[Non-sponsored]Two Pies and a Side of Rubble! (Private: Attn Rainbowfoxxy and Raritydash)

[Pretzelparty]

 

Rubble was more than a little surprised to see she'd been invited to the Gala. She'd heard that apparently Princess Celestia was trying to make it more interesting by sending out random invitation to the more eccentric ponies about... Rose didn't think herself all that unusual though. Okay, maybe there weren't a lot of mares who could lift wrecking balls and were really good at breaking stuff and, Well maybe she was a bit of an oddity but she couldn't really think of herself as the type to be invited to the Gala and yet here she was. 

 

Thanks to certain occurences in recent memory, She didn't have a dress. Given her newfound affliction it was unlikely she would be able to keep it intact in the event of her nose tickling and the aftermath such a thing would bring forth, instead she could really only show up in her best jacket but minus her Flatcap. The Jacket over her seem a bit loose honestly, more than a little baggy, but not enough to that it was impede her walking. She had her headphones on, at full volume as per usual and had her favorite flavored lollipop in her mouth as she presented it to the guard. Strangely her invitation had requested she wear her headphones... an unusual request but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

 

The usual occurence happened as soon as she let her mind wander and one of the wall in the castle was broken down... thankfully whoever deigned to send her invitation said not to worry about any damage she'd do and that it was covered. 

 

As soon as she got to one of the ballroom's she felt otu of place. She couldn't hear the music but she could practically feel the aura of stuffiness many of the goers were givign off, if she lifted one of the cups over her ears she only needed one sample of the music before she realized... "Nae my kind of place." she thought internally before walking over to a nearby punch bowl...

 

 

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

"Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me!"

 

Pinkie was having a blast...as she usually did at events like the gala. Sure the first few times her behavior had been well...off putting...but hey this was a PARTY after all. Eventually ponies just came to expect that the pink pony would be up to her usual shenanigans. Still, it seemed to Pinkie that some of these ponies would never learn...

 

"Come on now all you party ponies! I thought we'd been over this! The Grand Galloping Gala is a party! You gotta dance! You gotta groove! You gotta shake that tail!"

 

She bounced about a little more before eventually wiping her brow. "Whew! Trying to get this party turned up a few notches really makes me thirsty!" She trotted over to the refreshment area. After guzzling a cup or four of punch she spied a pony headed towards the same bowl of punch. For some reason it really didn't look like this particular mare was having very much fun.

 

"Hey there! I'm Pinkie Pie!" She offered a hoof. "How about this party huh?" She smirked. "I know, it's not quite killing it yet but just you wait! Princess Twilight told me to make sure the ponies had a good time at the gala tonight. If anypony is gonna make that happen it's gonna be me!"

 

 

[RarityDash]

It was Maud Pie's second time attending the Grand Galloping Gala. As with the first she was there as the plus one of her beloved younger sister Pinkie. She was pleased to be returning to the event. She had had fun the first time, despite the oddness of that particular evening. She doubted very much that this time they would be quite so eventul as that one with its bad comedy act and looming slime monster, but it would nevertheless prove to be a worthwhile chance to take a break from her studies at the university and spend some time with Pinkie and her Ponyville friends. 

 

There was a deep excitement to her actually as she walked at a quite leisurely pace through the castle--not that one could tell in looking at her stony as ever face. Rather than a simple dress of her own design, at Rarity's urging she was wearing a dress her friend had made her. She had grown closer to the unicorn mare across some recent encounters they shared and as such had found herself surprisingly willing to oblige, even if she admitted she did so with some anxiety. The dress was a maroon color, fancy by Maud's standards, though still fairly simple in shape and was adorned with a number of polished glossy stones which was a touch Maud definitely approved of. A hairpin set with another polished black stone was worn in her otherwise normally styled, straight mane. 

 

Her and Pinkie had arrived together, but her sister had since bounded ahead with her usual speed and energy. Maud proceeded with the intent to find her again and did so promptly for Pinkie was always quite easy to find in a room. Her eyes focused on the pink mare and she started toward her where she was by the punch bowl. It was only when she drew nearer however, that she noticed that her sister was not the only familiar face there.

 

Rubble Rose. She had met the mare at the Crystal Faire a while back and immediately been forced through a rigorous ordeal with her. Through it she had found a friend, probably her first who wasn't family or one of Pinkie's friends. Or a rock. She felt very comfortable around the unicorn mare who was the uncommon pony who actually seemed to operate on a similar wavelength to her. Most ponies were put off by the subtle way she expressed herself, at least initially, but Rose had accepted her from the start.

