Everfree Village

Rohan had just finished picking some carrots and adding it to the pile of apples he had set aside. Unless the ponies were to head to the river, there would be no way to clean them. As the two returned, he wiped the sweat from his brow.

“You’re back, just in time too. I have some stuff picked for you, though we’ll need more if your mind doesn’t eat any meats.”

Granite took a deep breath to collect herself, before offering the human a very faint smile. Her muzzle was still decidedly red and she couldn't meet Lodestone's eyes at all. In fact, the pony acted as if her friend wasn't even there and focused exclusively on Rohan.

"A-Actually," she said in a voice that was slightly too squeaky, "I'd like to work on your... um, garden. We should get started as quickly as possible. It takes time for the plants to grow."

Whatever nervousness was in her expression at the start, it was gone by the time she finished talking. It was firmer ground and Granite had a lot of experience, so her confidence quickly showed.

"I'll try and explain a few things to your people, is that okay?"

As he approached the tiny plot of dirt, he stared at it disdainfully, then shrugged to himself and turned to Granite.

"I can tell it's bad, but I don't doubt you know better than me. I'll follow your lead."

Stepping closer, he murmured under his breath, "If farming starts to get to you, talk about how you used to farm watermelons. I'll get us an excuse to leave."

Rohan gathered the few farmers that they had. The people who ran the farm were all fairly scrawny compared to Rohan, or even some of the others that you had run into in the village. Most of the people were lean, though a few were bulky from their muscles, but these guys looked like they didn't quite eat enough all the time.

"Before we get started, we have some things we've found in the forest that we figured we would try to plant, but had no clue about any of it."

One of the farmers had a couple wild potatoes with him that they gathered the day before the ponies arrived, a tomato that one of the hunters mistook for an apple, and a small handful of herbs they had been wanting to grow. While they had enough land to plant the variety of foods and feed plenty, the main problem was that they didn't have the right tools, nor any experience to know what kind of conditioning the land needed.

Granite took it all in, even going so far as to sniff the proffered vegetables. She nodded to herself, then asked to see what tools they had.

The selection was truly meager - little more than sticks. The mare shook her head sadly, then brightened up.

"Okay, first we need to get you some hoes and spades. Maybe a shower and a rake. You-" she pointed to the weakest-looking couple of humans. "Get some more sticks, about as thick as these."

She faced the remaining people. "The rest of you, find me some stones. Big, small, round - it doesn't matter. Oh, and some rope."

After a moment she remembered herself and glanced at Rohan, already blushing. "Um, if that's okay. I think I can make us some simple tools from stone, but you should really get your blacksmith to make metal ones. They'll be a lot easier to use."

She looked at the people, but then remembered another thing, which made her ears flatten and her blush deepen. "Um - sorry. I didn't mean to be bossy..."

"Ahh it's fine," Lodestone said with a chuckle, "You've been farming damn near your whole life, right? You have the right to be a bit bossy."

He turned to give the humans a significant glance, "They'd better follow your orders if they want to have any chance of growing a decent harvest."

Without waiting to see if they agreed, he turned back to Granite.

"Now... what do you want me to do? Remember, I'm no earth pony - you might be small but I wouldn't be surprised if you're stronger than me on your hooves." He rustled his wings a bit, "I'll be flying any heavy loads around, not carrying them."

The humans took to her orders and ran off towards one of the buildings nearby. More than a few times, they'd have to use rocks for some sort of job, so they had plenty of many varying sizes and shapes to give the mare. Meanwhile, the scrawniest human of all, went towards one of the trees that had no harvest to offer and climbed up to gather branches close to what Granite had asked for. Rohan, watching all of this, turned back to the mare.

"Pretty soon we'll have to chop a tree or two down for wood, hopefully it'll be that one he is on. We don't like to go out of the walls to chop, it attracts too much attention. As for those metal tools... if you can accurately describe what they should look like and do, I'm sure Stalig can make it."

"Hmm, could you get me some buckets of water?" the mare asked her pegasus friend, before addressing the humans again.

Granite was realizing she was in the center of attention and blushed some more. Her eyes strayed downwards and she played a little with her hooves, pushing dirt around. At least until she had an idea.

"I can probably draw them!" she burst out. "Do you have any paper?"

Somewhat to her relief, the first people were back and Granite went to examine their rocks. It took almost no time at all for her to pick some good samples and almost effortlessly split them apart with a few kicks. "Okay, now just the rope," she said, cradling one of the pieces that turned out well enough.

Lodestone grinned and saluted with a wing, "Yes ma'am!"

He looked around for some buckets and was a bit surprised to find several large metal pails, complete with handles. From how primitive everything was he had half expected to find nothing more than clay pots. Water wasn't very heavy compared to the pallets of stone he typically carried and he didn't want to make multiple trips, so he grabbed the sturdiest branch he could find and looped the handles of all six buckets onto it. Then he turned back and watched Granite for a moment, just to make sure she seemed to be okay on her own.

Satisfied, he carefully took flight, wiggled the stick a bit to make sure the pails wouldn't slide off too easily, then accelerated toward the river. Several humans gave him odd looks as he passed overhead, pails rattling noisily. When he approached the river, he repositioned his grip, then hovered low over the water and scooped with all the buckets simultaneously.

He pulled up with a bit of effort and carefully repositioned his grip again, reasonably sure the buckets would stay in place, then turned and began flying back to the farm.

"Paper? What is that? Whenever we need to draw, we place ink upon clay or a hard, smoothed surface. We found a way to take certain parts of an animal and mix them with rocks we found while mining to make a thick, black ink, though we do not have much of it."

The human in the tree dropped a bunch of the branches down and made his way over with at least fifteen good sticks, meanwhile one of the others looked for something similar to rope and gathered a large amount of twine they had in the village for tying things together. It wouldn't be quite as thick as rope, but it would do. The farmers though, watched the pegasus in awe as he flew back with six buckets of water.

"Good job," Granite said to Lodestone, even though she was a bit red in the muzzle as she watched the display of strength. Luckily, the tools needed her attention. "Oh, never mind then. Paper's just like- um... white rectangles for writing on. I guess if I make the tools from stone..."

The mare scrunched up her muzzle, then hazarded a guess at the name she hadn't thought to commit to memory: "Staggy?"

She shrugged a little and focused fiercely on the crude hoe she was making. It was just a flat stone tied to a stick, but it would work in a pinch. "There..." Granite said at last. "Here, lemme show you how to use it."

The biggest problem was that the tool was small enough for a pony, which would make it less useful for a human. Despite that, the mare went and dug a few burrows in the ground where nothing was growing.

"You gotta overturn the earth. I guess plowing is bit advanced, but this'll do. Dig it quite deep so you get the darker earth up on the surface. You-" she pointed at random, "get me some seeds..."

It looked like it would be a long and busy afternoon, now that Granite had started inexpertly teaching.

Realizing several humans - and Granite too - were all staring at him as he carried the water, he suppressed a grin and made a show of casually touching down near her, obviously not even winded. The mare was taking to her role as foreman well and soon he was hauling water and various supplies all over the field.

