Chapters Chapter 1: The Fault Line
“Let’s go ponies, we’ll never fill our quota at this rate!”
Things had been difficult on the rock farm ever since the Crystal Empire returned. At first business struggled as everypony rushed for crystal flowers and glittering stones courtesy of Mistmane and the Crystal Empire Tourism Board, but ever since Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz spoke with Twilight Sparkle, creatures across Equestria and beyond were placing immense orders for stones and gems. The Pies were used to large orders once or twice a month, with construction companies using them for pavement in Manehatten or Canterlot residents placing them in their gardens, for which they were paid a hefty some and given upwards of a month to gather materials. Ever since Twilight and Pinkie’s plan went into effect, the family has seen orders twice that size expected to be filled by the end of the week.
This quota took them far from their humble home, far off of the family property and closer to the mountains surrounding Rockville. As fillies Igneous warned them time and time again to avoid the mountains, “for the spirit of the mountain doth loathe the Pies, for it is the same as the mighty dragon from which Holder’s Boulder was rescued.” As fillies the sisters believed this story, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Limestone Pie, the eldest, took full control of operations while Ma and Pa went into the quarry to assess a potential feldspar growth. It was early in the morning, and with hundreds of pounds left to go, the sisters were exhausted to their cores. Marble could hardly swing her pickax to crack the softest slate, Maud’s hooves had begun to chip and break, requiring a momentary pause in operations so she could catch a train to a local doctor and be fitted with horseshoes. Limestone’s throat was raw from shouting commands to the point where even Zecora’s best brews couldn’t soothe the burning pain, yet still they pressed on. The sun high in the sky, the trio only paused as Maud spoke up after pawing at the ground with her right hoof.
“Our sweat is eroding the chalk and exposing patches of limestone. I think we're standing on a large limestone deposit with veins of shale, compromising its overall strength. We should take a break so it can evaporate before we cause any structural damage to the property.”
“There’s no time, you still have to break down that cliff face remember?! That order is due tonight,” Limestone protested despite raw vocal chords, "and you can't chicken out on us now!"
“It’s not my fault, these horseshoes are taking a majority of the shock instead of the stone. This would go quicker if I had some help.” Limestone paused and looked to Marble, the youngest of the Pies, whose knees were buckling from exhaustion. With a feeble “mmm-hm,” the two sisters approached the immense mound of calcite jutting out of the mountain's base and stood before it.
“On my mark!,” barked Limestone as the three sisters turned away from the boulder. “Ready... And...”
“Buck!”
At once the sisters’ hind hooves smashed against the stone, splitting it in two with a thunderous crack and a low rumble from below. Limestone cockily grinned to her sister, whose face was as stoic as ever. “Ya could’ve asked sooner. Now we can head inside and get something to--” Not a moment after she took her first step towards rest and relaxation did she hear a faint rumbling from high upon the mountain. Maud gazed up to the top, where an immense cloud of dust and stones rapidly approached.
“I think we triggered an avalanche.”
Marble let out a shriek before bolting towards their home, followed by Limestone and Maud who were barely ahead of the rolling wall of stones following them. Their hoofbeats rivaled the intensity of the falling stones as they ran for safety, barely reaching the fenced-in property before the stones smashed into the shut gate and- thankfully- stopped. The trio paused to take several breaths, Marble collapsing on the ground with her legs splayed out akin to a star while Limestone set her haunches on a nearby stone. Maud did not sit however, instead watching as the wooden fence vibrated down the line to where Applejack had accidentally rolled Holder’s Bolder into the quarry a previous Hearthswarming.
The fault line from that day was still present, though attempts had been made over the previous months to cover the crack with wooden boards until suitable slabs of stone could be found to repair the fissure. Sat atop an immense slab of granite was the egg-shaped boulder the farm was built around, which rumbled against the fence and shifted just enough to break through the wooden support. The boulder rolled once more off the cliff, tumbling down and casting an immense shadow over the elder Pies before slamming down with a hardy crunch.
Limestone whipped her head around towards the source of the sound with wide eyes, seeing that Holder Cobblestone's prized boulder was missing. “Maud, what did you do?!”
