//------------------------------// // Chapter Ten: Magic Mare // Story: Marble Magic // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// Marble Magic Chapter Ten: Magic Mare Written by TheCrimsonDM It was an early morning over at Fluttershy’s cottage, and Marble couldn’t be feeling any worse. There were so many animals here that she could feel herself breaking out in a nervous rash. It would only be made worse if there were ponies, especially stallions. Yet again Pinkie Pie had ditched Marble off on one of her friends and since the town was full of ponies moving about their daily lives Marble was stuck here. Fluttershy was babying a few rabbits and Marble tried not to show her disdain for being on an animal farm. She could handle rocks, and plants, but she never got along with animals. A cat walked by, it’s orange and black spotted fur made it almost look friendly. Marble may have known better but she dared to try and pet it anyway. The cat hissed, swiped a claw at her and jumped three feet back so quickly that Marble could barely keep up with what happened. Thankfully it didn’t actually hurt her. “Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked. Marble shook her head. “What’s wrong? You know you can always talk to me, I’m a good listener,” Fluttershy said kindly. Marble dug out her notebook and scribbled down a message. “I do not get along with animals. My sister shouldn’t have left me here.” “Oh, I’m sure that they just don’t know you yet.” Fluttershy beckoned toward the bunnies with her wing. They took one look at Marble, made a honking sound and bounded away with their noses in the air. “Oh… that was quite unexpected.” “Mmm?” “They don’t seem to like you, they think you feel weird,” Fluttershy frowned. “They’ve only ever said that about Pinkie Pie before, and it was so hard to get them to trust her.” Marble didn’t know why they didn’t like her, but she suspected it had something to do with the reason she didn’t like going out very much; her Marble Sense. Of course there was no proof of that, it was just the only thing that Marble had in common with her sister that was weird. “Okay, well um, Pinkie Pie wanted me to give you some work if I had any… You worked for Rarity yesterday if I understand it correctly?” Marble wrote some more in her notebook. “She had me try out teenage dresses but she ran out of them. It was fun while it lasted, and I got/ paid." Fluttershy smiled after reading it. “That sounds wonderful. Are you any good at house cleaning?” Marble nodded. Of course she was good at house cleaning, all the pies were. “Good, because I could use a helping hoof around the house today, and maybe if we’re good enough we can tackle the shed,” Fluttershy said. She quickly frowned. “Um, but we won’t actually tackle it. We’re just going to clean out the shed if we have any extra time…” Marble nodded and smiled. “Good, let’s get cleaning, if you’re up for it that is.” *** Trixie stared into the cup of coffee, the cream swirled around like a storm cloud. This only reminded her of the turmoil in her heart. It might have been years since she was last close to anypony from home, and since then she only visited maybe once or twice a year. She didn’t have a real reason too until now. Of course she’d never get the chance to make up for her lost time. Trixie’s sisters were alive, still not talking to her, but alive. Her mom was alive and going to stay with her for a while. Better yet, her two closest friends from home were okay as well. Both Miss Direction and Peppers Ghost were out on a vacation. Marigold already had a letter prepared for them and was having Twilight send it. The crystal floors had a particular sound to them as hooves clip-clopped along them. Trixie looked up to see Twilight enter the kitchen. A cup of coffee was held aloft in her purple aura beside her. “Good morning, Trixie,” Twilight said cheerfully. Trixie stared back into her coffee. “Morning.” “You ready to go adventuring today?” Twilight asked. Trixie looked around, and then she settled on staring at Twilight. “Twilight, you have to save Guile, even if it means killing Baast. Especially if it means killing Baast.” “What? Why?” Twilight asked shocked. “She took away everypony that I know. My entire home town was wiped out by her. Do I really have to explain this to you?” Twilight took a seat at the table. “Do you want to hear something?” “Not unless if involves stopping that monster.” “I’ve had ponies die on me before.” Trixie looked up and saw the distant look in Twilight’s eyes. Twilight continued, “When the changelings attacked Canterlot there were casualties. There was this painter I knew growing up. He was so nice to me even though I treated him like I did everypony else, beneath me. Apparently he got caught defending a