“All right.” Limestone tapped her hoof anxiously against the concrete ground. She stood just outside the restaurant, back turned to the entrance. Before her, Marble Pie gnawed on her lip, her face creased with worry. Sure, Limestone sounded more confused than angry now, but knowing her sister it was just a matter of time before the balance shifted.
“All right,” Limestone repeated for about the eleventh time since Marble had dropped her bombshell. The only difference this time around was that she kept talking. “Can you… explain to me how this happened?” She pointed to Marble. “How you, possibly the shyest pony in Equestria, managed to not only meet somepony in the hour I was gone, but also made them your marefriend?”
Marble swallowed. “Uh… well… I w-went to get lunch like you said and… this really cute Minuette— I-I mean pony needed a place to sit and I… and she… and we…” Marble pushed her hooves together and looked to the ground. She could feel the blush radiating off her face, but was powerless to stop it.
Limestone pressed her lips together. “You uh... wanna run that last bit by me again, Casanova?”
Shuffling her hooves, Marble looked back up. “I met a really cute mare and we had lunch together.”
“And this constitutes her being your marefriend because…?”
Marble bit her lip. “Well… she… thinks I’m cute.”
A soft groan escaped Limestone’s lips as understanding dawned on her. “That’s not how marefriends work, Marble.”
“Uh… I-I know, but…” Hair fell over Marble’s face. “I like her.”
Limestone’s jaw firmly set in place. Marble could see the teeth clenching even from where she was standing. She prepared herself for whatever her sister was about to say, not anticipating the softened expression that appeared a moment before she spoke.
“Good for you, Marble.”
What? Her eyes widened at the sudden positive reinforcement from Limestone of all ponies. She glanced at her sister, noting the encouraging smile she wore. Limestone is actually… happy for me? But I thought…
“Aren’t you upset?”
Limestone rolled her eyes. “Over the fact that you’ve found somepony you want to spend time with? Hardly. I am still confused as to why you want a freakin’ relationship all of a sudden with a stranger.”
“S-she’s not a stranger, she’s Minuette!”
Limestone rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. So why do you want a relationship all of a sudden with Minuette? It’s just not like you.”
“I-I don’t know…” Marble blushed inwardly. “She’s just so wonderful.”
“Okay…” Limestone chewed the inside of her cheek. “Her charming personality aside, why this stranger? I mean, it’s not like you were out of options back home. And what about that stallion who came over for Hearth’s Warming?”
“B-Big Mac?”
Limestone nodded. “Yeah, why not him instead?”
Marble shuffled her hooves. “Well, he was sweet and all… but also very gay.”
With a blink, Limestone tightened her lips. “Oh yeah… guess that would be hard to work around.”
Marble nodded.
“But still, you just met this pony, Marble.”
“Y-you told me to come out of my s-shell,” she pointed out.
Limestone opened her mouth for a retort, but her brain wasn’t fast enough. She pressed her lips together to give it more thought. “Yeah… I guess I did.
Marble breathed a sigh of relief, relieved that Limestone was finally agreeing with her.
The relief fizzled when Limestone put a hoof on Marble’s shoulder. “But…”
Oh no.
“You know what Pa’s gonna say.”
Marble winced. Yep, here it comes.
“If you wanted to start a relationship,” Limestone said with a gruff impersonation of their father’s voice. “You should’ve just gone to the Pairing Stone.”
And there it is.
The Pairing Stone. The gosh-darn Pairing Stone.
Now there was an anvil that had been hanging over her head since childhood. Ever since Marble had decided she didn’t like being around other ponies, which had pretty much been day one, she’d hated the fact that a random rock would one day pair her up with a stranger for the rest of her life.
And she knew the second her father caught wind of her ‘relationship’ he’d march her right off to the Pairing Stone to see whether or not it was worth pursuing.
“Please don’t tell him,” Marble whimpered.
“What, you want me to lie to Pa?” The grit in Limestone’s voice told her that was not an option.
“N-no, of course not. I would never ask you to do t-that. Just… if he doesn’t ask, don’t tell him… please.” Marble tried to look even meeker than she already was—which was no small feat—hoping her sister would comply.
Limestone’s cheeks bulged slightly as she rolled her tongue over in her mouth—a habit she had developed whenever thinking something over. After a long, hard stare, she finally sighed and nodded. “…Okay.”
