//------------------------------// // Chapter nine // Story: Pinkie, Maud and Icy Iceland // by Elkia Deerling //------------------------------// The mild rumble of the engine drowned out the sound of the flowing airstream. A sea of clouds stretched beneath; friendly, white clouds telling of a cheerful new day below. Above them there was an endless sky of light-blue, growing darker the higher they looked, and topped with a perfectly round sun, trying its best to spread its warmth to the hot air-balloon.                       “You did a good job fixing that balloon, Miles,” Pinkie said. “Even the basket doesn’t creak anymore”; and if to prove it, she bounced up and down rapidly.                       “Thanks,” the pilot said, but didn’t take his eyes off a large map he was studying. After a minute he rolled it up awkwardly and flashed a content smile. “We’re going the right way. If we stay at this height, the airstream will carry us all the way back to Equestria.”                       “Great. Finally everything goes the way we want it,” Maud said, then knocked her hoof three times on the wooden railing of the basket.                       As they progressed on their home journey, everypony settled down. Maud found a nice viewpoint at the front of the basket and looked down at the clouds, silently reflecting on the bygone days. Pinkie Pie was looking intently at Air Miles, who was fidgeting again with maps, compasses, altimeters, windsocks, barometers and many other aerial equipment of which Pinkie didn’t know the name, making sure they would stay on course. Between calculations and predictions, the pilot tried to think about what had happened too. After some minutes, and with a reluctant face, he pulled out a risk assessment form and started jotting down words on it and checking some boxes. When he was done, he folded it neatly, sighed and drew two conclusions: that the past few days were the craziest in his career as a balloonist, and that the travel company had to pay him more—much more. He sighed again and threw an irritated look at Pinkie, who was hanging right above him now, dangling upside-down by her tail and staring at his papers. “Can you please just go and tease your sister instead of me, so I can get you two home again?” Miles snarled.                       “Oki-doki-loki,” Pinkie said cheerfully and swung to the other side of the basket.                       “And try not to fall down,” Miles called after her. “I don’t want to fill in another one of those forms.”                       But Pinkie didn’t hear it and bounced over to her sister, who looked lost in thought. “Hey Maud,” she said, scooting beside her, “how’re you doing? Feeling alright after that crazy party yesterday?”                       “Quite well,” Maud said. “Honestly I can’t really remember much of it.”                       “Me neither,” Pinkie said, and chuckled. “That means it was a good party.”                       Maud gave a thin smile and continued staring in the distance.                       “So… what are you thinking about?” Pinkie asked.                       Maud turned to her sister; her smile hadn’t faded. “I was actually thinking about a new poem.”                       Pinkie smiled teasingly and leaned on the railing. “Let me guess: it’s about rocks.”                     Maud grinned. “Yes.”                       “I knew it!”                       “But it I also want it to be about friendship, and about our special bond together.” She looked up at the blue sky. “I just can’t get to the right words… Do you want to help me?”                       “You betcha!” Pinkie let go of the railing and put up a serious face, but her sparkling blue eyes betrayed some playfulness. “What are the first words?”                       Maud cleared her throat and closed her eyes solemnly, like she always did when reciting her work. “Rocks. Beautiful and rare—”                       “oh,oh,oh.” Pinkie jumped in excitement. “And for ever and ever there!”                       “I can work with that,” Maud said smiling. “And what about… different in strength and size…”                       “Which can only be seen by the wise.”                       Maud chuckled. “You’re making this look easy! Now let’s see”—she tapped her chin with her hoof—“born together,  without a mother…”                       “But they can’t pretend to be one another.”                       “Hey, that’s what I was thinking!”                       Pinkie shrugged. “Great minds think alike,” she said teasingly.                       Maud continued with a smile, “Because then strange things might come about…”                       “And put them into super-duper doubt.”                                                                            “But in the end they will have fun…”                       To that, Pinkie tilted her head in confusion. “Fun? How can rocks have fun? Or doubt?”                       “I don’t know,” Maud said, “be creative.”                       “Alright, well,—Pinkie thought hard—“enjoying a little… rock pun?”                       Maud’s laugh rolled through the balloon basket. “Yes, that’s it. You’re really getting the hang of it! Now down to the last line: “and both will have their way…”                       “On their Pie Sisters Surprise Swap Day.”                       They looked at each other for a few seconds, each one of them with sparkling eyes and warm hearts, despite the cold wind. They threw a long embrace, with the glaring sun smiling behind them.                                          “Yeah, about that Pie Sisters Surprise Swap Day…” Air Miles interrupted, standing suddenly very close to them, “why do you mares call it that?”                       Maud flashed her eyes at the pilot. “Don’t you have a balloon to fly?”                       “It flies itself now, I made all the adjustments.”                       Pinkie turned her gaze at the pilot, although the warmth didn’t leave her heart. “I told you about the PSSSD when we arrived, right?”                       “Yes, I remember, and I understand some of it. Like the ‘Pie Sisters’ part; that’s you two, obviously. Of course it was a hay of a ‘surprise’ too.” he grinned sarcastically. “And I understand that it was supposed to be a ‘day’. I just don’t understand the ‘swap.’”                       To that, both Pinkie’s and Maud’s eyes widened in shock. “Oh no! totally forgot!” Pinkie cried out.                       “Me too!” Maud said.                       “What’s a PSSSD without a swap?”                       Air Miles stared in confusion from one Pie to the other.                       “It’s ok, Pinkie,” Maud said. “We’ll just swap twice as many gifts at our next PSSSD, alright?”                       But Pinkie laid down her ears and slumped to the ground. She started gazing in front of her into the empty air, disappointed as she was. Pondering whether or not he’d said something wrong, Miles returned to his instruments, even more confused than he was at first.                       But then an idea flashed into Maud’s mind and she started fumbling in her pockets. A second later she pulled out both Boulder and Amy and put them down on the wooden railing, although with a leg distance between rock and mineral. The pink amethyst shimmered in the intense sunlight, unfiltered by any clouds or windows. Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but turn her gaze to the beautiful mineral, the sparkle reflecting in her blue eyes. Slowly Maud slid the mineral towards her, careful enough not to tip it over the edge. “I want you to have her, Pinkie.”                       With great effort, Pinkie Pie ripped her gaze off Amy and shook her head. “What?”                       “I want you to keep Amy as a memory of our trip,” Maud said, “as a Pie Sisters Swap Gift.”                       Pinkie looked from the amethyst to Boulder to Maud. “But what about Boulder? Isn’t he gonna miss his loved one?”                       “Unfortunately Boulder and Amy broke up.” Maud saw Pinkie giggle at her choice of words. “Boulder said she wasn’t his type, and so did Amy. I think they made the right choice.”                       “Well, they are pretty different…”                       Maud grabbed Pinkie’s hoof, and carefully placed the amethyst in it; then she put her own hoof on top, extinguishing the fiery shimmer. “Take good care of her, alright?”                       “Pinkie promise,” Pinkie Pie said solemnly. “I don’t think she’ll be alone for long anyway. I bet Gummy and her will be as close as you and me in no time.” She winked. “He can be quite a gentlegator, you know?” Then her voice grew soft. “It’s just a shame I don’t have anything for you...”                       “You know what I think, Pinkie?” Maud said, as she put her foreleg on Pinkie’s shoulder.                     “What?”                       “You gave me the greatest gift any sister could have.” She turned her gaze to the beautiful sun. “You gave me a wonderful PSSSD with my little sister.”                       “Really?”                       “Really.”                       Then Pinkie Pie laid her foreleg  on her big sister’s shoulder, and together they looked at the blazing sun, basking in the light of their reignited friendship, as solid as rock.                                                                  The end.