Pinkie Pie was concerned about her sister: Marble had left the party and had come back to her really late the day prior, which was already kinda strange (and she did know her own when it came to strangeness). That morning, Marble had jumped out of the bed real soon, declared that she wouldn't leave yet like she had said just before going to bed and that she wanted to go see Ponyville on her own. What was happening to her? She had always been shy, calm and even somewhat submissive, it was like Pinkie didn't know her sister anymore! None of what Marble was doing made sense to her; granted, she was a master of not making sense, but she had always understood her sister as being pretty much the opposite of that. What had happened?
Pinkie watched as Marble trotted away from Sugarcube Corner, smiling to herself and watching her surroundings with curiosity. She had thought that it would have been difficult to convince her shy little sister to go outside and see stuff when, in reality, she had actually just spontaneously got out and specifically asked to be on her own. All that weird circumstance was really getting under Pinkie's skin: she decided she was going to get to the bottom of this affair.
The pink pony shot inside the sugary building and came out instantly with her spy outfit, complete with night vision goggles (which, after she had crashed into a pole in the Crystal Empire some months prior, didn't even consistently work anymore), determined to get as much info as possible.
She spoke in her walkie talkie. "Here Pink Lightning, going undercover. Over! Heeheehee! It rhymes! Cover-over, over-cover!"
If anyone passing by Sugarcube Corner had watched inside the upper window, they would have seen that the other walkie talkie was attached, by means of duct tape, to Gummy, the toothless alligator. Gummy blinked slowly, but remained otherwise unperturbed by the whole business.
Marble had already set in mind where she would have gone that morning: she would try to find Rarity. She was already going against Clerk Sandstone's orders, might as well see what was like to own a fancy dress. A burst of adrenaline ran through her spine, as she realised just how much trouble she would have found herself in, if only Sandstone knew the half of what she was doing in Ponyville. It did intimidate her, at first, but she was unwilling to let that paralyse her.
The streets of Ponyville were still unknown to her, but Marble could backtrack her way to the dress shop by remembering all the landmarks she had noticed the day prior. When she had arrived in front of the boutique's door, however, something did manage to stop her: she remembered the way she had ended her conversation with Rarity. She wasn't even sure that the shop she was in front of was in fact owned by Rarity. She even realised that, if she knocked and the white unicorn answered, she didn't know how to explain her own behaviour during the party. That stopped her dead in her tracks.
She stood there, outside the front door of the boutique shaped like a merry go round. What if Rarity was still offended by the way Marble had ended their conversation and refused her generous offer? What if she knocked and somepony else answered? Could she just go "oops, never mind, I wasn't looking for you"?
The door opened while she was still there standing still, startling her. The one opening it was Rarity, who gasped in surprise as she saw Marble on her doorstep.
"Oh! Hi, Marble. Is everything alright? Did I upset you yesterday? I most certainly did not mean for it to happen, so let me apologise..."
Marble blushed and shook her head. "No... it was my... it was my fault, don't apologise."
Rarity answered, "Please, do come in, so that we can have a talk."
As Marble went in, she noticed that the white mare was checking if there was mail for her, which was likely to be the reason why she had opened the door in the first place.
Marble watched all the dresses and mannequins all around the place: some were simple, others were incredibly ornate, even flamboyant, but all were very elegant. There were also mannequins with unfinished dresses on, but even those managed to be prettier than most of what she had previously seen.
As Rarity was back in again, she immediately addressed Marble. "So, what brings you here, darling?"
Marble worked up the courage necessary to speak and said, "I'm sorry... I was rude yesterday. I left you there at the buffet and... refused your generous offer. I hope I didn't offend you."
Rarity answered with a giggle, "Oh, nonsense darling! I definitely did not take issue with that. I was worried, instead, about you: you looked so upset and I did not know what had I done to cause it. By the way, is everything alright, now?
"I... I guess so. So... uh... I came to ask if your... if your offer is still valid. I... I would like to..."
Rarity's eyes widened. "Do you want a dress?"
Marble blushed, nodded and murmured, "Mhm..."
"Oh, but that's wonderful! I will take your measurements immediately... it's not like I can do anything else right now..."
The unicorn had said last part of the sentence with a pinch of bitterness, looking towards the entrance.
She promptly recomposed her smile and addressed Marble again. "So, you didn't leave today after all, which is fortunate, since now we can do everything with no hurry. About your dress, did you have in mind any particular model? Or fabric? Or colour?"
Marble shook her head. She was actually kind of astounded by how easily Rarity had accepted to make a dress to her after the day prior.
"Mmh, I'll have to work with what I know about you, which, to be honest, isn't very much. Why don't we sit down and have a chat behind a nice cup of coffee? Or tea, if you like it better?"
"A... a chat? Cup of coffee?"
"Why, yes! Unless you can tell me what kind of dress you want, I have to know something about you in order to make something unique for you. And, as I said, right now I can't do much about my other project anyway, so I don't think it would be such a bad idea. So, tea or coffee?"
"Tea would be okay, thanks, but..."
"Then wait for me on the couch over there, where we can sit and talk, while I prepare it. It will take just a minute."
"So, Marble, do you like Ponyville?"
Marble's tea was a bit too hot, so she was still waiting a moment before drinking it.
She nodded at Rarity's question, murmuring, "Mhm!"
