This was it.
This was the day she had been looking forward to all summer long. Sometimes with anticipation, sometimes with dread, but always with a tingle of excitement in her guts.
Today was her first day in middle school.
And boy, she was nervous. Not only that she now was in an all new school in an all new part of town with all new ponies, no, she had to face all these changes all by herself, as both her friends from elementary school had either moved away, or simply attended a different school.
Not to mention the fact that she was far away from her family’s rock farm, only getting to see them once a month at best.
Yes, she was all alone; all by herself in this new, strange environment.
Marble Pie was walking through the relatively empty corridors of her new school, heading to where she hoped she would find her assigned locker.
Lessons had begun today after a brief group-tour through the school’s premises yesterday. She had attended the first lesson of the day, and now was on her way to math class which was scheduled to begin in a few minutes.
She had thought about this day a lot – not necessarily positive thoughts, really. She had never been a particularly extroverted pony, and the prospect of going through the same ordeal she had experienced during her first day in elementary school again had been enough to have her shiver at the thought of what was going to happen here.
Of course, both, her parents and her older sister Maud who had just attained her High School degree and was now working towards a rocktorate, had assured her that she would be fine; that being nervous was the most normal thing in the world on one's first day of school.
Still, none of them had managed to change her mind. She still had dreaded this day, and getting up this morning and coming here had cost her more courage than anything else she had ever done in her life.
However, as surprising as it was to her, so far it had been … quite alright, really. Of course, she wasn’t about to drown in a crowd of newly made friends, but she hadn’t had any panic attacks so far, so that was something.
Besides, living away from her parents wasn’t as bad as she had anticipated – the new experiences and changes had kept her way too busy to even think about missing her parents.
And even the teaching subjects were … really not that hard. Of course, it was just the first day and it was too early to draw any conclusions, but she didn’t have any trouble so far, so it was a good start in any case.
Yes, as unlikely as it may sound, she … might really like it here.
Letting her gaze wander over the handful of ponies wandering the halls around her, she noticed her mind trailing off, wondering if, somewhere in these halls, she would end up finding a new friend to stick with.
Because while she had a hard time making friends, and could count the true friends she had made in her life with her hooves, those friendships she had managed to find had always been there to last. And she couldn’t deny that slight feeling of excitement at the thought of finding yet another friend for life here.
However, while letting her gaze wander over her fellow classmates and imagining new friendships was great in getting her mood up, it also kept her from looking at where she was going, as she failed to notice the three ponies stepping into her way and blocking her path.
Only when she bumped into the one in the middle did she notice - and promptly flinched back, her eyes widening in shock.
Standing in front of her were three colts that were easily a few years older than her. Her head shot downwards, her mouth wanting to mutter excuses, but she didn’t manage to bring out any words whatsoever.
It was a problem she had encountered before: whenever she was around ponies that weren’t her family or closest friends, she just … couldn’t bring out a word. No matter what she did or how hard she tried, her mouth just wouldn’t open!
Even as the pony in front of her took a step forward and fixed her with a malicious grin, all she could do is keep her head low and remain silent.
“Well, look who we have here.” He said cockily, “Newbie, huh?”
Again, all Marble Pie could say in return was a muffled “Mm-hmm.”
Who were these ponies? Why were they … why were they talking to her?
“Well, since you’re new, let me break it down for you.” The buck in the center spoke up, tapping his chest, “My name’s Curve Ball, and I own this place. You wanna try and mess with me?” he gave an amused snort, “Better think again, filly.”
“Hmm…” Marble Pie whimpered softly, looking up at him with her face hidden behind her mane. What was this pony talking about? She ... she wasn't messing with him ... was she?
Deciding to better be safe than sorry, Marble took a slow step to the side to carefully walk past the colt, but he followed suit, continuing to block her path.
“Uh-uh.” He said teasingly, shaking his head as the other two positioned themselves to either side of him, “That’s part of your first lesson, newbie. You wanna walk these halls, you’re gonna have to pay a tribute.”
“W-what?” Marble managed to squeak, feeling her legs begin to tremble. She … she had heard of bullies before, but this was just…
“You heard me, filly.” The buck said, his tone getting noticeably sterner, “Now let’s take a peek inside these saddlebags.”
Even before he had finished, his hoof had shot forward, getting a hold of the small gray bag on Marble’s back and sliding it off her in one swift motion.
“Hey!” Marble Pie shouted, more out of surprise than anything else, as she watched the lead pony toss her bag to his henchponies, then take a step towards her to stop her from taking it back, “Hey … s-stop!” she managed to force out, but it was more of a muffled whimper at this stage.
“Please…” she whispered, but to no avail, as she watched the two bucks open her bag and pull out her belongings – her lunch, her pencil case, her notepad … it all landed on the floor in front of her hooves.
Marble Pie found herself wanting to tear up at the sheer viciousness of these ponies. Why were they doing this!? What had she ever done to them!?
However, their vile actions were cut short as one of the ponies gave a startled gasp and alerted his companions.
“Guys!” he shouted appalled, eyes wide, “Guys, stop!”
Curve Ball and his partner in crime both stopped going through Marble’s belongings and looked at their fellow who was pointing at Marble’s pencil case. Their eyes widened.
“She’s…” Curve Ball muttered unbelievingly, reading the name embroidered on her pencil case - a parting gift from her mother. His wide-eyed gaze shot towards the gray earth pony mare, “You’re a Pie!? You’re … you’re related to … to Limestone and Maud and…”
“M … m-hmm.” Marble replied curtly, visibly confused.
