Convictions set in Stone

by Gustav Gynt

A smooth pebble

Author's Note:

So, this is the first time I write and submit a fanfiction, but I'm not here to ask for mercy: since I am not mother tongue, I ask that nobody shies away from criticising any linguistic mistake I may have left out while proof-reading... I am pretty confident in my English, but you never know. Regarding the story, as soon as I saw the last episode, I thought "welp, I was a fluttermac shipper, but now that ship has officially sank for me", so I started writing this, mostly from Marbles point of view because why the heck not. I really hope that someone is going to enjoy it :)

Living a simple life was an easy thing to do, most of the time. The little community of rock farmers actively encouraged not seeking out excitement or asserting oneself, favouring humility and hard work. Every week, all adults ponies would meet in the town hall. The structure was built to fit only a few dozens ponies, which was more than enough to host the weekly meeting in that remote part of Equestria. The Pie family, as part of the community, were always present: Igneous Rock Pie and Cloudy Quartz always went ahead, leading the way, followed by Limestone, then Maud and, last, Marble. Clerk Sandstone looked at the family, silently judging: the parents, who were apparently positive members, just had to be doing something wrong. One of their daughters had left home before becoming an adult, another one was loud and aggressive and the third was just too assertive, despite looking like a positive member. The youngest one was the only decent of the Pie's offspring. Clerk Sandstone absentmindedly adjusted the bun in which her white mane was kept, as she waited for the last of the ponies to be in position. As the last set of hooves stopped in its place, silence fell on the congregation, and she started the ceremony.

Marble didn't really like the meetings: she understood the value of community and the importance of participating, but often the clerk would ask questions randomly between the ponies in the hall to speak out in front of the community, in order to see if everypony was paying attention. She was afraid of what the other ponies would think of her if she made a mistake, especially Clerk Sandstone, with her dark yellow disapproving eyes. She was also afraid that other ponies would notice her anxiety. She hoped Sandstone didn't call her to speak in front of the community that day. Not only did she still feel all her normal fears, she also had thoughts about the recent encounter with the Apple family.

She had always thought that her sister, Pinkie Pie, was a very weird, if sweet, pony: all that excitement, all that energy and all that individuality! She had always thought that those traits were absolutely unique, but the Apples had a lot of energy too and, also, showed to her family that different traditions actually existed, which she never even thought about really. She also knew that she was supposed to dislike and disapprove of all that, but she loved her sister and she was forced to admit that she had been positively impressed by the Apples. She also had spoken to that stallion... well, more than spoken, she had whispered... well, more than whisper, she had vaguely murmured some sounds... Anyway, all that was against the norm, which meant that she would have to go and speak about it with Clerk Sandstone. While pretending to listen, she tried to force herself to watch the clerk in the eyes, but found herself incapable of doing it: those profound and grimly golden eyes were unbearable to her.

Fortunately, the meeting went by without Sandstone paying any attention to Marble, focusing instead on her sister Limestone. Marble didn't get why Sandstone didn't like Limestone: she was a very hard worker and always listened at the meetings, but the clerk was always a bit cold to her... well, a little colder than usual that is. Whatever was the reason, the meeting was over, which meant that all the families would go back to their daily activity and Marble was thankful for that: when she was working on the fields, nopony was ever there to judge her, for her company was only made of rocks and, occasionally, one of her sisters.

She found herself thinking that she would appreciate having Pinkie Pie in the farm again: even though she was always quite the handful, her pink sister had her very particular way of caring for the other members of the family, Marble included. Seeing her, only a couple of days prior, made Marble realise that she missed her sister. She knew that Clerk Sandstone did not like Pinkie Pie and wouldn't approve if she knew that somepony missed her: she already did not approve of the Pies having the Apples around for Heart's Warming Eve. Marble blushed a little while she was walking behind her sisters: thinking about the Apples reminded her of that red stallion, Big Mac... she wasn't supposed to dwell on those thoughts. She was actually supposed to go and meet Clerk Sandstone privately, so that they could discuss her thoughts out of the norm. She was supposed to, but she didn't want and she was not going to: she was way too afraid of Clerk Sandstone judging her. As her family's farm was nearing, she experienced both relief for the end of the weekly ordeal and guilt for not doing her duty as a positive member and talk with the clerk about perturbing thoughts.

The sky was grey with winter clouds, the ground was still partially covered with snow when Marble Pie was on the south field, alone, like usual, smiling to herself while she was working: the thought of Sandstone was far away from her now, she was alone with her memories and her feelings. The memory of the Apples was particularly pleasant to her, especially the time with Big Mac... while checking the sedimentary rocks for impurities, she was gleefully humming some Hearht's Warming Eve carols.

