Convictions set in Stone

by Gustav Gynt

First published 28th of October, 2015

Marble Pie leaves the rock farm to see new places and, possibly, even to find love...

After spending Hearth's Warming Eve with the Apples, something has changed in Marble Pie's world: up until then, she had only known the familiar ground of the rock farms community, which was so much different from the world the Apples must have come from. Something in her just screams to go and see this world (and, maybe, just maybe, also meet again a certain red stallion...), even if the rest of the community might disapprove. A story about romance, growth and overcoming anxieties.

A smooth pebble

Author's Notes:

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.

Pools of bitter honey

Twilight Sparkle was walking through the main street of Ponyville, directed towards her hay burger restaurant. Compiling letter after letter of friendship advice could become tiresome and she needed a break. On her way there, she was intercepted (or, better yet, straight up tackled) by a pink lightning.

"Twilight! Twilight! My little sister Marble Pie is coming to visit Ponyville tomorrow! Isn't this exciting???"

Twilight remembered how... exciting it was the last time one of Pinkie's sisters came to visit. She politely smiled and replied, "Uuh... sure Pinkie! I'm glad for you..."

"Ooooooh! You girls are going to love her! She will be the sweetest thing you've ever seen! I'm actually kinda surprised that she decided to come out of the farm, being shy as she is, but oh well, I guess she couldn't stay another week without her just-a-few-minutes-older sister and that also mean that she's going to meet all of my friends, not just Applejack and her family, which just makes me wanna..."

"Yes Pinkie, I get the picture. And, as I said, I'm happy for you. I'm... looking forward to meeting another one of your sisters, last time it was... charming."

"I've got to bring the news to the other girls immediately! It's going to be so great!"

And, just as fast as she had appeared, she vanished in a pink blur.

Twilight did remember that, in the end, Maud's visit hadn't been a total disaster, but she also remembered that it hadn't been the most comfortable of experiences either: it had actually gotten quite awkward a couple of times. She really hoped that it would be different this time around, but, knowing that Pinkie's family came from a rock farm, she kinda doubted. She sighed and added to her mental checklist to be prepared for another geology education session.

Marble was walking slowly towards the town hall. There had to be a catch, there just had to be: in order to go to Ponyville, she had to get the train ticket and the railroad office was in the town hall. She had to meet Clerk Sandstone: it wasn't exactly compulsory to have a conversation with her if you wanted to go temporarily out of the community, but, well, it would have been out of the norm not to.

The building, although not excessively big, towered over her menacingly, as if part of Sandstone's intimidating presence had somehow rubbed off on it. She closed her eyes, exhaled, and then opened the door. It was weird, for her, to go in there when there was almost nopony inside: only a couple of Sandstone's employees were visible in the room, which Marble was used to only see during the meetings.

She went towards the counter on her left, where a middle-aged grey mare was reading a book with a bored expression. Marble waited to be acknowledged, but the employee didn't respond in any way. She waited politely for a few minutes, in which nothing of substance happened, then decided that she needed to try something to get the other's attention. It wouldn't be easy: like the building itself, without being really any bigger than her, the bored employee towered over her, making her feel small and insignificant.

"Uuhm..."

She said with barely any voice at all. No reaction.

"Excuse me, I uuuh... I need to get a train ticket and... I need to... talk to Clerk Sandstone if possible..."

Without even so much as raising her eyes, the mare on the other side of the counter said, with a gruff voice, "Second floor, last door on the left. Wait a few minutes and then knock. Away with you."

Marble's lips spelled the words "okay thanks", but no sound came out, as she took her leave.

After walking up a dim lighted set of stairs, Marble found herself facing a long corridor with numerous doors, all looking the same and being equally distant from one another. She slowly walked through it, keeping her head down and fearfully glancing at the doors as she passed them, as if they could judge her. Soon, but not soon enough for her, she was in front of the last door on the left, which didn't look any different from the others.

She sat and began to wait, as she had been told. While waiting, she thought back at the short exchange with the employee downstairs: she thought at how she must have looked to the unknown mare, all scared as she was, and how rude it was to not give a proper answer when she was given the information she needed. She cringed as she considered just how much of a fool she had made of herself. The scene kept on replaying in her mind, becoming more and more shameful every time.

After a few interminable minutes, Marble worked up the courage to raise her hoof towards the closed wooden door.

She gave a light knock and a loud voice answered immediately. "Come in."

Marble swallowed and opened the door. The office inside was mostly bare, with grim colours and a few very old closets. On the other side of a full but organised desk there was a mare with a greyish yellow coat, matched by eyes of the same colour that looked like pools of old and bitter honey. The white mane was kept in a bun, in such a way to make it the very last thing you see about the pony sporting it. Clerk Sandstone was sitting there, seeking and keeping eye contact with Marble Pie.

"Why, if it isn't the youngest of the Pie family. Please, do come in and take a seat."

Even when she used words of courtesy, Sandstone sounded like she was giving direct orders. Marble obeyed, taking the small wooden chair on the side of the room and placing it in front of the busy desk. After sitting, she forced herself to watch the clerk in the eyes, knowing that she didn't tolerate ponies avoiding her gaze. The yellow mare asked in her dry voice, "What is the reason for you to come here?"

Marble, surprising herself in the process, managed to immediately answer in an audible voice, "I need to get a ticket f... a ticket for the train to Ponyville that will leave tomorrow."

The clerk raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to go to Ponyville?"

"Uhm... when my sister Pinkie..."

"Pinkamena Diane Pie."

"... yes, her... came to visit the family, I didn't get to spend time with her and... uh... since right now I am not really needed at the farm, I... uhm... I thought that maybe it would be okay to go and see her, yes..."

Sandstone intervened immediately. "You're not telling me everything, are you? Also, it has been a while since we had a conversation, me and you, and that is hardly a positive thing, don't you agree?"

Marble was afraid that Sandstone would say something like that: in order to have a better community, as she would usually say, the one who's in charge needs to know what the other members think, when they are in doubt or struggling, when something out of the norm happens, so that something can be done to solve problems. Sandstone believed that speaking personally, privately and, possibly, often, with all the ponies of her community was the best way to achieve a positive environment. It had been a while since the last time Marble had met with her in private.

"I... uh... I guess I also hope that I might meet again the Apple family, that was here for Hea..."

"For Hearth's Warming Eve, yes."

"Ye... yeah, exactly... they seemed nice to me, so it could also be nice to maybe... uh... see them... see them again. But my main reason is to see my sister, perhaps even to see where she works."

"Wanting to see your sister is good, even though Pinkamena isn't what I would call a positive member of the community, having left it years ago. Seeing other ponies is also mostly alright, but you shouldn't pay too much attention to the outside: what is really important is our community. Don't you ever forget it. Do you think you are capable of keeping my words well into you head?"

"I... I guess so.

"You don't sound very convinced. Perhaps it isn't such a good idea after all..."

"No! I'll always remember what you said."

"What is it that you'll remember?"

"I will... I won't pay too much attention on the outside and I'll keep in mind that my sister isn't a positive member of the community."

"Very well. An appropriate length for this deviation would be one day and one night: I expect that you will be coming back to your family's farm by the day after tomorrow at noon. You may buy your ticket in Iron Ore's office, third floor, fifth door on the right. Don't forget to close the door as you get out."

As she closed the door, like she was told, she felt like she had just been through a real ordeal for hours, though it had been hardly a couple of minutes.

Walking down the road towards home, Marble considered just how much speaking with Sandstone affected her: up until then, only thinking about Hearth's Warming Eve and the Apple family (and Big Mac) would send her heart a flutter, now she almost felt guilty of the feelings she had had. Even though she had in her saddlebag the ticket she wanted, she felt like she didn't deserve it and that she shouldn't have wished to go see the outside. Maybe the best thing to do was to throw away the ticket, apologise to Pinkie for not coming after all and forget all about it.

When she arrived at home, her gaze stopped just for a moment over the Hearth's Warming dolls that were still sitting on the shelf over the hood: the ones made by the Apples were still there. She remembered when Big Mac had initially tried to make his own, breaking the mallet and the memory made her giggle. She realised that she had never really wanted to throw away the ticket, that she was only affected by her conversation with Sandstone: the feelings she had before were somewhat tainted by that one event, but they were still there, she could tell. Marble went quickly up the stairs and into her room, with the intention of preparing her luggage.

That evening, when it was already time to go to bed, Marble was looking out the window, staring at Princess Luna's moon.

She was so excited for the day after that she couldn't bring herself to go to sleep just yet. She picked up the imperfect little block of marble, right next to her new pebble, and watched it silently. The little crack on the corner did not bother her: her expert eye could tell that it didn't go very deep and, while carving the marble, removing that particular corner wouldn't affect the end result. When she had to come back home, she would craft a new little sculpture with it, she knew it. The only thing she didn't already know was what would be the subject, but she figured that her upcoming travel would give her plenty of choice.

She put back the little block and watched the already finished figurines that stood amongst the rest of her collection, wondering what would become the first of her carving not inspired by her home or her family. Afterwards, she decided it would be better if she just blew out the candle and went to sleep, since she would have to leave early in the morning.

As she laid down on her bed, she couldn't keep herself from wondering what she would see the day after: she envisioned her sister and the Apple family welcoming her at the train station and toyed with the idea of meeting again with Big Mac... in the darkness it was impossible to see, but the thought made her blush through her smile.

