Everfree Village

Between the tension of what had happened and Rohan wishing to reflect on the meeting, the walk was quiet and uneventful. By the time that everyone arrived back at the village, it was just past midday.

The pegasus was deep in thought as well. His breakdown had lost him the respect of the chief and probably the others to some degree. He needed to do something to help now, before he and Granite left for Ponyville. Thinking on each of the four leaders' roles, an idea struck him that should help both Rohan and the Chief think better of him.

When they stepped outside, he was relieved to see large, low-flying clouds in the sky. Since the Everfree wasn't controlled by the weather patrol, he knew that was simple luck.

He waited until they were back in the village proper and he could see the wide wall more clearly before he made up his mind. Now he just had to get their attention.

"Uh... Rohan, sir? And... the others?"

Smooth, Lodestone.

"I have an idea for a way I might help right now, at least in some minor way."

“Oh? Don’t keep us in suspense then! Show us your big plan!”

The chief pat him on the back, but unlike Rohan it was quite a bit more powerful.

His ears folded back at the clear contempt in her voice, but he continued anyway.

"Okay, just wait here for one moment, I need to fly high into the sky to show you something or you won't understand."

He turned to the small mare, sure his sudden absence would frighten her, but he also wanted to make a show of leaving Granite behind, as that would help keep them from thinking he was just running away.

"I'm just flying straight up and back down, I won't even be out of sight, okay? Don't worry, I would never leave you behind."

The ears went instantly flat on Granite, too. She swallowed, but then forced a fake smile as transparent as glass.

"Oh, sure. Do your thing, fly boy," she managed.

The mare took one look at the humans left around her and then lowered her gaze to the ground. "I'll just, uh, wait here, okay?"

He took a step back and spread his wings, then looked around nervously and took one more step away.

"I might be a bit clumsy after my injury," he said apologetically.

His wings pumped once experimentally, then he carefully lifted himself off the ground. He hovered in place for a few seconds to make sure his injury wouldn't trouble him, then tilted back and rose powerfully into the air. He always did love take off.

Once he was above the rooftops, he began spiraling upward since it was easier than flying straight up... it would look better from the ground, too. The trees were several times the height of the buildings, but as he rose above the canopy line, he quickly got his bearings and figured out which direction was Ponyville. He focused on the village below and took note where it was within the forest and which direction Ponyville would be from the ground, just in case he needed to fly away during the night.

After that was firmly in his mind, he returned to the reason he came up here. He leveled out and flew straight toward a cloud, separating a piece about twice the size of a pony, careful to stay in sight of the ground. He'd only be a dim grey speck by now, but he was sure they were watching him carefully, in case he slipped away.

He spun the cloud into a dense ball. It was easier to move, could be expanded once he reached the ground, and would be less likely to break apart from the wind. Finally, he angled into a shallow dive and spiraled down to the village again. He touched down almost exactly where he stood earlier and maneuvered the piece of cloud to float in front of him.

“By the gods! You can literally pluck the clouds from the heavens!”

Rohan wasn’t the only one shocked, as many of the people at the edge of town saw it clearly as well. Even the Chief was made to wear a dumbfounded look.

“Wait, you can control the clouds! Does that mean you can stave off the storms that Thunder Rocs bring? That would be immensely helpful in protecting the village!”

"Oh, that's nothing for a pegasus!" Granite said, suddenly an expert on the topic. "They can do all sorts of crazy things with the weather!"

The mare hadn't doubted her friend, but she still went to him and gave him a hug, grateful he was back. "Thanks!" she whispered just for him and smiled.

It occurred to her that she would soon have to prove her worth as well. IT caused her to go all quiet and thoughtful.

Lodestone returned the hug, then hesitated before responding. He supposed it was expected they would need more explanation, but he'd hoped to avoid giving an impromptu lecture on weather control. Granite's comment would make that difficult. The others were getting impatient with his silence, he knew, but finally he thought he could summarize it without taking too long.

"Short answer: probably not. We pegasi control the weather where ponies live, but the Everfree Forest has always been impossible to control and we never knew why. I assume it's because of the Thunder Rocs - I had never heard of them before yesterday."

