Maud Pie closed her eyes, allowing the picture she had been forcing away for the past week. This was no longer who she was, or, it didn’t need to be. The face was clear as day though, and it had been growing stronger each day after Rarity and Pinkie had left. At this point though, it was almost as painful as having to watch fools stripping stone away for their silly construction projects in the city, so she knew she had to answer the call once more.
”Marble, just look at the pretty clown I drew. Isn’t it nice, doesn’t it make you smile? Please?” Pinkie forced a large grin on her face, straining the muscles as she held out her crudely done portrait of one of her comedic idols. It was of no use, and Marble simply curled tighter into her ball.
Pinkie looked up at Maud as she entered the room. The pink filly was so small back then, so weak, and didn’t know how to properly cheer up a pony like Marble yet. So now, Maud would be asked if she knew, a task she hated needing to fill. Just because she was the oldest did not mean she knew everything. Not that she let them know, and it would be years until Pinkie saw through her facade. “What is wrong with Marble?”
Pinkie sniffed, trying to hold her tears back as she whispered, “A mean bully called her stupid on the playground before throwing gravel at her.”
A face appeared in Maud’s mind, and she nodded. “Go to her. I will be back.”
Maud slowly climbed up the stairs, wondering what her little sister would think of if she knew about this self assumed role. Would she accept it? Would she understand that it was a part of her that she enjoyed having? She doubted it of course. Each Pie had their specialties, and Maud’s was the opposite of Pinkie’s.
Maud walked up to Limestone as she slammed her pickaxe into a large boulder. She was still too young to be ready to break it, and the old tool was not the one she needed anyways. No, this was another time when her sister was in pain. Maud placed a hoof onto her shoulder, the two now teenagers. “You know that won’t work.”
Limestone’s eyes turned cold against her sister, before she turned away and walked towards a different boulder. Maud, of course, was standing there, waiting for her. “Look, I moved because I don’t want to talk to you. I know what you do when we’re like this. Besides, I could have broken that boulder. Fieldwork’s my area, remember?”
“What happened?”
Limestone growled, the pickaxe firmly between her hooves. “Maud, I don’t need-”
Maud placed a tender hoof onto her sister’s cheek as her yes turned downwards ever so slightly. “Please.”
Limestone was silent for a few moments, before blinking, and having a tear run down her face. “I’m… I’m going to find somepony someday, right? Marble isn’t going to be the only one I can consider for the rest of my life… she can’t be. I mean, I love her, but-”
Maud shifted her hoof from the cheek, to her sister’s muzzle, one of the mares from their class flashing into her mind. “No. You’re beautiful.”
Limestone glanced down and put her hooves onto the ground, letting the pickaxe fall as she did. “Don’t be too harsh, please.”
Maud looked at the door in front of her. On the other side was the pink pony in her mind. The one that had hurt one close to her before, and would hurt them again. The one who had demanded she act through her own actions.
Maud’s eyes shimmered for a moment, and she brought her hoof up for one loud, solid-
Thunk.
Maud curled up on the banister, shaking as she watched her parents. They had been yelling tonight, and while her baby sister somehow stayed asleep, she had been awoken by the commotion. Her muscles tensed as her father’s voice raised. She couldn’t understand the words, for she was too young, and had not reached out for speech. She would rather be quiet.
The screaming got louder as she watched her mother limp from the kitchen. She was hurt, and Maud didn’t want to accept what her instincts told her. She just wanted it to be quiet, like a rock, and then she could go to sleep. In the morning, her parents would smile at her, try to coax more words out of her and Limestone, and everything would be okay.
Her muzzle wrinkled at the smell of alcohol on the air, and her body trembled in response. It wanted to act, wanted to put forth the odd instincts within her that followed the Pie bloodline. The voice in the back of her mind scared her though, as it thought nasty, mean, and loud things. Things she did not want.
Her mother tripped to the ground as her father brought up a hoof, and for the only time in her life, Maud bared her teeth.
The door swung open to a pink mare with a purple mane. There were buttons on her flank, not that Maud needed such a specific identifier. She was on the phone, and whispered to the pony on the other side, “I’ll talk to you about the shop later.” She then hung up, and tilted her head. “Yes?”
“You will not hurt Rarity anymore.”
The other mare blinked a few times, before putting that same, stupid smile on that every other pony in this town knew. Maud was never fooled by it, and it only confirmed her suspicions of the mare, especially as she gestured for Maud to come in. “Oh, you know Rarity? I would love to hear how she is doing. I even heard she was thinking of opening a shop soon.” She rubbed her chin and pulled back a little. “You wouldn’t know when she may be putting her offer in for it.
Maud turned to the mare, and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.