Maud Pie
Pony's Log Number 418: Just because a pony doesn't like to show their emotions doesn't mean they are not relatable...
It was the dawn of a new day as the Mane seven gathered at the back door of Sugarcube Corner.
"Has anypony heard from Pinkie Pie since yesterday?" Applejack asked the group.
"Nuh-uh," said the rest of the group as Rainbow let out a long yawn.
"I don't see what's so important we had to meet her here this early," Rainbow complained, "Celestia hasn't even raised the sun yet!" Rainbow then proved her point as she pointed at a still snoring rooster on a nearby rooftop.
"I hope everything's okay," said Twilight as she knocked on the door. She and Mario flinched as they heard some muffled crashing sounds when Pinkie opened the door wearing a chief's hat and safety goggles.
"Thank goodness you're all here!" said Pinkie in a rather frantic fashion, "There's no time to lose!" Pinkie then rushed over Rarity and Fluttershy.
"Woah!"
"Ooh..." said Rarity and Fluttershy as Pinkie tossed them inside and then shoved Applejack in next. Twilight and Mario just walked in once Pinkie was inside. Rainbow then went to fly inside when Pinkie shut the door and the blue Pegasus smacked into it.
"Ugh! Hey-" said Rainbow, holding her sore head, before the door opened and Pinkie pulled her inside, "whoa!" Once they were inside, the rest of the Mane seven looked around until they heard the sound of something crunching beneath their hooves.
"Careful!" Pinkie warned as Twilight lifted her hoof to see pieces of colored rocks on them and shook them off.
"What is all this?" Twilight asked as she and Mario noticed Pinkie holding a bowl filled with colored rocks in one of her fore-legs and mixing them up with a whisk.
"My sister Maud's gonna be here soon," said Pinkie as she spat the whisk from her mouth, "and I need your help taste-testing my rock candy recipes!"
"Uh, we're happy to help you, Pinkie Pie," said Applejack, "But this seems like an awful lot of candy." Applejack wasn't kidding. Pinkie entire living quarters were filled to the brim with very tall mountains of rock candy in various colors and flavors.
"Even for you," Rarity agreed.
"I may have gone a teensy bit overboard," said Pinkie before giving a squee. The rest of the group just shared worried looks with each other.
"Well, let's get started then," said Mario as he used his magic to line up bits of rock candy in the air and then walked about munching them while going "waka-waka-waka" as he moved about.
"Oh, Pac-Pony!" said Pinkie excitedly, "I wanna play!" Pinkie then started munching through her own line of rock candy as the others watched them eat the candy lines. Then clumps of rock candy appeared to look like ghost monsters along with larger rock candy orbs. Mario munched on one of the larger orbs, making the rock candy ghosts glow dark blue. Mario then charged at them quickly, gobbling them up in quick session, leaving one rock candy crumbs behind. While most of the group rolled their eyes Mario, Twilight actually giggled.
She thought Mario made a cute Pac-pony.
Until Fluttershy got in front of him.
"Chomp," said Fluttershy softly. Mario flinched.
(Cue "pac-man lose a life" fanfare)
Mario flipped onto his back, knocked out. Fluttershy just smiled triumphantly as Twilight glared at her before going to revive her husband. She wanted to see him be Pac-Pony a little longer.
(Main Theme)
It wasn't long before the group was just sitting on the floor groaning. Rainbow was even laying on her back with a noticeable potbelly near the staircase, Fluttershy was next to her, with Applejack standing next to the yellow Pegasus and Twilight beside the orange pony sitting down as well with Rarity sitting upright beside the purple Alicorn. Mario was sitting upright as well with a potbelly of his own as he leaned against another pile of rock candy. They all looked miserable.
"Everypony ready for more?" Pinkie asked as she rolled in another pile of candy inside of an old-fashioned rolling trash can.
"Ugh. My teeth hurt," said Rainbow, her cheeks and teeth coated in bits or rock candy.
"Honestly, if I eat one more piece of candy," Mario added with his cheeks and teeth in the same condition as he patted his potbelly, "I think I'm gonna explode. I knew I should've stopped munching after level 21."
"But Twilight wanted you to keep going," said Fluttershy, "and a good husband always makes his wife happy." Rarity and Rainbow snickered.
"I dread what you'll do to Shenran when you two get married," Mario remarked as Fluttershy stuck her tongue out at him.
"I think we've had plenty," said Applejack, "And shouldn't you be on your way to pick up Maud from the train station?"
"Oh, but you've only tried half of the flavors," Pinkie protested, "and we have to choose the perfect ones before she gets here so I have time to make more!" Pinkie then stuffed a large portion of rock candy into her mouth and then dumped the entire contents of her rolling trash can into her mouth and munched on it with haste. Rainbow, now with a clean face, Fluttershy, and Applejack were taken aback at how quickly Pinkie had gobbled down all the rock candy.
"Maud is your sister," said Twilight as she walked up to Pinkie, "I'm sure she'll love your rock candy. And I'm pretty sure you've made enough. She's only staying for the week."
"Aw, it's not just for Maud, silly," said Pinkie, "I'm making candy for all of us!" The rest of the group just groaned and made faces. They had had enough rock candy for a long while.
"It's part of a very important, super-duper special tradition that only the closet and bestest of friends can share," Pinkie explained, "We're going to make rock candy necklaces together!" Pinkie then gave a squee as a drawing of her family's rock farm was drawn using lined paper.
"It all started when Maud and I were fillies on the rock farm," Pinkie continued as a drawing herself and made were seen on the paper. The drawing of Maud then put some mixture into a bowl and walked away. The drawing of Pinkie then poured the mixture into her mouth, "She taught me the Pie family rock candy recipe! It adds a secret ingredient..." Pinkie then whispered, "...It's rocks!" The drawing of Maud then put rocks into the mixing bowl.
"And then she showed me how to string the pieces to make them into a necklace," Pinkie continued to explain as the drawings of the two sister showed Pinkie handing Maud the rocks as she used a needle to thread the pieces of candy into a necklace, "and once we were done, we'd trade! Maud and I have been trading necklaces back and forth since I moved to Ponyville. They're a sign that we'll always be best friends!" Pinkie gave a squee as the drawings of the two sisters traded necklaces and hugged each other. She then revealed that she had been drawing the sketches herself while she explained everything to the others.
"Aw, what a great tradition," said Applejack as the others smiled.
"Maybe we should come up with something, Sis," said Mario as he walked up to her.
"Ain't a bad idea, Big brother," said Applejack.
"Hold on," said Rainbow irritably, "The secret ingredient is rocks?"
"Yeah," said Pinkie, "But these are a special kind of rock that Maud discovered."
"Oh, what kind of a rock are they?" Fluttershy asked.
"Can't tell ya that, silly!" said Pinkie before whispering, "It's a secret!" Pinkie then patted the Pegasus's pink mane.
"All you need to know," said Mario, "is that the rock is clearly edible. There are actually alot of different types of rocks that are edible for food and many are high in nutrients. An example of one that isn't would be a salt rock...for obvious reasons."