He barreled on before they could distract him with more questions.

"I can explain more later if need be, but for now, Rohan, look."

He expanded the cloud until it was as thin as it could be while still being opaque, then shaped it into a large flat square, wide enough to cover two humans standing side by side. He worked one small hole about the side of a fist into the middle at about the height of the human's heads. Finally, he stepped forward and stood with the cloud intersecting his body and spoke to the humans on the other side.

"Obviously since it's just a cloud any guards could walk right through, but spun this way it would prevent any creature from seeing in or out, save through this small view port." With as casual a smile he could manage, he said, "It occurs to me such a thing might be useful around the gate or the lookout towers."

“Towers? Such things have been too dangerous in the past, they aren’t worth the resources. Your cloud could be useful on the wall though.”

That was always an issue for them. Anytime they wanted to look out, they had to make a significant opening to really peer through, but this could negate the problem entirely. With the idea of his ability to control weather out of the way, the group now turned to the mare.

“So what can you do?”

"Uhhhhh," Granite said, backing away a tiny bit. She blushed some more, but said it anyway. It was her best-practiced skill. "I can... f-farm..."

She sought to add more. "Also I know all about minerals and digging, and earth ponies are very strong!"

The mare looked around for some way to demonstrate, but there was nothing nearby. Except...

"Here! Sit on my back!" it would be comical with how small she was, but the mare insisted: "Go on!"

The priest was almost too eager to oblige the request as she sat down on the mare as one would a chair. While she did Rohan scratched his chin in thought.

“Farming is useful, we could always use more food. Mining as well, resources can help us protect the village better.”

Meanwhile, Lodestone simply sat down and watched them idly, somewhat disappointed his little demonstration had gotten such a lackluster response.

Granite held up easily. She didn't even have to widen her stance. Just to prove her point, the mare lifted up a foreleg, effortlessly supporting the woman on three.

"See? Barely even feel that!"

She fell silent for a moment, then said in a very worried voice. "I'm not going to carry you around, okay?" she sounded very insistent. "This is for stuff only! I'm not a riding pony, like they do over there in Saddle Arabia!"

It sounded as if Granite had heard some rumors.

The group clapped at the little “show” that Granite out on to demonstrate her strength. Even the priest decided to give the mare a quick hug before hopping off to stand up.

“So you can make food, gather stone, and can carry things larger than yourself! Sounds like the spirits knew exactly what they were doing when they chose you to help us!”

She didn’t mean that the Pegasus was useless, but she hadn’t realized that hidden meaning in her words either.

Whether it was intentional or not, the pegasus couldn't miss the implication that Granite was much more useful than him. While they fawned over her, he looked over his shoulder and flapped his wing experimentally. He hadn't felt a twinge of pain earlier, not even as he pulled out of the dive when the wings are under the most strain. He set his jaw in a determined line. Time to show them why he was a skycrane!

He waited patiently until Granite seemed finished, then quickly took off and hovered at head height.

"Farming and mining will be useful I'll grant you that, but there's a reason I'm the one who flies the heavy loads around. You and you," He pointed at the Chief and Rohan, then hooked his forelegs underneath him, "Both of you grab a foreleg."

Granite for her part just calmly stood there, being a living stool for the priest for as long as the woman might want one. If the mare didn't walk, then it wasn't really a pony ride, right?

For the moment, she was happy to have found something useful to do. This meant the humans wouldn't turn her out into the dangerous forest, which was one of Granite's top fears for the moment.

She shuffled around so she could watch what her pegasus friend was doing with at least as much interest as the humans, if not more.

Hesitantly, both grabbed a foreleg like he asked and waited.

“So... you’re gonna lift the two of us, him with his armor on. That’s a lot of weight for a little body.”

He only smirked in response. His wings accelerated, widening to catch even more air. The lean flight muscles in his barrel, normally masked by his short fur, suddenly popped out in stark contrast as a small dust cloud began to form around them. He worked the air and the two humans were suddenly lifted off their feet. Lodestone winked at Granite - he hardly even seemed to be trying!

