Ivo
Pinkie Pie stepped out into the cold, biting air of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. The sky was dark, save for the glittering crystals of snow that had started to fall in the past thirty minutes since her plane had landed her at XNA. A slight chilly breeze passed through the loading area, and Pinkie shuddered slightly, thinking that perhaps she could have dressed a little more warmly for this location. This wasn’t Canterlot, after all.
In the distance was nothing but cars, waiting for their owners to return. The airport had been crowded, given the number of people flying out of XNA to various destinations. Beyond that, Airport Road continued its loop until it merged with Regional Avenue. Regional itself led on to other streets on its northbound trip, eventually slipping into the city of Bentonville, Arkansas, where Pinkie was born. She turned to see if she could discern the city from this distance, but Bentonville, if she recalled correctly, was at least six or so miles northeast of the airport, the distance between the two points filled by countless farms and other examples of rural life – a life that she could never understand.
Pinkie sighed as she watched a family who hadn’t seen each other in a while embrace each other with love and joy. Why does this have to be so hard? the teen sighed. I was born here…but I don’t belong here. And every time I come, I….
The honking of a vehicle sounded through the snow, soon followed by the rumble of a weathered 2002 Dodge Durango as it pulled up to the curb. The passenger window slid down as a young but stoic face said, “Hello, Pinkie.”
Pinkie’s own expressionless face slid into its usual manically cheery smile. “Hiya, sis!” Out of her family – her immediate family, rather – the one she was closest to was her older sister, Maud. The elder sister merely gave a glance to her sister, then to the back seat and finally the passenger seat, and Pinkie complied, opening the back door just long enough to throw her suitcase in before slamming it shut and then clambering into the car’s passenger seat.
“Watch out for Boulder,” Maud warned while Pinkie slipped on her seatbelt.
“Boulder?” the cotton-candy-haired teen asked before she heard a yipping at her feet. Looking down, she saw a gray pug puppy yelping at her feet. “Aww, he’s so cute!” She reached down towards the floorboards and Boulder complied happily, barking tiny squeals of delight as Pinkie brought him closer. Inevitably, the face licking came, engendering a series of giggles from Pinkie before the pup circled on her lap while the teen slipped on her seatbelt. Finally, she looked at Maud, saying, “Ready to roll,” as Maud looked out the side mirror before pulling away from the airport, headed towards home.
As they drove on, Pinkie didn’t want to hear just the droning country music that Maud had on the car radio, so she asked, “So how are Mom and Dad?”
“Don’t know; haven’t been home yet,” Maud replied.
“You haven’t?”
Maud shook her head. “Just passed Springdale when Ma called. Asked me to pick you up.” As always, Pinkie noted the slight twang in her sister’s voice that sounded like a lighter version of Applejack’s; as fellow residents of the Ozarks, the Apple family and the Pie family had both picked up the regional accent…all that is, save for Pinkie, who had been shuttled to a children’s hospital in San Francisco two weeks after her birth, in order to save the young baby’s life. She had been taken in by her mother’s younger sister and her newlywed husband, and had lived California style ever since.
“You’re quiet,” Maud said after a few more minutes of silence.
“Just…wondering where you got Boulder,” Pinkie said, dodging her sister’s line of thought.
Maud gave her sister a glance that indicated she knew Pinkie was avoiding the subject, but then let it slide. “Christmas gift from my boyfriend,” the elder girl explained.
“You have a boyfriend?”
“Says the California girl,” Maud monotoned, teasing her sister. “Surprised you don’t have more than one boyfriend yourself.” Something flickered in Pinkie’s eyes, but Maud caught it instantly. “Kennelworth didn’t want me living alone in my apartment. My complex allows pets, so he got me Boulder.”
“I see,” was all Pinkie said.
“Pinkie….”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” the teen sighed. “Just…wake me up when we get there, okay?” Pinkie put her head back in order to sleep, while Boulder looked at her cautiously, then back at his owner.
The look on Maud’s face was one of concern, but then it faded to nothing when she turned to focus on the road. They still had a drive to go, and the increasing snowfall wasn’t going to make it any easier.
Pinkie felt a gentle shake on her shoulder. “Almost there.” Maud then reached over and held up a bottle of Coke. “Stopped for gas. Figured you wanted one.”
