What it Means to be Soulmates
The air was still. The nighttime atmosphere of the park had all but faded away into nothingness. At the moment, none of it mattered. It was all overshadowed by the crippling truth that Marble had just laid bare.
Her date was looking at her with an expression that was slowly falling deeper and deeper into confusion. It was clear right away that Marble’s words would need more explanation. Painful, slowly-ripping-off-a-band-aid style explanation.
“What?” Minuette’s brow furrowed in disbelief. Marble let her words hang in the air for a moment, before several shaky sobs wracked her body.
“I’m s-sorry,” she struggled out. Every word now felt like a gut punch to her heart.
Minuette blinked in confusion. “I don’t understand. What do you mean you can’t be with me?”
Marble struggles not to choke on sobs. “I… We… can’t…” It was no use, her crying was overpowering her words and they soon devolved into pitiful whimpering.
She moved to wipe her eyes, but couldn’t stop her hoof from shaking so much.
“Hey, talk to me.” Minuette moved to place a hoof on her cheek, but Marble retreated behind her mane.
She couldn’t bare Minuette’s gentle, familiar touch. It would be too tempting to back out now, even if that wasn’t an option anymore. She just watched her from behind a curtain of gray hairs and hoped this would all be over soon.
“Marble, please just tell me what’s wrong,” Minuette said, every molecule of her seemed to be begging for an answer.
Marble’s lip quivered. She knew Minuette deserved an explanation, but she didn’t know if she could give one coherently.
But she had to try.
“W-we aren’t s-s-soulmates,” she whimpered out.
“Soulmates?” Minuette pursed her lips in confusion. Her eyes darted left to right, a clear indication that she had no idea what was going on. “What are you talking about?”
Marble sniffled. She had to muster up the courage to elaborate, she just had to. “A-At Nickerlite, we h-have a r-rock called the P-P-P-Pairing S-Stone and…” It was no use. She was a stuttering, incomprehensible mess.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Minuette brushed away her mane, letting her hoof fall to Marble’s shoulder before wrapping her into a hug.
Marble pushed away. As much as it stung, as much as her body begged her to just let that hug last, she couldn’t let it go on. All it did was give her more incentive to back down from saying what she had to say.
“It’s not okay! T-the Pairing Stone… It s-shows you who your s-special somepony is supposed to be when you look at it.” Marble whimpered in the back of her throat. “A-And when I looked, I didn’t see you!”
Marble put her head in her hooves, unable to bear Minuette’s reaction to the news. She knew it must’ve incorporated speechlessness at least, because in between her sobs she didn’t hear anything for a while.
But then, Minuette brought her hooves back around her. Marble put up a weak protest struggle, but didn’t have the courage to push Minuette away again. She just buried her face into her blue shoulder and heaved up a couple more sobs.
Minuette patted her back, though it was a futile effort. Marble wasn’t on track to calming down anytime in this century. But thankfully, Minuette was willing to wait.
They sat on the park bench, embracing, as the still night was filled with Marble’s sad cries. Then, her sad whimpers. Finally, her sad sniffling.
In the end, it didn’t take a century, but Marble was able to get it out of her system nonetheless.
As she calmed down, Marble noticed just how tightly she was gripping on to Minuette. She knew she should pull away, but still couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“Are you ready to talk about it now?” Minuette asked her.
Marble stopped breathing. But only for a moment.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” she said limply. The defeated tone in her voice did not go unnoticed.
“Well I think there is.” Minuette placed her hoof on the back of Marble’s head and pushed her in closer. “I mean, you clearly don’t want to stop.”
“...” Marble swallowed, knowing that answering would be pointless.
“And I don’t want to either,” Minuette whispered.
Marble’s lip quivered, but she still didn’t speak.
Minuette stroked Marble’s mane, taking a deep breath. “So why are you taking dating advice from a rock, exactly?”
That was a question Marble knew she had to answer. Despite her achy heart and the fact that she could probably cry some more if she really tried, she choked down her sadness long enough to say something coherent.
“It’s tradition,” she explained. “The P-Pairing S-Stone has always chosen the marriages of Nickerlite. It always knows who everypony’s soulmates is going to be.”
“I see.” Marble could feel Minuette’s frown. “So, you’re going to marry your soulmate then?”
Marble pressed her lips together. “I don’t know.”
“What?” Minuette looked at her. “What do you mean you don’t know? They’re your soulmate, right? That’s why you can’t go on another date with me, isn’t it?”
Marble shrank behind her mane. “I...I don’t know who my soulmate is. I never met them before.”
