Limestone could feel the ground trembling underneath her hooves as she stomped out of the restaurant. Her whole body was shivering, tears of anger and frustration were running down her face, her teeth felt like they were about to fall out from grinding against each other so hard, and her hoof, still splattered in ketchup, mustard and frying fat, was hurting badly.
She didn't regret it. Not one bit. She had tried to control herself; tried to play along; had taken whatever this arrogant soldierbuck had thrown at her, but when he had insulted her family, he had crossed the line - her line, to be exact. Knowing that any other disruption could and would lead to her losing her job, she had done her best to contain her normally aggressive mind, but when he had insulted her family, she had seen red.
To be fair, shouting "They taught me how to serve burgers to idiots like you!" and throwing the still hot hayburger in his face might not have been the wisest choice of action -she had left the restaurant, even before the burger had hit the stallion's face, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that she could consider herself fired- but she hadn't cared in this moment. All this time, she had always taken everything customers would throw at her - condescension, complaints, insults, she had taken it all. But now she had reached her limit - the stallion whose hooves she would have kissed no ten minutes ago turning out to be such a jackass and even insulting her family had been the straw to break the camel's back.
And now ... Limestone slowed down, her furious trot turning into a slow walk, before she came to a standstill somewhere on the sidewalk ... now she was unemployed. Jobless. And by no later than a month ... homeless.
A deep sigh escaped Limestone's lips. She lowered herself to the ground, sitting down at the edge of the sidewalk, ran a hoof over her face to wipe the tears from her eyes, then let her shoulder sink.
So, this was it.
Her dream of making it in the big city, over. Her hopes of becoming a solider, policepony or anything else, laying in shards in front of her hooves.
She would love to say that she didn't know where to go or what to do know, but there was only one thing to do, and it was as obvious as it was painful to Limestone: she would go back to her apartment, gather up the little things she could carry, say goodbye to Bright Bulb, and head back to her family's farm.
It wouldn't be an easy way to go, and she could all too clearly see the looks of resignation on her family's faces when she would come back to the farm, but no matter how she put it, there was no other way. She had tried her luck in the game of life, and had lost - simple as that. And as much as she hated to do it, she had to accept this defeat.
What else was there to do, after all?
"Hey Limey!" The loud, shrill, and awfully familiar voice tore Limestone from her thoughts, and made her head shoot up in surprise. She knew that voice! But ... this wasn't possib-
Her thoughts were cut short as she felt a hoof being flung around her neck and somepony pulling her into a tight hug. "How you doing, big sis?"
"Pi- Pi-" Limestone stuttered, perplexed by the sudden assault, "Pinkamena?"
The pink mare with the poofy mane broke the hug with her sister and pulled back, giving her a beaming smile that didn't fit at all into the gray, gloomy atmosphere of Manehatten.
"Oh, silly." The pink pony giggled, "How often do I have to tell you? Call me Pinkie!"
"Wha- what are you doing here?" Limestone gasped.
"Well," Pinkie explained, that beaming smile never leaving her face, "Marble told me that you've moved to Manehatten, so I thought I'd pay you a visit! It's been waaay too long since we've last seen each other, don't you think?"
"B-but ... how did you find me?" Limestone asked unbelievingly, "Manehatten is huge!"
"Don't be silly, Limey." Pinkie explained happily, "It's not that hard if you know who you're looking for!"
Limestone opened and closed her mouth a few times, searching for the right words to explain to her sister in just how many ways her argumentation didn't make sense.
"Nice hat, by the way." Pinkie giggled, pointing at the Jolly Burgers-cap still sitting atop Limestone's head, "I didn't know you worked at Jolly Burgers."
Giving a startled gasp, Limestone winced and hastily pulled the cap from her head, hiding it behind her back; an intense blush grew on her face. "I ... I don't know what you're talking about." she hastily sputtered out, "I'd never set hoof into that filthy sinkhole!" she cleared her throat, straightened herself up and pushed her chest out, "I ... I'll have you know you're talking to Sergeant Limestone Pie - honorary member of the Equestrian Army, and one of Princess Celestia's most trusted guards!"
"Oh, really?" Pinkie asked, giving her sister a genuinely happy smile, "That's great, Sergeant!" her expression turned into a slightly questioning look, "But I didn't know you could join the military as a mare - not that easily, at least."