Pinkie rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, then took the bottle gratefully. “Thanks.” Quickly unscrewing the top, she chugged down a third of it before stopping and putting it back in the drink holder. She then fished in her coat pocket for her phone. “I gotta call Auntie Cup and let her know I made it.”
“Text,” Maud suggested. “Phone signal’s weak here. Plus you’ll have roaming charges.”
“Thanks for reminding me,” she said, hammering out a quick message. She then turned around and said “Smile for the camera!” taking a picture, then sending the whole thing off.
“Thought you were going to send a text,” Maud asked.
“I did. Multimedia text,” Pinkie explained.
“My phone doesn’t do that.”
“Are you still carrying around that flip phone you’ve had since high school?”
Maud reached into her own jacket, pulling out a battered Motorola RAZR2, circa 2008. “It’s dependable,” she insisted.
In response, Pinkie held up her smartphone. “Modern phones can do things like that,” she replied, her voice the very tone of authority. Maud’s answer was to turn back to the driving and Pinkie grinned as she put her own phone away. In seriousness, Pinkie knew her sister had really never been one for modern technology and in many ways was an “old soul”, as the saying went. Then again, pretty much all of her birth family, as far as she knew, were old souls.
Finally, the SUV pulled up to a gate with an overhang that read PIE FAMILY ROCK FARM. Even past that it was a couple more minutes’ drive to the house on the undeveloped section of the quarry. As they came to a stop by a couple of trucks, Pinkie and Maud got out as the light on the front porch turned on. The front door opened and four barking dogs, all spaniels, raced forth.
“New dogs?” Pinkie asked, Boulder in her arms.
Maud shook her head. “No, had them for a while,” she replied as the four practically tackled the older girl. “Kept them at the neighbors since Ma and Pa were worried.”
“About what?”
“About your health, little one,” a whisky-weathered voice called out as two adults and two younger children walked out of the house. “Okay, pups, down.” That didn’t help, however, as the furry quartet suddenly noticed Pinkie and practically bumrushed her, knocking her over in a cascade of licks to the face and giggles.
“I see Rocky’s takin’ a liking to you,” the woman replied. She was dressed simply, in an old sweatshirt and well-worn jeans, her hair up in a bun that seemed to make her glasses all the more severe. She reached down and plucked Boulder from Pinkie’s hands, giving the four adult dogs enough time to continue their affectionate assault.
“Hey, quit it!” Pinkie giggled, practically wearing the four dogs as a blanket. “What’s their names?”
The man spoke again: “The big one’s Rocky, and the light colored one’s Madame Le Flour. The piebald one’s Sir Lintsalot, and the tiny one’s Mr. Turnip.” He shrugged, the plaid pattern of his flannel shirt following along with his motion. “Don’t blame me for the names, your baby sisters named ‘em.”
The youngest girl called out, “Okay, pups, let ‘er get off the ground; snow’s gotta be cold.”
“Yeah, no kiddin’,” the older of the two girls, a girl barely into her teens, replied.
Pinkie got up, dusted herself off, and then went and hugged her family. “Hi, Mom, Dad,” she said softly, embracing them. She then turned to her younger sisters and hugged them in turn as well. “Hiya, Blinkie, Inkie.”
Marble spread her arms akimbo, giving her older sister a mock-glare. “Are you still calling me that? I have no idea on God’s green earth why you even—”
Pinkie hugged her again, winking as she did so. “Older sister’s secret!”
Igneous Rock looked at his family. “As nice as it is t’ talk out here, I’m sure Pinkie’d like t’ change out of those wet clothes,” he said. “Let’s all go in th’ house and I’ll warm up a pot o’ Granny’s World-Famous Hot Chocolate, okay?”
One change of clothing, a shower and a cup of – in Pinkie’s opinion – the best hot cocoa known to mankind, she sat across the table from her family. In the meanwhile, however, the conversation at the table was lively.
“I’m startin’ at Rockton High next year!” Marble said with pride, “an’ I’ll be sure as shootin’ to get out of Eighth Grade!”
“An’ I’ve got the highest grades in Mrs. Hollybell’s class!” Limestone – or Blinkie, as Pinkie had nicknamed her – added. “Heck, I think I’ve got th’ highest grades in all of the Fifth Grade!”
“And how are things for you two?” Igneous asked. “Any new boys in your life?”