That evening as the sun was setting, he and Granite stood side by side, watching the scrawny humans tend to their new tasks. They had taken to it slowly and frequently needed instructions repeated, but hours later they had finally begun to really get the hang of it.

Lodestone grinned and bumped the mare with his flank, "Not too shabby! If I didn't know better I'd think you were used to ordering everypony around."

"Uh...." Granite fell silent now that she was reminded of how she was acting. "Sorry."

She was staring at the ground again, but every now and then glanced up when she thought the stallion wasn't looking.

"It's just... I think they're getting the hang of it. We'll need to water every other day, unless it rains, but it should be fine."

He turned his head to respond, then noticed the fighter Rohan was coming down the path and nodded in his direction. They turned to face him as he approached.

The man wore a smile and no longer bore the tools he had taken across the village to the smiths. It seems that in between here and there, he had taken time to get into his “comfortable” clothes rather than stay in his armor and keep his sword nearby.

“Stalig took on the job! We have enough metal to make two of each, so he’s focused on that.”

"Great!" Granite said and smiled. She even pranced a bit, until she lost her balance and almost landed on Lodestone. "S-Sorry!" the mare squeaked, probably more surprised than the stallion, who must have seen it coming with the way she was flailing.

"Anyway, now what? I guess we still didn't get... um breakfast."

At least Granite hadn't, having been too busy to do more than catch a nibble or two of grass here and there while she explained the basics of gardening to her audience. As if to prove her point, her stomach growled loudly.

Lodestone nodded. They hadn't eaten since the tiny meal during the night and he had done a lot of work.

"I'm glad we'll have some metal tools, they'll be a lot easier to use, but Granite's got the right idea - I'm starving! I think I'd eat just about anything right now..."

“We still have the stuff picked from earlier, but I believe the village is making a stew tonight as well. I can make sure a small portion has no meat, if you’d like.”

One if the farmers nearby who had finished and had the other veggies was already headed that way and volunteered to do just that on the ponies behalf.

“Well, I guess that solves that. Maybe take an apple or two in the meantime.”

"Oh, that sounds good," Granite agreed readily. "Which way? Oh, I almost forgot!"

She nudged the stallion with a hind leg. "Go change the hay in our hut, will you? It's you who barfed in it!"

She winked at Lodestone. "Bossy enough? I'll save you some stew!"

"Yes ma'am, right away ma'am!" He gave her a snappy wing salute as he had earlier, then laughed as he dodged a swat from her, trotting away happily.

He was starting to get used to the village's layout and found their hut easily. Careful not to get any on himself, he scooped up the hay around his mess and then hesitated, realizing he had no clue where it should go. After a moment's thought, he carried it to the nearest... 'outhouse,' dumped the hay into the hole, then backed away rapidly, sucking in a deep breath of fresher air.

Rather than try to find where they made the food, he simply returned to the hut and waited for Granite.

Rohan was faster than she was at getting food, though he didn’t have a “special order.” His stew carried the scent of meat with it, but which meat, Lodestone wouldn’t know. As he sat against the wall, the Pegasus would be able to see the little brown chunks clearly.

“So, you both are going to end up helping in the mine as well? Shall we go tom- the day after tomorrow? I almost forgot that there are some duties I must take care of outside the walls tomorrow. It’s my turn to hunt.”

Lodestone tried to keep his eyes on Rohan, but kept glancing at the steaming bowl as he spoke. "Sure. Tomorrow we'll keep working on the farm, next day the mines, the after that we'll probably return to town, get some additional help."

He sucked in a deep breath of the stew and his stomach growled loudly. Craning his neck out the door, he muttered just loud enough for Rohan to hear, "Ugh... that mare had better get here with my food soon."

As if speaking about her summoned the pony, Granite stepped inside with a smirk on her muzzle. "Well, that mare," she said, using the same words, "is here."

She was expertly balancing two clay bowls on her back and stopped in the middle of the hut to let the stallion grab his. Only then did she grab her own.

"Not bad. Could use more salt," She commented, then froze for a second and glared at the human.* "I am not teaching you people how to cook, got it? Gardening, yes - because I like to eat, too. But I'm not a maid!"

“There isn’t much salt in there because there isn’t much salt. We know how to cook, we would cook better once we have the proper ingredients as well.”

At least the stew had some flavor, but to Rohan, it was rather bland. Nonetheless, he went through the bowl without much of a complaint and set it aside.

“I would say we know how to hunt as well, but this forest is testing that idea at every turn.”

"Oh," Granite said, "well, in that case we should bring back some salt and maybe some other spices when we get help from Ponyville."

She shrugged a little and went to lie in the hay pile to eat in peace. After a while, she stared at the stallion, swallowed her mouthful and said in a quiet, measured tone: "It's kinda chilly. Any chance I could get a pegasus blanket tonight as well?"

She added hurriedly: "This doesn't mean we're dating, by the way!"

It looked like that would become a permanent joke between the pair. "Night, um, Rohan."

The next morning found Granite up before the stallion. Of course he woke up, but she told him to sleep in while she went to check on the crops and that she'd come wake him up if anything interesting was happening. Luckily the two were becoming quite at home in this strange village of weird creatures, so the mare was 'allowed' to go out on her own.

She paused in front of the hut to stretch and yawn, then made her bleary, sleepy way towards the meager farm plots.

She was just in time to see the smith hauling what looking like metal farming tools through the area and towards the farms. Having noticed her as well, he gave a wave and smiled through his thick beard.

“Mornin’ lass! I hear these were of yer own design! Come n see em yerself, ye might like em!”

He arranged them for her so she could more adequately check if she wanted. Instead of making it fully metal, he made the long handles out of treated wood.

"Hmm," the pony said, still sleepy. She walked unsteadily over and peered at the implements. "Yeah, it-" she began, but was interrupted by a yawn, "looks right. I'll try them in a minute."

The pony looked around and smacked her lips a little. "What do you people do for breakfast around here? Any chance for a light salad?"

She leaned her head to the side and grinned wistfully. "Mmm, with some mayo and garlic?"

The pony was starting to drool noticeably.

“Mayo? Not really sure what that is, but if yer, looking for green stuff then I’m afraid ye’ve seen it all.”

He huffed as he got back in front of the cart to be ready to pull it once more.

“We’ve had most of our focus put ta safety and huntin’, so we’re a wee bit pressed for food. Can’t even get a decent drink! What I would do fer a pint right now...”

"Oh," Granite said, ears lowering in sadness. "Oh well. I'll go and see how the crop is doing. Probably won't be much to see yet, but..."

The pony didn't finish the thought. She loaded up a couple of the farming tools on her back, deftly balancing them without apparent effort. "I'll take these and show the people what to do with them. Thanks! With any luck we'll have some veggies in a couple of weeks."

She muttered the next part to herself, but it was audible enough for someone standing nearby to understand. "Gotta remember to bring some greens from Ponyville too... Hope the fly boy is as strong as he says he is..."

He ended up putting the ones the mare had taken back into the cart and pulled it up to the farm without much trouble. Rohan was nowhere to be seen and the farmers that granite worked with before were only a few minutes behind her. Stalig, who decided to stay for a little while, started to hand out the tools.