Marble’s face brightened with an ear-splitting grin. “Really?”
“Yeah, really.” With a nod, Limestone rolled her eyes. “Now let’s—Oof!”
Limestone couldn’t finish her next breath, much less her next word, as Marble tackled her into a hug.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Marble exclaimed as they both stumbled back a little.
“...Ack! ...welcome,” Limestone coughed out.
Marble released her sibling before she blacked out, sheepish. “Uh… Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Limestone told her after recovering her breath. “Now come on, we should get back to the train station.”
Marble blinked, giving Limestone just enough time to turn. She was already walking into the Canterlot after-lunch-rush traffic by the time Marble found her courage to speak again.
“Uh… M-maybe we don’t have to leave just yet? ...maybe.”
Limestone paused and turned back to face Marble. Her features were scrunched in confusion and she shot her younger sister a curious glance. “Uh, no we do have to leave. Ma and Pa are gonna want us back on the farm as soon as physically possible. Besides, wasn’t the first thing you said when we got off the train was that you want to go home?”
“Well… yes.” Marble shrunk behind her mane as ponies walked past them, not stopping to apologize when they bumped into them. She still very much disliked Canterlot, but leaving now would just mean missing the party she was invited to. And miss seeing Minuette again…
“So why do you want to stay?” Limestone demanded to know.
“Because…” The words died at her lips. Would Limestone allow her to stay? Knowing her sister, she doubted her reasoning would make much of an impact on the final choice. But what else could she say? It was the truth, or nothing. “...I got invited to a party!” she rushed out.
Limestone’s ears flicked at the words, likely doubting what they just heard. Limestone herself seemed to have taken her previous confusion and multiplied it by a hundred. “Excuse me?”
Marble retreated behind her mane, unsure of how to proceed.
Limestone stared at the ground, raising a hoof up to request a minute of silence, which Marble was all too happy to provide. “Did I… hear you correctly? You got invited to a party?”
Marble nodded. “Mmhmm.”
Limestone blinked, still processing. “And this party… you actually want to go?
“Mmhmm.”
Raising an eyebrow, Limestone tapped her hoof to the ground. “Why?”
Marble looked to the ground, poking at the cracks in the concrete road. “B-Because Minuette is going to be there.”
Understanding dawned on Limestone’s face, though she remained silent for a moment. “Geeze… You must really like this pony, huh?”
Marble bobbed her head up and down, freeing her vision from her mane’s grasp. “S-she’s so sweet and warm a-and comfortable to be around. I really… I just want to see her again, Limestone.
Her sister rubbed the back of her head. “I dunno, Marble…”
Marble’s lip quivered. “Please, please, please let me stay! It’ll only be for a few hours, I promise.”
Blinking back her surprise, Limestone gave her sister a serious once over. “You’re sure you want to go to a party?”
In all honesty, no. Marble deflated a little at the question. The party would be borderline miserable, even with the way it had described to her. But still, if it gave her the chance to be around Minuette again then there was nothing more in the world Marble wanted to go to. “Yes.”
Limestone took a deep breath. “Okay.”
Marble assaulted her sister with another hug, but Limestone had enough foresight this time to be prepared. “Thank you,” Marble whispered.
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Limestone patted her sister’s back and they pulled away from the hug. “So where are we going for this party?”
“Well, Minuette is supposed to show me after—” Marble froze, her eyes shrinking until they were little more than purple specks in a sea of white. “W-wait, you want to c-come t-too?”
“Obviously,” Limestone huffed. “What, did you expect me to just wait around Canterlot doing nothing for hours?”
“N-no,” Marble admitted. She hadn’t really been thinking about Limestone at all when she made the decision to go to the party, which made her feel a little awful.
“Besides,” Limestone hooked an arm around Marble’s shoulder. “I need to meet this marefriend of yours. You know, make sure she’s good enough for you and all that.”
Marble gulped. The spark in Limestone’s eyes told a very different story than what she was saying. She didn’t know if her sister was just being overprotective or if she had already taken a disliking to Minuette. What she did know was that now she would honestly prefer it now if Limestone just stood around Canterlot doing nothing for the next few hours. That was much less… explosive than her coming to the party.
