Chapter 26: A Present for Maud

At had been a couple weeks since Flurry Heart was born, and things were going pretty well. Twilight and her friends were at the park, she was showing them pictures of her on her phone.

"Aw, she's cute." gushed Fluttershy.

"She really is precious." Rarity added.

"Thanks guys, she really is a good baby." Twilight said.

"Well I girls, I hate to cut our time together short, but I have to run." Pinkie told.

"Gee whiz, Pinkie, what's the rush?" asked Applejack.

"Maud's birthday is coming."

Maud was Pinkie's favorite sister, so this was a big deal for Pinkie.

"I have help plan out her party."

"That sounds like fun." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Yeah, I wish you girls could come but Maud likes to keep these things small." Pinkie told them.

"We understand." Twilight replied.

And with that, Pinkie said goodbye and hurried home.

That evening at the Pie home, Maud was in her room doing her homework.

"Don't worry, Boulder. I'm almost finished." Maud told her pet rock.

Boulder just sat there like rocks do. Just as she finished her work, Pinkie burst into her room.

"Hey, Maud are you ready to tell us what you want for your birthday? Mom and Dad and I need to know now."

"Yeah, I'm ready."

And she got up from her desk, and followed her sister. In the kitchen, the family gathered around the table to discuss the party.

"Well Maud, since your birthday has fallen on a Saturday this year you'll be able to have things you can't normally have on a weekday." Igneous Rock told her.

"Do you know what you want?" Cloudy Quartz questioned.

"Well..." Maud started.

"Go on Maud, we're all ears." Pinkie encouraged, holding a pen and notepad.

"Hey, Pinkie let her talk." Limestone urged.

"Oops sorry."

"It's okay Pinkie. First I want to eat Mom's famous pancakes for breakfast, then I want to go to the new gem and rock museum, then see a comedy show, and lastly I want to have dinner at a nice restaurant." Maud informed.

"If that's what you want to do, Maud then it's done." promised Pinkie.

The following day, Pinkie took the money she had in her savings, and went to the mall.

"Okay, Agent Pinkie this is your mission that you've chosen to accept, is to find the perfect birthday present for your sister." she told herself.

She walked up and down, scanning the different stores.

"Now let's see, which store is right?" Pinkie popped into a store that sold clothes. She looked through the racks, but none of them seemed to scream "Maud".

In another store that sold trinkets, Pinkie saw some nice things. But unfortunately, Maud already had some of the items. She tried another store, but nothing in there was good enough either.

"(Groans), there must be something that's good enough for Maud." she complained.

And then a store caught her eye, it was a store that was selling pouches.

"Hmm."

She went into it, and saw the different sized pouches and all the different colors and patterns they came in.

"Oh my gosh! These are perfect."

One of these pouches would be the perfect present for Maud. Maud liked to carry Boulder around with her, usually in her pocket. But sometimes carrying him in her pocket was a little inconvenient, so a pouch would be perfect.

Now it was just a matter of choosing one. Pinkie looked each pouch over, they were all pretty. But she hadn't found one that screamed Maud. And just then, she spotted one. It was indigo, had yellow stars on it, and had red tie-strings.

"That's perfect."

She looked at the price, and then her heart dropped. The pouch cost $45.98, and she only had $32.68.

"Oh drat. Where have the rest of my money gone?"

She then thought back to times where she spent money so frivolously. Glitter bombs, an air pump for making balloon animals, and a whoopie cushion she just couldn't resist.

"Aw man."

At school, Pinkie told her friends about her dilemma.

"It's simple, Pinkie." Applejack told her.

"You just gotta earn some extra dough."

"But Maud's birthday is on Saturday, will I have enough time?" Pinkie worried.

"I'm sure if you explain everything to Mr. and Mrs. Cake they'll give you a raise." Twilight advised.

"Maybe."

After school, at the Sweet Shoppe Pinkie went to speak to her bosses.

"Okay, Pinkie Pie, you're going to go up to them tell them your situation and ask for a raise." Pinkie told herself.

