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// Chapter 7 - Snow Day 
// Story: Glint Stones: Meeting 
// by Middle Ground 
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	After their hard work, the Pie Family and the Spellbind Brothers began working on dinner for all of them. Scientists from Canterlot arrived and received the black stone they got from the mine for examination and research.
"Hey Miss Pie...! Why am I the stove again?!" Ashes and his fire power was being used to boil some soup being made by Cloudy Quartz.
"Because until we buy more firewood, we need you to help me cook. Now hold still." Cloudy Quartz continued to make her special Three-Stone Soup. Sparx, Chilly, and Gust were trying hard not to laugh. Pinkie, without the brothers noticing, was staring at their blank flanks.
"Um...Sparky, can I ask you guys something?"
"Huh...? What is it, pink pony?"
"You guys don't have any Cutie Marks on your flanks. Why...?"
"The F@$%s a Cutie Mark?" Sparx's question was so shocking, it caught the Pie Family's attention.
"How can you four not know what a Cutie Mark is?! It's what show's a pony's purpose in life! Look!" Pinkie Pie showed them her Cutie Mark showing her love of parties.
"It looks like a tattoo to me...." Chilly wasn't really interested.
"So...your purpose in life is balloons?" Gust was confused.
"No...! I plan parties!" Pinkie didn't know how to take this unusual event.
Sparx snickered, "Hey Ashes, maybe you can be an oven...!"
"SHUT UP, SPARX!" Ashes' body then bursts into flames.
"Ashes...! Not when I'm cooking!" Cloudy Quartz backed away to avoid getting burned. This was unbelievable to the Pie Family. These four ponies were the first adult ponies without Cutie Marks.
"Maybe they've been in that black rock for a very long time. Maybe from a time Cutie Marks didn't exist."
"That does...make sense.... Maybe the black stone...is really, really old...." Knowing how strange that black stone was, it seemed possible.
"Then those four are ancient...." Limestone chuckled.
"Shut up, Limestone!"
"Unless you're into old colts." Chilly winked at Limestone. Limestone felt grossed out from the gesture.
"Alright, settle down, everypony. Dinner is ready!" Cloudy Quartz came into the room with a pot of her Three-Stone Soup and placed it on the dinner table with some bread.
"You colts are going to enjoy it. Also, I got a notice from the Weather Factory saying that we're going to get rain tomorrow. So we'll be taking the day off." They all cheered from Igneous' announcement.
"Aww...! It's no fun when it rains!"
"Thunder is...scary...."
"The rocks will get wet."
"I'll be so bored...." The Pie Sisters were the only ones who were not looking forward to the rain.
"I'm sure we'll find something to do.... Right now, let's just enjoy dinner." They all began eating dinner and enjoyed it a lot. They were then began getting ready for bed. The Pie Sisters were just about to head for bed.
"Hey Maud, what do you think about the guys?" Pinkie Pie hopped onto Maud's bed while she was reading her favorite book of minerals.
"What do you mean?" Maud stopped reading and went to petting Boulder.
"I mean what do you think about the guys no having Cutie Marks? They don't have a purpose...." This made Pinkie sad. Her sisters agreed. This was rather upsetting.
"Well...maybe they...just need to find it...."
"How? Those four colts have powers no pony has."
"And they're all crazy.... Even if they do get their Cutie Marks, no pony would be crazy enough to ever hire them for work." Maud and Limestone were both right. After getting to know these four ponies, it seemed hopeless for them to live normal lives.
"Maybe we can let them go to Ponyville! There are all kinds of ponies there! Maybe they can make friends there!" Pinkie became really excited at the thought.
"No, Pinkie...! There is no way I'll let those four go to a place full of ponies that could get hurt!" Limestone was highly against Pinkie's idea. Knowing how destructive they were, that was a possible disaster just waiting to happen.
"But...! But...!" Pinkie was persistent, but Limestone wasn't going to changed her mind.
"I'm afraid Pinkie is right. We can't have them stay here forever. It isn't healthy or right." Maud went back to reading.
"Maud, you can't be serious...!" Limestone hopped onto Maud's bed out of shock.
"She's...right. They need...to see the world...." Even Marble agreed with Pinkie and Maud. This was insane to Limestone.
"Then it's settled! They're coming with me to Ponyville! I can't wait to introduce them to my friends!" Pinkie had just turned their conversation into a vote and Limestone lost.