“Everything all right, sis?” Limestone asked, jostling Marble out of her miniature panic stupor.
“...Mmhmm…”
Sparkling Teeth Dentistry was a relatively modest building. Relative to Canterlot’s standards, of course. To Marble’s standards, it was practically a mansion. She’d never lived in a building with more than two stories before and here was Minuette’s place of work, a towering five story building, stretching even higher up with a large billboard on the roof. In fact, the only thing modest about it was how narrow it was: just enough to squeeze into the packed street corner.
They were in a much less populated section of Canterlot now, though Marble would have a hard time pointing that out. Crowds were crowds, no matter how thin they were. Though luckily, her anxiety about what her sister was planning overshadowed her anxiety about the populace.
She fidgeted, turning to Limestone. “P-please don’t yell at her.”
Nodding, Limestone rolled her eyes. “Okay.”
“A-and please don’t g-get really angry.”
“No promises.”
Marble winced and stayed silent for a moment. Then a horrifying thought flashed across her head. “And don’t tell her I c-called her my marefriend. Please.”
“Geesh, Marble, okay. I got it.” Limestone tapped her hoof impatiently against the ground. “Are you sure she said she got off work at five?”
Marble glanced at the clock that lived just a few buildings down. Quarter past five. “Y-yes,” she mumbled.
Limestone’s face scrunched into annoyance. “If she stood you up I swear I’ll—”
“P-please don’t! I’m sure she’ll be here…” Marble bit her lip. Was she really so sure? What if this was the wrong dentist office? Or what if Minuette had given her a fake address because she didn’t want Marble to come to the party at all? What if she hated Marble and never wanted to see her again? What if she was at the party right now, laughing about the pathetic shy mare she’d met at lunch with all of her real friends?
Blinking back tears, Marble looked away and folded her ears down. Maybe Limestone was right; they should’ve just gone home.
“Whoa, Marble are you cr—”
Click.
Marble’s ears perked up. She turned back just in time to see a blue mare bounce out of the dentist’s office.
“Hey Marble!”
There she was. Honeyed voice, blinding smile and a presence that just made the day better. Marble hurriedly wiped her eyes as Minuette bounded over and wrapped her in a hug.
“M-Minuette,” Marble whispered as she was enveloped in the warmth of the other mare. She was really here.
“I’m so sorry for being late. I completely blanked on the fact that it was my turn to clean the x-ray machine. Pretty silly of me, huh?”
“I-It’s fine.” Marble smiled softly as she leaned deeper into the hug. How could she have overreacted like that? There was no way Minuette would have ever have done those things. Nestling her face into Minuette’s mane she sighed with content. If only this moment could last forever.
“Erhem.” Limestone coughed loudly into her hoof, ruining the moment forever.
“Hmm?” Minuette pulled away from the hug, attention snatched by this new interloper. Marble paused, the lingering feeling of Minuette’s hold staying with her for barely an instant.
“U-uh,” she snapped back to reality, realizing introductions were in order. “Minuette, this is my sister, L-Limestone.”
“Holy cow!” Minuette’s grin widened. “I get to meet two Pie’s in one day?”
“Yep. But don’t expect me to be like the last one.” Limestone grinned. Marble gulped, not sure she liked the mischief rising behind those emerald eyes.
“Oh, I don’t think anypony’s quite like Shy Pie.” Minuette nudged Marble playfully.
Limestone’s eyes slashed between the two, eventually settling on Minuette with a hard gaze. “Yeah…”
“So how are you doing?” Minuette asked, her tone refusing to acknowledge the tension Limestone was spewing.
“Good,” came Limestone’s curt reply.
Silence of the awkward variety descended upon the group. Minuette didn’t really have much of a choice this time but to acknowledge it. As Limestone’s eyes scrutinized her every which way, Minuette tried to salvage the conversation.
“So how’s life on the rock farm?”
“Good.”
“...How do you like Canterlot so far?”
“Good.”
Minuette blinked. “Uh...huh.”
Limestone continued to stare, making Marble wish she had added ‘no excessive eye contact’ to the list of promises.
Eventually, Minuette turned back to face her. “Hey, so we should head to the party. If we hurry we’ll still be on time.”
“O-okay.” Marble nodded, hoping that Minuette wouldn’t—
“Did you want to come too?” Minuette looked back to Limestone, who finally stopped burning a hole into the back of her head.