They probably expected him to lift a couple inches then collapse back to the ground, exhausted. Instead, he grinned and lifted them straight up several feet, then lurched forward, flying them in a surprisingly quick circle around the others. He felt Rohan's grip slacken with surprise and he quickly angled back, swinging their momentum forward, dropped rapidly, then gave a quick burst of power to bring them to a near perfect standstill just as their feet touched the ground.

Granite sat on her haunches and clapped her hooves on the ground in the traditional pony sign of approval. She smiled hugely at the stallion. "Wow! You sure you're a pegasus, fly boy? Probably some earth pony in there, too!"

She glanced at the humans and winked.

"I could probably lift two of you, too... just not as high."

Rohan shook like a leaf when he landed, while the Chief seemed mostly unfazed.

“Lots of power in that little body, I give you that. I suppose your flight would make transporting materials faster, plus we might be able to find the closest edge of the forest.”

Both of those were truly useful in the chief’s eyes, but now her gaze turned towards the mountain again.

“It seems like you two are a pair destined to work in our mine. I wonder if the spirit knew your talents would lead you there...”

He settled to the ground beside Granite and tucked his wings to his side, doing his best to keep a straight face. At that final burst of power he had felt a sharp pain, but he didn't think it was serious. They needed to impress these folks, especially after his embarrassing performance in the spirits' cavern.

"Well I don't know about her but uh, my workplace is literally a mining facility. That's why I'm used to lifting such weight." He gave the Chief a small smile, "Compared to a pallet of quarried stone, you two and your armor isn't much."

"Yeah! And I was looking for a new job when I met Lodestone yesterday!" Granite confided. "I wanna try mining! I know all the minerals and everything!"

Now that the stallion was in reach, she went to give him a quick nuzzle, mostly out of sheer excitement. "That was really impressive!" she said, as if he hadn't known or heard that yet.

“Alright then, we’ll take you to the mines soon, but first... I’m starving! I could do with some of that wolf meat from last night!”

Both the shaman and priest gave their leader a sigh and shook their heads.

“Ya be always wanting ta fill da belly! I’d be more surprised if ya said ya weren’t hungry for a change!”

Rohan could only laugh as the trio ended up in what felt like a sisterly quarrel.

“What about you two, hmm? About time for a meal, I would say.”

"Uh..." He froze mid-nuzzle, suddenly worried for Granite, "I don't mean to be rude, but like I said last night, we ponies can't really eat much meat." Glancing meaningfully at the mare, he hoped to ease the awkwardness with humor and spoke in a friendly, teasing tone, "Some ponies get sick from the smell alone."

"Oh yeah?!" Granite took the bait and whirled to stare the stallion down. "Well, some of us don't go all woozy and barf if we lightly tap our head!"

That reminded her and she looked at the humans with her ears down. "Um, on that note... can we get fresh hay? The fly boy puked in ours and now it's starting to stink!"

She emphasized the name because the mare couldn't come up with a different jab.

He stuck his tongue out at her, "Hey! Concussions are serious business, okay?"

“Of course, we’ll get that fixed at once. Also, I never said anything about meat. I simply asked if you want to eat.”

It was the chief who spoke about the meat, though it made Rohan curious. Clearly the Pegasus had his mind on the stuff, so he wondered just how true it was that he didn’t eat the stuff.

“You know, we don’t have the spices we would like for cooking. Maybe we could make more delicious... non-meat meals if we had something to flavor them with. You wouldn’t happen to know how to obtain and grow some of the herbs for that, would you?”

Granite was happy to be able to answer, even if it was technically farming. She nodded.

"Mm-hmm! I think I saw some wild parsley around the river, and I'm sure I smelled basil."

The mare pierced Lodestone with a glare. "That was while that pervert was watching me pee!"

She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. After all, she did ask him to come with her. "I'll look around the village for stuff, okay?"

The unsaid implication was that she wouldn't leave the village walls. Who knew what sorts of danger lurked out there?

"Wha--" Lodestone gaped at her, "But, I didn't--" He sputtered awkwardly as she trotted away looking smug, then looked at the humans, eyes wide and muzzle rapidly turning pink, "I did not watch her pee, alright!? She just... uh... started peeing with no warning while I was watching. I turned around as fast as I could!"