“Alright, I need ta see how these things are used right and proper. If I know what they do exactly, then I can begin ta think about improvements.”

"Oka-" again the pony had to yawn. She was obviously not a natural early riser, but she shook her head a couple of times and then pranced in place to get the blood flowing. "Let's give that one a try!"

It looked like the stick would be too big for the pony, but she deftly stood on two hooves so she could use her forelegs to guide the tool. "I'm gonna get started on the furrows for today's planting. Here:" Granite deftly raked the ground, overturning it and flicking away stones. "Need to give the earth a good airing. Normally I'd plow it, but this is a small patch and not worth the effort to get harnessed up."

She worked efficiently for a while, until she made a good start, then dropped to all four hooves and let the tool clatter on the ground beside her. "How's that?"

“I see, maybe a bit wider...”

Stalig was easily able to tell how to reshape tools based on what he was seeing. For this particular one, he noticed the metal was too long and not wide enough for what the mare was wanting. He wasn’t really super interested in the farming portions, though he half-listened to get an idea of what the job was.

It took Granite the better part of the morning to get through all of the critical tools and what you did with them. She was quite able to demonstrate how a biped would use them, too.

At long last, she stopped, panting and sweat dripping from her. She had been working in the full sun for a while now, so eager was she to help as best she could. "There-" the pony panted.

"Um... could I get maybe..." she swayed a little on her hooves, but caught herself just in time. "Maybe a glass of water?"

There was a large ominous growl from her stomach. "Oh, and I'll have that salad now, thanks..."

The mare barked a laugh at her own, weak joke. She dragged herself to the shadow and just lay down on her side. "Ugh... I remember why I left home..."

“A glass, hmm? Seems ye’ve gotten used ta some right fancy things haven’t ya?!”

Stalig barked a laugh and passed her a waterskin that he had with him, then went to see about good produce. While he wasn't much of a green thumb, he did at least manage to find a good carrot for her to munch on.

“We’ll be able ta pay ye back proper once this wee village is on its feet. So eh, what’s it like? Where yer from I mean.”

The pony grasped the waterskin gratefully and chugged until it was empty. It looked like she wasn't even breathing until she was done and gasped for air. "Oh, wow. That hits the spot," she said. "I guess I get why Dad's always telling me to hydrate..."

She didn't seem to have registered the 'fancy living' remark, but she was happy to talk about her home. Some parts of it.

"It's just a farming village. My Mom and Dad have the biggest farm. We grow practically everything. Pumpkins, corn, lettuce..." Her eyes fell on what was left of her meal. "Carrots," she added.

She went thoughtful for a bit. "It's not a big town like Ponyville or Appleloosa, but it's... nice."

For a moment it looked like she was going to be homesick, then her muzzle scrunched up in distaste. "Except for all the jerks and busyponies..."

“Bein’ busy ain’t a bad thing! It just means ye’ve got something important ta be doin! Buuut, I’d be lyin’ if I didn’t say I wish I could stop fer a bit. Relax a little.”

Even sitting next to her, she would see how huge Stalig was. No doubt due to the nature of his job, but he was easily as big as three of the farmers combined.

“Heh, we’ve been lucky ta have people like the chief and Rohan around. Dunno how we would have mustered up the guts ta plant our feet and make a stand here.”

Granite was shaking her head. "No no no," she explained with uncharacteristic patience. "Not busyponies like they do a lot of stuf. I meant busyponies like they stick their noses in where they don't belong!"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I might as well tell you. They keep calling me 'cowpoke' and 'cowgirl' and make moo-ing sounds when I walk around... and- and milking jokes!"

The poor, distraught mare groaned a little. "That's what I meant about 'busyponies'!"

He raised an eyebrow at that and looked out at the village.

“Lass, when I was a wee thing, others used ta joke about my size. I thought fightin’ back would stop it, but they kept on. So I thought “I’ll leave, that’ll show them!” You know what happened?”

Turning his body, Stalig faced the mare and gave a serious look.

“I was attacked in the forest. Not this one, thank the gods, but still. It was a big, vicious bear. Gave me a right nasty scar too!”

He only had to move the fur on his arm a little to show her where the claws had left their mark.

“My parents came fer me and ended up driving the bear back. My point is: Ye can’t just run from yer problems, ye’ve got to face them and come to terms with em. If that means ignoring others, then ignore em, but ye might want ta start with a tougher skin.”

It obviously wasn't what Granite wanted to hear. She was already on edge about her decision to leave and now this human was making too much sense and telling her she'd made a mistake. The pony looked for something to argue in her favor and her eyes landed on the plot of land she'd been working.

"Well, if I hadn't run away from my problems you wouldn't have a farmpony showing you how to grow you food, so there!"

She felt very smug in herself for having figured that out and even smiled a little. "And I'm not running from my problems. I bloodied a lot of muzzles - they just won't stop."

She heaved a sigh and stood up. "Uh, which way to the nearest outhouse?" she asked.

“Like I said, I fought too. Fighting ain’t the way, it just gives em a reason ta tick you off more. As far as an outhouse... we have a uhh... waste hole right over yonder.”

He pointed past the farm, but from where they were, granite wouldn’t be able to see much. It would only be once she got closer that she would realize he meant it was literally a hole in the ground that they filled with their waste.

"Oh. Should have smelled it..." the mare muttered to herself once she realized. "So... I just? What?"

She was a bit confused as to how it was supposed to work. "Squat or something?"

The pony looked around at the people walking unconcernedly nearby and swallowed. It wasn't the kind of privacy she was used to. "M-Maybe I can wait until night..."

Stalig had moved on, headed back towards the smithy and Rohan was nowhere to be seen. The village chief, however, was walking about the town, seemingly inspecting things and checking in with various people.

Back at the hut, Lodestone had watched the mare leave and found he rather enjoyed the view. After that, he had trouble falling asleep again so he decided to distract himself by exploring the village a bit. He doubted Granite needed his help on the farm and he might find some other way to make himself useful.

He rolled onto his side and stretched his legs where he lay, then stepped outside and warmed his wings with an easy hover, his hooves barely even off the ground. Idly, he wondered if Rohan and the Chief actually cared about adding some cloud to the wall or if they were just being polite.

People were already up and moving about the village, with some moving towards the nearby rock face. More than a few had some shoddy, run down cart that looked like it was its last legs. Rohan was nowhere to be seen amidst the crowd, nor any of the more prominent figures. There was, however, the smell of meat in the air, and Lodestone’s sensitive hearing might even detect the sound of sizzling nearby.

As soon as he caught the scent of meat, his head snapped around and he began hovering in that direction without thinking. When he realized what he was doing, he froze and dropped to the ground, feeling deeply ashamed, but just then his stomach rumbled loudly and a slight breeze intensified the smell. He could even hear it now... this was no week-old dried jerky, this was being cooked fresh over an open campfire.

He hesitated for a moment longer, then shrugged to himself. It was obvious vegetables were in short supply, he reasoned. It wasn't wrong if he hardly had a choice, right? With these justifications in mind, he pointed his muzzle to the breeze and his hooves followed.

