Returning Home

by Short-tale

Long road home

Chapter 3

The train dropped us at our stop, but it was still a little ways to the farm. More time to wonder. Marble and Pinkie were there to greet us.

“Maud! You came! How’s my favorite sister in the whole wide world that isn’t my twin or the oldest?” Pinkie probably meant the eldest but I didn’t feel like correcting her. It felt too much like a Mud Briar thing.

“Hi Pinkie,” I said instead. I lifted my forehoof for the onslaught of hugs she gave. My body shook as though hit with a freight train as the Pinkie blur slammed into me. I was used to it. I knew how to stay on my hooves when that happened.

“Maud, isn’t it happtastically stupendous that we’re all here again?!” Pinkie tried to crush me. I couldn’t be crushed that easily.

“Yes.”

“Hi, Pinkie; it’s so weird to see you as a potential sister-in-law,” Starlight said as candidly as she could.

“Starlight! Welcome! You will make the best-unicorn-sister-in-law-that-married-by-favorite-sister-that-isn’t-my-twin-or-the-oldest ever!” Pinkie bowled my marefriend over with a massive hug. Starlight had told me she didn’t want training, even though I had offered.

“Marble,” I said, turning to the youngest Pie. “Vinyl and the rest are back at the farm?”

“Mmhmm.”

“I’m glad to see you.” It felt awkward to say that even though I meant it. Marble looked at the deserted train station. No pony really came here unless they lived here. Even those that did scared the little mare.

“Mmhmm.” She lightly wrapped her hooves around me. Nothing bone crushing could come from her. She was as soft and gentle as green hay.

“This is my fiancée, Starlight,” I said, presenting the unicorn. My sister immediately dropped her head so her hair fell in front of her face.

“Hi, Marble, I think we actually met before,” Starlight said, shaking the already-shaking mare’s hoof. “Marevelous Rocks right?”

Marble’s head crept out of her hair made hood. “Mmhmm.”

“I thought so. We met at a concert in Manehatten once at the Hoofhaus.”

Marble’s head poked out even more and I saw a twinkle in her eye. “Mmmhmm.”

“I love how you and DJ PON-3 just go back and forth with the effects and your record scratching.” Starlight was acting like a fanfilly. Marble was fully out of her hair and inches from Starlight. My little sister’s eyes looked like geodes.

“That’s one of our favorite things about performing,” Marble suddenly excitedly rambled. “We get the crowd kind of rooting for one of us, normally Vinyl, and almost battle with the music. I couldn’t believe how fun it could be until Vinyl made me try it. Now it’s like a dream, a wonderful dream I never knew existed. I didn’t tell my sisters because they wouldn’t understand. Except maybe Pinkie. But it’s amazing to have a fan. And one dating my sister. I’m so glad she met somepony else. We were all really worried after Mud Briar died. She can be so shy. “

“Now you started it,” sighed Limestone. “There is no stopping it now.”

I followed Limestone as we walked to the farm. Marble’s continued gushing about her musical career with Vinyl became a droning noise.

The dust road that led to the rock farm hadn’t changed. When I was foal this road was the edge of my world. Nothing existed past it. The small green-grey shrubs blocked all outside knowledge. Sometimes they felt like guardians of the farm. When I was older they became walls. Walls that stood against me. They didn’t want me to see the world beyond.

The road took on a whole new meaning when I left for college. It was a symbol of status. I left the old world behind to embrace the new. It was the beginning of my journey to true freedom and experience.

The road never changed but this time it looked grey and cold. It beckoned me like a whisper on a cold night. The type that offers peace from traveling but if followed the traveling ends.

“I’ve never seen you this nervous Maud,” Pinkie said, appearing next to me, scattering any thoughts of the road. She always knew how I felt. Even without Limestone’s ability to feel what everypony else felt. Pinkie could always read me despite my bland expression.

“So what’s got my sister feeling all moopy gloomy? And on such a nice day.”

I stared at her a bit. She wore her most carefree smile. It was like nothing bad could stick to her. It just slid off her, leaving a smile in its place. I was envious of her that way.

“Was it tough to have foals?” I plainly asked.

“Foals! Oh my gosh! Are you planning to have foals too!” Pinkie grabbed my face and started her tarade of banter that she was known for. “I thought you were nervous about the stone or Ma or seeing Pa’s grave, but foals? Yeah, I mean the carrying was hard, and the pushing and the feeding, but they're so cute and bring so many smiles. It was the best thing Cheesy and I ever did. So you’re thinking of having foals with Starlight? I didn’t think you could.”

