//------------------------------//
// The Fourth Sister 
// Story: Twilight Abuses the Cutie Map 
// by Cxcd 
//------------------------------//

Clink.
	Clink.
	Clink.
	Clink.
Crystals, gems, and ores galore. It was a tedious life of rock-farming in the small town aptly named Rockford. Ponies from every side of the country, whether it be the smaller similar towns like Rockford or the big giants like Cloudsdale or Manehatten, it seemed no matter where one looked, they could always find a pony in the market for rocks.
Obsidian, granite, amethyst, quartz, it didn’t matter what it was. As long as it was a rock that grew from the finest rock farm in Equestria, anypony seemed to be satisfied with it’s quality.
Clink.
	Clink.
	CRACK.
The rock split open at it’s seams. Today had been a slow day to say the least. The previous night was a downpour of rain, making the fertile rock-growing grounds muddy and sloggish to work on. What was once a two-hour job suddenly turned into a four-hour job, and sometimes even longer.
Marble Pie wasn’t in the greatest of moods. Her lip was turned into the slightest of frowns, although the pony in question rarely displayed an emotion other than shy. Her coat was a light gray, her mane being ironed out into a completely smooth darker gray. The mark on her flank depicted three marbles, as per her name.
Her mood flipped when she saw what she had just split open.
Inside of the seemingly dull rock was a beautiful array of Bismuth. Rock-farming wasn’t a literal term, of course. Rocks didn’t actually grow from nothing. It was a combination of magic from the Earth-pony tribe and the preexisting elements in the rocks themselves. Sometimes, to bring something beautiful forwards, all it takes is a little magic.
The Bismuth itself was a big deal. Recently, a popular fashion designer by the name of Sapphire Shores had used Bismuth in an ensamble she had been working on. Overnight, the rock farm had sold completely out of the thing- only parting with it for a pretty dime.
Marble’s mood lifted as she carefully collected the two halves of the rocks, dumping them into her sturdy saddlebags as she made her way back towards the house.
Ever since two entrepreneur brothers moved their mining operation a little over a mile away from the household, the sky was now a permanent murky brown from the fumes their machines produced. Although Marble, plus her family, was a little concerned when they originally moved in, the quality of their gems suddenly made the family’s financial security seem set in stone.
The door creaked open to the boring old farm house. A wave of sudden hot air hit her face, closing her eyes to prevent against the dryness it suddenly brought along with it. In the living room, her father, Igneous Pie, was stoking the fireplace. He was an older orange-coated stallion wearing what appeared to be a very tall black hat and tie. Her mother, Cloudy Quartz, was sitting on an armchair, rocking back and forth. She was a white mare, wearing golden reading glasses, with her off-green mane tied into a bun.
Marble deposited her saddlebags onto the ground. Igneous turned to look, his eyebrow shooting up as a chunk of bismuth rolled across the floor out of the open flap.
“What do I see here?” He asked in his rumbly voice. “Bismuth, huh?” He picked it up with his hooves, feeling the weight. “Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Just in time, too, for our next order. Did you grow this?”
“M-hmm.” Marble nodded, sitting down and sifting through her saddlebags. Igneous turned away from the fireplace, standing up and trotting towards Marble.
“Gee, I don’t think we need to do more work today.” He mumbled, watching as Marble pulled out the full boulder from her saddlebags. “I don’t think anypony here wants to work anymore in this… dreadful weather we’re having.”
“Agreed.” Quartz said from her rocking chair, her eyes glued to the paper. Igneous turned back to his wife for a moment, mumbling something unintelligible with a sharp look in his eye. Marble didn’t like that look, but she still knew it well. Whenever her father thought somepony wasn’t pulling their weight on the farm.
“Phew!” The front door slammed open again. Marble jumped a little bit as her sister, Limestone Pie entered the living room. She used her hind leg to kick the door shut, perhaps a little too violently. “Big haul, Pop!” She smiled, walking further into the living room. “I mined some Copper, a little bit of Gold, and a huge hunk of Granite-” She paused, upon seeing Marble with her hunk of Bismuth. “Aw, man!”
“You both did wonderfully.” Quartz said, not even moving her eyes up from the paper. Igneous, for the most part, did seem to appreciate the effort Limestone was putting forth. But, once again, as Quartz talked, he did the same side-eye thing. This time, Limestone picked up on it, shutting her mouth and scooping her things back into the bag.





