The drive to Pinkie’s house felt like when I was in elementary school, waiting on one of the seats outside of the principal’s office while they explained how I fucked up to my dad.
Fluttershy wasn’t just not saying anything—she was doing everything in her power to avoid looking at me, like I was some object of her shame. Of course, if I said anything, I had no doubt she would wave it off as her needing to focus on the road. But then she’d have to lie to me, and I’d know she was lying to me because she’s awful at it.
I recognized the signs, though: The way she had to keep wiping her hands on her pants and putting them back on the wheel, the frequent swallowing, the rapid blinking. She was as nervous and freaked out as I was.
I could only imagine what was going through her mind right now. She must have regretted letting me kiss her, or even going on this date in the first place. It played over and over in my head, each time making me regret it a little more.
That dream didn’t help.
I’d never had a nightmare like that, Freud be damned. No teeth coming loose, falling from a building, drowning, or any of that ‘unconscious guilt’ stuff. Not until that dream with Pinkie. Did I really feel that bad about it? That she’d think I was on a date with Fluttershy just to get laid?
Was I?
No! No way. I made it clear when we talked about the idea of a poly relationship that it wasn’t a sex thing, and that I was more than patient enough to wait for them to think about what they wanted.
So why did I go on a date with Fluttershy? Why did I kiss her?
If I couldn’t answer that myself, what the hell am I supposed to say to Pinkie?
“We’re here.”
The cranking of Fluttershy setting her van into park right outside of the Pies' house jolted me out of my panicked ruminations. I tried to avoid looking at Fluttershy as much as possible, focusing instead on the house in front of us.
It somehow managed to appear more intimidating in the daylight. I missed a floor, apparently, as it was actually three stories instead of two, and its gray seemed to sap the color from everything around it, stopped only by a high fence around the yard. I felt like the main character in one of those black and white horror movies, approaching the mansion where something terrible is going to go wrong. The only thing missing was a dramatically thunderous storm.
“Eight.”
Fluttershy’s trembling voice dragged my eyes to hers; squinted and shaking. Her fingers interlaced, picking at the skin around her nails. I placed my hand on hers, forcing her to stop.
“That’s a bad habit to have, trust me; I used to bite my nails a lot.”
“Sorry.”
Her apology struck me right in the chest. I couldn’t bring myself to pull my hand away, especially not after she clutched it in her own so tightly. We sat there awkwardly as I waited for her to say something, unable to trust myself to console her.
“I don’t blame you.” She started after a deep breath. “Even if Pinkie somehow knows, and she's Pinkie, so it's plausible, I think we should just be upfront with her. She’s incredibly perceptive, and—no offense—you’re pretty awful at lying. Pinkie will notice pretty much immediately.”
“Ouch.” I nervously chuckled, hoping to cover that little stab of guilt I felt. “You’re right, though. I’ve never been particularly good at it. I’m more worried about you.” I squeezed her hand, ignoring how sweaty her palms were. “Are you alright? You’re so red you look like you’re about to pass out?”
“I am?” Her voice cracked, immediately followed by lowering her rear view mirror and peering into reflection. Fluttershy’s eyes bulged once she saw herself, serving only the purpose of making her more red. “Oh, I am! I look like a ripe tomato.”
She didn’t say anything else, just sitting in the car seat and breathing with her eyes closed. The blush faded bit by bit, brightening to a marshmallow white and then her usual yellow self. Her small hands receded from mine with a blot of disappointment, resting on her chest as she fidgeted in her seat to face me.
“I think we should be completely honest with.”
“I agree.” I concurred with an entirely unnecessary nodding of my head. “Honesty is the foundation of a relationship, I think. If we start lying about stuff now, this won’t work.”
“My thoughts exactly. It’s just—” She bit her lip, breaking eye contact with me and glancing at the house. “I know Pinkie isn’t the most mentally stable right now. She might not take it as well as she otherwise would, and might…” Fluttershy rubbed her legs together. “Decide that this relationship can’t work anyway. Pinkie might see it as a betrayal.”
My heart sunk so deeply into my stomach it was almost digested.
I wanted to dismiss that thought. Tell myself that Pinkie wouldn’t take it that seriously, or dismiss the three way relationship we’ve been discussing.
If it hadn’t been for how she was when I last saw her, I might have managed that.
“Do you really think she would?” I hated the way my voice felt; brittle and a pain just to hold together enough to string a sentence. I didn’t feel very ‘manly’ at the moment.