group of foals and… he didn’t stop fighting. I never got to apologize for how I treated him, I never got to be real friends with him. He’s just gone, and… I sort of focused on my life in Ponyville after that. It was an escape, one that ended up hurting the friends I had left in Canterlot.” “That’s horrible,” Trixie said. “Then there was Tirek,” Twilight said. “Do you know how much death, destruction and chaos were spread through the empire because of him? I’m just glad that because of Starlight’s equality cult, she didn’t have her magic absorbed by him too.” “There was a… a lot of death when Tirek showed up. Mostly just in the big cities,” Trixie lowered her head. “I’m just lucky he didn’t go after small towns.” “Remember that filly that always set things on fire by accident when performing spells?” Twilight asked. “Oh yeah, uh Matchsticks right?” Trixie asked. “At least you remembered her name… she was killed by him too.” Hearing that news tightened the grip on Trixie’s heart. “She’s gone too?” “Minuette told me.” Twilight let out a sigh, took a sip of her coffee and looked back at the table. “What do you know about our adventures?” “I read some of those books you wrote,” Trixie said. “You know the ones where after each adventure you or your friends learned a lesson.” “You mean the books I wrote for foals?” Twilight asked. “You do realize I had to cut a lot of stuff out of those.” Trixie frowned. “I was wondering why the swears were all wrong.” “Heh, well you got the base idea of what happened anyway. Just leaving out all the small details that were not so friendly.” Trixie took a sip of her coffee. “I want to help stop Baast.” “You can’t face her with us,” Twilight said. “I’ll just get in the way?” “Yes.” “Okay, but I can still help with finding out information and stuff right?” Trixie asked. Twilight nodded. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Trixie grinned and pushed herself upright. Sure she couldn’t defeat the pain she was feeling, but she could push it away. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will get all the information you could possibly need.” That’s when Marigold walked in. She had a generous smile and wore saddlebags. A pair of saddlebags were held aloft next to her by an amber aura. One of them was dark purple the other dark blue. “Okay fillies, if you’re done gossiping let’s get hiking. It’s going to be one heck of a trip before we get to the castle… where’s Star?” Twilight nodded toward the door. “She’s already waiting for us outside.” “And Spike?” “I’m not taking him this time. He is going to Rarity’s to help out. Really she’s just babysitting him for me. Just in case something happens to us, he’s our backup,” Twilight said. “How can he be both mature enough to be our backup, and young enough to need a babysitter?” Marigold asked. “Oh the babysitting thing is to make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble or sneak after us.” Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “I uh… he’s old enough to spend several months by his lonesome like when I went out to stop an evil cult leader though… dragons are confusing.” “You sure he’s not supposed to be a bit taller?” Marigold asked. “Dragon puberty hits pretty hard from what I’ve seen. Lots of fighting to make a horde. Then there’s the breeding… lots of breeding.” “You know about dragons?” Twilight asked. “Honey, I was the one to steal his egg in the first place, in order to pull that off I had to study them. Golden Oak used to keep our notes in… well in the very place we’re going too. Maybe you can use them, to write a book, or to take care of your kid, either way they could be useful,” Marigold said. “Just don’t let him breed recklessly. We don’t need a mass of mares discovering all of a sudden that they can lay eggs.” “Lay eggs?” Marigold flashed a grin. “What? Did you think that whatever pony he knocks up was going to give birth to a pony? Nope, pony-dragon hybrids and lots of mutation. It’s a brilliant, disgusting, kinda awesome, and dangerous mess. Isn’t nature beautiful?” Twilight shivered. “Fluttershy only says that when something’s being torn apart by an animal.” “Sounds like my kind of mare,” Marigold said. “I’ll have to meet her for tea.” “Please don’t corrupt my friends,” Twilight begged. “Oh don’t worry, their already corrupt, all I do is help them break out of their shells a little.” “What do you mean corrupt?” Trixie asked. “You’re mom has some… ideas about friendship that I’d rather not look into,” Twilight explained. “Oh my yes,” Marigold said. “They should all try having intercourse. The amount of information you could gain from studying the effects of sexual activities shared between friends could-“ Twilight covered her ears with her hooves, and started singing, loudly, “Nananananana