//------------------------------//
// Sisters 
// Story: Convictions set in Stone 
// by Gustav Gynt 
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	Dinner was almost ready. As he was putting the last plate on the table, Big Macintosh smiled to himself. He noticed that one of the glasses was slightly out of place and arranged it right. He had only a few minutes before his sisters and Granny Smith came.
He looked out the window to see the last rays of the setting sun. The evening light shaping the dry branches on the sleeping trees gave him a feeling of peaceful happiness, as the pleasant moments of the last two days replayed in his head. Living in a town like Ponyville, he had met many mares, but no one had caught his attention quite like Pinkie Pie's little sister, the way she closely observed the world around her, the way she always seemed to express her thoughts in as few words as she possibly could, the way she stuttered when she was nervous... he couldn't help but to find it very cute.
The time had passed very quickly, both the day prior and earlier that day, when he got to spend time with her. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but he did think that she had looked like she had enjoyed herself as well. He liked to think that she had liked being in his company, but didn't dwell on the thought, for fear of it being arrogant.
There was, however, one thing that bothered him somewhat. He asked himself why, when that day he had met her walking around town, she had looked frightened about his presence. He really hoped he hadn't somehow oppressed her. Sometimes, mares were really hard to wrap his head around; he should know, he lived with two younger sisters and his old grandmother.
He heard the hoof steps and chatting of his family approaching, distracting him from his thoughts.

"There you are Marble! Oooh, I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Marble, laying with her back on the street kept down by her sister's excited hug, couldn't help but be in awe at Pinkie's ability to tackle somepony at impressive speeds without causing major injuries to anyone involved.
"H... hi Pinkie."
When the pink pony let her sister get out of her embrace, they both got up.
Jumping up and down, Pinkie started talking. "I can't believe I finally found you! Well, actually I can believe it because here you are, but you get the idea. Where have you been? I was kinda worried, you know? The whole day has passed and I have barely seen my favourite little sister! I mean, I hoped we would get to spend some time together, here in Ponyville, after so much time that we have been so far apart from each other, you know?"
Marble, once again, felt like an idiot. How could have she forgot that she had told everypony, Pinkie obviously included, that she had come to Ponyville to see her sister? Of course, Pinkie had been excited to see her and she had just... well, abandoned her.
Marble lowered her head in shame. "I'm so... I'm sorry, Pinkie."
"Heeey! Don't take it like that, I don't want you to get depressed. Besides, I should apologise too, since this morning I have been following you around..."
"You have?"
Pinkie gave a nervous laugh in ill-concealed shame. "I wanted to know why you were acting so... well, so not like you. It didn't make a whole lot of sense that you would just go around on your own, so I wanted to see what that was all about..."
Marble blushed. "How... how much have you seen?"
"Weeell, I have seen you get into the theatre, but then I lost track of you."
"Oh... so, you... you have seen me and..."
"Yes, you and Big Mac went to see a movie together. I really don't know what that is about, it's not like you to just go around with almost strangers, I mean, you two haven't spent a lot of WAIT A SECOND! I have put you two in the same team for the flag finding mission at Hearth's Warming Eve, yesterday you two have disappeared together at the party and this morning you have gone to see a movie together... Marble, have you *dramatic pause* found a new friend?"
There was a brief awkward silence, then Pinkie gasped loudly and then said, "WAIT A SECOND! Marble, have you fallen in..."
Marble quickly closed her sister's mouth with her hoof, looking around nervously. "Don't say it, please."
With her mouth still closed, Pinkie said "Mnng phee hmnnng mphou mnee?"
Marble released her. "What?"
"Can we talk about it?"
"Here?"
"Well, no, if you don't want to. Sugarcube Corner?"
Marble nodded in agreement.