“I don’t know.” Her curtain of hair dropped over half of her face, leaving very little of her adorablness to be seen. “That’s what I’m scared of. If she does, I want you to know that—” she choked on something, or maybe she just sobbed. “We can’t be together. It would break Pinkie’s heart, even if she gave us her blessing I know it’d eat at her. I’m sorry.”
The tears at the corner of her eyes were agonizingly genuine.
I couldn’t hug her, no matter how much I told myself to. I’d make things worse, I’d make things awkward; just like I did at the tent. It hurt, it hurt a lot. It skewered me particularly potently because of how much I agreed. I offered this idea in the first place so no one would be hurt; as well as that’s gone.
If that’s really how Pinkie reacts, then she has every right to. And I’d only have myself to blame.
“You don’t have to be sorry. I get it.” I fumbled with the handle for the door, getting as close to the edge of my seat as I could. “I’m the one who fucked up.”
“Eight, you didn—”
I opened the door, stepping out right as Fluttershy reached out to me. Had I known she was going to, I would have let her. Instead, I had to hear her whimper. Seconds later, getting out of the car on her side.
I’m such a dick for that.
My attention was swiped by a car pulling into the driveway, parking beside the van rather quickly with a large ‘Pescolt’s Pizza’ on top of it. The driver jumped out with his delivery and rushed for the porch steps, a flash of spiky blue hair about to rush into the house. He halted when he spotted us.
“Fluttershy?” he said in a panicked half-whisper. “Aren’t you supposed to be at school?”
“Uhm,” She glanced at me, to which I only shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t even know this guy. “Aren’t you, Flash?”
"I'm in for a fate worse than truancy detention for being this late!"
He clutched the pizza to his chest, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. “See, thing about that…”
Like satan himself was appraching him, Flash got back into his car; Yanking it out of park and pulling back out of the driveway so fast I got second hand whiplash. Without a doubt breaking the speedlimit, he managed to turn a corner at that speed and zoomed off somewhere.
“What a weirdo,” I blurted out.
“I didn’t know Flash delivered pizza now.” Fluttershy muttered out loud, placing a finger on her chin. “During school hours, too? Maybe Sunset knows—”
“Finally. I’ve been waiting for—” Limestone jerked the door open with the patience of a bull who just spotted crimson. Staring at the spot where Flash’s car had just been, then to us as the faux-smile on her face faltered into a scowl. “Oh, it’s you again. And Butterface. I guess my sausage pizza is going to be even more late now. Fan-fucking-tastic.”
She kicked the ground, leaving the door open and backing away from it. I saw her sit back down on the couch, grabbing a book on the coffee table and leaving the TV on to play static noise. Fluttershy cautiously entered, easing herself into it like she expected a ghost to hop out at any moment.
If the mysterious figure lurking around the corner last time I was here is real, that might just be what it is. The spirit of the last person who tried to sleep with Pinkie.
Fluttershy leaned over to me, whispering so quietly only my attuned ears could make out what she was saying. “Does she just... listen to static and read books all day?”
In all honesty, I'd assumed she did that just to fuck with people who came over. If she just does it normally, that’s way worse. I made that shruggy, dunno-y noise, but felt myself freeze up when Limestone speared me with her eyes.
“Are you two just going to stand there eyefucking each other, or go see Pinkie? I assume that's why she stayed in today when she’s not sick and why you two are here in the first place.” She gestured at the stairs, where that shady figure was lurking. This time, I waved slightly to try and elicit a response, but she disappeared behind the stairs. Her footsteps were completely silent, which only added to the terrifying atmosphere.
“Yes ma’m. I’—”
“Don’t call me ma’m.”
“Sorry. Sorry.”
Fluttershy grabbed me by the forearm, dragging me along with a lot more strength than I thought she had. I stumbled a bit at first, getting my balance before I found myself becoming quite familiar with the pie family floor.
“That’s what Limestone’s like?” Fluttershy asked, more to herself than me. As soon as we reached the top of the stairs, she let go of me and started wringing her wrist. “I thought she’d be distant like Maud, not like that."
“You—” I peeked over my shoulder, double checking that Limestone hadn’t silently made her way up the stairs once we started talking about her. “You haven't met her before?”
“No, just Maud when we had a sleepover. Who, while a little odd, was really sweet when she tried.” A smirk creeped its way on Fluttershy’s face, overshadowed by a shiver that riveted her entire body. “Limestone,” She wrapped her arms around herself, squeezing until she stopped shaking. “Reminds me of a friend of mine when she wasn’t at her best. In the worst way.”