“Oh crap.” Curve Ball muttered with disbelief, his look wandering to Marble’s belongings lying spread out in front of him. “Crap crap crap. Guys!” he shouted, addressing his posse, “Clean that up! Clean that up right away before-“
But he was cut short as a new voice tore through the semi-silence of the deserted corridor – a voice that, apparently, both Curve Ball and Marble knew all too well.
“Hey!” the shout echoed through the hall, followed by the sound of hoofsteps coming closer at a quick, energetic pace. “What in Equestria are you doing to my sister!?”
Unable to hold back a sigh of relief, Marble watched as the three ponies frantically tried to pick up her belongings and neatly put them back in her bag.
But it was already too late. The bullies weren’t even halfway done when they suddenly froze in place as the familiar sight of a bluish gray mare came walking into her field of vision.
Limestone Pie positioned herself between her sister and the three ponies, her threatening glance resting on the bullies for a few moments, before going over to the remains of Marble’s belongings still lying on the ground.
Looking back at the assaulters, her eyes widened with anger, her nostrils inflating, she took a deep breath. “I said…” she hissed energetically, her hoof shooting out and pointing at her sister’s things, “What are you doing to my sister!?”
“N-nothing, Limestone!” Curve Ball spoke up, his face somewhat pale, “We were just-“
“Ooh you better be careful what you’re about to say, mister.” Limestone said slowly, menacingly, taking a step towards the earth pony buck. “Maud told you and your brother three years ago, and I’m telling you again now: our family is off limits.” Slowly, she pointed a hoof at Marble standing next to her, “Lay a hoof on my sister again, and you’ll regret it.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously, “Or do I need to remind you what happened to your big brother? Maud kicked his flank once, and she’ll be back here at a moment’s notice if I ask her to.”
She remained silent for a moment, letting her words sink in, before the stern look on her face vanished and made way for a toothy grin, “Though it’s not like I can’t take you on myself.” She raised her hoof, offering it to him, “Wanna give it a try?”
Curve Ball flinched noticeably, taking a hasty step back and forcing out a weak, “N-no … ma’am.”
“Thought so.” Limestone said with a pleased grin, letting her hoof sink. Tilting her head to the side in an unmistakable motion, she added, “And now get lost. And don’t let me catch you with my sister again.”
And just like that, the three bullies were gone, taking off in a hasty canter.
Slowly, Marble walked up next to her big sister, looking after them in awestruck silence before she finally managed to open her mouth.
“T-thank you … Limestone.” She muttered softly. “I … I was really starting to like it here, but then these ponies showed up and…” she cut herself off, shivering lightly.
“Ah, don’t worry about it.” Limestone put her off with a casual flick of her hoof, but then hesitated. After a few moments of silence, she gave a sigh, turned towards her sister and said, “Don’t let ponies like these ruin it for you. I know the first couple of days can be hard, but middle school really isn’t as bad as ponies make it sound like.”
Marble Pie didn’t reply to that at first. Such encouraging words were quite a rarity, coming from her sister who normally always seemed rather distant and disinterested in her younger sister’s business.
“Trust me, I know how you feel.” Limestone added after another period of silence, “I was exactly the same when I came here three years ago. Scared, intimidated, you know.”
Marble’s eyes widened, the young mare leaning back in surprise. Her big sister? Intimidated? By something as petty as a new school? She had to be joking!
“Yeah, I know. Hard to believe, isn’t it?” Limestone said with a shrug, “But when I first came here, I was a total mess. Being in a new school was one thing, but being in an all new environment, far away from Ma, Pa and you … I was sure I wouldn’t survive a single day. Especially when those kinds of ponies started to show up.” She said, tilting her head into the direction the bullies had disappeared into.
“On my first day, I was stopped by Slider, the big brother of that nipper.” Limestone continued to explain, “The thing is, he wasn’t as 'kind' as his little brother. Ended up dumping me into the trash the first two days.”
“Oh my…” Marble gasped, holding a hoof over her mouth.
“Yeah.” Limestone said with a nod, “I was this close to giving up and just quit, until they tried to shove me into my locker on the third day…” a grin formed on her face, “And Maud saw them.”
Again, all Marble could do was gasp in awe as she pictured what must have happened. She knew her oldest sister well enough to know that, while being calm and almost apathetic in most situations, she could cause quite the havoc when provoked, especially when it was about her family.
Limestone gave a short chuckle, nodding. “Yeah. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that neither he, nor any other bully in this school dared mess with either Maud or me after that.”
“…wow.” Marble replied awestruck. So this was why they had stopped so abruptly when they had found out that she was one of the Pie family – apparently their reputation preceded her.
“I know it’s going to be hard.” Limestone said slowly, looking her sister in the eyes, “And I know there will be moments when you just want to throw it all away and go back to Ma and Pa. Trust me, I’ve been there plenty of times.” She paused for a moment, shaking her head, “But I’m here for you." she declared calmly, "You can always talk to me when there's something on your mind or somepony bothering you. But if you don’t let things like these get the better of you,” she said, pointing at Marble's open saddlebag lying at their hooves, “I promise you’ll have a great time here. These are the best years of your life. Don’t let other ponies ruin them for you.”
The younger Pie sister looked up at her older sibling with wide eyes, remaining silent. She … she didn't know her sister could be … like this. Of course, the two were family, and Marble knew that Limestone loved her, but she had never heard her older sister be so … uplifting.
Slowly, she opened her mouth, never breaking eye contact with her sister. “T-thank you … Limestone. It … it really means a lot to me.”
“Don’t mention it.” Limestone said with a relaxed nod, “Maud was there for me when I was new and needed her, and now I’ll be there for you.”
Gently, she put a hoof on her sister’s back, resting her head against hers. “That’s what family’s for, after all.”