“Oh-three.” Marble said, pointing to the date written below the photo.
“Oh-three?” Limestone responded, taking a closer look. “I was born in Oh-one… Maud was born in Oh-two, and you were born in Oh-four…” Limestone scratched her head with a hoof, getting closer to the paper. “I don’t… I don’t know?”
Limestone leaned further forwards. It didn’t make sense. They were all born in December. Every single one of them. That meant they were not only concieved within their birth-year, but were all almost exactly one year apart.
Except for Oh-three.
Limestone moved her hoof to her chin, now intently thinking about what see was seeing.
“Maybe it’s just dated wrong.” She shrugged. “I mean- you write the wrong date on something, that’s pretty embarassing. Put it to the back of the book, I say. Nopony wants to see that.”
“Why didn’t they cross it out?” Marble asked quietly. Limestone paused. That was a good question.
Pictures back then were far and few between. The further back in time they went, the less and less photos there was of the family. There was maybe three pictures of Quartz’s and Igneous’ wedding day. A few photos here and there celebrating a few occasions like birthdays, or the installment of a new grain silo.
There was, in total, two photos of Quartz’s pregnancy with Limestone. One at the beginning, and one at the very end. With Maud, there was about six photos. But that was it.
And that’s where their parents described their own personal gold-rush day.
They said it happened at the beginning of Quartz’s pregnancy with Marble. One day, they decided to crack open a rock, and they found the interior lined with gems. They said from that day forwards, rock farming became their top priority. And ever since Marble was born, that was exactly what they did.
Apparently, rock-farming came with the benefit of having spending money. Spending money to, as Igneous described it, buy more memories. Suddenly, the picture book was filled with photos, as the price of buying a new pack of blank photos was suddenly more than achievable. Everything was photographed, from a slightly cool rock, to the first time Limestone made a friend at school.
And all along those photos, they could quite clearly see the progression of Quartz’s pregnancy with Marble.
If photos were so rare back in the day, then why banish this one to the back of the book? Why not fix their mistake with a black highlighter and call it good? Limestone… really didn’t have an answer.
Until it slapped her in the face.
“W-Wait.” Limestone said. “Mom was… pregnant in oh-three?”
“M-hmm.” Marble nodded.
“I didn’t even realize what that means!” Limestone wiped her forehead. “Mom… No. No way.” She shook her head. That wasn’t the answer. That couldn’t have been the answer. Limestone turned to look at her sister.
“D-Did…” Limestone swallowed her spit, suddenly feeling lightheaded. “Did Mom have a miscarriage?”
Marble’s reaction was immediate. She gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth. It was like a wave of unspoken questions were all at once answered as it washed over the two idle ponies in the room.
“That- That’s the only explanation, right?” She drummed her hooves on the floor. “Oh… Celestia, that’s heavy.”
“It makes sense.” Marble responded warily.
“I… guess it does.” Limestone said. “I mean… that’s weird. If that didn’t happen- we would have another sister. A whole new pony.” She shuddered. “Could you imagine that? A whole new pony?”
“Makes sense why they wanted to hide it…” Marble said quietly. “It’s not- um- exactly something you would want to remember…”
“Yeah… I guess that’s pretty messed-” Limestone turned the page.
In the smack middle of the left page, all the way at the back of the book, was a photograph. It was taken at an angle, slightly raised above a crib she recognized as Marble’s own by the detailed flowers painted onto the side of it.
In the middle of it was a foal she had never recognized before.
She had seen her own foal photos- albeit the few there were of her back then. She had even seen Maud’s and Marble’s. What she had never seen, however, was this one.
The foal was obviously a filly by her muzzle shape. Her eyes were closed, and she was apparently sleeping. The old photography film they had used meant everything looked a little orange, but even here she could still tell her coat didn’t match up with any of her sister’s. In the black and white- or, rather, black and orange film, it was apparent her coat was closer to a pure white than any of their darker coats.
Her mane was a little darker, but it drooped around her in a completely flat manner, unlike Maud or Marble when they were first born. Around her body was a blanket wrapped tightly.
“W-Who is that?” Marble asked quietly. Limestone blinked, her brows furrowing.
“Uhm…” For once, Limestone didn’t really have an answer. She blinked again, leaning closer to the photograph. She flipped the page, but it was only the end of the book. “I don’t… know?” She rubbed her eye. “I mean- it could be me?”