“I didn’t do anything, the shockwave from the avalanche went through the fence line and--”
The elder sister pressed her muzzle against Maud’s, eyes filled with a lime-green flame as she snarled. “You were in charge of excavating the mountain, it was your idea that caused the avalanche, so you must've done something else! Now what did you do to Holder's Boulder?!” The two sisters continued to argue, one calm and logical and the other irrationally enraged. If Ma and Pa found out they knocked over the boulder again she would be in a world of trouble!
Marble made her way over to the fence to assess the damages, leaving her the first to witness the horrid scene below. The boulder had landed on its top and formed a large crater in the bottom of the quarry, and though there were no rubies or rhyolite in this part of the property, she was positive she saw red. Literal red. "Where are Ma and Pa?,” was all she could ask as she processed the image.
“What do you mean where are they? They went into the quarry to... To...” Limestone’s brash tone fell off as she joined her baby sister in overlooking the quarry, color draining from her face as she went back onto her haunches. She too saw the red stained stone, though found herself at a loss for words as she tightened her jaw. Maud was the last to join them, jaw hanging slightly agape as she surveyed the scene.
“Sweet Celestia, what have we done?,” Marble whispered to herself, hiding her head behind her hooves as if there were an imaginary blanket over her. “What are we gonna do with the bodies?!”
“I know what to do,” Maud claimed, starting to walk towards the house once more. Before Limestone could scold her for “running away,” she explained herself. “Ma and Pa have some old sulfuric acid in the basement from when somepony tried to sell them on chemical mining. The barrel might be a little damaged, but it should be fine. You two move the boulder and try not to spread the blood around, I’ll get somepony to repair the fence once their bodies are in the barrels. It might take a few days for everything to dissolve, we can burry the bones if it takes too long.”
“Are you crazy? We can’t hide the bodies, we have to tell somepony what happened!”
“I have a plan for that too. Trust me.”
Chapter 2: Maud's Master Plan
"I don't understand, why would ma and pa keep all this chemical crap under the house?" Limestone looked around the dusty basement, the door to which was always locked until today. "Pa prided himself on manual labor, I prided myself on manual labor! It's not like him."
Maud looked over her shoulder as she checked through a large surplus of old, rusty barrels. "There are a lot of things you don't know about Pa. Both of you." She continued to dig, eventually rolling out a barrel about her size with a large diamond sticker on the front; CORRISIVE it read. "He bought into the chemical mining craze when we lost business to the Crystal Empire, before Fluttershy talked him out of it."
"Who's Fluttershy?," Marble asked in a meek voice.
"One of Pinkie's friends." The middle sibling lowered her head and began to shove the barrel towards the stairs on her own, Limestone too dazed from the day's events to be of any help. "We should move this upstairs. That way we can keep an eye on them and release any gases once they start dissolving." For such a grim situation, Maud kept stoic as usual. Something about that unnerved both Limestone and Marble, though sparked a glimmer of inspiration in the youngest sibling.
"You really think this'll work, Maud? We just committed murder, I-I think we should go to the police about this," the eldest sister grumbled, pawing at the stone tiles below her. "We tell them it's an accident, that should clear it up. They take care of the bodies, we have a funeral, and we're done."
Maud paused for a moment, never lifting her head from the barrel as she responded. "We can't do that."
"Why not?!"
"We don't technically own the mountain we were harvesting from. It was abandoned when Pinkie pressured Applejack and her family to move here. She lost the deed months ago and the property was reclaimed. We could be arrested for theft and trespassing. I don't know about you two, but I think it's easier to blame a Quarray Eel."
"Quarray Eels don't live this far out Maud, nobody's going to buy--"
"Do you have a better fucking idea, Lime?!"
The house was stunned into silence as Maud raised her voice, breaking her composure for a brief moment before clearing her throat and pushing the barrel. "That's what I thought. Now help me get this up the stairs. Our best option is a ramp. Find something long and flat to cover the stairs." The remaining two sisters went about the all but abandoned basement, gathering large planks of wood and old slabs of stone carved in Old Ponish which rest on the stairs in a hurry. Maud stood by the barrel and watched the two work, slowly blinking as she waited for the make-shift ramp.