Colours other than grey

Pinkie Pie and her friends were waiting at the station for the arrival of the train from the rock farms community: the pink pony was bouncing in place, hardly containing herself, while the other five mares and the little dragon just sat around. All of them, except for Applejack, remembering Maud's visit, were almost afraid of what would come out of that train. Applejack, of course, had already seen Marble and wasn't worried. Hanging from the walls of the station, there was a big hoof-made banner that said "Welcome to Ponyville Marble!", with the stylised figures of Pinkie's and Marble's heads, both smiling, painted with bright colours and covered in glitter.

If Pinkie wasn't so absorbed in the thought of seeing her little sister again, she might have noticed that none of her friends had prepared the way they had done when Maud had come: for instance, Rarity hadn't even bothered putting on any of her fancy get-ups. However, Pinkie, as mentioned, wasn't in the right mindset to notice such details, and just kept bouncing in place happily.

The hooting sound of the train eventually resounded through the station, as the train finally approached.

Pinkie jumped even higher and screamed in delight. "She's here! She's here!"

As the train was slowing down on the dock, all of them gathered in order to properly welcome the new arrival. The door opened and the only pony to come out was the shy little grey figure of Marble Pie, with her luggage. She appeared to be looking around for something, but also didn't seem to find it and, for a brief, fleeting moment, a look of disappointment passed through her face. The moment was cut short by Pinkie, who dashed to hug her sister.

"Marble! It's me, Pinkie! Your bigger-by-a-couple-of-minutes sister! Did you miss me? I have been soooo excited since I got your letter and I brought all of my bestest friends here with me so that you could meet them too and I couldn't resist so I organised a surprise party for you. Oops, I spoiled the surprise, but it doesn't matter: at least you don't know about the cake. Say hi to my friends Marble!"

Marble Pie was somewhat underwhelmed: firstly, there was the disappointment of not having the Apple family to welcome her, like she had dreamed of; secondly, from the station she couldn't see the town and she was anxious to see it. But, if it made any sense at all, she was also somewhat overwhelmed by, well... all those unknown ponies looking at her: she was afraid that their faces were showing how much of a let-down she was.

In a moment, Marble realised that Pinkie had asked to say hi to her friends, blushed nervously, and just murmured, "Mhm..."

There was a moment of awkward silence, interrupted by Applejack, who said, "We already got introduced just a few days ago, but it's great seeing you again, sugarcube."

And the the orange mare gave her a wink. Marble sheepishly smiled and murmured again, a little bit more convinced. "Mhm!"

Pinkie interrupted, bringing with her a canary yellow pegasus pony, who seemed almost as nervous to meet Marble as Marble was to meet her.

"This is my friend Fluttershy! You have a few things in common, I'm sure you'll get along just fine!"

Then proceeded introducing all the others: Rarity, the white unicorn, Rainbow Dash, the cyan pegasus with rainbow mane, Spike the dragon and Princess Twilight Sparkle, a purple pony who sported both a horn and a pair of wings.

They all seemed friendly, but Marble was afraid of being some kind of disappointment to them: knowing her sister, she surely had spoken much about her to them, possibly conditioning their first impression. She was just a boring little grey earth pony from the countryside, they looked all so colourful and special: there was even royalty between them. She thought she couldn't possibly compare to the image of her that Pinkie had most certainly painted to them.

Pinkie said, "Now all of you, I'm going to accompany my sister to Sugarcube Corner, we'll meet in... you know... the place... later. And off we go!"

Marble was literally dragged away by her sister as the other five ponies and the little dragon waved to them.

They went out the door of the station and, for Marble, it was like walking out of a magic portal. The winter snow hadn't been swept away, like in her community, and Hearth's Warming lights were still all around the place, even though the festivity had been no less than five days prior.

While they were walking, Marble watched in awe that town so different from anything she had seen in her life: the colours, the constant noise of ponies gleefully chatting with one another, the genuine smiles that she could see coming from every direction, the fillies and colts playing and laughing in the snow. She also noticed that Pinkie was greeting every single creature she would find on her path and everypony responded... nopony would have been so expansive where she came from: everyone she knew (and, of course, Sandstone) would have disapproved of all that loudness. It was like being in a totally different world and, despite her being shy and introverted, she actually liked it more this way: at least it didn't look like everyone was just waiting for her to make some mistake and judge her for it, as everyone seemed content of just living and letting others live.

The buildings were all of different colours from what she was used to: bright yellow, shiny white, even some light green, compared to grim brown and, of course, grey. How often did they paint their houses to keep them so bright? Did anypony set a standard for what colours could be used or were they free to do as they pleased? Sandstone would have disapproved of decorating buildings that way: houses were just places where to sleep, they weren't meant to be pretty. And, speaking of buildings, she could see just the top, but there appeared to be a crystal castle on the other side of the town. She didn't even think it was real: she only thought it was the main attraction of a fair or something.

Walking, she could see a fountain with a big sculpture of a rearing mare: she had never seen a sculpture so big, she didn't even know it was possible. Just how much time and effort had the sculptor put into the work? How did he or she find the material to do it on the soft ground that Ponyville was apparently built on? What kind of tools had he or she used? Who was the portrayed mare and why had she been chosen as the subject? Sandstone would have never approved of such a frivolous expression of individuality being put on public ground.

There was also a small stand selling hot chocolate, which emanated a very sweet scent. Another very appealing aroma came from a nearby bakery, selling hot flat bread. And then another, from yet another small stand selling caramel apples. She couldn't believe that so many foods were allowed to coexist within such a small distance: Sandstone would have said that that variety would distract hard working ponies from really important things.

She also saw a shop that actually only sold fancy dresses, which was an absolute novelty for her as well. Up until that moment, Marble had never considered what it would have been like to wear a fancy dress: she had only once seen somepony wearing something that beautiful and that mare was getting married. What did it feel like? What kind of colours would have been possible to try on? Would she need to get her mane styled, wearing something like that? Was there the possibility that even she could feel... pretty? Sandstone would have really, really disapproved of something like that being a business in their community.

There were just so many things that were so much different from what she knew, but she managed, in her head, to condense all the differences in just one core idea: what was grey and nothing but grey in the community, in Ponyville was anything but. She had compared all of what she was seeing with what Sandstone would have approved but, really, the other ponies in the community weren't much better, with the possible exception of her own family.

Marble was just in such awe from all those wonders that she hardly noticed the word flood that her sister was unleashing on her. She didn't even know where they were going, until it appeared in front of them: a building assembled in such a way to resemble a big ginger bread house, covered with chocolate, cream and frosting. Apparently, it was Sugarcube Corner, the place where Pinkie lived and worked.

They went in and Pinkie chirped, "Hello Mr and Mrs Cake! This is my littler-by-just-a-minute-or-two sister, Marble Pie! As I told you, she's going to stay here for a few days, but you will probably not even know she's there: she's quite the silent type."

Marble had noticed that Pinkie said that she would stay a couple of days, but didn't correct her, not feeling like correcting her sister in front of strangers. On the other side of the counter, there were an orange square stallion and a plump blue mare and both were smiling.

She was the first to answer. "Hello Marble, nice to meet you! I hope you're going to have a nice stay here. Pinkie spoke a lot about you, you know?"

Marble thought to herself, 'Of course she did...', blushing. The blue mare noticed that and chuckled. "Awww! Look how shy she is! She is a real cutie!"

The orange stallion, who was smiling too, intervened. "Stop it, Cup Cake dear, don't you see you're making it worse? Pinkie, why don't you show your sister where she's going to sleep for as long as she stays in here? I'm sure she would like to get rid of her luggage."

The room in which Pinkie lived had more than enough space for the both of them. The pink pony said to her sister, "It's nothing fancy, but I like it here. What do you think, sis?"

The grey mare answered, "It actually is very nice: I never thought you would move into a sweet-shaped home. It does make sense though..."

Pinkie giggled. "I know, right? I'm glad you like it. You really should leave your stuff here and come with me: there is a surprise party which is not really a surprise anymore but it's still waiting for you."

Marble left her luggage on the side of the folding bed she would be sleeping on, while Pinkie was already on her way to go downstairs. She really wasn't looking forward to a party and hoped that the number of guests would be as little as possible. She also hoped that she could go and take a walk around the town, alone, so that she could see as many new things as possible, without worrying about other ponies knowing her, watching her and judging her; maybe she would find inspiration for the little sculpture she was planning to do, maybe she would meet by chance somepony who hadn't been there at the train station... She also didn't have much time: the next morning she was already supposed to go home, so she would also need to buy her ticket later on.

She heard Pinkie shout from the other room, "Marble! They're waiting for us! Hurry up!"

Marble came out of the room and asked her sister, "Is there going to be a lot of ponies at the party?"

"You'll see soon enough..."

The grey pony didn't like the answer, but didn't speak her mind, limiting her reaction to a small frown.

Pinkie did notice that and, for once, took her energy down a notch and said, "Don't worry sis: you're going to like it, I'm totally sure. This is a Pinkie promise: you're going to enjoy your party!"

Then she made the motions of her Pinkie promise with absolute solemnity. Marble smiled: she knew how seriously her sister took those promises.

They went out of Sugarcube Corner and Pinkie started leading her sister through the streets of Ponyville with her usual excited energy. Marble could tell that they were going out of the town centre, but could not guess where they were actually directed.

Just outside of town, Pinkie stopped and said, "Since I spoiled that there is a surprise, let me make it at least a surprise where we're going."

She took a blindfold from her saddlebag and put it on Marble, who just let her, trusting her sister. The grey young mare could not see, but Pinkie was holding her hoof and guiding her. The snow on the dirt path had been swept away, so she could feel the frozen earth beneath her hooves: it was soft, with few rocks and lots of nutrients, from which she guessed it must have been very fertile and used for agriculture, since Ponyville apparently lived on it.