But when she went back, she saw the Mr. and Mrs. Cake were running around frantically.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cake?" she asked confused.

"Oh Pinkie, you're here." said Mr. Cake.

"Is something wrong?"

"Things have been going crazy we got a big order for a sweet 16 birthday party, the twins are starting to teethe, and we're running behind on today's order." explained Mrs. Cake.

Pinkie then felt uncertain. She didn't feel right about asking for more money when the two were already so frazzled. So she just went to work.

Back at her house, Pinkie debated on what to do.

"There must be a way to get the rest of the money." she thought to herself.

She decided to ask her family for advice. First she went to Limestone.

"Hey Limestone, what are you getting Maud for her birthday?"

"If you must know, Pinkie I'm giving her a polishing set for her rock collection."

"That's nice, where'd you get the money for it?"

"I got it on sale."

Pinkie had to admit that was smart, but that wouldn't help her situation. Then she went to Marble, and found out she got her a book about rocks. It was simple and didn't cost that much. And then she went to her parents for advice.

"Mom, Dad how did you guys afford Maud's birthday present?" she wondered.

"We're not getting her anything too expensive, and nothing that won't cause a big dent in our finances." Igneous Rock told her.

"Oh."

"Pinkamena, do you need money?" Cloudy Quartz wanted to know.

"Oh, no it's okay. I can figure this out." Pinkie assured, and she hurried back to her room.

The couple looked at each other concerned.

Pinkie realized that she needed to find another way to get the rest of the money and quickly. But how? After some pondering, she looked to Gummy for advice.

"Do you have any ideas Gummy?"

Gummy blinked his eyes, and stuck out his tongue.

"That's it! I can just take up some other jobs to get the money."

And so she had to get started right away.

The following day, Pinkie found some small jobs to do. She shoveled a driveway for a neighbor and got $10, then she helped out Miss Matilda by carrying her groceries, and she gave her $5, and then she offered to babysit Pound and Pumpkin Cake while Mr. and Mrs. Cakes caught up on things.

They were so grateful, they paid her $25 for now, and even promised to give her some time off.

After counting all the money, she had more than enough to buy the rock pouch. She hurried back to the mall, and to that specific store. But to her horror, the pouch had already been bought. She felt crushed, disappointed, and somber.

She quickly left the store, and ducked into the nearest ladies' room. Pinkie went into a stall, and cried for a while.

Once she got herself together, she decided to just get a random pouch from the store. It was dark purple and had black drawstrings, she even got it boxed up and wrapped.

"(Sighs), I hope this is just as good as the last one."

And then she went home.

On the day of Maud's birthday, everything went to plan. The family had pancakes for breakfast, then went out to the gem and rock museum, afterwards they had lunch and saw the comedy show.

They went back home, rested for a while. And when evening came, they went out to dinner. After eating their meal, Maud was given her presents. Limestone gave her the polishing set, Marble gave her the book, and Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz got her a joke book and a scale so she could weigh her rocks.

"Thank you for the gifts." Maud told her family. "Pinkie, where's your present?" Limestone wanted to know. Pinkie looked down at her gift nervously, and then handed it to Maud.

"Happy birthday, Maud." she told her.

"Thanks, Pinkie." Maud said, as she took the gift.

She tore off the paper, opened the box, and pulled out the rock pouch. Maud looked it over, and then at her sister. Pinkie looked very nervous as she waited for Maud's response.

"Thanks, I really like it." Maud replied.

Pinkie couldn't believe her ears.

"Really?"

"Yes, it's the perfect pouch for Boulder."

"A-are you sure. Cause there was this other pouch that was really cute but it was out of my price range. But by the time I got the money together it was already sold..."

Maud stopped her sister.

"It's okay Pinkie. The price doesn't matter when it comes to gifts. And I appreciate what you did to try and get it. I love it, and I love you too."

And then she smiled her little smile. Pinkie's eyes filled with happy tears, and she threw her arms around sister.

"Happy birthday, Maud."

That's chapter 26