“There’s a spell for that.”

“What kind of spell? Does it just, ‘pop’ here’s a foal? Does it give one of you parts? How does it work? Who’s going to carry it?” She let go of my face and looked around wildly for answers. The scene didn’t give her any and I hoped Starlight couldn’t hear her.

“Pinkie. Calm down.” Sometimes I had to remind her to breathe. She could get really excited and it was hard to think clearly when she was that excited. I wanted to think.

“Okay, okay, okay!” Pinkie took several huge breaths. Small gale-force gusts filled her with peace. She looked up and smiled a little too wide “Better? I think you and Starlight would be great moms. You’re both smart. Starlight is great with foals, she runs a school. And you’re good with listening, and advice, and fun, and games, and stand up comedy. All the things a mom needs to be.”

“You don’t think I would be … weird?”

“Well if you are, your foal would be weird too. Then you could both be weird together with Starlight.”

The idea made sense. Pinkie made sense which most would find uncomfortable. But then too many ponies see the silly goofiness of Pinkie and don’t listen to what she says. She may say it in her “Pinkie way” but she’s right a lot.

“I still don’t know. It’s a lot. And I’m not sure it will convince Ma.” I could see that disappointed look on her face. It deflated like a balloon. It would be more disturbing if I wasn't used to it.

“Oh Ma... well, she’s been kinda…” Pinkie looked at the ground. Flecks of mica shone through the billowing clouds of earth with each hoof step.

“Stuck up and stubborn,” Limestone finished. “After Pa died she’s been sticking to tradition even harder. She started complaining about how me and Spitfire aren’t acting right. That decent mares wouldn’t be so loud or make fun of each other. It’s just the way we work.”

I said nothing, but cringed a bit inside. My fiancée and I were definitely not traditional. Not in the Pie way. Pies don’t find new mates. Windowed Pies focused on their family and helped keep the next generation in line. They definitely don’t accept proposals before consulting the choosing stone.

Before any more discussion, the farm came into view and stole all my words. I was hit with a strong wave of nostalgia. The farm didn’t look any different. The rocks in the fields had all been turned and some were ready for harvest. The bounty seemed to have doubled. It was hard to believe my sisters were able to produce more.

“That’s a lot of rocks,” whistled Starlight. Once, she’d explained to me why we were able to grow rocks. She said all earth ponies have the ability to make things grow. The Pie family’s magic was so strong they could even make rocks grow. At least that was her theory.

The rest of the family had already assembled at the farm. Spitfire nodded as her wife came into view. Vinyl and Marble shared a look but said nothing. The rest of the Cheese family ran around the farm like a circus act. They would tumble and giggle and laugh at each other. Cheese was there as well, trying to keep the youngest one from jumping off the cliff with balloons tied to her back. I didn’t see Ma.

After Little Cheese (at least that’s what they called him), Pinkie had decided to have more foals and ended up with a set of twins and a little filly. Ma had been proud, and Pa had enjoyed the company at his bedside for the past year.

“Welcome home Maud!” chorused Cheese and the Cheese-Its. If bracing myself for a Pinkie hug was hard, an entire family of excited party ponies like fighting an avalanche of fuzzy warm boulders. I was bowled over by puffy-maned ponies and deafened by ecstatic giggling.

“Hello,” I said from my position on the ground. It was comfortable there in the dirt. The mass of perky ponies shifted and I heard my fiancée make an “oof”. They’d gotten her too.

I slowly sat up and watched the pile writhe with Starlight trapped inside. I knew she wasn’t in any real danger. It was still strange to see that much energy here. The farm was always so drab but serene in its unchangingness.

“Okay fillies, colts, stallions, and mares,” Cheese Sandwich announced over a bullhorn he pulled from… somewhere. “This party is just getting started. Get your taste buds ready for some rock-based cuisine. Traditional Pie style... with a twist.”

“I would like mine without the twist. It giveth me stomach issues,” the matriarch of the family grumbled, as she hobbled out of the dark house. She walked with a stiffness that only age could bring. It was like she was slowly becoming a stone. Her face looked careworn and chiseled from granite. It looked like she aged a decade in the year since Pa died. Her cheeks had sunken, her lips looked like dried orange peels. My heart ached with the sight of her withered form.