Minuette’s brow knitted together. “But… wait… If you don’t know who your soulmate is, then why can’t you date me anymore?”
Marble shook. Why couldn’t Minuette just accept the truth? Why did she have to keep asking questions? Couldn’t she see how hard this was already? “B-Because we can’t!”
Minuette frowned and a dagger found its way into Marble’s heart.
“But if you don’t know who your soulmate is, why should you have to stop dating me?” Minuette asked. “Can’t we—”
Marble shook her head, barely managing a whimper. “It’s not r-right. W-We both have ponies we’re destined to be w-with. We can’t… not when… it’s not right!” She tried so hard to convey her feelings, but knew she failed when she saw Minuette’s face twist with confusion.
“So just because there might be somepony, somewhere that’s perfect for you, you can’t give anypony else a chance?” Minuette asked.
“Y-Yes.” Marble did her best to not cry again. With some effort, she pulled away from her date and wiped her eyes. Her body still trembled, desperate for the touch of the pony before her, but she resisted.
That was it. The truth was out, and it seemed like Minuette understood. Now all Marble had to do was get on a train, leave Canterlot, and never, ever come back.
No matter how much it made her heart clench.
“I-I have to go now,” Marble’s voice was cracking more than the ice rink she decimated. Now she really needed to leave. At any moment she’d break down in the fetal position into a mess of sobs, and she would prefer to be alone for that.
Prying her body from the bench, Marble pushed herself away and started
“Wait!”
Tears slipped out of Marble’s eyes. Minuette’s voice sounded so pained. Her walk slowed and the desire to turn around hit her like a train at full force.
It would be easy to go back, wouldn’t it? Nopony was here to make her leave. Limestone, Ma, Pa, the Pairing Stone… It was just her. This was her choice.
For the briefest moment, she stopped.
No… I can’t… Marble wiped her eyes and kept going. She couldn’t fight destiny; Minuette deserved her real special somepony.
The sound of hoofsteps behind her jolted Marble from her thoughts. Minuette was coming after her.
A gut punch of happiness hit Marble; the realization that Minuette still cared enough to follow her managed to bring a flash of a smile to her face. But at the same time, alarm bells jarred her systems.
Minuette was following her. Minuette was refusing her destiny. Minuette was risking her happiness just to be near Marble again.
T-This is all wrong. Marble broke out into a sprint, tearing herself from the ground in an effort get away.
“Marble, wait!”
She can’t stop this! Marble yelled in her head. I can’t stop this. She shouldn’t even be trying.
“Marble, please slow down!”
Marble bit her lip, eyes squeezing shut. She lowered her head as she ran, determined to put as much distance as possible between them, both physically and mentally.
This has to stop. She has to stop. We have to stop.
The Pairing Stone had spoken. It knew there wasn’t true love to be found between them. Marble’s feelings were just wrong. They were reactionary. Of course she had attached herself to the first pretty mare who paid attention to her. It wasn’t love. It couldn’t be. Not when destiny said otherwise.
Then why does it hurt so much?
Minuette’s hoofsteps were further away now. Marble could see the park’s exit up ahead. She could slip out into the city and disappear after that. Then she could cry. Then she could try and forget. She just had to make it a few more steps...
FLASH!
A blue burst of magical light engulfed Marble’s side before fading away. In what was formerly empty space, Minuette now existed. Suspended in mid-air, diving towards her uncontrollably, but definitely Minuette.
“Eep!” Was all Marble could get out before their bodies connected.
The force of the collision knocked them both to the side. The park’s path, and subsequently the exit, flew from view as the two of them tumbled into the nearby grass.
Marble felt her breath knocked out of her as the shock from the impact really took hold. Minuette’s body was squished up against hers as they rolled across the ground, whipping up blades of grass in their wake.
When they finally came to a stop, Minuette had flipped free from her and landed off to the side. Marble found herself face up, staring at the night’s sky as her brain tried to process what had just happened.
Once she realized that the mare she needed to get away from was right next to her all of a sudden, Marble started to push herself back up, only for Minuette to pop into her peripherals first.
“Oh my gosh! Marble, are you okay? You’re not hurt, right?” Minuette’s panicked expression matched her tone pretty well. “I’m so, so sorry! I just kept thinking about how I couldn’t let you run off like that and before I knew it I was trying to teleport, even though I’m terrible at it, and then I— and you were— and… Marble?”
She felt the tears streaming down her face right before a sob fought it’s way past her lips. Marble couldn’t fight back a steady trickle of water from leaking out.
