As she stared out of the window at the rain falling upon her beloved Ponyville, Pinkie Pie sat in her bedroom atop Sugarcube Corner and thought.
It was often the rain that brought out the harsh emotions in her, so she would often beg Rainbow Dash to postpone the rain for as long as she could, though her pleading meant little when she couldn't explain to Dash why she seemed so afraid of the rain. She knew that Rainbow Dash would listen, that Dash would understand, but Pinkie simply couldn't bring herself to talk with anypony about what had happened, and was forced to cope with the inevitable arrival of the rain. Of those few ponies who witnessed the event countless moons ago, they had never told another pony as far as Pinkie was aware.
In truthfulness, though Pinkie may have had a small hidden fear of storms, she feared the memories even more, especially the pony she was reminded of. It wasn't that Pinkie didn't like thinking about Blueberry, it just hurt too much to think of her sister.
The one her family had thrown away.
The one she hadn't met until after she had gotten her Cutie Mark.
The one that had helped shape Pinkie Pie into the mare she was.
The one she would never get a chance to thank for everything she had done.
~~~~~~
Pinkamena Diane Pie woke up to the sounds of music outside, along with her father shouting at "them dirty parasprites!". She could feel the pounding of a drum shaking the house, and she rolled over in her bed, only to find herself face-to-face with her older sister Maud, who was standing at the side of her bed.
"You're up late," Maud informed her in her usual monotone voice. Pinkamena wondered why Maud hadn't woken her up earlier; the two of them shared a bedroom. Pinkamena's other sisters, Marble and Limestone, also shared a bedroom, as did their parents.
"That's not my fault," Pinkamena defended herself as she threw her blanket off herself and sat up, "I was up late last night. Mom tried everything to get my mane to go back to normal, but nothing worked."
"I can tell," Maud replied, glancing up at Pinkamena's puffy mane. It hadn't been straight since the rainbow a few days ago. Pinkamena had tried to tell her family about the amazing rainbow, but nopony believed her. They were, at the most, slightly amused with her story while her mother was frustrated and demanded to know what Pinkamena had put in her hair to get it so stubbornly poofy, "Anyway, can you go outside? We're trying to get rid of some parasprites and Dad wants me playing the tuba."
"What's wrong with that?"
"I hate the tuba."
"Oh... alright, I guess I can cover for you," Pinkamena offered her sister a sheepish grin as she hopped out of bed. Pinkamena turned her head to observe her flank, sighing in relief after checking that her Cutie Mark was still there. Three balloons, two blue and one yellow, rested on her flank. Pinkamena had checked every morning since the rainbow, just to reassure herself that all of it hadn't been a frighteningly-realistic dream.
The party that Pinkamena had thrown for her family had been a huge success, somehow setting a cheerier mood around the Rock Farm. During the party, to Pinkamena's surprise, her father Igneous Rock had actually told a joke! For all Pinkamena knew, she had just helped create an unprecedented moment in Pie Family History. Sure, the joke wasn't that funny, but she and her sisters had cracked up laughing at the sheer absurdity of her normally-stony faced father telling a joke. Pinkamena's mother Cloudy Quartz hadn't laughed, but nopony had noticed.
But the party eventually ended as all parties do, something that Pinkamena was disappointed to learn. Marble, Limestone, and Maud had all told Pinkamena that they were anticipating her next party, but it seemed that the euphoric effects of the fun had worn off on her father, who had gone back to his serious demeanor the day after the party. If anything, he was even more serious.
As Pinkamena trotted down the hallway, closely followed by Maud, she wondered if there was a reason to her father's seriousness that she wasn't aware of. After all, her mother seemed a lot more distant lately, and she couldn't help thinking that her parents were hiding something.
But what? Pinkamena asked herself as she and Maud trotted out the backdoor of the house to find the rest of her family trying to play music to drive the parasprites away. Igneous wiped his forehead with a hoof and dropped the drum he had been carrying as he moved over to Pinkamena and Maud. Behind him, Cloudy was holding a pair of maracas, Marble held an accordian, and Limestone was trying to play a harmonica (which Pinkamena noticed she was holding upside-down).
"I'm here to play the tuba," Pinkamena said, trotting past her father to a lone, dull-golden tuba sitting in the dirt.
"But Maud was going to play that-" Igneous started to say.
"Oh, I'm fine with Pinkamena playing the tuba instead," Maud smiled as her younger sister pulled the instrument out of the dust and began playing, spraying dirt out of the bell as the tuba wailed.
