Pinkie sprioged gleefully along the cobblestone street. BOINK went her hooves on the stones. SQUEE! went her smile as she basked in the brilliant morning sun of another delightful day. “Hello, hello!” went her voice as she waved to the ponies who were out enjoying the day along with her.
“Hi, Lyra!” she called as she bounced into the shop, and continued bobbing in front of the counter. The pale green mare behind the cash register grinned as she waved back.
“Hi, Pinkie,” she said. “What do you want today? Bonbon made some caramel truffles this morning.”
“Ooh! A box of those would be lovely! And three bags of mints too, please. Minuette’s birthday is tomorrow!”
“Better keep those teeth shiny,” laughed Lyra as she boxed the candies and rang up the bill. “That’ll be two bits.”
“Here you go!” Pinkie flung the coins out of her mane as she scooped the boxes onto her back and sprang out the door. “Have a great day!”
“You too, Pinkie!” Lyra’s voice followed her out the door. Pinkie continued rebounding along the street.
“Hi, Doctor Hooves!” she called to the brown-furred Earth Pony. “Hi, Derpy! Hi, Dinky!” The grey coated pair waved back, Derpy narrowly avoided running into a streetlight while she was distracted. Pinkie winced, but she was unhurt, so she vaulted on her way. “Hi, Doctor Hooves!” She froze in mid air at the apex of her leap, squinting at the dusty brown stallion. It couldn’t be…
“Hi, Pinkie!” the stallion called back, nodding before moving on his way.
Oh. He recognised her. That was okay then. She landed back on the earth and bounced away again. Suddenly, a pony came over the rise. A stallion, no, a colt, really, with a pale green coat and soft-looking light brown mane. He wore a pale of saddlebags, and looked around uncertainly at Ponyville’s thatched roofs and cobblestone streets. Pinkie sucked in a deep, deep, deep, deep, DEEP breath. Was it actually…
In a blur of movement, she careened across the crowded street, vaulted over a sofa, ducked a pair of flying pegasi, and skidded to halt in front of the strange colt. She seized his hoof between hers and shook it, up and down, up and down violently.
“HIIIII!!!!” she squealed excitedly. “Are you new here? You must be new here, because I know EVERYONE in town, and I don’t know you, so you have to be new, and HUUUU!” She sucked in a deep gasp of air. “IneedtogoplanapartyforyourightnowsoBYE!” She released his leg and blurred away in a streak of movement, leaving the colt in the middle of the street, his jaw nearly touching the stones, the sudden loss of support on his front leg leaving him half-fallen in the road, clearly having no clue what had just happened to him.
________
Months later, Maud ambled on her daily walk to the train station and back to pick up the mail being delivered to the rock farm. She took her time as she went, pausing here and there to greet the neighbors.
“Hi,” she greeted the lovely chunk of granite which rested next to the tiny tree. “Hi,” she said to the pebble of feldspar, which changed locations daily. “Hello,” she commented to the shale strips beside the path. “You’re looking fine,” she told the pale green-brown stallion coming up the path.
Wait.
What?
Maud clamped her jaws shut tight at the sight of the slightly-bewildered stallion she had just greeted in an overly familiar way, and opted for simply dipping her head a bit and hoping he hadn’t heard.
“Um, hi,” the stallion said, looking confused. He had heard, Maud was sure of it. “I… um... what are you doing?”
“Talking to you,’ Maud said automatically. Would that actually help the situation? Probably not. “But I was planning to get the mail.” He was more of a colt, actually. He likely had left home not more than a year prior to this meeting.
“Oh.” The colt shuffled his hooves on the dirt path. “Um, would you happen to know where the Pie rock farm is?”
Maud raised a hoof to point back the way she’d come. “Go that way for 200 yards. Turn left at the pink silica, then right at the quartz patch. If you see the mica-speckled boulder, you need to double back until you find the shale cliff. Climb down to the ledge with the three geodes, then go through the gem cave until you come out in the quarry. You can’t miss it. I hope that helps.” She stepped around the colt, and trotted up the steps of the station, disappearing inside the wooden building before she had to talk to him more, and make a complete fool of herself, leaving the colt in the middle of the path, his mouth half open, eyes distant and unfocused, clearly having no clue what had just happened to him.