"Thank you, professor," said Rainbow indignantly.
"Hey, I like it when my husband gives lectures," said Twilight, "he doesn't do it as much as I do, but you always learn something when he does."
"Thank you dear," said Mario as Twilight smiled back.
"How do you know about edible rocks?" Rarity asked.
"Pinkie told me about all the types of rocks they have at the farm," said Mario, "They even consume rocks for their meals. She told me about the different types of edible rocks. So...I know what rock the candy is made of..."
"...but he's gonna keep it a secret, riiiiiiiiiiiight?" Pinkie asked as she put a fore-hoof over his mouth with a warning glare.
"Fine," said Mario with a muffled voice, "but isn't it gonna be weird for me to wear a necklace? I am a boy."
"Of course not," said Rarity, "boys can wear necklaces."
"We'll just make sure to add lots of pink rock candy to yours," said Fluttershy.
"Bleh!" said Mario indignantly as the others snickered and Fluttershy stuck her tongue out at him again.
"Now that Maud is heading out to get her rocktorate in rock science," said Pinkie, "this may be our last chance to trade them for a really long time. I can't wait for you all to meet her. I just know that my best Ponyville friends and my best sister friend are gonna become bestest friends! We can make bestest-est friend rock candy necklaces together! She expresses herself through fashion just like Rarity, and she's really smart and loves reading just like Twilight! And she's honest, and loves forest things, and is good at games, and...Well, oh, she's awesome!" As Pinkie continued to speak, she pulled Rarity into a hug, followed by Twilight, then Applejack and Fluttershy. Rainbow tried to fly off, but Pinkie pulled her back by the tail and then squeezed them all into a group hug. However, Mario was left out.
"Umm...what about me?" Mario asked curiously. Pinkie gasped as she saw Mario alone.
"I thought I forgot somepony!" Pinkie exclaimed, "Maud...uhhh...I got nothing, but you need to be part of group hug cause I'm sure she'll like you too!" Mario flinched painfully from the hug.
"Should I be worried she won't like me cause we have apparently nothing in common?" Mario asked.
"Of course not," said Pinkie, "We didn't have much in common at first, but once we learned about each other, we found tons of stuff we had in common. I know you and Maud will do the same." Mario was still feeling uncertain when Rarity remembered something.
"She sounds amazing," said Rarity in a strained tone, "but won't she start worrying if you aren't at the train station when she gets here.
"She sure will," said Pinkie before she gasped in horror, "I gotta get out of here!" Pinkie then tossed everypony away from her and took off to the train station. Rainbow was the only pony to break momentum while everypony else landed in some of the piles of rock candy. They quickly recovered and the other girls all shared worried looks with each other.
"Hey, my rock candy pile is really soft!" said Fluttershy.
"That's because you landed on me!" Mario complained as Fluttershy found herself sitting on top of him, "I'm always the fall guy."
"That's because you make a great landing pad," Fluttershy remarked.
"Oh hush!" said Mario annoyingly as the others just laughed.
A couple of hours later, the group had relocated to the Ponyville outskirts where Tank was flying about the area with Winona chasing after him. The rest of the Mane seven minus Rarity and Pinkie were busy setting up the blanket for a picnic with Maud.
"I sure hope Maud has an appetite," said Fluttershy as she arrived at the blanket.
"Never met a pony or critter who didn't love Granny Smith's apple spiced muffins," said Applejack as she set down a basket with muffins inside of it. Angel tried to snatch one while Applejack was talking, but the orange pony pushed him away before he could try. She then noticed that Mario was just sitting nearby looking rather nervous.
"You alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"Just nervous about meeting Maud," said Mario quietly, "I've lost my appetite."
"You'll feel better once she gets here and we start chatting, honey," said Twilight. Mario gave his wife a brave smile. It was then Rarity arrived wearing a very large purple hat covered in chunks of white rocks. One could assume it was chunks of quartz crystals.
"Oh, it's no use!" Rarity complained as she approached the blanket with Opal sitting behind her, "I simply cannot find anything suitable to wear!" As Rarity finished, one of the rocks on her hat tumbled into Applejack's muffin basket.
"I doubt she'll notice what anypony's wearing," said Rainbow, "so what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that it will be very difficult to show Maud what a strong fashion presence we have in Ponyville if the most fashion-forward pony here can't keep her hat from falling apart!" Rarity complained as the rocks from hat continued to fall off.
"Maybe I can help," said Mario as he dug into his magic saddle bags, "I think I have some needle and thread. Just gotta match the color of your hat so the thread is not visible..."
"How on earth can you sew rocks to a hat?" Rainbow asked.
"We work with gems of all shapes and sizes," said Mario, "This isn't anything different." Rarity just smiled, but was still worried as Mario tried to find the proper thread.
"I think we're all a little nervous about Maud's visit," said Twilight, "She's Pinkie Pie's sister, and it's obvious Pinkie really wants us to hit it off. Being able to make those rock candy together is really important to her. I'm sure everything will be fine-"
"We're heeeere!" shouted a voice as Twilight, Applejack, and Mario all looked to see Pinkie approaching from a distance. The pink pony happily bounced toward the group as Twilight and Mario approached her.
"Where's Maud?" Twilight asked.
"I don't see her with you," Mario added.
"She's coming!" said Pinkie with a smile and looked back. The rest of the Mane seven, as well as all their pets, gathered around as they looked down the path. There was a long silence as they waited for Maud to arrive.
"Uh...you sure?" Rainbow asked with uncertainty.
"She's not quite as fast as me," said Pinkie, "I asked Gummy to stay with her in case she got lost!" The rest of the group just shared puzzled looks. Angel then said something to Charlie, making him roll his eyes before he pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked out into the distance.
"See anything buddy?" Mario asked. Charlie then nodded and squeaked as a very tiny figure appeared in the distance.
"Is she even moving?" Rainbow whispered to Rarity.
"Give her some time, she's probably shy or nervous," Mario remarked since he heard Rainbow, "Miss impatient." Rainbow just stuck her tongue out at Mario in reply. Maud was a grayish-blue pony with a grayish-violet mane and tail. She was also wearing a cobalt blue dress with a knee length skirt and black waist belt. Gummy was riding her back. Maud just stared at the group with a blank expression on her face until she noticed a rock sticking out of the dirt path. She slowly bent down and sniffed it.
"Hm. Sedimentary," said Maud in deadpan tone.
"Huh?" Rainbow asked puzzled as she appeared between Twilight and Pinkie.
"This is a sedimentary rock," said Maud in the same tone as she held the rock in her fore-hoof. Apparently this was the tone she used the most when speaking to others. There was a brief silence. Most of the group stared, critters included, and didn't say a word.
"That's...really fascinating, isn't it, guys?" Twilight replied as she recomposed herself, "We're just so thrilled you could come and visit before your big trip. Pinkie Pie has told us so much about you. I'm Twilight. This is my husband, Mario. And this is Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity." As Twilight said everypony's name, Mario waved and nodded, Applejack tipped her hat, Fluttershy waved shyly, Rainbow gave a salute, and Rarity smiled and tipped her head forward a bit.