She gradually heard the already faint noise of the town going lower and lower, substituted by the scarce chirping of those birds that don't go south in winter and the gentle rustling of dry branches in the wind: she guessed that there were a lot of trees around and that, in any season other than winter, the sound would have been of rustling leaves. After a few minutes, she heard the distinct sound of a barn door opening. Just before the blindfold was removed, she heard the small sounds of ponies trying to be silent but failing in many very subtle ways.

When Pinkie took the cloth band away from her eyes, Marble saw roughly a dozen ponies in party outfits shouting, "SURPRISE!!!"

Red barn, green apples

The mares of the community were around the town's fountain to wash clothes. At least, washing clothes was the excuse, though the real purpose was, of course, gossip.

One mare with dark eyes was just finishing her story. "...and that is how Calcite got that bruise on her leg."

Lead Ore rolled her eyes: the news had been really slow, in the last couple of days. Fortunately, she did have a succulent story to tell, being the railroad employee's wife.

"Yeah, very interesting. Now, ladies, would you like to hear something really good?"

The others murmured unconvinced: Lead didn't often bring really good stuff.

She, however, was unfazed by the cold reaction and proceeded, "You know who left the community to go to Ponyville just this morning?"

The murmur changed its tone immediately: that was probably going to actually be good.

Lead smiled slyly and said, "Now you're interested, aren't you? Very well, I'll tell you... my husband Iron told me that yesterday somepony came to buy a train ticket for Ponyville. That somepony was Marble Pie, Cloudy Quartz's youngest daughter."

The mares gasped and a few audible comments raised.

"It's always the Pies."

"After that weird pink daughter of theirs, years ago, and the oldest just a few months back... those sisters are the worst!"

"Can you imagine how embarrassing must it be for Cloudy?"

Lead grinned at the figurative avalanche she was starting with her metaphorical snowball off the slope, then proceeded. "Yes, apparently she's going to see her sister in Ponyville. However, a bird told me that she wanted to also see that family that the Pies invited to their house during Heart's Warming Eve again."

The gasps were even louder, but she started talking again before the comments could begin. "Do you remember that, amongst that family, there was a young stallion?"

They sure did: it had already been subject of one of their gossiping sessions.

"Well, I am not suggesting anything, but what if there is something behind the impressionable and young Marble Pie's trip?"

The comments exploded: that was just too good.

"SURPRISE!!!"

Marble was indeed surprised: she expected her sister's friends, the ones who were at the station, but she did not expect to see the Apple family as well; there were also two little fillies besides Applebloom who were about the same age as her. She was glad to notice that Big Mac was amongst them. All of them were looking at her and she blushed violently.

Pinkie started talking. "I knew you would have liked to see the Apples again, so I had them organise the party in their barn (of course I did help, duh) and I just couldn't not invite my friends so that they can know you a bit better and Applebloom asked if she could invite the Cutie Mark Crusaders as well and I said why not, but, after that, I remembered that you don't really like big and loud, so I did not invite anypony else. Do you like it Marble?"

Marble looked around: there were streamers, tables filled with sweets, another banner which read "Welcome to Ponyville Marble... Again!!!". She turned her head towards her sister and, smiling and blushing at the same time, she nodded.

Pinkie's enthusiasm became palpable, as she said, "Let's get this party started!"

Marble was relieved to see that the other ponies did not crowd her all at once: as the music started playing, the others would start dancing and chatting with each other. The only ones who rushed towards her were Applebloom and her two friends.

"Hi Marble! Do ya remember me? Ah'm so happy to see you again so soon! Ah wanted to introduce ya to my friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!"

The two fillies, a white unicorn and an orange pegasus, waved at her as their names were mentioned, then Scootaloo intervened. "Together, we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

Marble just then noticed that their cutie marks were very similar to one another, which she found very odd, but she didn't question them about it, fearing it would have been rude.

She just said a very soft "Hi!"

It was the little unicorn's turn to talk. "We help ponies to figure out what their cutie mark means!"

Marble was fascinated by that concept: she had never really given a thought towards what her cutie mark meant, it had just appeared one day and she liked it, that was the end of it. She thought it would have been interesting to learn the meaning of those three marbles on her flank. Her thought went for a moment to what would Sandstone think of that, but she immediately forgot about it: she never even paid attention to what the clerk's cutie mark was.

Applebloom kept on talking. "Yeah! If ya ever need it, we'll be mighty glad to help!"

Before the conversation could go any further, Sweetie Belle pointed in one direction and asked, "Is Pinkie Pie bringing in the chocolate chip muffins?"

One moment later, the three fillies had vanished. Marble looked around the place and her gaze met with Big Mac's, for a moment, before he looked away: he was apparently just sitting in a corner, not speaking with anypony else. The reason why she had noticed him in the first place, not even a week prior, was the fact that, like her, he seemed more inclined to thinking than speaking, which she found to be a rare trait. His current behaviour was consistent with the idea she had got the last time she saw him, which gave her a strange, but happy, feeling. She wanted to approach him, but her legs didn't seem to cooperate. Marble forced herself to at least go towards the buffet, in order to close the distance a little bit without going straight to him. She had a slice of the apple pie that was there, made with green apples, like the one on Big Mac's cutie mark. She noticed that the barn itself had roughly the same colour as his coat: a deep red. She liked the contrast: the red coat with the green cutie mark.

As she was lost in these considerations, the purple alicorn known as Princess Twilight went near her and spoke to her.

"So, you're Pinkie's little sister? It's very nice to meet you. You're kinda different from what I was expecting..."

Marble's first reaction was one of fright, but then Twilight went on. "... but in a totally positive way."

Marble looked at her and gave her a faint smile, right before remembering that she was talking to royalty and lowered her gaze.

Twilight noticed that and said, "You don't need to be intimidated by me: ponies these days see me as a princess, but I would like you to just call me Twilight and treat me like anypony else, if you can. I wasn't always a princess, you know? All is still new for me, and it is actually kinda scary, at times..."

Marble looked at her in the eyes again: it was the first time she had ever spoken to royalty and the princess in question had just shown vulnerability. That was absolutely new and unexpected to her: in her experience, ponies with power never showed vulnerability, they used the vulnerability of others to their advantage. But, she thought, this Twilight was Pinkie's friend: it actually made sense that, if Pinkie befriended royalty, it would be with sompony that was at least actually kind of alright.

Twilight completed her thought. "... which is why I would be honoured if you thought of me as your friend and not as your princess. Pinkie's family is family to us as well!"

Marble opened her mouth and softly said, "Thanks, I'll remember it... Twilight."

Twilight chuckled and answered, "This is the first time I heard your voice: it's nice, you should let it out more often. Now, I'm going to see what Spike is doing over there, to make sure he's okay. Enjoy your party, Marble! It was a real pleasure to speak with you!"

As Twilight went away, Marble's mind was boggling... Nice? A princess just said that her voice was... nice? And she also said that it had been a pleasure to speak with her and... she looked like she meant it! That was the very first time anypony told her things like that: she had never even considered that her voice could be... nice. She felt like never before: she was meeting all these new ponies, who came one after another, careful not to overwhelm her, just to say nice things to her. Granted, she still preferred the company of herself or, at most, just another pony she trusted other than her, but this was the first time she was actually kinda feeling well within a small crowd.

The next of Pinkie's friend to approach her was Rarity, the white unicorn with purple, stylish mane and three diamonds as cutie mark: her posture, her expression and even the way she moved screamed self confidence and elegance.

She got near Marble and addressed her. "Pardon me, darling, but I couldn't help but noticing your beautiful, flowing mane! I just had to come and ask you if you have any kind of dress to go with it: it's divine!"

Marble's eyes opened wide in surprise. "My... my mane? Dress?"

Rarity kept going, absolutely unfazed. "Why yes, darling! It would be a crime against everything I stand for if you didn't have anything to go with that beautiful and smooth shower of grey of yours."

Marble didn't even know how to respond to that: nopony ever praised any of her features, especially nopony so... elegant.

"N... no. I don't have any dr... any dresses."

It was Rarity's turn to open her eyes wide, letting a loud gasp out. "My, this is unacceptable! It so happens that *chuckle* I am quite the accomplished stylist, if I do say so myself..."

There was the catch, Marble thought: somepony so distinct couldn't possibly give her so much praise if not for trying to sell her something...

"... which is why I'm going to make you a dress especially tailored for your needs as a welcome present. What do you think, darling? I will not accept "no" for an answer!"

Marble's mouth went agape. The fleeting thought passed through her head that this Rarity might be the owner of that beautiful shop she had seen and daydreamed about earlier, but the shocking turn of events made that thought slip away instantly.

"Uh... tha... thanks but I can... I... I can't possibly..."

"Nonsense darling! If you just come tomorrow morning to my boutique, I will get your measurements and make it as soon as I can."

"Uuuh... tomorrow?"

"Yes: I'm afraid that, after this party, I cannot afford to spend time on leisure or side projects today, but tomorrow should be fine..."

"Oh... it's ju... it's just that I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Oh. That's... that's really a pity. I suppose that, if I work a little extra tonight, you can come later today and I will send the dress to you by mail as soon as I finish it."

"Thanks but... uh... I don... I don't think it will be necessary..."

And Marble just left the table, leaving Rarity behind. The whole conversation reminded her that, if she had come back to the community with a fancy dress, she wouldn't be able to wear it anyway; it reminded her that all the niceness she was experiencing wasn't but temporary; it reminded her that, by the same time, the day after she would already be working again in the rock farm. She didn't dislike rocks and her family's business, but the new world she was seeing was just so beautiful that the thought of coming back from it so soon was unbearable. She was just so lost in these thoughts that she didn't even notice when she passed just next to Big Mac, who tried to get her attention by raising his hoof and emitting a "uuh" kind of sound, but in vain.