He found the humans at a campfire using a makeshift stone pan of sorts to cook strips of meat, with another that looked like a leg of some small animal spinning on a stick over the fire. When they saw the Pegasus, they weren’t exactly sure what to say at first.

“Uhhh, you... need something?”

These two hadn’t really spoken, or seen much of, the two ponies since they came into the village. At the very least, they had heard enough to know the two were intelligent guests, as well as blessed creatures.

The humans wouldn't think it unusual to ask for meat, of course, but a lifetime of pony taboo was hard to simply ignore. He rubbed his neck awkwardly as he spoke.

"Uh... just looking for some breakfast, that's all. Did a lot of work yesterday, figured I could use something... well, more hearty than, y'know... just carrots."

He swallowed, but wasn't sure if it was from nerves or salivating.

“Ohhhh, you’re one of them that helped at the farm aintcha! Pull up a log, take a seat. It’ll be done soon.”

The man was using a stick he had cleaned in the fire to flip the strips of meat. They crackled, glistened, and smelled divine, something the human was innately aware of. In fact, when he caught the stallion staring, he gave a little chuckle and pushed some of the strips onto a stone “plate.”

“We call it bacon. Whenever we find a hog in the woods, we take good care to get it in the village and keep it around a bit for food later. It’s hard and we can only ever keep one or two at most, but damn if it ain’t worth it! Go one and take a few, I’ll get more strips going!”

Lodestone could hardly breathe. The smell was almost intoxicating and the thin strips of meat still sizzled and popped faintly on the simple plate. The human guffawed louder, startling the pegasus, and he realized he had been gawking for several seconds, mouth hanging slightly open. He snapped his muzzle shut and grabbed the stone with a wing with an overly casual disinterest.

"Sounds good, thanks," he glanced at the plate then met the human's eye again, "It smells great but there isn't really much here. Anything more... uh, substantial, I guess? Maybe some potatoes?"

“Potatoes? This isn’t a stew, it’s a quick meal! But I guess you can wait for the good stuff.”

Getting his second pan, he cracked six eggs into it and began to stir them with the stick.

“You’d not believe the trouble we had to get a reliable source of eggs! Even then, there aren’t enough for everyone, so this is a bit of a special treat. Here.”

About a third of the scrambled eggs were pushed onto Lode’s plate and the rest were split between the other two.

“Now don’t go asking for more cuz we can’t afford to give a whole lot, you hear?”

While the eggs cooked, he nervously tried a small bite of the bacon. The explosion of flavor in his mouth was... well, let's just say that even many years later, Lodestone would still struggle to describe the sheer bliss he experienced in that moment. The humans were surely having a good laugh at his expression but he was hardly even aware of them.

He scarfed down the first and second slices within seconds, then realized what he'd done when he got to his third and final slice. Seeing the humans had already divided the remaining bacon between themselves and he wouldn't get more, he forced himself to take small bites of his last slice, savoring each bite thoroughly before swallowing.

When he finished, he waited patiently for the human to finish. Eggs were not uncommon in Equestria and he already knew he liked them. As the human passed him his eggs, he nodded graciously.

"This will be plenty, thank you. I know how much this village struggles for food, but it's like my dam always said: 'if ya don't ask, the answer's always no'."

"Ha! Guess that's true! Course, there'll be a lot more food come nightfall, just you wait and see."

When he saw the confusion on the stallion's face, he muttered the words "hunting party" and turned back to his eggs. Whenever Rohan talked about it, there was a bit of negativity to it, but this human seemed excited over hunters going out.

"Err, we got more cooking to do to feed others, so you should probably move along. Look for the chief, I'm sure she'll guide you to wherever you need to go today."

The pegasus nodded and thanked the man again, then took a few steps away to munch on his eggs. He briefly considered bringing some food for Granite, but from the way she demanded food before, he figured she'd already found something for herself, and he doubted he could convince the human to give him any more anyway.

When he finished, he returned the plate, then since he preferred not to fly after eating, he walked through the town and tried to familiarize himself with the layout while hoping to stumble onto Rohan or the Chief.

At that moment, the village chief was over by a small building with a bunch of "WARNING" signs nearby. She had another man with her and they appeared to be checking the structure for any damage. When she finished, she turned and saw the pegasus.

"Ahh, it's you! Taking a little look around, or you looking for something in particular?"

He gave the Chief a quick wing-salute before replying.

"A bit of both, Ma'am - exploring the village but also looking for anything I might help with. If you need some cloud cover or something heavy carried a large distance, let me know."

"Probably not the wisest to put clouds right over the town, so just at the gates and anywhere we see through would be nice. As for-"

A loud series of banging, hissing, and yelling came from the building behind the chief, making her sigh. She rushed over to the door and grabbed the small bell and hammer, giving it one good clang to make it ring. After just a second, the sounds stopped.

"Damnable things aren't like chickens. They can't get along and they're too dangerous to allow outside of their little pen."

If Lode were to walk around to see the other side of the building, he would see it was a stone encasement, and flying up would reveal that it had some kind of bronze grate over the top so the animals inside would get sunlight and fresh air, without being able to escape.

Lodestone didn't recognize what creature made such noise, but the sound of it raised his hackles instinctively. His ears folded back and his wings half opened as he felt the sudden urge to run.

"Uh... what have you trapped in there?"

“We don’t know what to really call em. Head like a chicken, body like a lizard, they got some stony gaze thing going on with their body. We figured out how to reverse that though! It’s just not an “all the time” deal.”

What she was describing was something that seemed to only roam around in the Everfree forest. As a result, not many outside of the bordering towns even knew about the little devils.

"The Mayor warned me of those before I flew out here... Cockatrices, I think she called them."

He slowly stepped up to the Chief, relaxing somewhat now that the danger was known.

"She said their stone gaze is really their only threat and that they rarely actually attack with their claws, despite their fierce appearance. How do you reverse those turned to stone?"

“There’s an herb that reverses the effect. One of our hunters saw a wolf chow on some of them and the stone flaked off. They’re a little hard to grow, but we have a small plot of them by the river, just in case.”

The little things could be heard moving out to the bigger area surrounded by the stone walls to stretch its legs. Whatever they were doing inside seemed to be totally over now.

“Only got a few of them, they make the eggs we eat here, so we feed em and give them water. They get a little feisty with each other though, so we ring the bell and that seems to snap em out of it.”

"Ah. I guess that means you have to eat it before you're completely stone or you're screwed? Still, that's very useful."

He would have to take a look at those plants later so he could describe them to the Mayor.

"...But I'll see if I can bring back a hen and rooster from Ponyville when we return so you can breed some ordinary chickens."

“That would be fantastic! We wouldn’t have to worry about someone turning to stone anymore, plus more eggs!”

She rubbed her belly at the thought of more food to go around.

“Course, you don’t want to do that today if it’ll rob you of your day. Once night comes, we’re going to have enough food to fill our bellies. At least, that’s what I’m anticipating!”

Lodestone looked at her curiously.

"Why, you have something specific planned today?"

He had thought hunting was an uncertain thing, with the amount of meat brought home each day varying wildly with the relative success of hunting parties.

“You could say that! Rohan is out hunting today. That man is too determined not to come back with a big catch!”