"In that case, you can play the trombone," Igneous decided, handing Maud a trombone. She took it like it was a hissing rattlesnake and scowled; clearly, the trombone was no better, "Okay! Everypony at once! 1, 2..."
To Pinkamena's surprise, Maud was really good at playing the trombone, though she knew Maud would never agree.
~~~~~~
Pinkamena was the last of her family to finish playing the instruments outside. The parasprites had left quite some time ago, but Pinkamena got bored with the tuba and moved on to the trombone, which Maud was quick to give her. Limestone had finally realized that the harmonica was upside-down, but she was unsatisfied with the results even after fixing her mistake, and handed the instrument to Pinkamena when she had finished with the trombone before going back inside with Marble, who left her accordian behind with their parents' instruments.
Pinkamena quietly entered the house, closing the door behind her almost silently. Maud was still outside, playing with her pet rock Boulder (who was the cutest rock Pinkamena had ever seen), and her other sisters were probably upstairs playing a game, but her parents were in the kitchen. Pinkamena was in the living room, so her parents didn't know she was there, but she could hear every word they were saying.
And what they were talking about surprised her.
"...do you explain these letters?!" Cloudy growled, and Pinkamena heard the sound of paper, "She knows where we live! She found you! What are you going to do if she really does show up?!"
"I don't think she'll really come here," Igneous replied, and Pinkamena could hear his chair creak. He was leaning back.
"How could she not show up?" Cloudy argued, "You're her father, for Celestia's sake! What are you going to do?! How are you going to tell Pinkamena?! You haven't even considered that, have you?!"
Pinkamena felt a pinch of guilt for eavesdropping on her parents, but her curiosity got the better of her. At the sound of her own name, her ears perked up and she held her breath for complete silence. She heard her father sigh.
"Pinkamena doesn't have to know," Igneous said uncertainly, "I... I can just go to Ponyville myself. We'll keep Pinkamena on the farm-"
"Oh, great solution," Cloudy interrupted sarcastically, "Just keep our daughter on the farm for the rest of her life. Has it occurred to you that not all of our foals are going to want to carry on with this stupid farm?!"
"I just... I don't want to lose another daughter," Igneous spoke softly, "I know what you probably think of me, not tellin' you about Blueberry, but Pinkamena is ours. You're the only mother she's ever known... and we can't lose her just because a mistake from my past had consequences."
Cloudy was silent for a few moments, and then the door behind Pinkamena opened and closed as Maud came inside.
"Boulder's hungry," Maud dully informed Pinkamena as she trotted past her into the house. Pinkamena followed Maud into the kitchen and then went upstairs, trying to ignore how her parents were determinedly not looking at her. They thought she had come inside with Maud and had no idea what she had overheard, and Pinkamena tried to act as innocent as she could.
"Hey Pinkamena," Marble called to her as she passed her bedroom door, "Want to play Tic-Tac-Toe?"
"We've finally worked out a way to beat you," Limestone said smugly.
"O-okay..." Pinkamena agreed to play, absently trotting into their room and sitting down on the floor in front of a piece of parchment with a Tic-Tac-Toe board scrawled on it. She was still rattled from listening to her parents.
"Your turn," Marble passed a quill to Pinkamena after marking an "X" in the top left. Pinkamena drew an "O" in the middle, and passed the quill back.
Pinkamena wondered who "She" was. Igneous had said her name was Blueberry, but Pinkamena couldn't remember ever meeting anypony named-
"Pinkamena! It's your turn!" Marble's voice cut through her thoughts as she irritably shook the quill at her. Pinkamena blinked, and then took the quill and made an "O" in the bottom left before passing the quill back.
She thought about her mother, and how she had seemed so bitter about Blueberry coming to the farm. The Rock Farm never got a lot of visitors, and Pinkamena wondered what could be so bad about her coming.
"Right there," Limestone advised Marble, pointing to an empty spot on the top right, which Marble quickly marked.
As Pinkamena took the quill and made her mark, her father's words kept repeating in her head. What were her parents hiding from her? Pinkamena's lip quivered as Marble made her mark and passed the quill back to Pinkamena, who made an "O" without thinking about it. Would she have to leave the farm? Her parents? Her sisters? Her home?
"Darn it!" Marble exclaimed as she dropped the quill, startling Pinkamena out of her thoughts.
"Our technique... failed?!" Limestone groaned.
"You win again, Pinkamena," Marble pouted, "How do you do it?"
