbled with the thing and nearly dropped it. Her heart pounding in sync with the light, she stared at the stone for a while. This was ridiculously convenient. How did this happen? Was the Choosing Stone actually some form of lodestone that attracted mates? Breathless, she walked closer to the source of the dust. A dozen scenarios ran in her mind. Does she make the first move? Tell him about the stone? Her eyes fell upon the strong muscles along the side of a stallion, then the wings of a pega--

Limestone stopped. Then, she looked back to the Choosing Stone. "That's a feather-back," she mumbled.

The stone pulsed softly on.

"That's a--" Limestone paused, then tried to swallow the rising outrage. "Look, stone," she whispered through grit teeth. "I've always been respectful of all Pie Family traditions. I've always lived up to what was expected of me. The least you can do is point me to a strong, handsome, well-to-do, earth pony stallion.

The stone pulsed softly on.

Limestone looked back to the fallen pegasus, her initial awe and elation turning to overcritical sulleness. He was unconscious and injured to some degree. One of his forelegs had crumpled badly under him, and his right wing was bent at an unnatural angle. He had a dark blue mane, seemingly wild and unkempt at first, but a closer inspection revealed styling gel used to achieve that effect. His coat, what little of it that could be seen, was light blue. He was wearing a blue...clown suit of some sort, marked with fancy yellow lightning bolts, and torn in several places thanks to his tumble. The tears exposed gashes all around. "Great," Limestone muttered. "Probably some nancy boy performer from Cloudsdale. Not even a good one with this crash. I'm such a lucky mare. Are you serious?"

The stone pulsed softly on.

Limestone raised a hoof to throw the offending stone towards the horizon before dumping it back to her pouch with a trembling sigh of frustration. "Fine!" she shouted skyward. "I'll make this work!"

The laborers looked to her in a panic before resuming their pounding. Limestone placed the fallen pegasus on her back, and headed for the family house.

Some alabaster chunks to swiftly mend the broken bones, bloodstones to stop any internal and external bleeding, some quartz for any infection due to the scrapes and lacerations. Limestone carefully arranged the rocks across the pegasus' bandaged injuries in accordance to traditional Pie family healing. She had placed him on her bed, having first removed the clown suit. He wasn't a bad looking fellow. He had a look of anguish on his face though. Even unconscious, he was clearly troubled.

Fortunately, both Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz had gone on a trip for their vacation. That left the family house entirely in Limestone's care. She set a kettle to boil for some tea, and rummaged for some snacks. No stone food for now. Even earth ponies outside the family could barely manage the stuff. A city-born feather-back certainly wouldn't. Luckily there was some carrots around, and some apples from their supposed "cousins" from Ponyville.

Limestone pulled up a chair and waited. Setting the plate of sliced fruits and vegetables on her bedside desk. She supposed this was something she should practice as an attentive wife. She pulled out the stone with a frown, and stared at it again. "What did you just throw my way, you stupid rock?" she asked.

The stone pulsed softly on.

Soarin Loses a Wife

"Spitfire, you wanna get married?"

Why did he put it like that? It sounded so ridiculously casual, like an afterthought or a passing fancy. He hadn't meant it that way. He just figured that they'd been together for so long, suddenly being so formal and romantic would just be silly. Maybe he should have gone that route. He should have put the ring in a gold, gem-encrusted box, picked a fancy view with fireworks going off close to midnight, gotten on his knees to say "Oh, Spitfire, will you finally be my beloved wife?" or something like that. Maybe if he had, she'd be more impressed with how serious he could get. Maybe she'd have said yes and they'd be in the middle of the ceremony already.

Can't we just stay like this, Soarin? When we're just engaged, everything's a beautiful gift, every time is a date. Why muck it up with marriage? Did you just see those two? They look so miserable. Couples are in love and have fun. Married couples just look deflated.

She had said that with a smiling face. He wanted to agree. He always agreed with Spitfire. That's why she was the captain. Faced with that answer, he had doubted himself as well. Maybe this whole marriage thing was a stupid idea. He did have a good thing going on here. No reason at all to complicate it. No reason except...

"But I was thinking...you know, living together, starting a family, that kind of stuff."

