13 - Towards the City of Runes
After Flint had sacrificed a goodly portion of his oats to fuel their mounts, the party was ready to get moving. As they moved on, Paul inched closer to Flint. "How'd you get those oats past the guards anyway? They took all my stuff when they were arrestin' me."
Flint smiled cockily. "Sometimes you need to know what truth to offer. It was amazing how quickly they lost interest when I said the bag was full of scat to attract game."
Paul made a face. "They bought that?"
Flint shrugged. "No one said his Lordship's men were very smart, just well paid."
Tree drew up beside them with some effort, still struggling to control her horse. "Sorry we had to use all your supplies. The horses seemed to find it radical as a breakfast."
Fast waved a hoof back at them. "Focus on the road ahead. If we make it to Greegate before dark, we'll get some more supplies, otherwise we're looking at a day without food for the mounts, and that's bad, to say the least."
Maud seemed to have little difficulty guiding her mount, only having Flint for competition, though her control seemed a smooth confidence. She simply seemed to want to go somewhere, and the horse obeyed her, without a word exchanged between the two of them. "They deserve as much food as we get."
"More," argued Fast Shadow. "They're larger than we are. It takes more to fill them and keep them happy." She reached forward and softly pat the neck of the horse she was riding. "And they're getting us there much faster than we'd be walking ourselves."
Tree looked up, forgetting her horse a moment as her jaw hung open. "Woah..." A shaking hoof raised to point into the sky, where a reptilian beast wheeled and looked around.
Fast scowled. "Wyrm. Get off the road and be still." She pulled her horse lightly to the right and hid beneath the canopy of a tree. "Let it go past. It may be harmless, but now's not the time to test that."
The party drew to a halt, with everyone waiting nervously. The branches lurched as a great object sailed past overhead, with the loud keening roar of the dragon-like creature. It curled mid-air and rushed into the distance, leaving them be.
Tree Hugger put a hoof behind her head. "That looked like a dragon to me."
Fast nodded as she coaxed her horse back onto the road. "It's a form of one. I don't know the specifics. Doesn't matter in the end, let's just not invite trouble."
Paul ribbed his elbow into Flint. "Did ya see that! It looked big enough to bite a man clear in half without thinkin' 'bout it!"
Flint chuckled softly. "Exactly why Miss Shadow is right to avoid them. Part of stayin' alive is not shoving your head where it ain't wanted."
Paul shrugged, "Stuffing me head where it ain't wanted got us some new friends."
Flint cuffed him across the back of the head suddenly. "Sure it did, and kicked outta our house, and the Lord dead, now didn't it?"
Paul frowned. "Well, you did that last part, didn't ya?"
Tree shook her head slowly. "Chill out, dudes. We're all friends here, and we'll figure this out, together. No need to get angry about the past, just to learn from it." She pulled free a small bundle of leaves. "Like, I still have some of this choice plant. Smoking it will take the harsh edges right off."
Paul raised a brow curiously. "This some kind of magic plant?"
Tree smiled gently. "Oh man. Being in its embrace is like magic. Try it." She offered a small bit of it towards Paul, who took it but looked confused.
"So, uh, do I chew it?"
Tree tilted her head. "No, man. You smoke it. First you say thank you, then you smoke it." She wobbled dangerously as her horse took an unexpected swerve and she grabbed for its neck for a moment before she recovered. "Get it?"
Paul attempted to roll the herbs as he had seen far more worldly people than himself do. "How do I light it?"
Flint drew out a striker of flint and steel. "Hold still a moment." He reached out and clacked the flint and steel together loudly before a spark touched just right, and the end of Paul's crudely formed cigar lit.
Tree offered another little bundle to Flint, and soon all three were tranquilly riding down the road, all strife and argument forgotten in favor of the peace offered by the smoke that lazily drifted from the three of them.
Fast glanced back towards them, shaking her head at their intoxicated states. "Maud, please don't join them. I'd like to know at least one of my companions is coherent if trouble should arise."
Maud gave a soft nod. "I won't. Do you know what they're smoking? I don't think Tree Hugger knows."
Fast raised a brow. "Couldn't say. Herbalism isn't my specialty. I gathered it was hers, or she'd end up smoking some poison ivy. I heard someone did that once, couldn't talk for a month, almost died. Not a good way to go."
Maud tilted her head lightly. "My father smokes once in a while. He says it smells good."
Fast hiked a head back at the others. "That stuff?"
Maud shook her head. "A kind of rock dust. He had to grind it up to smoke it properly. Fast? Do you like poetry?"
Fast was caught off guard by the question. "Well, sure. A little poetry never hurt anyone that I'm aware of. Why?"
Maud lifted her shoulders. "I have poetry. I write it."
Filled with a sudden curiosity to know what emotions lurked beneath the surface of her stoic companion, Fast was quick to agree. "Oh, certainly. Let me hear some."
She cleared her throat softly.
Look at this rock,
It doesn't belong.
Look at this rock,
Where'd it come from?
Not igneous, nor sediment.
It doesn't belong here.
Look at this rock,
It doesn't belong.
Fast tilted her head softly. "I confess. I don't... entirely understand the meaning of it."
Maud nodded. "The next one's about rocks."
Fast tensed. "Do you have any about something else?"
Maud paused a moment. "Only one... Would you like to hear it?" Fast quickly nodded, and Maud drew a soft breath.
Grey and purple, these are normal.
Bright pink, quite absurd.
You smile when others are frowning.
You are the sister I love to hold.
Others can't see my smile.
Others can't see my tears.
You can always see through me,
You make me feel like cut diamonds.
You move with the power of a rockslide.
You smile with the power of burnished steel.
You hold me with the tenderest...