They sat down on the floor of Pinkie's room.
"So, now that we're here, tell me everything!"
Pinkie looked very excited. Marble's stomach felt like it was slowly boiling with discomfort. Pinkie knew about the community, how could she be excited about that kind of news?
"Uuuh... I don't know what to say."
Pinkie winked. "Oh, come on, Marble! We're sisters, we can talk a little about boys, it's not like I'm going to tell it to everypony..."
"Uh... I think I... I may have some feelings for..."
"For Applejack's big brother? Ooooh, this is so exciting! Tell me tell me!"
Marble hesitated. "I don't really know what else to say..."
Her sister answered jokingly, "Oh, you're no fun at all. Come on, at least try!"
They stayed in silence for a few moments, then Marble said, "I am a bit worried."
"About what?"
Marble swallowed. "I... Are you not concerned about the community?"
Pinkie smiled and stared blankly at her in response. Marble could almost hear the grinding sound of the gears in the pink pony's head. Given the bubble headedness of her sister, maybe it wasn't surprising that she didn't immediately think about this kind of concerns...
As Pinkie's expression changed, opening her eyes in realisation, Marble could almost hear the jingly sound of a metaphoric little bell under that curly pink mane.
"*loud gasp* What about Clerk Sandstone? And the pairing stone? And..."
Marble hushed her again, putting gently her hoof against her sister's mouth. "Exactly."
Pinkie nodded in understanding. The grey mare knew that her sister wasn't stupid, contrary to popular belief, she sometimes just needed a little nudge if the subject matter wasn't about parties, jokes or pastries; not because she was incapable to think about other stuff, it was just that usually she simply didn't bother.
"So... now you know. What should I do?"
"Mom and dad know about it?"
Marble didn't even want to think about it. "I hope not."
"Oh, this is not good. I was so happy to know that you had found someone special and that maybe you would come to Ponyville more often for that reason and I could maybe even throw a party for you two, but... the community will shun you if you do. That's... that's not right: you still have to live there!"
Marble nodded.
"What do we do? What do we do? I have to help you, somehow... Well, I did get out of the community and I am pretty happy right now. But, then again, you like the rock farm..."
"Well..."
"What is it, sis?"
"I... I don't know, but... yes, I do like the rock farm and living with our family and... but... does it make sense that I also like it here?"
"Are you telling me that you're considering getting out of the community?"
"I... oh, forget I said anything. Mom and dad would die if they knew. Besides, they need my help back home."
"What do you mean they need your help?"
"Well... Maud, most of the time, is busy with her studies, so she cannot work. Limestone works a lot and so do our parents, but... well, it would be much more difficult for the three of them alone. Our parents aren't as young as they used to be."
"Oh."
That Pinkie was incapable of giving any answer more complex than a single syllable was indication of how seriously she was actually taking the matter.
Marble hadn't really thought about it before talking with her sister. The knowledge was just kinda there, somewhere in her brain, but never emerged consciously. But it was true: even if leaving the community was what she wanted, leaving her family wasn't an option. However, she didn't even know if leaving the rock farm was what she wanted. After all, Ponyville was beautiful, she liked the time spent with Big Mac and Rarity, maybe she would also have been able to make new friends, but she wasn't sure just how serious she was about that whole business. What if she did leave the community to live there and, after a while, she came to regret it? But that question wasn't even relevant, not as long as she was needed back at the farm.
Pinkie looked like she was thinking really hard, down on her belly, tapping rhythmically on the floor with her hoof and holding her own head with the other.
After a while, the pink pony stopped tapping, raised her head stroking her chin. "Hmmm. Maybe you should talk with Twilight: she's super duper smart and always finds solutions to difficult problems."
Marble looked skeptical. "I'm not sure I want that."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to depend on your friends' kindness to solve my problems. Besides, a princess will surely have more important matters to attend to than this..."
"But..."
Marble shook her head to silence her sister. Pinkie looked down with a disheartened expression.
"Uh... please don't be like that, Pinkie. You're always cheerful and happy, it breaks my heart to see you like... like this. Maybe... maybe we can take a break and... and do something fun together, like when we were fillies?"
"Do you mean it?"
Marble smiled and winked. "Of course! You're my beloved barely older sister, after all..."
Pinkie hugged her sister, with a big smile of her own.

Marble was once again in the folding bed, at the end of a very eventful day. After their conversation, Pinkie and her had spent the rest of the evening baking together. Well, "baking" was one way of saying it, though it was more accurate to say that they had tried to bake, with mixed to disastrous (and hilarious) results on Marble's part. It had been a lot of fun and they got to eat all the (many) failed attempts, which, to be fair, didn't even taste so terrible.
Marble smiled thinking about it, with her sister's snoring as constant background noise. Her smile was short lived, however. The more she thought about the farm waiting for her, the more she didn't want to go back. The knowledge of her parents and sisters needing her made her feel trapped, which in turn had the effect of increasing her desire of never going back. She felt a bit like the protagonist of the movie she had watched with Big Mac: he wanted to go and see the world, but had to stay home because of the family's business. The people who loved him had also gifted him with a beautiful suitcase, so big that he jokingly said he could use it as a raft, that he never got to use. She didn't want to be trapped, like him, because her community wasn't like his town.
The image of the raft-suitcase inexplicably reminded her of the aquatic flowers. She thought that she wanted one day to see those flowers blooming on the surface of the water, like little boats of beauty and freedom. Who knew if she was ever going to see that simple and yet marvellous show...
Thinking about the flowers, in turn, reminded her of Rarity, who had been so kind to her. She thought that, even if she did go back to her hometown, she just had to do something to repay her. Maybe she would find the best gem on the rock farm and cut it especially for her, or something like that.
With every step of the imagination, her thought process went astray, farther away from her worries, lulling her to sleep, with the gentle and bittersweet sound of a string quartet.