As the barrel was rolled up the stairs and into the living room, Marble stayed behind in the basement to hunt around for old family heirlooms and any clues as to what Maud meant about not knowing her own father. She scavenged through crates and old suitcases, gently moving various letters and rock samples aside while keeping some of the more interesting items in the corner closest to the stairs. They were mostly novelty items, a carved jadeite rooster from Saddle Arabia, a sepia-toned photograph of her parents' wedding in front of the Pairing Stone, things like that fascinated Marble and- who knows- they could serve as great decorations for a potential funeral.
Rummaging about in an ancient trunk she paused upon discovering a large scroll wrapped in twine. Most important documents in Rockville were carved into tough stones like obsidian or large slabs of corundum, so finding a scroll this old was quite the discovery for young Marble. Abandoning the rest of her treasures she took the scroll in her teeth and started upstairs, hoping to creep around the horrific display going on in the next room and avoid the argument she walked into.
"I'm not dragging them inside, we don't even know how to move the boulder yet! What if they can't be dragged?!"
"You're overreacting, Limestone. You need to calm down before we do this-"
"Calm? You want me to be calm?! Our parents are dead, Maud! If you weren't my sister I'd clock you in the jaw!"
"If we move the barrel outside, there's a chance that the rocks may dissolve as well. That was its intended purpose after all... Hm-" Maud pause for a moment and rubbed her chin in thought. "-Maybe that's a better idea. It would leave less to clean... We should do this outside."
Over the course of the next several hours, Maud and Limestone worked to retrieve the crushed corpses of their mother and father and reluctantly shove them into the barrel of acid while Marble read over the scroll. Once the elder siblings finished the dirty work they returned to the house and sat behind their unsuspecting sister.
"What'cha got there, Marble?"
Hearing Maud's voice the youngest let out a small squeak of fear, falling backwards off her haunches and kicking up the end of the immense scroll. Limestone took the opportunity to tug it away from her, briefly reading it over before throwing up her brows.
The scroll contained an ornate Pie family tree, including members before and after Holder Cobblestone. Marble and Pinkie were notably absent, though several names were unfamiliar to the eldest sibling. "I haven't heard of half of these ponies... Where'd you find this Marble?"
Marble paused, padding at the ground for a moment before glancing to the basement stairs.
"Uh-huh. Like that'll do us any good now that Ma and Pa are gone. Put that back when you're done reminiscing Marble, we still have work to do."
"Actually, this can be helpful. We still have a funeral to plan, it's only right we invite everypony we can. It's what they would want." Maud mulled over the list before rolling it up with a swift flick and tying the twine around it again. "I'll ask Pinkie if her friends can watch the farm for a few days while we're gone."
"Whoa whoa, back up. We? We aren't going anywhere, I run this farm and we still have orders to fill! With Ma and Pa gone we're short-staffed, we need all hooves on deck if we want to keep this place up and running!"
"You're welcome to stay and work if you like. When the police catch wind of what happened, you'll be the ones taking the fall for it though. Dead bodies in a crater filled with corrosive chemicals is anything but a natural cause, at that rate they won't buy our Quarray Eel story." Maud cocked her head to the side and took the scroll in her teeth, excusing herself without another word.
Marble and Limestone looked to each other for a short while as if communicating via telepathy. The farm remained silent for several minutes as they separately contemplated their options, Marble trying to rationalize her guilt and Limestone pondering the business portion of the ordeal. They would lose orders, but that could be a good thing. They were all horribly overworked, a vacation could be nice! Even if it wasn't exactly the relaxing kind... "Damn it. Maud has a good point. Come on Marble."
Chapter 4: Sunshine on a Cloudy Quartz
It was a hot summer day in the Galloping Gorge, the sun hung high in the sky beating down on the poor uncovered heads of the few foolish ponies who went about their day without a care in the world. These were simpler times, and as a young Cloudy Quartz stepped onto the stamped-down dirt path in front of her family home she was determined to make her father proud. Who knows, today might be the day she finally gets her cutie mark!