That was probably the first time ever that he persisted about anything with Spitfire. When did he gain the courage? Maybe it was just impatience. They'd been engaged for three years. He spent a fortune on that ring. He had plenty of money for a fancy ceremony. He had a house in mind and the savings for it. He had more than three years to think about this. He wasn't rushing, he was sure of it.

"Come on, Soarin, we're at the top of our games. You wanna drop all that to play house?"

Maybe it was the flippant dismissal of it, or just the fact that he had been waiting for a while. Three years was a long time for betrothal. That wasn't counting all those years of being just stallion and marefriend. All those years of buying dinner, fancy gifts...they had to come up sooner or later.

"I'm just wasting my time, aren't I?"

He hadn't meant to say that. Then again, it was something that needed saying.

"How dare you?" Spitfire had snapped. "You're being selfish! I'm supposed to drop everything for you, am I? I have to be tied down for your fantasy family?"

"No!" he had replied. "I'd never tie you down, Spitfire. I don't want you to be unhappy."

She put on that satisfied smile for having made her point. He had to make his, though.

"So just give me the ring back. Let's call this off."

"What?"

Oh, she went livid after that. Whatever response she had drowned in splutters, snorts, and snarls. It ended the ring hitting his face so hard that it must have left a mark. He should have been heartbroken. The ache in his chest was proof enough. But, for some bizzare reason, he also felt a load fall away. He could barely stay on the cloud they were on when he walked off. There was no time to mull over what he guessed was a horrible break up. He just had to fly. He got his wonderbolt suit on and just took off into the night sky, taking in the odd newness of the wind hitting his face. He dipped and turned wildly, suddenly bursting with confidence. He may as well practice some of the hardest maneuvers in their repertoire, right?

He went at it for the rest of the night, all the way until morning, even. Cloudsdale was a nowhere in sight when reality to caught up with him. The strain was more than enough for his wings. He didn't even warm up before this. A bad air current shook him out of his path. The next thing he knew, he was spiraling downard to what looked like a rocky expanse, wings too exhausted to fight back...

Soarin finally decided to open his eyes. In truth, he had been awake for quite some time, but the feel of being on somepony's bed while being tended to left him unsure. His eyes hurt as they adjusted to the light. He was in a small, rather ascetic room. For a moment, he actually feared that he had been thrown into some kind of prison. He tried to get up, but a firm hoof came from one side to stop him from moving.

"Hey," a really husky, soft voice said. "Stay still. The healing stones are still working on you."

Soarin did feel some pressure of what felt like various rocks laid out on top of his body. These spots were warm and soothing. He had been injured in flight before so he was no stranger to medical treatment, but this was a first. He turned his head slightly to look at the pony nursing him.

A gray earth pony mare glowered over him, bright green eyes intense and unsure all at once. Her mane was a lighter gray color, short, in a no-nonsense straight cut. "H-hey," Soarin ventured. "Thanks for taking care of me."

The gray mare only stared at him further. Her lips remained in a humorless straight line. Those were lips that rarely smiled, he reckoned. "You're welcome," she eventually replied.

Then, silence. The clock by one of the room's walls ticked away while they both balked at conversation. The gray mare looked at something she was holding with one hoof before looking back at Soarin. "Who are you?" she asked. "How'd you end up crashing on my farm?"

A little stung pride-wise, Soarin tried to put on a winning smile. He was so used to instant recognition as a wonderbolt that he had forgotten that, sometimes, he had to introduce himself. "I'm Soarin," he said as cheerily as possible, though his jaw hurt. "I had...uh, a flying accident.

"Not much of a flyer, then," the gray mare muttered.

Ouch. Still, Soarin kept the smile up. "How about you?" he asked. "May I know who helped me out?"

The gray mare leaned forward suddenly and pulled down a lower eyelid. "You can gaz--" she caught herself and moved back. "I mean...my name is Limestone Pie. You're in my room in the Pie Rock Farm."

She sounded so subdued, especially compared to that harsh burst of energy she had earlier. Again, more awkward silence. Limestone looked around, then held up a plate of sliced carrots and apples. "Here!" she said. "I've got some food out for you. Eat up so you'll heal faster."