Minuette looked battered from their tumble. Her mane was a frazzled mess now. Her dress was stained with grass smudges and dirt, probably ruined beyond repair. Yet, inspite of that, she only cared about her.
Suddenly Minuette’s fore legs were draped around Marble. “I’m so, so sorry.”
The pain from the fall was already fading and it paled in comparison to Marble’s heart right now. Even after everything that had just happened, Minuette was more concerned with Marble than anything else. And Marble had just been about to run away. How badly had that stung? All because she didn’t want to face the truth anymore than Minuette.
She sniffled, trying to get some words out. Any words. She just needed to let Minuette know she wasn’t hurt. “I-I-I-I’m-m f-f-f-f-fine…”
“No you aren’t!” Minuette insisted. “I just crashed into you! I didn’t even factor in my velocity when I reassembled! I could’ve really hurt you.”
B...But… “But I already hurt you!” Marble wailed. Her face found Minuette’s shoulder again and buried itself deep within. “I’m so stupid! I just couldn’t… I didn’t want to stay after that.”
“Hey, there, there.” She felt gentle, comforting hooves pat her back. “Marble… you didn’t hurt me.”
A moment of clarity broke through Marble’s hurricane of emotions. “I… I didn’t?”
“Celestia no.” Minuette held her tightly. “I was too worried about you. You seemed devastated. And you didn’t even let me say anything.”
Marble’s sniffles took their sweet time winding down. When she finally felt able to speak again, she didn’t even know how to respond. “But… I-It doesn’t matter what you say. We—”
“We aren’t soulmates,” Minuette answered. Marble shivered. It felt so much worse when she said it.
“Yeah…”
“But I don’t care about that.”
Marble snapped to attention, pulling her head back to look Minuette in the eye. “W-What?”
“I don’t care about soulmates,” Minuette said, rephrasing herself. “I care about you.”
It was like her storm of bad feelings had suddenly been brushed aside. The warmth that exploded inside her just from hearing those words dwarfed anything else she had felt the whole night.
But it couldn’t last. Confusion and doubt suddenly reared their ugly heads, tainting Minuette’s words.
“You do? B-But…” She looked down. “I-I want you to be happy though. You deserve to be the happiest mare in the universe. A-And the only pony who can make that happen is your soulmate…”
An empathetic gaze fell over Minuette’s face. “So you only want me to be happy?” Minuette asked. Marble nodded. “Then you have a pretty funny way of going about it.”
Marble’s ears folded down. “But it’s for the best. You deserve to be with your soulmate, Minuette.”
“And you?”
Marble wiped her eyes, unable to meet Minuette’s. “I… I just can’t stop wishing that it was me.”
Minuette frowned, her eyes not holding back when it came to doling out sympathy. “You know, I still haven’t changed my mind. I don’t care about soulmates.”
Marble’s eyelids fluttered. “B-But…”
“Marble,” Minuette cut her off. “I might never meet my soulmate. And you might never meet yours. I don’t want to live my whole life holding out for the one pony who might be perfect. Especially when I’ve got a pretty amazing mare sitting right in front of me.” Minuette brushed Marble’s mane behind her ears, almost earning a glance. “I just wish she could feel the same way about me.”
“I-I do!” Marble finally met Minuette’s eyes. “I want to! I really, really want to keep dating you. I… I want to be your marefriend. And hold your hoof. And hug you. A-And k-kiss you. I just… I’ll never be able to. My parents will arrange my marriage with my special somepony once they know who it is. A-And then we wouldn’t be able to be together ever again. And that’ll hurt.” Her voice cracked, bleeding into a long silence.
But after what felt like an eternity, Minuette finally took a breath. “Maybe it would hurt. But if you’d been successful in running away just now, don’t you think that would’ve hurt too?”
“You would’ve moved on,” Marble whimpered. “You’re too incredible to stay sad over somepony like me.”
“Don’t put me on a pedestal like that.” Minuette grabbed Marble by the shoulders. “You think I’m incredible?”
“I-I think you’re perfect,” Marble whispered.
“I’m anything but!” Minuette cried. “I kept bringing you to crowded places when you hate them. I just didn’t consider how it would make you feel when I was planning out our night. And I lost it dealing with Moon Dancer and Twinkleshine and made you worry about me. And just now my stupid teleporting could’ve given you a concussion! Or worse!”
Marble was speechless, her jaw hanging open in pure shock. Had Minuette really been worrying about stuff like that this whole night?