“Or girls, maybe?” Marble asked, the needling tone of a precocious preteen prevalent in her voice.
“Marble, we’ll have none of that at our table,” Cloudy Quartz said firmly. “I’m sure your sisters have met nice, God-fearin’ men.”
“I have,” Maud began, petting Boulder as he slept in her lap. She then went on about her relationship with Kennelworth, the fact that they’d been together for most of the year now and that while Maud wasn’t entirely looking at a ring on the finger just yet, she wouldn’t complain if he decided to bring it up.
“And what about you, Pinkie?” Limestone inquired, a dreamy tone. “You’re a cheerleader at your school, right? I bet you’ve got all kindsa boys – and maybe girls, too – chasin’ after ya!”
“I’m not sure I’m entirely comfortable with that,” Quartz said to no one in particular. “I remember when Wheatsheaf and Barleycorn’s daughter got hurt in one o’ those cheerleading stunts – poor girl was in the hospital for a week and in a wheelchair for the rest of the year!”
“Mom, it’s perfectly safe,” Pinkie insisted. “We practice all the time, and the girls on the squad know what they’re doing. I promise it’s safe, okay? Auntie Cup and Uncle Carrot wouldn’t let me do it if they didn’t think it was.”
“Well, I’m not comfortable with it in the slightest, Pinkamena, dear,” Quartz replied softly. “We just don’t want you to have to go back into the hospital for that awful condition again.”
“Mom, your thing was raising 4H cows and stuff like that, not cheerleading,” Pinkie replied. “Auntie Cup, at least tried out for cheerleading even if she didn’t make her high school team, so she’s been watching me. She insisted I go into a workout regimen an—” However, a stern look from her mother pretty much cut her off.
Pinkie looked as though she wanted to argue with her parents – well, her mother, at any rate. After all, they only saw her, what, four weeks at most out of the year? She’d lived pretty much her entire life with her aunt and uncle, who were for all intents and purposes, her “real” parents. But she loved her family even if this argument, or a variant thereof, almost always happened whenever she visited.
She was a breezy West Coast person, and they weren’t.
They were salt-of-the-earth Midwestern folk, and she wasn’t.
It was a culture clash just as real as any political divide; she was glad they never discussed politics, because she suspected that her political opinions, even if she couldn’t vote, varied just as much from theirs as her social ones. So Pinkie did the only thing she could.
Getting up from the table, she faked a yawn and said, “Well, it’s been a long day for me. I think I’m going to go to bed. I’ll see you all in the morning.” Pausing only to give goodnight kisses to her family, she went upstairs towards the guest room.
As Pinkie went up the stairs, Marble rolled her eyes. “Lightweight,” she grunted. “I thought Cali girls were supposed to be non-stop party animals?”
“Now, Marble, remember your sister’s been on a flight all this time and she’s still recovering from her condition,” Quartz informed her. “Pinkamena’s always had a weak constitution; it amazes me she even has the strength at all for something like cheerleading.”
Igneous finally spoke up once more. “I’m sure that Cup and Carrot have things well in hand, dear.”
“I’m going to have to have a talk with my sister,” Quartz sighed. “She should know better than to let Pinkamena get into something dangerous!”
“Well, I’ve been driving all this time,” Maud added. “I should probably sleep, too. Night.” Kissing her family goodnight, she also went towards the guest room.
“Pinkie?” Maud tapped the sleeping form next to her, but there was no response. “I know you’re not asleep.”
As expected, Pinkie sat up in bed. “Why don’t they get it?” she said mournfully in the dark. “I know Mom and Dad love me, I know that. But they didn’t raise me – Auntie Cup and Uncle Carrot did. They can’t expect me to be just like you, Inkie and Blinkie!”
“They worry about you,” Maud said. “Pa’s oldest sister had the same thing when she was your age. She died at age nine.”
“I know; believe me, I’ve read everything,” Pinkie told her sister. “But they also have to know: I was found to be completely free of it by seven. And they were the ones who said I should keep living with our aunt and uncle.”
Maud sighed; if there was any period of her childhood that she remembered, those years would be it. All of her mother’s constant crying that without expensive treatment, newborn Pinkamena Diane – named both after Quartz’ own mother and Igneous' older sister, who had died in childhood from the disease that at the time had been threatening Pinkie – wouldn’t live to see four. Then for several days her father would just sit on the porch and stare bleakly into the distance, trying not to let depression swallow him up either. The fear of whether having future children would doom them to the same fate, and how that would impact any of the girls’ own children in generations to come.
