A tale of three sisters

by Widow Peak

Preparations

PREPARATIONS

It was a nice day of spring in Ponyville. After a particularly cold winter, the good weather seemed to be determined to make the ponies forget about the snow and the ice. The temperature was pleasant, and various random clouds offered coverage from the sun. Here and there some pegasi worked on the skies, making sure none of the cumulus drifted too far away of the town. The streets were filled with ponies enjoying the excellent weather, chatting and walking around aimlessly and without worries.

In contrast with the rest of the town, the Ponyville library was bursting with activity. The librarian was re-shelving every single book, scroll and paper in the building, like she did after every change of season.

“Spike!” called Twilight Sparkle. “Where is the checklist?”

“I think you just shelved it.” pointed out the baby dragon. It was the fourth time today the librarian had accidentally stored the list.

“Oh? Well, go get it.” she said, scanning the pillars of books with her lavender eyes. “What book goes after Mood Wings? I think I’m missing one here!”

The dragon climbed the ladder and picked the checklist from one of the upper shelves. The scroll was so long it rolled on the floor and almost reached the opposite wall. “No, according to this we haven’t skipped anything.” Spike suppressed an annoyed grunt. This would take the whole day. At least four times each year, a whole day was wasted in going over all the books of the library, an effort that, in Spike’s humble opinion, was rather pointless.

In that moment, somepony knocked at the door. Without even turning around, Twilight used her telekinetic grip to open it. “I’m sorry, but we’re very busy at th-” She couldn’t finish the sentence, as a pink blur tackled her into the floor.

“Twilight!”

“P-Pinkie?!”

“Well, duh! Hello! What’s up?” The pink pony had her face at mere centimeters from Twilight’s, with her mouth contortioned in an impossibly big grin.

“Uh…well, I was re-shelving the books, and then you tackled me.” slowly replied Twilight, still confused by Pinkie’s entrance. “Do you need anything?”

The pink mare got off Twilight and started hopping around the library. “I just wanted to say hello to you and Spike and tell you something great!” She looked very excited, even more than usually.

“Uh-hu.” The librarian hopped back onto her hooves and continued with her task, knowing that Pinkie would not mind. “Tell me, then.”

“Well, Derpy just delivered a letter from my family.”

“Your family?” Twilight’s ear gave a twitch as she looked to her friend. This caught her attention. Despite how talkative Pinkie was, she barely spoke about her family. Everypony knew she used to live in a rock farm with her parents and two sisters, but that was all.

“Yeah! We’re having a family reunion, finally! It won’t be as big as Applejack’s, but I’m sure we will have much fun as well!” she tapped her chin thoughtfully. “But we don’t have a barn to destroy.”

Twilight giggled “I don’t think that’s part of the standard family reunion, Pinkie. Anyways, I know little about your family, but if I’m not wrong, none of your sisters still live at the rock farm, right?”

“Yep! Me, Inkie and Blinkie. I was the first to leave, and then some years later Inkie and then Blinkie. They are very important and busy ponies, you know? That’s why I haven’t seen them in veeery long.” explained Pinkie.

“I see.” Twilight couldn’t help but smile. “Then you must be excited, huh?”

“Excited? I could walk on the walls!” replied Pinkie, bouncing once again.

“I believe you.” whispered Twilight to herself. She turned to her friend. “So, when are you leaving?”

“In a week! I am staying with my family for a month, so I have a lot to pack.” She stopped hopping in mid-air. “Which reminds me, I should prooobably tell the Cakes I’m leaving!”

Twilight rolled her eyes yet again. “Have you told the girls already?” she asked.

“I’ve told Rainbow Dash, I bumped into her on my way here.” explained Pinkie. She made a pause to extract a piece of paper from her puffy mane. “Almost forgot! I wanted to get some presents for my sisters. Do you think you could get these books by then?” she tossed the note to Twilight, who caught it on her telekinetic grip.

The librarian took a moment to read the titles of the books, and her jaw dropped. “Pinkie? These are very advanced books. I’m sure I don’t have them here, maybe I could request them to…Pinkie?” The mare looked around, but the other pony had disappeared without a sound. “Spike? I’m going to write a letter.” she told her assistant after a moment, who had remained silent for the whole visit. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

***

“Think you can do it?”