Soarin answered by wiggling his bandaged forelegs helplessly. Several stones had been attached to them.

Limestone's sullen, embarassed stare widened. "You useless feather--" she stopped again, moving her foreleg as if she was pushing something away. "Sorry," she muttered. "Let's start over." She held out a slice of carrot towards his mouth.

Soarin accepted with a careful bite, partly because he was feeling hungry, and partly because Limestone might end up beating the crap out of him if he proved even remotely difficult. "Thanks," he said.

"I can do this much, at least," Limestone said. Soarin raised an eyebrow, but she didn't seem like she was talking to him at that point. She offered him another piece, which he delicately took. She wasn't using any utensils, and he was too afraid to touch her hoof with his lips. "Hey," she said after he had taken his fifth piece. He looked at her quizically in response. She was about to hold up that thing she has been holding the entire time, but she placed it in a pouch instead. "You got ponies looking for you? I can try to find them."

Soarin thought it over. There was a show on schedule. The Wonderbolts would be looking for him for sure...or would they? They'd be just as likely to replace him with a backup. Spitfire would likely be all too eager to do just that. Maybe a bit of a break was in order. "Not really," he said.

Limestone raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked. No family? No coworkers? No..." she looked away briefly. "No wife or marefriend?"

"Nope," Soarin replied, still grinning. "Sorry, if I'm troubling you. I'll just go as soon as I..." he tried to rise again, but she set him down even harder. The strength in her hooves left Soarin speechless. Who was this mare?

"No, you'll stay here," Limestone said gruffly. "I'll take care of you."

Soarin lay back down, more cowed than relieved. "Okay."

Limestone Pie Goes Out of Her Way

It had taken only the first words she had spoken to her prospective husband to make Limestone realize how utter garbage she was going to be at this. When she briefly left her room to put the plate away, she took the time to assess the first impression she made.

Complete failure.

She had asked him about family out of concern, and to assure him that he wasn't some kind of prisoner. From the way he suddenly started apologizing, he took it to mean that she was desperately trying to get rid of him. She pressed a hoof against her forehead. That look of fearful surprise too when she pushed him down on her bed. At least, she knew that he wasn't married or in a relationship. Then again, the Choosing Stone may be insane enough to pick a feather-back, but not a married one. With the plate clean, she walked back to her room, but stopped by the door.

How to bring him around what was supposed to happen...

He was a feather-back. There was no getting around that. It was incredibly unlikely that they would respect any earth pony tradition. He had that weird, goofy-looking grin that suggested that he normally didn't take things seriously. He might not be particularly good at being a feather-back since he crashed here. She sighed, and shook her head. 'Okay, Limestone, back up,' she told herself. 'Let's take inventory of his good points first. Then, we work from there.'

Good points...well, he was sort of handsome; strong jaw, pretty eyes, smooth coat, pleasing coloration. His mane looked nice despite the styling. He was clearly athletic from the muscle tones. He wasn't earth pony strong, but he was strong for a feather-back. He wasn't rude or anything. At least in comparison to her...

Limestone clenched a hoof with determination. This wasn't so bad. Well...it was mildly bad, but absolutely workable. The Choosing Stone paired her parents up, and she knew full well how devoted those two were to each other. It couldn't be wrong now. She opened the door by just a crack and peeped in. The sound of snoring was enough for her to back away. Let him rest for now. What to do, though?

Limestone banged her front hooves together. The clownsuit! It was badly torn up thanks to his crash. She'll fix it up so it'll be ready once he was healed. She trotted over to the suit, and inspected it. This would be easy. It certainly felt like a wife-ly thing to do. She'll just ease him to the idea, that's it. She better start right away. The healing stones worked quickly. He'd probably be good to go after a couple of days of rest.

Two days passed by as if they were two hours. Outside, Soarin was already taking practice flights to stretch his wings. The healing stones had done their job, as expected. Inside, Limestone clutched the patched up clownsuit tightly. Things hadn't gone as swimmingly as she had hoped. That is to say, she spent those two days more as a grumpy nurse than a devoted fiancee.

