Canterlot.
When she was younger, Limestone pictured it as this magical place where everything shone and sparkled, there were more bits than could ever be spent, the ponies were nice, and there were way more options for supper besidesrocks.
Some of that had turned out to be true, at least.
However, after going there once a month for the past five years, that fantastical image had long since faded.
At least the food was good.
Someone in the Pie family had to keep up their trade relationships. While Pinkie was the obvious pick, it wouldn't be her that inherited the farm, so it had to be Limestone
It always had to be her.
Her only reprise was that, after getting all the hoofshaking and paperwork out of the way, she got to try something new. Today, that was a coffee place that sold drinks from Saddle Arabia; Maud had told her it was the strongest coffee in the world.
So, of course, she got it black. If she didn’t like it at its worst, then she shouldn’t have it when it was all dressed up.
The cream-filled bagel was nice, at least.
Limestone placed her saddlebag on the chair beside her, having to pause and recoil with every sip she took. It wasn’t the heat, but the punch the beans had in them. It stung her eyes and burned her throat in the best way possible.
She began the same hobby she always engaged in when exploring: pony watching. It was always most interesting to see the jumble of nobles in public, coming down for coffee like a common pony.
They didn't shit gold, and they didn't drink it, either.
It was only after a few moments that she had to do a double-take; one of the ponies stood out to her—not because they didn’t fit in with the others, but because Limestone recognized them.
The blue coat.
The silver mane.
The cape.
The stupid hat.
Trixie fucking Lulamoon.
She stood in line, bags under her eyes framing a grimace. She visibly grit her teeth, muttering something under her breath and staring off into the distance with dreary eyes. Trixie’s gaze steered randomly, not focusing on anything or anypony in particular.
Inevitably, Limestone and Trixie crossed stairs, and all that lethargy vanished in a moment.
She squeezed her eyes shut before opening again, widening until the white of her eyes far overshadowed her irises.
Then, she started running.
“Oh no the fuck you don’t!”
Limestone grabbed her saddlebag, chasing after the moment her hooves touched the ground.
Trixie was a lot of things, but she wasn’t slow. She swerved between the ponies in the streets with ease, some of which didn’t even notice her pass.
Limestone wasn’t as proficient in evasion. Frankly, nor did she have it in her to really give a shit.
“Move out of my way, hornface!”
“Oh my heavens!”
She knocked over several ponies before cornering Trixie in an alleyway, more out of breath than she had been for years.
“You…”
Limestone dug her hooves into the ground, chest rising and falling as she took in the musty air and exhaled just as heavily.
“L—Limestone! It’s, uh, been a while.”
“Two years, four months, and thirty one days.”
“You’ve…” Trixie raised a hoof, holding it to her chest and backing up to the wall. “Been counting?”
“Not,” she closed her eyes, each breath getting shorter and quieter. “Not on purpose.”
Trixie blinked, face contorting to a grimace.
“Ok…well, it was nice catching up, but Trixie is on vacation and would rather enjoy the present than reminisce on a past that once was.”
Trixie tried to walk past, only to be stopped by Limestone’s hoof slamming into a nearby building, the bricks crumbling with an imprint of her hoof.
“You think I chased you down just to catch up?”
“No,” Trixie stepped back, her hat covering most of her face. “Trixie didn’t.”
Limestone lowered her hoof, biting her lip so hard blood started leaking down her chin.
“I—”
“Can we do this elsewhere?” Trixie peered over Limestone’s shoulder, eyeing the half-a-dozen ponies on the sidewalk that were watching them. “Trixie knows where this is going, and she doesn’t want half of Canterlot talking about her. Not like this, at least.”
Limestone hung her head, wiping her hoof across her mouth.
“Fine.” She spun around, taking a few steps out onto the sidewalk and looking up at the buildings. She pointed at the closest building, which read ‘The Quiet Whinny’. “That’ll do.”
“That?!” Trixie walked beside her, eyes bulging at the building title. “Limestone, that’s a love hotel!”
Limestone rolled her eyes, gritting her teeth so tightly they nearly chipped.
“I know what it is!”
Limestone paid for the cheapest room, which fortunately was on the first floor. Trixie entered the room, scanning aroundwith raised eyebrows.
“Huh, this is much nicer than any normal hotel Trixie’s been in.” She walked up to the heart-shaped bed, checking under the blankets with her magic before sitting down on it. “How much did this cost? Trixie is doing quite well for herself these days, she wouldn’t mind to pay you b—”
“You left.”
Limestone shut the door, standing in front of it and dropping her saddlebag to the ground.
Trixie took off her hat, choosing to do so with her hooves.
“She did.”
“You left.”
“Tri—”
“Cut that shit out!” Limestone slammed her hooves on the ground, the wood creaking and cracking under her barely restrained strength. “I can’t take you seriously when you talk like that. It’s not cute anymore.”