“Why, of course! I have plenty of time to make a pair of scarves. I wish I could make something a little more impressive.” replied Rarity, shaking her head slowly. “But I can’t do anything without their measures.” Pinkie had appeared in her boutique a few minutes ago, speaking very quickly about clothes, gifts and visits. After she calmed down a bit and explained everything properly to the fashionista, she had quickly accepted to help.

“Nah, it’s fine. I just want to give them a little something, a dress may be a bit too much.” assured Pinkie rummaging through the multicolor fabric rolls that Rarity had on exposure. “This one is pretty!” she said, pulling out a pure white sheet.

The seamstress trotted to her. “Yes, I think this ivory white would work perfectly for Inkie.” she said, grinning. “I already have a design in mind, and I think she’ll like it.”

“Sweet!” Pinkie pulled her into a hug. “Can I make some suggestion?”

“No” replied curtly Rarity, backing a bit from the contact. After that disaster with the dressed for the Gala, the mare had sworn to never let her friends interfere so much in her designs. And Pinkie was probably the worse of her friends in that sense. Only Celestia know what the pink pony could do to a scarf if left alone with sewing equipment.

“Awww, fine.” her smile faltered just for an instant. “Alright, I have a ton of stuff to do, so I’ll see you later! Bye!” Pinkie left the boutique, waving a hoof, not even letting Rarity say goodbye.

Rarity shrugged, closed the door with her magic and turned back to her fabrics. “The way Pinkie speaks about her sisters…it seems they are very different from her.” she said to herself. “I wouldn’t mind meeting them, actually. They sound like very polite and upper class ponies. And Celestia knows is always a good idea to get on with them!” With that, the seamstress started working, singing a small tune as her tools flew around her in a precise dance.

***

Six days later, Pinkie found herself in her room in the second floor of the Sugarcube Corner, checking her packages for the fourteenth time that evening. The last days had been a rush of excitement, concern and preparations. The rock farm was quite far way from Ponyville, so she wanted to be absolutely certain she wouldn’t forget anything. And thus, she had packed and unpacked her luggage so many times that the Cakes were starting to wonder if they should start to worry about her.

Pinkie pulled out one of the books, carefully wrapped in wool to protect it from any damage. The title read ‘An illustrated guide of gems and jewels’. It was not the book Pinkie had asked Twilight, but that was the closest she had managed to get with so little time to work. Still, Pinkie was satisfied with her present. While her sister would probably know everything in the book, the drawings and pictures were so beautiful she would probably enjoy it anyways. The pink mare absently flipped some of the pages, reading the names under her breath.

“Dragon eye, griffon’s pride, Celestial tear, midnight stone, fire ruby…”

Pinkie stopped on that page and studied the picture of the heart-shaped gem. Under it there was a long description of the characteristics, value and formation of the stone. Curious, the mare started reading.

In that moment, somepony knocked at the door and startled her. The mare let out a yelp and leaped into the couch. “Pinkie Pie?” called Mrs Cake’s voice from the other side. “Can I come in?”

“Sure.” replied Pinkie, running a hoof on her mane. She was so focused in the book that she didn’t even hear Mrs Cake’s hoofsteps coming upstairs.

The older mare opened the door and peeked inside. Her jaw dropped at the sight of the chaotic disarray of the room. “Unpacking again?” she said with a sigh as she crossed the door and carefully walked to Pinkie, carefully avoiding the obstacles.

“Uh…yeah. Sorry about that…” Pinkie replied, smiling sheepishly. “It’s just that I don’t want to forget anything. I-It’s been a very long time since I saw my sisters, and I really, really want everything to be perfect.”

“Have you thought of making a checklist?” suggested Mrs Cake.

“Yeah, but…” Pinkie extracted a piece of paper from her mane and hoofed it to Mrs Cake. The mare looked at it and grimaced. It was a checklist, indeed, but every item had been checked at least a dozen of times before, and there were a lot of tiny annotations and reminders in the blank spaces. The pink mare let out a sigh and sat on the floor, the concern plain in her expression.

The older pony smiled kindly. “Pinkie? Come here.” She sat next to her and pulled the mare into a hug, which she returned. “I know you’re very nervous, dear. But I think you’re worrying too much.”

“Maybe…” she sighed. “But I really don’t want my family to get angry with me if I mess up something!”

Mrs Cake smiled and shook her head. “Oh, Pinkie. It’s your family we’re talking about. They love you now, and I know it doesn’t matter what you do, they will still love you.” She backed to look Pinkie on the eyes. “Really now, do you sincerely think they’ll turn their backs to you if you don’t bring a present to all of them?”

