After a few moments, the nirik that Marble was holding close to her slowly stopped lighting up the area with blue and red fire. Autumn Blaze's form returned to that of a kirin, her ears down and her looking to the side, embarrassed by anyone finding her in her nirik form. She had had many dark thoughts about everything she could do to the poor sweet Marble Pie... But Marble Pie hadn't been afraid of her nirik self, after the beginning at least. Autumn Blaze swallowed, looking down at the pony that trusted in her beliefs so much that she could face down some flaming creature threatening to kill her. Autumn Blaze licked her muzzle before she looked down at Marble Pie as best she could. "You trust me... And you... I could have hurt you Marble Pie..."
Marble Pie pulled back, smiling at Autumn Blaze. Marble was a lot calmer interacting with the kirin now that she had faced down the flaming nirik. Autumn Blaze blinked, tilting her head to the side, very bemused by the strange turn. Autumn Blaze wasn't sure how to interact with Marble after that scene. Autumn Blaze raised a hoof and gently pushed Marble Pie's mane back so she could see Marble's face better, causing her to blush a little. Autumn Blaze contemplated her for a moment before letting the hair fall back again, looking to the side contemplating the issue. Trust was... Rare amongst the Kirin. It was meaningless during the silence. And before... When a bit of anger could twist your thoughts into darkness trust was a dangerous thing to have for anyone but the closest of kirins.
Autumn Blaze shifted as she watched Marble, smiling at her. She could trust Marble... Marble had trusted her... But... Autumn Blaze gazed into Marble's eye for a long moment, raising a hoof again to move her hair back, making long eye contact as she contemplated the other mare for long moments. Autumn Blaze swallowed and nodded. "I... Trust you Marble Pie." She hadn't said that to any pony in a long time. But maybe it was time that she tried to trust another pony. Marble pie trusts her, so she'd return the favor, as much as she could. They'd have to have a long, long talk about the possible future plans but... She wouldn't commit to marriage or anything like the Pie's assumed was coming after that stone decreed. But they also mentioned a courting time, she could do a courting time with the earth pony. Autumn blaze moved her hoof in to gently rub at Marble's cheek, causing her to produce a small squee of sound as she nuzzled up against the hoof.
Marble smiled as she looked Autumn Blaze in the eyes, very unusual for her but she was a bit more confident. She wasn't the most courageous pony, but she had faced down whatever darkness was living inside of Autumn Blaze. Marble smiled as she motioned back up to the farmhouse, and standing up. "Time to sleep Autumn Blaze." Autumn Blaze took in a deep breath before nodding, standing up with the pretty earth pony. Starting to follow Marble out of the maze of boulders Autumn Blaze smiled a bit wider, maybe she should tell Marble now, it would probably make her happier.
"Marble Pie." Marble paused, looking over her shoulder as Autumn Blaze spoke. "I'm not going to say we should get married. But I would be open to... Exploring the possibilities of courting and seeing how we might be as a couple." Marble blushed brightly and smiled widely, causing Autumn Blaze to smile. "Though I'm gonna wanna see this pairing stone, it sounds really powerful and I wanna see how good it is!" Marble frowned a little, she didn't want anyone messing with the pairing stone. "I'm not going to hurt it! I just want to see it!"
Marble nodded as she started to lead Autumn Blaze back towards the house again. "Father will be able to arrange that." Since she had faced down the nirik she enjoyed her increased confidence dealing with Autumn Blaze. She was always suspicious of other ponies deceiving her, hiding their intentions, their dark sides, she'd seen Autumn Blaze's dark side. She had been threatened, yelled at, and magicked around by the kirin, she wasn't concerned about the mare hiding anything from her anymore. "Thank you."
Autumn Blaze blinked then smiled, nodding a little. "Well, you just... Uh... To be honest you showed me that I could trust someone... I am willing to give our relationship a bit of a test, no fire in my mane." She did trust Marble, mostly. She didn't completely trust Marble, she hated to think that but she couldn't instantly trust a pony she met yesterday, any more than she could marry said pony she met yesterday.
Marble giggled and shook her head. "No, thank you for showing me yourself." Autumn Blaze stopped for a moment, shaking her head after the initial shock.
"Marble! No, niriks are bad! She's not part of me!"
Marble paused and turned around, surprising Autumn Blaze with another hug. "No, she is part of you, you can't hide from your angry part." She smiled as she let go of the kirin and started to walk again.
Autumn Blaze walked after Marble, staring at her in silent astonishment. She couldn't, this was the shy pony who had said about... About two dozen words to her before now, and then she faced down her nirik form and was encouraging her not to hide the nirik inside of her away from the world. The kirin had become slightly more accepting that niriks were a part of them but they always went off to hide their nirik forms whenever they came up now. No, no, it was because Marble didn't know much about the niriks that she was saying these things. Autumn nodded as they walked up the porch, she would just have to explain to Marble that the niriks were not something to be tolerated.
Marble pie turned to smile at Autumn when they reached the door to her room, the guest room being further down. "I'll see you in the morning. We will have a lot to talk about."
Autumn Blaze nodded. "Yeah, I'll... We'll talk to your father then?" Marble nodded and smiled, walking into her room after giving Autumn Blaze a friendly wave. Autumn Blaze had to shake her head as she walked to her room. Marble seemed like a completely different pony now, she was... Confident now. It was very good, but still very confusing to Autumn Blaze where that all came from. But she supposed that she could learn about Marble's hidden strengths during their courting. And she could make Marble understand that niriks were to be avoided, not accepted.