 

Her excitement now at such a point that a muted smile appeared on her face, she approached the two. Rather than addressing her sister, she first looked to Rose. "Hi..." she droned. "I haven't seen you in a while" 

 

"It's good to see you again," she added before glancing to Pinkie. "This is Rose. She's a friend," she said. She didn't know how her excitable sister would react to this. As particular and content to stick to herself as Maud was, it was certainly an uncomment event.

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

Rose froze for a moment, blinking slowly and looking up and down at the offered hoof. There was a lengthy pause but eventually the unicorn raised her hoof and shook the curly maned pony's offered appendage. "I'm Rubble Rose. You're mane is... fluffy.", The mare's voice while, flat and lifeless sounding had touches of a Fet loch accent, telling of her roots. Despite the lack of any change in expression beyond maybe the tiniest facial tic, Rubble was rather excited inside. Shaking hooves with one of Equestria's heroes was something she didn't expect to happen tonight, not at all. She also realized something else when the pink pony introduced herself, "Are you Maud's s-" 

 

For a moment it looked as if, Rose's brain had shut down for a moment as her mouth fell open slightly. She managed to fix it soon enough though, Looking at Maud coming up in her outfit brought two thoughts to the red maned unicorn's noggin. "Wow, she looks really pretty." and "I really am under-dressed aren't I?", thought the mare to herself, her expression outwards still in it's default look of stoicism, save for a sudden pink tinge on her cheeks that faded after a few seconds. When she managed to catch a glimpse of that 

small smile she occasionally showed, Rubble's lips began to unconsciously mirror that expression. 

"Yeah. Things have been..." For a moment Rubble had a memory flash before her eyes as she remembered a certain canine, a lot of her namesake and a building coming down in Manehattan. The adventure she went on with Princess Bluebelle/Blueblood also popped into her head, where she'd found she was now cursed by some strange stallion artifact to turn into male version of herself whenever she sneezed. "... Busy. Some strange things have been happening with me lately." She looked at her hooves momentarily and looked back up to Maud, her own voice being of the same type of monotone in her response, "It's... really... good to see you again." A little extra emphasis was put into the second word in her statement.

 

Looking between the two mares with her at the bowl, Rose couldn't help but notice the stark contrast... but it wasn't really all that surprising. A close cousin of hers seemed to have trouble holding back from expressing herself but they were still family. "It's nice to meet you, Pinkie. Maud talks about you a lot. "

 

 

 

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Pinkie turned as her sister approached. The huge smile had never left her features but it got even bigger somehow with the mention that Rose was a friend. She grasped the other mare's hoof and gave it a hardy shake.

 

"Oh my gosh! Wow! Any friend of Maud's is a friend of mine for sure! Super great to meet you Rose!"

 

Though she moved at lightening speed, Pinkie didn't miss much. She heard the two say their greetings, and she saw the small smiles that hovered about their muzzles. Wow, wow wow! It wasn't often that Maud got this excited to see somepony! Rose much be a really super special pony.

 

"Oh, you know. I'm sure Maud talks about me as much as I talk about her...which is a lot...because she's like the very best sister ever!" Pinkie reached over and hooked her sister in a quick side hug. 

 

"So, it's super cool that you to already know each other!" She grinned. 

 

Pinkie's mind was working quickly as she gulped her punch and then glanced about the room. If this was like any other gala, it would really need her touch to take off! Speaking of which...Maud hardly ever gave anypony the look she had given Rose...was it possible? Pinkie's heart skipped a beat. That would be so super fun! She would just have to see where things went with these two...perhaps her special abilities could make more than the gala take off!

 

"You guys ready to party?" She asked the pair while stepping away to ask the band to kick it up five or six notches. 

[RarityDash]

Maud nodded to her friend. She had been busy too. The workload needed to make progress on her "rocktorate" had suddenly ramped up, leaving her focused on that and not as able to get out and take part in much else as she had hoped to be. After the Crystal Faire, she had hoped to have seen a lot more of Rose, taking part in adventures for the benefit of all, but it had just proven difficult to get away from the university for any length of time.

 

"Strange...?" she repeated the word as it was said by her friend, her head tilting aside. The way she averted her eyes briefly made Maud wonder if she should be concerned for her friend.