It couldn't be helped, though! She had work to do. Peak season was upon the farm. With even her parents gone, she had a lot of chores to manage. Squeezing in time to attend to Soarin proved really difficult. Besides, he proved quite the strong sort indeed. He healed up rapidly, and made a show of athleticism. Limestone reckoned that fussing over him would just make her annoying.

The past two days had not been entirely stagnant. They managed to talk while she fed him. He wasn't a clown at all. He was a Wonderbolt, apparently. A highly-trained, high-flying performer in a famous group that did travelling shows, and ocassionally showed up as air support for the Royal Guard. They were based in Cloudsdale, where they honed their flying techniques often.

From her spot in the quarry, she watched him perform a daring, complicated set of loops with ease. She had never been particularly interested in aerial acrobatics. Pinkamena loved to talk it up in her letters. When they were younger, Pinkamena wouldn't shut up about seeing a flying show. Limestone dismissed the whole thing as unproductive feather-back shenanigans.

Getting a good view of Soarin, though, there was an elegance to his fancy swoops and dives that made Limestone feel something.

She didn't like the feeling. She felt crude and graceless. Slow and plodding. Watching him fly made her legs feel light, as if she was about to be carried away by the wind like some feather-back.

When he winged over to wave at her, Limestone had to look away at first to try and put a smile on. Her cheek muscles seemed to creak with the effort. When she returned the wave, she hoped she had a smile to answer his. Through the corner of her eyes, she noticed her workers look at her in horror. Soarin, however, only widened his grin and flew off. When he disappeared from view, she turned her now-glaring visage on her workers. "What are you imbeciles looking at? Not enough work distracting you? Maybe we should increase your quotas."

All of them looked away, and pounded harder.

When she returned to the house, Soarin was already standing in front of her room.

"Hey," he said. He had that goofy-looking grin still, and he was scratching his mane with a hoof. "Thanks again for all your care. I'm perfectly fine now. I figured I should get out of your hair."

Limestone's heart sank a bit. She bit into the corner of her lip, though she made sure he didn't see. His leaving would complicate things, but she obviously couldn't keep him here. "Wait," she said. She trotted over to the next room, and brought out his flight suit. "Here," she said, her gaze away from him. "I fixed it up for you."

"My suit!" Soarin sang out. "Thank you so much, Miss Limestone!" He took the suit from her.

"No problem," Limestone replied. "Don't crash any--"

The next moment found her caught between Soarin's forelegs. Instinct nearly kicked in. That instinct being to seize one of his forelegs, twist it off, then repeatedly bash him with it. She swallowed hard, suddenly aware of her wildly beating heart. She stretched out her own foreleg and awkwardly tapped his back.

"I'll pay you back for this, Miss Limestone," Soarin said once he let go. "I promise."

"Just..." Limestone turned away again. "Just Limestone's fine. You don't owe me or anything."

He smiled again, a nice soft smile this time. Nothing goofy, just a pleasant, warm feeling. The corners of Limestone's lips twitched in response. "Go on, then!" she blurted out. "I've got work to do!"

With one more wave, he was off. Limestone sighed and looked at the Choosing Stone again. Oh, this was hard. Now, she had to chase this speedy, flying stallion. It was so tempting to give up. "He's probably not interested," Limestone sighed.

The stone still pulsed.

"Ugh!" Limestone groused. "Fine! I'll try to see him again!"

The wheels in her head turned. Limestone already planned a trip to nearby Ponyville or Canterlot. Get some kind of schedule about the Wonderbolts. She just needed to make it through peak season...

Soarin Stays on Routine

It had been two weeks since his accident, and Soarin found himself in an odd state of doldrums. Spitfire had not taken too kindly to his sudden disappearance. When he came back, he found his spot as her Second Wing occupied by Rainbow Dash of all ponies. He had expected the demotion, but it was a bold move regardless. It would have made more sense to move up the veterans. He thought he'd be upset over it too, but he was actually relieved. It meant that he wouldn't have to work so closely with Spitfire. After the whole thing with the engagement, he was happy to get some distance.