“Marble, I’m just a pony. And what’s more, I like you. A lot. I wouldn’t have just rebounded if you’d gotten away. I would’ve been really hurt.” Water lined the rims of Minuette’s eyes. The tears shimmered as moonlight bounced off of them. “I would’ve missed you.”
Every part of Marble seized at once. What had she done? What had she been trying to do? What was wrong with her? “I’m sorry…”
Minuette pulled her back into a hug. “Apology accepted. Just please don’t do it again.”
“O-Okay…”
They were quiet again, each just taking a moment to experience their embrace. Marble limply, still unable to believe this was all happening, and Minuette firmly, like she never wanted it to end.
“Look, about this Pairing Stone,” Minuette said.
“Yeah?”
“Barely anypony knows about it outside of Nickerlite, right?”
“Uh… I think so.”
“So that means most ponies don’t get to see it and probably never get together with their soulmate in the end. Couples settle down, get married, start families, all with the wrong pony, and they’re happy, together.” She brushed her hoof along Marble’s back, considering her next words carefully.
“As for us… I don’t know. Maybe we’ll fall in love and live happily ever after, or maybe we’ll break up next week. No pony can say for sure what’s going to happen, Marble, so why don’t we just enjoy ourselves?” Minuette squeezed her softly. “Because I really like you.”
“I really like you too,” Marble said. “B-But my parents…”
“I’ll talk to them,” Minuette decided. “I’ll see to it that they make an exception for you. Don’t worry.”
Wow… she’s really willing to do all that for me. Granted, Minuette didn’t know Marble’s parents all that well, so she had no idea what she’d be getting into. But even so, if she was sure she could convince them then, then she wouldn’t stop.
But that also means all of the burden would be placed on her. Her parent’s anger… would they ever accept Minuette if they thought she was stealing Marble away from her true soulmate? Would they hate her?
Marble stiffened. “I… no…”
“No?” Minuette’s voice cracked with worry.
Before she could put words to her concern, Marble piped up. “I-I should be the one to talk with them. They’re my parents after all. This… I should tell them.”
“...Okay.” Minuette stroked Marble’s mane silently for a moment. “Do you want me to at least be there when you do?”
Marble thought about it for a moment, really thought about it. What would her parents say to Minuette if she showed up right when their daughter told them she’d decided to go against the Paring Stone’s choice. Would they blame her? Maybe. Probably.
She squeezed Minuette, perhaps a little too tightly. “I can do it by myself.”
“Oh.” Minuette didn’t mask her surprise. “Are you sure?”
Marble nuzzled the fluff of Minuette’s chest. She didn’t want to be apart from the warmth and comfort it provided… but at the same time, she could do this by herself. She didn’t deserve Minuette if she couldn’t. “I’ll be fine.”
“All righty then.” Minuette kept stroking Marble’s mane, as they simply enjoyed each other’s embrace for a little while longer. Then, “We should probably think about meeting up with Limestone and Lemon soon. I would hate for you to miss your train.”
Marble nodded. In all this time, she hadn’t even considered what those two had been up to. She hoped Lemon was doing okay, considering Limestone’s… personality.
But… “Can we stay like this for a little longer… please?” Marble ensconced herself deep in Minuette’s chest, threatening to cause a cave in of chest fluff that would bury her alive.
“Of course, Shy Pie. Of course.” Minuette nuzzled her cheek into the top of Marble’s mane, letting go of a comfortable sigh in the process.
All of the pressure of her emotions was finally relieved. Marble couldn’t believe how easy it had been to just talk to Minuette about everything. If she had just done so in the beginning, then the night would have been much better.
But, Marble could hardly complain right now. Minuette was warm and fuzzy; like the perfect pillow to cuddle up with.
The couple stayed pressed against each other for a long time after. They were silent; words weren’t needed between them anymore. After a rollercoaster of a night, they were finally on the same page with one another. And now, they were content to just enjoy each other’s company; it was all they needed.
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Thank you Minuette!
Until we see the pairing stone again, I'm still going to believe that it deliberately gave Marble a wrong soulmate to make this very thing happen.
Touching chapter.
I'm also really looking forward to the next chapters.
Go Marble! Your father might be understanding, if he sees how the times are changing. And if not, just tell your daddy where to stick his pairing stone! ...But perhaps do it in more polite wording.
Im half expecting and half hoping that when minuette and marble find lemon and lime that they will be furiously making out on a bench somewhere.
Minuette has the patience of a saint and loyalty (to Marble anyway) rivaling Rainbow Dash...
I'm very glad Minuette was able to talk it out with Marble in the end.
Oh good... More diabetes... Another spoonful please!
