“I need thee to attend the union meeting tomorrow, Marble,” Igneous Rock Pie asked his daughter after finishing his rock soup. It was rare for Marble’s father to make a request like this. All of the Pie family, except Maud and Pinkie, were gathered at the dinner table, one of the rare times when everyone did not wordlessly return to their rooms after finishing their meals.

Usually, it would be him or Limestone representing the Pie rock farm when official matters arose. However, due to an unexpected delivery of rocks, both of them would be absent from the farm for the time being.

Marble did not say anything, which was typical of her. She looked over to her mother, Cloudy Quartz, as to ask ‘Why not her?’, her family was used to Marble’s nonverbal communication, so they quickly understood what she meant by her gesture.

“Illness has stricken me, my Marble,” her mother coughed slightly into her hooves. “I need to take some time to rest.” Marble felt disappointed that she hadn’t noticed her mother was sick. She wasn't an attentive pony, so it must have slipped by her during the day.

“You’ll be fine,” her sister Limestone said in her usual raspy, slightly aggressive tone. This didn’t stop Marble from sweating and looking at the floor. “Just make sure they mark you present and report back any news they have. Easy.”

"Thou art under no compulsion to lend thine agreement to their so-called 'new ideas.' Our presence there is but a duty owed unto the community." her father added. This was the first time Marble had seen a hint of nervousness in his usually stoic face.

Marble remembered how their membership in the farmer’s union came to be. Last year, the return of the Crystal Empire caused a crash in the rock economy, as tons of cheaply sourced gems made their way into the market and caused the demand for rocks to plummet. Multiple rock farms went bankrupt or had to take loans from the bank to keep running.

The Pie family farm was hit hard by the recession. With tons of their own rock going unsold that year.

Facing ruin, many of the rock farmers came together to pool resources in order to survive. This effort was led by the Ores, one of the few families not affected as much by the rock recession. Their new union was called the "United Rock Workers."

Igneous Rock was initially apprehensive about joining the new union and did not do so at first. They were spouting ideas like "collectivizing" and "class solidarity," concepts that scared the ever-proud and conservative earth pony. But he could not deny that their family would not survive without assistance. So he reluctantly joined.

It was thanks to the efforts of her sister Pinkie Pie and her "Rock Concert" that the demand for rocks finally stabilized again, but the damage had already been made.

She groaned in a low voice, finally accepting the duty entrusted to her. She looked back at her father and slowly nodded.

"Thank you, my daughter."

She was not looking forward to tomorrow.

Marble started her trek to the Ore family barn, where the union meeting was to take place. On the way there, Marble began to think about how she didn’t know many of the other rock farmers in her town—or anyone else for that matter.

The town’s inhabitants mostly stuck to their own clans. She didn’t even remember her super-social sister Pinkie making any friends until she moved to Ponyville. It was probably only thanks to the Pairing Stone that new families could be made.

The only other pony outside of her family, and this fact is disputed, that Marble recalls making a connection with was Big McIntosh. Oh, Big Mac… She hoped he came back for this year’s Hearth's Warming.

Marble arrived at the barn and heard chattering coming from inside. It took all her courage and a reminder of Limestone’s angry face not to run away back home.

As she walked inside, she noticed how the farm had been converted into a sort of mini town hall. At the front stood a podium, centrally positioned and facing the rows of chairs that were neatly arranged for the attendees.

Marble saw a group of about a dozen earth ponies already seated. They all looked like hardened workers, with a mix of muted-colored coats, which was common in Rockville. There were also a variety of clothes present—some wore overalls, others wore ascots.

At the entrance, there was a tall, skinny stallion taking attendance with a clipboard. He wore a brown ascot hat that complemented his navy-colored coat, and he also wore a pair of round glasses.

“Name?” the navy pony asked.

“...”

Oh, this is awful already, Marble thought.

A few seconds passed.

After the initial shock, Marble remembered that she had prepared for this situation. Shaking slightly, she took out a note and handed it over to him.

“ ‘My name is Marble Pie. My father was not able to attend, so I was sent to represent the Pie farm.’ ” The navy pony eyed Marble after reading the note. She blushed from the sudden attention. He then looked back at his clipboard and crossed something off with a pencil.

“Thanks for attending, Marble. Your family’s attendance is noted.” Marble sighed internally, relieved that one of her duties had been fulfilled.

“I’m Iron Ore, by the way. Nice to meet you,” he offered a hoofshake.

“...”

Marble wished she could vanish into thin air right then and there.