Cloudy wasn't the best rock farmer, nor the most formal. Most families in the gorge weren't mining the stones themselves, but rather using them to make ornate statues or other stone creations which would be sold all across Equestria. The Travertine family ran the town with a silver hoof, kind yet strict when they had to be, especially seen in the family patriarch Boulder. Cloudy had gotten in trouble with them plenty of times and became known as the town troublemaker. No matter how many punishments she received and how many nights she had to spend locked in her room, she always went out the next day looking for mischief.
"Cloudy Quartz!," called her mother Rosewater. The young future matriarch spun around and glared daggers at her mother, scrunching up her face as she prepared for another round of scolding. What would it be for this time? Destroying Rubble Roller's pathetic statue of Princess Celestia? Making a mess of Larimar's birthday cake? Getting out of bed and skipping breakfast? She was a busy mare, she had places to be and this family was holding her down!
"Boulder Travertine is stopping by for dinner tonight. I expect you back when the sun touches the edge of the gorge and not a moment later! Him and your father have important business to attend to, and I don't want you embarrassing us in front of the town leader. Now off you go, no sense staring."
Rosewater slammed the door before Cloudy could fully comprehend what was just said to her. Boulder Travertine was coming over for dinner tonight?! Though she did care for her family more than anypony could imagine, her sense of excitement and energy at the thought of a prank was too strong to ignore! Oh what could she do, she pondered as she started down the main path with a small bounce in her step. Maybe put something into his soup like a bug or some hair? What about some gunpowder to blow his teeth out?! Or even better--
"Look out below!"
Zooming through the sky and rapidly approaching the ground was a stallion in a dirty Wonderbolts uniform, a streak of orange and yellow following him due to his sheer speed. Cloudy was too focused on her upcoming pranks to hear his cries, and so the two collided head-on and created quite a scene in the middle of town. As the pegasus slammed into the youngest Quartz they created a long crater through the center of Galloping Gorge, drawing the attention of several workers who abandoned their projects to investigate the earth-shaking chaos.
This stallion's name was Fire Streak, a promising young Wonderbolt. He was dazed as he rested against Cloudy, who had a horrible cough from the dust flying about her head. "Are you okay, ma'am?" Despite a potential concussion the pegasus came to his senses in a heartbeat, standing up and offering to help the markless mare to her hooves. "I am so sorry, I didn't expect a sudden downdraft like that! Are you hurt, need an ice pack or anything?"
"I'm fine, but you keep talking like that and I'll make sure you're in hospice before supper!" Cloudy stood up on her own accord, spinning about with a stomp and smacking the accidental attacker with her braided tail. "I'm going to the Travertines, you best make yourself scarce before Gravel gets his hooves on you, pretty boy!" The gorge rarely saw pegasi visitors, but when they a few did come around they weren't treated very well. The greatest enemy of a good sculpture was erosion, and erosion was often caused by rain and winds. Living in a gorge the winds typically went overhead, but the rain? There was nowhere for the rain to go!
As Cloudy stormed off and left the others to tend to Fire Streak, she couldn't help this strange feeling reaching from the tip of her tail to the peaks of her ears. She felt oddly tingly as she thought about the stallion, what his eyes looked like behind those goggles especially perplexed the single mare. That mane, that streak he left in the sky, those exotic colors on his uniform! It stuck in her brain like pressure surrounding diamonds, and before she knew it she was back home laying in bed whilst Boulder dined with her mother and father.
Fire Streak had felt the same, asking around for any information he could get on the strange mare who he crashed into. Though he lived for the thrill of ripping across the sky like a shooting star, he felt that same buzz as he thought of Cloudy. He recognized his feelings for her, and so rushed out to her cottage and began to toss rocks at her window. The mare inside growled as she opened the window, putting on her face of stoicism as she looked down at him. "Oh, pretty boy. Why are you still running around Galloping Gorge."
"I came to see you! Maybe the crash just fried my brains or--"
"That's pretty likely."
"What? Nevermind, as I was saying the crash might've messed with my head a little, but I can't stop thinking of you."
"Well that's not concerning in the slightest." Cloudy began to shut the window before Fire Streak flew up and through the gap, causing her to fall back with a sound of shock. "Shit! What in Tartarus do you think you're doing boy?! This is trespassing, I have Boulder Travertine downstairs right now and--"
"Shh!" Fire Streak stopped her by putting his hoof over her mouth, lowering his voice to just above a whisper. "I know that, now listen! Please I, I need to at least get this off my chest. Promise you won't scream?"
