Life at Canterlot High

"Okay, it all comes down to this. She's stayed the course well until now, but how this all ends will be decided in the next few moments." Pinkie was uncharacteristically focused, her eyes narrowed as she devoted all her attention to the bowl in front of her. She raised her hand, reaching over to a smaller bowl on the side. Without even looking, she took the tiniest pinch of the latter bowl's contents, then carefully brought it over to the first. Letting her fingers open, the tiny sprinkle fell down below, and Pinkie grinned widely at having done it. She grabbed the bowl, lifting it high above her head, then giggling loudly as she proclaimed her triumph to all around her. "Yes! She's done it! The perfect pudding has finally been created!"

"Pinkie! For the last time! I'm trying to watch my show in here!" an angry voice from the other room called out.

Turning, Pinkie looked to the fuming face of her older sister, Limestone. But contrary to how most would react, the party-girl simply let loose another of her customary giggles. "Oh Limestone! I know you love those wrestling shows and all, but this right here is way better than that!"

Limestone's eyes narrowed. "Pinkie, I love you, but you say that about every dessert you come up with!"

Pinkie snorted. "Pfft! What? No I don't!" Then she paused, pondering her sister's words. "Um...actually, no, you're right. I do."

Limestone gave herself a facepalm, then sighed as she finally entered the kitchen in earnest. "Alright. Let's get this over with."

Pinkie happily clapped her hands together, getting a spoon from the side and scooping up a big taste of the chocolatey pudding she'd just made. "My sweet sister, I promise you, you won't regret this!"

Limestone folded her arms, raising an eyebrow. "Just so you're aware, if you're gonna disturb my show like that, this had better be the tastiest dessert in the world." She looked on at her sister's usual expression of excitement, then grumbled for a bit before finally opening her mouth. Pinkie, still holding the spoon, brought it to her sister's mouth, with the latter closing it soon afterwards. She pulled the spoon out, leaving Limestone to taste what she'd been given. Her eyes strayed left to right and then left again, finally swallowing her offered treat. Pinkie watched eagerly, awaiting her sister's verdict, and as for Limestone she twisted her mouth into a look of pure reluctance. After a while though, she could deny it no longer. "...You got lucky."

Pinkie squealed with joy. "Eeeeeeeeeeee! I knew I got it right! I mean, I was thinking maybe my sugar count was a bit off because of stuff like the new spoon sizes I was using, but then I remembered that I don't ever measure it at all since I just chuck a whole bag in and..."

But her ramble was cut short by a finger to her lips from Limestone, who was looking like she was doing everything in her power not to look amused right now. "Pinkie...just get the other two down here for this already."

Nodding excitedly, Pinkie rushed out of the kitchen, put her thumb and forefinger into her mouth, then let out an almighty whistle so loud and high-pitched that it wouldn't have been surprising if it had been heard all the way across the city. But Pinkie was unconcerned with that, and instead focused on the stairs of her family's home, where she continued to grin happily as she awaited the first of her remaining siblings. Sure enough, it was Maud, who walked down with a speed nowhere near as close as Pinkie's would have been had their positions been reversed. "I take it your dessert's ready?"

The manic energy Pinkie was trying to hold back was palpable, and so much so that she couldn't wait for Maud to come all the way down the stairs herself, so she rushed forward, grabbed the other girl by the wrist and zoomed her down to stand next to the still-irritated Limestone. "Wait right here! I've just got our dear baby sister to bring along!"

And so she darted off, with Limestone looking to Maud with interest. "So...how's boulder?"

Maud gave a slow shrug. "As stoic as ever."

Limestone rolled her eyes, then remained silent as Pinkie, as promised, brought in the youngest of their number, Marble. In fact, it wasn't even so much an escort of the girl so much as looking like Pinkie had just gone to her, picked her up by the waist, and then just brought her along and plonked her beside the others. But Marble, having clearly gotten used to such behaviour by her twin, simply smiled and gave a small wave to her older sisters. Pinkie, on her side of things, had been rushing all around the kitchen, getting bowls and spoons aplenty, and arranging one set in front of each of the other girls. In a flurry of activity, each of those bowls soon had a good portion of the pudding Pinkie had prepared, and once it was finished the chef herself lifted her own bowl, holding out her spoon with confidence. "Here's to desserts! May they be forever sweet and tasty!"

Her sisters mirrored her movements, if only out of courtesy to her, and they all took a spoonful of their pudding, eating it at the same time. Pinkie, naturally, had downed hers faster than all the others, and so she looked on, nervous and excited in equal measure to see how the others would respond. Maud, was the first to answer, although her answer was more along the lines of her usual silence coupled with a sweet little smile, much to Pinkie's delight. Maud was next, and though her face did its usual thing of betraying no emotion, her voice, if only a little, sounded a fraction of a percent peppier than was the norm for her. "It was...good."

Pinkie balled her hand into a fist, punching the air. "Ha! Take that, people I've never met who maybe might not like my desserts and say I can't make good ones...if you even exist at all!"

Though annoyance was her de facto state of being, Limestone suddenly found herself eyeing her sister's creation somewhat warily. "Er...you didn't put in any of those exploding sprinkles of yours, right?"