"We're ever so glad to meet you," said Fluttershy.
"We're just gonna have the best time!" Applejack added. Maud only blinked in reply and said nothing. Her silence made all but Pinkie look a little uneasy as Twilight and Rarity shared looks with each other.
"Pinkie Pie tells me you share my love for fashion," said Rarity as she walked up to the grayish-blue pony.
"I'm really into expressing myself through my wardrobe," Maud told her.
"A-and what is the delightful frock you're wearing now saying?" Rarity asked.
"It doesn't talk," said Maud, "It's a dress." Rarity was taken aback by Maud's dry response.
"I see the lack of understanding metaphors, sarcasm, and figures of speech run in the family," Mario whispered to Twilight. Twilight gave him a light glare, but she did agree with him.
"Oh, yes, of course, I, I, just meant," Rarity stuttered, "the frock is, just..." The rest of Rarity's words just turned into mumbles and splutters as she backed up to Twilight and Mario.
"I think what Rarity was trying to say is that your...dress...does express yourself," said Mario, "it is pretty and she just wanted to know how you were feeling wearing it."
"I feel fine," said Maud, which lead to another brief moment of silence.
"O...kay," said Mario sheepishly, "guess that answers that." Mario sighed and looked away when Winona started to bark and ran around Maud.
"Uh, so this here's Winona," said Applejack, "That's Owlowiscious, Tank, Opal, Angel, and Charlie." As Applejack introduced the critters, Owlowiscious flew by with Tank behind him. Opal just licked herself and paid no attention to anypony. Angel poked out of the basket of muffins after eating one. Charlie glared at the bunny in disapproval until Applejack said his name he smiled and waved at Maud.
"Pinkie Pie told us you have a pet too," Applejack finished.
"He's in my pocket," said Maud.
"Oh, you have a pocket pet?" Fluttershy asked as Angel hopped up to her, "Like a tiny mouse? Or a baby bird? Or a trained butterfly?" As Fluttershy grew more excited, Angel didn't resist glaring and getting very jealous, but the yellow Pegasus never noticed.
"It's a rock," said Maud as she pulled out the said object and set it, or him in Maud's case, in front of the group, "His name is Boulder." Fluttershy cringed in shock and looked at Maud blankly. Twilight and Rarity gave Maud similar looks.
"Well, whaddya know," said Mario, rather in shock himself, "I real pet rock. Never thought I'd meet one face to face."
"This is going to be the best, most awesome, funnest week ever!" said Pinkie as she jumped up, "I can't wait for us all to become bestest friends!" The rest of the group could only chuckle nervously in reply.
Soon, everypony was just eating lunch together. For the most part, everypony just ate quietly. It didn't help that Maud's dry responses to questions made having a conversation with her rather difficult. For the moment, Maud had just put down her daisy sandwich and offered Boulder a bite of it despite the fact he didn't have a mouth.
"Maud?" Applejack asked, "Would you like to try one of Granny Smith's famous apple spiced muffins?" Maud sniffed the basket and then shocked everypony when she grabbed the white rock that had fallen into it and ate that instead!
"Oh, uh, heh, that's not-Um..." Applejack stuttered in shock as Maud continued to eat the rock.
"It's crunchy," said Maud as she chewed with her mouth full. Mario's eyes shrunk.
"Wow..." was all Mario could say about what had happened. Pinkie then stretched her neck and took a bite out of another muffin, but didn't take it out of the basket as her neck returned to the rest of her body, which was seated beside Maud.
"Maud's right," said Pinkie with her mouth full, "They are crunchy! Yum!" Pinkie just licked her lips as Rainbow looked a little disturbed...for a moment.
"So, uh, Pinkie Pie tells us you like games," Rainbow suggested.
"Boulder and I sometimes play a game called "Camouflage"," said Maud, "It's kind of like hide and seek but way more intense." There was a long silence again.
"Awesome?" said Rainbow hesitantly.
"Guess it's time to go...hardcore?" Mario added with a nervous smile on his face.
"Hard-core!" said Twilight in a raspy but low voice. Everypony gave her awkward stares.
"Eh-heh, no idea why I did that...heh..." Twilight replied sheepishly as Mario chuckled and the rest, minus Maud, rolled their eyes at the purple alicorn.
Soon, the group was in a rather wide area littered with various rocks. Twilight lifted a rock with her magic and looked under it. Then used her magic to lift three more. Mario did the same with his magic, except he was looking at each rock closely before tossing it aside.
"Any luck?" Twilight asked the rest of the group.
"I truly wish I'd spent more time with Boulder," said Fluttershy as Rarity used her magic to toss a rock away from herself, "because I'm having a very hard time remembering what he looks like."
"Might help if you had a visual aid," said Mario as he showed a sketch pad showing exactly what Boulder looked like.
"That helps, thanks Big Brother," said Fluttershy with a smile before they continued the search. Mario then showed the sketch to the others minus Pinkie, but they didn't feel any more confident.
"Despite my brother's picture," said Applejack, "it's like looking for a pebble in a haystack."
"More like in a pile of pebbles," said Rarity as she leaned her head down, causing some of the rocks from her hat to fall off again. Once Maud had arrived, both Rarity and Mario had forgotten about having the latter secure the rocks on her hat.
"Well, you don't have to make it even harder," Applejack retorted from the falling rocks.
"Ugh! I give up!" Rarity snapped angrily, "this is impossible!"
"It'll hurt Maud's feelings if we all stop playing," said Twilight, "besides, look how much fun Pinkie Pie's having?" Twilight pointed to the pink pony, who was with Maud showing her rocks from various places around the field.
"Is this him? Is this him? Is this him? Is this him?" Pinkie Pie asked Maud continuously, including a giant rock.
"Just a little longer, okay?" Twilight asked the rest of the group.
"Uh, alright fine..." said Applejack.
"Really?" Rainbow grumbled as she was partially buried under her own pile of rocks. Fluttershy and Rarity just muttered some inaudible comments in reply.
"Honey, as much as I know this game means alot to Pinkie and Maud," said Mario, "Even I can't seem to find Boulder anywhere." It was then Maud reached into her pocket and pulled out the said rock.
"Found him," said Maud.
"Oh! Where was he?" Pinkie asked eagerly.
"He was hiding in my pocket," said Maud.
"Oh, come on!" Rainbow yelled as she exploded out of her pile of rocks and pouted.
"How we're we supposed to find him if he wasn't even hiding in the field?" Mario asked angrily.
"I never said he was gonna hide in the field," Maud replied.
THUD!
Mario did a comedic plop and buried his face into the grass and whimpered. Twilight just sighed and patted her husband's back to calm him down. Angel even hopped on his head as he made his way to Fluttershy. He impatiently tapped her hind leg and pointed at the rest of the critters. Fluttershy immediately noticed that the critters were all looking very bored and annoyed. Owlowiscious was just sitting on Tank's propeller blade. Winona was laying on her stomach restlessly. Opal had a very irritated look on her face. Charlie was the only one keeping busy reading a book called War and Peace (good grief).