Marble thought that it was actually kinda funny how her good mood had been fragile. She dragged herself towards a corner and just sat there, leaning her head against the wall. She also thought back at her conversation with Rarity and realised that she had been stuttering; she felt a wave of embarrassment filling her up from bottom to top: it had been the first time that anypony showed such niceness to her and she just... embarrassed herself. It wasn't long before she heard somepony coming to her, but she didn't raise her head to see who might it be.

She heard a deep voice addressing her. "Pardon, madam... Ah recall meeting ya last Heart's Warming Eve and... uh... is there something wrong?"

The frozen lake

Everything had happened very quickly.

Big Macintosh wasn't far from the table he had helped preparing for the party. He did regret not going at the station that morning because of the preparations, but he was happy with the results after all. Once the party had started, he didn't have anyone to talk to, but that was fine as he wasn't the talkative kind. He liked those who managed to say a lot with few words: that was one big reason why, despite knowing lots of mares, the one who caught his attention had been Marble Pie, not a week prior.

He had watched the grey mare as she talked with the Cutie Mark Crusaders: she was very pretty. When their gazes met, he turned his head, pretending he was just looking around. Then, she had come to the table and he had tried to work up the courage to go and talk to her. "Big Mac, go to her, tell her that you remember her and that you'd like to... to do what? Talk? That isn't going anywhere... dance? That isn't going anywhere either..." and, as he was thinking, Twilight had started talking to Marble. "There goes my chance... I'll have to wait for another opening." But, as soon as Twilight had gone, he hesitated again and Rarity intervened in his place. "Shoot! I should prepare for when Rarity is done... how do I address her? Madam? Miss? What do I say to her?"

As the conversation with Rarity went on, he noticed that Marble's mood was getting worse, until she left the table with her head low. She passed just beside him and he raised a hoof to catch her attention, but, as he opened his mouth to say something, hardly any sound came out. She moved on without even noticing his presence. She had gone to a corner and just sat there, with a sad look on her.

He looked towards Rarity, who was baffled and mortified at the same time, and the unicorn said, "I really don't understand what did I do to upset her, I swear!"

Big Mac didn't give it much thought and just went towards the grey mare in the corner. "Big Mac, don't screw it up now. Go there, ask her if you can do anything for her and treat her like a gentlepony would..."

When he was next to her, he said, "Pardon, madam... Ah recall meeting ya last Heart's Warming Eve and... uh... is there something wrong?"

And the voice in his head screamed, "Really? Is that the best you could say? You should stick to eeyup and nnope, next time..."

Marble raised her head and, as soon as she did that, she noticed two things: the first was that Big Macintosh was just there, next to her; the second was that everypony was watching her with concern. She hadn't considered that, being the party guest, everyone would notice if she behaved in some odd way. She blushed really violently and tried answering, but she wasn't able to speak any coherent word.

Big Mac extended his hoof to her and said, "Why don't ya come outside one moment? Maybe, with some fresh air..."

He didn't finish the sentence, but she did take his hoof, as she really did feel like taking a long, hard breath of fresh air. As soon as they were out in the open, the silence and the cool air managed to relax Marble a little.

She spoke to Big Mac without looking at him directly. "Thank you..."

"You're welcome."

They stood there in silence, as neither felt the need to say anything more than that. She was looking at the orchard, now devoid of foliage, trying to imagine what it would look like in summer. She was somewhat aware that he was watching her, perhaps with concern about what had just happened, so she tried to say something to explain it.

"Everything here is too much."

He remained silent for a bit, probably considering what she had just said, then asked, "Wanna go home?"

She hesitated, but eventually shook her head. She then added, "I want to see everything. At my pace."

She could see with her peripheral vision that he nodded.

They stood there in silence for a few minutes more, then she said, "I'm supposed to go back home tomorrow. There's not much time."

He turned towards Ponyville and stood silent for a while.

After that, he spoke. "Wanna take a walk around? As slow as ya want..."

She turned to him, expressionless, and nodded. They started walking away together in unison, no more words spoken. As they were walking, she felt some sort of calm... a calm that was emanating from the stallion walking on her side: putting one hoof in front of the other in complete silence, together, helped her clear her mind. She had been feeling one strong emotion after another all day, she realised that she really did need a pause really bad; she also realised that Big Mac was providing it. She had thought that being together with him would make her feel some sort of euphoria, but that calm, in that moment, was actually a hundred times better for her than any kind of powerful feeling. She felt at home, even more so than when she was in her real home.

Marble felt like she was in another world, where nopony imposed their expectations on her, where she could just walk, feel the cool air on her coat, smell the subtle scents of the nature in winter, hear the faint sounds of a sleeping orchard, lose herself in thought and contemplation. She was grateful to Big Mac, both for being with her and for not meddling with her thought process in that moment: the first thing made her feel protected, the second respected. She didn't even know where were they going, nor did she care.

Slowly, a blissful smile started growing on the grey mare's face, as she left all her worries behind them, not even caring anymore about having to go back home the very next day. Her eyes were only half open, just enough to see where she was putting her hooves, so that she could let her other senses run wild. It didn't happen often that she could just take a walk outside, not worrying about work or neighbouring farmers asking what was she doing.

She didn't even know for how long they went on like that, but they ended up in front of a lake covered with ice.

They stopped almost at the same time and, in that moment, Marble spoke the first words in what had felt like a beautiful millennium to her. "There was a lake like this when we were little. Pinkie used to ice skate on it all the time in winter. I was never good at it, but I liked to watch her."

He looked at her, then at the lake, paused and, after a couple of seconds, he nodded.

They stayed in silence for a bit, then he spoke. "I don't skate often either. I do like watching the fish under the ice, however."

There was another pause, then Marble asked, "Is the ice solid here?"

"Eeyup."

"Are we far from the farm?"

"Nnope."

"Do you have any ice skates?

He turned towards the farm and said, "Eeyup. Wait here, if ya like..."

She smiled, nodded and murmured:

"Mhm!"

The two ponies were clumsily skating on the solid ice, but they didn't really care about elegance, as they were just having fun together. Years had passed since the last time Marble had even touched a set of skates, let alone tried to balance on them. He wasn't graceful either, but he could keep balance, so, every time she was about to fall, Big Mac was there to keep her on her four legs; every time she would delicately laugh, followed by him smiling silently. They still didn't share a lot of words: laughing together, smiling to each other and exchanging gazes told more about what they were going through than any amount of words. They were running circles on the ice, oblivious of the world around them, crossing each other's paths and looking in each other's eyes: his green against her purple. Occasionally, they stopped a moment to catch some breath and watch the red fishes under the frozen surface.

The light of day was growing dimmer by the minute, but they didn't even notice it for the longest time. Only when Marble saw that she could see the town lights coming from behind a nearby hill did they ask themselves how much time had they spent together. They went on the border of the lake and took off the skates.

Marble, with her tiny smile, said to him, "Thank you, Big Mac. I had a very nice time."

He smiled back and said, "Eeyup!"

She looked towards the light, then back at his figure, covered in quasi darkness, eventually building up the courage to say, "I need to go to my sister now."

He didn't say a word, he just nodded and started walking towards Ponyville to guide her.

Big Mac was leading the way and Marble was mechanically following him. The town, in the evening, still covered in Hearth's Warming lights, was even more beautiful than during the day, but she couldn't focus her attention on any of it, being tired and hungry from all the skating. She was also starting to actually feel cold: she was looking forward to being back in Sugarcube Corner. She also had a nagging feeling in the back of her head that she was forgetting something important, but her fatigue and hunger kept her from thinking straight.

Soon enough, they arrived at their destination, exchanged one last gaze, then she thanked him again for the time together and they just parted ways, no long goodbyes.

When Marble got in, she was welcomed by the warmth of the inside and the fragrances of the bakery. As if she had sensed her sister arriving, Pinkie materialised out of thin air.

"Marble! Where have you been? What have you done? You didn't like the party, did you?"

Marble, with her most tired expression, smiled and said, "I had a great time. Thanks for the party, sorry for not staying until the end."

The grey mare's stomach growled.

"Ooh! Are you hungry Marble? I'll immediately get you some dinner!"

The day was almost over. Marble was looking out of the window, as her sister was already asleep in her bed. The lights, outside the window, kept on shining even though the town was falling asleep, giving it a surreal look and making the stars in the sky invisible. Few ponies were still walking down the streets.

Marble had since realised that, caught in the moment, she hadn't bought the ticket for home, but she figured she could wake up a bit earlier and buy it in the station, thanks to Pinkie telling her that in Ponyville the railroad offices were actually at the station and not in the town hall, so she wasn't preoccupied. She was a bit sad to already go back, not having done even half of what she wanted to do there, or seen half of what she wanted to see.

She still didn't know what to carve in her little marble block back home: she had considered Big Mac as a subject, but she wanted something less specific... a "what" instead of a "who". Marble didn't have the faintest idea, which was a pity, since her time there was already over, possibly forever.

She thought back at the time she had spent with the red stallion of the Apple family... she had rarely been as happy as with him: everything had felt natural, with almost no need for explanations and words. She craved for more time like that. In her head, she knew she might never get any of that ever again, but something in her guts refused to accept it, which kept her from despairing.

Thinking about it, Marble asked herself if it was really necessary to go back home the day after... before that moment, she had never even thought of disobeying, but now she was actively considering and contemplating that option: what was there to stop her? Her family could do without her for a few days more and, with some luck, maybe Sandstone wouldn't even know about it. The more she thought about it, the more viable it seemed. After all, she couldn't go back home without a good idea for her sculpture...