"Y-yes." Limestone hastily affirmed, pushing her chest out even further, "Yes, it's not easy, but ... you know ... when they saw me, they didn't hesitate a second to accept me. They knew I had it in me." she flat-out lied to her sister.
"Wow!" Pinkie replied, looking truly amazed by Limestone's pack of lies. She gave a short giggle, "Hehe, and here I wanted to come and cheer you up because I thought you were struggling with a terrible job and difficulties to pay the rent." she gave a casual flick of her hoof, "Pfft. Silly me, right?"
"Y-yeah." Limestone hesitantly nodded her head, feeling a tad of guilt for lying to her sister like this, "Si-silly you. As you can see, I'm doing ... just ... just perfect."
"Oh well." Pinkie said with an innocent shrug. "You know, this may sound silly to say of me, but just in case..." she pulled out a white envelope she must have carried in her mane, "Here." she said, handing the envelope to Limestone, "I know you probably won't need it, now that you're a honorary member of the army, but..." again, her sister shrugged, "I thought you might want to have it nonetheless. Just in case."
Raising an eyebrow at her sister, Limestone reached for the envelope and hesitantly opened it. Inside was a fancy-looking, heavy piece of paper, written in a beautiful handwriting.
To everypony whom it may concern,
with this letter, I, Princess Celestia, grant my subject Limestone Pie permission to join the Equestrian Armed Forces.
She has proven her worthiness on various occasions, and I have no doubt that she will make an excellent recruit and provide perfect service, not only to our armed forces, but to all of Equestria.
I wish her the best of luck with her plans, and the power to fulfill her dreams.
Respectfully,
Princess Celestia
Holding the paper in her hooves, Limestone read through the letter. Then read it again. And again. And again. She could see the letter, and could read the words, but not with all the will in the world could she believe just what was standing there.
Lowering the paper with shivering hooves and turning her head, Limestone looked at her sister, who gave her a look that showed just how hard she had to fight with herself to contain her excitement.
"P-Pinkie..." Limestone whispered, looking at the letter again. It was indeed written on what looked like royal stationery, and had a seal that looked like Princess Celestia's cutie mark on it. "Is that ... is that what I think it is?" she asked, her breathing quickening by the second.
Giving a short nod and barely containing a squeak of joy, Pinkie replied, "Marble told me that you wanted to join the military, but then Twilight's brother Shining Armor told me about this silly old regulation, so I thought maybe I could help you with it, so I went to Princess Celestia and told her about you - how you used to live on the farm with Mom and Dad, and how you fight so hard to protect them and the farm, and then I told her that you wanted to join the military, and she said if you care this much about other ponies you'll make a great addition to the military, so she gave me this!" she said, pointing at the letter. "So?" she asked her sister with a beaming smile, "Do you like it?"
Feeling her breathing become heavier as she started to understand just what her little sister had done for her, Limestone lowered the letter, placing it on the sidewalk next to her, and turned to face the pink pony.
"Huh?" Pinkie asked excitedly, tilting her head to the side, "I wasn't sure how exactly I should hand it to you, but then I saw you sitting here and-" but she was cut short as Limestone shot forward, flinging her hooves around her sister's neck and pulling her into a tight, tender and intense hug.
"Thank you." Limestone whispered into Pinkie's neck, feeling tears of joy freely running down her face and dripping onto Pinkie's shoulders, "Thank you, thank you! I ... I can't believe you did this for me, I ... I..." she couldn't get herself to speak any further - too overwhelmed by her emotions, Limestone just closed her eyes, sank into her sister's embrace, and let it all out. All the anger, all the disappointment, all the frustration the past months had brought over her now poured out of her eyes and ran down her face.
"Aww, it's okay, Limey." Pinkie said softly, gently rubbing her sister's back. "That's what sisters are for, right?"
Sniffling, Limestone gave a soft nod, burying her face in her sister's soft, curly mane, and felt how a smile grew on her face. For the first time in years, she was feeling genuinely happy, and her smile truly came from the bottom of her heart.
Because now she would get a chance to prove herself; to do it all; to show everypony that she had what it takes, and to be the pony she had always dreamt to be.