//------------------------------// // The end // Story: Who is our big sister? // by Nesfex //------------------------------// On the road again. The last stretch of their journey. The heavy weight of the carts have become much more lighter. The sacks of rocks have disappeared and now there were only their belongings and a small bag of rocks. Before leaving the town of Appleloosa, Limestone bought some dresses and materials for making some of her own. Marble only got her new hat that Braeburn gave to her. She have been wearing it proudly and treasuring it. What started as a hope for a safe journey turned out to be the best of their experience in their life so far. But the end was near, the last stop: Ponyville. They followed the path near the train tracks, apparently the train came from Ponyville to Appleloosa, maybe if they come back to Appleloosa another time they will take the train. Because of how expensive trains can be they only use them when the cargo are rocks too heavy for them carry on their own. They took a slow pace and enjoyed the way, it was far too late for them to hurry, they even thought of giving the rocks as a gift to the pony who ordered them for all the bother. The scenery have changed, the sands of the dessert was disappearing and instead there was green grass and trees around. Certainly they were getting closer to the town, and with this the image of their sister came to mind. . But that made Limestone hesitate and stop. “What’s wrong, sis? Are you alright?” Asked Marble “I-I… I don’t know. I mean, we haven’t seen our big sister since a lot of time and…” Before Limestone could finish, Marble put her hoof around her neck. “Really? Are you going for that? You were the one who said that everything will be fine, and now you are getting nervous? Come on!” Marble tried to make her sister feel better. “It’s… I just… You are mean” Said Limestone Marble laughed “Seriously, sis. It’s too late to be thinking those things. Haven’t we go through that?” “I know, I know. But now we are going to actually see her. I’m not sure I’ll be able to look at her like I used to. I’m scared she changed” Limestone lowered her head and her mane covered some of her face, kind of like her sister. Marble smiled and uncovered Limestone face “I’m sure she did, but so do we. We are not like before this trip, and that was only a few days ago. But we are not bad, I’m sure she will be just as nice, funny, and cool as before” Limestone looked away “I don’t know…” Marble laughed and asked “What do you need to make you feel better?” “I think I just need a sign or something” Limestone replied. Suddenly, a rainbow appeared in the sky. It wasn’t a regular rainbow, it moved like dashing through the sky and heading in the direction of Ponyville “There you go. Now let’s get moving” Said Marble Limestone was surprised. She gaze upon the sky while her jaw dropped “I think I just need a thousand beautiful dresses to feel better!” She yelled putting her hooves up in the air. “Destiny doesn’t work that way!” Marble yelled back. They moved forward to the town, and after a few hours they managed to get to Ponyville. It was very different from all the places they have seen. The buildings were not made out of steel and bricks like Manehattan or Fillydelphia. There weren’t any landmarks or something that made the town stand out like the beach of Baltimare, nor the western style of Appleloosa. This town was very simple, with many houses and stores, flowers and bushes all around, and all the houses were decorated with all sorts of things.There was something that made the town feel nice to be in. Maybe it was the weather being really nice that particular day, or the fact that the clouds were perfectly place in the sky, she didn’t know but something made that town feel unique. But then, they noticed that no pony were around, not a single soul, the town was deserted. They walked the empty streets looking for some pony for directions, while Limestone took the receipt and read it “It says the delivery it’s for a pony named “Madame Balloon” she asked for the flat rocks... But it doesn’t say where we will find her” They looked around and finally saw a pony standing there. She was covered with a black coat, much like Sapphire Shores did when they met her, that didn’t let them see what she looked like. But having no pony else to asked they approached her “Hello… Can you help us?” Asked Marble The black coated pony just moved her head to them. Like if she was looking at them, but they couldn’t tell because the hood covering her face. And so, Marble continued “We are looking for Madame Balloon… Do you know her?” The pony moved her head and waved her left hoof, indicating to follow her, and walked forth. The sisters looked at each other. In this trip they have been forced to do things because there were no other option, and this situation was no different, this was certainly stressful but nice things came out of them. They followed the pony through the town. The place that felt calm and pretty suddenly felt very creepy. Maybe it was the fact that there was no pony, maybe because the only sound