~~~~~~
Celestia's sun was already high in the sky by the time Pinkamena awoke the next day. She blinked a few times, but her eyes kept flittering closed, and she felt like sleeping for another five minutes... or days.
Pinkamena rolled over and saw that Maud's bed on the other side of the room was empty. It was so typical of that filly to leave without waking her up, but Pinkamena didn't mind. She knew that Maud preferred to be on her own most of the time for some reason, but she still had a soft spot in her heart for her youngest sister. Meanwhile, Marble and Limestone were nearly inseparable, but they always made room for Pinkamena in their games.
Pinkamena opened her mouth and let out a yawn as she sleepily rolled out of bed, falling to the floor in disorientation. Lying on her stomach on the floor, she groaned, wishing she felt more awake, and then she slowly climbed to her hooves and staggered out of the bedroom toward the bathroom where she immediately threw cold water in her face, waking herself up.
Now (almost) fully awake, Pinkamena gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Her mane was still poofy, but today she realized that she was actually growing fond of her new manestyle. It was exciting, it was different... not to mention, her straight mane had always gotten in her face and obscured her vision.
Satisfied, she trotted out of the bathroom and bounced down the stairs where the rest of her family was already sitting around the kitchen table.
"Morning, everypony!" Pinkamena jubilantly greeted. She was met with a stiff "Good morning, Pinkamena," from her mother, a tired groan of acknowledgement from her father, and a "Mornin' Pinkamena," from Marble. Maud glanced over, uninterested, but didn't say anything. Pinkamena began trotting over to the table to sit between Maud and Limestone, and then there suddenly came a knock at the door. Her mother gasped and her father jumped like he had just received an electric shock, his sleepy eyes shooting open.
"I'll get it," Pinkamena, who was closest to the living room where the front door was, automatically announced as she started moving toward the door.
"Pinkamena, no!" Cloudy screamed as Pinkamena's hoof twisted the doorknob, "Don't open that door!"
Too late. She swung the door open.
"Hi!" Pinkamena smiled, and then she stopped.
Outside stood a filly who was slightly taller than she was, but the filly looked exactly like her. The only difference was that while Pinkamena's coat was a beautiful shade of pink, the filly's coat was a sleek shade of blue. Even their manes, as poofy as the clouds above, looked the same. The filly wore a white saddlebag, indicting that she had just made a lengthy trip. Pinkamena was frozen, her blue eyes staring into the filly's green ones. The filly's face broken into a wide smile while Pinkamena could only stare in total surprise.
"Hi!" the filly greeted, her voice even sounding similar to Pinkamena's (though it was a little more nasal), "Are you my sister? Is the Pegasus here too?"
"S-Sister?" Pinkamena stammered, "What Pegasus...?"
Behind her, Pinkamena was dimly aware of her parents hurrying into the room.
"You said she wouldn't come," Cloudy said tonelessly.
"Pinkamena..." Igneous was speechless.
"W-who is she?" Pinkamena asked fearfully, though she already had an idea of who the blue filly was.
"You said..." Cloudy trailed off.
"Pinkamena, this is Blueberry Swirl... your..." Igneous swallowed, "She's your sister."
There was the clatter of a spoon against a plate, and then Maud rushed into the room, quickly assessing the situation, but her eyes showed no sign of surprise. Following their eldest sister's example, Marble and Limestone hurried into the living room next.
"There's two of her!" the two cried in unison, "There's two Pinkamenas!"
Cloudy let out a howl of anguish before trotting out of the room, leaving Pinkamena and Blueberry staring at each other in shock while their father grimly watched the two meet for the first time. Maud, Marble, and Limestone kept their distance. The mood in the Pie house had quickly gone from typical sleepiness to a still, eerie one.
"Come inside, Blueberry," Igneous broke the heavy silence with a grave voice, "It's time to explain."
~~~~~~
The family gathered in the living room. Pinkamena sat next to Blueberry on the floor in front of her father, who looked down on them from where he sat in a wooden chair. Blueberry's saddlebag sat on the floor next to the front door, leaning against the wall. Maud, Marble, and Limestone sat behind them. Cloudy, who had returned to the room with tears in her eyes and was now standing by Igneous, had tried to get them to go upstairs, but they had refused.
"Pinkamena," Igneous began, "Your mother and I have been wondering how to tell you this for a long time now..."
"Tell me... what?" Pinkamena's lip quivered. She could already sense that whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant.
"Blueberry really is your sister," Igneous sighed, "A long time ago, when Maud was about two years old and Marble and Limestone were nearly one year old, I took a business trip to Canterlot..."