 

When Rose then said how good it was to see her again, a bit of color entered Maud's face just from how the words were stressed. "Yeah... Same here..." she said somewhat quietly and then looked quickly toward her sister.

 

She smiled very slightly at the sudden hug. She really did love her sister. She loved all of her sisters, but it was Pinkie whom she had always been the closest with. Pinkie was a special pony. It was hard to not talk about her some times, especially when she didn't know what else to say. 

 

At Pinkie's question she simply said, "sure." As Pinkie would well know, she didn't mind partying, so long as she was allowed to do it at her own pace.

[Pretzelparty]

 

The shake from Maud's sister pinkie was... expectedly exuberant. Pinkie's energy was impressive, so impressive it brought a blink from the stoic unicorn in question. In her head, Rose was doing cartwheels. She got to see her very special friend Maud and she looked wonderful and she got to meet Pinkie Pie too! The excitement externally manifested as a blink before Rose nodded to Pinkie, "You too." Darn it she got nervous again. Just two words?! Internally she chided herself she gave a pause (well to most it would look like just another dour moment of silence from a unicorn who seemed composed of ninety percent stone and ten percent face. 

 

She could feel that Maud was... a bit worried by the mentioning of the strangeness. Should she come clean about her curse now or later? I mean what if Maud didn't like her if it wound up acting up at the worst possible time? I mean it was a pain in the plot enough to just have found material to let Rarity make this Jacket for her that would fit to her shape... How would maud react if a transformation occurred? So many variable in a system that in Rose's eyes just seemed poised to breakdown... Strangely enough though, just being around Maud made her want to stay anyway.

 

The Demolition mare was going to response but her words woudln't come out and she had to calm herself after she heard Maud admitting that she was happy to see her too. There was a notable pause as the two just looked at eachother for a minute until Maud got pulled into a hug by pinkie. "she's stretchy." Thought Rubble as she watched the hug play out, feelign a bit jealous on two fronts. She was an only foal with the closest she had to a sister was her cousin, and she really wished she could have shared in the hug.

 

In response to Pinkie's Question, Rose answered in almost perfect sync with friend. "Sure." Rose wasn't going to be leaving these two's company anytime soon. Before the festivities began, with whatever window Pinkie Pie gave the two stone faced ponies; Rubble leaned over and elaborated a bit on that 'strange' occurrence she mentioned. "Went on a trip with Princess Bluebelle and her bodyguard. We were supposed to get an artifact that would let her cure herself... but it's magic stuck to me."

 

 

 

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Pinkie heard the tandem "sure" on her way to the band. Her smile widened (if that was even possible at this point) as she trotted up to the pony on the piano. Sure there was only so much you could do with these sorts of instruments...good thing Pinkie always had back ups! It wasn't long before each of the band ponies was outfitted with instruments that could bring a real beat into the dance hall!

 

The pinktastic mare trotted back to her sister and Rose, her head nodded to the music.

 

"This is a Pinkified beat!" She started to pick up her hooves. "Much easier to dance to than what they were playing before!"

 

She bounded out onto the dance floor while some of the more reserved ponies quickly moved to the sides. "Come on party ponies!"

 

It wasn't long before she was able to coax some of the ponies back out. It was dancing, it was supposed to be fun! Once things were moving more naturally she motioned to Maud and Rose.

 

"Ok you two! Let's see your moves!"

[RarityDash]

Maud looked at Rose as the two of them both gave the same one word answer to Pinkie. She had often thought that Rose was the rare pony who operated on a similar wavelength to her, but it was still surprising to her when it was so proved. She twitched a brief smile and then she glanced toward her enthusiastic sister.

 

Pinkie was doing her thing, making adjustments to the band so as it was more her sort of party. Maud always enjoyed watching her sister in her element, spreading her enthusiasm around with such zeal. Sure, she could also sense countless ponies about the gala who seemed hesitant to embrace the sudden change in music and the hyperactive pony gleefully bouncing about and shouting, but luckily no one thought to raise an incident. Instead, the ponies who were less approving just seemed to filter out.

 

When Rose spoke of her stange adventure, Maud listened and considered it. The news story about Princess Bluebelle was such that even one as withdrawn from conversation as her had managed to overhear gossip of it. Maud hadn't really thought much of it. Male, female, it didn't matter. Ponies were ponies. Compared to the outright massive number of earthly creations of completely differing mineral composition that could be found among rocks, it was hardly a distinction of notes. Magic to make a stallion a mare impressed her far less than the natural process by which sedimentary rocks became metamorphic.