The past two weeks went by as awkward practices. The rest of the Wonderbolts knew that something was up, but none of them wanted to say anything. Soarin perfected his part of the routine in a day, given how easy the minor part was. As the sessions wore on, he was pretty much operating at twenty percent. The rest of his attention drifted away to idle thoughts. What was he supposed to be doing now? Sure, he still enjoyed being a Wonderbolt. He liked pushing his flying to greater heights, he liked the pay, he liked being famous. Yet, he was caught in this wierd pocket of time in his life. He wasn't going to go any higher in the team. In fact, he just slid down quite a bit in the ladder. He wasn't going to get any more famous. He'd performed in Canterlot, before the two princesses and everything, and he was on several issues of the most famous magazines out there. And the money...the money was more than enough. He had scrimped and saved even during the times when the pay was rolling in. He didn't know what to do with all of it. When he was younger, he dreamed of blowing it all on pies. As time went on, it was clear that he would die trying to eat all the pies he could buy with a fraction of his money.

"Rainbow, you're off your mark again!" Spitfire called out.

Soarin had to suppress a snicker. He wasn't laughing at Rainbow. If the others saw him, though, they'd probably think that. He actually felt sympathetic. The memory of being in this position was what tickled him. Second Wing was hard. Not to toot his own horn or anything, but he thought it was harder than Lead Wing. Spitfire dictated the pace of the routine. Even if she screwed up and went too fast or too slow, the rest of the team would adjust. Second Wing had to keep in perfect sync with her, right down to the slightest change of speed. Given that the position also recieved a lot of attention, it was far, far easier to notice Second Wing screwing up than Lead Wing, or anypony else on the team. Soarin understood it even when he held the position, and he understood it even better now that he watched at a distance.

Rainbow was a good flyer. Excellent even. The sudden promotion just came as a big shock to her, and the equally sudden spike in scrutiny and expectations did not go so well. She was buckling under the pressure. Anypony would be if they went from Auxilliary Wing to Second Wing.

"Ponyfeathers," Fleetfoot muttered as she hovered near Soarin. "We're a couple of days from our Canterlot performance. You think she'll get this, Soarin?"

Soarin grinned and shook his head. "Nope!" he said cheerily. "I'd love to see her do her best, though. This should be interesting."

"That idiot, Spitfire..." Fleetfoot grumbled. "I know you screwed up, but you'd think she's doing this just to spite you."

Soarin didn't reply. It wouldn't have mattered if that was Spitfire was doing. He thought he'd be angrier with Spitfire. He was actually angrier at himself. He should have realized much earlier what she wanted. He'd have saved some time and money. And he'd have pissed her off less. A shrill whistle from Spitfire signaled for them to get back to starting positions. With a shrug, Soarin obeyed, though he was already pondering if he could catch a few Z's while doing this routine.

Typical Canterlot crowd today. A full stadium with the nobles by the nosebleed section and the rest filling up the base seats. Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight Sparkle in the Royal Box. Interesting. Princess Celestia was a big fan of airshows so her presence was expected. Princess Twilight, though? Soarin glanced at Rainbow Dash, who was still far from comfortable at Second Wing. Rainbow's friends were probably out there as well to support her in a very high profile performance. That may have brought more harm than help. Soarin scanned the crowd. He had seen Rainbow's friends before. Maybe he could spot them.

His gaze surveyed the excited mass of ponies, then stopped at a single not so excited one.

A gray mare with a light gray mane sat sullenly next to some unicorn nobles. Soarin raised an eyebrow. Those sort of seats were expensive. He knew Limestone ran a business, but she must be loaded, or really loved airshows.

Limestone presented such a sharp contrast to the veritable sea of ponies surrounding her. A dot of grayness among such vibrant colors, a stern look amidst all the excited smiles. Soarin couldn't help but stare. What was she doing here? He had since marked down Pie Rock Farm as somewhat close to Ponyville, not exactly an easy trip to Canterlot. Did she come here to see him? He shook his head. He wasn't that awesome. In fact, he embarassed himself by crashing into her farm. Still, this was a great coincidence. He hadn't paid her back. His wings felt lighter when he remembered her off-handed remark. This was redemption too. Now, he was wishing that he had a more important role.