As her father spoke, Pinkamena could picture the mountainside residence of the Equestrian Princesses in her mind.
"It was dark; the stormclouds overhead blocked the sun and dumped an ocean's worth of rain on me..." Igneous continued.
The heavy rain splashed down upon Canterlot, threatening to drown the shining city beneath a tidal wave of rainwater. Igneous Rock trotted through the streets, his hooves landing in a puddle of water every time they touched the ground. Ponies in expensive-looking suits ran around in a frenzy, all of them determined to get out of the rain before their fancy clothes were soaked. It was as though the ocean itself was rising, trying to take Canterlot to the depths of the sea.
"I was trying to get to my hotel," Igneous continued, "But it was on the other side of the city. The rain was blinding, and then some rich pony bumped me as he ran by, knocking me off-balance. I slipped, and fell to the ground. I remember there was a chill in the air, as though it were raining ice water..."
His wife quietly wept beside him, and as all five fillies stared at their father and listened in astonished silence, Pinkamena's heart gradually sank lower and lower.
"...and that's when she appeared."
Somepony else ran by, this time a mare. She splashed him as she ran by, but didn't seem to notice. An umbrella was attached to a saddle on her back, but the umbrella had been blown inside-out by the screaming winds. Igneous bitterly climbed to his hooves, now drenched because that rich pony had knocked him down. He could faintly hear somepony yelling, and he turned toward the sound to see a pink Pegasus with a yellow mane standing in the doorway to her house, frantically waving her hoof at him and gesturing for him to come inside. Without thinking about it, Igneous galloped toward the house and hurried inside. The Pegasus closed the door behind him, and he sighed in relief. He could feel the comforting radiance of a hearth's fire, and this same glowing flame cast an orange light through the room, giving it a certain homely warmth.
"We started talkin'," Igneous lowered his head, "I told her I'd be in Canterlot for the rest of the week before I had to go back to Ponyville. She said that she was moving to Cloudsdale the week after that, so she'd be leaving Canterlot soon as well. She asked if I'd come around and see her sometime during the week, and I said I would. I went over to her place every night for the rest of the week. I never thought about my wife, or my fillies... I just..."
This was it. The final night he was in Canterlot. He would be leaving for Ponyville on the train early the next morning. Igneous knew it would be a bit difficult to say farewell to the nice Pegasus, but it was time to return to the farm.
He knocked on her door as usual, and she was quick to open it and usher him inside out of the frigid night air. To his surprise, two large bottles filled with a cherry-red liquid sat on the table in front of the fire. He turned to her, and she seemed afraid of how he would react until he smiled. After all, they were friends, right? What was wrong with a little fun, a little celebration, before they had to say goodbye?
She poured the liquid into two fancy glass goblets. Igneous took one, she took the other, and then they clicked their glasses together and drank.
"...I made a mistake that night," Igneous admitted, staring at the floor. Cloudy wiped her eyes, and glanced at her husband as though torn between hitting him and running to her room, "I left the next morning, but... we... well, you know what happened. Almost an entire year passed, and I had almost forgotten all about that trip to Canterlot. I never told Cloudy what happened because... because I was too ashamed. As far as I was concerned, everything that had happened was in the past, until one day..."
He was working the fields, rotating the rocks from the East field to the North field. Stopping for a brief moment to wipe a bit of sweat off his brow as he panted in the devastingly humid summer sun, he glanced over at the house. Cloudy Quartz sat on the porch, watching Maud, Marble, and Limestone giggle as they played in the dirt. She smiled at him when she noticed him looking over, and Igneous raised his hoof up in a wave. He was about to turn back to his labor when the sound of Pegasus wings beating grabbed his attention. Confused, he looked toward the sky and his eyes widened when he saw a pink mare swooping down from the sky, gently cradling a large basket in her hooves. He recognized her just before she lightly landed on the ground. She didn't meet his eyes; she only held the basket out to him. He slowly trotted away from the rocks toward her, and he peered inside the basket. Inside, asleep curled up beneath a small purple blanket, were two newborn fillies.
"It was the first time I'd ever seen you two," his voice cracked as he finally looked up at Pinkamena and Blueberry, both of whom were staring at him with the same disbelieving intensity.
He went numb, and his mouth opened and closed uselessly as he gazed at the two fillies. He was aware of Cloudy hurrying over to them, and the Pegasus finally spoke.
"They're yours."