But there was also the joy when the news came that an experimental therapy to cure the illness that plagued baby Pinkie. And the difficult decision Maud’s parents had to face: give up the quarry that had been in their family for generations and move away from where the Pie family had settled practically since forever; or give up their then-youngest child to Quartz’ sister, a free spirit studying the culinary arts at a college in the most hippie part of California. Even at six years old, Maud understood the pain and difficulty her parents were going through to make this sacrifice – and if she ever had to endure anything like that when she had children that she could face it with even a fraction of the grace her parents did.
“Pinkie….” Maud began, trying to choose her words carefully. More than any other member of the family, she and Pinkie were close. Maybe it was because there was a significant age gap between them and their own younger two sisters; or maybe it was because she and Pinkie were a pair, just as Marble and Limestone were in their own fashion. But the truth remained: she and Pinkie were close…which meant that it would be up to the older sister to deal with this situation.
“Yes?” Even in the dim light of the room, Maud could see Pinkie’s nervous glances. Given how she acted normally in her everyday environment – Maud had been to California at least once since going to college – to see Pinkie act like a shrinking violet was not in her nature. It just wasn’t in the cotton-candy-haired teen’s personality to be one.
“Pinkie…you should know that Ma and Pa went through hell when deciding your treatment. It wasn’t easy for either, giving you up. And I know that you never feel comfortable here, or with how they try to treat you.” She then made sure that she had her sister’s attention as she said, “But you have to understand: they love you and only want the best for you. Everyone in the family does, even if we don’t see you that often. You are still my sister and their daughter and that’s never going to change.”
Despite herself, Pinkie smiled. “That’s…the longest I think you’ve ever said something, Maud.”
“Sorry; I know I can be chatty,” the elder sister replied.
Pinkie reached over and hugged her sister. “Thanks, I needed that. But will Mom and Dad accept me for…me?” she asked. “I don’t want them to think that just because I know that they love me that I’m going to change who I am. That wouldn’t be fair to either me or Auntie Cup and Uncle Carrot.”
“Just talk to them in the morning,” Maud suggested. “I’ll be there with you.”
Pinkie nodded. “Okay, in that case, I’ll trust that you know what’s going on, sis. But for now, I gotta sleep. Night!” Giving her sister a quick peck on the cheek, she turned to lay down, hoping to get some sleep. She already had an idea of what to do in her head, but she could only hope that it worked out.
A farmer of any kind was used to getting up before dawn. It was ingrained in the nature of anyone who lived an agricultural life, and though technically the Pie family wasn’t a farming family, they’d picked up the habit while living in the middle of farm country for generations, and now it was common for the quarry to be in operation prior to sunrise. And even though the quarry was closed during the winter due to snow and ice, the family was still all too entirely used to being up at said hours.
Pinkie, however, was not used to said hours; as for Maud, who had adjusted to the different cadence of collegiate life, had likewise become used to rising far later than the cock’s cry. So by the time she’d opened her eyes, the house was a buzz of activity. She turned to look at her sister, only to find Pinkie not there.
Yawning and stretching, she got out of bed, then petting Boulder, led him downstairs, where the four other dogs were already chowing down. Though she was running late insofar as family was concerned, she knew they’d still be up and running about for breakfast. But to her surprise, right along with her family – in fact, apparently the one who made breakfast – was Pinkie!
“Hey, lazy!” Marble teased, patting the chair next to her. “Want breakfast? Pinkie made some sorta Mexican thing. Chilikilies or something like that.”
“Chilaquiles,” Pinkie corrected. “I got the recipe from my friend Rainbow Dash.” The teen bounded over to the stove, then bounded back with a plate for Maud. “Feel free and eat up, there’s plenty more!”
Both Igneous and Quartz looked at their plates oddly, while Marble, Limestone and Maud digged in. “Are you…sure you should be eating this, Pinkamena?” the matron asked.