"I don't meant to interrupt, but we really should get these little critters home," said Fluttershy, "It's getting awfully late, and they've had a very busy day."
"Maud and I had better get going too," said Pinkie, "I want her to taste the rock candy we're gonna use for our best friends necklaces! Aw, yeah!" Pinkie didn't hesitate to give a fore-leg pump as she and Maud walked off. Gummy simply rode Maud's head. The rest of the Mane seven just watched the two sisters leave.
"She sure is...different from what I expected," said Applejack.
"She seems to be rather dry and blunt when she talks," said Mario, "it's hard to tell if she's interested in what we have to say or not."
"We spend all day digging in the dirt," Rainbow retorted, still annoyed over the hide n seek game, "and he was in her pocket the whole time?!"
"Rainbow, just let it go," said Mario as he rubbed his head wearily, "You're head will thank you later for it."
"On the bright side, Boulder seemed really sweet," said Fluttershy.
"He's a rock!" Rainbow snapped with a long irritated face.
"I didn't know you could speak rock, Flutters," said Mario.
"I'm a mare of many talents, big brother," said Fluttershy smugly.
"In other words, you can't speak rock at all," said Mario with a smirk as Fluttershy shot him a dirty look.
"Come on, guys," said Twilight as Tank flew by in the background, "I'm sure Maud was just nervous about meeting all of us."
"Maybe she was just acting a little "off" because she was shy or something," said Applejack.
"Exactly," said Twilight, "It must be awfully intimidating to meet all of us at once, especially since we're already such good friends."
"That's a good point, dear," said Mario, "Remember when Shenran first started hanging out with us?" The rest of the group nodded and remarked in agreement.
"You're right Mario," said Rarity, "He was very quiet when he first started spending time with us. We were lucky he would even speak when we asked him questions and such."
"And it didn't help that somepony kept getting in his face to speak up and frazzled him," Applejack remarked as she gave a certain blue Pegasus a glare.
"I said I was sorry!" Rainbow protested, "Besides, Fluttershy gave me a long talk about upsetting him. Besides, we were talking about Maud, not Shenran!"
"Maybe if we spend time with her one-on-one to try and get to know her better," said Twilight, "I'm sure we'll be making those best friend rock candy necklaces in no time." The rest of the group smiled at the idea, except for Mario.
"Um...I don't know exactly what I can do with Maud," said Mario, "Pinkie said we've got nothing in common..."
"Actually," said Pinkie, startling Mario since she appeared out of the blue behind him, "Maud is super agile and athletic! Now I gotta get back to my sister before she wonders what happened to me so bye!" Pinkie then zoomed away as Mario smirked and pondered to himself.
Soon at another part of the outskirts of Town, Mario and Maud had just come out of a warp pipe.
"Ready for some good old-fashioned parkour Maud?" Mario asked eagerly the grayish-blue pony.
"Sure," Maud replied. Mario blinked before giving her a smile.
"Alright then," said Mario, "The goal is to get the flagpole at the end of the course. Then we'll move on to the next one. Pinkie says you're very agile and athletic, but if you have any trouble getting through any of the obstacles. Just tell me if you need me to slow down so I can let you catch up or help you out."
"Sure," said Maud.
"Then let'sa go! said Mario as he ran toward a wall, wall jumped up the top of a hill. Then he let himself slide down several slopes, jumping to avoid the gaps and falling to the lower level. And then triple-jumped up a staircase and slid down the flagpole. Mario had just jump off the pole when he saw Maud standing in front of him.
"GAH!" Mario yelped, "What...where...when...how...how did you get here before I did?"
"I just burrowed my way here," said Maud and pointed a fore-leg behind Mario. Mario turned around and look dumbfounded to see that Maud had burrowed through the hills and staircase instead of going over them.
"Jumping and sliding like you did is just a waste energy," said Maud, "it's faster to burrow your way through." Mario felt his eyes twitch.
"Uh...um...yeah," said Mario with a forced smile on his face, "Good...good point."
"Shall we do the next course?" Maud asked. Mario just blinked.
"Uh..." Mario stuttered, "S-sure. W-why not?" Mario smiled widely as Maud just looked at him blankly.
"Let'sa go..." said Mario with a nervous chuckle as he headed into the pipe, but once he was inside the pipe, Mario just sighed in defeat.
At the Carousel Boutique, Rarity stood proudly before a shelf filled with various fabrics.
"Where shall we start!" said Rarity, "I've chosen a few fabrics that I think will be stunning with y-" Rarity then stopped speaking and blinked when she saw that Maud wasn't really listening to her and starting at something on the nearby table.
"Choices, choices, choices!" said Pinkie as she bounced over to Maud.
"...Of course, if you don't see anything that speaks to you," said Rarity in a worried tone, "I would be happy to suggest-"
"I like this one," said Maud as she held up a small grey and brown cloth. Rarity laughed.
"Pinkie Pie didn't tell us you were so funny!" said Rarity.
"What do you mean?" Maud asked. Rarity soon felt very insecure once she realized that Maud wasn't joking.
"Oh, well, it's just...I believe this is a dish towel," Rarity told Maud. The grayish-blue pony just looked at her blankly as Pinkie gave her a large smile.
"B-b-but it does go very well with your complexion," said Rarity, trying to recover, as she took the dish cloth, "I'm sure I could work my magic and turn it into something fabulous."
"Rarity and my sister working together to design something amazing!" said Pinkie excitedly as she hugged Maud. Rarity then returned holding other similar rags with her magic.
"Perhaps I could sew all of these together and make you something you'd like," Rarity suggested.
"One is enough," said Maud as she grabbed the original cloth and put it loosely behind her neck.
"Doesn't Maud make the coolest scarves?" Pinkie asked happily.
"Quite..." said Rarity simply, thought she could think of plenty of words other than "cool", even "fashionable" for that matter.
Next, Pinkie and Maud were taking a nature hike with Fluttershy. The yellow Pegasus led the group down a dirt path through the woods. Angel hopped behind her with Maud a short distance away. Pinkie was just bouncing about from one set of bushes to the next. Fluttershy was then brought to a stop when a hummingbird appeared and twittered to her.
"Hello there, Hummingway," said Fluttershy, "I'm ever so happy to see you." The bird twittered in reply.
"What's he saying?" Pinkie asked.
"He says hello," said Fluttershy, "and he's happy to see us too." Pinkie felt a little choked up and smiled.
"I wish I could speak hummingbird," said Pinkie as she bounced away, "Humm! Hum-m-m-m-m, hum!" Fluttershy looked back to see Maud starting at what appeared to be a spider crawling on top of a rock.
"These spiders only live in Ponyville," Fluttershy explained to Maud, "and even though they may look a teeny bit scary, they're actually very sweet and help keep other, more dangerous insects away!" The spider's showed its fangs and drooled a bit before smiling and presenting the two ponies with a flower.