Cloudy screamed as she finally realized what was going on, an earshattering shriek that pierced the quiet atmosphere that had previously covered the farm. Not understanding why their mother was screaming, Maud, Marble, and Limestone glanced over curiously with frightened expressions. The Pegasus lowered her head, and gently sat the basket on the ground before beginning to flap her wings.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly as she took off into the sky, disappearing from his life forever. Igneous was left staring down at the two fillies, a pink one and a blue one, who were lying in the basket. Cloudy's scream had woken them, and they looked around with wide, curious eyes. The pink one coughed, but the sound hardly registered in Igneous's mind. He had no idea what he was going to do.
"...we couldn't raise all five of you," Igneous sighed, "It was hard enough explaining to Cloudy what had happened in Canterlot, let alone persuading her to keep both of you."
"But you kept her," Blueberry spoke up for the first time since Igneous had ushered her into the house. Her voice quivered as she pointed a shaky hoof at Pinkamena, "I had to go to an adoption center in Ponyville, but... but not her. She got to stay with two parents who loved her... w-why?"
"We had planned on putting you both up for adoption, of course," Igneous replied, now looking at the floor again to avoid looking at his fillies, "We contacted the adoption center, brought you two to Ponyville, but... there was a... a problem with Pinkamena."
"What problem?" Pinkamena whispered.
"She was sick," Igneous continued, "Very sick. They took you in, Blueberry, but they told us that they couldn't take Pinkamena in her condition. They told us that she was going to die. Cloudy always had a soft spot in her heart for injured animals, so a sick filly? She spent the next month fussing over Pinkamena, doing everything she could trying to nurse her back to health. The ponies at the adoption center told us that recovery was impossible, I thought for sure that Pinkamena was going to die, until one night..."
Igneous sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall. The weak cries of an ill filly echoed through the house, and he miserably forced himself to listen as his daughter died. He briefly wondered what would happen to Blueberry at the adoption center, and hoped she'd find a loving family. Neither of those fillies deserved to suffer for his mistake in Canterlot. He leaned forward and put his face in his hooves.
The door creaked as it opened behind him. He quickly turned around to see Cloudy standing in the doorway, holding a fussing Pinkamena in her hooves. Igneous leapt off the bed and hurried over to the doorway when he caught sight of the wide grin on her face. Pinkamena stopped squirming, and her cries stopped as she opened her eyes and stared up at her parents in awe.
"...and in that moment, I knew that Pinkamena was going to live," Igneous finished, "By that point, I couldn't get Cloudy to even let go of Pinkamena, let alone to bring her back to the adoption center, so..."
"So you decided to keep her, and to just... abandon me in an adoption center my whole life?" Blueberry's voice cracked, and Pinkamena looked over to see the amazed joy that Blueberry had felt when she had met her long-lost family was now being replaced with a lonely hurt.
"No, no, Blueberry, please..." Igneous reached out to hug his daughter, "It's just-"
"Really? Because that's what it sounds like to me," Blueberry said accusingly as she moved back, out of her father's reach.
"It wasn't like that-" Igneous pleaded.
"No, it was exactly like that!" Blueberry shouted, making Marble, Limestone, and Pinkamena flinch. Tears were starting to stream down Blueberry's face as she stood before her father, and Pinkamena felt her heart tear itself into two as she looked at her poor, lost sister, "You just kept the one you loved and dumped the other one in an adoption center! Good riddance!"
"Blueberry, please-"
"Do you have any idea what it was like there?!" Blueberry was now overwhelmed with emotion, and she barely managed to speak past her own sobs as she began to cry, "Living in a foster home with about 10 other foals and going to school in Ponyville without anypony caring? Without anypony to talk to? Nobody to hold me and say that they loved me? Sitting there, month after month and year after year, watching every other foal get adopted into a family that would love them and knowing that you'd never be one of them?!"
Pinkamena wasn't sure what to do; she wanted to wrap a comforting hoof around Blueberry, but she also wanted to back away. There were a few tense moments, everypony sitting in an uncomfortable silence that was broken only by Blueberry's quiet sobs and heavy breaths, until finally she took one final deep breath and spoke again, this time keeping her voice even.
"I found out that I had a father near Ponyville," Blueberry's voice cracked a little on "Ponyville", but she gulped and then continued, "I wrote you a letter immediately. I wasn't even sure if you would get it. I decided that I had to meet you to at least find out why you left me there, but the adoption center wouldn't allow it. They said writing a letter or two was good enough. I couldn't take it anymore, so I snuck out one night and came here by myself..."
