“Presto once asked me out.” said Octavia with a small smile as she stirred her tea. “But unfortunately for him, I had to decline. He’s just not my thing.” For the past hour, the three sisters had exchanged all kinds of small stories and anecdotes.
“How come?” asked Limestone, taking a sip of her coffee. “I thought you said he was a nice stallion.”
Octavia shrugged and lied back on her chair. “He’s handsome too, if I am completely honest. But he just wasn’t my thing.” She made a pause to drink from her cup. “Ah, delicious.” she said, letting out a small sigh of satisfaction.
“Hey, Octavia.” interjected Pinkie. “Do you know a pony called Lyra from the Music Academy of Canterlot?”
The gray pony frowned in thought. “I don’t think so.” she replied, shaking her head. “Could you describe her, please?”
“Uh…green unicorn. Green-and-white mane. Yellow eyes.” said Pinkie. “Oh! And casts magic hands! She uses them to play her lyre, it’s so cool! I wonder how she manages, with so many fingers.” Pinkie looked to her hoof for an instant. “Now that I think about it, I wonder if Twilight had to untangle Spike’s finger at some point.”
“Oh, I do remember her.” said Octavia, ignoring the last sentence. “I barely know her, but she’s friends with Beauty Brass.” she made a pause and tilted her head. “I’m not sure if she’s the kind of pony I would like. Last time she visited Beauty, they spent the night together, and both ended in a random motel with a massive hangover, and not remembering anything of the night.”
Pinkie waved a hoof. “Nah. I know Lyra, and she’s a really fun pony to be around, and great at parties. Especially if Bon Bon manages to keep her sober, which happens most of times, unless Berry is also partying. Then no pony gets off sober!” she ended with a giggle.
“How do you know so many ponies?” asked Limestone. “In the last hour, you’ve mentioned quite a number, and Ponyville is a small town.”
“I know every pony in Ponyville!” happily chirped Pinkie.
“You do?” Limestone raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“Yep!” nodded Pinkie. “And they’re all my friends.”
Limestone smiled slightly, knowing for sure that her sister would be exaggerating. Many ponies called ‘friends’ just anypony. “Well, I wish I knew so many ponies. I bet they would be helpful for my career.”
“Friends are not for that!” said Pinkie, poking her sister on the chest.
“I know, I know.” replied Limestone, gently pushing her hoof away. “But they would help, right?”
“…right.” conceded Pinkie, giving a hesitant nod.
“Anyways.” interjected Octavia, trying to get the conversation going again. “I suppose you don’t hang out with all of them at the same time, right?”
“Well, duh.” replied Pinkie. “To do that, I would have to clone myself.” She made a pause and her ear flickered. “Don’t do that. I’m dead serious now. I will go badly.” she added.
“Uh…okay?” The two sisters exchanged a glance and shrugged. “So, about your friends…”
Pinkie shook her head and smiled. “Oh, right! I forgot!” she leaned back on her chair and took a sip to her coffee. “There’s Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Dashi- I mean, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle.” she enumerated, taking another sip after each name, and ending with an empty cup on her hooves.
“Uh, wait a second.” interjected Octavia, frowning slightly. “Twilight Sparkle? THE Twilight Sparkle?”
Pinkie glanced to her sister in confusion. “There are more than one? I didn’t know!” she gasped. “Ohmygosh! She has a long lost sister!”
“You are friends with Princess Celestia’s personal student? You?” asked Limetsone, opening her eyes wide. “You’re joking, aren’t you?”
“No I’m not.” chimed Pinkie. She grinned internally. Back when she and her friends became the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Celestia asked them to keep it under a relative secret. It was up to them deciding who to tell who they were, but the newspapers would not give names nor descriptions. Thus, most of Equestria knew about the Elements, and that there were ponies that could wield them; but very few ponies knew who they actually were. Granted, most of Ponyville knew, and with time the rumors would spread the information around. But that would take quite long. Rumors spread quickly, but have a tendency to be extremely inaccurate.
Twilight, on the other hoof, was a different matter. Almost everypony had heard the name of the brilliant student of Princess Celestia. However, most didn’t know how she looked, or how she was like. The vast majority would probably assume she was a badass and awesome archmage, completely different to the humble librarian of Ponyville. In fact, Pinkie wondered how many of Ponyville’s habitants didn’t know who Twilight actually was.
“But how is it possible that someone like her is friends with someone like…you.” asked Limestone. After a moment, she noticed what she had just said. “No offense. But you’re just a regular pony.”
“And so is Twilight.” replied Pinkie. “She’s not like you would expect, I can tell you that. She says a lot of smart things, reads a lot – and I mean a LOT – and all that, but for the most part, she’s just another pony.” explained the pink pony. “Well, except when she decides to use a brain-controlling spell to solve a friendship problem, or almost blows up the library.”
“Oh, hold on.” Octavia seemed to suddenly realize something. “Does that means you are…” she looked around nervously, and then added in a whisper. “A Bear-” she was interrupted by a pink hoof pressed to her muzzle.