“No?” Marble pointed to the back of her mane. “You have hair sticking up in the back. She doesn’t. It couldn’t be Maud, because her hair is- um- cut straight at the front. And that was my crib, too.”
“Who… is this?” She asked. “I… I don’t actually know.” She shuddered. “M-Maybe she- as morbid as it sounds, maybe she didn’t make it very long…”
“M-hmm.” Marble watched as Limestone picked out the picture from it’s holding place, and sticking it right into her mane. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to ask Mom and Dad.” She got up, stretching like a cat. “It makes sense why they would hide it from us. They probably don’t want us to know about it.”





“The farm was starving!”
“So you sold her?” Limestone screamed. “Are you bucking kidding me?”
“Language, young-”
“No- No! You need to hear this!” Limestone stomped. “You- you’re bucking kidding me! I- I had another sister, and you never thought to mention it?”
“We had to give her up.” Igneous stood up. “The farm was starving, and we couldn’t afford a third foal. We didn’t plan on telling you-”
“Apparently you bucking could!” Limestone pointed to Marble, who was cowering in the corner and the sudden yelling. “The story- the story you told us- that we found gold in rocks. Mom was already pregnant with Marble. Were you- were you gonna sell Marble, too?”
The silence that followed was all the answer that she neeeded.
“No. No-no-no.” Limestone shook her head aggresively. “No. You’re kidding me. NO.” Limestone reared onto her rear hooves, striking the floorboards with her earth-pony might. “You’re kidding me!”
“The farm was starving-”
“Shut up!” Limestone yelled, turning around and beginning to pace.
It was a foreign concept. Living life without her sister. Although their personalities had butted heads before, Limestone being the loud and brash one while Marble was quiet and reserved, Limestone still loved her sister dearly. The mere idea she could’ve been carted off the moment she was born was terrifying.She was already too young to remember the foal in the picture. She would’ve only been three when Marble was born. And she already couldn’t remember Marble being born.
Limestone shook her head, tapping her hooves for a second before turning back to her father.
“What was her name?”
“Pinkamena Diane Pie.” He responded.
She took a sharp breath, turning to look away. That was it. The mere mention of her name shook her, like a whole new world was unlocked where she had a third sister. Coming home after school with Pinkamena. Playing with not only Marble and Maud, but also Pinkamena. This wasn’t some wandering school friend, no. This was her family.
And her father sold her.
She pulled out the photograph again. Some small part wanted her to believe her father was lying. But this was the physical proof. Nopony in the family had their mane like that. Flat, and straight down. The photo was a worn brown from age, but Limestone could easily guess her coat was similar to her own- either being a lighter or darker gray.
She took a deep breath in.
“I gotta go.” She said, stashing the photo away in her mane and turning towards the staircase.
“Where are you going?” Igneous asked, watching as she walked away.
“Away. For a while.” She turned to look at her mother.
She had this look that stopped Limestone in her tracks. A look of deep sorrow, and perhaps regret. Her eyes looked like they had aged a thousand years, and all throught the conversation, she hadn’t said a single word, despite being the mare to carry Pinkamena.
Limestone snorted like a mustang, barging upstairs.





Marble woke up in the dead of night to the sounds of shuffling. Blearily, she pushed herself up with her hooves and blinked back sleep in order to see in the dark bedroom. The only light was shining from a nearby oil-lamp burning a bright orange flame that danced on the ceiling, making whispy patterns through the grain.
Marble yawned, pushing herself into a full sitting position. She rubbed her mane, leaning forwards and looking to the edge of the room, where the oil lamp was sitting on the floor.
Limestone had her back turned to her, digging through the closet. Nearby, her saddlebags laid flat open. She pulled out what appeared to be a mane brush, quickly stuffing it into her bags. Marble blinked, once again rubbing her eyes and looking up at the clock above the sister’s beds.
It read four in the morning.
“Lime?” Marble asked quietly. Limestone jumped, suddenly dropping a manilla folder on the ground by accident.
“Marble? What are you doing up?” She asked, looking over her shoulder. “You should be sleeping.”
“What are you doing?” She asked. “Are you… packing?”
“No.” She said quickly. Marble’s pleading eyes pushed something inside of her soul. “Yes.” She admitted, sighing. Marble’s brow creased, worry evident on her face.