Batmare!” Marigold burst out laughing and Trixie couldn’t help but giggle as well. Trixie gave her mom a dirty look. “You just enjoy teasing the innocent princess don’t you?” “Celestia did this to me when I was Twilight’s age, I figured I might as well return the favor.” *** With a spotless house and a few more bits in her wallet, Marble not only felt accomplished she felt like doing something special. Exactly what, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that Pinkie Pie had dropped her off at Fluttershy’s, and despite how much cleaning they did, including the shed, she couldn’t help but to remember exactly how attractive Fluttershy was. It was odd to see her in this normal state, and to think back to how she looked glamour up and posing for the camera. It was actually getting a little awkward. So Marble did the only thing she could, and she used her notebook to ask where Pinkie Pie was. She didn’t have to write it down, it was something she’d had to ask so many times now that she just opened up to the page that had the note and showed it off. “Oh she’s working right now, she does a lot of deliveries for the Cakes. Um, but you are welcomed to stay until she comes back. I know how scary a new place can be after all,” Fluttershy said. Marble frowned. I don’t want to be here anymore. I can’t stop staring at you… and you’re the wrong pony to be doing that too. “Is it weird?” Fluttershy asked. “Mmhmm…” “I was worried it might be a bit weird. I mean I signed those… things for you, and you’re wearing a Fluttershy brand saddlebag,” Fluttershy looked down at the floor. “Are you nervous to be around me?” “Mmhmm.” “Is it because you… you know?” Marble tilted her head to the side to show her confusion. “You… uh… you like… me…” Marble’s eyes went wide. “Mmhmm…” She quickly wrote something down and showed it to Fluttershy. “It’s wrong for me to be here like this." “But... why? I mean, is it because you don’t want to be in my house yet or…” Fluttershy’s eyes slowly grew wide. “Are you already seeing somepony?” “Oh my, is it true, darling?” Rarity asked from beside them. They both looked at the open window and saw Rarity sticking her head in. She smiled at them. “So sorry to drop by like this but I have Spike cleaning my basement and I needed to ask you something. You know, before ‘he’ shows up.” Fluttershy blinked. “Oh… oh… OH! Oh no.” She looked down at Marble. “I am so sorry but you need to go with Rarity, anywhere but here. Discord is going to be stopping by for tea soon and I’m afraid he won’t respect you’re need for distance.” The name sent a wave of terror through Marble. The spirit of chaos himself was going to arrive here, at Fluttershy’s cottage. That was the last thing she wanted to deal with. “The last time I had guests over when Discord arrived he sent us back through time,” Fluttershy said. “We almost all were eaten by Rainbow Dash the t-rex.” “That… makes no sense,” Rarity said. “Does it ever make sense when Discord’s involved,” Fluttershy answered. “A-anyway, could you please take care of Marble and take her somewhere nice and quiet?” Rarity smiled. “Of course I can. Marble, are you ready to go?” Marble nodded, grabbed her saddlebags and trotted to the door. She didn’t hesitate in opening it and walking out to meet Rarity. Fluttershy followed albeit not as quickly. Rarity looked back at Fluttershy and asked, “Could you do me a favor?” “Um… not with Discord around.” “That’s okay. I just need somepony to draw me one of those neighponese cartoon characters. Sweetie Belle discovered something called Sailor Pony Moon. She wants me to get her a picture of her and her friends drawn as the characters,” Rarity said. “I remembered you were good at drawing so I thought I would ask you.” Fluttershy beamed. “I would love too! Oh and I have some Sailor Pony Moon stuff I could give her… not out of my collection, but um… other stuff that I don’t need anymore or that I have too much of…” “You like the comic?” Rarity asked. “It’s nothing but fighting, flirtation, and weird… stuff.” Fluttershy pawed at the floor with a hoof. “I… um… might have read a book or two… and their called manga, not comics.” “Their black and white and you read them backwards,” Rarity said. “They give me a headache… but if you like it maybe Sweetie Belle can talk to you about it instead of me? I tried to get into it but I simply can’t.” “I’d love to! I haven’t had a good manga reading buddy in a very long time,” Fluttershy said. “Good.” Rarity started walking and Marble followed. “I’ll send her down sometime and you two can nerd out.” They walked together for awhile, keeping to the outskirts of town where there were fewer ponies. This made Marble happy. Rarity however looked like she had a plan brewing and that started to worry