they heard was their own hoofsteps. They wondered how her sister lived there, or if she actually lived there. The pony stopped in front of what it seemed a store. It was a building that looked like a gingerbread house with frosting, candles, all kinds of candies decorating it, and a cupcake at the top. But instead of feeling joy, Limestone was shaking in the spot. She got very close to her sister and whispered to her ear “Hey sis… Remember that story about the two fillies in the woods father used to tell us? They came across an old pony and took them to a candy house and fed them with candy, because she wanted to…” “Stop it! This isn’t the same thing… I think” Marble cut her sister off The pony opened the door and invited them in. She stepped at the side of the door waiting for them to come. Marble adjusted her new hat, left her cart and went into the house. Limestone felt her sister strenght, and even though she was still shaking in fear, she took the small bag of rocks and followed her sister. Inside the building all the lights were off, and before they could do anything the pony closed it strongly. Their hard pumped faster. They couldn’t see their hooves in front of them, everything was pitch dark. They smelled something in the air, it was sweet, very similar to the cupcakes her sister used to bake on the farm. And they could hear things moving around them, like someone running. Suddenly, the lights turned on. The sudden brightness in the room made the ponies go blind. But after the room was illuminated a cheerful scream of many ponies was heard “SURPRISE!”. The Pies noticed the place being full with ponies of every kind wearing party hats, they seemed to be greeting them, and noticed their parents among the crowd. The sister ran to their parents looking for answers. “Father! Mother! What’s going on?... Father! Your back…?!” Asked Limestone “Sorry children. I needed an excuse for you to make this journey” Igneous giggled. “Excuse?” Marble had a hard time putting the pieces together “When we saw the route for the deliveries, Pinkamena thought it would be best for you to see more of Equestria and take the chance to visit her. She thought you spent too much time at the farm and need to see more” Cloudy Quartz was happy to see them and again and hugged them. They turned and saw how the pony wearing the coat was actually their sister “Were you surprised?! Huh? Huh? Huh? I thought what could have been the perfect way to surprise you and I remember surprise parties are more surprising because you think no pony is there and suddenly SURPISE!. But if everypony hid around the town it would’ve been problematic, because they would have to hid in a perfect spot for you to see when you arrive. I mean, you need to see the pony who says SURPRISE, and if it’s hidden somewhere you can’t see it you wouldn’t be as surprised. And then I thought “I’ll put them all together in the sugar cube corner” and I did. But I had to gather them again and again because you didn’t come. And I wanted to have a sleepover with everyone, but Mrs. Cake didn’t let me, and Twilight said I could stay with her, and then I said…” Pinkie Pie talked faster and faster, and it was harder to understand every time. Marble didn’t understand a thing she was saying, but the way she talked had always made her crack in laughter when they were little. And she did again. “That is a good question” Igneous asked “Why are you late? Your bigger sister was here, but had to leave to attend some important issues yesterday” “And where did you get that hat? Were you at a carnival? How could you?! You went to a carnival and didn’t invite me, because you knew I’ll beat you at the cake eating contest!” Pinkie Pie rambled An orange pony with blond mane came close and inspected Marble’s hat “Hey BigMac! Is that… Braeburn’s?” “Eyup” Answered a red stallion on the crowd. “What are you doing with my cousin’s hat?” The pony was not being rude, but she was very close to Marble and that made her feel uncomfortable. “Well… Is a long story” Marble tried to avoid the eye contact looking at around, and seeing everypony observing them carefully. “Oh oh a story!” Pinkie Pie brought a chair and sat on it, a baby alligator was chewing on of it’s legs. That was odd, but everything so far have been weird “Okay, go on now” Said Pinkie while five other ponies got next to her, including the orange one, paying full attention to them. Limestone began the story. She told them all about Manehattan and how they met Photo Finish. But most importantly about Babs Seed and how they became Cutie Mark Crusaders. Three little ponies came running wearing capes, they put a cape on Limestone and Marble saying that Babs sent them a letter telling them all about it and with those capes they were now official members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The little pegasus took a scroll and began to read the same pledge Babs said, but was immediately interrupted by her friends. Marble followed the telling them about Fillydelphia and Sapphire Shores. She mentioned how they helped her make her true self come out, and the beautiful melodies