She went into her small but comfortable folding bed, tucking herself under the blankets, thinking back at all the nice moments that she had experienced that day, forgetting all about sadness and embarrassment. The picture of her and Big Macintosh skating on the lake lulled her in a peaceful state of slumber, full of happy dreams.

Merry go rounds and a cup of tea

Pinkie Pie was concerned about her sister: Marble had left the party and had come back to her really late the day prior, which was already kinda strange (and she did know her own when it came to strangeness). That morning, Marble had jumped out of the bed real soon, declared that she wouldn't leave yet like she had said just before going to bed and that she wanted to go see Ponyville on her own. What was happening to her? She had always been shy, calm and even somewhat submissive, it was like Pinkie didn't know her sister anymore! None of what Marble was doing made sense to her; granted, she was a master of not making sense, but she had always understood her sister as being pretty much the opposite of that. What had happened?

Pinkie watched as Marble trotted away from Sugarcube Corner, smiling to herself and watching her surroundings with curiosity. She had thought that it would have been difficult to convince her shy little sister to go outside and see stuff when, in reality, she had actually just spontaneously got out and specifically asked to be on her own. All that weird circumstance was really getting under Pinkie's skin: she decided she was going to get to the bottom of this affair.

The pink pony shot inside the sugary building and came out instantly with her spy outfit, complete with night vision goggles (which, after she had crashed into a pole in the Crystal Empire some months prior, didn't even consistently work anymore), determined to get as much info as possible.

She spoke in her walkie talkie. "Here Pink Lightning, going undercover. Over! Heeheehee! It rhymes! Cover-over, over-cover!"

If anyone passing by Sugarcube Corner had watched inside the upper window, they would have seen that the other walkie talkie was attached, by means of duct tape, to Gummy, the toothless alligator. Gummy blinked slowly, but remained otherwise unperturbed by the whole business.

Marble had already set in mind where she would have gone that morning: she would try to find Rarity. She was already going against Clerk Sandstone's orders, might as well see what was like to own a fancy dress. A burst of adrenaline ran through her spine, as she realised just how much trouble she would have found herself in, if only Sandstone knew the half of what she was doing in Ponyville. It did intimidate her, at first, but she was unwilling to let that paralyse her.

The streets of Ponyville were still unknown to her, but Marble could backtrack her way to the dress shop by remembering all the landmarks she had noticed the day prior. When she had arrived in front of the boutique's door, however, something did manage to stop her: she remembered the way she had ended her conversation with Rarity. She wasn't even sure that the shop she was in front of was in fact owned by Rarity. She even realised that, if she knocked and the white unicorn answered, she didn't know how to explain her own behaviour during the party. That stopped her dead in her tracks.

She stood there, outside the front door of the boutique shaped like a merry go round. What if Rarity was still offended by the way Marble had ended their conversation and refused her generous offer? What if she knocked and somepony else answered? Could she just go "oops, never mind, I wasn't looking for you"?

The door opened while she was still there standing still, startling her. The one opening it was Rarity, who gasped in surprise as she saw Marble on her doorstep.

"Oh! Hi, Marble. Is everything alright? Did I upset you yesterday? I most certainly did not mean for it to happen, so let me apologise..."

Marble blushed and shook her head. "No... it was my... it was my fault, don't apologise."

Rarity answered, "Please, do come in, so that we can have a talk."

As Marble went in, she noticed that the white mare was checking if there was mail for her, which was likely to be the reason why she had opened the door in the first place.

Marble watched all the dresses and mannequins all around the place: some were simple, others were incredibly ornate, even flamboyant, but all were very elegant. There were also mannequins with unfinished dresses on, but even those managed to be prettier than most of what she had previously seen.

As Rarity was back in again, she immediately addressed Marble. "So, what brings you here, darling?"

Marble worked up the courage necessary to speak and said, "I'm sorry... I was rude yesterday. I left you there at the buffet and... refused your generous offer. I hope I didn't offend you."

Rarity answered with a giggle, "Oh, nonsense darling! I definitely did not take issue with that. I was worried, instead, about you: you looked so upset and I did not know what had I done to cause it. By the way, is everything alright, now?

"I... I guess so. So... uh... I came to ask if your... if your offer is still valid. I... I would like to..."

Rarity's eyes widened. "Do you want a dress?"

Marble blushed, nodded and murmured, "Mhm..."

"Oh, but that's wonderful! I will take your measurements immediately... it's not like I can do anything else right now..."

The unicorn had said last part of the sentence with a pinch of bitterness, looking towards the entrance.

She promptly recomposed her smile and addressed Marble again. "So, you didn't leave today after all, which is fortunate, since now we can do everything with no hurry. About your dress, did you have in mind any particular model? Or fabric? Or colour?"

Marble shook her head. She was actually kind of astounded by how easily Rarity had accepted to make a dress to her after the day prior.

"Mmh, I'll have to work with what I know about you, which, to be honest, isn't very much. Why don't we sit down and have a chat behind a nice cup of coffee? Or tea, if you like it better?"

"A... a chat? Cup of coffee?"

"Why, yes! Unless you can tell me what kind of dress you want, I have to know something about you in order to make something unique for you. And, as I said, right now I can't do much about my other project anyway, so I don't think it would be such a bad idea. So, tea or coffee?"

"Tea would be okay, thanks, but..."

"Then wait for me on the couch over there, where we can sit and talk, while I prepare it. It will take just a minute."

"So, Marble, do you like Ponyville?"

Marble's tea was a bit too hot, so she was still waiting a moment before drinking it.

She nodded at Rarity's question, murmuring, "Mhm!"

"Tell me, what is it that you like the most here? As a matter of fact, what is it that you like the most in general? That is going to help me a lot..."

"Uuuh... about Ponyville... I like the colours. I really like them."

Rarity remained in silence, waiting patiently for her to keep talking. Her expression was of pure interest.

Marble sighed and talked again. "Back at home everything... everything is so grim. When I came here I... when I came here I couldn't even be... believe how colourful it is here."

Marble was getting nervous as she realised that she was stuttering again.

She stayed in silence for a moment, worried, then swallowed and said, "I'm sorry if I... if I stutter a bit. I can't he... I can't help it..."

Rarity answered, "Don't even worry about it, darling: I honestly didn't notice it until you brought it up. Please, do continue."

The grey mare, encouraged, kept on talking. "I have always loved the colours and shapes of rocks and gems. It's the most colour that I could see back home." As she was talking, her gaze moved away from Rarity's eyes and got lost, looking nowhere in particular. "I didn't expect that such brightness could be seen in a town as well... or that ponies could just be going around, smiling and waving at each other... or that everyone here would be treating me so kindly. I had never experienced that. Well, my sisters love me and treat me kindly, but it's different. I really like it here, more than anything else I have ever seen back home."

Rarity nodded, interestedly, and asked, "Is there anything that you particularly like doing?"

Marble nodded and said, "Yes. I have a collection of peculiar rocks. Ones with quartz crystals, others with a particular shade or shape, others that combine different minerals or mineraloids in the same pebble... not very useful rocks, but I like them. And I like to... well... if I can find the material, I make little sculptures."

"A creative individual! I knew that you and I had something in common, dear."

Marble took a sip of her tea. It had a little too much sugar, but she liked it anyway.

Rarity continued, "Why don't we go and actually take those measurements of yours? I think I might have enough to work with, right now. In fact, I might already have an idea... not going to tell you anything, though: it will be a surprise!"

Marble nodded and drank in silence, as Rarity got up. The earth pony looked as the unicorn's horn lit with a blue glow. A tape measure and a pair of red glasses floated towards the white mare. Marble had only seen one unicorn in her whole life, before coming to Ponyville, when that weird blue magician, Trixie was her name, had worked on the farm for a while, so she didn't really have a lot of familiarity with magic. It did spark her curiosity.

Rarity came towards Marble, with the red working glasses on her nose and the tape measure still floating. Marble got up, putting down her almost empty cup.

"Now, stay as still as possible, darling: it's not going to take long."

The grey mare stood still, looking directly in front of her. As she did so, she noticed a chest containing a lot of gemstones: rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethysts and even a few opals. What was the use of gems in a dress boutique?

As Rarity was doing her business, a notebook and a pencil came floating. "Now, let's see... I'm almost done here, darling, just a moment... Mmmh... Alright, I can definitely work with this. Now you can sit down again and finish your tea, if you want, dear."

Marble did as she was told.

When Rarity was done putting down her stuff, she sat down as well and asked, "Is there anything else that you really like about Ponyville? I have enough to work with, but I am still rather curious."

Marble finished her tea and said, "The tea was good. I like food, here. I liked my party yesterday: I appreciated that everypony seemed to be careful not to crowd me. I know I didn't stick around, but it was nice nonetheless. Everypony was so nice to me..."

She smiled and blushed a little, fiddling about with her mane, as she said, "And then, there is... well... oh, never mind..."

Rarity's ears perked up in interest. "What, darling? Have you met somepony special?"

Marble's expression of shock spoke louder than words.

The white unicorn smiled widely, raising an eyebrow. "Does this have anything to do with you and Big Mac vanishing at the same time yesterday?"

Marble was petrified. She wasn't even capable of blushing anymore, she was above and beyond that stage.

Rarity could barely contain her enthusiasm. "Oh, so it does! Come on, dear, don't look so terrified, it's nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it is quite adorable, if you ask me..."

Marble's figure shrank on her seat. She was reduced to silence, incapable of emitting even the most basic of sounds. That was the moment in which she really realised what was going on with Big Macintosh. Beforehand, she hadn't given much thought about it, she had just been living it obliviously and being really happy. Understanding what was going on, the kind of fondness that she had for the red stallion, was like being punched right in the guts. The community would never accept it. Heck, maybe her very own family would never accept it: they had always been more tolerant than the rest of the community, but even they were bound to have some limits.