She roughly pat the stallion’s back as she barked out a laugh.

“Too bad I couldn’t be out there with him! Would have loved to wrestle one or two of the things he always talks about. He just makes it sound so fun! All that talk about deadly animals and hyper-dangerous environments.”

He shook his head, bemused at how casually they accepted the danger around here.

"Well, I'm sure you have work to do. I'll get out of your mane and get to work clouding the gates - anything else you want clouded? I can cover a space small as a peephole or large as a field and it should hold up against anything short of a tornado."

She rubbed her chin and looked about at the village, wondering what all could be done.

“Lets keep it simple for now. The only ones that get inside this place are the ones that fly and use the clouds anyway. The rest of the threat is the small amount of time the gates open up or whatever we take with us inside.”

The chief placed the bell and hammer back where they sat and stretched out. Before the Pegasus could take off, she gave his tail a gentle tug.

“Hey, be careful flying around, okay? I like a good fight and all, but if a thunder roc shows up... well, it might be a bit more than I think you can handle.”

She had no way of knowing you only grabbed somepony's tail if you were very close - she may as well have smacked his flank. Lodestone tried not to blush as he turned and nodded seriously.

"I might be a slow flyer, but diving is fast no matter who you are. I'll be on the ground within seconds of any threat appearing."

He shuffled his hooves awkwardly.

"And, uh... please don't grab a pony's tail. It's very... forward."

“Eh?”

It took her a second, but she broke out into a fit of laughter that had her nearly on the ground. By the time she started to recover, her eyes were all watery from laughing so hard.

“So that’s what I do when I want to pick up a pony, eh? Just a little tug of the tail gets em going?! I’ll have to keep that in mind if we ever find a way to get drinks and get drunk!”

Now Lodestone couldn't help but blush. He waved his hooves hurriedly.

"No no, it's not like that! It's more like a slap on the flank. A dam might do it to her foal or very close friends might do it to each other, and it can be, uh... intimate, but doing it to somepony you don't know is like staring at their dock."

“Sounds like ponies need to lighten up a little! Course I can already hear Rohan nagging me about being proper...”

For a chief, she was definitely a free spirit. Something he had said made her look at the point where his tail meets his dock.

“Not sure what’s supposed to be special about this part though. It’s just the part your tail connects to. Aaah, whatever, we can talk another time. Go ahead and get working on those clouds while I continue my duties. Seems like people are already wanting me.”

At the end of the space you were at stood a few of the people who made the various items in the village, all waiting on her.

Shifting uncomfortably at her staring, he found himself wondering what it would be like to sleep with a human and imagining what they might look like under all that armor. Suddenly, he realized he was beginning to grow with excitement. His ears folded back, his blush deepened, and he forced the thought from his mind before his arousal became too obvious, tucking his tail close to his hindquarters.

"Yeah yeah, I should get to work... wouldn't want to hold you. Up, I mean. Hold you up."

He backed away slowly, trying to shuffle behind a nearby hut without turning his body. His condition would be obvious to anypony that saw him from the side.

The Chief either didn't notice or didn't care and turned away to talk to one of the several other humans waiting nearby. Lodestone didn't waste any time; as soon as her eyes left him, he spun and galloped back to their hut, his tail plastered to his rump. He desperately hoped Granite was still busy on the farm. The Chief would have been bad enough but if Granite saw him like this, he might just die on the spot from sheer embarrassment.

The mare wasn't far behind. She walked a little unsteadily, partly out of exertion, partly out of hunger and partly out of sunstroke. Without her parents to remind Granite to take breaks and hydrate, she worked at her tasks as if she had a grudge and wanted them over as soon as possible.

She swayed her way to the little house and then through the door without looking up from the ground. She didn't notice the stallion at first, but spoke up on general principles, as if to herself: "Luna's rump - what the buck is wrong with these people and crapping out in the open?"

The river thing was her own mistake, but the mare was too tired to remember it properly.

Even with the advanced warning of her approaching hoofbeats, Lodestone was at a loss for what to do and, slightly panicked, couldn't think of anything better except to curl up in the hay bedding against the wall, his back to the doorway.

As Granite entered and muttered something about Luna crapping, he lifted his head and glanced back at her over his shoulder.

"Oh... hey. Apparently nopony needs me to do anything right now... I hope your morning was a bit more productive?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Granite said. She dragged her hooves to the stallion and simply fell down into the hay, partly beside him, but mostly over him. "Celestia damn it, I need a nap..."

She - a bit loopy from her ailments - wiggled a bit to get more comfortable against Lodestone's feathers, then sighed in luxury.

"Gotta get me one of these pegasus pillows..." Granite murmured and chuckled a bit. "Sorry, by the way."

Despite apologizing, the mare didn't move, not even a bit.

When Granite collapsed onto him, her morning of hard work in the field made her body feel like a blazing inferno against his coat, and the smell of her sweat threatened to overwhelm him entirely. He began to throb uncomfortably and, under the pretense of shifting her weight, attempted to twist and get his hindlegs underneath him.

After an awkward pause, he managed to weakly stammer, "N-No worries," as he tried to focus on anything other than the warm body pressed up against his entire backside.

Granite was still and quiet for a minute, then apparently grew bored. She shifted around again until she was somehow able to look into Lodestone's face.

"So, how was your morning?" she asked, mostly for something to do.

She stretched her muscles, which made her accidentally kick... a place. "Whoops. Sorry about your leg," the pony apologized. Then, still looking in his muzzle, Granite grinned. "You know, for a featherbrain you're not half-bad-looking..."

"My morning was mostly unevent...ful..."

He trailed off as she accidentally pressed a hoof into his groin and the contact sent a tingle shooting up his spine. He tensed and tried to suppress the sensation, but with diabolical timing, his body shuddered just in time for Granite to finish speaking. It was no more than a light tremor, but pressed so close against him, it was impossible for her to miss it.

"Huh?" Granite said and lifted herself up. "You okay?"

She was about to slide off the stallion so she could inspect him more properly. Of course the mare jumped to an entirely wrong conclusion. "Have you even gone out yet? I told you eating meat was a bad idea!"

Her voice and her expression softened. "Sorry, I didn't mean to press on your belly. I didn't know."

“You calmed down in there yet, big boy or-“

The Chief walked in and saw the two ponies, both very close and looking at each other. It wasn’t hard to see the embarrassment on the stallion’s face, which caused her to grin as she leaned against the doorway.

“Sooooo, you two are shacking up, eh? Caught a sight of him strutting his stuff and decided to pounce? Can’t blame ya, he certainly gave me an eye full earlier.”

With a boisterous laugh, she stood upright and turned to walk away. Before she could fully leave though, she turned back to address them.

“Once you two are done I need some help with something.”

"Y-Yeah, I... What? N-No that's not...!"

He had been about to jump on the convenient excuse of an upset stomach, but the Chief's sudden interjection layered confusion with embarrassment and he just stammered helplessly. His wide-eyes darted to Granite, then to the Chief, then he simply collapsed, his muzzle thumped into the hay, and he covered his head with both forehooves.

"Um, Lodestone?" Granite said quietly as she shuffled off the stallion with exaggerated care. Her body said she wanted to leap off, but she kept herself under control to appear casual and disinterested.