she is capable to produce when she is around her friends. A white unicorn next to Pinkie suddenly fainted, apparently she was a fan of the old Sapphire. Limestone took over when they reached the part of Baltimare, by far her favorite. She focused describing the place, the beach, how amazing and marvelous the city was, and the things she couldn’t buy. But she remembered Gilda, and looked at Pinkie while telling about her. She said Gilda’s version and that they tried to help her but she ran away. Pinkie looked to a blue pony with rainbow mane. She noticed her friend was sad, so she hugged her and said “Some things never change, huh?” The blue pony smiled and hugged Pinkie back. The Pies thought she was the friend her sister “stole” from Gilda. To wrap the story up Marble told them about their adventure on Appleloosa. How they met Little Strongheart and Braeburn, how they discovered the buffalo plan, how they fought together, and how they were named “Heroines of Appleloosa”. Marble was very careful on her words, and just as her sister, she described everything from the scenery to what they did on the town. Everypony mouth was opened, they couldn’t believe those small ponies could have been in such a great adventure and being named heroines. A pony cracked laughing out loud, it was Pinkie Pie “You almost got me, girls. I believed it for a second” The sisters gave a smirk and went out to their carts. They took their medals and came back in to showed them off. Everypony gasped in surprised, they really were the heroines of Appleloosa. Even Pinkie couldn’t believe it “What?! My little sisters are heroines?! I can’t believe it, we need to throw another party for this” A purple unicorn came near Pinkie and said “Maybe we should end this one first” But suddenly the unicorn revealed she also had wings. She was the new princess they have heard about, they only saw some pictures on the news paper, but they didn’t recognize her without the crown. The ponies moved in front of her, and bowed “We are very very sorry your highness. We didn’t see you in the crowd” They said “For the love of… It’s okay ponies, relax. You don’t have to treat me like that” The princess said. “Yes, your highness” The sister replied in an unison. The princess sighted and moved back were she wasn’t recognized. The orange pony came near them and said “Wow. If Braeburn gave you his hat, you got to be a very special pony” “A very special pony to him” Said Limestone with a mischievous smile. “What?! No! Is nothing like that!” Marble waved her hooves around. The orange pony didn’t understood what they were referring to. Pinkie Pie brought a blue cannon and aimed it to the roof “Enough with the chit-chat!. Let’s get this party started!” She said as she shoot the cannon. Confetti, streamers and candies came out of it covering the already full decorated room. A white pony with sunglasses played music on a dj station. All of them joined the music and danced in the middle of the room. Some others preferred to enjoy the many delicious treats Pinkie baked, and others played games like pin the tail on the pony. Limestone and Marble met her sister friends: Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Princess Twilight Sparkle. They were introduce to many other ponies, but they couldn’t remember all these new ponies in such little time. Pinkie was so excited because of her sisters arrival that she took them to all around the place showing everything she could “This Mr. Cake, she is Mrs. Cake, these are Pound and Pumpkin Cake, this is a frying pan, this is a spoon, this is a diaper… Ewww… a dirty diaper” Limestone and Marble just smiled and laughed at all the random things her sister say. The party went for hours. But when the moon raised up in the sky, the ponies had to leave. One by one, everypony told the sisters good bye, and left the building. Even Pinkie’s friends eventually had to leave. The owners of the place came near them after everypony was gone “You may sleep here. There are empty beds upstairs” Said Mrs. Cake “You are welcome to stay as long as you like” Continued Mr. Cake. The sisters thanked the kind ponies who afterwards moved to their own house with their babies. After they cleaned up the place a little, they all went upstairs to sleep. The parents will sleep in a room, while the sister will sleep all together in the same room just like they were little. They made their beds, but suddenly Marble remember something “Hey, sis. Why did you ordered flat rocks anyway?” She asked referring to Pinkie Pie. “To make some friends to Rocky, duh!” Pinkie answered Limestone overheard everything and also were curious “Who is Rocky?” “My pet rock. Remember when we were fillies and had to made pet rocks to play? I thought it would be super great to make some more pets, you know, like old times” Explained cheerfully Pinkie Pie. Her sisters’ eyes were full with tears and they hugged. They forgot all their doubts and replaced them with the comfort of knowing their sister was the best in the world. They will have to go back to the farm soon. But they will never like they used to before leaving it.