Pinkie finally brought her own plate and sat down next to Limestone. “Yeah! You should see the chili-eating contests that me, Rainbow, AJ and Sunny have! There was this one time that I think we must’ve eaten, like seven whole ghost peppers an—”
“Ghost peppers?” Limestone gasped, shocked. When her parents looked at her, she said, “We studied about them in school! They’re like the world’s third hottest chili pepper an—”
That was enough for Quartz. Rising from her chair, a stern look on her face, she pronounced, “I have heard enough! It’s bad enough that my sister continually allows you to put yourself in danger, but to poison yourself? That’s too far!”
Pinkie blinked. “Poison me? Mom, what are you tal—”
“I’ve got a mind right now to call Cup and tell her that you’re not allowed to injure yourself any further in that cheerleading! I almost lost you, and I refuse to let you die in that heathen, Godless hell that is California!”
“Ma, I think you’re overreacting,” Maud said, looking at her mother. “Aunt Cup watches Pinkie carefully, I’m sure.”
“Maudelline, when I wish your opinion, I’ll ask for it,” Quartz said curtly. “Now, I’ve a mind to just call your aunt and uncle and say that you’re never stepping foot west of Bentonville ever again!” With that, she sat down and adjusted her glasses – a sign to her family that the discussion was over.
Too bad for her Pinkie didn’t recognize it. Her hair deflating, she stood up. “No.”
“Don’t you talk back to me, young lady,” Quartz seethed. “I didn’t give birth to you so you could give me sass, understood?”
“No, I don’t. News flash: you didn’t raise me!” Pinkie said, gripping the table. “Auntie Cup and Uncle Carrot did, and whether you like it or not, I think they did a great job, and I know they’ll do just as great a job with my cousins!” She pointed a finger at her mother. “You’re just mad because you don’t know how to handle me!”
Finally, Igneous put a stop to it. “Pinkamena, that’s enough,” he told her kindly but firmly.
Pinkie looked at her mother and saw the hurt and anger in hers reflected in her mother’s. Without removing her eyes from Quartz’, she said to no one in particular, she said, “Yes. It is.” And with that, she stormed out of the house, pausing only to grab her coat from the front door.
“Pinkie….” Marble said, shocked.
Limestone looked at her sister. “Let’s go after her, sis. She doesn’t know her way around here.”
Maud turned to both of them. “Go,” she commanded. “I have to talk to Ma and Pa.” Both girls nodded and leapt from the table, racing outside. Maud waited for a few minutes before she let her mother have it. “Ma, I love you, but that was as dumb as a rock.”
“Not you, too!” Quartz moaned. “What is it about the outside world tha—”
Without even listening, Maud said casually, “Did you know my first kiss was with another girl?” The silence in the room suddenly became deafening. Maud thought she saw something in her father’s eyes, but this wasn’t for him. “It was my then best friend, Cherry Tart. We were drinking behind the barn on her family’s farm, she was into me, and I thought I liked her.” She shook her head. “Turns out that I really didn’t like her like that, and I didn’t mean to break her heart. But it did at least point me in the right direction for my first boyfriend.”
“So you’re a Sodomite?”
Maud rolled her eyes. “Ma, for all the biblical terms you use? We never went to church often. What are we, Baptists? Episcopalian? Do you even know?”
“So you’re saying yo—”
“Please don’t put words in my mouth,” Maud retorted. “And this has nothing to do with my beliefs. This is about the fact that you don’t know how to deal with Pinkie, because you’re afraid that she’s Aunt Cup’s child now, not yours.”
Quartz blinked. “Then why did you mention it?”
“Easiest way to get you to shut up and let me speak?” Maud offered as she looked at her parents. Igneous sat there and said nothing, but there was a slight nod from the man that indicated that Maud was right. Seeing that, Maud continued. “Pinkie is your daughter, Ma. She always will be. But you have to realize that she grew up in an entirely different situation for her. You’ve lived your whole life here, you keep telling us, and you always say that to you, Fayetteville is ‘the big city’. But to Pinkie, the second largest city in the country is just a couple of hours’ drive from her home.” Maud sighed. “Is it that hard to deal with the fact that Pinkie will always be different from the rest of us?” She smiled softly. “Heck, I’ve been living in Texas the past few years and even I’m not the same person I used to be.”
“I suppose so,” Igneous said. He would have said more, but the phone picked that moment to ring. Figuring the situation was under control, he left the two women alone.