"You've been doing what with the Chief? Here, roll over..."

The mare unceremoniously shoved at the stallion, attempting to roll him to his back so they could see what was happening. There was hardly any doubt for the mare, but she was shocked enough so that she wasn't thinking clearly and just a bit curious - not that she'd admit that, other than by blushing a vivid red.

Her hoof found purchase and despite the pegasus struggling, she casually flipped him over from her advantageous position.

"Oh.... So - you're not feeling ill then?" was all the mare could say, staring fixedly.

“Oh no, not at all. In fact, he was exploring around earlier. Told me the name of one of the beasts we got locked up here. Didn’t know what to call it, but apparently they’re called ‘cockatrices.’ Who knew.”

She shook her head and turned back around to look at the sight that granite made available.

“So uhh, you’re not doing anything with him?”

The awkward silence stretched for several long moments, but Granite got her wits back first. She snapped her eyes back to Lodestone's muzzle and forced a very sheepish grin.

"I'll just- um, I'll-" she stuttered, then made a slight moo-ing noise in her embarrassment before she got her voice under control again. "I'll wait outside!"

The earth mare walked backwards, as if afraid to turn her back on the stallion, until she was beside the chief.

"Um, let's- let's go see what you needed help with!" Granite said to the woman with almost frantic cheerfulness, before backing away out of the hut entirely.

“Come to the smith when you’ve “calmed down,” lover boy.”

She gave one more glance before following the mare down the place and towards the smith.

“You’ve been working all morning, haven’t ya? I’d hate to run you ragged on something like this. Sure you don’t want to just take a break?”

Granite looked back at the hut, then firmly shook her head. "Nah. I just need something to drink and then I'll be fine. We're strong, uh, us earth ponies. We can go all day..."

She quickly realized what she'd said and that Lodestone had probably heard her and gave another low moo of shame. "Buttocks!" the pony swore. "I'll just shut up now. What do you need?"

Granite looked very eager to leave the immediate area, but she didn't want to worry the stallion, so she called back: "Um, Lodestone? I'll- I'll just go with the chief. I'll take care of this smith thing. We'll- um, we'll talk later, okay?"

“Well, our cart that we use to move stone around has broken down. We’re getting it fixed, but we figured maybe you could help us in the meantime.”

At the smith, Granite saw the cart in question. Even an inexperienced miner would know they cart they were using couldn’t hold super heavy loads, maybe not even a thousand pounds of stone.

“We’ve been meaning to make a better means of moving resources, but... well, safety and housing took all our focus for a long time.”

"Oh! No problem! Do you need me to carry some stuff? That's easy!"

The mare was all too happy to forget about the recent awkwardness and focus her mind on something else.

"Just get me some wood and rope, I can put together- um... like a platform for my back."

Only then did Granite think about the problem in any kind of depth. "So- how much stuff there is to haul?"

“Yeah... about that...”

She led granite down the path not leading up the hill, but one that led towards a cavern in the bottom of the mountain. It wasn’t close, but not very far either, yet they had a pile of rocks the size of a home by the cavern.

“Apparently they worked in the night without the cart and managed to pile it all up here. It’s... it’s a lot for us to haul around.”

After a moment, Lodestone recovered from the deep shock and embarrassment and realized that pretty much the worst had happened, so...

He set his jaw, stood, and walked out after the Chief, his 'excitement' on full display. He meant to walk proudly, as if nothing was wrong in all of Equestria, but instead settled for a tense sort of march. It was a bit stiff and awkward, but at least he wasn't slinking around trying to hide anymore.

It had only been a couple minutes since the Chief left with Granite, so when he approached the smith, he caught sight of the pair walking down the path toward the cavern and followed them, stepping firmly enough that they would hear his hooves approaching.

"Oh, hey!" Granite said, pointedly not looking. "Looks like you're walking with a limp, Lodestone..."

The mare couldn't help giggling at her own amusement. "You sure you don't want a cold bath, first?"

A human wouldn't spot it, but her ears were splayed, she was a bit flushed and her tail swished every now and then. She also shuffled her hind hooves closer together.

"Anyway, that doesn't look like a big problem. Get me a plank and some rope, and a couple of people to load and I'll have those rocks moved in no time!"

She walked over to the stallion and carefully nudged his rump with a hoof. "Think you can help, stud?" She said and winked at him with her best, most insolent grin.

“If his muscles are as big as his dick, I’m sure he’ll be plenty useful!”

She barked out a laugh and pushed past them to get the supplies. With the smith already have planks of wood and thick twine to tie everything together, it would be a relatively short task to get the mare what she needed.

Lodestone ignored both their comments, but Granite's body language was another matter entirely, and he struggled to maintain his stoic composure as he spoke to her.

"No need to carry all that after working in the field this morning, too. Heavy lifting is pretty much all I'm good for around here, I'll move the stones."

He hesitated, then his ears folded back and he averted his gaze.

"Besides, working is a pretty good... uh, distraction."

"Oh come on, I can help," the mare said, suddenly enthusiastic and cheerful beyond reason. She wanted to be around Lodestone, but it wasn't sure whether she wanted to get a few more laughs, or was somehow enticed to stay in his company through other means.

"We'll each do half, okay?"

The mare didn't wait for the chief but rather went to pick up one of the bigger rocks and marehandled it onto her back. "You coming, fly boy?" she asked and smacked Lodestone right in the muzzle with her tail as she walked past.

Her enthusiasm was infectious and he snorted at her, his own tail flicking playfully as he approached the pile of stone.

"And exactly which half are you going to help me with?"

He casually stacked two large rocks onto a third even larger one and slid them onto his back with a hefty grunt, then lifted easily into the air, a fine dust billowing around him.

Before the two could get too far down the path, the muscular woman returned with the requested materials on her back.

“Getting a little eager, huh? I can’t have ya leaving me with all this by the pile y’know, C'mon.”

Her gaze shifted just enough to see the stallion taking three rocks of his own.

“Look at that! He’s not just for looks after all!”

"Don't worry," Granite said with a smug grin, "he's just trying to impress me."

The mare leaned closer to the woman and lowered her voice, but it was still a piercing whisper. "I think he likes me, you know?"

After a hearty laugh, Granite hurried after the stallion. Her expression went from amused to contrite. "Um, you know we're just teasing, right? We should probably stop now," she said, remembering her own experiences. "Don't worry, I don't think any less of you, 'kay?"

"Think less of me?"

The pegasus pumped his wings so he 'bounced' slightly in the air and glanced sidelong at the mare as she stepped up beside him.

"Well, I certainly hope not."

Of course, he had been trying to show off a bit, but he'd also intended to get a bit of a workout from the heavy lifting, hoping to distract his mind and pull a bit of blood flow away from his nethers. Instead, all the attention was making him flush and, if anything, he was even more swollen than when he walked up.

“Careful now, you keep yourself up like that and we may have to relieve you.”

She gave a little wink only he would notice just before turning to set the items down by granite.

“I’m assuming you want some kind of flat surface out of these boards, but I’ll try not to get ahead of myself here.”