By now the damage was done and all three women looked at him in mild disgust. Given that they wore clothes, it might actually even be worse in their minds than in any other pony’s.

“Riiiight... I’m going to go eat. Rohan, take them to the mines whenever you’re done getting them what they need.”

With that said, the trio took their leave and left the man with the ponies.

Granite realized she might have gone too far. After all, the stallion was the only pony there and her only way out of Everfree if they had to leave in the hurry. She walked closer and have Lodestone her sorriest look.

This included a special trick where she splayed her ears so they resembled nothing so much as cow ears. There was also the slight pout and the downcast eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean it like that. It wasn't your fault - besides, it was completely dark.*

She offered a tentative smile. "Still friends?"

Even as adorable as she looked, Lodestone still managed to look upset, crossing his hooves petulantly and glaring.

"Don't apologize to me, go talk to them." He waved a wing in the general direction of the departing leaders, "They're the ones who think I'm some sort of disgusting pervert now."

“If you don’t hurry, the Chief will end up busy trying to work with villagers to improve the town in some way. It’s now or never.”

Rohan leaned against the nearby stone building and waited to see what might unfold.

Granite took a deep breath, then flashed Lodestone a small smile. "You owe me for this!" she said and rushed off after the three leaders. Even from the distance she was calling out to them, trying to get their attention.

Lodestone and Rohan would see the mare come up to the women and briefly speak with them. She looked down at the ground while she explained, pawed at it a little, then fiddled with her hooves. It was obviously something uncomfortable she had to say.

Her way back was a lot more subdued, but she seemed relieved.

"There, happy now?" she asked the pegasus.

"Yeah, I guess." He looked away from her and still looked pretty glum, "You're lucky that cow-print coat of yours is so cute."

He got to his hooves and turned to face Rohan. As he had been avoiding Granite's gaze, he didn't even notice the dark thunderstorm in her eyes.

"So, food?"

“Err, yes, this way.”

He led them out of the village and along the inner wall till they reached an area with several trees and some depressing looking vegetables growing around. It was obvious that these people had a limited understanding of farming at best and would end up losing the ability to use the plot of land for any growing eventually.

“Pick anything you’d like, though there isn’t much. Those who wanted to farm here have... struggled a bit.”

There were no tools or any place to store tools in sight, nor did the land look properly worked. It was as if these people had zero understanding of farming to begin with.

Granite was ignoring the sight for now. She hadn't spoken a word during her trip and she made sure not to let Lodestone see her face.

Now she spoke up, in a deceptively friendly voice: "Um, Lodestone, sweetie? What did you just say? What kind of coat? I don't think I heard it - can you repeat it?"

Maybe the stallion wouldn't spot just how dangerous the ground he was treading was, because he didn't know the mare. Her nostrils flared as she blew air out, but she quickly caught herself and forced the smile back.

So stunned by the sight of this pathetic excuse for farming, Lodestone was hardly even aware of the words coming out of his muzzle.

"Yeah... your coat. It's cute. Didn't I say that yesterday? I like it."

They were trying to feed a whole town with this pitiful little patch of dirt? He'd never farmed a day in his life and even he knew this was terrible!

Rohan, having noticed the look in the mare’s eyes, took a moment to back away from the pair.

“I’ll be over here so you two can... talk. It seems you need it.”

Granite laughed pleasantly. She was still smiling, but it was obviously forced. "Cute, is it? Cow-print, you said?"

The mare was smaller than Lodestone, but she fluffed herself up and advanced on the stallion until she was pressing her nose against his.

"Listen, you!" she growled. "I'll let that one slide because I kinda like you, but say 'cow' in the same sentence with me again and you can kiss that pretty face goodbye, got it?! I'm sick of having to bloody Sherbet's snout every single bucking day for making those cow jokes, but I will! I've had it up to here with cow jokes, get it?!"

By the end there the mare was shouting. She indicated 'up to here' with a hoof above her head.

As she finished, she kept staring for a while longer, breathing heavily and swishing her tail madly around. At that moment she resembled a bull more than she did a cow, really.