“Don’t you think this is a bit… drastic?” She asked. Limestone scraped a hoof on the floor, pushing around the folder.
“Geez, I was just gonna leave a well-worded note, but…” She sighed. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to leave this dump for a while now.” She sighed, this time more aggresively. “Just- this whole sister thing kinda pushed me over the edge. I guess I have a reason to leave now, instead of just feeling like I wanna leave. I want to find her. Our fourth sister.”
“What’s that?” Marble asked, pointing to the folder. Limestone huffed, pushing the folder inside of her saddlebags.
“My birth certificate.” She said. Marble’s breath hitched.
“You aren’t coming back, are you?” She asked quietly. Limestone took a second to respond, clicking her tongue in her mouth.
“No.” She eventually said. “No, I don’t plan on coming back.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Then let me come with you.”
Limestone looked up quickly, her eyes full of surprise.
“What? No- you-” But she stopped herself. She looked away from the pony on the bed, towards the rapidly lowering moon. Maud had already left a few years ago- about the same age Limestone was now. Could she really leave her baby sister all alone with her parents? The same parents who were originally going to sell her if the farm was doing poorly?
She didn’t like the idea of running off with a pony to take care of. If she made a mistake, like not having enough money to eat dinner, that mistake would’ve been on her, and she would’ve starved herself. With another pony, now, they would both stave.
Limestone bit her tongue. She wasn’t going to be like her father, and she wasn’t going to abandond her own family. Even if she was running away. That was different.
“Look- I-” Limestone bit her tongue. “This is a heavy choice. Especially for a group of teens.”
“Teens?” Marble asked. “I’m nineteen, and you’re twenty-two.”
“Still, you’re a teen.” She playfully sneared. “If you want to follow me…” She ducked back into the closet, throwing the same saddlebag Marble had previously dumped into the closet onto the floor. “Then I ain’t helping you pack.”
Marble smiled, yawning while doing so. She stretched like a cat, and hopped off the bed.
“Well- at least now I can practice competitive marble racing finally.” She said with a happy smile.
“What?” Limestone asked, looking over her shoulder again. “Competetive what-now?”
“Competetive Marble Racing.” She flashed a grin. “Did you ever wonder how I got my Cutiemark?”
“I- I just thought they were rocks?” She squeaked, looking at her sister’s flank. “What?”
“I never really asked… um- sorry about that, but um- what about your Cutiemark?”
“You’ll laugh.” Limestone responded quickly. “It’s dumb.”
“Dumber than Competetive Marble Racing?” Marble laughed softly. “I doubt that.” Limestone chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment, looking between her half-filled saddlebags and her sister.
“Bartender.” Limestone said quietly, continuing to pack. “Two stones for grinding, lime for squeezing.”
“That’s not dumb!” Marble laughed. “That’s not dumb. It’s a good special talent.” She flashed a smile. “You’ll have a better chance at getting a job then I will.”
“I guess so…”





“I knew this day was coming.” Their mothers voice unexpectedly boomed over the living room. Both Limestone and Marble froze in their tracks, saddlebags full of everything they had ever lived. Slowly, they both turned around. Marble took a few steps back, cowering behind her sister as their mother sat ominously in the armchair.
“You knew?” Limestone asked.
“I knew ever since Maud left, it was a matter of time.” Quartz said, her face partially obscured by shadows. “Maud didn’t leave on good terms. It took me months to track down her address.” She laughed lightly. “Although, I didn’t expect both of you to leave together.”
“We’re going to leave.” Limestone asked, almost expecting, egging her mother on for an answer.
“I don’t doubt that.” She responded crypically. Quartz leaned further into her chair. “I want to end this a little better than I did with Maud…” She took a deep breath in. “It wasn’t my choice to give up Pinkamena. In fact, I was willing to take the farm down with me if it meant keeping her.” She sniffed. “But your father has such a good way with words… got me thinking about the money. I’m not a victim here, and I didn’t realize the mistake I made until I watched Pinkamena being carted away.”
“I’m…” Limestone stopped. How was she supposed to respond to that? “I’m… sorry that happened.”
“Not your fault. By the time I was pregnant with her,” She nodded towards the pony hidden behind Limestone. “I was terrified your father was going to sell her, too. I was so terrified, in fact, I hid the pregnancy for as long as I could.”
Limestone’s gaze relaxed a little bit.