Granite hurried to dump her rock and came back to inspect the goods. "Yeah - take those two flat boards and put them on my back, then just tie them with a rope around my barrel, okay?"

The mare stood still, preferring the human to do it with her hands - it was done much faster this way. She ended up with a flat surface across her back, which Granite easily balanced thanks to the rope. "Okay, now we just pile it up. Come on!"

She went back for the rocks and stood, concentrating, while a few humans loaded up rocks. She barely had to direct them where to place each stone to keep the load even on both sides.

By the time she told them to stop, it was an impressively heavy cargo, but Granite didn't seem too troubled. She walked very carefully and slowly, but nothing fell down as she trudged back to the drop-off. There were no more jokes or talking - it seemed like now was time for work and any joviality would come later.

After dumping his own load, the pegasus hurried back to the pile, "Now do the same thing, but loop the rope around the ends of the board so I can hook it with my forelegs while I fly."

Soon he had a pile of similar size hanging from beneath him. He looked up the hill and saw Granite was approaching the smithy and chuckled softly to himself. Then he accelerated in a straight line up the hill, ignoring the curving path beneath him, and zoomed over Granite's head just as she crested the top of the hill.

His wings flared and the thick cords of flight muscle in his back strained against his coat as his cargo swung out in front of him at a steep angle, slowing rapidly. With practiced ease, the board touched the ground at exactly the same moment it slowed to a halt.

He dropped the rope, landed lightly on the ground, and smirked over his shoulder at the little mare waddling carefully up behind him.

The Chief watched slack-jawed as a small, winged pony carried not only an absurd amount, but an absurd amount in mere seconds. If she had a team like him, she could probably mine the whole mountain in a matter of weeks! As he made a return trip, she gave him a whistle.

“Alright, I’ll admit, you’re not just for show. I can see why the spirits said I’d need you and your friend’s help. You could save precious man power, which means more stone to build and more metal to craft.”

She half chuckled and rubbed the back of her head.

“Guess the folks wouldn’t need me out here helpin' as much either.”

Granite was also impressed. She knew fancy flying when she saw it, and having been around pegasi for most of her life, she could certainly appreciate it. Once her current load was done, Granite walked over to the stallion with a very bright smile. "That's really impressive," she said, but quietly enough for just the two of them. "Good job. You put most earth ponies to shame when it comes to hauling, I'll give you that..."

She looked around and bit her lip a little with nerves. Her ears went back and she couldn't quite meet Lodestone's gaze. "Maybe one date, okay?"

Lodestone affected an air of relaxed indifference, but truth be told, he had pushed harder than necessary to beat Granite to the summit and his chest heaved with the effort. However, it had finally drawn the blood away from his upright organ and, free of that embarrassment, he broke into a brilliant smile at the compliments.

"Well, maybe I can put earth ponies to shame again later tonight."

He winked and, without waiting for a response, leapt into the air and glided quickly down the hill toward the mouth of the cavern. There was still a lot of stone to move and he intended to show everypony what a skycrane was really capable of.

The afternoon passed quickly as the rocks were shifted. It was almost as if the ponies were competing against each other for who would carry more. Of course the result was that the two equestrians lay on a bit of soft grass, panting and sweaty. Granite still had some rope tied around her barrel - she hadn't bothered to remove it.

"There..." she gasped, "all done."

The mare managed to lift her head so she could look at Lodestone. "Nice job, by the way. If I ever go back, wanna come live on our farm? We could use a pony like you..."

They probably couldn't afford to pay him, though. At least not a fair wage.

Granite lifted up a hoof and watched a drop of sweat fall from it to the ground. "This what working for Flim and Flam is like?"

Lodestone's breath heaved with what might have been a chuckle on a better day.

"Nah, I rarely work for so long. Most of the time I'll just have one big haul, carrying about three times as much weight about twice as far, but then that's it for the rest of the day."

He rolled toward Granite until he was back on his hooves, then sat up and held a hoof out for her.

"Come on, we should drink some water and rest for a bit before we eat."

"Oh... water... yeah," the mare remembered. She never got the drink she needed and it was starting to show. When she climbed awkwardly to her hooves, it wasn't long before she flopped back down. "Whoops. Balance, girl..."

She tried again and this time managed to stay upright. She nodded her head in approximately the direction of their hut. "I don't wanna hold you up. You go on ahead, I'll grab a drink and come in."

He shook his head. Her unsteadiness worried him and he stepped close to rub her side with a hoof. When it came away completely dry, his eyes widened in shock.

"No sweat...?"

He looked around, as if to glare at the heat of the day around them, then his eyes focused sharply on her. His face had gone pale and his expression was deadly serious.

"Tartarus, Granite! When was the last time you drank anything?"

Without waiting for a reply, he took flight and unceremoniously scooped her up, cradling her in his forelegs and making a beeline for the river.

"Hey! Lemme- moo!" Granite yelled in surprise. She started to struggle, but went limp as soon as they were airborne. "I said a date, Load- uh, Lodestone! One date! What are you doing? Where are we going?"

The mare reached up and patted the pegasus on his foreleg. "You even listening me too?"

"Stop struggling. Relax."

He spoke softly but his voice held a weight she wasn't used to hearing. Within seconds they had arrived and Lodestone gently lowered her to the ground so close to the water's edge her forehooves actually dipped into the river. Before she could even turn her head to look at him, he spoke again in that same calm and somber voice.

"Granite, you aren't sweating. Do you know what that means? You're suffering from heat stroke. You need water, Granite."

He laid a hoof on the side of her head and gently pressed it toward the water.

"Drink slowly, in small sips, but drink as much as you can stomach."

"Mmm... 'kay.... whatever you say..." the mare said quietly. She had calmed down during the flight and now she obediently dipped her muzzle.

There was a snort and she coughed out some water. "Whoops!" she giggled.

Her second attempt went better. She probably didn't remember the instruction about small sips, but Granite did fill herself up.

It took a few minutes, but then she straightened out and blinked. "'Atta do it." She hiccuped, then burped. "Anything else?"

The mare was still swaying a little, but she was able to keep her footing. "Think... think I'm gonna go to bed now," she proclaimed and peered at the sun which was setting in the distance.

"Yes, that's probably for the best."

He turned toward their hut and bumped the mare gently with a wing to get her moving.

"How do you feel? Let me know if you feel nauseous or dizzy."

As they walked, he extended a wing over her to cover her from the remaining sun and give her some shade. She was too distracted to notice, but he was obviously worried and anxious, showing more concern than she might have guessed he would.

They made it to the hut without major incident and with only an occasional whimper or groan from the mare. Once inside, she kept walking at the same pace until she was standing on the haystack, then Granite just fell over.

"Ow," she whined quietly, "my head hurts..."

Her belly heaved and she burped again from all the water sloshing around in there.

"Lodestone?" the mare asked, not quite meeting the stallion's eyes. "Um, could you stay with me for a bit? I don't feel too good- um, well."

The stallion followed her and settled down beside her. He gave her a small, worried smile and fanned her gently with a wing.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere until you feel better. Just lay your head down and relax for a bit. You need time to cool down and digest all that water."