"I was looking at the rock," said Maud.
"Oh," said Fluttershy sheepishly as her cheeks turned pink from feeling a bit embarassed at her own mistake.
Once the nature walk was finished, they returned to Fluttershy's cottage. Pinkie and Maud headed on their way soon afterward.
"Thanks again, Fluttershy!" Pinkie shouted as she waved good bye to the yellow Pegasus, who stood just outside her door with Angel, "Start thinking about which flavors you want to put on your best friend rock candy necklace!" Pinkie then bounced off with Maud following her. Fluttershy waved goodbye, but was rather worried.
"Oh gosh," said Fluttershy, "I'm not sure we're even friends yet." Angel just gave her a puzzled look, making Fluttershy sigh.
"I wish Shenran was here," said Fluttershy before her eyes watered and her voice cracked, "Shenran..." Angel quickly rushed into the house and brought back a life-sized plush toy of her Pegasus coltfriend. Mario and Rarity had made it for Fluttershy so she could hug and cuddle it whenever she missed her fiancé. Angel wasted no time presenting the plushie to Fluttershy, who immediately smiled and cuddled it, instantly feeling better. Angel breathed a sigh of relief. He had had enough of her bed being turned into a water bed.
At the Library, Twilight was using her magic to pull a book from a nearby shelf. Mario was also with her since she asked him to try bonding with Maud again.
"Maud is a total bookworm," said Pinkie as she rode the rolling ladder across the bookshelves, "She loves poetry!"
"I've got lots of poetry," said Twilight as she grabbed some of her poetry books, "Do you read anything by Quilland Ink? Or Flourish Prose?"
"I prefer to read my own poetry," said Maud.
"Oh, I'd love to hear some of it!" said Twilight eagerly as she puts the books she was holding away and pulled Mario over so he could stand next to her. Maud just cleared her throat.
"Rock
You are a rock
Gray
You are gray
Like a rock
Which you are
I've written thousands."
Twilight just stared with her mouth hanging out slightly. She then looked to her side and found Mario wearing a black beret, black sweater, and black round shades. She gave her husband a stunned look.
"She's so prolific!" said Pinkie, applauding as she rolled by in the background.
"It's like she reaching into the deepest reaches of my soul," said Mario in his deadpan tone.
"I see your husband understands what I'm trying to say," Maud replied.
"I...noticed..." said Twilight, slightly annoyed but also puzzled.
"This next one is about rocks," Maud announced, "they're all about rocks."
"Right on," said Mario in a smooth monotone. Maud then began reciting her next poem.
"Rocks; these are my rocks
Sediments; make me sedimental
Smooth and round, asleep in the ground
Shades of brown and gray...
As Maud continued her poem, Twilight just bit her lower lip and then smiled sheepishly as she took a seat next to her husband. Twilight then looked away wearily as Mario just listened quietly to Maud's poetry.
Back at the Apple Farm, Pinkie suddenly rushed over to an apple tree and then rushed right back into the kitchen were Applejack was busy at the stove while Maud was on her own by a nearby table.
"You 'bout done peelin' them apples for the cider, Maud?" Applejack asked as she came up to her.
"I think this one is done," said Maud. She showed Applejack an apple that had been completely smashed to smithereens. Maud had been using a rock to peel the apples. Applejack winced at the mess.
"Oh, uh, yep," Applejack stuttered sheepishly, "That's a very interestin' method you got there." Applejack laughed nervously, not even thinking of telling Maud to use a regular peeler. The orange pony backed away so quickly that she nearly tripped over the oven bellows behind her.
"Should I peel another?" Maud asked as she raised her rock in the air to smash another apple.
"No!" Applejack retorted in a panic before recomposing herself, "I mean, nah. I'm sure there's plenty of apples in it already." Applejack then looked over a pot that was boiling on the stove when Pinkie leaned in over the pot as she sat on top of the stove shelf and sniffled it.
"Can we taste it now?" Pinkie asked.
"Sure, why not?" said Applejack as she grabbed a ladle and filled two wooden mugs with freshly made apple cider. Pinkie grabbed her mug with her mouth and chugged down the contents.
"Wow!" said Pinkie as she tossed her mug down on the table, "That's the best apple cider I've ever had!"
"What do you think, Maud?" Applejack asked. Maud just held her cup of cider and took a sip.
"It tastes like apples," said Maud.
"Told you she was super honest," said Pinkie as she stuck her face next to Maud's and then stuck her face into Applejack's, "Just like you!" Pinkie then gave Applejack a hug.
"We're practically twins, heh," said Applejack with a nervous chuckle. Unlike Mario, she could honestly say she wasn't feeling that sibling connection with Maud.
Outside near the lake, Rainbow twirled quickly in the air and tossed a large rock from one end of the lake to the next.
"Yeah!" said Rainbow, giving herself a hoof-pump, "Let's see you beat that! Whooaa!" Rainbow then yelped as Maud chucked a rock, which flew all the way into the background a good mile or so away. When the rock landed, a large smoke like mushroom appeared, followed by an earthquake, which caused a large tidal wave to rise from the small lake. Rainbow held out her fore-legs and cringed as the tidal wave crashed on top of the three ponies. Once the water had settled, Pinkie was the first to surface from the water as she stood on a floating log.
"That was amazing!" Pinkie exclaimed as she began to roll away on the log with just her hind legs. Rainbow then surfaced from the water, looking rather stunned.
"Whoa," said Rainbow, "How'd you do that?" Maud, despite her wet condition, still retained her blank looking demeanor.
"I threw it," said Maud.
"I guess you won this one, Maud," said Rainbow annoyingly as Pinkie continued to roll and bounce on her log in the background.
"I'm not really into..."winning"," said Maud. Rainbow gasped in shock as Pinkie continued to play in the background.
The next day, the rest of the Mane seven gathered just outside of Sugarcube Corner.
"Anypony have any luck bonding with Maud?" Mario asked. They all just looked away nervously when Pinkie burst open the back door.
"Great, you're all here!" said Pinkie excitedly, "Maud is out looking for rocks, so this is the perfect time for us to set up everything we'll need to make our best friend rock candy necklaces!" Not a single pony showed any excitement about making the necklaces. In fact, all they could do was share sad and nervous looks with each other.
"What's wrong?" Pinkie asked. None of the ponies could make eye contact with her. Then Applejack shoved Twilight forward and gave her a nod to speak up. Twilight turned to make Mario go instead, but her sternly glared at her and shook his head.
"Well," said Twilight with some hesitation as she looked at Rarity and Fluttershy, "I'm not sure it's the best time to make best friend rock candy necklaces."
"Why not?" said Pinkie curiously.
"Uh..." said Twilight as she looked at Rarity.
"Well, darling, you see..." Rarity stumbled as she looked at Fluttershy, who cringed and stepped back.
"You're ever so thoughtful to share your special bonding ritual with us," said Fluttershy, "but, uh..."
"But what?" Pinkie asked eagerly. Fluttershy and Twilight shoved Mario forward and gestured sternly for him to tell Pinkie the truth. Mario took a deep breath when Applejack sighed.