"I can't believe this.... Fine, but they will be your responsibility, Pinkie. The three of us will be staying here." Limestone was very serious. Suddenly, a flash of light and thunder came from outside. It began to rain like the Weather Factory announced it would. The sudden noise scared the Pie Sisters.
"I think we should go to sleep now...." They all agreed with Limestone's suggestion.
"Can I...sleep with you...Limestone...?" Marble was really scared.
"Uh...sure." Limestone noticed how scared Marble was and let her sleep with her for the night. They all went to sleep for the night. The Spellbind Brothers were sleeping through the heavy rain. A new morning came and the rain had left the area. Igneous woke up with a yawn and he then realized that it wasn't raining.
"Odd.... I'm sure the Weather Factory said they were going to make it rain here." He mumbled to himself as he opened the door. He then found out that it was actually snowing outside.
"What...?" This was very confusing to him since it was supposed to be raining. A thought just occurred to him and he then became upset. He then made his way to the old barn and opened the door seeing the Spellbind Brothers still sleeping.
"CHILLY!!!" His sudden shout woke them all up.
"Agh...! What did we do?!" Gust was so scared, his wings were trembling.
"Are we under attack?!" Ashes woke up ready for a fight and was covered in flames.
"MY EARS...!" Sparx's ears were ringing.
"What's with the noise...?" Chilly was half asleep.
"Chilly, why is it snowing?!" Igneous showed them the snow that was falling. There was snow all over the rock farm and it wasn't even winter.
"Um...reasons?" Chilly was the culprit. It was very obvious.
"Chilly, we were supposed to be getting rain. Not snow! What if the Weather Factory hears about this?! They might start asking questions!"
"Tch...who cares? They give us trouble, we can send them running like bitches...." Sparx went back to sleep.
"Sparx, don't you understand?! If you four cause any trouble for any ponies, the consequences will be dire!"
"What are consequences...?" Ashes was very confused.
Igneous gave an annoyed sigh, "You'll get into big trouble...." This quickly got their attention.
"What kind of big trouble...?" Gust became scared.
"The Princesses could send you to the moon! Or the sun!" Igneous' was very serious. Ashes then got up to Igneous' face.
"SHE CAN?! WHERE IS SHE?! SUN, I'M COMING FOR YOU!" Ashes then ran out to find the Princesses.
Igneous gave another annoyed sigh, "You four are insane...!" He placed his hooves over his eyes from how annoyed he was. Ashes kept searching for these 'Princesses' while melting the snow in his burning path.
"I've never seen snow before...! It looks like fun!" Gust flew out and began playing in the snow.
"WOW...! IT'S SNOWING...!" Pinkie bolted outside to join in on the fun. The Pie Family were amazed by the sight.
"I think we all know who did this." Maud and the others all looked at Chilly since it was obvious. Chilly gave a nervous laugh from all the attention.
"I'm going back to sleep. It is way too cold...." Sparx went back to sleep immediately. Everypony else began enjoying the unexpected snow day all bundled up..
"So Chilly, when did you start controlling the weather? I thought only Pegasi could do that." Limestone was helping Pinkie and Marble make a snowcolt.
"All I did was use a little spell on the rain clouds. It'll only work for today. When the sun goes down the spell will end. By morning, the snow will have melting." Chilly then crafted a big heart of ice and presented it to Limestone. Limestone cringed.
"Um...what is Sparx doing?" Marble looked around and didn't see Sparx anywhere.
"He said it was too cold, so he went back to sleep. And I thought I was lazy...." Chilly chuckled. They finished the snowcolt and huddled around Ashes like a campfire.
"I hate you guys...." Ashes was being used as a heat source again and he wasn't happy about it. His very presence was enough to keep them warm.
"You don't even need to wear a coat, bro...." Gust and the others were enjoying freshly brewed cups of hot cocoa made by Pinkie and Cloudy Quartz.
"I'm going to go and give Sparx his cup of hot cocoa. I'm sure he'll love it...!" Pinkie then made her way the old barn to do so. She then opened the door and cold air quickly entered the old barn with a gust of wind.
"HOLY F@$%, THAT'S COLD! SHUT THE F@$%ING DOOR!" Sparx then bundled himself in every blanket in the old barn from how cold it was with his magic. Pinkie quickly closed the door in a panic after putting the hot cocoa down nearby. Sparx then noticed who it was and calmed down.
"Oh...it's just you. What do you want, pink pony?" He was not expected any visitors.