Cloudy hesitated before offering a small nod, unaware that a small layer of blush coated her cheeks as the stallion stepped back and rested on his haunches.
"I know we just met and all, but something about you... Excites me. I love flying, all I've ever wanted to do with my life is be a Wonderbolt and fly for a living! The thrill of flying I always thought was impossible to replicate on the ground, but then you came crashing into my life. I want to know you better, before anything else. If I miss a few practices, I'm sure General Flash won't mind." He hesitated for a moment as he looked over to Cloudy, whose eyes seemed to be sparkling. "Of course ah, I'll let you have your space. Yeah."
With a small flap of his wings the stallion left through the window again, beginning his walk down the darkened main road as Cloudy was left to process. After a minute or so she rushed past her family and down the stairs to chase down the pegasus just before he took off.
"Pretty Boy!"
Fire Streak stopped just as he pulled down his goggles, half-turning to face the strange girl he crashed into.
"I... Would like to know you better as well."
Several months passed as the two grew closer, though Cloudy Quartz insisted that her companion stay out of sight of her family when they were together. Her mother would certainly lose her mind, and Celestia knows what her father would do if she was found with a freeloading cloud-pusher! But they continued their romance in private, until one day she came home complaining to her father that she was incredibly ill after a long night. She had been gaining weight, though her family assumed it was from overeating while out in town.
It was a dreadfully long train ride to the nearest doctor, though upon arriving for what was meant to be a routine checkup, the doctor delivered quite mortifying news.
"Your daughter is pregnant. The baby seems to be healthy, though I must ask... Was she ever in contact with a pegasus?"
Chapter 5: A Surprise Development
"Rusty and I, oh we were so different back then.", Granny Rosewater continued. "He had her grounded for a full moon until we could come up with a fitting punishment. We heard stories of a punishment for promiscuous ponies in Rock Ridge, though it was a horribly long way... Apparently they had a stone which would choose that pony's life partner, and it was legally binding from what we heard! As soon as we could we, put her on the first train to southern Equestria."
Limestone, with rage in her eyes, slammed her front hooves on the table and screamed out in anger. "How could you do that to your own daughter?! She didn't even have her cutie mark, she was just a kid!"
"I know that now dear but, but back then things were different! This was before your time, before it was normal for fillies of your age to sire foals! I know what we did was wrong but, we did what we had to do. She settled down with your father Igneous and got her cutie mark that same day..."
"That's a great story Granny, but that doesn't help us very much." Maud spoke up next, cocking her head slightly to the right. "What does this have to do with getting the family back together? You don't even know the foal's name."
"Eh? Was that what this was about?" The old mare scratched her head for a moment before rummaging through the box of postcards and letters, eventually pulling out one with an old photograph attached. "Well why didn't you say so?! Her first child was a pegasus, white mane with a gold coat if my eyes aren't deceiving me here." She squinted more at the colorless photograph. "Eh, maybe grey coat like your mother's..." She tossed the photograph over to the three mares, who all looked down as it spun momentarily on the table.
"Her name is Surprise, and from what I've been able to gather she turned out a Wonderbolt just like her father. He retired after she was born, scandals 'n all that, apparently he was scared that it would make the troupe look bad?" Maud pulled the photograph close as her grandmother continued on, squinting at it and searching her memories for a match. The Wonderbolts uniform narrowed things down quite a fair bit, but when they were going so quickly it was hard to pick an individual out of the crowd. Minus Rainbow Dash of course, but this wasn't about her. Or was it?
"She was a darling when I met her, even if it was just once before your grandfather couldn't get out of the house anymore. Not sure how much else I know about her, with her busy life she never stops by and after the whole adoption ordeal she--"
"Yeah that's nice grandma, but we're on a tight schedule here. Do you know any other relatives on this list or what?" Limestone finally interrupted the elderly mare and set down the scroll, letting it unfurl on the covered table. Rosewater stopped in her tracks and let out a huff, quickly looking over the names to get it over with.
"No. No. Nothing there. Oh that couple didn't go anywhere! No. Nope." She went down the entire list before stopping at the very bottom. "Well here's something, they scrubbed out little Obsidian and Surprise!"