Blueberry stared into her father's eyes, and Igneous stared back desperately. Blueberry seemed to be searching for something, and then she sighed and looked away, clearly not finding it. She hesitated, and then turned and started trotting toward the front door.
"T-this was a mistake, I-I... I'm leaving now..."
Blueberry opened the door and gently closed it behind her. Pinkamena knew she would have felt better if Blueberry had just slammed it shut. Blueberry had even left her saddlebag next to the door in her haste to leave. An air of discomfort filled the room as everypony tried not to look at Pinkamena, and then Cloudy spoke up.
"Alright. C'mon everypony," she said firmly, "Marble, Limestone, Maud... Pinkamena. Get upstairs, we have to talk to you."
Cloudy ushered Maud and Marble, the two fillies closest to her, off the floor and in the direction of the stairs as Igneous stared at the floor, a single tear sliding down the side of his face. Cloudy snapped at Limestone to hurry up, and then she turned toward Pinkamena.
"Pinkamena Diane Pie! You too..."
Cloudy turned around in time to catch a quick glimpse of pink hurrying outside before the front door closed behind her. Cloudy was suddenly struck with the temptation to chase after her, but she took a deep breath and continued getting the other three fillies upstairs. She had to force herself not to cry as she thought back to that sick filly that she had taken care of, and realized that she could have lost Pinkamena back then.
It felt like she was losing her now.
~~~~~~
"B-Blueberry...?"
Pinkamena slowly, cautiously, stepped closer to her sister, unsure if this was the right choice. Blueberry sat in the dirt in front of the house with her back to Pinkamena, but Pinkamena could still see her crying. When Pinkamena called out to her, Blueberry straightened up a little, wiped her eyes with her hoof, and then turned around.
The two fillies could only stare at each other for what felt like forever. Pinkamena Diane Pie and Blueberry Swirl. It was as though they were looking into a mirror, a mirror that changed their colors because, color differences aside, they did look almost exactly alike. Blueberry trotted a little closer to Pinkamena so the two were standing face-to-face.
"So..." Blueberry said stiffly, wiping her eye with her hoof again, "You're my sister?"
"Um... yeah?" Pinkamena answered. Blueberry surveyed her for a second with suspicious eyes, making Pinkamena feel like she was about to be slapped, and then Blueberry broke out in a wide smile.
"Sis!" she squealed, pulling Pinkamena into a tight hug, "Oh, I'm so excited! I have a sister now, and you look almost just like me! Only... you're pink and I'm blue. Hmm... well, pink is nice too, I guess, but I can't believe I have a sister! What's your name?"
"Pinkamena," Pinkamena said, smiling at Blueberry's excitedness and rapid talking.
"Pinkamena?" Blueberry repeated, curiously tilting her head to the side.
"Pinkamena Diane Pie."
"That's weird, what kind of a name is that?" Blueberry thought for a moment, "It's kinda fancy, I guess, but... hmm... Pinkamena... Pink-a-me-na... ooh! I've got it! Does anypony call you 'Pinkie'?"
" 'Pinkie'?" Pinkamena repeated uncertainly, "Well... I have a Nana Pinkie, but... Pinkie Diane Pie?"
Blueberry shook her head, "No, no, try it without the 'Diane'."
"Pinkie Pie," Pinkamena considered it, "Hey, that sounds cute! Pinkie Pie!"
"It has a sweet ring to it," Blueberry said as Pinkamena repeated her new nickname a few more times.
"Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie giggled, hugging her new sister, "Pinkie Pie and Blueberry Swirl! I love it!"
"So do I," Blueberry quietly replied as she hugged Pinkie back.
~~~~~~
"So what's it like living at the adoption center?" Pinkie asked Blueberry. The two fillies were lying in the dirt together, underneath a shady tree at the end of the rock fields.
"Well... it's nice enough, I guess," Blueberry began, "The ponies running it are very nice, but can be strict sometimes, and there are about 10 other foals at a time. It's hard to keep track sometimes because there's always somepony being adopted and somepony arriving, but it's usually about 10 others. It's always kind of gloomy in the adoption center, so I get involved in school activities."
"School activities? Like what?"
"Uh..." Blueberry thought for a moment, lazily stretching and taking in a deep breath, "Oh! There was this big play last week. I helped organize it and everything, helped edit the script, worked with the filly who was making the costumes... and I actually got a role in the play on top of all that. I played a cake."
"A cake? Sounds fun!" Pinkie giggled, "I like cake... you really did all that?"
"Well, you know..." Blueberry blushed, feeling a little embarrassed, "I just wanted everypony to have fun."
