Life of a Pie

Limestone woke to the sound of a crying baby. She quickly got up and trotted to the living room, making her older sister Maudena stir in her sleep.

Limestone gasped when she saw a tiny whitish blue baby filly with a short red mane and tail. She quickly tiptoed over to the baby to console her. The filly sat down on the couch, holding what she assumed was her new baby sister. She liked the fact that the tiny baby had one purple eye and one red eye.

Limestone gently pet her baby sister's little mane as Maudena came into the room. She was glad the baby calmed down so quickly. "Limestone, what are you doing?!" Maudena whispered, getting her sister's attention.

"I'm playing with the new baby!" replied Limestone, staying quiet so she wouldn't wake her parents up or cause the baby to start crying again. "Hello, there! I'm Limestone Blinkie Pie, but you can just call me Limestone."

Maudena quietly walked over to her little sisters and sat on the couch next to Limestone. "You better be careful or you'll wake up Mama!" she whispered. "You know how cranky she can get when she doesn't get enough sleep before we start to harvest rocks. She's thrice as mean."

"Thrice?" Limestone asked. Maudena began gently petting the baby's fur, making her coo. "A fancy word for three times." she answered softly, smiling and looking down at her baby sister.

"You better put her up and go back to sleep," Maudena whispered to her younger sister, getting up off the couch. "I'm gonna try to get some more rest." And with that said, she walked off.

Limestone didn't listen to half of what her sister said, which was a big mistake. She flinched when she heard her parents' door open and she quickly stood up to put the baby back in her crib and race to her room without being noticed.

"LIMESTONE BLINKIE PIE!" Igneous Rock Pie shouted at his second-born daughter, surely waking up everypony in Rock Country, maybe even Equestria. "Put that baby down NOW!"

Limestone cringed when she dropped her baby sister out of fear, causing her to start wailing. Not sure of what to do as her father trotted up toward his two daughters, Limestone pulled her ears back and took two slow steps backwards. "I'm so sorry, I--"

"Limestone Pie!" a female voice said loudly, nearly scaring the living daylights out of the purple filly. "What the hay are you doing?!"

Limestone Pie stuttered the word 'I' a few times before her mother came up to her and smacked her across the face. Little did any of the ponies know, the horrified Maudena Claudia Pie was watching everything as she poked her head around the corner of the wall.

Limestone attempted to blink back her tears as her mother swatted her flank with her hoof and shoved her out the door. Maudena ran to her room to watch her sister and mother out the window in her and Limestone's room that faced the front yard.

Cloudy Quartz snapped a branch in half after she ripped it off of a nearby tree, the cowering Limestone Pie watching her mother in horror. Maudena Pie gasped before she quickly shut the blinds of her window. She couldn't bare to see what was happening.

After a few minutes, Maudena quickly trotted out of her bedroom to hide in her previous hiding spot behind the wall. Both her father and the baby were gone. Her mother and sister had just returned to the house. Limestone had several cuts and bruises on her flanks and legs.

"Basement. Now." Maudena heard her mother say in a clearly angry tone. The little grey filly watched her sister being pushed down the basement stairs before Cloudy Quartz slammed and locked the door.

"Mama, PLEASE! Please let me out! I won't touch her again! Just don't leave me down here!" shrieked Limestone, pounding on the door as loud as she could.

Cloudy Quartz stood in front of the locked basement door. "I'm not letting you out until you think about what you've done!" she yelled over all the noise, causing her daughter to stop banging on the door's opposite side. "You could've killed your sister!"

"But I didn't, did I?!" Limestone exclaimed, trying to push the door open. "She's still alive, and it's Papa's fault that I dropped her! He scared me and--"

Cloudy suddenly bucked the door, causing Limestone to fall onto her back with a grunt. "IT'S YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT YOU DROPPED THE BABY!" she said loudly. "How dare you blame your father!"

Limestone got up, ran to the door, and began pounding on it again. "I-I'll never touch her again, just please let me out!!" she wailed, beginning to tear up as she attempted to push against the door.

Suddenly, all noise in the house stopped. "Limestone Blinkie Pie..." Cloudy Quartz began in a firm tone, making Maudena's breath hitch. "Step away from the door, all the way down the stairs."

Limestone hesitated before looking behind her and obeying her mother. Cloudy unlocked and opened the door, closing it behind her. "Limestone," she began. "You are not to leave this room. Do you understand?" Limestone looked her mother straight in the eyes. "Yes, ma'am." she replied, her voice breaking.

"I don't want you in my family," Cloudy continued. "You are a threat to us all. You are no longer a Pie, and you are to never see the light of day again. Yell or scream for help, and that will be your last day. I plan to put some sort of padding around the walls as soon as I can pay for it. Do you hear me?"

Limestone sighed, pulling her ears back. "Y'sm." she said, almost inaudibly. Cloudy Quartz sighed before turning and leaving the basement, glancing back at her second-born daughter one last time.

Maudena was tempted to run at her mother and start kicking and punching her. Limestone was right, she did nothing wrong! It was all Papa's fault...

For years, Maudena never told anypony about what she had seen. She told her parents she wanted to go by "Maud", and oddly enough, they accepted it. Granny and Grandpa Pie had always called her Maud anyway, and sometimes Granny Pie called her Maudie.