Marble paused and looked about the table, before carefully raising a hoof and asking, "Who's Obsidian?"
"Well little fillies I don't know much about her, but I do remember that she's older than you Limey, by a good few moons if my memory serves me right. Heard she was causing trouble on the farm so she was taken in by another relative of ours, some Perfect or Apple Pie out in Tall Tale, but I'm not sure what she ended up doing after all these years. Oh, but she did spend a bit of time here when Igneous was figuring out where to send her. I tell ya, that filly wasn't quite right."
Maud looked to her siblings as she started to roll up the family tree again. "We should start with her in the morning. We can ask one of Pinkie's friends about Surprise, but that's better with the whole family. Granny Pie, can we spend the night with you?" Before she could finish asking Rosewater was off her haunches with a wide grin.
"Of course you can silly fillies! The spare room should have enough room for all three of you, but if you three need separate beds don't be afraid to yell. My brain may not be as sharp as it used to be but my ears are still fit as a fiddle!" With that she led the three young mares into a side room, fit with a bunkbed and a small sleeping bag coated in a thin layer of dust. As she clicked on the old oil lantern the walls were covered with posters, most of which were old horror films and strange sci-fi playbills from several moons ago. There was a thin layer of haphazardly-applied black paint around the top bunk, though the rest of the room was still the same pale pink which covered the rest of the cottage. "I haven't cleaned it in a while, you don't mind do ya girls?"
Limestone and Marble looked at each other with concern laced on their features, the younger of the two hoping that the older would speak up about these horrible conditions. Instead Maud reassured Rosewater that it was perfect, thanked her again, and shut the door on the owner. With nothing else left to do the three claimed their bunks, Maud taking the sleeping bag so the other two could share the rickety bunk-bed. She always preferred not risking a fall when she got out of bed in the morning.
Marble hopped up to the top bunk and rolled her eyes, taking down a childish drawing of The Pony of Shadows. "Whoever had this room had a bit of a problem. Seriously, how much blood can a drawing have before it gets tacky?"
"If you ask me, any amount," said Marble with a shiver in her voice. "I don't understand how somepony could draw something so, so horrible." As she finished her thoughts she too took down a few more drawings, these ones more professional though still childish with its heavy use of violence and gore.
"Some ponies use it as a coping mechanism. Everyone has their own way of dealing with life's challenges, be happy it's just art." Maud rolled her eyes as she went up to open the blinds, revealing the sun slowly dipping below the horizon. "We should get some rest if we want to catch the morning train to Tall Tale."
"I've never been there... Do you think the ponies there are friendly?," Marble asked as she settled in under the sheets of the bottom bunk.
"Not sure. I won't lie to you, I've never been that far west."
"Hm."
With that final concerned sound from the youngest Pie the trio settled in for the evening, Maud turning off the lamp and tucking herself into the sleeping bag. They all said goodnight and drifted off to sleep, though Marble lied awake and stared at the underside of Limestone's bunk. Something about this room scared her, beyond the drawings and horror posters. Maybe it was the dust that coated the room or the half-hearted paintjob, but something didn't sit right in her gut. Oh well, it was probably from her skipping lunch.
With a small sigh she waved off her feelings and forced herself to sleep, shutting her eyes tight.
Chapter 3: Granny Rosewater Quartz
The rumbling of the Friendship Express across Rockville's notoriously rough terrain shook the passengers in each car, from the stoic farmers in the fourth car going to Rambling Rock Ridge to the young Filly Guides in the second bouncing off the walls in excitement as they waited for Fillydelphia to appear in the distance. In the last car, closest to the baggage, sat the three Pie sisters.
Maud sat closest to the window, holding up Boulder so he could watch the moving landscape. Limestone begrudgingly read out the names of various Pie relatives, seeing if any of them triggered a memory or obvious reaction from either sibling. She had easily gone over hundreds of names by this point, from Sulfur Pie in Hollow Shades to Holder Cobblestone's third wife Fieldhoof the Brash.
