Chapter 0: When We Were Just Pebbles
"Be strong, my son. The rock is in our bones." -Feldspar Granite Pie
The day dawned, as days are prone to do, although Limestone wished that this day hadn't.
She permitted herself one groan, then pushed off the covers with a sigh and trotted downstairs.
The kitchen was empty. Limestone poked around in the other rooms for a bit, delaying what she knew to be inevitable, then sighed and, with a puffed-up chest, turned to the front door.
She fancied that it glared at her. A warning - no. A challenge.
Limestone blew a raspberry at it, and pushed it open.
Oh, she thought. Oh, that's just not fair.
It was a beautiful day. The sun wasn't just shining, it was beaming. The birds were singing, and there weren't even any birds around that could manage anything past a craa. The rocks seemed to catch the sun's rays and throw it back at the world. They glittered.
In all her life, Limestone had never thought that a rock farm could look beautiful. But it looked beautiful now.
Her face scrunched up, and she stamped the ground with her hoof.
Her head hung suddenly, her mane falling like a curtain to obscure her face from the world.
"It's not fair," she muttered to herself.
"Limestone!" called her father.
Limestone's head jerked upwards.
Her family was standing in a group out in the middle of the farm. Limestone raised her head higher, and held it proud. Sure, perhaps she wasn't exactly in a head-held-high kind of mood, but she was the eldest Pie around apart from Ma and Pa, and she'd be pooped if she was going to act any other way.
She trotted towards her family purposefully.
As she drew closer, however, her heart sunk like a deep-sea diver. There was Pa, standing firm next to Ma, and Maud and Marble dutifully behind them.
And there was Pinkie; crazy, amazing Pinkie, practically bouncing with her excitement to be off and away on her own grand adventure.
Pa stared down his nose at Limestone. Limestone stared up her nose at him back.
"Are you going to say anything to your sister?" he said.
Limestone switched her gaze to Pinkie, her second-youngest sister, who was now literally bouncing with excitement. Ever since she had gotten her cutie mark her mane and tail had just not calmed down, and neither had she. Limestone privately doubted that it'd ever calm down again.
And it was because of Pinkie's cutie mark that she would be off to see the world. You couldn't make many ponies happy on a rock farm, as there weren't many ponies on rock farms to begin with. Pa would take her as far as Ponyville, and leave her there with relatives.
Limestone feared that it would be the last she would see of her.
She swallowed, then stepped forwards.
"Goodbye, Pinkie," she said.
Pinkie paused, then cocked her head and giggled. "Aw, don't be silly, Limey! It'll only be for a few weeks at a time! I'll come back every fortnight to catch up! And I'll write letters, and you'll write them back, and it won't be that bad at all! So there's no need for that frown, or that goodbye!"
Pinkie balanced expertly on one hoof, then switched her balance to the other three and booped Limestone's nose with the last one.
"Turn that frowny upside-downy!" she chirped, demonstrating.
Limestone laughed, despite herself. "Alright then, Pinkie," she said, smiling. "See you soon."
"See you sooner!"
They hugged. Pinkie's new poofy mane tickled Limestone's nose, which wasn't used to such dimensions of mane. Limestone sneezed.
The whole family laughed. It was rare that they did, but they did all the same.
And then there wasn't much left to do except for stand back and watch Pinkie and Pa trot away. Pinkie, of course, kept turning back and waving and screaming, "BYE, EVERYPONY! I'LL SEE YOU LATER! LOVE YOU LOTS!", and of course the family had to call back. Pinkie's joy was infectious, and the family hadn't developed an immunity just yet.
Limestone wasn't sure if she wanted to.
That night, the whole house seemed emptier. Quieter.
Well, of course it was emptier. Pa was spending the night over with Pinkie, to help her get settled in. And of course it was quieter, as Pinkie seemed fond of talking more than enough for everyone ever since her mark, and now she wasn't here it was only natural that the house would fall back into relative silence.
But Limestone felt something heavy in her gut, and she normally didn't feel such a thing on account of a lifetime of hauling rocks, which had strengthened her spine past regular filly strength.
Ma had locked herself in her room after dinner, which left Limestone with Marble and Maud. Normally either Limestone or Pinkie came up with things to do, but Pinkie wasn't here and Limestone didn't feel up to the task.
"She'll come back."
Limestone raised her head from the floor where she had been lying. Maud, the one who had spoken, was lying on the floor too, reading a book. There was an interesting crystal formation on the cover.
"I know she will," snapped Limestone, rolling her eyes. "It's not like she'll be gone forever."
"It'll feel like forever," said Maud, and closed the book with a snap. "But it won't be."
She looked Limestone in the eyes. Limestone looked back. Maud looked away first.
There was silence.
Then, tentatively, not wanting to break whatever the air held, Limestone looked back, and mumbled something that sounded like, "Love you, Maud. Love you, Marble."
"We love you too, Limestone," said Maud, who had already started on a new book. "Isn't that right, Marble?"
Marble smiled at Limestone. She had decided to start growing her mane out, after seeing that Pinkie had been allowed to keep her new manestyle. Pinkie changed us all, thought Limestone. And now she's gone.
"Mm-hm," said Marble, and meant it.