While working, she noticed a pebble sparkling with small quartz crystals: it had a very round shape and smooth texture, it also didn't show any indentation, which wasn't common. Marble put the pebble in her saddlebag, in order to examine it further when she would finish her work: maybe it could be a good specimen for her collection or material for her hobby. Her thoughts wandered again towards the red stallion of the Apple family, asking herself what would he have thought of her collection... then blushed violently as she pictured him disliking it and poking fun at her. Maybe it had been for the best that he hadn't seen it: as things had gone, it had been a very memorable experience and she was happy that it was untainted by somepony judging her pastime, so she would just cherish the memory as it was.

She neither knew nor cared what was going on in her head, she was just enjoying every minute of it, going as far as to perform a very simple dance to the tunes that she was humming as she went through the familiar motions of her farm chores. Aside from the meeting, it definitely felt like a good day to her; as a matter of fact, she could not remember the last time she had been this happy, perhaps even euphoric. It wasn't just the thought of Big Mac either: there was something in the whole "Apple" experience, together with seeing her beloved sister after so much time, that lifted up her spirit like nothing else she had experienced before; she couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but something special had happened. The grim and scrutinising eyes of the rock farm community seemed so distant in that moment that, for a while, she was almost oblivious of their existence. Since Hearth's Warming Eve, her working hours had gone by in this same blissful way.

The light was becoming dimmer and dimmer as the afternoon shifted into the evening and, as soon as she had done everything she was supposed to, Marble walked back to the Pie home. She was still faintly smiling to herself, with a particularly ear wormy carol still stuck in her head, as she traversed the doorstep of the house. Nopony was there to notice. She went straight up the stairs and into her room: it wasn't enormous (in fact, calling it spacious would already be stretching it), but it was where she kept all the best and most beautiful little rocks she had managed to find, as well as some carefully crafted engraved sculptures of her sisters and parents that she had personally created.

Her collection stood proudly on the shelves that covered most of the room's walls. She sat on her small desk and lit the candle, then took the rock that she had picked up in the field to examine it: she wasn't generous with the acceptance of new members to her collection, as she only looked for the best. The small and smooth pebble proved to be a fine specimen, like she had expected: the small quartz crystals covered its surface (and, likely, also its inside) in a remarkably regular pattern, all things considered; it also lacked either dents that would have ruined the shape or impurities that would have spoiled the colour. And the colour, itself, was quite impressive: a very soft shade of pink. She knew that that year the production of rose quartz had been good, but such a fine byproduct was unexpected. Marble looked at one of the still empty places on the shelves, that she kept for the future new entries, to decide where to put her new little treasure; ultimately, she opted for a place in a lower shelf, being a little specimen, so that it wouldn't be difficult to look at. Just next to it, there was a small piece of impure marble with a small crack on one of the corners: it wasn't a particularly impressive piece, but she did not choose it for its geological properties, favouring instead its aptitude for being turned into a new little sculpture (which, despite the appearance, she was convinced was high), as soon as she would find a subject.

Marble's gaze lingered a moment onto the figurine of her sister Maud, which prompted her to think about her sister having had the chance to go and see Pinkie all the way in Ponyville... if she could only find a way to convince her parents to let her go too, maybe she would be able to see where all the Apple family's energy came from and... well, maybe, possibly, even meet again Big Mac and... she shook her head: she would never be able to do such a thing. Even if she managed to convince her parents, leaving the community, even temporarily, was very frowned upon. Maud had gone to Ponyville, but she had the excuse to do some research for her rocktorate in other places (and even then she hadn't been immune from malicious gossip).

Suddenly she felt the bliss, that she had experienced up until that moment, abruptly ending. Hearing the bell that announced dinner, she walked slowly out of her room and down the stairs, with her head hanging low and a frown, most of which was hidden by her mane anyway. She sat at the table, avoiding the eyes of the other members of her family, which wasn't unusual for her. Her sisters were already there, as well as her father, while her mother was filling the dishes with rock soup. As usual, all the family began eating in silence; what wasn't usual was that Marble was actually considering sharing her desire to go and see her far away sister with her parents.

The minutes went by, everypony was consuming their meal while, unbeknownst to them, Marble's mind was in turmoil: she knew she would be happy if she had a chance to see something other than the rock farms, but what would everypony think of her? What if she was a disappointment to her parents? And so other minutes went by, most of the family had already eaten all their soup and were just waiting for the others to finish (the proper way to end a meal was together); dinner would have gone by without any major difference from the norm, as Marble finally decided she wasn't going to speak to her family, when Maud suddenly addressed their parents in her usual, absolute deadpan tone.

"I think Marble may have something to say."

Marble jumped, startled by her sister's ability to read right through her. Their parents stopped what they were doing and turned towards the sisters.

Igneous Rock Pie only said, "I'm listening."

The young grey mare was visibly shaking and also sweating a little bit, swallowed once and tried to speak, only emitting a kind of "meep" sound. None of her listeners was so much as blinking while they were staring at her with their natural (and, in that moment, kind of intimidating) seriousness. She forced herself to exhale one heavy breath, then spoke, with the lowest of voices.

"Uhm... I was thinking... Maud got to go and meet Pinkie in Ponyville and..."

Igneous immediately stepped in. "She was working on her rocktorate, she didn't have to work on the farm."