"I know that feeling," Pinkie sympathized.
"Isn't it a great feeling?" Blueberry sat up and looked around the farm, "But you don't really get a chance to do that around here, do you?"
"I, um... I can make my family smile," Pinkie quietly responded, sitting up, "There's just not very much to do around here."
"Do you have any friends around here?"
"Well... not really," Pinkie admitted, "I used to pretend the rocks were my friends, and I'd talk to them and pretend they answered, but that got old. And boring."
"Huh... What's it like living here?" Blueberry inquired, lying back down and folding her hooves behind her head.
"It's pretty quiet around here, mostly," Pinkie said, "There's... uh, plenty of rocks."
"I can see that," Blueberry noted, "But what do you do for fun?"
"Uh... well, Maud invented this new game a while ago where somepony throws a rock over the house and somepony on the other side of the house tries to catch it, but then Marble got hit in the head and got knocked out for the rest of the day, and Mom said we can't play it anymore."
"That's a weird game," Blueberry chuckled.
"You're a weird filly," Pinkie teased, "Why, what do you do in Ponyville?"
"Well, uh..." Blueberry thought about it, "When I'm not helping out with anything for school, I like to go to this one place: Sugarcube Corner."
"What's that?"
"It's this bakery-type place," Blueberry said, "These two ponies just opened it after they got married, and they're really nice. They let me help make cakes and cookies and stuff, and sometimes they even let me help them throw a party for somepony there!"
"Do you get to throw parties often?" Pinkie asked, staring at her sister in wonder.
"Not as often as I'd like to," Blueberry sheepishly grinned, "But they're really fun when I do get to throw them!"
"I want to throw a surprise party for Maud's birthday next month, but that's the only party I have planned," Pinkie offered, "It'd be fun to throw a party with you sometime."
"Yeah, that'd be a great party!" Blueberry agreed, and then she sat up with a shocked expression, "Wait! Have you ever thought about coming to Ponyville?"
"Ponyville?" Pinkie repeated as she turned to Blueberry, who was starting to get more excited the more she thought about it.
"Yeah! You can come with me back to Ponyville! It's super duper fun and there's lots of ponies we can throw parties for and spread some smiles!"
"Blueberry, it sounds... amazing, but I can't just leave the farm," Pinkie said, "I can't just leave behind everypony here. Besides, I don't even think I'd fit in very well in Ponyville..."
"Come on, they'd love you there!" Blueberry grinned, "At least consider it? I really want to try throwing a party with my sister."
"What would we even have at a party if we threw one?" Pinkie questioned Blueberry with a raised eyebrow, "Cake?"
"Ooh, cake. Yeah, cake. Definitely," Blueberry licked her lips at the thought of it, "We'd need a lot of streamers. And confetti."
"And polka music!" Pinkie chimed in.
"And party hats!" Blueberry added.
"And streamers!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"I already said streamers!" Blueberry snickered.
"We'd need more streamers!" Pinkie giggled.
The two fillies continued to lie in the dirt and talk, but Pinkie's thoughts were secretly on Ponyville. She had only been there a few times when her father went to sell rocks, but she wasn't sure what to think about it. What if it really was better than the farm? And even if it was, could she really just leave her family behind to go with Blueberry?
Ever since the rainbow had broken through the gray skies over the Pie Family Rock Farm, Pinkie had felt... unfulfilled. Like there was more out there then just rocks and the occasional party.
Was she really brave enough to seek it out if there was?
~~~~~~
Night fell and soon parted as the sun peeked over the horizon. The Pie family woke up early the next morning, and Blueberry soon had her saddlebag ready and was about to leave for Ponyville. She had spent the night sleeping on the couch in the living room, and woke up as chipper as ever. Pinkie had offered to let Blueberry sleep in her room with her and Maud, but Cloudy had told her "don't be ridiculous" and gave Blueberry a pillow and a blanket.
"It was great meeting all of you," Blueberry smiled sweetly as she hugged Igneous one last time before moving to stand by the door.
"You're going right back to Ponyville, right?" Cloudy asked, "You're not going to get into any trouble on the way?"
"Because I can walk you to Ponyville if you think you need help," Igneous volunteered, "It's the least I can do."
"Oh, I think I'll be fine," Blueberry giggled.
"Look, Blueberry..." Igneous sighed, "I... I know I was never really there for you, but if you ever have to... you're always welcome to come back to the farm. Besides, I think Pinkamena would be glad to see you again."