A large table was laid out in front of the farm house. The entire family couldn’t fit inside any more so all the diners were held in the front yard. The young Cheeses constantly exploded with confetti and outside was easier to clean than filling the house with small pieces of paper.

“Don’t worry Mama Pie,” Cheese said lightly patting Ma’s back. “I made one or two completely traditional.”

“Thou shouldst not mess with a fine thing,” the sour mare scowled. She limped her way to the head of the portable table. It took two of them linked together to hold us all. “Now, we should eat. In silence! Nourishment should be the only thing on our minds.”

The Cheese children sighed. “Yes, Granny.”

“Good. Now we must thank the rock as your Pa wished. Then we may eat.” The old pony slowly sat down in a rickety chair and motioned the rest to follow suit. They did.

Starlight watched and imitated the bowed heads of the rest of the family. I was surprised that even Spitfire had gone silent and serene like the rest of them. She would normally pester Limestone under the table with a flick of her tail.

The group slowly ate the spice-soaked rock soup that was a traditional Pie main course. Cheese has added strange spices that I didn’t know but the flavor did enhance the stone’s generally blandness. I glanced at Starlight and saw the normal confusion and hesitation. It took a long time for outsiders to get used to eating rocks, if they ever could.

“Oh, uh... this is… different.” Starlight was rambling. She did that when she was nervous.

“Dost thou need to talk to eat?” Ma’s scolding tone cut across the table. Starlight started to shrink. “Obviously thou dost not know our ways. That was made clear when thee asked Maud to marry thee without the stone’s permission.”

“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know,” Starlight desperately pleaded.

“Perhaps thou shouldst know thy bretrothed’s family first before thou asketh for her hoof.”

Starlight looked heartbroken. A blush of shame reddened her face. A shame she didn’t deserve. I had to save her.

“Ma. That was my fault,” I said. The rest of the table looked further at their soup. A Cheese or two tried to watch but was bumped by another and resumed their solemn chewing.

“Thou art right. Thou shouldst have waited for the stone. Now, ‘tis likely it will curse thy marriage,” Ma said, matter-of-factly. Her faith in the “right way” was undeniable.

“Is there anything we can do to make it right, Mrs. Pie?” Starlight was hoping to make peace. I was apprehensive. Normally when Ma made her mind up it was set in granite.

“Aye. Thou canst find some other pony. My daughter hath lost her mate. ‘Tis better for her to continue to honor him by not finding another.” Ma’s words started a series of gasps throughout the table.

They all looked at me. Normally, when Ma started to get out of hoof, I was the one that calmed her down. Limestone couldn’t control her anger and was typically the subject of Ma’s wraith. Pinkie was too cheerful to get involved in calming her down, and Marble hid under the table whenever Ma was too judgy.

Only this time I was the one being judged. Starlight and I. I couldn’t let Starlight get in trouble for something she didn’t really do. I had to take action.

“Mother,” I said, standing from my seat. The harsh silence returned.

“Maud.”

“Please come into the house where we can discuss this without further embarrassment to my fiancée.” The old mare squinted at me. I blinked. My expression didn’t change but her’s seemed to scrunch into those eyes.

“I refuse to acknowledge that claim. Thee hast not been blessed yet.” The squished face refused to budge.

“It’s ok, Maud,” Starlight whispered to me with a hoof on the side of my neck. “I’m not insulted. We just got off on the wrong hoof.”

“Wrong hoof? Ye hast go off at the wrong train station. Thee should return—”

“Mother,” I said quietly. “Please.”

“If thee will listen then I shall talk.”

The old mare slowly rose. Though we normally talked in private, it felt strange somehow. The strong, independent, logical matriarch had become small, withered, and full of leathery bitterness. I became painfully aware of that as she slowly walked behind me. The group at the table remained silent but resumed their meal.

When we finally got inside I offered a chair like I always did. These talks could get long and I found hurt feelings or violent tempers cooled when one was more comfortable. Ma had always declined to sit. The annoyance had always kept her standing. But this time, she promptly sat, still wearing her same disgruntled expression.

“Well, my daughter, what sort of justification dost thou have for me? Have I not spoken the truth? Thou knowest the tradition of a mare of mourning. And I have joined thee there now. We can pine together if thou likest.” She patted a nearby chair.

“It’s an old tradition, mother. Normally the widows are much older than I am. They had their long lives together with their mates, and I had only a short while.”

