Aquatic flowers
Twilight Sparkle walked in the town square, just in time to see the quartet playing the last chord of the last piece they had in program. Not far from her, she noticed Pinkie Pie, sitting on the ground, with a pathetic expression on her face. The purple alicorn walked closer to her friend, concerned.
"Hey Pinkie. What's wrong?"
The pink pony looked up to her friend and said, "Oh, hi Twilight. I... I have lost my sister."
"You've lost your... oh! So, does this have anything to do with you jumping around on the rooftops with a spy outfit this morning?"
"Did you see me?"
"Well, Spike saw you, to be honest."
"Yes, I have been following her. I was worried because she was acting all strange, like I have never seen her... you know, I haven't been seeing her very often for the past few years, having moved away from home and all, but Maud always wrote to me that she was the same as always, so when she did come and started disappearing, going around on her own, first saying something but then changing idea almost immediately, I was kinda worried. So, as a concerned sister, I decided to get to the bottom of this and see what is up with her. But I lost track of her and now I can't find her."
"Hmm... are you sure that this is all? I understand being worried, but you look so... sad right now. I can't help but think that there is more to this... you were pretty excited about your sister coming and getting to spend time with... Oh! That's it! You're sad because she's not spending time with you, aren't you?"
Pinkie seemed to think about it for just a moment, then nodded.
Twilight continued. "Maybe, when you see her, you should try and talk to her, instead of stalking her. I think that it would be a lot easier."
Pinkie looked ponderous for a few moments, once again. Twilight could see that she was taking the subject very seriously.
"You know what?" said Pinkie, sounding suddenly inspired, "I think you're right!"
In the blink of an eye, the pink pony got back up, ready to start running again at her supersonic speed. "I will immediately go and talk to my sister! Thanksforeverythingbye!"
She vanished in a pink blur, as Twilight tried to say, "Wait! You still don't know where she is!"
"So let me get this straight, darling: you have... feelings for Big Mac, but you don't really know what to do about it, what it entails and you're also afraid of what your family is going to think about it. Is that correct?"
Marble, blushing visibly, nodded. It wasn't just her family, but she didn't want that conversation to be about the rock farm community, which wasn't her top priority at the moment. She was more concerned about her own feelings.
"Hmm... in the past, I haven't been lucky with love myself, but I think I may be able to help you, so... *gasp* I have an idea! Why don't we go and discuss this matter at the spa? Oooh, that's such a good idea, I just regret not having thought of it while we were still outside..."
"Uh... the what?"
"Oh, beg your pardon dear: I guess where you come from you don't have a day spa. You will see and you're going to love it, I guarantee!"
Marble didn't really know what to think of the pointy building in front of her: the only thing that seemed to be a clue about what happened inside was the sign above the door, which depicted a yellow mare with flowing mane and tail. Were they going to groom her mane? Considering Rarity's well kept hair, it wouldn't have been surprising to her.
As they went in, Marble looked at the environment: the walls where a relaxing shade of purple, with many decorative motifs, there were several ornamental plants carefully placed around the place and she could also see a few comfortable couches. On the other side of the counter, there was a cyan mare with pink mane.
Rarity said, "Lotus, I have a guest today and she's never been to a spa before, so let's make this special, shall we?".
Lotus smiled and rang a bell, as to call someone. Almost immediately, another pony, who was identical to Lotus, except that the colour palette of coat and hair was swapped, stepped in with two bathrobes.
As the two spa ponies were leading them, Marble noticed their identical cutie marks; they looked like flowers, but she had never seen flowers like that and, for some reason, that caught her attention. She made a mental note to herself to ask Rarity about them.
"So, Marble, are you enjoying your treatment?"
Marble nodded. She was indeed enjoying it: the sauna, the massage, the hooficure, it was all so relaxing. Her muscles were all loosened up, all the tension that she hadn't even realised she had accumulated was gone. She had had, during her time in Ponyville, a few moments to just take a pause from her troubles, but that was the first time ever that she felt in her body such a sensation of softness and calm. She couldn't even believe that a business like that existed; she thought that something like that would have been considered tantamount to blasphemy by the community. She smiled at the thought, even though she was supposed to dread it.