“Sure.” Limestone smiled. “I’d like to get to know the pony my little sister is so… talkative about.”
Marble whimpered. Of course Limestone had gone into overprotective mode. And now she had an open invitation to come to the party. Well, she would’ve gone anyway, but still...
“Sounds like fun,” Minuette said, likely just happy that the awkward phase was supposedly over.
“Y-yeah…” Marble mumbled.
Minuette turned and pointed down the road. “Well, since we’re ready, let’s shove off!” She started walking, with Limestone not far behind. Marble, still wrapped up in worry over her big sister’s motives, didn’t notice them walking right away and scrambled to catch up.
They walked in silence for a little while through the streets of Canterlot. Marble found that she liked walking in a group; it gave them more of a presence on the road and got other ponies to avoid walking so closely. Now if only their voices had a bit more presence…
Sure, Marble enjoyed silences. In fact, she likely appreciated them more than anypony else she knew, bar Maud. But walking next to Minuette just made her feel… something. More talkative. Like she would be heard if she spoke.
If only she could think of something to say.
“Oh, before I forget.” Minuette paused in her step. Marble’s gaze darted over to her, but she deflated slightly when she saw Minuette looking at Limestone instead. “How did the rock candy sales pitch go?”
“Oh, you… know about that?” Limestone blinked. “Well it went… pretty good.”
Minuette flashed her flawless smile and Marble felt herself melt a little bit, even though it wasn’t aimed at her. “That’s great news!”
“Yeah, it is.” Limestone kicked a pebble down the sidewalk. “So what’s the deal with this party?”
Minuette cocked her head slightly. “Deal?”
“Yeah. What kind of party is this supposed to be?” Limestone fixed Minuette with another look, kicking the stone as they caught up to it.
“Oh, well, I guess it’s really only a party in spirit. And in piñata. It’s really just a couple of my friends having a little get together.”
Limestone looked over at Marble, who was doing her best to blend into her mane. “Define a few.”
“Oh, well let’s see.” Minuette raised her hoof, flicking it as she counted up her tally of friends. “There’s Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, Moon Dancer ‘cause it’s her party, and… well I believe Lyra said she couldn’t make it, so that’s it.”
“I see.” Limestone narrowed her eyes, but didn’t press anything further.
Is she… just trying to make sure I won’t be uncomfortable? Marble thought. That’s certainly what it seemed like. Maybe she’d overreacted regarding her sister as well.
“So are you excited, Marble?” Minuette suddenly asked, turning to her.
“Uh… huh?” Being snapped out of her train of thought was usually enough to derail Marble, but being looked at by those sparkling blue eyes only served to magnify the effect. “W-what?”
“I was just wondering if you were excited for the party,” Minuette repeated. “I mean, I know you’ve probably been to a lot considering that Pinkie Pie is your sister and all, but still.”
Marble blinked. “I… I almost never go to my sister’s parties.”
Now it was Minuette’s turn to blink. “What?”
Streaks of gray hair flew in front of Marble’s face, fearing she’d just upset her. “I… I went to the one she threw when she got her Cutie Mark, but that’s because it was at our house. After that I… well, she left.”
“Oh…” Minuette bit her lip, seeing what a sore subject it was. “I’m sorry for bringing it up.”
Marble’s eyes widened. “Uh, y-you don’t have to be sorry!” she quickly stammered out. Making Minuette feel bad was the absolute last thing she wanted to do. Scratch that, it wasn’t something she wanted to do, period. “It’s okay, really.”
“You sure?”
Marble bobbed her head up and down. “I’m… not much of a party goer anyway… I-I guess.”
“Well yeah, I guess kind of figured that out about you, Shy Pie.” Minuette stopped walking for a brief moment and looked over at Marble. “Did you… not want to go to the party?”
“N-no!” Marble stammered out. Maybe.
She wanted to spend time with Minuette above all else. The party was just the place that had been chosen for their second date… or maybe just second hang out? Marble was still unsure where they stood on that, but she was too nervous to broach the topic.
Minuette smiled. “Okay, I just didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m comfortable around you!” Marble insisted. She scrunched her face, realizing how awkward that sounded and tried again. “I-I mean… I’m not uncomfortable.”