________
Marble turned the small rock over in her hoof, examining it for sign of wear. She carefully arranged it just so in its spot again, then moved over to the next rock. Before she could touch it, a vibration rattled through the earth, alerting her to incoming hoofsteps - hoofsteps which did not match either of her sister’s. Her head shot up, her forelock falling in its accustomed place in front of her eye. She quickly abandoned her usual pre-work yard inspection, and retreated to a safer position around the corner of the house. Curiousity made her unable to hide herself completely, however, and she peered cautiously around the corner. A young stallion was just coming around the bend in the road, his light brown mane and greenish coat marking him as a stranger - not from around these parts. Marble was about to run and get Limestone, or Ma, or Pa, whoever she found first, when the stranger spotted her.
“Hey!” he called in greeting. “Is this the Pie rock farm?”
Sand and gravel. He was talking to her. Now there was no chance to run away. Nervously, Marble advanced just far enough from her hiding place to appear like she was talking to him, and nodded faintly. “Mm-hmm.”
“I..um…” the stallion stammered. He was more of a colt, really. “Do you work here?”
Personal questions? Seriousuly? Marble nodded again. “Mm-hmm.” Her tail twitched nervously.
“What’s your name?” the colt asked. Marble’s hind hoof stomped in terror. She glanced frantically around the yard, searching for some sign of a relative to take the attention off her. She nodded mechanically. “Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm!!” Unable to bear the stress any longer, she wheeled and fled into the safety of the house, leaving the colt staring, confused, after her, clearly having no idea what had just happened to him.
“Was it something I said?” he asked the empty yard.
________
Limestone had just finished her last bite of pebble cereal when Marble came flying into the house, eyes wide with terror, every hair on her coat bristling. Limestone was on the alert at once.
“What is it?” she barked. “Fire? Avalanche? Is something wrong with Holder’s Boulder?”
Marble shook her head frantically. Crouching in fear, she pointed a trembling hoof at the front door. Limestone followed her gaze, and saw a brown-green stallion standing in their front yard, looking at Holder’s Boulder.
She was out the door in a flash, planting her hooves and snarling into the young stallion’s face. “What did you do?” she shouted at him viciously. “What are you here for?”
“I..” the stallion stammered. He was more of a colt really. “I…”
“I don’t wanna hear it!” Limestone growled. “No pony, and I mean NO PONY, tresspasses on MY farm, scares MY sister, OR LOOKS AT HOLDER’S BOULDER! OUT! OUT!”
The colt wasted no time in gathering his shaking hooves under him and sprinting out the gates and as far away from the rock farm as fast as possible, clearly having NO IDEA whatsoever as to what had just happened to him.
Author's Note
A short collection of sorts, with interactions I hope help showcase my new knowledge of how the Pie siblings, despite their very different personalities, tend to do/own/leave similar impressions on ponies they meet.
The green brown colt, as a bonus fact, is an OC of mine I invented while writing this piece. His name is Lucky Clover. His cutie mark is a clover superimposed over a rock. His life's goal is to become a rock farmer. Problem is, he has no clue what that entails, and was trying to find out when Limestone (Temper) Pie scared him off. He'll probably go take the same rock course Maud did after this, or maybe he'll devote his life to growing clover. Whichever fear he overcomes first, I guess!
“Pinkie Pie!” A voice called from the front of the shop. “Pinkie, dear, I think it’s time the twins went to bed now.”
Pinkie froze with her hooves over her face in yet another perpetual round of ‘Where’s Pinkie Pie?’ with the twins. In a blur of movement she had flown across the floor, and was peering into a pair of sleepy, blinking eyes and one gaping mouth, as Pound yawned hugely. “Wowza!” she exclaimed. “Who’s a sleepy little foal? You are!” She scooped the foal up in her mouth and flung him onto her back. Mrs. Cake, who had just entered the room, did the same to Pumpkin.
“Thank you for helping me get them to bed, Pinkie,” Mrs. Cake said as they laid the foals down in their matching cribs and smoothed warm blankets over their wriggly bodies. “You know how hard it is for me when Mr. Cake is away.”
“Aw, it’s no problem, Mrs. Cake!” Pinkie exclaimed quietly, so as not to wake the foals. “You know how much I love taking care of these two!” She bent over the crib to nuzzle Pound Cake gently, then moved over to do the same to Pumpkin, so she didn’t feel left out.