“It wasn’t until we discovered rock-farming that I told him. I didn’t even tell him that I was hiding it, only that another foal was on the way. I think he knew that I was hiding it when I got big so fast, but he never said anything about it.”
Limestone flinched as Quartz shambled out of her rocking chair. She leaned to the side of the chair, holding a bag in her mouth. She walked forwards, and it was only then did Limestone realize how old her mother was.
She dropped the bag into Limestone’s expecting hooves. She sat down, opening it up, only to reveal silver coins.
The bag was full of Silver Bits.
“Wh-What?” Limestone asked, her eyes growing huge. “This has to be- at least ten grand!”
“Hm?” Marble asked, peeking her head. “W-What?”
“I already sent Maud a letter explaining the situation.” Quartz said, turning around and slumping back into her seat. “You can decide to tell her about Pinkamena or not, I don’t care. It’s up to you. This family is dead, anyways.” She shuffled. “I hope twelve-grand is enough to cover your trainride to Ponyville.”
“P-Ponyville?” Limestone asked. “That’s an entire day’s trip!”
“I know.” She shrugged. “Twelve-grand should cover it.” Limestone almost laughed, letting a smile cross her face.
“What about you?” Limestone asked. “I mean- I don’t think Pops is gonna be too happy about this.”
“No. Probably not.” She shrugged. “Don’t worry about me. He’s never been abusive. At least- not physically.” She leaned forwards. “This will probably be the last time you see me. I don’t think you’ll ever want to return to this farm, and I don’t blame you.” She let a tear slide down her cheek. “I wasted my life on these fields. Please- don’t waste yours.”
Limestone couldn’t take it, and embraced her mother in a huge, bone-crushing hug. Marble wasted no time, hugging the both of them together.





The silence was resounding.
The only sound for miles was the wind that whipped over the tall mountain tops.
Surprisingly, making the decision to leave was the easy part. Now, as silence reigned across the two mares, weights descended heavily onto their withers, leaving them sore and warey. Any adrenaline that once filled their systems had long since left, now making themselves figidy.
“It’s six.” Marble said, her eyes darting up to the only clock in the small, uninhabited trainstation. Limestone stopped her pacing, following Marble’s eyes. She took a shuddering breath.
“Dad’s gonna wake up soon.” She observed, biting her tongue. “Not good.”
“Do you think Mom’s gonna be alright?” She asked. Limestone stopped her pacing, turning around and looking at her sister. Her young, fragile sister. Although they were only seperated by two years, to Limestone, it felt like caring for a foal. Not because Marble needed the care of a foal, but because that’s what she needed right now.
“Pshaw, she’ll be fine.” Limestone waved, not entirely convinced herself. “Mom’s a tough mare. Worst comes to worst, she’ll just leave. Like we did.”
“And leave Dad all alone?”
“Marble, the farm’s dead.” Limestone said exhasperatedly. “Dad hardly works in the fields anymore, Mom never worked, and we were the only two mining in the fields.” She shrugged. “We’re gone, farm collapses.”
“Oh…” Marble figited uncomfortably.
Their attention was caught when the floorboards beneath them began to rumble. Limestone looked at Marble, both having been caught off guard by the feeling. Limestone trotted to the edge of the platform, leaning over and staring down the tracks.
In the distance, a steam locomotive approached. It’s smoke stack was billowing out black smoke, it’s boiler a bright and angry red. In the dark early morning, the headlamp on the front spew a warm orange light, coating and making the support pillars dance across the floor as it approached.
Lime and Marble suddenly covered their ears as the brakes locked up, billowing out sparks from underneath it’s wheels.  It groaned and complained, finally stopping at the station with the sound of hissing.
Limestone blinked back the smoke, staring up at the pony jumping down from one of the cabs. His coat might’ve once been brown, but had been darkened significantly by soot.
“What are two pretty mares like you doing out here?” He shouted in a thick country accent. Marble blushed, hiding her eyes behind her mane.
“We need to get to Ponyville.” Limestone answered. He whistled, tapping a hoof to his cap.
“Tha’s gonna cost ya a pretty dime, miss.” He chuckled, giving the steam engine a tap on the side. “We may be a privately owned company, meanin’ we got no schedule to keep up on, but that’s crossing the whole country.”
“I know.” She responded curtly. “Can you get us there?”