Trixie flinched. Whether it was at her hoof or the comment, Limestone didn’t know.
“I’m sorry.”
“No you aren’t.” Limestone scoffed, kicking her sidebag to the side with enough vigor it hit the wall. “If I didn’t see you in that coffee place, you never would have reached out to me. You’d move on with your life, explore Equestria, find another plaything. I’d,” she stared at Trixie’s cape as it laid on the bed. “I’d just be another dying star to you.”
“Limey, I didn—”
“Don’t call me that.”
Trixe’s mouth snapped shut, her hooves gripping the edge of the bed.
“You don’t get to anymore.”
“I never forgot about you.”
“Bullshit.”
“I’m serious.”
Trixie took a deep breath, raising her head and staring up at the ceiling.
“Your middle name is Salt, though you don’t actually like anything salty. You spend a lot of time reading, your favorite book is Misery by Steedphen King. You’ve always wanted to try drinking, but you’re too afraid of what you might say or do.”
“Stop it.”
Limestone took a step forward, scraping hooves against the wood.
“Your favorite color is pink, but you tell all your sisters it’s green. You don’t have a sweet tooth, but you do have a sour tooth and love anything that burns your tongue. One time, when you were a filly, you ran away and packed your bags with only Bitter Sweets. By the time they found you, your tongue was so blistered that you couldn’t pronounce anything with a ‘t’ in it for—”
“I get it!”
Limestone jumped forward, placing her hooves on Trixie’s shoulders. She could smell her; she always had the aroma of firecrackers. Just vaguely, she could feel Trixie’s heartbeat. So erratic, yet with it came a pulsing warmth that was different from every flame.
They were close, so close.
They hadn’t been that close since…
Limestone backed away, pulling her trembling hooves to her chest.
“I get it, ok?”
Trixie didn’t say a word more, keeping her head locked in the upright position. Eventually, it dropped as her horn flickered in magic. A chair, that for some reason had been left against the window on the bedside facing it, was levitated behind Limestone.
“Thanks.” Limestone sat down in it, resting her head on the back. “You remember everything?”
“Everything, for better or worse. I still taste the rock soup every now and again.”
Something about that made Limestone laugh, as much as she didn’t want to.
“Then why’d you leave?”
She hated how meek her own voice sounded, how close to cracking it was. It was so unlike her.
But, it helped her understand Marble just a little more.
“Did you mean what you said to me? Any of it?”
Trixie sucked on her teeth, her hooves pushing heavily into the blankets.
“I did. At the time. I’m a showmare, not a liar. If it can be helped.”
“So you really…” her cheeks were hot, the inside tasting dangerously sour. “You really wanted to run away with me? Leave Equestria?”
“For a few days, yes.” Trixie closed her eyes, her shoulders pulling down low. “I truly did. Equestria has never been kind to me, Ponyville least of all. In truth, my quest for vengeance against Twilight sparkle had no hope before I found that amulet. A distraction with no real end.”
Limestone couldn’t bring herself to speak. No matter how many questions formed in her mind, no matter how much she thought about how to parse them, they never made their way past her lips.
“W—what changed your mind? I let you sleep in bed with me, I packed a bag, I…wrote a letter to my family that I was leaving.”
“It was all the things you said to me. It made me realize that I,” Trixie raised her hooves, rubbing her chest where her heart would be. “I can’t be that pony. I can’t be responsible for somepony else's life like that, their future. That’s not me, it never was. I’m sorry I made you believe I was.”
Limestone’s throat tickled. It spread from her throat to her mouth, trying to force itself out her lips.
She giggled.
“That’s it?” The corners of her eyes stung. “You just changed your mind? After everything you said?”
“I had to. If I hadn’t, you’d have bee—”
“Been what? Miserable? I already am miserable. I’ve been miserable for almost all of my life, except for when Pinkie threw that party and left. You…” something vile filled Limestone’s mouth, tainting her words and her vision. “You’re just like my sister.”
Trixie recoiled, the color drained from her face as her neck shrunk.
“You,” she slowly shook her head, visibly swallowing. “You’re making this out to be worse than it is. You’ll find someone else, Limestone. There’s plenty of—”
“You don’t get it.”
Trixie’s mouth hung open, closing inches at a time.
“You don’t understand what you did to me, do you?”
“Limestone…”
“I was content, Trixie. It took me years to learn to live on the farm after Pinkie left, because I told myself I had to. I’d inherit the farm when mother and father passed, and I’d be the one who has to have the next generation of pie rock farmers. I wasn’t happy, but I accepted it. I could live with it. Then you…”
Limestone didn’t even notice herself stand up, the chair being thrust back.