"Tell me, what is it that you like the most here? As a matter of fact, what is it that you like the most in general? That is going to help me a lot..."
"Uuuh... about Ponyville... I like the colours. I really like them."
Rarity remained in silence, waiting patiently for her to keep talking. Her expression was of pure interest.
Marble sighed and talked again. "Back at home everything... everything is so grim. When I came here I... when I came here I couldn't even be... believe how colourful it is here."
Marble was getting nervous as she realised that she was stuttering again.
She stayed in silence for a moment, worried, then swallowed and said, "I'm sorry if I... if I stutter a bit. I can't he... I can't help it..."
Rarity answered, "Don't even worry about it, darling: I honestly didn't notice it until you brought it up. Please, do continue."
The grey mare, encouraged, kept on talking. "I have always loved the colours and shapes of rocks and gems. It's the most colour that I could see back home." As she was talking, her gaze moved away from Rarity's eyes and got lost, looking nowhere in particular. "I didn't expect that such brightness could be seen in a town as well... or that ponies could just be going around, smiling and waving at each other... or that everyone here would be treating me so kindly. I had never experienced that. Well, my sisters love me and treat me kindly, but it's different. I really like it here, more than anything else I have ever seen back home."
Rarity nodded, interestedly, and asked, "Is there anything that you particularly like doing?"
Marble nodded and said, "Yes. I have a collection of peculiar rocks. Ones with quartz crystals, others with a particular shade or shape, others that combine different minerals or mineraloids in the same pebble... not very useful rocks, but I like them. And I like to... well... if I can find the material, I make little sculptures."
"A creative individual! I knew that you and I had something in common, dear."
Marble took a sip of her tea. It had a little too much sugar, but she liked it anyway.
Rarity continued, "Why don't we go and actually take those measurements of yours? I think I might have enough to work with, right now. In fact, I might already have an idea... not going to tell you anything, though: it will be a surprise!"
Marble nodded and drank in silence, as Rarity got up. The earth pony looked as the unicorn's horn lit with a blue glow. A tape measure and a pair of red glasses floated towards the white mare. Marble had only seen one unicorn in her whole life, before coming to Ponyville, when that weird blue magician, Trixie was her name, had worked on the farm for a while, so she didn't really have a lot of familiarity with magic. It did spark her curiosity.
Rarity came towards Marble, with the red working glasses on her nose and the tape measure still floating. Marble got up, putting down her almost empty cup.
"Now, stay as still as possible, darling: it's not going to take long."
The grey mare stood still, looking directly in front of her. As she did so, she noticed a chest containing a lot of gemstones: rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethysts and even a few opals. What was the use of gems in a dress boutique?
As Rarity was doing her business, a notebook and a pencil came floating. "Now, let's see... I'm almost done here, darling, just a moment... Mmmh... Alright, I can definitely work with this. Now you can sit down again and finish your tea, if you want, dear."
Marble did as she was told.
When Rarity was done putting down her stuff, she sat down as well and asked, "Is there anything else that you really like about Ponyville? I have enough to work with, but I am still rather curious."
Marble finished her tea and said, "The tea was good. I like food, here. I liked my party yesterday: I appreciated that everypony seemed to be careful not to crowd me. I know I didn't stick around, but it was nice nonetheless. Everypony was so nice to me..."
She smiled and blushed a little, fiddling about with her mane, as she said, "And then, there is... well... oh, never mind..."
Rarity's ears perked up in interest. "What, darling? Have you met somepony special?"
Marble's expression of shock spoke louder than words.
The white unicorn smiled widely, raising an eyebrow. "Does this have anything to do with you and Big Mac vanishing at the same time yesterday?"
Marble was petrified. She wasn't even capable of blushing anymore, she was above and beyond that stage.
Rarity could barely contain her enthusiasm. "Oh, so it does! Come on, dear, don't look so terrified, it's nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it is quite adorable, if you ask me..."
Marble's figure shrank on her seat. She was reduced to silence, incapable of emitting even the most basic of sounds. That was the moment in which she really realised what was going on with Big Macintosh. Beforehand, she hadn't given much thought about it, she had just been living it obliviously and being really happy. Understanding what was going on, the kind of fondness that she had for the red stallion, was like being punched right in the guts. The community would never accept it. Heck, maybe her very own family would never accept it: they had always been more tolerant than the rest of the community, but even they were bound to have some limits.
She became aware of her surroundings again. Rarity was watching her with concern.
"Is everything alright?"
Marble decided to recompose herself, not to panic. She didn't want to make another scene, like the day before, especially again with Rarity. The white elegant mare had been incredibly nice to her, she didn't want to be seen in a negative light by her.
"Ye... yes, it's alright. Nothing to worry about. I... well, thanks for everything. The dress, the tea... thanks. I... need to go now, lots of thing to see..."
"Are you sure? You look a bit pale..."
"Rea... really, everything's fine. I hope I see you again, before I go."
Rarity got up and started lead Marble towards the exit, as she said, "Well, if you're really sure... I think I'm going to work on the drafts for your dress, for now. I hope I can do something that you like."
As Marble was opening the door, she smiled and said, "I know you will and I can't wait. Thanks for everything, again!"
Rarity didn't look convinced, but apparently decided not to force Marble, which she appreciated.
When the door closed, Marble's smile faded. She had to come to terms with something that, she then realised, she had been unconsciously avoiding all along.