“Can we?” He chuckled. “Course’ I can. The question is whether you can cough up enough bits ta-” Limestone threw him a silver bit. It landed in front of him on the floorboards. He looked down at it with his mouth open. “What the hay?” He asked, picking it up. He observed it for a second, before biting down on it. “Eyup, that’s real silver right there.” He held it up. “Alright, hop on.”





Much to Mom’s word, the trip took just over a day. By the time they were pulling into the train yard, the sun was setting once again. Limestone yawned heavily, blinking the ever-increasing sleep out of her eyes. She stood up, trotting to the edge of the traincar and looking down. The ride wasn’t comfortable. It was cold, hard, loud, and restless. They didn’t have the foresight to bring anything to eat or drink, so the both of them were, to put it lightly, quite orniry. And they couldn’t stop the director of the train over the noise. Even if they did, what would they eat? The grass off the ground?
What mattered now was the fact they were here. To call Ponyville’s trainyard a ‘trainyard’ was a bit of an overstatement. It was just a rail line that darted away from the main line. More than likely used to build other trains, but as the conductor couldn’t use the civilian train station, he had to pull into here.
The train lurched as it came to a quite unexpected hault. Limestone spread her hooves out, steadying herself, and trying not to fall face-first out of the cart. She turned around, looking at her sister. She, unlike Limestone, had managed to fall asleep in the tortureous hell. She had found a soft spot on a little pile of hay that didn’t provide any comfort, and due to the exhaustiveness of leaving their farm, left her positively drained.
Limestone watched for a few seconds longer, watching as Marble’s chest rose and fell. She was so peaceful.
And she just ripped her away from their family.
Home was the only place they ever really knew. Once in a great while, they would travel to different parts of Equestria. That was an interesting foresight into different cultures, and a great indicator that Marble wasn’t the greatest at social situations. Although she had wanted to come along, the fact that Marble was now her responsibility… Celestia be damned, it scared her.
“Hello.” A familiar mare said. Limestone jumped a little, whirling around to see a familiar face accompaying the familiar voice.
Maud. Her sister. The second oldest, and the one Limestone missed the most.
“Maudie!” She exclaimed, hopping out of the cart and grabbing her chest. “I missed you!”
“As did I.” She responded quickly, giving half-a-hoof attempt at a hug. They broke, staring at eachother. “I heard that you had a falling out with Mom and Dad.”
“Eh- Well…” Limestone took a step back, itching her mane. “Well- yeah. It was- yeah, we had a falling out.” She smiled.
“I couldn’t bear it either.” Maud reached into her coat pocket, producing a glistening purple gem. She looked at it, her face splitting with a faint smile. “I like studying rocks more.” Her smile faded, looking back up. “How is Marble doing?”
“Oh, she’s asleep right now.” She glanced back into the train cart, still seeing her peacefully sleep. She turned back to see a slightly alarmed expression on Maud’s face.
“You took her with you, didn’t you?”
“She wanted to go!” She whisper-shouted. “What was I supposed to do, leave her?”
“Mom’s letter didn’t mention that.” She pointed out.
“I’m sorry, but-” Limestone sighed. “Look- It’s all cold out, and we should talk more inside. Is that okay?” Maud nodded. “Alright. Let me go wake up Marble.”





“What made you decide to leave?” Maud asked.
“We- um-” Marble slipped out a picture from her suitcase, hoofing it over to Maud. She took it, pushing it a fair distance away from her face to read it. Her eyes squinted.
“Who is this?” Maud asked.
“It’s- um-” Marble shuffled her chair. “Do you want to answer that, Lime?”
“Sure, I guess.” Limestone shuffled herself, leaning into the sofa. “You might want to get ready for this…” Maud flashed her eyes for a moment. She seemed genuinely intrigued. “You remember the story Ma and Pa used to tell us about, you know, how the farm was starving?”
“Yes.”
“Well…” Limestone wiped her forehead. “Let’s say that Ma and Pa made some… bad choices in order to keep the farm afloat.” She pointed at the filly. “There was a year gap between you and Marble. A year gap where… anything could happen.”
Maud’s eyes flashed again, this time with even more alarm. She didn’t say anything, but gears were working on her own accord.
“We found this in the back of the family album, and… well- it’s our fourth sister.” Maud looked slightly shocked, picking up the picture again and reading it, again.
“What happened?”