She became aware of her surroundings again. Rarity was watching her with concern.

"Is everything alright?"

Marble decided to recompose herself, not to panic. She didn't want to make another scene, like the day before, especially again with Rarity. The white elegant mare had been incredibly nice to her, she didn't want to be seen in a negative light by her.

"Ye... yes, it's alright. Nothing to worry about. I... well, thanks for everything. The dress, the tea... thanks. I... need to go now, lots of thing to see..."

"Are you sure? You look a bit pale..."

"Rea... really, everything's fine. I hope I see you again, before I go."

Rarity got up and started lead Marble towards the exit, as she said, "Well, if you're really sure... I think I'm going to work on the drafts for your dress, for now. I hope I can do something that you like."

As Marble was opening the door, she smiled and said, "I know you will and I can't wait. Thanks for everything, again!"

Rarity didn't look convinced, but apparently decided not to force Marble, which she appreciated.

When the door closed, Marble's smile faded. She had to come to terms with something that, she then realised, she had been unconsciously avoiding all along.

Moving lights

The trade between wood and crystal wasn't always in favour of the second, Spike was thinking as he was sweeping the floor of the crystal palace. For one, dust on wood wasn't nearly as noticeable.

He was working in the corridor on the second floor. As he was passing right next to the window to the exterior, he noticed something moving fast on the rooftops of the town. He momentarily stopped to see what was going on: it appeared to be Pinkie Pie, in her spy outfit, like in the Crystal Empire. What was she up to? He shrugged, it wasn't like he had to always make sense of what the pink pony did. In fact, he thought, it wasn't like she had to make sense even occasionally.

He watched the Pinkie spy go, hoping to see something entertaining to lighten up his work. She was jumping around, from one roof to another, looking like she was following someone, occasionally speaking in a walkie talkie. Spike chuckled to himself: Pinkie wasn't exactly inconspicuous, what kind of dork could be followed by her and be oblivious about it? He couldn't see the streets from there to see who it was. That is, he couldn't see the streets without climbing on the window. He was tempted, but, the last time he tried, he had to listen to Twilight scolding him about personal security and all that. She wasn't around, but he wasn't very eager to risk it anyway. Or was he? He was getting really curious about the whole business. Who even cared what Twilight had said? It wasn't like she was his mom, geez...

He looked to his left, then to his right and then to his back. No sign of Twilight anywhere. He lifted his claws on the windowsill and, as soon as he did, he heard Twilight's voice.

"Spike! What did I tell you about climbing on windows? Here it's way higher than in the library, it's much more dangerous!"

Spike stopped dead in his tracks. If expressions could talk, his would have been saying, "Of course, why did I expect any different?". He then turned his head towards the source of the sound and saw that Twilight had just come up the stairs.

The purple alicorn looked at the little dragon, then asked, "Well? Why were you climbing up there again?"

Spike sighed and answered, "There is Pinkie on the roof, following somepony. I wanted to see who that was."

Twilight's expression went from inquisitive to confused in just an instant. "Wait, what?"

Marble had been walking around the town, not paying attention to her surroundings, for about half an hour or so. She had known that something was up with her and Big Macintosh, but she hadn't realised what it was and never even really questioned it. She knew why that was, now: she really didn't want to know the answer. Her... fondness for him was highly out of the norm, definitely not positive. She didn't even want to call it, even just in her own head, anything more than a fondness: every other word seemed out of place and potentially dangerous.

The wonderful afternoon she had spent together with him flashed in her head. She could see again every moment of peace and happiness, but it was now tainted by fear. It had been a bad idea to go to Ponyville. Marble started really thinking about just going back home as soon as possible, to go back to Sugarcube Corner, say goodbye to her sister and, from there, directly to the station.

While walking down the street, she noticed, on the other side, Big Mac. She froze in her place, not daring to move a muscle. Marble hoped he wouldn't notice her, but that hope didn't even last a few seconds, as he turned his gaze directly at her almost immediately. He looked surprised for a moment, just before walking towards her with a smile.

She didn't know what to do. She had some kind of feelings for him, she knew that much, but what did that even mean? Was she supposed to do something about it? Was she supposed to make some sort of commitment? What about her family? Her community?

Marble felt like in chains. She even managed to realise, in spite of all the turmoil in her head, that those chains were only partially caused by the thought of her community. In fact, the thing that really made her feel trapped was the fear of maybe having to commit to something she barely understood and could possibly be a mistake altogether.

The stallion was almost in front of her. He looked like he had noticed that something was wrong.

When he approached, he said, "Uuuhm... Hello... uh... miss. Ah had gone to the station to say goodbye to you this morning, but you weren't there..."

Marble remembered that she hadn't told him that she wasn't going to leave after all. She felt like an idiot.

She frowned and blushed. "Uh... sorry. I didn't kno... didn't know that you were coming..."

There was a brief awkward silence, in which neither knew what to say. She remembered that, just the day prior, everything had felt so natural with him, she hadn't had to struggle with any kind of doubts. Now she was almost literally paralysed by her doubts.

He made the first move. "Uh... If something is troublin' ya, ah might try to help, maybe..."

She still didn't know what to do or how to respond. Was he expecting something from her? What was going to happen if he knew the kind of thoughts that were troubling her? How would he react? Would he still enjoy her company?

She muttered, "I... uh... I... don't know... can't... I'm sorry..."

She felt even more like a stupid. She hated when she stuttered, it gave her the impression of coming off as an idiot, and now she wasn't even making any sense at all. What was he thinking of her?

He looked in her eyes and said, "Don't worry. Ah'm not gonna judge you, ah promise. Do ya prefer a quieter place?"

Marble nodded. He gestured to follow him. Once again, they were walking together in silence, though this time she could not just relax like the day before.

Marble and Big Mac were just outside a building with a sign reading "Cinema". She did not know what that was: in the community there was nothing of the sort.

He asked her, "How d'ya like to watch a movie to relax?"

She looked back at him, puzzled. What was this "movie" thing? Was that going to help her calm down and sort out her problems? She looked towards the pictures just outside the main entrance, but they didn't make a whole lot of sense to her. There was a title, like it was the cover of a book, but there was also the picture of a stallion holding a mare in mid air, possibly as a sign of affection. The title read "It's a Wonderful Gift", which was apparently by "Frank Pecora", as it was the name just under the title.

He asked, "Have ya ever been to the movies?"

She shook her head. He smiled, as if to say "you're going to love it".

They got in line, apparently to buy tickets. Marble still had no idea what was going on, but she was getting somewhat excited, hoping that, whatever it was they were going to do, it would help her through her troubles.

The crowd was getting out of the theatre; Marble and Big Mac were among the last to exit. She was astounded: never in her life she would have dreamed of something like that. Everything had left a vivid impression in her, from the lights on the screen creating the illusion of movement, to the characters, the music, the story and the emotions. She was almost overwhelmed by all that. She had also been moved almost to tears by the happy ending of the story. She had loved it. Her head was buzzing for all the new information and the powerful emotions she had felt.

When the projection had started, she had almost been startled by the moving pictures, but she had quickly caught up with what was happening: it was kinda like a play, the kind you could see in a theatre, just it looked a lot more vivid and more immediate. And, as soon as she understood that, she became so absorbed by the story that she could barely notice her surroundings or remember her very own fears.

The story itself was very shocking for her, as the main character, all throughout the movie, expressed his wish to go and see the rest of Equestria and nopony seemed to care... well, not in the sense that she had thought. Nopony wanted to stop him. He ended up not going anywhere, but not because other ponies didn't want him to: what he did, he did to help out the others in need. He had also been able to choose who to love without the aid of the pairing stone and, again, nopony cared about it.

She had loved the scene in which he had been confronted by the image of what the town and the ponies he cared about would have been like without him. In that moment, he discovered that he had made his little world a better place. Marble asked herself if the life of anyone in her own had been positively affected by her presence. She had never even considered that thought.

The incredible world from which such beauty came couldn't be farther away from the little and colourless world she had grown up in. This kind of freedom was absolutely unreconcilable with the mentality of the community, especially with Sandstone. Even caught in the moment, Marble was a little afraid of those thoughts, knowing full well the kind of danger they could pose for her. Her fears, however, were now submerged by the power of the new emotions she had just experienced.

Big Mac hadn't spoke one word since the moment the movie had begun, not even to ask her what she was thinking about it. She had been vaguely aware of the fact that, every now and then, he had been looking at her, instead of the movie, but she had been too caught up in the novelty to really pay attention to that.

Getting out of the theatre, Marble felt like bouncing around with enthusiasm, like Pinkie usually did. Of course, she didn't do it, mostly for fear of embarrassing herself, but she felt in her own body the kind of energy that likely powered her sister's movements 24/7. That kind of energy was, instead, manifesting itself in the happiest smile Marble had ever had in all her life up until then.

With the same smile, the grey mare was the first to speak. "That was beautiful. Thank you, Big Mac."

It was very unlike her to speak unprovoked, which didn't go unnoticed by the red stallion.

He smiled back and answered, "You're welcome. Ah hoped you'd like it."

They walked in silence again for a while, but then Big Macintosh said, "Ah have to go back to the farm. Mah family was waitin' for me a couple of hours ago."

Marble looked at him. On one side, she didn't want him to go away, because she was enjoying the time she was spending with him again. On the other, however, her fears and doubts hadn't vanished, in the meantime: they had just taken the backseat for a while.

She nodded and said, "That's alright. Thank you again, for everything."