Mother stared at eldest daughter for a few minutes, before she admitted in a soft voice, “I…I don’t know how to deal with her. Your father…he’s always been somewhat laconic about these things, but I expected you girls to take after me, not my sister. And I look at Pinkamena…and all I see is Cup.”
“Is that so bad?” Maud asked. “I remember when I went to visit Aunt Cup and Uncle Carrot at the beginning of the year. Pinkie’s doing great in school, she’s athletic, healthy, and popular. She has a lot of good friends, and while she had some problems with another student earlier, I’ve heard she’s even made friends with her now. You’d be proud of her if you gave her a chance, Ma.”
“And I don’t think there’s anyone better to explain it than someone who’s there,” Igneous said, coming back into the kitchen with the house phone in his hand. “It’s Cup – she wants to speak to you.”
Pinkie wiped the stinging tears from her eyes as they froze in the cold winter air. “And I want to come home!” she sobbed on the phone.
“It sounds like I need to talk to my sister,” Cup said softly. “But I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding, Pinkie. And your mother loves you, you know that.”
“Then why is it so hard? Dad accepts me, my sisters accept me, but Mom doesn’t!”
“Sweetie, you have to remember that your mother and I had a fairly cloistered childhood, and it wasn’t until I took a chance and went far from home that my views changed. I love Quartz dearly, but she’s somewhat…steadfast in her ways.” Cup sighed. “Let me call her and straighten things out. If that doesn’t work, have Maud take you to the airport and you can exchange your ticket for the first one home.”
“Okay,” Pinkie sniffed, wiping her eyes.
“We’ll take care of everything, Pinkie. I’ll talk to you later sweetie.”
“Okay, Auntie Cup. Love you and talk to you later. Bye.” She clicked off the phone and shoved it in her pocket, then shifted on the rock overlooking the makeshift frozen pond in the main portion of the quarry. Normally the mine extended down there, but during the winter there was enough snow that the huge gash in the earth turned into a frozen pond that the local kids – with adult supervision, of course – used as a skating pond. It had been on the artificial pond in Three Heroes Park that her uncle had taught her how to ice skate, and combined with her natural acrobatics, she’d learned how to ice dance. Granted, she was no Olympic-level skater, much less competitive, but it came in handy for her cheerleading routines.
Pinkie heard her name being shouted; she turned to find her younger sisters rushing towards them. “Pinkie, look out!” Marble shouted, gasping for breath. “You don’t want to slip; this part has a rock outcropping and you could hurt yourself.”
“Thanks,” she said as her sisters approached. To no surprise, she was glomped by both.
“Are you going back to California and we’ll never see you again?” Limestone asked.
“I don’t know,” she admitted softly as she rustled Limestone’s hair. “I love you all, but…Mom and I don’t see eye to eye.”
“Aw, c’mon, Pinkie!” Marble said. “Ma’s always like that. She’s a worrywart. Trust me: she worried like crazy when I started taking up sculpting, telling me that I’m going to put my eye out with the chisel and stuff. But she just worries because she’s our mother.”
“I guess,” the elder girl sighed.
“No guessing!” Limestone said, then looked at the pond. “You know…do they have ice skating in California?”
“Of course,” Pinkie replied. “Uncle Carrot taught me. Why?”
“Well, do you want to go ice skating? Ice skating always cheers me up when I’m sad in winter.”
Marble smiled. “You know, Lime, that’s a great idea! Pinkie, what size do you wear?”
“8 ½.”
“Great! We have a pair in the rental shed. I’ll be right back!” Without even waiting, Marble rushed off to get skates, leaving Pinkie to stay with Limestone, who hadn’t removed her death grip on her older sister.
“What’s it like living away from here?” Limestone asked.
“It’s different. I’m used to the city, and it’s a little warmer than this place. But my friends and I have lots of fun and I’m sure if you come visit, you’ll have lots of fun, too!” Whatever Limestone was doing, it definitely had an effect. “Besides, I can say I have the best baby sister!”
Limestone pouted. “I’m not a baby.”
“It’s a figure of speech, Blinkie. But I promise that when you guys come and visit, I’ll show you everything Canterlot has!”
“Promise?”
Pinkie couldn’t help but hug her sister close. “Pinkie Promise,” she said softly and warmly, feeling a bit more like her normal self. And as Marble reappeared with the skates, Pinkie grinned. “So, want me to show you some tricks Uncle Carrot taught me?”