Ma snorted at me like I was a spoiled filly. “It’s not the size of the boulder but the strength. Thy bond with Mud Briar was strong. Its memory shouldst keep thee going for many a year to come. Love is like the stone itself. Though we do not see the rock beneath our hooves, it is still holding us up. So too with love.”

She looked out the window towards the little grove where both our husbands were buried. The movement was ingrained in her muscles in her neck.

“Mother,” I whispered, bringing that withered mare back from the depths. “There are many rocks underneath us. More than one that keeps us stable.”

Ma laughed, a vicious-sounding bark. My spine tingled for a second. Then my body resumed its normal functions. It’s good like that.

“Stability? That filly that hath asked for thy hoof hath removed thine sense and stability. Thou used to come home. Thou used to follow the traditions. Thou used to study the rock and its teachings. Pinkie hath told me of thy life now. Abandoning thy family for this unicorn. Hiding our ways to keep her comfortable. Giving up thy dream of rocks in favor of talking to her students. Thou hast lost thy way. And thou speakest to me of stability?”

I didn’t have an answer for that. She was right. Starlight had changed me more than I realized. Had I lost myself to placate her? How many of my decisions had been to make her happy? Mud Briar never asked me to change who I was, and I never felt the need to. Why did I need to change so much of my life for Starlight? Or did I use her as an excuse to change?

“I knew it. Young filly, thou hast been led astray. A cute tail and pretty face hath enticed thee off the path. Thou mayest still return to the rock once more. She is a pretty mare. She will find where she belongs. And thou mayest join me here with those that have loved an entire life’s worth.”

The old mare looked at me with a strange smile. It chilled me. I noticed that there was a chair next to her’s. It was a death sentence. Sit down and watch life pass by, there was nothing else left. I couldn’t give up.

“No.”

“What did thou say??” My mother’s voice actually raised in pitch. She could get loud. But rarely did the tone change.

“I said no. I want to marry Starlight.”

“So this unicorn hath completely enchanted thee. I had my doubts, but now I know it to be true. If thou shalt defy thy tradition and thy mother, thou hast no place here.”

She stomped the floor with a withered hoof. Despite its size and density, the sound was like a nail driven into a coffin. She tried to look away from and sit defiantly in her self righteousness. I wouldn’t let her.

“This is my home, Mother. And I still plan to go to the stone. I honor the tradition so long as it makes sense. Starlight asked me to marry her, and I said I would. Isn’t that also the Pie tradition?”

“Thou did not have the right to accept without the stone’s approval. Thou did know that.” Ma crossed her forehooves. She was not budging.

“I suppose it depends on what the stone says. Will you listen if it says it will work?”

“Wilt thou listen if it denounces this travesty?”

I bit my lip. Could I put my trust in the stone as my ancestors did? Could I risk my love with Starlight to appease my mother? Would I really leave her if the stone said so?

I needed Ma to calm down. I needed her on our side. If she was going to listen to me at all, I had to play her game and trust the stone. Otherwise she will be denouncing us the entire time.

“... Yes.”

“The stone will see reason, and so shalt thee.”

Mother slowly got up and walked away. In my mind, I felt the weight of the stone grow exponentially. It all came down to its judgment. I didn’t like that. Starlight was very important to me and I didn’t want to leave that to chance or a stone I used to believe in.

We left the house. Ma held a look of triumph while I was apprehensive. Starlight caught my look and knew I was defeated. Or at least felt defeated.

The dinner went on in silence. I couldn’t help but notice the many stares directed at me, especially from Starlight. Dinner suddenly became bland and disinteresting.

The table was cleared by Pinkie’s foals. They tried to outdo one another with how many bowls they could balance on their snouts. Ma shook her head at their impossible antics but seemed satisfied that they helped.

The ponies at the table began to break off into groups and talk of their lives and new projects. I remained at the table, the stone eating away at me like the food I just ate. It wasn’t digesting properly.

“Maud? Are you okay?” Starlight’s voice caused my stomach to spasm again but its contents remained at the bottom.

“No.” I laid my head on the table. It felt like I was sick. It was too much pressure for me. I loved both my fiancée and my family. I shouldn’t have to choose.

A pair of pink hooves wrapped around me. I could feel that warmth I craved return to me. It was like the world stopped spinning for a moment and I was safe. There were no expectations on me. Just me and that warmth.

“So … it didn’t go well, did it?” she asked in a tentative whisper.

“It’s up to the stone now,” I said into my hooves.

“Well, it’s you. The stones never let you down before, right?”