She used a nearby wall for support, shrinking into the blanket of her hair and curling into her clothes as much as she feasibly could. With all the green she was wearing, it kind of reminded me of a turtle.
“Limestone cares about Pinkie.” I patted her shoulder, tapping it twice in the ‘there, there’ fashion, but all it did was make her tense up more. “She just doesn't know any other way to show it.”
No noise broke the silence, other than Fluttershy’s hushed breathing. My eyes wandered over the rest of the hall, giving it a second look now that there wasn’t some mysterious girl around the corner that may or may not be a threat.
There were quite a few doors in the hallway; at least four others that I could see. Assuming one was the bathroom, the other three must have been the rooms they stayed. The parents likely shared one, so did that mean that the sisters were sharing a room? At least two of them had to be, if I can math.
“Fluttershy?” Pinkie’s muffled voice came from the other side of the door, until she opened it. Standing in the doorway with the same balloon pajamas I saw her in before. Though now seeming much brighter, along with Pinkie as a whole.
I didn’t realize how much I’d miss that poofy hairs of hers until seeing it again.
“Are you having a panic attack in my hallway?”
“N—uh, no.” Fluttershy’s breathe hitched in her throat, which she tried to play off as a cough. “I’m just… surprised by your sister.”
“Who? Limestone? Pft, why?” Pinkie approached Fluttershy, giving her a side hug as she guided her to her room. “She’s a big softie! Like a bear who hasn’t figured out how to hug without her claws. Limey’s just protective, I promise.”
I actually had to cover my eyes at how bright Pinkie’s room was. All the blinds were open as well as her windows, which let fresh air waft in and warm the room. There were also strips of LED lights that lined the walls and corners of her room, but they weren’t on at the moment.
“Are you sure? She acted like she really didn’t want us to be here.”
“Did she mention anything about her pizza being late?” Pinkie sat on her bed, patting the spot beside her and gesturing at Fluttershy.
“Yeah, she did.” Fluttershy obliged, relaxing almost immediately as sitting down. Easing up and just relaxing into the bed as her eyes widened. “Wow. This is really comfortable.”
“Right? It’s memory foam; does wonders for your back.” As if to display, Pinkie fell back-first onto her bed. Sinking into it and imprinting the shape of her upper body into the mattress, her hair splaying above her like a trail of paint as she let out a pure giggle.
At that moment, I concentrated more on Pinkie’s face than I think I ever have. How bright her face was, whether or not she was smiling. The slight rosiness to her cheeks, brought about by the perfect blueness of her eyes that contrasted amazingly with the pink that perforated every inch of her appearance.
Those dimples of hers were adorable. Always there when she smiled, and always there when she tried to but couldn’t quite manage. Not a blemish on her skin, not a fault in her face. Pinkie was incredibly pretty.
Why hadn’t I ever noticed that before?
“Anyways. Yeah, she’s probably just hangry then. She goes to the gym at least once a day, and she’s really into calorie hour, so she gets a little irritable if the pizza is late for whatever reason. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”
I wandered over to a purple beanbag, lacking in any other seat and not nearly bold enough to try squeezing on the bed with Pinkie and Fluttershy. Now that I think about it, I don’t believe I’ve ever actually sat in a beanbag chair.
With a bit of hesitance, I sank into it. Finding my body was quickly submerging into it as the beanbag swallowed my limbs, sparing my head from its consuming comfort.
I was inching towards closing my eyes, before I spotted something outside of Pinkie’s window. That Flash guy parked behind Fluttershy’s van again, rushing out of his car so quickly he left the door open; nearly dropping the pizza at least three times before making it to the actual house.
I made out Limestone opening the house door, and the tips of Flash’s spiky hair on the edges of the window. Then a muffled gasp as he was yanked in and the door shutting. Thumping as Limestone walked somewhere, and then nothing.
I’m not even sure if he brought in the pizza.
“So, P-Pinkie,” Fluttershy started stuttering again. I was starting to recognize that as a bad sign. “What did you call us here for?”
That beautiful beam of hers collapsed in on itself.
“Oh.” She left her lips in an ‘o’ shape, staring at the ceiling for seemingly no reason. That nigh-blank expression was so familiar; it came up every time I asked her something she didn’t immediately have the answer to.
Her eyes drifted to me, an emotion behind it I couldn’t discern. It was almost scary.
“Did you tell her anything about that night?”
I frowned, searching through the many empty folders of my brain until I realized what she was talking about.