Marble felt her heart sink. "Of co... of course. Never mind then..."

Maud intervened again. "I'm currently waiting for Professor Sardonyx to answer me. Until he does, I can't do anything for my rocktorate: I can take Marble's place for a while."

Their mother replied, "That's alright then, Marble. Just write to Pinkamena to be sure she has a place for you to sleep."

Everyone else just went back to what they were previously doing, while Marble stood where she was, dumbfounded. That had been way easier than she had pictured.

Comments

[narusakufan]

This sounds very good so far. I can't wait to read more.

[PinkPearl]

It seems a bit fast to me by not bad! I didn't see any spelling errors. I'm not a native English speaker either,I was taught in grade school.

[soundtea]

For talking, put it in it's own paragraph and use quotes instead of dashes at the start.

Other than that I'm really liking this premise. Tracking to see how it goes.

[Gustav Gynt]

6575668 will definitely do: I am used to doing that because that is how we edit in my home country and it is engraved in my mind, but I will definitely change it. Thank you!

6575639 wow fast? I was afraid I was taking it too slow, since the actual romance doesn't come into play until at least the third chapter... I am glad that didn't happen though.

6575638 thank you! I have already written chapter two and three and will publish them soon enough

[StarzGecko]

This is really good! Keep going

[ecomonococo]

This is a very good start! Not bad. Makes me very eager for the next chapter. Keep it up. :)

[Kawaii-Mochi]

6577157 actually, that's the european way of spelling it :3

[Gustav Gynt]

6577279 6577157 that is correct: even though I am Italian, I use the British as model for my English, which is why I spell the words that end in -ize with -ise

[QueenMoriarty]

Maud isn't spelled with an 'e'.

[Fourpony]

One of their daughters had left home before becoming adult

Need an "an" in there.

especially clerk Sandstone, with her dark yellow disapproving eyes.

This should be capitalized in this case since it is acting as a title. Kinda like Princess Celestia or Empress Luna.

She hoped Sandstone didn't call her to speak in front of the community that day: not only did she still feel all her normal fears, she also had thoughts about the recent encounter with the Apple family... she had always thought that her sister, Pinkie Pie, was a very weird, if sweet, pony: all that excitement, all that energy and all that individuality!

This is a really long sentence with a couple different thoughts, break it up.

she already did not approve of the Pies having the Apples around for Heart's Warming Eve.

Should be "Hearth's"

maybe she would be able to see where does all the Apple family's energy came from and

"does" doesn't need to be there, it is also in the middle of a run-on sentence.

I'm currently waiting for professor Sardonyx to answer me.

Professor is a title in this case and should be capitalized. Also, Maud is a good sister.

This is cute, I like it. There are some issues with really long sentences and you seem to used a colon far more than I am used to. I am not sure if it is in incorrect, but my inner Grammar Nazi says it is.

[Gustauve]

I wish my parents had been as understanding...

"I'm going to head to Karl's house!"
"Oh? Do you think?"
"Do you plan to start another fire, or do you think your own parents to be fools?"
"What? No! Of course not - I'm just going to go hang out with my friends."
"Would it not be just as well to invite them over here?"
"Yeah, Gus; do you hate your family or something?"
"Shut the hell up, Hermann - why don't you go hang out at your faggot boyfriend's house, hm?"
"Keep talking, you little bastard, it will only be that much better when I beat your teeth straight down your throat!"
"Boys, if you're going to fight, then do so outside."
"Look, I just want to go visit my friends!"
"Then invite them over here; you're not going out - you'll only cause more trouble!"
...
I despised my childhood.

orig04.deviantart.net/af6a/f/2013/251/f/c/sad_johann_template_by_gustauve_drakenhime-d6lk52m.png

[ROBCakeran53]

Grammar wise, you're doing a fine job. People have been pointing out your few issues you need to address. The biggest one for me, however, is your giant walls of text. You need to break these paragraphs down smaller so that it's easier on the eyes.

Good start though. I'll read the rest and see how it is.

[porcelain-clown]

I find this story intriguing so far. Though I've seen some little mistakes during your typing, still, I see this as a nice story. (And I see you supposedly putting Big Macintosh X Marble Pie into this, which I personally ship. )

[The Pyropath]

6584325 I'll come visit you...

I probably just sounded like a stalker, and I can't afford to go anywhere. I'm a minor after all.

[The Pyropath]

6587653 Any tips on breaking down walls of text? I'm like our talented author here; my walls of text are feared throughout the internet, and I probably have a bounty on my head for making such large ones, all just for a simple comment. Mercy befall those who stumble upon my text walls and are dyslexic.

[Magatsu Orpheus]

Professor Sardonyx

It's official; Steven Universe has ruined rocks for me.

[Golden Fang Ryu Shenron]

Well, that was pretty quick. I was expecting Marble Pie’s parents to be a bit more hesitant, but oh well.

Interesting start, the only thing I’d suggest is separating your paragraphs.