As her head settled onto the hay, he reached up with a hoof and slowly massaged the back of her neck, just below the skull. He hoped it would ease her headache a bit, but didn't really expect it to.

After a few moments of this careful massage, Granite lifted up her head again and rather leaned it against Lodestone, like pony-shaped pillow.

"I always do this," she said quietly. "Dad has to keep telling me to take breaks and drink. I dunno how many times Mom had to carry me to bed..."

The mare gave a sad sigh, then shuffled closer against the warm pegasus. "Why do I always do this?!" she asked mournfully.

Laying closer like this, it was awkward to continue massaging her neck, so he gently rubbed her shoulders instead, easing the tension out of her.

"You just get too focused on your work," he murmured softly. "It's like you have to prove yourself by working harder than anypony else and won't stop until there's no doubt left."

"Nuh-uh, 's not that," Granite replied. "I think it's because I hate farm work just so much that I wanna get it over with as quickly as possible."

The pony laughed for a moment, but there wasn't much amusement in it. Then she heaved a sigh. "Lodestone? If you get- um, if you're..."

it took her a moment to find the right words. "If it happens again, just point it away from me, 'kay? I won't mind, just don't take my pillow!"

As if to prove her point, Granite licked the nearest bit of pony hide she could reach.

Turned slightly as he was, she had licked the side of his neck just below his head and he hadn't seen it coming. It startled him slightly and sent a pleasant jolt down his spine. He shivered slightly.

"Keep doing stuff like that and it'll definitely happen again."

He turned his head to look at her and became suddenly aware of how close they were. He had stopped fanning her and his wing simply draped across her withers and rump, and her upper body was tucked under his foreleg, her face only inches from his.

"But... you really don't mind?"

"Nah, it's normal..." Granite said. She sounded quite relaxed now that the water was beginning to do its magic.

"It'd be weird if you didn't. Just make sure you keep it to yourself, mister, okay?"

A very quiet giggle escaped from her lips and she added in a barely audible whisper: "At least until I tell you."

The mare fell silent for a few moments, then asked in a plaintive voice: "Lodestone? It's gonna happen, isn't it? We're gonna spend a lot of time here, together. Filly and colt. Am I going to crush super hard on you? That's how it usually goes, isn't it? In stories, I mean..."

Lodestone stared at her and thought for a long moment before he spoke again.

"That's up to you, Granite, I won't push... but I think if you were going to, you'd feel something already. If you don't by now, I... don't think anything will happen."

He averted his gaze and looked down awkwardly. He was no stranger to mares, but something about her eyes made him all shy and nervous in a way he wasn't used to feeling. It was uncomfortable and slightly exhilarating.

"Hah," the pony barked and turned her muzzle away before the blush could get too obvious. "Wouldn't you like to know it..." she muttered quietly.

Then Granite was quiet for quite a while, apparently mulling something over. Her ears flattened and she fiddled with her hooves as she spoke: "I'm not... um... very experienced with this stuff. Sometimes I dunno what to do."

She gave the pegasus one of the most self-deprecating grins ever and added: "Go on. You can laugh if you want."

"From what I've heard of your childhood, I'd have been surprised if you did have experience. It's nothing to be ashamed of, Granite."

Unsure how much he should say, he hesitated.

"I... do have some experience, but not much, if I'm honest. I'm not much older than you, remember?"

He flushed as he realized he was beginning to swell again. He shifted awkwardly and tucked it under his body, pointing well away from her.

"Okay. Good. That's- okay," the mare said, sounding much relieved. "Let's just see where it goes, okay? Oh, and..."

The next bit was extra quiet and Granite was looking away, with her ears pressed flat down. "I do like you..."

Now long after that, the quiet moment was spoiled by a very distinct and loud grumble. It made the mare groan in exasperation. "Ugh," she grunted, "not this. Way to go and spoil the moment, cowpoke..."

She turned her gaze on the stallion. Her eyes were big and sad. "I think I'd like some dinner now... i-if you don't mind?"

It wasn't quite clear why she was asking the stallion, rather than going outside and asking one of the humans instead.

Lodestone hesitated, his ears folding back. A moment ago he'd have hopped up immediately to get some food for her, but if he stood now things would be so much more awkward. He shuffled uncomfortably where he lay.

"I'm... uh, really tired... Maybe I could just yell and get a human's attention, get them to bring us some food?"

It sounded pathetic even to him and he resisted the urge to wince as he realized Granite would immediately realize why he didn't want to get up if she had even half her wits left.

"Oh. OH!" the mare exclaimed. She tensed, as if wanting to move away from the stallion, but then remembered her own words. She put her hooves around him and hugged him instead. "I don't mind. Yeah, yelling is fine..."

At long last her mischievous streak reasserted itself and she nipped the poor stallion on his neck. "Mmm, I love me some nice, strong stud," she murmured.

Then, raising her voice, Granite yelled: "HEY! ANY HUMANS OUT THERE? WE COULD USE A HOOF!"

There was a commotion outside as the sound of the gates opening could be heard from the hut. Many of the people rushed to head towards it, but one of the nearby villagers stepped into the hut to make sure the ponies were fine.

"You two alright? I heard yelling."

"Y-Yeah, sorry to uh... bother you."

The pegasus struggled to speak despite the rapid shift of emotions Granite had just forced on him.

"We're just... you know, really really tired after carrying all those rocks around earlier. Could you have someone bring us some food? Uh, please? And water."

"What's happening outside?" the mare asked. She was starting to feel better and was now getting curious. Luckily, she remembered Lodestone's problem. "Oh, you can wait here, I'll go check," she said. "... lover."

That last bit was added in a lower voice and with a big grin. She really was feeling her old self again, it seemed.

Despite her words, Granite didn't stand up just yet, waiting instead for the human's verdict.

"Rohan's hunting group is back and I heard they caught something big! But uhh, I can still get you food and water..."

It was clear the slightly younger looking villager really wanted to see what the fuss was at the gates. More than likely, whatever he brought at that moment was going to be rushed over without care too.

"Lover, huh...?" he murmured under his breath.

With a mischievous grin, he shifted slightly and released his pinned member where it had been bent away from the mare. It swung under him just far enough to lightly tap her hind leg before straightening.

At the same time, he spoke to the man again, covering any reaction she might have.

"Oh there's no rush, just when you can get around to it." He gave the man a knowing stare, "I'm sure you want to go see Rohan's catch first, yeah?"

"Uhh..." Granite was very flustered at the sudden change in cards. She got up and took a step towards the exit, but paused to face the stallion. "Don't push it, okay? I can still buck your muzzle so hard you'll be grinning on the other side of your head."

Just to prove her point, the mare flexed a little, displaying those bucking muscles. "See?"

She looked at the exit wistfully. "I think I'll go and see what's happening." The noise was getting very noticeable.

Just before leaving, Granite's mischievous streak came back in full force, though, and she winked back at the stallion. "Oh, and don't look so smug - I can play this game, too! I'm not used to it, but I know how it goes!"

Her version of 'this game' was to sway her hips as she took a step and swish her tail around with an unnecessarily exaggerated gesture. It would give poor Lodestone a very good glimpse of it all, without it looking intentional. Which it obviously was.