“You came to my family’s farm, we took you in and gave you a job until you could get back on your hooves, and then you told me all your stories about how you’ve been all over Equestria. All the ponies you met, all the things you saw, and that would have been fine; Pinkie talks about that in every letter she sent. But you convinced me I could see all the same things, see the world, go anywhere but the rock farm. That I didn’t,” the world shook, and so did her voice.
Limestone wanted to hide her face, to shrink into the chair and become nothing.
To not exist.
She’d had so much time to think on the farm, to come up with all the things she’d say to Trixie if she saw her again. Practiced it in her head enough times to memorize it, like a script nailed to the inside of her wall.
Now it had fallen, and all the confidence she thought she’d had was gone. Her voice as hollow as many of the rocks on the farm.
“That I didn’t have to live my rest of my life on that farm. You gave me hope, Trixie. You made me care about my future, and you couldn’t even give me the time to write a letter? To apologize?”
Trixie’s hooves wrapped around herself, shivering like the room was cold despite being almost irritatingly warm.
Something warm dripped from Limestone’s face, she wiped it before Trixie could see.
“What do you want me to do?”
Trixie’s words had lost all bravado, barely recognizable as her own.
“There’s,” Limestone smacked her hoof against her chest, breathing worse than any manual labor had left her. “Nothing you can do. You gave me a chance at love, at happiness, only to reveal it was an illusion like all of your performances. Your greatest trick yet.”
Trixie made some kind of noise, somewhere between a sob and a gasp.
“What if…what if I gave you a night?”
“A night?” Limestone bit the inside of her cheeks, tasting that unmistakable copper of blood. “A night of what?”
“Whatever you like.” Trixie spread her arms. “For tonight, The Great and Powerful Trixie is yours.”
“Are you…” Limestone sat back down on the chair, gritting her teeth until the sound was louder than her own heartbeat. “Offering yourself to me?”
“I’m offering you a night. I couldn’t give you the future I promised, but I can give you a night to remember.”
“What makes you think I’d even be interested in that?”
“Limey,”
Limestone didn’t yell at her this time.
“The night we spent together, you held me like a stuffed animal. It would have been cute if it didn’t hurt so much. I can’t give you anything else. If you don’t want me, I understand.”
Trixie left herself vulnerable, holding her elbows at her sides. She didn’t say a word more, the sound of quiet breathes and fidgeting.
Limestone took the moment to look over Trixie; a pony whom she’s only been able to picture for years.
Every part of her was groomed for presentation. Her blue coat combed to perfection, not a bit out of place or any grime to be seen. Only complimented by her mane, magnificently curled and made brighter by her violet eyes.
No matter how much she romanticized the image of Trixie in her head, it never came close to how beautiful she was.
Limestone walked towards Trixie, placing her hooves around Trixie’s slender hips. Limestone couldn’t look her in the eyes, instead focusing on going through the motions from what felt like a lifetime ago.
Not a sound came out of Trixie’s mouth as they kissed, nor did she do anything at first. A few seconds passed before she returned the motions, the rest of her body tense and unmoving. Limestone moved in as close as she could, their chest scraping together.
She moved away from the kiss, a trail of saliva the only thing connecting them.
“Do you not want to touch me?”
Trixie didn’t respond at first, hot breath hitting Limestone’s neck.
“If you don’t want to do this, just say so and I’—”
Trixie caught her tongue, infiltrating her orifice with an aggression that was far more suitable for her. Limestone couldn’t keep up at first, struggling just to catch a breath in between. The taste was intoxicating, like the smell of a firecracker or a burned candle.
Before she knew it, Limestone’s hoof had wandered to Trixie’s inner thigh, the heat coming off of it was almost like sleeping in front of the fireplace. The skin was so incredibly soft, coated in conditioned fur, warmth that made the cold a vague memory.
She lowered her hoof a few inches more, and felt something slick and warm.
Trixie closed her mouth, a moan trapped in her throat.
With a light shove, Trixie was pushed to the bed, Limestone hovering just above her.
Trixie’s face was flushed, taking in so much air that her chest rubbed against Limestone’s before she exhaled. Her eyes were constricted as they stared up into Limestone’s, mouth half open and with puffs of air that were almost visible.
“Limey,” Trixie’s trembling hoof reached up, stroking Limestone’s cheek. “You’re really strong, so be gentle, alright? You’re not supposed to break your toys when you play with them.”
That smile.
That fucking smug smirk of hers.
It sparked something in Limestone, something hot.
Limestone leaned down to Trixie’s neck, not bothering with gentle kisses and caressing her with her tongue. Without warning, she bit into Trixie’s neck, as lightly as she could manage. She didn’t taste that familiar tang of blood, but she did hear Trixie’s whimpering in her neck.
Limestone began trailing down her stomach, coming face to face with the most vulnerable part of Trixie. It throbbed, in time with her heartbeat, visibly slick and with a hole just big enough to fit her hoof in.