 

Maud started at her friend at the end of her story, still not sure she understood. For someone afflicted with some weird magic, Rose looked hardly changed at all. From the story, it could be inferred that this was an artifact which would turn a mare back into a stallion, but Rose certainly didn't look like any kind of stallion. "You don't look different," Maud said blankly.

 

When Pinkie had finished with the band, she bounced back towrard them and motioned them over to dance. Maud paused for a protracted moment, but then went to her sister on the dance floor. There, she looked from Pinkie to Rose again. Dancing wasn't really something Maud understood very well. She appreciated music, but moving her body to it wasn't exactly natural to a mare who wasted few movements at all. She certainly couldn't dance like her sister did. Rose, however was always listening to music through her headphones. Perhaps she had a style of dancing that would more suite Maud?

 

She stood still for the moment and looked to the two of them, somewhat unsure what to do wit herself.

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

 

Rose subtly glanced at her muzzle when Maud responded, "It happens if I sneeze." The mare shifted a bit on her hooves once she realized Pinkie was... setting up and making changes to the music that had been playing earlier. That was nice. Rose took of her headphones and levitated it so they rested around her neck, the music from them... was definitely loud enough to be heard. Loud enough to make you worry her hearing could get impaired if she kept it like that for so long and often. She managed to turn them down though so she could hear Maud's voice better. 

At this point Rubble's little half smile was rising in it's frequency of appearance with her earthen toned friend. The tall mare's ear's gave a twitch as she heard the music Pinkie had set on. It was energetic, had even some instruments Rose Recognized: guitars, drums, a bit of bass. Rose's eyes closed a moment and her head every so faintly rocked in harmony with the beat... although at this point it seemed less like enjoyment so much as contemplation. Once she opened them up again she offered a hoof to maud, slowly. "Want to dance with me?" She asked in a deadpan tone. She held out her hoof to Maud and.. she took it! She took it! Rose's cheeks flashed a red before dissipating. 

 

Rose took a deep breath and carefully lead her along... it was a bit more energy than rose was used to exerting in a dance but, her friend was worth it. A few of the spectators just blinked as the two... had barely moved from they're spot. The two mare's hooves held together as they slowly stepped in opposite direction in a small circle on the floor. It was a good thing most of the other guests scooted to the side because their more motion oriented dances would be thrown off by the two as they seemed caught in eachother's orbit. 

 

First step... 

 

...

 

Second Step... 

 

...

 

and third step... and they still hadn't even completed a full rotation yet. The dance clashed with the more energetic music but The way Rose operated most of the time slow and steady was the best way to enjoy things even those she was passionate about... especially each passing moment with this mare she'd connected with so well.

 

 

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Spoiler

Ah geez! This is too cute!  

 

Pinkie was...ecstatic! This was like the most super duper fantastic thing! It usually took her a long long long time to get Maud out on the dance floor, much less pick up a hoof to the music. And here she was, dancing! She bounded up to the pair.

 

"Yay! You guys are dancing! This is so much FUN!" Pinkie bounded around the two.

 

The mare's smile grew wider as she saw the two ponies with their hooves touching dancing in a circle. 

 

"Oh my gosh! Maud never gets into dancing this much!" Pinkie threw a foreleg over her sister. "Looks like you got some new moves sis!"

 

The music kept pumping as more and more ponies felt comfortable enough to jump onto the dance floor.

 

"Mind if I cut in?" Pinkie swooped in on the pair and swept Rose away for a moment. Once she was separated from Maud by a bit she smiled.

 

"You guys are pretty cute together!" The pink mare leaned in and gave Rose a sly wink before swinging her back towards Maud.

[RarityDash]

"i see..." Maud said at Rose's brief explanation. A transformation curse which triggered with a sneeze? How curious. She couldn't help but think it sounded like a troublesome thing to live with. A part of her was, however, curious to see it happen.

 

Rose had soon removed her headphones from her ears and began to instead listen to the music filling the hall. Her eyes met Maud's in time as she looked at her still. Then Rose asked the question, offering Maud her hoof. Maud stared at the hoof for a moment, somewhat hesitant though not for lack of interest, but instead just for an awareness of her lack of ability to dance as might be expected. She glanced back at Rose's kind face however, and found her concerns alleviated. She nodded slowly and tood the hoof.