“Vaguely.” I glimpsed at Fluttershy, who didn’t appear as confused as I would have thought. “Just how I fucked up, mostly.”
“You didn’t ‘fuck up’, goofus.” Despite how chuckle worthy ‘goofus’ was, the unchracteristic seriousness in her voice prevented me from making any noise but a muffled gulp. “I’m usually inconsolable like that; it’s why my sisters just leave me alone when I get like that. You tried, and you made me feel better. For a little while, at least.” She murmured the last part, her eyes half-lidded before snapping open again and pointing at me. “If I hear you saying you ‘fucked up’ one more time, I’m nat twentying your ass. I mean it!”
“Yes, ma’m.”
“That’s right.” Pinkie nodded her head. Turning on her bed and crossing her legs as she faced Fluttershy. “The other night when you asked Eight to check on me because you thought something was wrong…” Pinkie’s lips quivered as she trailed off, a single curl of her hair going limp and placing itself in the center of her face. “You were right. I asked Eight not to tell you because I didn’t want you to worry anymore. The truth is…”
Any trepidation or anxiety had completely dissipated from Fluttershy. She lifted her head, directing any half-attention she had to me entirely on Pinkie. Fluttershy mirrored some of Pinkie’s body language, crossing her legs and tensing up. Although, she didn’t hide behind her hair or anything. Leaning forward with that patient smile of hers.
“I get depressed. Sometimes there’s a reason, sometimes there’s not one; it’s really frustrating. I tell everyone I’m sick, and I take the day off from parties and school, but I’m a liar. I’m just,” Pinkie closed her eyes, placing both her hands on her chest and taking a drawn out breath. “Sad. Maybe I’m sad all the time and it gets too much, I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“No, no. Don’t apologize. It’s ok.” Fluttershy wrapped her arms around Pinkie, wrapping her in a well-needed hug. Pinkie didn’t say anything, accepting it with her entire body as she tightly returned the embrace. “I know it's hard. I’m so glad you trust me enough to tell me.”
“It’s not trust exactly. Well, it is, but, uhm.” The hug ended as Pinkie pulled back, their hair tangling together in a pink bundle that they quickly unfurled. “I want this relationship to work. That’ll never happen if we aren’t upfront with each other about everything; including mental health. I’ll tell you and Eight when it’s about to get bad. Just please don’t tell the others.”
She interlaced her fingers, clasping her hands together and placed it against her chest.
“They’ll just do the same thing my sisters tried to. I don’t want to deal with that again. I don’t—” Pinkie squeezed her eyes shut, digging deeper into her bed. “I can’t go through that again.”
Fluttershy hung her head, her jaw clenching as held on to whatever she was considering saying. She placed her hands on her knees, squeezing them until they were pale. We made eye contact, and for a second I’m certain we had the same thought.
We needed to tell Pinkie.
“Ok, I won’t. But, Pinkie,” Fluttershy’s elbows bent as she shrinked away from Pinkie, moving dangerously close to the edge. “T—there’s something I—we need to tell you, then.”
“Oh?” Pinkie tilted her head, pupils constricting as she glanced at me with a raised eyebrow. “What is it?”
“Eight and I, we, well.” She begged me with her eyes, making a droning noise before stopping herself. Fluttershy ran her hands up the sides of her face, rubbing her temples and muttering something under her breath before lightly slapping her cheeks. Seemingly revigorated. “I talked to Rarity, and she said the best thing I can do is ask Eight on a date and see if I like him romantically before deciding if I want to be in a three relationship with him and she also mentioned its the best way to get to know someone so I took him to my favorite camping spot and—”
“Wait, you told Rarity abou—”
“We kissed.”
Fluttershy finished with an out of breath voice, having said everything so fast I could barely make it out.
“T us.” Pinkie finished her sentence in slow motion, her lips pursed as she just sat there. I creaked forward in the beanbag chair, wringing my wrist and trying to ignore the mind-breaking numbness that stretched to my face. My heart using my chest as a trampoline as it bounced up into my throat.
I couldn’t read her. Well, not like I ever really could; it’s Pinkie. This time around, even though I really wanted to, I had no idea what was on her mind. Her eyes were unfocused, with no reaction at all. Pinkie’s head could be empty for all I know.
“Huh.”
“Huh?” fluttershy repeated with a voice crack.
“Yeah, ‘huh’. Like, I sorta expected you’d go to Rarity about advice on this stuff and she’d tell you that because it's pretty good advice. I just didn’t, hmmmm.” She wrapped her hands around her ankles, craning back and slightly lifting her legs. “Expect it so soon. I guess that’s my bad.”