Rarity and her were laying on some very comfortable couches, with mud masks applied to their faces. They had said that the mask was good for her skin, which she found hard to believe, but found it relaxing nonetheless.
Rarity spoke to her. "So, since Lotus and Aloe are gone, it would be a good moment to resume our conversation. You're still interested, I hope?"
Marble bushed under the mud mask, but nodded. She really wanted to have some advice.
"Well, I will first address your family, if it's okay with you. You really shouldn't let what other ponies think about you affect the way you live your life, even if it's your family. I know it is hard sometimes, believe me, I have been there. You see, my parents are fine but... well, they never understood my calling for fashion, nor do they understand my fascination with high society. Believe it or not, it used to make me somewhat anxious, because I felt that they were going to try and stop me. You know what happened?"
Marble shook her head, listening intently.
"They didn't. Even though they don't understand me (and Celestia knows I don't understand them sometimes), they love me and they would never try to take away from me something that makes me happy. Now I have my business, I am pretty happy with my life and I have learned that what they think about it doesn't affect me at all."
Marble didn't respond. Maybe her parents would just accept her, even if she did do stuff that was... out of the norm. Maybe her parents would, but the community definitely wouldn't. That was still a real problem. How could somepony not be affected by something like that?
Rarity went on, "Now, let's actually talk about the real problem. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the idea that you never felt like this towards somepony, am I right?"
"Spot on", Marble thought to herself while nodding again.
"Guessed so. You know, another one of my friends is really shy, perhaps even more so than you, so I think I can imagine at least partially what is going on in your head. Ponies like you are always concerned with what others think about you and expect from you, right?"
Marble certainly couldn't deny that. Sometimes, that feeling almost paralysed her.
"Well, I do understand that, but, when it comes to having your first crush and things like that, nopony expects nothing from you. You are free to just live it as much or as little as you feel comfortable with."
"But we s... but we spent time together... is he... is he going to think that I... that we... that maybe we should commit to... and I'm not sure..."
Marble closed her eyes shut. She was embarrassing herself once more, by not speaking like a normal pony. She had to breath in and out a few times to calm down again. It didn't help that she didn't feel completely comfortable with this kind of discourse. Rarity was remaining silent: she probably had noticed her discomfort.
As soon as the grey mare opened her eyes again, Rarity said, "You know, dear, that I am not going to eat you if you're having trouble talking? There is no need to be anxious with me."
"So... sorry..."
Rarity smiled. "No need to apologise, darling. Getting back to business, let me tell you that spending time together is absolutely normal, it's just a first step. At this point, nopony sane expects any kind of commitment. In fact, if they did, it probably would be a really good reason to avoid them. You don't have to commit to anything, especially not before you know that there is something to commit to, which you can't discover without spending some time together."
Marble thought about it. It did kinda make sense...
"You just have to try and see where this leads you to, no hurry, no worries."
"But what if... what if he doesn't li... like... me?"
Rarity chuckled. "Oh, puh-lease, darling, at your party Big Mac only had eyes for you. I'm willing to bet that you made quite the impression on him. If you weren't so shy and unsure, you could have him do whatever you want him to."
Marble looked down. By the hot sensation on her cheeks, she guessed that she was blushing really hard. She was grateful for the mud mask covering it. On one side, she did hope that Rarity was right, but on the other she wasn't fully comfortable thinking about it... besides, what kind of impression could have she made on anypony? She wasn't all that special: she was okay, at best...
Lotus came back to check on them, but Rarity gestured her to leave them alone for a bit more. Seeing the spa pony, reminded Marble of the flower cutie mark.
"Uh, Rarity? Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course, dear."
"What kind of flower do the spa ponies have as cutie mark?"
"I... to be honest, I'm not really sure, though I guess Lotus' cutie mark is, well, a lotus. It's an aquatic flower. Why do you ask?"
"It's pretty. What does it mean that it's an aquatic flower?"
"Well, it means that it lives on water."
Marble opened her eyes wide in interest. She didn't even know it was possible for a flower to grow on water, much less such a pretty one.
"Well, I don't really know much about plants, it's not my thing. You should ask Twilight: if it has been written in a book, there is a good chance she will know everything about it."