"We've gone over everyone so far and they're all dead or living Celestia knows where! This is pointless Maud, we should just go back to the farm and send a letter to Pinkie about Ma and Pa," Limestone said slamming down the list onto the seat next to her. "Why are we out here on a train to nowhere when we could be making hundreds of bits in the field?!"
"You didn't read every name on the list."
"I went over every Pie, what are you talking about?!"
"That's what I'm saying. Every Pie . Granny wasn't born a pie, neither was Ma. They married into the family." Marble perked her head up at the mention of Granny Pie, a pony she hasn't seen since her and Pinkie were fillies. She was always so perky and cheerful, if anyone could help lift their spirits it was her! "I have a letter for Uncle Oak. Once we get into town I'll stop by the post office and have it mailed. That's one less stop to make."
"Can we go see Granny?! Um... Please?" Marble practically jumped to her hooves in excitement, though controlled herself and looked away as color filled her cheeks. When life on the farm got too much, Granny was always there to help and talk her out of running off. She wasn't made for manual labor, but neither was Granny. She loved that old mare with all her heart.
"I would say yes, but we don't know where she is nowadays. The only pony who would know is..." Maud hesitated, lowering Boulder for a moment and gazing down at the floor of the train. "...Pinkie Pie." The three sisters avoided eye contact for a while, each coming to the same realization. Telling Pinkie would be difficult, she might take it as a joke or ignore them. It would take some tact to handle, something that none of them had at this moment. They should avoid going to Ponyville just in case they ran into Pinkie, which was a simple task seeing as she was the only Pie who lived there.
Marble was the first to break the awkward silence with a light gasp, rushing into the baggage car to rummage around her pack for an old postcard sent for her tenth birthday. Once she found it the mare rushed back to the group like an excited dog, smiling as Limestone took it from between her teeth.
"'Wish you were here. From the annual Rainbow Festival in... Hope Hollow.' Signed, Granny Pie! She moved to Hope Hollow!.. Wherever that is." Limestone's enthusiasm dropped upon realizing that she hadn't any idea where this Hope Hollow place was. Looking at the postcard of the town there didn't seem to be any train tracks, though this was from several moons ago all things considered.
"Pinkie told me about that place. They took a balloon they rented out, so we'll get off at the next stop and find one. She might know more about where the rest of the Pies are."
The next several hours were spent traveling in silence, save for purchasing the hot air balloon and finding somepony to pilot it, a young unicorn named Nook. They arrived in Hope Hollow just before sunset, stepping out of the balloon and onto the dirt path once the basket made contact with the ground. Before the trio could begin their search a jovial voice piped up from down the road, soon revealing its source to be a blue unicorn stallion with a large grin on his face.
"Well I'll be tickled pink, I wasn't expecting any visitors today! Welcome to Hope Hollow! My name is Sunny Skies and I'm the mayor of this little slice of paradise! What brings you three lovely ladies here?" Mayor Skies spoke with a slight accent which reminded Maud of her now deceased mother, though she refused to let this correlation distract her from her goal.
"I'm Maud. These are my sisters, Limestone and Marble. We're looking for our grandmother. We have this postcard from a few moons ago saying she might have moved here. Her last name is Quartz." As she spoke another mare, an earth pony with a vibrant purple mane and white freckles, stepped next to the mayor and gave him a brief, loving glance.
"Ope, sounds like you're lookin' for Rosewater! I was just headin' her way doncha know, I'd be happier than a sot in a river o' cider to show ya the way!" The mare spoke with a similar accent to Mayor Skies, who appeared momentarily surprised when she made her presence known. "The name's Petunia Petals, or Petunia Skies if ya wanna be all fancy about it." Both her and the mayor giggled before she went on her way, gesturing for the other mares to follow.
Due south from the town center sat a small cottage, a small overhang by the front door sporting a pink-and-white pattern similar to raindrops swirling down from the sky. "Here we are, old Rosewater's teahouse! Ya know she has the best tea this side of Rainbow Falls, don't get me started on her tea cakes, I could talk 'fer hours about them doncha know!" With a small laugh and a roll of Limestone's eyes, the mayor's wife held open the door with the hollow sound of wooden windchimes. "I'll give you mares some privacy, I have work to do back at the office anyhoo."