A loud blare from the sirens around the stadium signalled the start of the performance. Soarin grinned and slammed his front hooves together, a move he hadn't done in a while, he realized. Next to him, Fleetfoot raised an eyebrow. "Somepony's excited," she remarked.

The routine was too easy. Too routinely even. Soarin swooped close to the crowds and flashed a trademark cheeky grin. The mares swooned, even the stallions chuckled at the bold maneuver. As he passed Limestone, though, he dipped his head low. Her eyes widened briefly, only for her usual scowl to come back twice as hard. That was...weirdly adorable. He was tempted to make another pass to see if he could get her to actually smile, and how angry that might make her. Alas, Auxilliary Wing wasn't exactly a prime position to interact with the crowd. He had to fall into the background while Spitfire and Rainbow Dash took the lead.

Soarin held his breath. Here was the big moment and...

Soarin was all too happy to leave the stadium after that disastrous, albeit very silly ending to the show. Spitfire had been yelling until her throat gave out. Rainbow Dash looked to have shrunk at least five inches. The others were stone-faced and downcast, unsure if they should also be contrite, despite performing to their usual standard, or laughing along with Soarin, who was taking the full barrage of glares from Spitfire. He had done so deliberately too. Better to distribute the heat between himself and Rainbow. He could take it easily. This wasn't the first disaster he had participated in.

Now that the show was over, he was excitedly hovering above the crowd of departing unicorns and earth ponies. He looked for that speck of gray and that one scowl among colors and smiles. It didn't take long to find Limestone. She skirted the main bulk of the crowd, looking around rather than making her way home.

"Miss Limestone!" Soarin called out. He waved, and swooped in towards her.

The effect proved more than Soarin expected. The rest of the crowd pointed at him and talked excitedly among themselves.

"Look, it's Soarin!" one mare squealed. Several foals jumped up and down while a group of pegasi tangled wings trying to get to him.

Limestone, on her part, brightened up at the sight of him. The thought of her looking for him made him unusually giddy. When the crowd noticed who he was calling out to, all eyes focused on her. At this, a flush broke out across her cheeks. She scowled even deeper and gestured at him to follow. Soarin was happy to comply.

The two of them ran off, with some ponies still chasing.

"Just how popular are you?" Limestone groused. "This is just my luck, isn't it?"

Soarin could only laugh before grabbing hold of her forelegs with his. "Over here!" he said. "We'll ditch them, and I can show you one of my favorite eating joints."

Still scowling, she let him lead the way. Palomino Pastries was always an important stop for him whenever he was in Canterlot. The best pies in the whole city baked here on a daily basis. Just the thought of hot fruit filling and flaky pie crust made his mouth water. Once the coast was clear, he eagerly showed her the place. "Wanna have dinner?" he asked. "My treat to pay you back."

Limestone stared at him wistfully. There was that odd look she also gave him back in her farm. She looked as if she had to say something, but couldn't. "Sure," she said in her subdued, husky voice. "Sounds good."

They sat down and ordered: mugs of coffee for both, a nice, whole apple pie for Soarin, still steaming hot from the oven, a slice of key lime pie for Limestone, light on the condensed milk, and extra tart. Soarin watched curiously when Limestone dug out a rock from her saddlebag, placed it between her front hooves, and ground it to fine powder over her coffee.

"What did you think of the show?" Soarin asked after a big bite of pie.

"It looked..." Limestone pressed her lips together. "I don't know much about these feather-- I mean these pegasus shows, okay? I thought it looked nice at first, and then it turned into a clusterfuck."

"It did, didn't it?" Soarin said with a laugh.

Limestone put her fork down. "So, what happened?" she asked. "The brochure I read said you were Second Wing, the second most important pony in your group. You were barely in there. That Rainbow Dash they had flying up there...I know a worker in over her head when I see one."

Soarin shrugged and explained the whole situation.

"I'm all for disciplining lousy workers," Limestone said after a long sip from her mug. "But discipline's supposed to help the business or team, not make it worse. Your captain's an imbecile."