“Yes.” confirmed Pinkie with a nod and an unusually serious expression. “But I would rather tell you over dinner, okay? I don’t wanna explain the same twice.” she asked with a small smile.
Octavia and Limestone looked to each other, then back to Pinkie and nodded. “I can’t believe it.” muttered the musician.
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake on my eye.” recited Pinkie, doing the proper gestures and bringing the empty cup to her eye. When she put it back on the table, she had a perfectly circular stain around her eye.
“Wait, just one more thing.” added Limetsone. “You mentioned five ponies. I suppose your other friends are also…”
“Yep!”
“But then-” Octavia started, but stopped when Pinkie raised a hoof.
“I already told you.” said Pinkie, still smiling. “I’ll tell you tonight at home. No more questions, please.”
Octavia reluctantly nodded and turned the conversation into the other sister. “Hum…what about you, Limestone? Can you tell us about your friends?”
“Uh?” caught by surprise, she didn’t know what to say. “Oh, right! Eh, well…I don’t really have any friends right now.”
Pinkie gasped very loudly. “How is it possible? What about the other ponies that work in the University?”
The other shrugged. “I don’t know. I work with the other professors, yes, but there is nopony that I can actually call a friend.” she explained, waving a hoof as she leaned back on her chair.
“But what do you do in your free time?” asked Pinkie, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t really have much free time.” said Limestone. “My job takes up most of my day, and then all I want is to go to bed. Maybe I read, if I have time, but I don’t spend time with anypony.”
“B-but….but…” stammered Pinkie, trying to process the words of her sister. She let out a sigh and looked to her sister. “And you like that?”
“Yeah, sure.” replied the other pony, not really wanting to continue discussing that. Her job was tiring and kept her very busy, yes. But it was important. She was important. She had money, and by the time she got tired of teaching, she could retire and live from the savings. That’s all she needed to be happy.
Octavia and Pinkie looked to each other, perplexed. “Well…” started Octavia. “If you are okay…”
“I am, don’t worry for me.” grumbled Limestone, drinking the rest of her coffee and getting up. “Shall we go for a walk?”
“Sure.” responded the other two at the same time. Octavia drank the rest of her tea and got up as well. Pinkie remained on her seat for one more moment, looking to her cup.
“No friends?” she said in a quiet whisper.
***
After the sharp end to the conversation, none of the sisters felt like talking for a while. They just wandered together in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Pinkie was still unable to wrap her mind around what Limestone has said. Did her sister really just live to work? What’s the point on that? If you don’t have time to spend with your friends, time to have fun, time for yourself, then what’s the point?
The pink pony looked up. In front of her was Limestone, her tail waving with each step. ‘Maybe I could help her.’ she thought. A smile slowly creeped into her face, and she raised her head. ‘Yes, maybe I could! I just have to show her how to have fun again!’ she frowned. ‘She doesn’t want to have fun anymore, but she was like that when we were small too.’ her frown turned into a determinate expression. ‘Yes! I can do it. I did it once; I just have to do it one more time. And she will be happy again! I just have to find out what will be fun for her now.’ she pondered, tapping her chin.
Pinkie’s train of thought was interrupted when she felt the texture of the ground has changed. She looked downwards and saw a path of gravel. She raised her head again, and realized they were heading back to their house. “Are we going back already?” she called out to her sisters.
“I’m tired.” replied Limestone, stopping and looking back. “And my knees hurt.” she lied. Actually, she just wanted to lie on her bed and not think for a while.
“But it’s not even midday.” whined Pinkie. “Can’t we stay for a little longer?”
The other sister let out a heavy sight. “You can do whatever you want, Pinkie. I’m going home.” without any other word, the gray pony turned back to the path and continued on her way.
Octavia looked to Pinkie, then back to Limestone, equally confused and helpless. It didn’t matter which sister she followed now, the other would probably be on a foul mood later because of it. And while Pinkie could be annoying, Limestone was always moody. She let out a sigh and turned around, back into the town. “I’ll see you later, Limestone.” she mumbled.
Pinkie and Octavia went back to Gravelpit, while the other sister went down the path to the farm. And with each step, she grew more tired. Of walking. Of being in the farm. Of her family. Of her job. Of her life. Without knowing, Octavia had brought up a topic she had been mulling over for some weeks. Some days, many days, her house felt awfully empty after work. She just sat on her bed, her very expensive bed, and read. Alone. She really needed somepony on her life. A friend, at least.
Octavia looked back to her twin without stopping. “Are you sure we should leave?” she asked Pinkie.
“No.” mumbled her. “But if she wants to be alone…well, I learned a while back that sometimes you have to give ponies some space.”
Octavia looked to her sister and bit her lip. “I feel bad for her. I think we could do something to help.”
“Me too.” responded Pinkie. “But if she doesn’t want to be helped, doing so will just make her sore.” she made a pause and perked up. “That reminds me, I still haven’t given you your presents! I’ll give ‘em tonight. That will sure make her happy!”
Octavia raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think that’s what she needs.”
“I know.” replied Pinkie. “But a gift is a good way to start.”