“That’s good to hear,” Minuette replied.
“Yeah…” Limestone agreed vaguely. Marble glanced over to her sister and was given a curious gaze in return. She didn’t know what was going on through her sister’s mind, but it certainly seemed like she wasn’t fully convinced about any of this.
“Come on!” Minuette trotted forward. “The park’s just around this corner. Oh, I can’t wait for you to meet my friends!”
Marble was about to quicken her pace, but a sudden hoof on her back stopped her. And made her squeak in surprise.
“You sure you want to do this?” Limestone asked.
“O-of course,” Marble tried to assert.
“Really? Because it feels like you’re forcing yourself to do this just because of Minuette.” Limestone’s eyes were firm, yet sympathetic. “If you’re trying to change yourself to be what you think she wants just because of your crush—”
“N-no!” Marble slapped away her blush. “I just… I…”
Limestone frowned. It was a simple action, but it made Marble’s stomach flop anyway. “I don’t like this, Marble. If you—”
“I’m not!” Marble cried as loudly as she dared. “P-please, don’t ruin this for me!”
Blinking in retort, Limestone opened her mouth and let it hang there for a moment. Marble swallowed and felt the need to run and hide. She’d never raised her voice to Limestone before—one does not poke a bear after all—and now she had to deal with the potential fallout of that.
Thankfully, a chipper voice cut into the tension. “Hey you two, what’s the hold up?”
Marble turned to see Minuette standing at the corner and hastened after her. “C-coming!” After a moment, she heard Limestone follow.
When they rounded the corner, Marble felt her heart skip a beat.
As promised, three ponies were waiting for her. They all stood amidst a few tables set up in one of the areas of the city where the buildings bled away into grass and trees. The piñata that Minuette had been building up could also be seen hanging from an adjacent tree, though Marble’s unfathomable excitement regarding a paper mache pineapple wrapped around candy was overshadowed by the fact that now she actually had to meet more ponies.
And then the fact that she had to meet more ponies was overshadowed by Minuette draping her foreleg over her shoulder.
“Hey girls!” Minuette called out to them. Three heads turned their way, followed by three matching smiles and three warm waves.
Marble whimpered and tried to sink deeper into Minuette’s hold.
It didn’t work.
Minuette started walking them forward. Marble shot a glance back, catching her sister’s eye. The look on Limestone’s face was dubious at best as they marched forward to the impending meet and greet.
Marble swallowed. She already thinks I’m trying to change myself—a-and I’m not. I can’t let her think I hate this or else she might want to leave!
Putting on a brave-ish face, Marble stopped dragging her heels and walked alongside Minuette to meet her friends.
“Hey, Minny,” one of them—a white unicorn with a pink mane—said. She took brief notice of Marble and Limestone. “Who’re they?”
Marble winced, fearing she might melt. Sure, ask about us right off the bat. Why not?
Minuette beamed. “This is Marble and her sister Limestone. The two of us shared a lunch table, so naturally I had to invite them. I hope that’s okay.”
“The more the merrier,” the unicorn with a tied back mane assured her.
“All right, so introductions are in order.” Withdrawing her foreleg, Minuette stepped in the center of the two groups and began an elaborate series of gestures that nopony had a hope of following. “Marble, meet Moon Dancer. Moon Dancer, Marble. Twinkleshine, Marble. Marble, Twinkleshine. Marble, Lemon Hearts. Lemon Hearts, Marble. Limestone meet Twinkleshine, Twinkleshine, Limestone. Limestone, Moon Dancer. Moon Dancer, Limestone. Lemon Hearts meet Limestone and,” Minuette paused to take in a massive breath. “Limestone meet Lemon Hearts.”
The yellow unicorn—Lemon Hearts—waved. “Uh, heh, hi.”
Limestone grunted.
Marble was doing her best not to hyperventilate. She looked to the three intimidating smiles of Minuette’s friends, to the warm smile of Minuette herself.
I-I can do this. After all, they’re just… ponies
Marble swallowed. New, unknown ponies… Who expected to meet her… To talk to her…
Oh boy.
As if she could sense Marble’s discomfort, and she probably could, Minuette gave her a reassuring pat on the back. It helped.
“Well now that that mouthful is out of the way…” Minuette grinned widely. “Let’s party!”