Instead, Limestone gave it a reticent lick.
It didn’t taste like anything. Like watered-down water.
Trixie jerked, yanking away from the intrusive organ. Limestone wrapped her hooves around Trixie’s legs, pulling her close until her tongue pierced her lower lips like a flesh spear. At that, Trixie arched her back, gripping the sheets as the tip of her horn with magic.
“Ohhhhhh fuckkkkk!”
Her voice filled the room, so loud it actually startled Limestone. She pulled back her tongue, and just breathed. The air was damp and smelled like sweat; Limestone couldn’t tell how she felt about it, content with just breathing through her mouth.
She stuck her tongue in deeper this time, moving it around like a fish torn from its home. She rubbed it against the inner walls, her mouth soaked in something juice-like but the consistency of thin slime.
With a groan, Trixie began bucking her hips, breathing heavily as she placed her hooves on Limestone’s head. With a final thrust, Limestone’s tongue went as deep as it could, going as stiff and rigid as Trixie’s legs.
Trixie relaxed, panting and splaying her limbs on the bed.
“Was that really,” Limestone wiped her mouth, briefly closing her eyes and trying not to couch as she took in how musky the room had gotten. “Good for you?”
Trixie raised her head, meeting Limestone’s eyes for only a moment before looking away.
“It was perfect.”
She hung her head, pushing her bangs out of her eyes and climbing onto the bed. Once again, Limestone was hovering over Trixie, her hair draping the sides of her head as she placed her hooves on either side of Trixie’s head.
It took a few awkward tries, filled with an expectant silence, but Limestone managed to rub her vulva against Trixies. Limestone was hot, but not aroused, no matter how much she tried to force it. Hopefully, Trixie was moist enough for the both of them, or the sweat would make do.
Limestone let out a guttural groan with her first thrust, the top of Trixie’s head bumping against the headboard. Trixie whimpered, rubbing her mane and clenching her teeth.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah. Trixie’s great.”
She couldn’t look Limestone in the eyes, turning her head to the side as she gestured with her free hoof to continue.
More carefully this time, Limestone gave herself to Trixie. With every movement Trixie would let out a moan, or shake, or pant, or some combination of the three. For Limestone, there was no pleasure at all; it didn’t feel like anything in particular.
She tried to get a rhythm, change angles and positions, move herself as close to Trixie as she could manage. Nothing changed, there was no spark of euphoria, no rapturous sensation that wracked her very mind. There was heat, but it was the kind that took place when a room was just a little too warm.
Even the softness of Trixie’s body has been buried under a cornucopia of sensations.
It wasn’t anything like the books she’d read had described.
Limestone’s body had been formed by years of manual labor, and as such she could continue these motions for hours were she to wish it. Maybe, eventually, there would be some sort of pleasure to it. Odds were, both of them would just be covered in sweat and inhaling a stench beyond the point of being intolerable.
With one more push, Limestone let out an exasperated grunt and collapsed to the other side of the bed, sticking her sight on the ceiling of the room. Her heaves were half-genuine, the heat of the room was more than she was used to.
Who knows how long passed before both of their breathing wasn’t as audible anymore. Trixie’s weight shifted in the bed, she sharply inhaled before speaking.
“I hope you will remember this night as fondly as I do.”
There were so many things Limestone could have said, some of them she actually wanted to. It was hard for her to put the thoughts in her brain that would express them; that was always something Maud was better at.
Maybe some of those things were better not being said in the first place.
“I will.”
Limestone couldn’t sleep.
She was mentally exhaused, and wanted the night to pass with a fervent desperation, but her body refused for whatever reason. It could have been the heat, or the bed was too soft, or Trixie’s snoring; who seemed to have no problem sleeping.
Limestone spent the night staring at the ceiling, her entire body sticky and in a way different from any farm work she did. Eventually, she got to her hooves, quietly making her way to her saddlebag and putting it on with very little noise.
She opened the door, peering at the bed over her shoulder.
Trixie was still sound asleep, clutching her pillow between her hooves and chewing on the corner of it while mumbling something to herself.
Once Limestone made her way to the clerk, she paid for Trixie to have another night should she need it. Opening the door and stopping, as if some invisible force had kept her there. A pit sat in her stomach, different from being sick or any kind of stomach pains. It was closer to a hole right in her belly, just…there and unfillable. Draining, empty, and nearly impossible to ignore.
It stretched when Limestone looked at the stairs, the thought that she’d never meet Trixie again sat on the precipice of her mind. They could talk more, arrange to meet again in the future, and…what?
Remind Limestone of what she can’t have? Of all the amazing things about Equestria she can only have a taste of?
“Ma’m?”
Limestone rubbed her face, taking a shaky breath as she forced her way through the front door.
It would have been better if they never met at all.