“You’re,” Fluttershy tucked her hair behind her, now sharply inhaling through her nose. “Not upset that we went on a date behind your back?”
“Behind my back? What, did you think you needed my permission?” Her tone stood somewhere between rhetorical and serious. “That’s not the kind of relationship I want this to be, Fluttershy. You don’t need my say so everytime you and Eight want to go somewhere together and just vibe. Same thing if I wanna do something with him. Do you want me to check in with you everytime we talk to each other in the hallway?”
“Well,” She looked away, freezing under Pinkie’s words as she slouched. “No. I guess not.”
“Then there’s no problem.” Pinkie reached forward with her right hand, to which Fluttershy scrunched her face like she’d sucked on the worlds most sour lemon. Only for Pinkie to tap her on the nose. Fluttershy blinked rapidly, a flush coming onto her face. “The kiss is whatever. You guys have been friends for a while, right? Then you’re already comfortable with each other, and should progress faster than if you were strangers who just got into a relationship. I’m still a little surprised you’ve kissed already, but it’s not like I don’t get it. Seeing your friend suddenly in a romantic context can change a lot.”
I rest an elbow on my knee, supporting my head with the palm of my hand. I stared at the two on the bed, watching them communicate almost entirely through body language. When Pinkie and I would have our occasional debates in the library, I always left with an adjusted view on whatever we discussed that day.
Fortunately, that hasn’t really changed.
I didn’t see Fluttershy or Pinkie in a romantic light until they both confessed, as much as that sounds like a generic soap opera. I guess, in retrospect, the same features that I was noticing now were always there.
They just didn’t matter until now.
“I guess that makes sense.”
I stood up from the beanbag, making an awkward trek to the bed. Pinkie smiled at me as soon as started, scooting over the bed and patting the spot she was just sitting at. Placing herself in between Fluttershy and I, leaving us just sorta staring at each other.
Maybe I should have just stayed on the beanbag.
“A little. It sounds like something Rarity said once to me, actually. It’s just,” She closed her eyes, placing her hand on mine. I don’t think she did it intentionally, as the moment Pinkie noticed Fluttershy touch my hand Fluttershy gasped, yanking it back and holding it to her chest.
There was a flicker of confusion on Pinkie’s face, staring at Fluttershy’s hand and then dragging her leer to me. She didn’t seem hurt or even bothered by it. Just uncertain.
“I feel like I still should have talked to you about it. Especially when you weren’t feeling well. Not having to is fine; I just can’t shake this feeling that I should have. I’ll,” She gripped her right shoulder with her opposing arm, rapping her fingers against it to a silent tune. “Try to get over it.”
“Hmmm,” Pinkie hummed, puckering her lips are her eyebrows pressed together into a fine line. “Well, if you reallllyyy want to make it up to me, you can go on a date with me.”
“What.”
“What?”
“What? Bad idea?” She coined, placing a finger on her lips and sticking her tongue out. “Seriously, though, I think that’s a good idea. I was going to suggest it at some point, anyway.”
“Pinkie, I thought you weren’t into Fluttershy like that?”
“I’m not, honest!” Pinkie put up her hands. “Thing is, I’m not completely against it, either. I mean look at her—” She gestured to Fluttershy, who got more red in the fact at the attention. “She’s gorgeous! I would bathe in blood to be that beautiful. Plus, she’s the kindest person I’ve ever met; and we barely get to hang out that much by ourselves. So why not?”
I opened my mouth to fire some retort, realizing anything I said would drop me right into a verbal trap. If I denied anything Pinkie said, then that would include the compliments. If I agreed with Pinkie, and the idea of going on a date with Pinkie made Fluttershy uncomfortable, agreeing wouldn’t have helped.
Once again, I was stuck in a position where my brain—which is made of stupid—failed to come up with anything useful.
Why do I even try?
“Then, uhm, why does it need to be a date? C-can’t we just,” Fluttershy’s gaze bounced from place to place, her hands jerking as she fumbled with her clothes. “Hang out like we normally would?”
“Is that what you and Eight did? Just hang out?”
“Well, no.”
Pinkie flinched, biting the inside of her cheek as she placed a consoling hand on the end of Fluttershy’s knees.
“I’m sorry, that came out more mean than I meant. Of course we could just hang out; it’s only a date if you make it one after all. Maybe it was a bad suggestion.”