Marble scoffed. “Eh, I bet I could do tricks around you. After all, you live in the city.”
The smile on Pinkie’s face was impish. “Watch me, Inkie. Watch me fly.”
Quartz set down the phone, an ashen look on her face. Igneous was the first to see it. “Sounds like Cup read you the riot act, di’n’t she?” When his wife nodded, he sighed. “Quartzie, I love you like nothing else on this Earth, but sometimes….”
“Sometimes?” she spoke, before remembering that Maud was still here in the house. “Maud, go outside with your sisters, please,” she said.
“No, I’m afraid Maud’s old enough to hear this, honey,” Igneous said. “Honey, while I appreciate that you’ve raised our kids with proper manners like it’s the turn of the century…it’s the turn of the 21st century. This isn’t like when we were kids – the world’s a very different place.” He then turned to Maud. “For the record, I knew all about your little, ahem, ‘incident’ with Cherry Tart. I had words with her father the next day, how you weren’t allowed over no more ‘cause you turned their precious girl into a ‘libertine’.” He shook his head. “Like it’s so hard to say the word ‘lesbian’ nowadays.”
“Igneous!” Quartz gasped.
He rolled his eyes. “Our oldest daughter made out with another girl, Quartzie. I think she’s figured out what that means. And if she wanted to date or marry one, I’d be perfectly fine with that.”
“Not that I swing that way, Pa, but thanks,” Maud said appreciatively.
“Anyways, I know you worry about Pinkamena – the Good Lord knows I do too,” he sighed. “But she’s nearly a woman now and she’s used to an entirely different life, the kind of life we entrusted your sister and brother-in-law to show her. And if you ask me, they’ve done a good job. Sure, Pinkamena’s a bit rough around the edges like I’d expect from somebody from a big city, but I bet she thinks we’re a bit too sheltered. And who knows if either’s true.
“But we trusted Cup and Carrot to do right by her, and they have – hell, Cup was worried enough that she called you just now,” he stated. “And if that isn’t due diligence, then as sure as stones I don’t know what is.”
Quartz’ shoulders slumped. “But she’s my daughter,” she said in a defeated voice. “If I don’t worry, who will?”
“Ma, nothing wrong with that,” Maud said. “But you trusted me to move two states away by myself to study. Pinkie’s farther, but she’s been with family all this time. And if you can’t trust family, who can you trust?”
“Maybe…maybe you’re both right.”
Igneous went over and put his arms on his wife’s shoulders. “I know I’m right, just as you know you are. But they’re growing up and sooner or later, they need to find out what’s right for themselves.” In response, she leaned into her husband’s strong arms, looking brokenhearted.
“Ma, it’s not the end of the world,” Maud said. “Pinkie still loves you. And I’ll bet right now if you go and talk to her – really talk to her, she might just surprise you.”
“Okay.” Encouraged by her loved ones, Quartz went over, slipped on her boots and her jacket and stepped outside, followed shortly by Igneous and Maud. Hearing voices coming from the skating pond, the three headed in that direction…and then dropped their jaws.
There, to the absolute delight of her sisters, Pinkie defied gravity. Mixing in her skating with her cheerleader acrobatics, she did effortless flips, spins and stunts that seemed to break the laws of physics as she knew it. And watching from a distance, Quartz couldn’t help but be shocked.
“Beautiful….” she whispered.
“She’s something, isn’t she?” Maud said.
Quartz, to the surprise of her husband and daughter, wiped tears from her eyes. “I…when I was younger and your Aunt Cup was just a little girl, I was heavily into ice skating. I wanted to be an Olympic ice skater, and maybe if I stuck with it, I could’ve. But your grandpa said that it was a waste of time and it wouldn’t amount to much. I listened to him. He told Cup the same thing about her cooking, but she never listened.”
Igneous nodded; he was fortunate that his mother, Surprise, had a whimsical streak that had somehow manifested itself in his daughters to various degrees. But his in-laws, good people that they were, tended to be a bit more…severe than his parents. “And just think, honey: if Cup hadn’t listened, she wouldn’t have been there to teach our girl any of that.”
“If Cup hadn’t been there…” she said to herself, watching as Pinkie pulled off a double axel, moving away as her sisters cheered her on. “…we would have lost Pinkamena.” She felt the tears come again and let them pour out this time, feeling the shame of her stupidity.