"You... you mean that I could just go to a princess and spe... speak to her, like that?"
"Why, of course! She is the Princess of Friendship: it is just normal to be friendly..."
"And how could I... where should I..."
"The big crystal palace on the other side of town, you can't miss it."
"You mea... you mean to tell me that that is real?"
"Uh, yes... yes, it is."
Now Marble was really curious: how did a castle made entirely of crystal even worked? Who built it? And how? Although, it did make sense that Ponyville's princess lived in a castle...
Marble was walking once again through the streets of Ponyville. After thanking Rarity for the service at the spa and for the advice, they had parted ways. The grey earth pony was walking with a touch of confidence that she didn't have beforehand. She still craved for a piece of rock and a couple of instruments to carve something out of it, but she wasn't nearly as anxious as she had been. It had been a very good day, all things considered.
Suddenly, her ears perked up, as if perceiving something. She had a feeling, but she couldn't quite make it out. It was familiar, in a way, but she hadn't felt it in quite some time. She couldn't put her hoof on it, but she was sure she knew what it was. And then, eventually, after a few very long instants, she remembered: it was the sensation of being about to be tackled by her pink sister. She only had one very brief moment to brace herself, before the impact.
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I know I already wrote a note at the end of the chapter, but I wanted to say that I am really, really sorry for saying that I would have published this last week and ended up actually doing it only tonight. I feel a bit ashamed, but I'm happy to have finally made it.
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It was definitely worth the wait. And don't get to stressed about publication dates. I'd rather wait longer for a high Quality chapter than get a rushed one.
Starting with "Rarity said" feels a little plain, adding another action would do good to spruce it up.
Past tense of "ring" is "rang".
Instead of using "almost" again, maybe use "near" instead.
I say just go with "identical", using almost a little too much. I think the colon can be a period or semi-colon. Go with a period though, the sentence is almost a run-on.
"herself"
I am sure they will... they had Pinkie Pie.
This could be a semi-colon and use "work". There are other marks to show the sentence is in the past tense.
Use "couple" instead of "few". Few generally means 3 or more; it is more ambiguous than couple.
This part should be reworded for clarity.
I feel "moments" works better here. Instant is just too fast to be long.
This can in "instant" and drop the comma after "herself".
Good chapter, nice to see an update. Hopefully Marble and talk to Pinkie about her dilemma since Pinkie will know what it is like living in "the community".
6665651 glad to see your comments again! Thanks for all the help provided :)
6665516 thank you! I just regretted having spoken too soon last week, but I do think that better quality is preferable to just be fast, otherwise I wouldn't have waited to publish the chapter back then. It was really bad.
keep up the good work. Favorited and followed.
Oh, good. Pinkie Pie found her. What a relief! Rarity was giving such reasonable and low-key advice that I was getting worried.
It wouldn't be any fun if all the story's conflicts came from Marble's own insecurities and fear of a distant, oblivious bunch of pseudo-Communists.
It was nice to see Rarity and Marble relax. Keep up the good work.
I wonder whats going on in the community... honestly it seems more like the ponies there are slaves than free willed ponies. That sandstone decides how they should think and why they should think it :/
6666839 They are not going to be oblivious forever... I can't wait to write about when fecal matter actually starts to rocket fanwards, believe me, but I'm in no hurry and I want it to have a proper amount of buildup, so that it will be more satisfying when stuff really does begin to happen. I promise you're not going to have to wait too much
Hi there, i just finished reading it. I like this Story very much and will definitly fave it. I am already waiting for the next chapter.
Awesome !!! Cant wait for next chapter... im glad i fave it
Very goood chapter!! And it seems Marble has a bit of that Pinkie Sense herself? hmmm....
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Thanks, all of you!
This and Yotsuba have made my day just so super chill. Good to see Marble enjoy herself, though I was secretly hoping the mad mask would harden from all her furious blushing, but comedy for another day I suppose. Over all, another relaxing and chill chapter in a summer lemonade-like story.
munfitnessblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/refreshing-lemonade.jpg
too bad its winter and cold as tits.
I she absorbing the pinky sense or is it a twin thing