"The truth is," said Applejack as she made a gesture for Mario to stand down, "we've all been tryin' real hard to get closer to Maud, but, well, maybe...some ponies just don't click the way others do." The others just muttered in agreement.
"It's not that none of us don't want to be friends with Maud," said Mario, "but we're having a hard time relating to her. Even I'm having trouble bonding with her. Not all ponies can become instant best friends after all. Sometimes friendships need time to grow and become that close. As of right now, neither of us feel like we can consider her our best friend. In fact, we are not even sure if we even just friends with her. At least that's how I feel..." The others nodded in agreement.
"We just wouldn't feel right makin' somethin' that means we're best friends if, well, we aren't," Applejack added. Pinkie only response was the sound of her mane and tail deflating slightly, but not enough to make it completely straight. Nevertheless, it emphasized the fact Pinkie was disappointed.
"Oh. Okay," said Pinkie quietly, "If anypony needs me, I'll in here trying to figure out what to do with two hundred pounds of rock candy." Pinkie then closed the door, leaving the rest of the group with sad faces.
It wasn't long before the group had headed to the Library. They all sat inside the main room as Owlowiscious sat at the table while Fluttershy fed him some feed. Charlie sat on the edge of a table, still reading his War and Peace book.
"I feel awful!" said Rarity sadly, "Just awful..."
"I keep feeling like we gave up too easily," said Mario, "but...even I'm having a hard time relating to Maud. It didn't help she made me feel like my parkour efforts were wasted."
"She did make me feel like my fashion skills were...insufficient," Rarity added as she gave Mario a hug.
"Maybe we should have just pretended we were friends with Maud," said Fluttershy.
"That's the worst thing we could do, Flutters," Mario protested, "Nopony deserves fake friendship!" The others hummed in agreement.
"Either way," said Twilight as she closed a book she was holding, "If we didn't tell Pinkie Pie that we hadn't all become the best of friends, I think Maud would have."
"Eventually," said Mario, "assuming Pinkie even lets her talk at all."
"She does have that bad habit of talking over everypony," said Rainbow.
"But the truth would still come out in time," said Applejack, "It's better we were honest with her now."
"True," said Mario, "As I told Pinkie, I'm not even sure if Maud considers us friends at all."
"Maybe, but who really knows?" said Rainbow as she sat above the book shelves, "That pony is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an igneous."
"Don't you mean "inside an enigma"?" Rarity corrected.
"Nope, I mean igneous," said Rainbow, "It's a kind of rock. Ask me how I know that."
"Has anypony ever thought that maybe Maud might have a problem expressing herself?" Mario asked the rest of the group. They all gave him blank looks. Mario sighed.
"It just came to mind right about now," Mario continued, "Pinkie told me how strict her family was when she was growing up. While Pinkie was able to discover joy and left the farm when she was still a filly, the rest of her sisters grew up in this strict regime that was pretty much all work, no play. If you grew up just doing a hard day's work and having no time for fun or joy, that would have some affect on a pony's psyche."
"Interesting theory, honey," said Twilight, "but that doesn't..."
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK
The group was interrupted when they heard knocking on the front door. Twilight used her magic to open it. The group was surprised to see that it was Pinkie. Her mane was nice and poofy again and she looked as cheerful as ever.
"I've come up with just the thing to bring everypony closer together," said Pinkie excitedly before she bounced out of the Library. Mario shuttered.
"Let me guess," said Rainbow, "You sense trouble?"
"More like: "Pinkie is about to do something crazy to try and make us bond with Maud" trouble," said Mario. The others just cringed and shared worried looks with each other before they all left the Library to go follow Pinkie.
It wasn't long before the rest of the Mane seven caught up with her. Maud was already there as Applejack, Fluttershy, and Mario noticed her as Rainbow, Rarity, and Twilight arrived as they all stood in line. All but Maud blinked and cringed slightly at what appeared to be a very obscure looking obstacle course. Pinkie then appeared before the group.
"I call it "Pinkie-Rainbow-Mario-Rari-Twi-Apple-Flutter-Maud Fun Time"!" said Pinkie with a happy squee.
"Huh?" said Rainbow stunned.
"Wuh?" Mario added with the same expression on his face. The others minus Maud shared the same puzzled looks.
"It combines everypony's favorite interests into one giant activity that we can all enjoy together and that will totally bring all of my bestest friends together as bestestest friends!" Pinkie explained before she rushed toward some mannequins that had various costumes that consisted of a hat, knee pads, and goggles.
"You'll need these!" said Pinkie as she stood by the mannequins.
"Like I said: Huh?" Rainbow repeated.
"You can't be serious!" Mario replied next.
"Probably better for me to show you," said Pinkie, "Watch this!" Pinkie put on a helmet, snorkle, and blue and green knee pads. She then climbed up to a brown tube filled with some sort of goop.
"Applesauce tunnel for Applejack...," said Pinkie as she crawled through the tube.
"...pretty shiny stuff for Rarity..." Pinkie jumped into a pit filled with shiny, sparkly, and colorful fabrics.
"...reading material for Twilight..." Pinkie then charged into three tall stakes of books and knocked them over.
"...critter time for Fluttershy..." Pinkie was then seen playing a game of cards with various animals. She then slapped down her hand for the win, making the bear roar angrily.
"...Cupcakes for yours truly..." Pinkie then climbed through a green tube inside of domed tower. She then pressed a button to make some cupcakes float in the air. She then took a bite out of one before she exited the dome.
"..and of course it's a race for Rainbow Dash..." Pinkie walked along a double tightrope.
"...and I even added some platforming for Mario Star..." Pinkie then bounced over some tall stacks of hay. The first few were only two haystacks high while the last one was at least four and Pinkie jumped over them all with ease.
"Pinkie Pie, what is that?!" Twilight asked as she pointed towards a rough looking stack of rocks with a giant rock sitting at the tip of the stack, which wobbled dangerously.
"A rock slide, of course! For Maud!" said Pinkie excited. For the first time since the group had met Maud, Mario noticed Maud actually blinked and looked very worried.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..." said Applejack.
"Hey, that's my line!" Mario protested as all the ponies but Maud rolled her eyes. Pinkie just continued to giggle as she bounced up the pile of rocks, but then a rock slid down as Pinkie landed and made her hind leg get stuck between two rocks.
"Huh?" Pinkie said puzzled until she noticed her hind leg was stuck. She tried to pull herself free, but her tugging made the rock pile rumble and the giant rock at the top began to wobble about dangerously. Everypony, including Maud, looked worried as Pinkie continued to struggle when the giant rock at the top tipped over and headed toward her!
"Watch out!" Applejack cried out.
"Huh?" said Pinkie as she looked up to see the giant rock tumbling toward her and shrieked.
"I gotcha little sister!" Mario yelled as he zoomed toward the giant rock, pulled out his hammer. He reeled it back until he felt the hammer glow and took a horizontal swing at the giant rock in hopes of shattering it.
TWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!
Mario swung his hammer, but the instant the head of the hammer hit the rock. His hammer shattered! Mario barely had time to react when the rock smacked him and knocked him off the pile to the side, away from Pinkie and leaving her still in danger.
"GASP!" the others replied in shock at seeing Mario's hammer shatter and seeing the Alicorn Prince getting knocked away.
"Help!" Pinkie screamed as she continued to try and get herself free. Before anypony else could try to save her, Maud narrowed her eyes and took off at high speed. She rushed into an outfit, charged through the applesauce tunnel and the shiny fabrics. The other girls went slack jawed in shock as Maud blurred through the rest of the course at high speed. Maud then leaped into the air and headed straight for the still struggling Pinkie. The large rock was about to bounce right on top of the pink pony when Maud arrived and literally drilled through the rock with just her fore-hooves. The rest of the girls just stared in awe as Maud literally turned the large rock into dust. Maud then slid down and smashed the rock that held Pinkie's leg with her fore-hoof. Pinkie smiled, happy to be free. The rest of the girls all sighed with relief, except for Rainbow, who was completely dumbfounded.
"What-how-what?!" Rainbow stuttered as Pinkie and Maud made their way down the pile of rocks. Pinkie flinched when she saw Maud actually giving her a glare and then pulled her into a hug.
"Pinkie Pie, what were you thinking?" Maud asked, her voice showing concern.
"I guess I wasn't," said Pinkie sadly as she looked at the ground. Maud lifted Pinkie's chin with her fore-hoof.
"I know how important it is to you that your friends become my friends," Maud explained, "but I just don't think it's going to happen. I think it would be best if I just go back to the rock farm and spend the rest of the week there." Pinkie looked devastated as Maud walked over to the other girls, her gear now removed.
"It was nice to meet you all," said Maud, "Makes me happy knowing Pinkie Pie has such good friends." The girls all watched Maud walk away with sad looks on their faces. Pinkie looked the saddest of all of them and had already removed her own gear.
"But...we never even got to make our rock candy necklaces..." said Pinkie sadly as Maud continued to walk away, "Wait, Maud! I'll come with you!" Pinkie then ran after her older sister.
"I can't believe Maud cut her trip short," said Twilight.
"I can't believe we nearly lost Pinkie Pie to that ridiculous obstacle course," said Rarity.
"No thanks to me," said Mario sadly as he arrived with the shattered handle of his hammer in his magic grip, "So much for protecting my friends. I failed to save Pinkie." Mario fought not to cry.
"We know you did your best sweetie," said Twilight as she nuzzled his cheek, "Just be glad Maud was here."
"Thank goodness Maud was able to reach her in time," said Fluttershy.
"Did you see how fast Maud moved?" Rainbow added excitedly.
"And the way she smashed that huge rock into dust?" Rarity added.
"Pinkie Pie was in trouble!" said Fluttershy, "Maud would move mountains for her if she had to."
"That means she loves her sister very much," said Mario, "Just like I love my sisters and my wife. I'd move mountains for any of you, even if my equipment breaks in the process." The others awed and group hugged him, even chuckling at his equipment remark. Twilight began to ponder to herself when she came to a realization.
"That's it!" said Twilight, "I think I finally realized what we all have in common with Maud! Something that just might be worthy of a very important super-duper special tradition that only the closet and bestest of friends can share!" The others smiled in agreement. Mario then got an idea and rushed away. The rest of the group looked puzzled until they saw him return with freight cars loaded with sacks full of rock candy.
"Mario, I like the way you think," said Twilight with an excited smile on her face.
Later on, a train was chugging its way down the track as Maud and Pinkie shared a seat together inside one of the passenger cars. Maud was just looking down at the bag that had Boulder inside of it as Pinkie was sadly looking out of the window.
"Thank you for coming with me," Maud told Pinkie, "I don't know how long I'll be gone on my rock research trip. I'm glad I still get to spend time with you before I go."
"Me, too," Pinkie replied with a sad smile on her face, "I'm sorry I put so much pressure on everypony to bond. I only wanted my friends to get to know my amazing older sister." Maud and Pinkie share a hug together, but Pinkie still couldn't help but feel rather sad and disappointed.
The two sisters soon arrived at the rock farm, which the sky was covered in dark clouds and even the surrounding area looked desolate and uninviting with all the scattered rocks and leafless trees. Maud just kept her blank demeanor while Pinkie walked alongside of her looking more glum. Maud then stopped Pinkie from moving forward as she pointed a fore-leg. Pinkie blinked in surprise to see the rest of the Mane seven were at the farm, smiling and had the sacks of the rock candy in the center of their circle.
"What are you doing here?" Pinkie asked curiously.
"Pinkie Pie," said Twilight as she approached the two sisters, "we're so sorry we hurt your feelings by not bonding with Maud right away. And Maud, we're so sorry that you felt the only way to spare Pinkie Pie's feelings was to leave Ponyville early."
"Mm-hm," said the rest of the group in agreement.
"We've seen how much you care about Pinkie Pie firsthoof," said Applejack.
"And we can't thank you enough for saving her," said Mario, "We'd all be devastated if we had lost Pinkie to that giant rock."
"Pinkie Pie's happiness means as much to us as it does to you," said Twilight, "and we're sorry we couldn't see it sooner. The thing that makes us click and creates a special bond between us is how much we all love Pinkie Pie!"
"Aw, shucks!" said Pinkie with a bashful smile.
"That's a pretty great thing to have in common, if you ask me," said Twilight, "what do you think, Maud?"
"Sure," said Maud bluntly. There was a long silence as all but Pinkie looked rather uneasy.
"What's wrong?" Pinkie asked.
"Sorry, darling," said Rarity, "I think we all just thought she'd be a bit more excited about this."
"Are you kidding me?" said Pinkie as she stood on her hind legs, "I've never seen her more excited in my entire life."
"I don't know if you noticed," said Maud as Pinkie cart-wheeled in the background, "but I don't show my enthusiasm for things quite the same way my sister does." The group smiled.
"Uh, we noticed," said Rainbow, "And we're totally cool with it." The others agreed as Pinkie twirled, sat down on her hind knees and tossed some confetti into the air.
Mario then walked up to her.
"Um...Pinkie," said Mario, making the pony look at him curiously, "I...wanted to apolo-" Mario was cut off when Pinkie put a fore-hoof to his lips.
"It's okay," said Pinkie, "I know you did the best you could. I know if your hammer hadn't broke, you could have smashed the rock yourself." Mario nodded as he gave Pinkie a kiss on the side of her head and hugged her.
"Love you, Pinks," said Mario.
"Love you too, Mario," Pinkie replied. Once the two ponies had pulled away, Pinkie began to show them around the farm. Once the tour had ended, Mario decided to speak to Maud pony to pony as she watched the already grayish clouds darken as the sun set behind them.
"Um, Maud," said Mario slowly as he sat next to her, "Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did," Maud replied. Mario blinked and recomposed himself.
"I...I mean something more personal," Mario retorted. Maud just blinked.