Maud soon became an emotionless shell, still scarred by her younger sister's imprisonment. She swore to herself to never forget about her dear Limestone Blinkie Pie, or what happened to her.

Years passed. Two more Pies were born; Pinkamena Diane Pie and Marble Inkie Pie. Members of the Pie Family usually start working on the rock farms on their fourth birthday and are able to retire at age 50, starting out by lifting pebbles and bits of sandstone into small wagons.

Dearest Marble acted like a depressed pony. She never wanted to do anything, she ate only half of her food, she could barely lift the rocks without her mother's help, and she was a lot skinnier than the other Pie fillies.

She was four, her sister Pinkamena was almost five, Katrena was almost six, the locked up Limestone was almost nine, and Maudena was almost eleven.

Little did Marble or Igneous know, Cloudy Quartz had told Pinkamena, Maudena, and Katrena to ignore her as if she wasn't there...all because she was planning to lock her up.

It all started one night when Marble nearly threw her back out trying to lift a small boulder into Pinkamena's briefly abandoned cart, and this actually caused her to fall over and pass out.

The young filly soon woke up in a dark room, one that reeked of mold and an unwashed body. Little did Marble know, she would soon get used to the smell.

Marble looked up and saw two narrowed yellow eyes staring back at her. "Who are you?" a voice asked. Marble pulled her ears back. "Marble Inkie Pie..." she replied timidly. "Who are you?"

"Pie?" the pony asked, her eyes widening. "You can't be my sister..." Marble's own eyes widened. She bit her lip. "Sister? Wait, what's your name?"

The pony hesitated before walking out of the darkness. "Limestone Blinkie Pie," she answered. "I've been down here for nine years. I've kept count on this calendar, and I am currently 13 years old. Mama and Papa soundproofed this basement a day after I was imprisoned, so even if I screamed as loud as I could nopony would be able to hear."

Marble was just about to say something when she heard the basement door unlock. She quickly turned around, not noticing that Limestone had run back into the darkness.

Cloudy Quartz opened the door. "Marble Pie, do you know why you are down here?" she asked. Marble, out of fear, began trembling. She shook her head, her ears flattening.

Cloudy shut the door behind her and stood over her youngest daughter. "You are down here because you can barely lift rocks," she began. "You are too weak to be a Pie. We harvest rocks for a living, and you can't even do that. I do not know why you're not strong. Even Pinkamena can do it, and she is only five years old."

Limestone narrowed her eyes in confusion. Who in Equestria was Pinkamena?

"You are to never leave this room," Cloudy Quartz finished, walking backwards up the stairs. "You hear me? I will bring you food and water every day. Stay here and I'll get you a blanket to sleep on." She left, and locked the door just in case.

"Pinkamena was always stronger than me..." Marble mumbled, pulling her ears back. "But that makes sense because she's a year older. I guess..."

Limestone made sure to keep hidden in the darkness, only her yellow eyes staring back. "You're only four?" she asked. "I've been down here as long as I can remember. Yet somehow this calendar is marked perfectly... Also, who's Pinkamena?"

"Pink--" Marble began, but flinched and stopped talking when she heard the door to the basement unlock again. Cloudy Quartz stepped in, holding a tan medium sized blanket, a small bottle of water, and a large plate of semi-delicious-looking food.

Cloudy shut the door behind her with her back left leg and walked down the stairs. The blanket was spread over her back, and she held the plate of food in her right front hoof and the water bottle in her mouth. She set the bottle of water down in front of Marble Pie, who simply stared at it.

"This type of bottle isn't hard to open," Cloudy said, setting the plate down in front of her daughter. "You should get it." She put the folded blanket onto the floor on the opposite side of the plate of food.

"This room is soundproof," Cloudy continued, walking back up the steps. "There's no use screaming. I shall see you tomorrow evening, Marble." She shut and locked the door. Marble Pie sighed, sitting down to eat. "You can join me, Limestone." she said softly.

Limestone Pie looked around before slowly walking out of the shadowed corner she liked to hide in. She bent down to take in a whiff of her and her sister's new meal. She loved it already. Limestone could tell this was her father's cooking. Ma Pie usually made her daughters eat rocks. Maudena was quite good at it...

Marble had trouble opening the water bottle so Limestone helped her out, taking the lid off with ease. "So...how's Maudena?" Limestone asked after finishing her bite of food.

Marble lifted the water bottle over her mouth so as to not spread germs, and took a sip. "We call her Maud." she replied softly after swallowing. She told her older sister all about the family, starting with Pinkamena.

After about a year, Cloudy Quartz stopped bringing Marble as much food. Soon, there wasn't enough for both imprisoned ponies. Marble usually gave her food to Limestone, and sometimes the older Pie would refuse to eat it.

The two imprisoned sisters stopped talking to each other, chatting less and less each day, and just ended up hoping somepony would rescue them from their prison and their racing minds.

Even though she ignored Marble Pie like her mother had said, Maud was still devistated when she saw Cloudy Quartz carrying the youngest Pie down to the basement. But the filly stayed strong and didn't cry.

After all, she just knew she would get revenge on her parents some day.

The fact that she knew she was going to stay strong and tough physically and mentally got Maud her cutie mark: A dark grey diamond-shaped rock.