Standing in the small hallway as the door closed behind them, the three Pie sisters steeled themselves for the confrontation in their own ways. Limestone tightened up his face and stomped her hoof once of twice on the white wood floor to release some tension in her body, Marble let out a small squeak and put on a large smile, and Maud took in a slightly larger breath than usual before parting some beads in the doorway ahead of them. "Granny Rosewater, are you in here?," she asked with a quirked brow.
Sat in front of a kotatsu table with a lavender blanket as an elderly mare with a pale pink coat, rose red mane with pink tips, lime eyes and a cup of tea on her flank. She was fairly tall and thin despite her age, red-tinted glasses sat on the edge of her muzzle. Her mane was tied up into a long braid going down the back of her neck alongside her tail, which was pulled into a loose bun. Rosewater Quartz looked over as she heard the rattling of the beads and was nearly brought to tears by the sight.
"Well I'll be, you little fillies didn't tell me you were coming by!" She hopped off of her haunches and trotted over to the group, wrapping the sisters in a hug tight enough to choke the life out of an Ursa Major. "Oh how are you girls, I haven't seen you three since you were foals!" Granny Rosewater rushed around to each sister with the same energy she had as a much younger mare, squishing and pulling on their cheeks like it was going out of style.
"Maudy Pie, how you've grown! Or should I say Doctor Pie now hm? So sorry I missed your graduation dearie, congratulations on your Rocktorate! Your Grandpa Rusty would be so proud of he were still alive, Celestia bless him."
"Oh Limestone you were always such a cute little filly, you haven't changed a day! Look at those muscles dearie, oh I knew your father would work you hard but you're practically bursting! No boulder can stand up to you eh?"
The elder paused as she got to Marble, who interrupted her grandmother with a tight hug of comparable strength. "Baby Marble... You look just like your mother, it's like looking into a mirror."
"Mmhm," replied Marble through her tears.
"As nice as this is granny, we have something we need to talk to you about. It's-" Maud hesitated, glancing to her two sisters before continuing- "Very urgent. Do you have a minute?"
The elder laughed at the idea, sitting back down at the covered table and pouring several cups of tea, one for herself and three for the sisters. "I always have time for my favorite grandfillies! Come, sit, make yourselves comfortable!" She offered a full grin as the three sat, Limestone hesitating and avoiding eye contact on the way down. "So, this must be pretty important for you three to come all the way out to Hope Hollow!"
The three went silent as they looked across the table at each other, though it was Limestone who finally broke the near minute-long silence. "It's Ma and Pa. There was an accident at the farm and..." Granny Rosewater slowly set down her cup, excitement draining from her body as the silence returned. "...They didn't make it, Granny."
"Oh. Oh dear that's..." Granny Rosewater stood up and excused herself for a moment to pace back and forth across the back of the room. "I'm so sorry girls. I always thought something like this would happen, it was part of the job of course but so soon?" She struggled to fight back tears, occasionally glancing up to the popcorn ceiling as if using gravity to keep her eyes dry.
"We didn't mean to!," Marble barked out in a panic, drawing all eyes towards her. "We were trying to finish an order and there was an avalanche and the fence broke the fault line and--" She was silenced by Maud's hoof covering her mouth, who was the first to begin properly crying.
At her confession Rosewater looked over, shaking her head and looking up to a picture hanging on the wall before going on to speak. "Rock farming is a dangerous job, little fillies. Your ma and pa knew what they were getting into when they bought that farm, there's no need to feel guilty." She finally returned to the table, gently holding the teacup in her hooves. "I appreciate you three telling me face to face."
Maud sipped at the floral tea in front of her before taking her turn to speak. "That's not entirely why we came here, granny. We want to get the entire Pie family together. At least, everypony close to ma and pa. Could you help?" She paused for a moment to savor the tea one more time before watching as Rosewater stood up and left the room.
She stayed out for a solid three minutes before coming back with a sack full of old letters and pictures, standing to the side while the three sorted through the pictures. "Leave the old mules to me, but there's something you fillies should know. Or rather, someponies . You see, Cloudy and Igneous..."
"They had a few other foals before the farm."
Author's Note
This chapter was completed a few days after my grandfather passed away. Writing has always been a coping strategy for me. Rest in peace, papa.