"Okay," she replied in her usual demeanor.
"While my friends and I can accept that you show your enthusiasm in a way that different from Pinkie," said Mario, "I am wondering if...the reason you keep your emotions so neutral is because you're used to keeping your feelings to yourself."
"Kind of..." said Maud slowly.
"I can understand why thought," said Mario, "Pinkie told me you girls lived in a very strict household. I'm sure Pinkie's over enthusiastic behavior was probably the exception."
"If you mean keeping your emotions in check, then you would be right," said Maud, "Our parents put alot of emphasis on self-control. So I learned to keep my emotions to myself."
"I hope you know that you don't have to do that around us," said Mario, "No disrespect to your parents, but if you could try to show a little more emotion with us. You wouldn't be misunderstood other ponies as much."
"It's not that easy when you've been doing it your whole life," Maud replied, "The fact I even showed that I was worried when Pinkie was in trouble was the first time in years I had ever raised my voice like that. It felt...weird."
"Probably because, like you said, it was out of your comfort zone," said Mario, "I hope you don't think I saying the way you express yourself is wrong or anything."
"No, but I get what your saying," said Maud, "I should be able to express myself. Your friends..."
"Our friends, Maud," Mario corrected.
"Right, our friends," said Maud, "they shown me that showing emotions doesn't always mean a loss of control, but it's a way of communicating and understanding each other."
"Very observant," said Mario.
"I learned that you can't always judge a rock by the outside layers, you gotta dig deeper to find it's true value and beauty," said Maud.
"It's true with ponies," said Mario, "after all, we couldn't see how amazing you were by just observing your blunt nature. We had to dig deeper to find that we all shared a common ground. That's why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to, as you said, dig deeper into who Maud Pie truly is."
"And what did you learn?" Maud asked.
"That we have a lot in common," said Mario, "We would go to great lengths to protect those we love and care about. We don't just judge things at their face value. We dig deeper so we can understand and learn more about them. That's why I understood your poetry. You were saying more than just the fact that you like rocks, but that you feel like a rock sometimes."
"What do you mean?" said Maud, her blank expression showing some confusion in her face.
"You wish ponies wouldn't just look or judge you by what they see at the surface," said Mario, "They take how you are at face value and just assume that your dull or don't care about anypony. But that is far from the truth. You do care, but you show it in a different way. You want ponies who will take the time to get to know and understand who you are and how you express yourself. You want to them to take the time to find those overlooked details that make you special." Maud just looked at Mario for a moment, her blank expression hiding any emotion she was feeling at the moment.
"I can see why Twilight loves you so much," said Maud, "You treat her and your friends like geodes. While others only focus on the dull, grey surface, you take the time to open them up and appreciate that beauty and the gems that lie within them. You make them feel special for who they are and not what you want them to be. I'm glad Pinkie has somepony like for a friend."
"And now you do too," said Mario, "You are a beautiful pony inside and out. Don't ever forget it."
"I won't," said Maud, "thanks for the talk." Mario smiled.
And to his joy...Maud smiled back.
The rest of the trip was enjoyable despite the environment. The rest of the Mane seven had an easier time spending time with Maud. While Maud maintained her usual demeanor, Mario found talking to her much easier. While Maud may not have expressed any other emotions other than that one smile, she did open up quite a bit with him and the rest of the Mane seven. During their stay, Pinkie's father helped Mario find some strong materials so he could construct a brand new hammer, which was stronger than his old one and was now coated in metallic gold on the outside. Mario also found enough of the material to have extra upgraded hammers for the rest of the Mane seven and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Soon the rest of the week was over and Maud needed to get ready for her rock research trip. The Mane seven and Maud were at the station just as the train pulled into it. Mario was giving his new hammer some practice swings. It felt slightly heavier, but he could feel its power as he did his practice swings.
"How's the hammer?" Maud asked.
"Feels pretty good," said Mario, "This hammer and the hammers made for my friends should last for a long time."
"Just make sure you don't swing it at any giant rocks," Maud remarked. Mario blinked before giving Maud a glare. Despite her dry comment, he actually knew she was teasing him.
"That depends if Pinkie doesn't get trapped with one giant rock rolling towards her again," said Mario.
"Relax! I learned my lesson!" Pinkie remarked indignantly as everypony but Maud laughed. But of course, they knew Maud was probably laughing on the inside.
"Maud, we'd like to give you something to take on your trip so that you remember all your friends from Ponyville," said Twilight as she presented the grayish-blue pony with a personally made rock candy necklace and put it around her neck. Pinkie jumped up and down happily at the exchange. The rest of the group then gave Maud a rock candy necklace each before boarding the train. Rainbow nearly crash-landed on the platform since she had made a giant red-yellow-blue lightning bolt rock candy pendant on her necklace. She literally had to drag it over before putting it around Maud's neck. Surprisingly, Maud had no trouble wearing the giant lightning pendant.
"Thank you," said Maud to the girls as Rarity boarded the train. Mario waited until last to put the necklace he had made on Maud's neck and then presented her with a shiny gray beret.
"This beret is made out of a combination of soft silk and pure...well I'd like to believe it's pure, but probably more accurately highly-refined steel," Mario explained and then cleared his throat, "If you wear this, it will grant you extra strength, endurance, the ability to breathe in both closed underground spaces and underwater. I'm sure it will prove useful during your rock research."
"Thank you," said Maud in her blunt tone, "and I can tell the steel is 98% refined, which is considered pure by most standards." Mario just smiled and stood beside his wife as Maud tucked the beret into her personal saddle bags. Then Pinkie gave Maud her necklace.
"Try not to eat all the candy before you leave!" Pinkie told Maud. The grayish-blue pony gave Pinkie a rock candy necklace. The necklace hung on the tip end of Pinkie's poofy mane as she began to lick and chew in the pieces of rock candy while walking away. Maud waited until Pinkie's back was turned before she pulled out a brown chest. Twilight and Mario looked with awe when they discovered the chest was filled with rock candy necklaces.
"Are those all the necklaces Pinkie Pie sent you?" Twilight asked.
"Mm-hm," said Maud as she closed the chest,
"You haven't eaten any of them?" Twilight asked in surprise.
"Does rock candy not get stale or old or something?" Mario asked.
"I don't really like candy," said Maud but then she gave a smile, "But I do love Pinkie Pie."
"We do too," said Mario with a smile of his own. In the foreground, Pinkie was still using her tongue to lick the last piece of rock candy on her necklace. She then finally pulled the candy off the string and munched on it.
"Mmm!" she hummed happily before she smiled and showed her teeth were coating in rock candy crumbs.
Looks like somepony needs to brush their teeth when they get home.
Kudos if you got the Powerpuff Girls joke
From an RPG perspective, one can say the Mane seven and CMC now have what is considered the Ultra Hammer, which is usually a level 3 upgrade but thanks to Pinkie's family he was able to upgrade the hammer twice.
Next time, Sweetie Belle turns into the green eyed monster! Not literally of course...
Peace Pony Fans!