Pinkie then gathered the hot cocoa and presented it to Sparx, "Um...do you want some? It's sweet and it'll warm you up." She was actually quite nervous after witnessing Sparx's sudden reaction. Sparx then levitated the cup towards him, sniffed it, then took a sip.
"AAGH...! WHAT THE F#$%?!!! MY MOUTH!!!" The hot cocoa was still pretty hot. He panicked from his tongue nearly being burned off.
"I'm sorry...! Do you need ice?! I'll go get some...!" Pinkie then opened the door again to go get some, and cold air entered the old barn again.
"SHUT THE DOOR!!!" Sparx began freezing again. Pinkie then closed the door again. The entire thing became a complete disaster. The Pie Family and the Spellbind Brothers could hear everything.
"You're brother is crazy." Maud just finished her cup of hot cocoa.
"Yes. Yes, he is...." They all agreed with Maud and continued to enjoy the snow day. Back at the old barn, Pinkie got Sparx some ice for his hot cocoa. They just sat down without a word after all that happened. Sparx was finally ably to drink his cocoa after it cooled.
"Oh...! This is really good! It's so sweet! Is it made with chocolate by any chance?!" Sparx was enjoying it a lot.
"Actually, it's cocoa. It's kind of like chocolate. I'm sorry about earlier...." Pinkie was happy about Sparx liking the cocoa, but she was still feeling guilty.
Sparx then looked away, "Uh...forget about it." He went back to enjoying his cocoa. Pinkie watched as he enjoyed his cocoa and felt like something wasn't right.
"Um...Sparky, you don't like it when it's too cold or too hot, right?"
"Huh...? Yeah. What of it?"
"You get frozen by Chilly and you get into fights with Ashes all the time. How come you don't freak out then?"
"Because the ice Chill makes and the flames Ash makes are all magical. I can easily deal with magical elements. So compared to the real thing, it's not as painful. Can I have more cocoa...that isn't too hot?" Sparx presented his cup to Pinkie, hoping for a refill. Pinkie then took out a pitcher full of hot cocoa from within her fluffy mane. Sparx didn't know what to make of that and just accepted it.
Pinkie then poured him another cup, "Be careful, Sparky. It's still hot." Sparx then carefully sipped at his cocoa. Pinkie then became concerned for Sparx more than before.
"Sparky, are you going to be alright...?" Pinkie got up to Sparx's face with a concerned expression on her face. Sparx did not know how to deal with that.
"I'll be...fine...." Sparx then turned away from Pinkie and continued to drink his cocoa.
"HOT!!!" Sparx completely forgot that his cocoa was still hot. Pinkie was still very concerned for Sparx. They all continued to enjoy their snow day. Igneous and Cloudy Quartz however were staying inside. Igneous was still annoyed from all this and lets out an annoyed groan as he watched.
"It's alright, dear. I'm sure Chilly meant well. Besides, there is something else more...concerning to talk about." Cloudy Quartz then sat down at the dinner table after just preparing them cups of cocoa.
"What is it, dear?" Igneous joined Cloudy Quartz at the dinner table.
"I heard Pinkie talking to her sisters last night while I was putting away the dishes before going to bed. She said that she was going to take the four brothers with her to Ponyville when her visit is done." Cloudy Quartz then placed sugar cube into her cup.
"I will not allow that. Those four are not just dangerous, but they're all just...crazy. It is non-negotiable." Igneous began blowing his cup to cool it.
"Limestone said the same thing. However, you two have been out-voted."
"And I am vetoing the vote. No exceptions." Igneous wasn't going to be deterred.
Cloudy Quartz then gave Igneous a disappointed expression, "You know you can't keep them here forever. Eventually, those four will start getting curious. Then they will start asking questions about what is outside this rock farm. Then they might start leaving this place against anything you say. What will you do then?" Igneous was beginning to see the picture.
Cloudy Quartz then took a sip of her cocoa, "Also, they each can use magic that is unlike anything we have seen before. Who knows.... They could be as powerful as the Princesses. Do you think you can deal with that?" Igneous definitely did not want to be on the receiving end of getting zapped, frozen, burned, or blown away. He then gave a deep groan and then sighed.
"Fine, have it your way. I can't guarantee they will keep themselves out of trouble...." Igneous felt really uneasy.
"I'm sure they will behave. Ponyville has seen some crazy things before from what Pinkie told us. I'm sure they'll be right at home."
"Hmm...you might have a point there." They were both in agreement and hoped that everything would turn out alright. Hopefully....