Forced marriages rarely ever result in happy marriages, especially when the two so-called 'lovebirds' barely know each other.
Screw forced marriages, and thus screw the Pairing Rock. Does Pinkie care about that? No - she's happy to leave that bland, unhappy lifestyle behind.
Heck, Minuette and Marble should really pay a visit to the Crystal Empire, to get Cadence's advice - she's the Princess of Love, and no stone can be more accurate or trustworthy than that.
This chapter brings up a good point.
Mainly that the whole "destined soulmate" thing is bullshit. XD
Why did I have to run out of chapters to read
It was getting so good.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/11/19/156757__safe_trixie_ask+trixie_computer_drool_heart+attack_hnnng_open+mouth_reaction+image_real+heart+attack.png
7997276 Scientifically confirmed as bullshit as well
though now I'm wondering how Lemon and Lime are going to end up together again...
7997400 Ehhh, if it's good it won't happen for awhile. Maybe in a sequel?
Excellent chapter.
Awww, this was cute as all hellfire!
Nicely done!
Hahaha
7997163 Are you aware that there's a fundamental difference between forced marriages and arranged marriages?
7998097
From my point of view, they definitely don't have to be the same thing, but they can be. If you don't want to marry whomever you are arranged to marry, isn't that a forced marriage? I am sure that has happened before.
7998097 7998144
Yes, I am aware that there's a difference between 'forced' and 'arranged' marriages, but would Marble want to marry whoever her so-called 'soulmate' was? Not since she's seen Minuette.
Arranged marriages often happened in medieval times, in the aristocracy and royalty; this was to get the families increased wealth, prestige, land, etc. I don't believe the majority of those marriages were necessarily happy, because the wife and husband would often not know each other that well; why do you think many husbands or wives were assassinated? So the remaining one could get all the wealth (this was especially true of royalty).
Heck, a son or daughter could be sent to another kingdom, in order to "strengthen ties" by marrying that kingdom's aristocratic/royal bachelor/ette. What about if said son/daughter hated the other kingdom's culture? Couldn't adapt? Too bad - unhappy marriage.
7996943
Emphasis on "fury" (at least for Limestome)?
This was nice, now I only hope that Lemon Hearts really isn't just getting her way. Like I explained in one of my other comments.
Wow, what have I said in that one comment for it to get deleeted? I'm pretty sure that I wasn't mean. I'm only a bit irritadet by the fact that you have deleeted it. Was it only because I said something about how I don't want Lemon to be ("so Limestone, your going to love me or otherwise I do some bad stuff got it?" ) like this?
I think I just don't want it to look like Limestone would just give in and would get her own reasons for liking, really liking Lemon Hearts and that isn't going to went the easy way for Lemon.
I know what happened so far, but I got the feeling that Lemon thought she had a good enough date so far and that she only needed to impress Limestone, this is why I want Limestone to realize the truth before they finally start their real relationship.
7998410
In regards to your previous comment, I didn't delete it. I have a long standing policy to never delete comments on any of my stories and have so far upheld that. The only times comments are deleted on any of my stories so far have been when the user who posted it decided to erase it, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
I don't know if you unintentionally hit the delete button on it, or if the site glitched on it or something; all I can promise is that I did not remove it. Heck, I didn't even get to see it before it was gone, so I honestly don't know what happened.
This line probably needs to be in italic.
In any case, sweet chapter. Can't wait for the next one!
You have no idea how relieving it is to finally see something resolve (at least partially) logically and not like the stereotypical romance fling of one running away and the other letting them go at first
Seriously, this is so much better. Talk about it, see what happens. Besides, Minuette does have a point - few know of the Pairing Stone. Who knows, maybe its "knowledge" is limited to a proximity and not the whole world.
It would be fun if both Marble and Minuette stepped in front of the stone and it showed them together. Heh.
Or even better, for Limestone to step there out of curiosity and actually find Lemon displayed
7998838 ahh okay thanj you, maybe I forgot about it. I only got offendet because it wasn't there anymore.
Jesus this chapter was a roller coaster...
And they're not out of the woods yet,
Very well done, and very insightful. I just hope that Marble can handle the job. Now we only need to see what happened to Limestone and Lemon Hearts, as it appears that they have very similar problems. Strange though that the whole gay thing hasn't entered the conversation. It would be interesting if it turns out that pony society has evolved beyond that concern entirely.
7996943
Lemon...and Lime. Wow, I'm a little surprised I didn't notice that sooner.
oh please oh please this is going where i think its going
D'awwww ~