“Well no, but…” she glanced to her packages and nervously tangled her mane on her hooves. “You see…I know my parents are the mostly the same. They have always lived in the rock farm. It’s my sisters why I am worried.”

“What do you mean?” asked Mrs Cake, frowning.

“You see, they are very important and high-society ponies now.” she explained very quickly. “And I am worried because maybe they have changed and they no longer like the rock farm and our parents and I, and maybe I won’t see them again because they won’t want to spend time with us, so I want everything to be perfect, I want to give the right impression and all that. What if they don’t like me now? I’m not like I used to be, or maybe I am too similar to their taste! I don’t know, and I really need to-” The torrent of words stopped when Mrs Cake put a hoof on her lips.

“I understand how you feel, Pinkie. But there is no point on thinking about that now, you’ll cross that river when you reach it.” She nodded to the luggage. “It’s clear you’re making a very big effort on this. The best you can do is sleep well tonight and wish for luck. You’re a great pony, and if they don’t see that it’s their loss. Also remember…” she dropped her voice to a quiet whisper. “It doesn’t matter how high-society a pony is; a cake is always a great way to get a good start.

Pinkie giggled and got up. “You’re right, Mrs Cake.” she said, her cheerfulness restored once again. “Thanks for this, I really needed it.”

“You’re very welcome, Pinkie.” she replied, smiling. “Now pack your things for the last time and go to bed. We will take care of the rest.” She gave Pinkie one last squeeze before disappearing downstairs.

***

The time had finally come. After a week of preparations, Pinkie and her friends were standing at the platform of the Ponyville train station. The train to Pinkie’s town was rather dull and plain when compared with the Friendship Express. It was an undecorated machine of steel and iron, pure efficiency and power. The passengers cars were painted in many hues of gray and brown, and there were also a couple of freight carriages. The sight was, in Rarity’s words ‘A monstruosity of steam and noise, with no elegancy or style.’

Because of all the presents and other luggage Pinkie was carrying with her, she had to borrow a small cart from Applejack. A porter had already taken it to one of the freight carts, leaving the six friends on the busy platform.

“Ah still can’t believe you’re gonna be gon’ for a whol’ month!” said Applejack. “Will the Cakes manage withou’ you?”

“Yes, they told me not to worry.” assured Pinkie. She looked to all her friends and smiled. “I’m going to miss you soooo much, girls.”

“We are going to miss you too, darling.” replied Rarity, putting a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “But don’t think too much about that; just have fun with your family, okay?”

“And don’t forget to write!” joked Rainbow Dash, winking an eye.

“Don’t try to go too fast with your sisters.” added Fluttershy. “It may be hard for them to get used to something new. Or…or old, I’m not sure.”

“And whatever you do, remember that you are who you are.” said Twilight. “You don’t have to change to be accepted by them.”

“I’ll remember.” said Pinkie, grinning and pulling them all into a group hug. When they backed, Spike walked to Pinkie, seeming nervous.

“Hum…hey, Pinkie? Do you think you could maybe…uh.” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Fetch some gems from your rock farm? It-it’s just that I’ve heard that gems from there are specially tasty!”

Pinkie giggled and pulled him into a hug. “Of course, Spike! Why were you so nervous?”

“Because I didn’t want to sound like I only cared about the gems.” explained the little dragon, rubbing his forehead. “Hum, have fun in the rock farm, okay?”

“I will.” Pinkie backed and smiled to her friends. “Thanks for coming to the station, girls. I wish-“

“All aboard!” shouted the stationmaster. “The train is leaving in a minute!”

“Oh! Bye girls!” Pinkie rushed to the closest door and looked for an empty seat. The train came alive and started whirring and spitting clouds of steam that covered the platform. The machine started moving, very slowly at first but quickly accelerating. Pinkie waved goodbye to her friends until they were five barely visible points on the horizon.

Pinkie let out a sigh and dropped in her seat. Being busy with the preparations gave something to think about other than how the visit would go. But now, alone in the train, the worry came back once again. She tried to get comfortable and enjoy the views from her window, but her mind was somewhere else.

“Whatever will be, will be.” she whispered.

Comments

[DILLYbOd]

Nicely done my good sir... I might check out our other stories when I get the chance...

[Widow Peak]

3947151 Thank you! And I was worried that this may not have any response at all from the community.