He smiled and answered, "Hope to see ya again soon."

He waved and went on his way. She thought "I hope to see you again soon as well".

Marble was alone again, which was fortunate, since she needed some time to think about what had just happened in those last few hours.

Author's Notes:

If anyone was wondering, yes the movie they have seen is basically "It's a Wonderful Life", but with ponies instead. I combined the movie's title with the title of the original short story which inspired it, "The Greatest Gift", to make it a little less direct. Also, if anyone is wondering about what is up with "Frank Pecora" instead of "Frank Capra", you only need to know that "capra" is the Italian word for "goat" and "pecora" is the Italian for "sheep". So, there you go.

String quartet

Pinkie Pie couldn't believe she had lost track of her sister.

After Marble had entered the theatre, Pinkie just sat down on the roof she was on, in order to wait for her to get out. It was suspicious that Marble had gone in the theatre with none other than Big Mac... the plot was getting real thick real fast.

Of course, the pink pony couldn't just stand still on the roof for the entire couple of hours of the film's duration: she got bored very fast. She sang to herself a few songs, daydreamed about cupcakes, had a conversation with Gummy through the walkie talkie, waved to passing ponies (who, for some reason she couldn't quite get, seemed weirded out by her being on the roof), played tic tac toe against herself (and managed to win) in the snow on the roof, invented the plot for an award winning sci-fi novel and calculated pi to the five thousand four hundred and twenty fourth figure. She could have gone on, but she overheard somepony in the vicinities commenting on the movie that had just ended. Pinkie realised that it must have been the same Marble had seen, so she looked around. There was no sign of her sister's presence.

Pinkie Pie loudly gasped in panic. "I lost my sister!"

She took her walkie talkie and announced, "Here Pink Lightning, going in reconnaissance. Over."

She jumped off the roof, starting to run around the town at her insane speed to look for Marble, ignoring that her sister had been among the last ponies to get out of the theatre and that, had she waited, she would have very easily seen her exiting from the building.

Marble wanted to sculpt really bad in that moment. It usually helped her clear her mind out when things happened too fast. Unfortunately, she didn't have the tools nor the material to do so. If not sculpting, even just examining rocks, like she would have done if she wanted to pick up new specimens for her collection, would have done the job. Unfortunately, there appeared to be no interesting rocks to look at laying around. She kept on walking through the unfamiliar streets, looking around, feeling somewhat homesick: she didn't miss the community, but she did need, in that particular moment, the peace and quiet of her family's household. If she only could go home and then come back to Ponyville whenever she wanted!

Suddenly, a sound caught her attention. It wasn't close enough for her to clearly recognise it, but it wasn't far enough for her to not notice. Intrigued, she followed the sound to find its source. As she drew nearer, she managed to recognise it as music. It sounded like violins, but there was something weird about it. She arrived in the town's square, where the town hall was, and she saw that there were four musicians: two played regular violins, one played a slightly larger instrument with the same shape. The last instrument was like a violin, but so big that the grey mare playing it couldn't hold it, needing instead to place it on the ground, in a vertical position.

That was the first time she had ever seen a string quartet. She had attended to a few fairs, back in the community, and there she had seen what a violin is, but the kind of music these ponies were playing was completely different from anything she had ever heard. This new music was very elegant and peaceful. The sound was woven in a graceful and harmonious structure, where every instrument would take turns playing melody and accompaniment.

The musicians seemed to be so intimately connected with each other while playing. Sometimes they would exchange brief glances and quick nods, but, most of the time, they managed to play with astonishing coordination without even looking at one another. The end result was beautiful.

Marble found it incredibly relaxing to just lose herself in the delicate harmonies. So much so, that she didn't even know when or how she had walked from the side of the square to just in front of the quartet. That music! It was a bit like sculpting, only it wasn't done with actual stone, but with sounds. The shapes that the music suggested to her imagination were vague and blurred, at first. Then, however, as that state of mind reminded her of that kind of peace she had felt while walking in the orchard with Big Macintosh, she started thinking about natural landscapes, trees, lakes and small animals.

A last phrase led naturally into a prolonged finishing chord. The musicians bowed to a small audience clapping their hooves. Marble found herself applauding too, which she hadn't very often done in the past. They turned a page of the music sheets right on top of the stands they had on front of them, then, after a quick glance to each other, they started playing again. Now the music was noticeably faster, but it was still every bit as elegant as it had been before. Marble still liked it, but she wasn't able to lose herself into it like before.

She looked around herself, just because she felt like it, and she saw a familiar face not far from her. A few steps away, there was Rarity: the white unicorn looked concerned, maybe even a bit angry, as she was looking at the musicians. Marble wanted to wave at her, to attract her attention, but found herself unable to, as she didn't want to be rude either to the musicians or the audience. It didn't matter anyway, as Rarity did look in her direction after a few seconds, maybe feeling observed.

The elegant mare smiled and got closer to her. "Hi again Marble. I didn't expect to see you around here. What drew you here?"

Marble answered, "The music. It's so nice!"

"Yes, it is very relaxing. I needed it very badly right about now. You see, I was working on a commission, but yesterday they put the order on hold. It was kind of a big deal, so I waited for them to give me any new instructions, but they stayed silent all the evening. I was still waiting this morning, when you came, but they still didn't contact me. At last, I received not half an hour ago a letter in which they canceled the order outright, without any real explanation. Now, since I had already done a lot of work and since the models were quite unique and I can't possibly use them for other projects, you could understand that I was a bit... aggravated by this news. Since I knew that there was a public performance today, I came here to get some steam off, which I definitely needed."

She apparently realised that she had been rambling, as she chuckled before continuing. "So much so that I am dumping all this on you right now, you poor thing. I apologise. So, now you know why I'm out here instead of back in the boutique, doing my job. So, how is everything going for you?"

Marble diverted her gaze and said, "Oh, it's all... well... it's alright."

Rarity wasn't convinced. "Come on, dear, I would really like to help you if you have any issues."

"You have done so much for me... how did I deserve it?"

"I don't do it for personal gain, darling. It's just that I have a feeling that you and I could be friends, so I want to help you as much as I can. If you are so concerned, know that you will always be able to return the favour. I don't expect it, but if you are willing and able you can do it whenever you want. That is how friends work, you know? Besides, it takes my mind off my recent disappointing experience."

There was a moment of silence, in which Marble thought about what Rarity had just said, then the white mare continued. "Have you ever had a friend outside your family, dear?"

Marble shook her head. Rarity's expression seemed to say "I thought so."

"Then, Marble, I can be your first, if you so wish."

The grey mare sheepishly smiled and answered, "I woul... I would love it... Rarity."

Both smiled at each other in agreement.

"So, now that we are friends, darling, if you have any problems you should tell me. You know, so that I can help you if I can."

Marble diverted her gaze again, then nodded, adding, "Alright... but not here, please."

Rarity, as an answer, nodded too. They stayed there for a while more, listening again to the quartet.

The Carousel Boutique was almost identical to what Marble remembered seeing that morning, with the exception of a few knocked down mannequins.

The white unicorn looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry for the mess, darling. As I mentioned, I was a bit altered when I received the news."

She lit her horn and the mannequins were restored to their upright position. Even though she had seen magic happening a couple of times now, Marble was still fascinated by it. Also, she had some difficulties when trying to picture Rarity being angry, as she had shown nothing but kindness and generosity to her.

Marble's gaze was once again attracted by the chest full of gems. "Uh... Rarity? Can I ask you something?"

"Why, of course, dear."

"What do you do with all those gems?"

"Oh, I normally use them to embellish my dresses, though none of these you see here feature them. Is there a particular reason?"

"Not re... not really. I just like gemstones. Can I take a look?"

"Uuuh... sure, I don't see why not."

Marble smiled as she approached the chest. She immediately picked up an opal, which was one of her favourite mineraloids. She looked critically at the small silica based stone: it was a fine specimen, with very good light and colours. However, there was a problem...

"You shouldn't keep the opals with the other gems: they are comparatively softer than other gemstones, which means that being in contact with rubies and amethysts and other stones might eventually ruin their polish. That would be a pity, since these appear to be quite good."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Interesting. How much do you know about gemstones?"

Marble, still busy looking at the small gems from the chest, answered, "Well, when you grow up in a rock farm, rocks, stones and minerals are literally your bread and butter, including the precious ones. Also, this ruby isn't very well cut, I would suggest not using it."

"Isn't that so... you know, this kind of competence is highly valued on the marketplace. You could easily make a job of it, especially if you're also able to cut them."

Marble stopped doing what she was doing. She looked at Rarity, as if to ask "are you serious?"

Rarity got the clue and answered, "I'm dead serious, darling: there aren't many ponies with that kind of competence, which means that those few ones are highly sought after. And very well paid, I may add."

"But it's not that... it's not even that hard! Anypo... anypony could do it with a li... little practice..."

"I disagree: it takes a highly trained eye, which you seem to have. If you were ever to consider getting out of the rock farming business, you should definitely try this."

Marble was dumbfounded. She had never even so much as fantasised about leaving the family business, let alone starting one of her own. And, even if she had, she would never have thought that she could have anything to offer. If she did that, she could do like Pinkie and go back to see the family every once in a while... she shook her head. She couldn't possibly be considering such nonsense. The community would never accept it. Keeping Pinkie Pie at bay had proven to be impossible, so they had let her go out of sheer exhaustion. Marble knew that her case would have been radically different.

She was diverted from those thoughts when Rarity asked her, "So, aren't you going to tell me what was bothering you? We came here for that, after all..."

Marble nodded. She was hesitant at first, but she eventually decided to try and open up a bit...

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.