The "lousy" remark stung, but Soarin merely sighed. "Maybe she is," he replied. "It's my fault too." The discussion was not going places he would like to while eating pie. "Say, you said you didn't know much about flight shows, right? So why'd you come to one now?"

Oh, that question caugh her off guard. Limestone's eyes widened before she suddenly turned away. "None of your business! I mean..."

Soarin tilted his head and rested it on a hoof.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Limestone mumbled.

"Really?" Soarin asked, The answer took him aback a bit. He was expecting a spluttering excuse.

Limestone polished off the rest of her pie so swiftly that her last bite took out the head of her fork. She swallowed anyway, metal tines and all, then wiped off her muzzle.

"Thanks for the invite," Limestone said hurriedly. "I...uh...need to go." She pulled out a bunch of gold bits from her saddlebag, and slammed them on the table. "Keep the change."

"Hold on!" Soarin said. He grabbed a hold of her front hoof.

The next thing Soarin knew, he was upside down, still holding on to Limestone's hoof while she held him suspended in mid-air. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I was about to ask the same," Soarin replied. "What's the rush?"

Seeing the stares they were drawing, Limestone set him down and settled back to her chair. She didn't say a word though. Soarin was content for a while just watching her. She was an interesting study of contrasts all by herself. Those bright green eyes drew in attention with ease, like bright fires on a lonely, gray mountaintop. Her mane and eyebrows gave of sharpness and harshness, but she sometimes displayed these oddly soft responses. She caught him staring and flushed slightly, adding just a touch more color to the grayness. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

"You," Soarin said, smiling. "So tell me about what you do, Miss Limestone."

"Drop the Miss," Limestone said. "I run a Rock Farm. You've seen it, right? Pretty boring and straightforward job."

"I've heard the term," Soarin said. "But I still can't get my head around it. Farming...rocks?"

"Well, of course you can't get it," Limestone said. "You're a fff...pegasus."

"Feather-back," Soarin said.

Limestone paused, then had to stop herself from gaping.

"It's fine," Soarin said. "We call you dirt-muzzles sometimes. Not a big deal. At least, not with me."

Limestone smiled. It was Soarin's turn to be a bit awed. He was going to enjoy getting that out whenever he could.

"I suppose, I can explain it so even a feather-back can understand," Limestone said. "So..."

The conversation went on for quite a bit. Enough for Soarin to get in a couple more pies in there. Through it all, he also surreptitiously paid for the meals without getting those gold bits involved. Judging from the pile, they looked to cover the meal and ten more like it. It was nice hearing about Rock Farming. It sounded...solid, not just because it involved rocks, but also it involved a lot of building things. Soarin's thoughts strayed to his old complaints and the incident with Spitfire. Something stable to build into...

"Hey, it's getting late," Limestone said. "I should really go."

"Yeah," Soarin replied. "It was great seeing you again, Limestone. Thanks again for what you did for me."

Again, Limestone shot him that brief, wistful look.

"Say," Soarin said. "Maybe we can meet again?"

"That would...that would be nice," Limestone replied. She turned around swiftly, as if hiding her face. "I'll think about it! And when I'm not busy!" With that, she galloped off.

Limestone Pie and Soarin Sort Things Out

'What am I doing?'

It had been a couple of months since that ridiculous flying show and that meal with the pies. Limestone scowled as she watched the workers fumble a routine cart filling. "Move faster!" she shouted at them. "Svengallop, you load carts like old ponies rut! Don't make me light a fire under you!"

Two months when her parents took a fortnight. She was a failure alright. Some successor. She should have gone with her initial impulse: sat him down, told him what was going to happen, then set him straight. Yet, she didn't. She played the tongue-tied little fan, and chased him to a show, then went on some kind of date afterwards, then another, then another, then another...

Limestone's scowl deepened, and the workers all around her yelped and moved faster. What was she to Soarin after all this time? Just another swooning fan he could treat like he wanted? He had a boulder to the head waiting for him if that was the case.

She deserved one too for letting things get out of hoof. What was it with his big, stupid-looking grin that made her lose grasp of the situation? He wasn't so special. He was a slacker who couldn't be bothered to upstage his captain when he could have, he rarely took things seriously, he was a feather-back...