Iron gave a worried look at the grey mare in front of him and put his hoof down.

Cough

“You can take a seat now; the meeting will start soon.”

Marble nodded and went to look for the seat closest to the back she could find.

The meeting started shortly after that, with Iron Ore taking the stage at the podium after finishing the attendance count. He was probably the union’s leader, Marble thought.

They first discussed the ongoing conditions of the year’s harvest, current rock prices, and other such matters of concern to the community.

Now out of the spotlight, Marble could make mental notes, such as Iron having a slight city accent, although she couldn’t place from where exactly.

There was no noise coming from the barn outside of the speaker's voice.

“We collected enough bits to buy a rock dusting plane. With it, we can increase all of our members’ rock output. We are currently in the process of looking for a pilot."

How nice it must be to be able to fly. Marble often wished she could fly away from her problems on the ground. She was jealous of pegasi in that way.

As the meeting went on, Marble became more comfortable, forgetting how she was in the same room with a lot of strangers.

“Now for the main topic of concern,” Iron cleared his throat. “The bank has recently foreclosed on the farmhouse of Rusty Nail.” Marble listened.

“As usual, capitalist forces have forced a hardworking family that has tended to their lands for generations into an unfair, shackling debt to meet their ever-growing need to extract value from our lands.”

This must be the "Marksism" part, Marble thought, using fancy words such as “capitalism.” The only thing Limestone told her about Marksism was that they wanted to take away Holder’s Boulder.

Marble considered sneaking out, but the barn was small enough that it would be very noticeable if she tried to make an exit.

“The bourgeoisie seek to hold an auction for the Nail farm in three days. We must make sure this auction does not go as they plan!”

“Hear, hear!” The ponies in the front yelled, stomping their hooves on the ground. The rest of the ponies in attendance followed, except Marble, who became scared of the sudden rowdiness.

Still, Marble could appreciate the sentiment of standing up for a pony down on their luck. It reminded her of when her sister Limestone used to protect her from bullies back in school.

“But he is a class traitor!” a young, off-white pony yelled in the middle of the crowd, bringing the room to a quiet.

“Rusty Nail brought this upon himself by not joining our union. We should take the farm in order to use it communally.”

Other ponies in the crowd agreed with his sentiment, nodding amongst themselves.

“Now, now,” Iron gestured to the audience to calm down, which they did.

“I don’t truly believe Rusty Nail is a class traitor,” he took a breath. “Like everyone in this room, he is a victim of capitalism. It is hard to admit that you have been exploited, especially when you live in a system that teaches you that getting help from others is a weakness.” Marble held her breath, totally engrossed in Iron Ore's voice.

“This does not mean we should turn our backs on him. On the contrary, we should actively help those members of our community—the stubborn ones, those who don’t have a voice—because it’s the right thing to do. This is how true social justice can be achieved: by standing up for one another. Now, who’s with me?”

The crowd erupted in a loud cheer, the loudest of the night. But Marble did not feel scared this time. On the contrary, she felt shivers down her spine. For the first time, Marble experienced a strange and unfamiliar emotion. She felt… empowered.

Marble found herself wondering why she felt that way, standing in a room full of screaming ponies—a situation that would usually be her personal hell. Yet she joined in, softly stomping her hooves with the rest of the farm workers. A smile crept onto her face, unbidden but welcome.

Iron Ore noticed the mute pony and smiled.

As the rest of the union members slowly trickled out of the barn, Marble remained seated in silence at the back, processing everything that had just happened.

Her quiet reflection was interrupted when she noticed Iron Ore walking toward her, his approach immediately triggering her default mode of panic.

“I’m glad you attended, Marble. It’s good to see you have some class solidarity in you.”

“...” Marble nodded and smiled slightly. For once, she didn’t feel the urge to run away.

“I just wanted to give you this. I think you’ll find it interesting.” He handed her a small red book.

The Equestrian Socialist Manifesto by Caramel Marks, the cover read. Marble wordlessly took the book. After everything that had happened, she knew she needed to give it a read.

“I’m usually in the field if you have any questions about it—or if you just want to chat.” Could it be? Was Marble making a friend?

Marble felt happy tears welling up but managed to hold them back as she exited gracefully.

On her way home, she saw a flock of crows flying in a V-formation, together. She felt, in that moment, that she might one day join them.

Author's Note

Hello everyone, thanks for reading :)
This is my first time writing a fanfic so any feedback is appreciated

I already have most of the fic outlined so I hope updates won't be too infrequent