Author's Notes:

Well, that took a long time. A lot longer than I wanted, in fact. I don't know why, but I just couldn't figure out a way to make this chapter work, so I ended up deleting it and rewriting it from scratch several times. I had to speak with my best friend to eventually get an idea and finally make it work. I hope it was worth the wait, even though it is just another transitional chapter.

Sisters

Dinner was almost ready. As he was putting the last plate on the table, Big Macintosh smiled to himself. He noticed that one of the glasses was slightly out of place and arranged it right. He had only a few minutes before his sisters and Granny Smith came.

He looked out the window to see the last rays of the setting sun. The evening light shaping the dry branches on the sleeping trees gave him a feeling of peaceful happiness, as the pleasant moments of the last two days replayed in his head. Living in a town like Ponyville, he had met many mares, but no one had caught his attention quite like Pinkie Pie's little sister, the way she closely observed the world around her, the way she always seemed to express her thoughts in as few words as she possibly could, the way she stuttered when she was nervous... he couldn't help but to find it very cute.

The time had passed very quickly, both the day prior and earlier that day, when he got to spend time with her. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but he did think that she had looked like she had enjoyed herself as well. He liked to think that she had liked being in his company, but didn't dwell on the thought, for fear of it being arrogant.

There was, however, one thing that bothered him somewhat. He asked himself why, when that day he had met her walking around town, she had looked frightened about his presence. He really hoped he hadn't somehow oppressed her. Sometimes, mares were really hard to wrap his head around; he should know, he lived with two younger sisters and his old grandmother.

He heard the hoof steps and chatting of his family approaching, distracting him from his thoughts.

"There you are Marble! Oooh, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Marble, laying with her back on the street kept down by her sister's excited hug, couldn't help but be in awe at Pinkie's ability to tackle somepony at impressive speeds without causing major injuries to anyone involved.

"H... hi Pinkie."

When the pink pony let her sister get out of her embrace, they both got up.

Jumping up and down, Pinkie started talking. "I can't believe I finally found you! Well, actually I can believe it because here you are, but you get the idea. Where have you been? I was kinda worried, you know? The whole day has passed and I have barely seen my favourite little sister! I mean, I hoped we would get to spend some time together, here in Ponyville, after so much time that we have been so far apart from each other, you know?"

Marble, once again, felt like an idiot. How could have she forgot that she had told everypony, Pinkie obviously included, that she had come to Ponyville to see her sister? Of course, Pinkie had been excited to see her and she had just... well, abandoned her.

Marble lowered her head in shame. "I'm so... I'm sorry, Pinkie."

"Heeey! Don't take it like that, I don't want you to get depressed. Besides, I should apologise too, since this morning I have been following you around..."

"You have?"

Pinkie gave a nervous laugh in ill-concealed shame. "I wanted to know why you were acting so... well, so not like you. It didn't make a whole lot of sense that you would just go around on your own, so I wanted to see what that was all about..."

Marble blushed. "How... how much have you seen?"

"Weeell, I have seen you get into the theatre, but then I lost track of you."

"Oh... so, you... you have seen me and..."

"Yes, you and Big Mac went to see a movie together. I really don't know what that is about, it's not like you to just go around with almost strangers, I mean, you two haven't spent a lot of WAIT A SECOND! I have put you two in the same team for the flag finding mission at Hearth's Warming Eve, yesterday you two have disappeared together at the party and this morning you have gone to see a movie together... Marble, have you *dramatic pause* found a new friend?"

There was a brief awkward silence, then Pinkie gasped loudly and then said, "WAIT A SECOND! Marble, have you fallen in..."

Marble quickly closed her sister's mouth with her hoof, looking around nervously. "Don't say it, please."

With her mouth still closed, Pinkie said "Mnng phee hmnnng mphou mnee?"

Marble released her. "What?"

"Can we talk about it?"

"Here?"

"Well, no, if you don't want to. Sugarcube Corner?"

Marble nodded in agreement.

They sat down on the floor of Pinkie's room.

"So, now that we're here, tell me everything!"

Pinkie looked very excited. Marble's stomach felt like it was slowly boiling with discomfort. Pinkie knew about the community, how could she be excited about that kind of news?

"Uuuh... I don't know what to say."

Pinkie winked. "Oh, come on, Marble! We're sisters, we can talk a little about boys, it's not like I'm going to tell it to everypony..."

"Uh... I think I... I may have some feelings for..."

"For Applejack's big brother? Ooooh, this is so exciting! Tell me tell me!"

Marble hesitated. "I don't really know what else to say..."

Her sister answered jokingly, "Oh, you're no fun at all. Come on, at least try!"

They stayed in silence for a few moments, then Marble said, "I am a bit worried."

"About what?"

Marble swallowed. "I... Are you not concerned about the community?"

Pinkie smiled and stared blankly at her in response. Marble could almost hear the grinding sound of the gears in the pink pony's head. Given the bubble headedness of her sister, maybe it wasn't surprising that she didn't immediately think about this kind of concerns...

As Pinkie's expression changed, opening her eyes in realisation, Marble could almost hear the jingly sound of a metaphoric little bell under that curly pink mane.

"*loud gasp* What about Clerk Sandstone? And the pairing stone? And..."

Marble hushed her again, putting gently her hoof against her sister's mouth. "Exactly."

Pinkie nodded in understanding. The grey mare knew that her sister wasn't stupid, contrary to popular belief, she sometimes just needed a little nudge if the subject matter wasn't about parties, jokes or pastries; not because she was incapable to think about other stuff, it was just that usually she simply didn't bother.

"So... now you know. What should I do?"

"Mom and dad know about it?"

Marble didn't even want to think about it. "I hope not."

"Oh, this is not good. I was so happy to know that you had found someone special and that maybe you would come to Ponyville more often for that reason and I could maybe even throw a party for you two, but... the community will shun you if you do. That's... that's not right: you still have to live there!"

Marble nodded.

"What do we do? What do we do? I have to help you, somehow... Well, I did get out of the community and I am pretty happy right now. But, then again, you like the rock farm..."

"Well..."

"What is it, sis?"

"I... I don't know, but... yes, I do like the rock farm and living with our family and... but... does it make sense that I also like it here?"

"Are you telling me that you're considering getting out of the community?"

"I... oh, forget I said anything. Mom and dad would die if they knew. Besides, they need my help back home."

"What do you mean they need your help?"

"Well... Maud, most of the time, is busy with her studies, so she cannot work. Limestone works a lot and so do our parents, but... well, it would be much more difficult for the three of them alone. Our parents aren't as young as they used to be."

"Oh."

That Pinkie was incapable of giving any answer more complex than a single syllable was indication of how seriously she was actually taking the matter.

Marble hadn't really thought about it before talking with her sister. The knowledge was just kinda there, somewhere in her brain, but never emerged consciously. But it was true: even if leaving the community was what she wanted, leaving her family wasn't an option. However, she didn't even know if leaving the rock farm was what she wanted. After all, Ponyville was beautiful, she liked the time spent with Big Mac and Rarity, maybe she would also have been able to make new friends, but she wasn't sure just how serious she was about that whole business. What if she did leave the community to live there and, after a while, she came to regret it? But that question wasn't even relevant, not as long as she was needed back at the farm.

Pinkie looked like she was thinking really hard, down on her belly, tapping rhythmically on the floor with her hoof and holding her own head with the other.

After a while, the pink pony stopped tapping, raised her head stroking her chin. "Hmmm. Maybe you should talk with Twilight: she's super duper smart and always finds solutions to difficult problems."

Marble looked skeptical. "I'm not sure I want that."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to depend on your friends' kindness to solve my problems. Besides, a princess will surely have more important matters to attend to than this..."

"But..."

Marble shook her head to silence her sister. Pinkie looked down with a disheartened expression.

"Uh... please don't be like that, Pinkie. You're always cheerful and happy, it breaks my heart to see you like... like this. Maybe... maybe we can take a break and... and do something fun together, like when we were fillies?"

"Do you mean it?"

Marble smiled and winked. "Of course! You're my beloved barely older sister, after all..."

Pinkie hugged her sister, with a big smile of her own.

Marble was once again in the folding bed, at the end of a very eventful day. After their conversation, Pinkie and her had spent the rest of the evening baking together. Well, "baking" was one way of saying it, though it was more accurate to say that they had tried to bake, with mixed to disastrous (and hilarious) results on Marble's part. It had been a lot of fun and they got to eat all the (many) failed attempts, which, to be fair, didn't even taste so terrible.

Marble smiled thinking about it, with her sister's snoring as constant background noise. Her smile was short lived, however. The more she thought about the farm waiting for her, the more she didn't want to go back. The knowledge of her parents and sisters needing her made her feel trapped, which in turn had the effect of increasing her desire of never going back. She felt a bit like the protagonist of the movie she had watched with Big Mac: he wanted to go and see the world, but had to stay home because of the family's business. The people who loved him had also gifted him with a beautiful suitcase, so big that he jokingly said he could use it as a raft, that he never got to use. She didn't want to be trapped, like him, because her community wasn't like his town.

The image of the raft-suitcase inexplicably reminded her of the aquatic flowers. She thought that she wanted one day to see those flowers blooming on the surface of the water, like little boats of beauty and freedom. Who knew if she was ever going to see that simple and yet marvellous show...

Thinking about the flowers, in turn, reminded her of Rarity, who had been so kind to her. She thought that, even if she did go back to her hometown, she just had to do something to repay her. Maybe she would find the best gem on the rock farm and cut it especially for her, or something like that.

With every step of the imagination, her thought process went astray, farther away from her worries, lulling her to sleep, with the gentle and bittersweet sound of a string quartet.