At first the pegasus was merely surprised, but as she got more and more angry, he became shocked, then he felt hurt, then he himself started to get angry.

When she stopped screaming in his face and stood there, nostrils flaring exactly like an angry cow, Lodestone waited for the space of a breath. Then like a tree branch snapping back into place, he launched into the air and hovered far above her. When he spoke, he did not shout. His voice was low and harsh, sounding more like a growl than anything else.

"I don't give a buck what anypony did to you back in your little farm town. I just complimented you, and you spat it back in my face for no other reason than I happened to use a word others have used poorly. In the past day you've hardly done anything but cause trouble and I put up with it, even laughed at it because you're so fun and adorable."

He angled his body down and lowered himself so his head was only a foot or two away.

"But if you explode on me for honestly trying to say something nice again, I'll fly away right that instant and leave you here in the middle of this forest. Your cow-print coat is adorable. Get over it."

The mare just stared in impotent rage, eyes nearly all white and steam coming from her nostrils.

"I'll go back to the hut. Don't wake me up when you get there," Granite said quietly. She turned with as much dignity as she could muster and walked away, carefully and slowly.

Only once she was around the corner did she lose control , gave just one sob, and ran for it as fast as her hooves would carry her. She probably didn't realize that Lodestone had a higher vantage point and would see her fleeing even once she was behind the building.

Lodestone watched her until she was out of sight, then dropped to the ground and sat on his haunches, looking very, very tired. He let out a deep sigh and waited for the anger to subside.

Rohan finally felt fine to come back to the side of the stallion as he watched the mare run. It was a little awkward at first, since he knew nothing of their relationship, but he somehow managed to clear his throat.

“I’m not sure I fully understand what is happening that made her so upset. Is she not happy with her appearance?”

Before he responded, he closed his eyes, inhaled slow and deep, held it for a few seconds, then his whole body relaxed, the air gently rushing out of him. He looked up at the warrior and almost laughed at his bemused expression.

"Do you know what a cow is? Their fur is colored just like hers and she was apparently teased mercilessly for it as she grew up."

He let out another deep sigh.

"I guess I'll go and apologize. I shouldn't have gotten angry in the first place, she had every right to be upset... just caught me off guard."

“I have seen one, but I still do not understand what is wrong. Go ahead and go see if you can rectify this situation while I pick out your food. I won’t be more than a moment.”

Rohan, true to his word, began to pluck a few of the various fruits and vegetables for their meal.

Before he left, he turned back to the man.

"We'll be back to talk about this plot. It's obvious no one in the whole village knows a thing about farming... I've never farmed a day in my life and I could still improve the quality and yield dramatically. Granite, an actual farmer, could probably quadruple your output."

When the man only shrugged in response, Lodestone turned and trotted back into town. All the huts looked pretty much the same, but he knew roughly where theirs was, and once he got close, he could make out Granite's faint sniffling.

"Well," he muttered to himself, "here goes nothing."

As he approached the doorway, he knew his first words were crucial. Granite would just snap at him and get even worse if he didn't start this off right. He took a deep breath, then stepped up, knowing his silhouette blocking the sunlight was more effective than any knocking. He kept his voice gentle, but he spoke quickly, certain she would interrupt him almost immediately.

"You were right to be upset, Granite, and I'm sorry. I would never abandon you here."

The inside seemed darker than it had any right to be, especially with no curtains on the window. The mare was curled up in a corner, on the bare ground, with her muzzle tucked away and covered with her tail.

She was indeed sniffling, but that was just the aftermath of everything. When she spotted Lodestone - heard him, rather - she fell silent and still, as if waiting for him to leave.

After a while she figured she wouldn't get such luck and turned away again.

"Just go. Fly back home if you want. I'll stay. Maybe they need a milking cow!"

As much as he wanted to comfort her, he knew that would be a terrible idea. He sat right by the door, his hindquarters not even inside the hut.

"I'm not leaving you, Granite. I know you've been through Tartarus because of your coat and it's horrible how everypony treated you. I was wrong to simply brush that aside in my anger. I'm sorry."

