Reticence

What Sisters Are For

Marble sat uncomfortably in her seat. The dull gray rocks of Nickerlite whizzed across her eyes through the window of the train, letting her know the ride would be over soon enough. She fidgeted in her seat as she tried to sift through a whirlwind of emotions that hadn't left her alone since leaving Canterlot.

She felt relief from finally being away from all the ponies in the big city. She felt somehow empty inside now that she was so far away from Minuette. She felt butterflies in her stomach, fluttering up a flurry over anticipation for their date next week. But most of all, she felt like an idiot because she hadn't told Limestone about her double date plan.

Stupid stupid stupid! She wanted to bang her head against the window of the train car. The ride home was almost over and she hadn't breathed a word to her sister about the commitment she'd blindly made for her.

And how could she? Limestone had a tendency to freak out if somepony looked at Holder's Boulder the wrong way. How would she react to being set up on a date with a mare she barely knew?

Not well, probably.

Still, telling her now would probably be better than telling her the day of. Best to get it over with now.

She turned to her sister, who was resting against the seat next to her, probably trying to get a nap in or at least pretending to.

"L-Limestone..."

One of her sister's eyes popped open. "Yeah?"

Marble's hooves fidgeted as she looked to the floor. "Um... I-I was just wondering... Uh..."

"About what I thought about your marefriend?"

Marble's face went crimson. "U-Uh..."

Limestone rolled her eyes. "She's fine, Marble. I don't exactly get why you've fallen head over heels for her, but she's fine. A little in-your-face though..."

"That wasn't what I was going to ask!" Marble exclaimed. She covered her mouth a second later, worried her outburst would draw out Limestone's wrath.

"Okay then, what?" Limestone opened her other eye and sat up.

Marble lowered her hooves and looked back to the ground. "I... I'm going to see again her next F-Friday and... I... uh..."

"You want the day off?" Limestone guessed. "You know that's more Pa's decision than mine."

"N-No-Well, yes, but that wasn't what I was going to say." Marble bit her lip. "U-Uh... w-what did you t-think of Lemon Hearts?"

Limestone tapped her hoof before narrowing her eyes. "Pink hair, white coat?"

Marble shook her head. "T-that was Twinkleshine. Lemon Hearts was the yellow one."

"Oh, right. Sorry, they just look kinda similar." Limestone reclined again, seemingly ready to go back to sleep. "Anyway, she was fine, I guess. Why?"

"I, uh..." Marble prematurely winced before ripping off the band-aid. "I might've... set you up on a date... with her."

Limestone rocketed upright. "What?" The word was icy enough to send a chill down Marble's spine.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" Marble slid back, trying her hardest to blend in with the wall. "I didn't mean- I was just trying to- I-" Her whole body shook, afraid of Limestone's inevitable outburst.

"Why would you do something like that?" Limestone hissed, keeping her voice low for the sake of the other passengers, or intimidation, or both.

"I... I..." Marble's pupil's shrunk. What should she say? Lemon Hearts probably wouldn't want her feelings ousted like this, but what other excuse was there? Unless... "I'm really nervous about spending more time with Minuette and I didn't want to be on my own in Canterlot, so I thought maybe if you were there..." It was a truth, in a sense.