Marbled Melancholy

by Flameon_Heart

Marble Speaks Her Mind

On a little farm in the outskirts of Equestria, there lived a peculiar family. This family was known as the Pies, consisting of Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz, and their four children Marble, Maud, Limestone, and Pinkie. The youngest of those four was Marble Pie. Marble was not like her sisters; she wasn't peppy and hyper like Pinkie, or stoic and and emotionless like Maud, and she definitely wasn't grumpy and abrasive like Limestone. No, she wasn't any of those things. Marble was a shy little mare, going about her daily duties on a boring ol' rock farm. What she lacked from her sisters, she made up for in hard work and dedication. Whether it be polishing Holder's Boulder, or mining in the caverns, Marble did it all with determination.

But with any hard work comes fatigue and hardships. Marble would usually work longer than Limestone, as their other sisters were off on their own. She would come home very tired, and would just like some peace and quiet. Lately however, Limestone had been getting more agitated than usual, causing outbursts to happen seemingly at random. Marble couldn't stand it, and wished for a way to escape it all for awhile.

On one particular day, Marble was just finishing up in the fields when she heard one of Limestone's outbursts again. "Ugh! Why do the pickaxes always break!? It's not like they're old, they should just stay together! Arrgh!" Limestone yelled. Marble was not going to listen to another rambling from her sister and ran toward the house. She arrived at the front steps and trotted inside and up the stairs. Marble could still faintly hear her sister even from their bedroom, and started to think she'd never get away. But then, Marble noticed something out in the hall. The ladder to the attic was lowered and the door was open. Marble thought to herself, 'Perfect! I remember Dad mentioning that the attic was sound proofed years ago!'

Seeing an opportunity for some time alone, she made her way up the ladder and through the door in the ceiling, pulling the ladder up behind her. The attic wasn't anything special to behold. Boxes lay in the corners of the dimly lit room, all full of miscellaneous things from Hearthswarming decorations to stockpiles of granite soup mix. Marble heaved a sigh of relief. Finally she had a nice place to unwind and be alone with her thoughts.

"Ugh, why does Lime have to be so angry all the time?! Doesn't she know it affects my day too? I'm sick of hearing her explode over the smallest things. I mean, what does it matter that the pickaxes break!? Just get a new one and stop blowing a fuse!" Marble huffed. She was about to continue when she heard a box behind her fall. She jumped out of her coat and looked to where the box had fallen, expecting somepony to be eavesdropping...only to see Boulder lying on the floor.

Boulder was Maud's pet. He was a rock. Rocks don't do, well, anything; but Maud seemed to care for him like a living being. In fact, the whole family could somehow communicate with him from time to time, although Maud was the best at it. "O-oh, Boulder. You startled me." Marble replied. "I know Maud left you at home for the weekend but...how did you get up here?"

"..........."

"Oh! So Maud left you up here? I guess I just assumed she would have left you in our bedroom..." Marble said.

"........"

"Well, I came up here to calm down and vent my frustrations. I don't suppose you'd want to stay while I do that...heh." Marble admitted.

"..."

"O-Oh, you don't mind at all?" Marble asked.

"....."

"Uhm, if you insist. Well...for starters, I'm sick of not getting treated with as much respect as Limestone does! I know our parents loves us unconditionally, but they don't seem to acknowledge my achievements at all! It's always: 'Excellent work Limestone!' or 'Oh Limestone dear, help your Pa with this here geode will you?' or 'Limestone, go fetch the pickaxes from the mine.' When am I going to get some recognition?" Marble exclaimed.

"......"

"An-and what about Pinkie? She never seems to come around much anymore. Sure, being an Element of Harmony as well as a baker is nothing if not a busy load, but it seems like as soon as she has time to spend she's gone off the next moment. I like spending time with my sisters but their schedules make it increasingly difficult to do so....sigh. And then there's my love life struggles.

"....."

"Oh...oh no you don't want to here about that. It's embarrassing......Y-you...promise you won't laugh at me?" Marble said shyly.

"...."

"Well, as you know my first ever crush was that handsome young colt from the Apple family. You know, Big Mac? He's so dreamy....B-but when Pinkie told me we might be related it left a sour, bitter hole in my heart. Even if we're not related, he already has a special somepony...Ugh! I can never catch a break!" Marble stomped her hoof and kicked an old empty box into the corner.

"Why!? Why can nothing ever go right for ME for once!? I want to have just one day where I can have a normal, stress-free night! I'm sick of Limestone being upset! I'm tired of not getting respected in my own home! When is it my turn!?" Marble shouted, before crumpling to the floor and starting to sob heavily.

In the commotion, Marble's tail knocked over Boulder's pedestal, sending him tumbling in front of Marble.

"........"

Marble, still a little shaken up, started to calm down. She wiped away her tears and found an old box of tissues nearby. "Yo-you really think that? But they never show me their affections! And my sister don't seem to care all that much either..."

"......."

"You do? You respect me, and say that they do too?" Marble asked.

".............."

"...You're right. I AM loved and appreciated! I WILL make it through this. Even in my roughest days I have to look on the bright side!" Marble jumped up and landed on all four hooves. "I...I feel a whole lot better now. Thank you Boulder so much for listening to my woes hehe." Marble chuckled, her eyes stinging with excess tears.

"......."

Marble tidied up the attic before grabbing Boulder and heading down the ladder. Marble walked into her bedroom to see Limestone standing there. "Yo, what's up? Where'd you go after work today? Ma and Pa were looking all over for you." Limestone asked. Marble didn't reply, but rather she placed Boulder down on the nightstand and pulled Limestone into a big bear pony hug.

Limestone, more confused than anything, decided not to push for details and just accepted the hug from her sister with a small smirk. "Alright ya big softie, I can see something happened in the last hour or so. You can tell me later. Now, go on and wash up. Pa says we're expecting Maud and Pinkie for dinner tonight. Oh, hey Boulder." Limestone replied, before heading out the door and down the stairs, leaving Marble and Boulder in the room.

"Well...you heard the mare! I better go wash up. Thanks again Boulder. Make sure to talk to Maud later about what we discussed, will ya?

"...."

Marble smiled, before walking off toward the bathroom to freshen up.

And so, this marks the end of another day on the Pie Family Rock Farm, where the greatest listeners, are often the least expected.

Comments

[Starswirl the Beardless]

This was a nice read. It's always nice to see Marble get some love, and it's always funny to see Boulder get the spotlight. Aside from a few mechanical issues here and there, this was a pretty solid story. Good job!

[Flameon_Heart]

11767479
Well thank you! I'm not sure I understand by mechanical issues? Is that like the way I represented Boulder "speaking", or was it something else? I'd like to hear your feedback.

[Starswirl the Beardless]

11767493
I just meant that I noticed some issues with things like grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc, but these weren't significant enough to be distracting.

[Flameon_Heart]

11767501
Okay. I usually do a proofreads on my stories but I always seem to miss something in the check. If I notice any of the errors I will fix them in the future. Thanks for the feedback.