As they left the room, Pinkie’s mouth stretched into a large yawn. “Guess I’m getting tired too!” she laughed. “Bedtime for everyone!”
Mrs. Cake chuckled. “Good night, dear.” she said.
“G’night!” Pinkie called cheerily over her shoulder as she bounded up the stairs leading to her bedroom. She jumped extra high on the last step, so she soared over the floor and landed with an explosion of pillows on her cozy ballon bedspread, which flew up and landed on her head. She wriggled out into the light, and came face to face with a pair of contemplative purple eyes. Gummy was sitting on the headboard, staring straight ahead of him and… not blinking.
“Oh! Hi, Gummy!” Pinkie giggled. “You startled me! I didn’t see you there.” She flopped down on her comforter, settling herself in a comfortable position for a heart to heart with her pet. “I had a great day today, Gummy!” she told the alligater. “I got up really, really, really early to help Mrs. Cake bake the bread. Then I helped Mr. Cake load the wagon, and I waved to him when he went off to deliver it. Then I waved to Princess Celestia. I’m not sure if she saw, but the sun was rising, so I knew she was awake! Do you think I should have waved even if she couldn’t see me?”
Gummy sat approvingly on the headboard.
Pinkie laughed. “Good point, Gummy! If she doesn’t see it, she’s fine, but if she does, she’s even better! Well, just you wait until you hear what happens next!”
Pinkie continued to ramble on, detailing every event that had happened to her throughout the course of the day. Gummy sat patiently on the headboard. He blinked once. He listened. At last, Pinkie turned over onto her back, and caught Gummy up in her hooves, hugging him to her chest.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Gummy.” she sighed. “What better way to end the day than with the bestest pet in the whole world?”
Gummy had no words.
And after a minute, Pinkie wormed her way under the covers, and fell instantly fast asleep.
Maud plodded slowly back to her dorm after a long day of analyzing rocks for her rocktorate. Even though she had risen early and worked hard on her feet for nearly every day of her life yet far, her hooves ached, and her frogs were so tender that every pebble felt like a spike. Her head slowly dipped lower… and lower… and lower…
A sharp plink! jerked her attention from from her increasing weariness. Her eyes flashed open, and she might have gasped when she saw a small, grey pebble, so like every other pebble on the road, lying at her feet.
“You’re tired too, aren’t you, Boulder,” she said quietly, scooping the pebble back in the collar of her dress where he belonged. “You’ll just have to hang on for a bit longer.”
She plodded onwards, one slow step after another. Eventually, she reached the long, low granite building that made up her dorms. She nosed open the door, and stood in the small common room, looking at the row of four doors in front of her. Each one led to a small, identically furnished bedroom. She was the only pony in the dorms, so she rotated which room she slept in each night. Tonight, she chose the second from the left. Once inside, she slipped out of her dress, laid it carefully across the wardrobe for tomorrow, settled herself on the bed, and set Boulder down on the night table.
“I had a great day today, Boulder,” she told the rock monotonously. “I got up really, really, really early, and explored that side-branch of the gorge. I even think I found a new variant of shale, but I’ll have to analyse it tomorrow to know for sure. Mr. Fossils was proud of me, I’m sure.” She paused and stared a little more intently at the grey pebble. “Am I being vain for being proud of myself too?”
Boulder sat thoughtfully on the night table. Maud blinked.
“Good point, Boulder,” she said. “I did do well, didn’t I? I can be proud of rightful work.”
Boulder sat approvingly on the night table.
“Hmm,” Maud hummed. “Well, you’ll be even more excited when you hear what happens next.”
She talked for a little longer, her voice never shifting in pitch or tone. Boulder never moved from his spot on the night table. At last, Maud, scooped Boulder up in her hoof, and, rolling over onto her back, held the pebble up to her eyes.
“I’m glad you’re here, Boulder,” she said. “What better way to end the day then with the best pet in the world?”
Boulder had no words.
And after a minute, Maud put Boulder back down on the night table, slid under the covers, and fell instantly fast asleep.
Author's Note
Hasn't anyone else noticed that Gummy and Boulder talk and move a similar amount? I had to write about it once I did. That's all I've planned for this story, so I hope everyone enjoyed!