This time the mare was shocked at the change of tone. Her head shot up and she stared at the pegasus. "What do you know about it?!" she demanded angrily. Before he had a chance to answer, she went on, much more sadly, as if talking to herself.

"My parents - my actual parents thought it would be funny to teach me to moo when I was little! Everyone in the village laughed, except I was too stupid to understand."

Granite heaved a sigh. "They said my mom bucked a bull and that's why I look the way I do. One time, colts from the senior class tied me to a tree trunk, upside down with a sign 'free milk'!"

Now the anger was back, but not directed at Lodestone.

"I broke their legs the next day. Well, two of them. The other one just got bruised. They suspended me from school for a month..."

While she ranted, he stood and cautiously approached. He knew she simply needed to vent and stayed quiet. When he was close enough, he sat down beside her and as she was talking about getting suspended from school, he gently touched her fetlock with a hoof.

Granite just sat silently for a while, then sighed. "I guess I'm scared if I don't nip it in the bud this time, you'll start making the same jokes. It's why I ra- left."

She almost said 'ran away', but corrected it in time.

When the mare looked at Lodestone, there were streaks down her face from her eyes, shining in the faint light. "I- I just can't stand it. Please don't ever call me a cow, even if it's a compliment."

She almost whimpered, but caught it in the bud. "Please," it came out as a whisper. "I'm sorry."

This time the sobbing was entirely silent, the kind that might go on for hours.

"Shhh..." He wrapped his wings around her and pulled her to his chest.

"Even if I ever say it again, I promise I would never tease you."

He tilted his head down and gave her a weak smile.

"I know you've always been teased for it, but I mean it when I say it's cute. It's like... you're all sorts of shapes but always familiar." He looked down and gently touched her chest with a hoof, "The black patch here looks like a heart..." Then he glanced up to meet her eye again, "And since your whole coat and mane and everything is black, white, or grey, your blue eyes are always so bright and vivid. It's like the clear sky in spring bursting out through the clouds."

Granite stopped shuddering as she stared with wide, blinking eyes at the suddenly poetic stallion.

"Dangerous," she warned. "I know what you're trying to do, but don't. I'm fine with it, just don't bring it up."

In fact, the mare had joked about it herself, every now and then. She just couldn't stand to hear it from others.

She was silent for a bit, then blushed extremely pink and looked away.

"Ycantalkaboutmyeyes," she muttered, almost too fast and low to understand.

Her gaze went to the window, where the day was basically just starting. "I guess I should go and teach them how to farm?"

When she turned away, he almost seemed to snap out of a trance. He blinked, wondering how in Equestria he had ever thought up such words, even if the metaphor was fitting for a pegasus. Suddenly self conscious and still holding the mare, he just froze awkwardly for a moment.

"Uh... well, I guess. Are you... okay? They'll leave us alone for now... I-I mean if you need a moment."

Granite considered it, then heaved a sigh. She still didn't move from how the stallion was gripping her. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something else, but then thought better of it and closed it again.

"I'm fine. I'm not going to break your legs. This time."

Some of her old bravado was back and the pony disentangled herself from the feathery hug.

She spent a bit of time fixing her mane as best as she could with just hooves, then stretched a little. She took a breath and looked at the outside.

The human villagers had seen her run away, crying, but maybe they would pretend they didn't.

Granite paused in the doorway and looked back. "Oh, and Lodestone," she said, flashing an almost-smile, "Next time you you grab a mare and recite her poetry, you should also kiss her."

She tried to vanish before he could reply, but ended up smacking her face right in the wall beside the door. It was so unexpected that she gave a surprised little moo as she landed on her rump.

Lodestone took a breath and stood, carefully ignoring her... 'squeak.'

He slowly stepped past her and out the door, "Well... it's not like we're dating or anything," He turned his head and winked over his shoulder, "right?"

Thoroughly embarrassed, but this time unable to blame the stallion, Granite didn't meet his gaze. She mumbled something affirmative as she picked herself up.

"Not. One. Word," she hissed, unnecessarily as it would be.

Then, still blushing, she followed Lodestone out and back towards the meager farm.