Pinkie laughed happily. "Ha! What?! No! I'd never do that!" When she saw the raised eyebrow Limestone was giving her, she rolled her eyes. "I mean, yes, I did put that into my desserts once or twice...for a few months. But that's all over now."

Maud looked to her. "Good to know. Mr Cranky still hasn't recovered from the last batch you gave him."

Placing her hands upon her hips, Pinkie considered that. "Yeah...but really I just say that's probably just a sugar allergy or something."

Limestone didn't know whether to be bewildered or worried about her sibling's words. "Sugar allergies...that caused multiple internal burns?"

Pinkie at least had the decency to blush. "Um...at least they say he's getting better?" After seeing her sisters all give her an intense stare, she finally relented. "Okay, I get the message. I'll send him a fresh batch of non-explodey cakes later." Then, her eyes widened, and she clapped her hands together, immediately rushing over to wrap her arm around Marble in a tight hug. "Oh! And before I forget, you remember how I said I'd try and find you a date for next Friday?"

Immediately, Marble's eyes widened with shock, and she blushed fiercely. "Um...Mmm?"

Pinkie grinned. "Well, guess who also happens to be having that day off? Go on, guess!" She watched as Marble nervously thought about what possible match her sister might have thought up for her, but she didn't even get the chance to say it, as Pinkie cut her off shortly afterwards. "Nope! It's actually Big Mac! You know, AJ's brother? Big, tall, handsome, the strong silent type?" As before, Marble blushed, but this time it was while coupled with a look of fondness, looking away and clearly thinking on the muscular youth in question. Seeing that look, Pinkie developed a sly expression. "There we go, I knew you'd be interested! All we have to do now is try and convince him to go out with you and we're golden!"

Limestone frowned to her. "I really hope you don't have plans for matching all of us up with someone, Pinks. I'm happily single, thank you very much."

Pinkie giggled intensely, moving over to embrace her older sister in a way not dissimilar to how she'd held Marble. "Oh Limestone, you're such a joker sometimes. And here we thought Maud was the comedian of the family!"

Limestone grumbled, but before she responded, she felt the touch of Maud's hand on her arm, prompting her to look over as the latter spoke. "We both know she won't stop, Lime. Just smile and nod. Or just nod in my case anyway."

Limestone looked about as incredulous as she was capable of being. "Easy for you to say! You already have a boyfriend so you don't need to worry about her!"

Maud blinked slowly. "Technically, Mudbriar and I haven't made anything official yet."

"Ugh! Details!" Limestone countered. "You spend so much time with him you might as well call him your boyfriend anyway."

Again, Maud blinked slowly. "...Maybe I will." After taking a moment to see the shocked look on Limestone's face, she turned to Pinkie Pie. "And for the record, it might not be wise to set up Marble with Big Mac. Family records indicate that we Pies might actually share a connection with the Apples, so entanglement like that would be...problematic."

Pinkie looked to her, nonplussed for a time, and then, ever so slowly, those eyes widened. Instantly, she released Limestone and rushed over to Maud, looking like she was just barely holding back all of the sheer and unrelenting joy she was feeling. "Maudileena Daisy Pie. Are you tell me, that our family, this family right here, is actually related to Applejack's family?!"

Maud gave a single ponderous nod. "By way of a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother...but yes, it looks like that's the case."

Pinkie took in a deep gulp full of air, then jumped up, her sisters all watching her. Then, when she landed back down, she screamed with more excitement and enthusiasm than she had for some time, which was saying something. "This...is...AMAZING!!! I can't wait to find Applejack and give her the biggest hug of her life! I'll arrange a big we've-secretly-been-your-family-this-whole-time party! We can have everyone together and..." Then, she let out a gasp, clasping her cheeks with her hands. "I need to go over right now and tell her!" She rushed for the door, then brought herself to a screeching halt, looking back to Maud. "Er...she doesn't already know, does she?"

Maud looked over to her. "Does Applejack have a deep interest in ancient genealogical records?"

Pinkie considered that. "Er...don't think so."

Maud then shrugged. "Then I think it's safe to say that she doesn't know."

And that was all the permission Pinkie needed, as she charged out of the door in earnest, with her sisters all waiting in one spot, listening for the sound of her going out their front door and slamming it behind her. When they heard that very sound, Limestone looked back to Maud. "How did you find out about us and the Apples anyway?"

Maud gave what could, charitably, be called a longing stare in the distance. "Me and Mudbriar were over at the town hall doing some research for a school project when we came upon it."

To that, Limestone smirked. "Already doing big and boring school projects together? Ah, young love." Then her smirk faded. "Of course, you know you've pretty much set up AJ for a whole day of being pestered by her, right?"

Slowly, Maud looked her sister right in the eye, then raised an eyebrow of her own. "If you like, I can have her come back and share all that boundless energy with us instead."

Limestone opened her mouth to speak, only to shut it again when she realised the consequences of such an action. Instead, she grabbed another helping of the pudding she'd been given by Pinkie, offering one to Marble before getting one for herself. "Yeah, okay, good point."