I remained silent. I wished for her confidence at that moment. I wished my mother understood the love I held for Starlight. But all she held onto was rocks. I used to think like that. But you can only talk to a rock for so long. They can’t really fulfill you.

“Maud? It will be okay. You still have me. And no matter what, I’m not going anywhere.” Her hooves encircled my middle and the fuzzy warmth increased as I felt more of her body gather me up.

I could feel my face flush as it pressed against the table. It was a feeling I never wanted to end. In the depths of that warmth, the idea of leaving Starlight was impossible, stone or no stone. But I had promised Ma I would if the stone said to.

“C’mon, I want to see your farm. Can you show me around?” Starlight slowly turned around in my chair with her magic.

I began to stand when those hooves moved up to my shoulders. There was nothing but love in the eyes staring down at me. No hidden agenda. No trickery or lies. Just love. I wanted that.

“It’s hard to show you around the farm when you’re hugging me like this,” I informed her with a glance.

“Oh, sorry,” Starlight said as she pulled her forehooves away. I couldn’t help but look longingly at those hooves. I missed the castle and the freedom to be ourselves by ourselves.

“It’s okay. Let’s see the farm,” I said, and began trotting off to Holder’s Boulder.

“So, heh,” Starlight began as soon as we were out of ear shot. I knew what she wanted to ask, and it made my heart ache. Though it was probably my stomach. Hearts don’t actually feel pain without something being seriously wrong. “Does your mother really not like me?”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Because I proposed to you too early?”

“Not that.”

“Then what was it?” Starlight sounded desperate. Her eyes pleaded.

“She thinks you’re causing me to give up my dreams of rock studying; causing me to ignore my family and traditions.”

“But ... but I never said you should avoid your family or stop looking for rocks.” Starlight looked like she had been slapped in the face. She slowly backed away from me.

“I know.”

“Then why does she think that?” She shuffled nervously.

“Because I haven’t come home, and switched jobs.”

Starlight placed a hoof to her forehead. I waited. Some ponies like to place their hooves to their face when they think. I didn’t want to interrupt.

“I mean, why didn’t you tell her it was your choice? Or tell her why you haven’t visited?” Starlight pleaded. Her face looked hurt and confused.

“Oh.”

“Can you at least tell me? It wasn’t because of me, was it?” Starlight’s tone shifted from confusion to concern.

“Not exactly… I just felt better when you were around. The new job kept me close to you, and I wasn’t certain how my family would react to a second mate.”

Starlight sighed. “I appreciate that you want to be close, but I’m not going anywhere. You could have visited your family, or even better, you could have taken me.”

“The school kept you pretty busy.”

“Maud ... you know you're important to me. That’s why I asked you to marry me.” Her scolding tone was back. She sounded like a mother. “You know that. So why is it really?”

“It felt wrong.”

“Because we were together?”

I looked at Holder’s Boulder, with all its weathered marks and careworn chips. The Boulder was the foundation of the farm. It represented the Pies’ right to farm here. It kept us safe. I looked back at the farm and felt the hollowness here, like a piece of the Boulder itself had broken free. It hadn’t.

“Because Pa wasn’t there. It didn’t feel like home without him,” I admitted.

“Oh. I see. So this is about your dad and not me. You should tell that to your mom. She might understand.” Starlight bit her lip, shifting from hoof to hoof. She only had her dad, so the idea might be upsetting.

“I don’t want to make her feel worse. She lost him not that long ago. If I tell her I didn’t want to come home because he’s gone, it might make her feel worse.” It hurt when I said it out loud. I was running away from his death still, but dealing with two deaths had been nearly impossible for me at the time.

Starlight held me in a comforting hug. A hug a dear friend would give. Starlight was a dear friend first.

“It’s not fair.” Starlight’s muffled words came from my mane. “You lost Mud Briar and then your father right after we got together. You shouldn’t have to deal with so much pain in such a short time.”

“But I found you. It hasn’t all been bad.” My gut twisted as I heard my own words. Did I just say Mud Briar’s death was a good thing that led me to Starlight? Was the death of almost all the stallions in my life worth finding my current love?

“We found each other, right when we needed to,” Starlight said, pulling me close. My own snout was filled with the soft strands of her mane. It sounded much better the way she worded it. If that were true, there would be no way the stone would deny us.

Comments

[PacifistDoodl3r]

She looked out the window towards the little grove where both our husbands were buried. The movement was ingrained in her muscles in her neck.

chills. I loved this chapter so much and this drama is so good.