"Where is Pinkamena anyway?" Cloudy wondered, looking around. Marble, Limestone, and Maud were gathered in the living room to see Blueberry off, but the pink filly was nowhere to be found.
~~~~~~
Pinkie quickly shoved supplies into her blue saddlebag. The saddlebag was filled with mostly balloons so far, both deflated and inflated ones. There was also a bouncy ball the size of her head, a box of cupcakes, and a few streamers.
"Don't you think you should be packing things you need?"
Pinkie let out a squeak of horror and then whirled around. Behind her stood Maud, who was watching Pinkie with her usual stony expression. She didn't seem surprised at all that Pinkie was packing a bag.
"Maud... I, uh..." Pinkie sighed, closing her eyes and lowering her head, "I'm sorry... I just..."
Maud didn't say anything, and Pinkie lost her train of thought. She didn't know what she was about to say, and turned back to her saddlebag. Taking Maud's advice, she threw her toothbrush and a flashlight into the bag.
"I just... I can't stay here on the farm, Maud," Pinkie turned back around to her oldest sister, and fought back a few tears, "It... I don't belong here on a rock farm. You know I love you, and Mom, and Dad, and Marble and Limestone, but I... I have to go to Ponyville with Blueberry. I-"
Maud stepped forward and wrapped her hooves around her youngest sister, who let out another squeak of surprise as Maud tightly hugged her. The two sisters embraced for a moment, and then Maud, still holding onto Pinkie's shoulders, stepped back.
"Promise me you'll write?" she asked.
"All the time," Pinkie promised, "Cross my heart and hope to fly..."
"Stick a cupcake in your eye," Maud smiled as she let go of Pinkie and trotted over to her bed where she got down on the floor and reached under her bed, pulling out a small dark-pink box, "Here, I want you to have this..."
"What is it?" Pinkie asked, moving a little closer to Maud as she opened the box and reached inside.
"It's a rock candy necklace," Maud answered, holding up a few multicolored rocks on a brown string, "I was making it for you. I wanted it to be a surprise."
"Oh, Maud..." Pinkie started smiling widely as she took the necklace, "You're the best sister ever!"
"Better hurry," Maud nodded, gesturing toward the door, "Blueberry is about to leave."
Pinkie gently placed the rock candy necklace in her saddlebag before closing it and slipping it on. She gave Maud another quick hug, and then trotted out of their bedroom and went downstairs.
"Pinkamena Diane Pie! What are you doing?" Cloudy demanded as soon as Pinkie was at the bottom of the stairs, but the sense of dread she was feeling told her that she already knew what her daughter was doing. Blueberry had already left, and was outside, walking away from the farm.
"I love you, Mom," Pinkie hugged her mother, fighting back tears as she said goodbye to her family, and then she moved on to hug her father, "I love you too, Dad..."
"You... you're going with Blueberry?!" Igneous gasped as Pinkie let him go and hugged Marble and Limestone, who watched their sister in awe.
"I'm sorry," Pinkie said sadly, "But... I promise I'll write to you all as soon as I'm in Ponyville!"
"Pinkamena Diane Pie, you knock this foolishness off right this instant-!" Cloudy desperately cried out, moving toward Pinkie, but Igneous held his hoof in front of her.
"No, Cloudy..." Igneous's lip trembled as he looked at his daughter, "It... it's time. She's already made up her mind."
"Daddy..." Pinkie's voice quivered, and a knot formed in her stomach.
"Just go. Hurry up, before Blueberry is gone," Igneous told her. Pinkie looked back at them one last time, and then opened the door and hurried outside. Cloudy stared to cry, and she buried her face in her husband's chest as he hugged her, comforting her. Maud quietly came back downstairs in time to see Pinkie step outside just before the door closed behind her, and then Pinkamena Diane Pie was gone.
~~~~~~
"Blueberry! Wait up!" Pinkie called to the blue filly. Blueberry turned around as Pinkie scampered to catch up with her.
"What are you doing?" Blueberry's eyes widened.
"I'm coming with you!" Pinkie smiled, her eyes wild with excitement as she caught up to her sister, "I'm coming to Ponyville!"
"That... that's great!" Blueberry didn't know what to say, "I... wow!"
"Come on," Pinkie giggled, "Let's go."
"Try to keep up," Blueberry laughed as the two sisters set off down the long, winding dirt road to Ponyville, leaving the Pie Family Rock Farm behind them. Pinkie took one last look over her shoulder at her home, and then turned back to the road, intrigued to find out what awaited the two sisters.