 

Then they started to dance. It was a slow dance, and not quite in the way most ponies might use the term. It was much slower than that. Any connection to the music would be hard for an onlooker to percieve, and yet Maud could feel the music as she moved, little by little along with it.

 

It was a strange experience for Maud, but her partner was good to lead the way. In time she grew more comfortable with it and started to feel strangely invigorated. She was happy. The same way she felt when she came across an interesting rock she had never seen before. She wanted that moment to last.

 

And she wasn't the only one excited. Pinkie was deeply exhuberant, which wasn't really unusual, of course, but she seemed more so even than was usual. Pinkie had, she supposed, always been keen to encourage here to be more social with other ponies, so in seeing this it made sense that she would be pleased. When Pinkie threw her foreleg over Maud and praised her, It made her feel somewhat self-conscious, but she let it turn to pride instead. "I'm just following what Rose does," she said.

 

Then, suddenly, her sister was pulling Rose away. Maud was surprised, and, for the fun she was having, dissapointed. She was about to question it, when just as suddenly Rose was swung back her way. Maud just stared, not really understanding, but then grabbed Rose's hoof so the dance could start anew.

 

"This is fun," she said.

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

Rose took notice of Pinkie as she bounced around her and Maud, her focus was primarily on her close friend opposite her in their dance, but then she was suddenly pulled away by Pinkie. The mare felt a hint of frustration but that melted once she was caught and she heard pinkie's words to her. Her face remain unchanged but it seemed as though her coat had suddenly gone beet red, well, at least on her head. "Thanks." She said in the usual bland register while she looked off to the side back at Maud... and before she knew it she was swung back!

 

Rose's change of coloration fell once she was back in Maud's relaxing immediate vicinity. Her cheeks still were rather hot from her internal fluster and once maud spoke, Rose could only blurt out in her listless voice. "It is. With you." 

 

The steps of the dance seemed to get... slower still between the two ponies. Much like her rock loving friend, Rose felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest as it went on... but it still caused her no alarm. She felt at peace: calm, and centered. It was almost always like this in the times she'd met Maud. While she'd been hoping that the silence that let her enjoy this moment would last, she felt she should probably ask a bit more about her friend, "How has the progress on your Rocktorate gone?"

[RarityDash]

The dance continued and soon Maud became comfortable with it once more, the somwhat flutered feeling Pinkie and her pecuilar interventions had left her with dimming in her for the most part. She instead focused once more on the music and on Rose and felt her happiness soar. 

 

It was unusual. Something to which she was entirely unaccustomed, and yet it felt strangely natural, like the dance was as natural a means to express herself as her poetry was. The dance became slower, but the movements there were somehow seemed more meaningful. She wanted that moment to last, she realized.

 

Then Rose asked her a question, which surprised but did not at all displease the earth pony. "Well," she said simply. This would have been the entire answer to this question in most cases, but something in the moment compelled Maud to be more thorough. "I've been serving as a research assistance to one of my professors," she said. "It's kept me busy and unable to leave the university." This was a lot more information than Maud would normally give, but she was compelled to say it, perhaps feeling she owed Rose a reason why she hadn't seen her in a while. "But I won't have many more requirements left after this..."

 

She let the dance continue a bit and then looked at Rose a little more intently, finding she was curious about the other mare. "What about you? Other than the trip you mentioned.... what have you been up to?"

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Pinkie had tried to let the two have some time together without her interrupting. She must have waited at least like an hour! Well..it was more like five minutes but still! Time for more fun!

 

"Ok you two! Time to get some drinks! I hear they've got a banana nut toffee cupcake that goes great with the blue rainbow punch! Come on, let go get some!" 

 

She snagged both ponies off the dance floor and bounced them towards the food tables. There were so many excellent things to try!

 

"Ummmm num num nummmm!" Pinkie popped her head into a huge cake and emerged covered with frosting which she quickly licked away. Eventually she spied a lovely table set up right outside the dance room on the lawn. The table there had a candle in the middle. The lighting was soft and the mood was pleasant. She wouldn't usually have gone for this kind of mood buuuuut...could it be? Maybe her sis and this Rose filly could really be somethingggg speeeeecial! Pinkie would help that along any way she could! Only the nicest and best things for her favorite sister!

 

"Come on you guys! I got us a table!" She said, pointing to a table laid high with food and drinks.