It had only been a week since Maud Pie had visited her sister, Pinkie. At the moment, she was busy organizing the rock candy necklaces that she and Pinkie had made. At the same time, she was contemplating her recent adventure. Pinkie seemed very anxious to try to make a good impression of Maud to her friends. Close to the end, Pinkie almost got hurt. Almost, because Maud was quick to save her.
Maud had to smile. Pinkie's heart was in the right place. She had to give her credit for that. She walked out to the field of rocks she was organizing and preparing for potential clients in her rock farm. The sky was now a deep purple, as the sun was about to set, and the stars were already beginning to show. She looked in Ponyville's direction. "I hope you're alright, Pinkie," she thought, smiling a little bit. "Don't pull any dangerous stunts like you did last time."
She checked the rail cart she had filled with stone earlier. A client would be coming to pick it up the next day, and she was making sure that he would have enough to lay stone paths for a new building. When she was convinced herself that there was enough, she walked to the center of the field and sat down. She looked up at the darkening night sky. Clouds were beginning to cover it, so she looked in the areas where the stars were still visible. Everything seemed still at first, but as she looked toward a pile of rocks, she noticed that one of the stars was moving. She climbed the large pile very carefully to get a closer look. Now, she could see that the star was expanding. She raised an eyebrow curiously. "What is that?" she thought to herself. A few seconds later, the star faded. "Must have been a comet." She climbed back down the pile and walked into her house.
Inside, she opened her record book to review activity over the last few weeks. It seemed that everything over that period of time was the same as it was for the last few months...years even. She readjusted the collar on her blue dress and pulled something out of her pocket. "Well Boulder," she said, setting down a small rock on the table she was sitting at, "another long day, another long task." She paused for a few moments. "Let's get some"--- But before she could say anymore...
CRASH!
The noise startled her and she ran outside to find out what happened. Something big had hammered itself into the pile of rocks she had climbed earlier. She walked closer. It was a much larger rock. Maud frowned. "Crazy diamond dogs," she sighed. She had trouble with diamond dogs before, but never before had they thrown a rock this big into her field. The only reason they had caused trouble before was that they once saw the set of rock candy necklaces she had and thought they were real gems.
At the moment though, she felt that she had to do something about this new big rock in her field. She climbed up the pile, which was unstable in some places because the new big rock had altered the pile's shape. She examined the rock carefully. "Hmm...You might just come in handy...I'll need to see what you're made of first, though...You'll make an interesting subject for my research..." She dug away the stones around it and pushed it so it would roll down the pile. She wiped the sweat off her brow before going back down. "I'll deal with you later...right now, I'm tired..."
In their clubhouse, an old tree house to be exact, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were playing yet another game of knights versus dragons with Spike. Spike was getting tired of it, but he still managed to put up with them pouncing on him. "Don't you ever get tired of this?" he asked.
"No," Scootaloo replied, "Not really."
"If I'm going to help contribute to your group," Spike said, getting up, "I want to do something else besides act as the enemy in that little game."
Sweetie Belle giggled, "You haven't had much fun in your life, have you?"
Spike could not find a way to answer that, so he just turned away and harrumphed.
Apple Bloom took off the accessories for her costume. "You know, now that I think of it, Spike's right. We haven't really given him something else to do."
"Well, he does hang out in that library doing stuff for Twilight," Scootaloo observed. "Maybe he could keep a record of things that haven't worked out for us."
"That's a great idea!" Sweetie Belle said, but before she could say anymore...
"HELLO!" Spike snapped, "You're all talking about me as if I wasn't here. Besides, don't you think I should have a say in it?"
The three fillies looked at Spike in shock. He had never snapped at them like that before.
"Uhm..." Scootaloo began, "Sorry...We'll...uh..."
"Right now, I just want to go back to the library," Spike said, turning toward the ramp, "I'll see you three later."
Apple Bloom sighed. "We'd better head home ourselves, I guess."
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle agreed, laughing weakly. "I'd better go before uh...before Rarity scolds me for being out late."
"What?" Scootaloo asked, "Come on, we can still think of something else to do to pass what time we have left before we have to go to bed."
"All of a sudden, I don't feel up to it," Apple Bloom said sadly.
"Aw come on!" Scootaloo said, turning to look through the telescope in the clubhouse. "I'm sure there must be something we can do. I mean we don't always need Spike to help us, any"---At that moment, Scootaloo caught a glimpse of something bright in the sky. "COMET!" she shouted.
This caught Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's attention. "Where?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Come quick!" Scootaloo replied, "It's still visible!"
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle took turns looking through the telescope to see what Scootaloo was talking about. "Whoah!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, "That's..."
"Amazing!" Apple Bloom finished, ''I think we found our next activity."
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS METEOROLOGISTS!" the three fillies declared together.