“C’mon, it’s never too late to make up,” Igneous said. Quartz nodded, and together with Maud, the three headed towards the pond.
“And Pinkamena, I know I haven’t said this enough, but…I’m proud of you,” Quartz said to her middle daughter thirty minutes later while the pair were alone in the house. Igneous and the other three girls had gone with him over to a neighbor’s farm to go pick out a Christmas tree, leaving the two to talk. And talk they did.
“Thanks, Mom,” Pinkie blushed. “So, you don’t have a problem with me continuing to be on the squad?”
Quartz shook her head. “If anything, I’m a little jealous that I didn’t follow my dreams like you did.”
Pinkie got up and hugged her mother. “But you did: if you didn’t send me there, I wouldn’t have had the life I do. So you and Dad sacrificed a lot just for me, and it’s something I can never repay.”
Quartz leaned into the embrace. “I love you, Pinkamena.” She could feel tears again, but this time tears of joy.
She wasn’t the only one. “I love you too, Mom,” she said, holding her mother close. The two were like that for countless minutes, until they heard the honking of Igneous’ truck.
“Well, that’s your father and the girls,” the matron said, wiping her face. “Should we go help them with the tree?”
“I’d love to,” Pinkie said with a smile, wiping the tears from her own eyes.
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So, Boulder's alive here? Poor Pinkie, missing her family like that. Those names are familiar... So, their fanon names are nicknames Pinkie gave them here. Glad to see that Cloudy's coming around, good thing Maud and Igneous set her straight. Pinkie's awesome on those skates, wish I could see it. First comment.
5395246
Boulder was alive in the canon EqG setting?
Alrighty, well. I have no idea what 7DSJ is or any of your references are. I don't know who you are. But, I very much enjoyed this story so far and I will be looking forward to reading the rest of it once you are done. :P
I swear these stories probably have its own universe behind it.
5395271
He was still a rock in Rainbow Rocks.
5395348
Actually, they do, sorta: the Seven Days in Sunny June stories are a greater part of the Berylverse.
5395368
you can't say he didn't rock, though!
I'll bet that Granny Pie is Surprise in THIS continuity.
5395369 Ah, I'd better check that out.
I honestly expected a pet rock, but I know this whole continuity ignores RR, since, well, this came first! Still, a pug is a cute choice, but the dogs being named the stuff in "Party of One"? Freaky, but I got over it. And I'm glad that Cloudy finally accepts her daughter for who she is. Maybe Pinkie will be a little more comfortable in Arkansas from now on.
Is the plan one chapter a day till Christmas, and we get good old Sunny on the Big Day?
5395281 7DSJ is short for Seven Days in Sunny June. I would definitely check out the stories, and I have read them quite a few times, but it's your choice.
5395386 OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH--
Is it just me, or are you using DJ's situation in an inspirational manner?
The reason Quartz was so critical is that Pinkie did grow up into an amazing individual...but Quartz wasn't the one responsible. DJ is an amazing person, but Rarity wasn't the one who raised her to do so.
5395575
This is a rejigger of a story I wrote nearly twenty years ago. I'm not even sure how Friendship is Magic would tie into it, much less AAG.
5395281 You should totally check out the rest of the 7DSJ stories. Incredibly worth the time to read.
Maud's pet rocks are dogs!?
That is an excellent characterisation of the Pie family and how they might all think and feel about each other. I particularly like how you portrayed Pinkie's mother and her relationship with her sisters. I think we all know that, under her ultra-phlegmatic exterior, Maud has an edge of mischief to her - I'm convinced that she was trolling the Six half of the time in Maud Pie.
The Pies are going to be in their own episode next season; it will be interesting to see how close to canon your characterisations turn out to be!
“But you trusted me to move two states away by myself to study."
I saw a reference to Maud living in Texas in this story, and if she studied there, Texas is only one state away from Arkansas.
5397117
Should've been clearer there; it was meant to reference the fact that the route she takes to get home passes through Oklahoma, so in her mind, it's "two states away."
Ugh, these stories. They do mean things to my heart pieces.
...Continue please.
5399201
Stop keeping them in sets of three and make them sets of four. You can't lose them that way.
5395575 Who's DJ? I feel like it's something obvious but I can't remember...