"Marble Pie." Autumn tilted her head then smiled widely as she finally got the earth ponies name.
"Well, how do you do Marble Pie? I am Autumn Blaze. Do you prefer Marble, or Marble Pie?" Autumn Blaze didn't know the pony naming conventions very well, it seems sometimes they went by a shortened version of their name, but sometimes they went with longer ones.
"Uh... Marble Pie." Marble had liked it when Autumn blazed called her just Marble, but if her father heard that... There could be a murder involved, to say the least.
Autumn Blaze nodded and smiled at the shy pony, getting up and stretching before drawing in a deep breath, letting it out. "Well, this was fun and all, but I really should get going."
Marble was both horrified, logically grateful, and flattered all at the same time. Horrified because the interesting new kirin she had a crush on was leaving! Logically grateful because the interesting new kirin she couldn't act on her crush on was leaving! And flattered because it looked like Autumn Blaze was still restraining her longer winded versions of sentences in respect of Marble's sensibilities. She looked around and whined, too quietly for even the close Autumn Blaze couldn't hear. Marble smiled hesitantly, the logical piece of her brain relaxing now that the mare was leaving. A decision that was quite foolish in hindsight. The emotional part of her brain lept at the opportunity to take the reigns and she blurted out, "you could stay the night!"
That took Autumn Blaze by complete surprise, she wasn't sure what was going on here. They could cuddle, couldn't kiss, and now Marble wanted to sleep with her!? As Autumn Blaze simply stared, the logical part of Marble's brain regained some control and quickly tried to salvage the situation. After a short hesitation, she pointed up into the sky, at the sun in the sky. It was... Low, but not that low that it would really be a necessity for Autumn Blaze to stay with them. She could easily find a nice place to sleep by the road with how much time she had left in the day.
Autumn Blaze, however, nodded, enjoying the idea of getting to spend more time with Marble, and getting to meet her family. "Oh, sure, what will your sister say though?" At least Autumn Blaze assumed that it was her sister, she assumed that ponies weren't into polygamy like the kirin weren't so that couldn't have been Marble's mate, and they looked a lot alike. Unless of course to ponies cuddling wasn't romantic at all and Autumn Blaze had completely misread the situation... She admitted that was possible, but she doubted it.
Marble hadn't considered what her family would say about Autumn Blaze staying the night! Then again when she blurted it out she hadn't thought about what anyone would think about it, even Autumn Blaze herself. But she knew that her father, proper and respectable as he was wouldn't kick a pony out onto the street, he was uptight and always proper, but he was also one of the kindest and most generous ponies she knew. If he'd found a changing injured on the road he'd have taken them to get treated and paid for it himself. And that was even before they turned good. "Uh... Hospitality..."
Autumn Blaze nodded, she knew that many cultures had strict customs about hospitality, and she supposed that she wouldn't want to offend her new friend... Possibly wanting to be more than just her friend? She wasn't sure on Marble's interested but she'd get that figured out over the evening she was sure. "Oh, so it's a hospitality custom? Well I'd hate to offend you by turning you down so I accept!" Autumn Blaze smiled happily at Marble. "Thank you Marble Pie, this is very nice of you." She didn't really need to add that last statement but she was wanting to talk more, being quiet for the pony was hard, but she could find a nice balance. If talking bothered the other pony so much Autumn Blaze knew she could tone it down at least a bit for the pretty mare that had taken, she assumed, and interest in her. It might not work out but she didn't see a reason to shoot it in down immediately.
Marble nodded hesitantly, she'd need to catch her family on the road before Autumn Blaze noticed so she could explain everything and hope that her family didn't go nuts over the fact she'd spent all this time alone with a stranger, then invited said stranger to spend the night. They wouldn't, they couldn't kick her out unless she did something heinous, but Marble knew that her father, and especially her sister would be less than pleased if this event was dropped on them without warning, that was for sure. Marble showed Autumn Blaze up to one of the two spare rooms they had that could be used for family or guests. The single room was fine, not the bunked room where they'd put the Apples those years ago, since there had been so many of them.
"Ooh, this is pretty." Autumn Blaze said in genuine appreciation as she looked around the room. Most ponies found the room plain and uninspired, it was simple but very comfortable Marble had always thought. Apparently, Autumn Blaze thought similarly. "Are these hoof made?" She ran a hoof appreciatively over the bedspread and smiled at Marble. "This will be great! Thank you, Marble, I'll sleep like a baby tonight."
Marble smiled widely at that, the kirin was always very appreciative, and, after the initial flood of talking, was far more measured in her words. Very thoughtful and appreciative. And very warm, literally and figuratively... Marble blushed gently at the thought, she didn't really think that it would be a great idea for her to stay with the kirin for very long, she knew she couldn't pursue an actual relationship without the pairing stones approval... But just for tonight, she could pretend she could be Autumn Blazes marefriend, and maybe that would help her hold out until the pairing stone was ready.