Pinkie rubbed the back of her neck as the storm of trepid silence crept up on us. I had this urge to duck under the blanket of the bed that wasn’t even mine. Instead, I reached into my pocket and tapped my phone, spotting the ‘low battery’ warning and the last sparks of electricity it had in it.
“Can I choose where?”
“Sure!” The enthusuasm was as forced as it was loud, dripping with the attempt to scare away the tension. “And the time. I’m good whenever. I’ve got enough sick days stacked up to take one off whenever I need to.”
Fluttershy cupped her hands around her mouth, steadily breathing into it. Each breathe ws a little more controlled, until she managed to say something that wasn’t a repetitive mess.
“Ok. Then, how about tomorrow at the movies after school?”
“The movies?” Pinkie paused, thinking for a moment. “I wouldn’t have guessed that’d be your pick for a first date.”
“Well, Rarity told me once tha—”
With the last scream of a dying battery, the alarm on my phone went off. I fumbled to get it out again fast enough to turn it off, only for it to die the second I reached the ‘silent’ icon. I stayed staring at the dead device in my hand, too riddled with guilt to look up.
“Uh,” I murmured, rubbing the back of my head. “Sorry. That was for first period. I usually nap after completing the first assignment there, but the bell doesn’t usually wake me up for some reason so I need something to or I’ll end up being late.”
“It’s only the end of first period?” Pinkie raised her arm, checking a watch on her wrist that wasn’t there. “Huh, felt like it’s been longer than that. We’re not that far away from school; we can still make it to second period if you guys want.”
“I do, actually. It’s either that or go home. And I—” Fluttershy tried to hide her shudder, standing off the bed with her back facing me and stretching. “Don’t really want to go home right now.”
Pinkie’s eyes were fixed on Fluttershy’s back, half-scowling as her pupils glanced to me. Then, before I knew it, she was smiling again.
“Sure. You came here in the van, right? We can carpool!” she cartwheeled off the bed, landing on her feet with ease and placing her hands firmly on her hips. “Plus, Maud’s got the car right now so I can’t get there otherwise. You got room is there a bunch of camping stuff in the back?”
“Nah, all the camping stuff is in Fluttershy’s backpack.” I got off the bed, finding the floor more uncomfortable than I did before now that I knew the softness of Pinkie’s bed. “You can take shotgun; it’s only fair since I got it all the way here.” I opened the door, gesturing with my free hand for them to go ahead. “Ladies first.”
“Oh, what a gentlemen.” Pinkie overexaggerated, gently tapping me on the face with her hand as she exited her bedroom. Flicking the lightswitch on her way out.
“Thanks, Eight.” Fluttershy whispered, standing in the doorway beside without saying anything for a few seconds. Shaking her head and muttering something so quiet even I couldn’t make it out.
“It’s no problem. My dad taught me manners if nothing else.”
As soon as the door was closed, the lack of any noise was unsettling. I peered into the corner to my right, half expecting that strange figure to be watching again. It wasn’t, of course. Despite that, I couldn’t figure out what was so offputing.
Once we got down to the living room, I realized it was the complete lack of static from the tv.
“Huh, that’s weird.” Pinkie walked up to the coffee table Limestone had her feet on earlier, picking up the remote and tossing it next to the half-opened book on the couch. “Limey’s already been the the gym today. She doesn’t usually leave unless it’s important. Father called her about something maybe?”
There was a shuffling noise from the room next door, like something being shifted around. For a second, I questioned if I’d actually heard it. Pinkie stopped her out-loud pondering raising an eyebrow as she made her way to the room it came from.
Fluttershy and I exchanged a look as we tentatively followed.
“Marble?”
The room was apparently a kitchen, and the noise was the sound of someone opening the pizza box. Inside was, what I could only presume, Pinkie’s sister; and the figure that’d been hiding in the corners of my attention. Thin as a rail, and hair like a stretched out, gray blanket hanging on mostly one side of her face. Wearing a matching sweater and baggy pants, she stood hunched over the box, wolfing down a slice of sausage pizza.
“Uh, this…”I could hardly make out what she was saying. If I wasn’t seeing her lips move with a slice of pizza in her hands, I would have genuinely thought it was the wind. “Limestone won’t—”
She made some weird noise with her throat, that I’m pretty sure was supposed to be her swallowing and then clearing her throat. Marble took a sip from a clear cup with green liquid in it on the counter, placing the slice back in the box beside the delivery bag it came from and her hands on her lap as she tried to hide herself behind an invisible wall.
“This happens a lot.”