her. Marble didn’t like it when plans were made without her consent. After all, Pinkie’s been doing it for three days now. “Marble,” Rarity said. “You got some money for working from Fluttershy, no?” Marble nodded. “Oh that’s good. Would you like to stop by one of the stores?” Rarity asked. Marble looked up at her and blinked. “We could go to Bonbon’s and get some candy, or we could go shopping for accessories, or even look at the antique store!” Rarity giggled. “Or if you’re anything like your sister you’ll want to check out the toy store.” Marble shook her head. “You don’t want to spend it at all?” Rarity asked. Marble opened her mouth, and stopped. There were some things she wanted to buy, if she could find them. She had to stop, forcing Rarity to wait for her as she checked her wallet. She then wrote down on her journal. “Are you familiar with the Great and Powerful Trixie? My sister doesn’t know this, but I think she sells merchandise here in Ponyville. Can we go look at it? I like magic." Marble could only hope that the excuse of liking magic was enough to make Rarity take her without question. Rarity frowned. “You like magic? Like magic shows?” “Mmhmm.” “So magicians?” “Mmhmm.” Rarity let out a sigh. “She’s not always the nicest person, I mean, she’s not a bad pony but sometimes she… is not pleasant to be around. Your sister has a problem with her as well, and I wouldn’t want to get myself into trouble.” Marble let out a sigh. She couldn’t blame Rarity for not taking her if she could get in trouble. Of course Pinkie Pie would make this hard for her too. “But if you swear to never tell your sister, I can take you to the two colts that sell posters and such of her,” Rarity said. “Just… their very friendly so if you don’t want them to hug you you’ll need to stay back.” Marble beamed up at her. “MMHMM!” “Then it’s settled, let’s get you a poster to celebrate your love of magicians,” Rarity exclaimed. Marble’s heart stopped dead in its tracks. Just behind Rarity stood four ponies. Princess Twilight Sparkle, her apprentice, and another unicorn she didn’t recognize. Then there was the one unicorn stood out amongst the others. Trixie Lulamoon, the greatest magician of all time. “Now if we head straight down this ro-“ Rarity began. She was cut off as Marble galloped past her and straight for Trixie. Only a few feet away did Trixie seem to notice her presence and the mare’s horn glowed purple. Marble was stopped mid step. “Marble! You can’t,” Trixie said. “I don’t want to hurt you.” Marble blinked at her. What, but why? “I just… something really bad just happened to me okay. I can’t give you that sort of pain. Not yet,” Trixie explained. Marble frowned at her. I don’t care! I swore that I would come back for you, and that I would always stay by your side. Your pain is my pain! Trixie’s lip quivered. “Marble… just… wait a few hours okay. Can you do that for me? Just a few hours and I’ll be stable enough okay.” Rarity joined Marble’s side. “You two know each other?” Trixie looked at her and her eyes popped out of her head. “She’s… we worked on the same farm. She’s my biggest fan.” Rarity nodded. “I forget that you know Pinkie’s family. Though I can’t tell if you’re threatening her or respecting her Marble Sense.” “Of Course Trixie would respect her-“ Trixie cut herself off. Marble could see the pain etched across the mare’s features. Those eyes had never before looked so hurt. All Marble wanted to do was make her better. “I’m glad to hear that,” Rarity said. “We were just going to buy some merchandise from Snips and Snails. Merchandise of you. It makes me feel a lot better about going behind Pinkie’s back like this when I know that you are friendly to her.” Trixie grinned, but it didn’t hide the pain from Marble. “Oh, well you tell those two they better give you the Fan Service Discount. If they don’t Trixie won’t let them help out in the next show.” Trixie met Marble’s eyes. “Trixie is going to the Everfree Forest and will return later tonight. Trixie is going to be home, all night long, so if anypony should happen by her house, say at a usual time perhaps, Trixie shall be awaiting them with open legs.” Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Are you propositioning me?” Trixie didn’t miss a beat. “Are you saying no?” “Trixie, I’m straight,” Rarity said flatly. “… go ask… uh… Starlight are you, you know?” Starlight rolled her eyes. “I was a cult leader. I had sex with pretty much everypony in that town. I don’t think sexual alignments apply to me anymore.” Rarity’s mouth hit the ground. Marble stared at the mare in complete disbelief and the orange unicorn broke out into a fit of hideous laughter. “Oh I do like this one,” the orange mare said. “Cant I keep her, Twilight?” Twilight groaned, “Be my guest.”