She sighed.

...and he was carefree and well-traveled. Everything even she knew she wasn't, but her sisters kept insisting she should be more of. He had a lot of interesting things to talk about thanks to all the cities he had visited. She only had this rock farm. He was probably bored of her already. But was she even allowed to give up? The Choosing Stone couldn't be wrong. She looked up, more as a break from seeing how inept her workers were than anything else. Across the blue expanse above her, a small speck of darker blue flew swiftly in.

'What am I doing?'

Soarin had asked himself that pretty frequently these days. Here he was visiting the Pie Rock Farm yet again, going through the same motions that got him nowhere for years. What did he see in Limestone anyway? She was usually surly, she didn't hold back with the name-calling, kind of racist...

Soarin sighed.

...and very devoted to the things she cared for: family, work, tradition, maybe him? Straightforward, grounded, pays for her own stuff unless he sneaks in his treat, and, yes, very pretty. Those eyes...oh, he'd gaze into them alright. On the several times they'd already gone out, it was always the highlight for him to get a crack on that stony exterior to see the...slightly less hard interior.

The truth was, though, Soarin was tired of the motions. He was tired of the dating, and the flirting, and the will they or won't they. It's been fun. He didn't regret how he had lived during his younger years, but the fun's stopped being fun. He had only realized it recently, but he suspected that he was hedging all his bets now on Limestone.

She was looking up at the sky and straight towards him when he approached her. Oh, damn, that was an unusually deep scowl on her face. Her workers must have really screwed up or something. He put on his best grin, a tactic that ocassionally softened her just a bit, before landing next to her.

"Hey, Limestone," he said.

"Soarin," Limestone replied. She was gruff as usual, and she didn't even look at him. "We're pretty busy today. No dates or anything."

"I wasn't going to ask," Soarin said. "I just wanted to talk about something."

Limestone turned to face him. Thos big, sharp, green eyes wide, genuinely curious and expectant. He swallowed, then looked around. "Maybe somewhere private?" he asked.

She led him past all the workers, past the mines and the thousands of rocks, and in front single, egg-shaped, monolith. At least he thought it was the front. "What is it?" she asked softly.

There was certainly at air of solemnity around this place. The monolith was surrounded by a low wall with large signs warning others not to touch it. Whatever the thing was, it was likely the most sacred thing on this farm. "Limestone, I..." Soarin scratched his head, suddenly aware of how familiar this scene was. Should he go through with it? Maybe he'd just drive Limestone away. Maybe he was being selfish.

Limestone's lips were pressed tightly together. She fumbled over something inside that pouch she was always carrying. "I've got something to say too, to be honest," she said.

Oh, good. Now, it was a race.

"Limestone..." Soarin squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw for a few seconds. "Limestone, I wanted to know--"

"--to get serious," Limestone said.

Soarin stared at her dumbly, an expression she reflected.

"I mean," they both said.

"Will you just let me finish?" Limestone snapped.

"Alright, alright," Soarin replied.

"I'm not here to play around, Soarin," Limestone said. "I love you, and I want to get married." She had turned bright red at this point, and it was clear that she was forcing the anger just to keep from being ovewhelmed. "I mean, first it was just out of tradition, but now, I really..."

The embarassment won out, and her voice trailed off. She turned away, shielding her face with a hoof. "Look, forget what I just said."

Soarin placed a hoof on her shoulder and turned her around. A risky maneuver as she could probably fling him across the farm. "I wanted to know how serious this was," he said. "Pretty serious, it seems."

Her lips quivered a bit. She was about to say something, but he put a hoof to her lips. "I'm pretty serious too," he added. "More serious than I've ever been."

Her warm breath carressed his face when she let out a relieved sigh. Then, she smiled a small, impish little smile. "This is your most serious?" she asked. "Dad tied the knot in a fortnight."

"I'm not Igneous Rock Pie," Soarin replied. "I'm just a stupid feather-back, but I'll get this done. I promise you."

He leaned in closer, taking in those big, green eyes, just before she closed them. She circled her forelegs around his back, with a crushing, barely contained grip, and pulled his lips to hers.