//------------------------------//
// "Um, hi." 
// Story: Fluttershy and Marble Pie have a conversation 
// by AppleJTZ 
//------------------------------//

	Fluttershy sighed in content as she took the empty mug off her mouth. Holding it in her hooves she slowly licked little droplets of tea from her lips, savoring on the bitter, yet calming taste of the warm drink. Closing her eyes she listened to the song of the bird from the outside, alongside the occasional noise from squirrels or other little animals that could be found in abundance around her cottage. Normally, these critters would run and fly through the inside of her cottage as well. But it was such a beautiful afternoon, all of them were outside in the sun to frolic and play, leaving the animal caretaker to enjoy some much appreciated quiet and peace.

After a few moments of sitting in her forelegchair with the mug in her hooves she opened her eyes again. Her gaze was set on the tea pot on the table in front of her. Out of the swung neck a fine, barely visible trail of steam was rising. She put the mug down on the table, and carefully grabbed the hilt of the tea pot with her teeth. Caramel-golden liquid flowed out of the pot’s neck as she tilted it over the mug. She kept pouring until the mug was well-filled, before she put the tea pot back down again and stared into the mug. Soft steam wavered over the golden tea, which was still so clear she could see to the bottom of the mug. Waiting for the drink to cool down a little she leaned back in her forelegchair, enjoying the comfort of the soft covers. Again she sighed in content, thinking to herself what a nice and peaceful afternoon it was.

The peace abruptly ended as the door to her cottage opened with a crash. 

“Hey there Fluttershy!” the exuberant voice of Pinkie Pie streamed into her house, followed by the widely smiling pony herself. Instead of bouncing into her home however she actually walked inside, pulling another pony behind her into the room. “How’s it going? Having a nice day? Great! You know my sister Marble Pie? This is my sister Marble Pie! She’s visiting Ponyville for a week, but I totally have no time for her today because I’m busy planning a super-duper important party, so I thought maybe I could bring her over so you two can have a nice day together. You okay with that? Of course you’re okay with! I’m sure you’re gonna be best friends in no time. Okay, I leave you two alone now. I’ll be back around seven. Bye!” In the time she talked Pinkie had dragged her sister to the forelegchair opposite to the one Fluttershy was sitting in, placed her on it and bounced out of the cottage again, slamming the door shut behind her.

Fluttershy, who had just silently watched Pinkie during her brief visit, blinked as she was gone. “Um, okay” she whispered.

Again it became quiet in the cottage, only the animal noises from outside sounding through the room. Fluttershy looked at the pony on the other side of the table. Sitting there in the forelegchair was a pony grey like stone, the fur considerably brighter than the dark tail and mane. Her eyes were of a more vibrant, but still rather dim shade of violet. Sitting sideways, all her four legs cramped under her body Fluttershy could see Marble’s Cutie Mark, three egg-shaped stones in a purple-greyish colour. It took a second look to see the familiarity with Pinkie Pie, as her mane and tail were not puffed up, but instead absolutely plain and smooth. Fluttershy knew Pinkie could have her hair like that too, but the memories of when she had last seen her friend with her hair down weren’t too… fond. A part of Marble’s mane was hanging into her face, covering one of her eyes. This side was facing Fluttershy, Marble holding her head low as if she was staring intensely at the lean of the chair. Slowly the grey pony turned her head towards Fluttershy, and the two ponies looked into each other’s eyes.

Almost immediately both of them looked away, blushing.

For a while Fluttershy stared at the mug with the steaming tea. Her hair hung into her face similar to the way Marble’s mane was, cutting her sight in half. Only very hesitantly the Pegasus managed to raise her glance again. Up from her cup her eyes looked over the table, passing the tea pot and advancing towards the edge of the table. They halted for a moment, before her gaze moved further up until she could see the bottom of the forelegchair. Arriving there Fluttershy raised her glance even more slowly, as bit by bit the pony sitting in the chair was coming into sight. Past the pink curtain of her hair Fluttershy saw Marble was still sitting with the covered side of her face towards her, again staring at the lean as if she was counting the fibers of it. 

Fluttershy opened her mouth, but then quickly sealed her lips. She looked aside, hiding even more of her face behind her hair. In quick succession she cast short glances over to the grey pony, but just as quickly turned her eyes away again. After a while she lowered her gaze to her seat, scratching with one of her hooves on it. With her hair still covering most of her face Fluttershy eventually looked up to Marble again, and put on a nervous smile. “Um, hi.”

Marble almost jumped as if someone had shouted into her ear, despite Fluttershy having spoken in a very quiet, delicate voice. Her uncovered eye was staring at the Pegasus, wide in shock and fear. Marble looked left and right, then back at Fluttershy. Quickly she lowered her head again, averting Fluttershy’s gaze while her cheeks turned pink. Underneath her body her hooves were trembling slightly. She then seemed to calm down a little, looking back up at the still smiling Fluttershy. “Mh-hm” she hummed, returning a slightly forced smile.

Then, both of them blushed and silently averted each other’s eyes again.

Marble kept staring at the lean of her chair while Fluttershy’s eyes were fixed on the mug in front of her. The amount of steam hovering over the tea gradually decreased, turning from a wailing mass of mist into a think, almost invisible trail of white that became thinner and thinner. Eventually the tea stopped steaming completely. Meanwhile the birds continued to sing on the outside, while the afternoon sun steamed through the windows into the cottage. Slowly however it was getting darker inside the room, and the shadows were growing bit by bit longer. Eventually the light began to take on an orange sheen, a soft shade at first which steadily turned into a dusky veil of amber lying over the entire room. The singing of birds could still be heard, but it weren’t the same birds as before, having given way to nightingales and some early owls howling at the setting sun. All the time the two ponies were sitting quietly across each other, not exchanging a single look.

The silence was suddenly broken as the door opened with a crash. 

“Hi Fluttershy, hi Marble!” an exuberant voice called into the gloomy room. “I’m here to pick up Marble! You had a nice day? Of course you had a nice day! Man, I’m so jealous to have missed out on the fun, but then again planning parties is also a lot of fun, so I guess we all had a lot of fun today! Sorry we can’t stay Fluttershy, but we’ll miss dinner with the Cakes if we don’t get going right away, but we can come back again tomorrow, and then we can all have a great time together! Sounds great? Great! Alright, see you tomorrow Fluttershy!” While she had talked Pinkie had bounced over to the forelegchair, pulled her sister out of it and dragged her out through the door, slamming it shut behind them.

When they were gone and it became quiet in her cottage again, the yellow Pegasus smiled slightly under her mane. “She’s nice.”