Maud trailed off, and went quiet.
Fast looked aside to see the the faintest hint of moisture at Maud's eye, but it was quickly whisked away with a blink, and there was nothing. Fast shook her head slowly. "You miss her, don't you?"
"A lot," said Maud in her deadpan voice. "I hope she's okay."
Fast nudged her horse closer and reached, placing a hoof on Maud's shoulder. "You make me envious. I wish I had a sister I loved so dearly, who loved me back half as much."
Maud tilted her head. "Why would you want a sister a world away?"
Fast shrugged gently. "Perhaps not that part, but you'll get back to her, eventually. You have her to look forward to. For now, we have each other. I will gladly be your sister, if you let me."
"You're not my sister." She said it with a brutal bluntness that made Fast recoil slightly.
"Of course... not, not literally. I mean we can be friends, close friends. We will watch out for each other, and care for each other." Fast waved a hoof back at the three trailing behind. "Tree Hugger as well. It's obvious she respects you a great deal, even if you don't always see eye-to-eye."
"We're about the same height."
Fast took a slow breath, counting to herself. "Maud, is this how you keep people away from you? My offer remains. I would gladly count you as a dear friend, even if you will return home some day. You are a fine pony, made of good things. Your morals are good, your bravery is astounding, even what I've seen beneath your mask is worth knowing."
Maud was silent, and didn't reply to anything for some time. Fast eased in her attempts and directed her horse away to walk in parallel, but give her companion some space.
Tree Hugger drew closer to the front, smoke no longer clinging to her. "Hey, sister of stone. Are we on time or not?"
Maud glanced back at her, but was silent.
Fast waved a hoof. "Don't bother her right now. We're on time to reach the city."
Tree nodded. "Righteous, but what's wrong with Rock? Do you need any help? Like, you can talk to us about anything." But there was no reply given.
Fast brought her horse in and grabbed at Tree Hugger, pulling her and directing her horse away from Maud. "I'm serious. She needs space, and you'll give it to her."
Tree frowned faintly. "You're totally coming down on me, man. I've got a sweet buzz going on right now. Let's not end it on a sour note."
Fast let out a soft sigh before she turned to face forward, just to tense abruptly. There was a group of riders coming towards them along the same road. They were well armed. On the positive, they hadn't drawn their weapons yet. "Maud, we have guests. Be ready."
"Shouldn't I be ready?" Tree Hugger raised a brow before she almost fell off her horse, trying to face the others. "Hey, like, we have guests."
Paul waved at the oncoming riders as Flint had the sense to look concerned. "Damn the timing. What I wouldn't give for a well-built longbow right about now..." He drew a dagger but flipped it around to press against his sleeve, keeping it out of immediate sight.
Fast nudged her horse ahead to meet them. "Hail!" she shouted ahead. "What brings you in such a hurry?"
Most of them thundered past without so much as slowing, but one of their numbers, with a staff across his back, slowed. "Horse, you would do well to turn back where you came. Greegate has been put to siege. They're fools to think they can take the City of Runes, but a point for effort. We ride to muster allies in defense."
Fast's jaw tensed. "Blast the timing. We have little choice but to continue on, good man."
"All the more fool you be." He tipped his hat. "Take care, lest you be destroyed with the invaders, should the defenders mistake you." He snapped his reins and took off at a wild gallop to catch up with his friends, leaving Fast and her companions behind.
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After Flint had sacrificed
grind
Filled with a sudden curiosity to know what emotions lurked beneath the surface of her stoic companion, (extra comma and lurked)
They're all about rocks.
made Fast recoil slightly
duplicate word
Somehow, I have a feeling that whoever-it-is can, in fact, take the city.
built
I wonder what the penalty is for RUI (Riding Under the Influence)?
6625022 Typos beaten and thrown to the defenders of Greegate for proper disposal. That'll show 'em! How'd you like the chapter?
6625241 You're developing Maud by what she doesn't say rather than what she says. I know that's not easy, so congratulations on that. Maud's poetry...well her poetry in the show was pretty awful, having neither rhyme nor rhythm. I didn't much care for yours either, but it was consistent with her established pattern, so I can't really complain.
Fast's and Maud's reactions to Tree Hugger's drug problem were kind of interesting. It seemed like Fast wanted to advise everyone not to impair themselves like that, but she didn't feel she had the authority. Maud, on the other hand, almost seemed to be indifferent about it at first. However, her emotions were closer to the surface after her talk with Fast, and she seemed almost angry when Tree tried to talk to her. Instead of just ignoring her, she looked at her and then said nothing, making a point of not answering. I also noticed when she was talking about her father smoking, she said "he says it smells good" not "it smells good". Most kids raised by smokers like the smell of whatever their parents smoked, so I got the impression she disapproves of her father's smoking as well. Of course, this is mostly speculation, since she didn't actually say any of the things I'm inferring from the chapter.
6625329 It was authentically bad, though I thought the message was good.
6625357 In the original Maud episode, it seemed pretty obvious that she was deliberately offering poems that she had put minimal effort into. It was a passive-aggressive way of testing Pinkie's friends, to see how they would react. Either they would get riled up by her insulting contribution, or they would pretend to like it so as not to hurt her feelings. Either way, she was indirectly exerting dominance over them.
In the Hearthwarming episode it was just bad poetry.
I think whatever Tree Hunger was smoking has caused typos
6625385
I thought the point of the ending was that Maud wasn't actually doing any of those things, but was just that awkward...
But it's an interesting way to look at Maud. Everything will be unemotional, quiet, and hard to read but... sometimes she's more difficult, or seems "more oblivious", and sometimes she's less, and that's how you gauge her.
I guess that's how things are going here in this fic.
6625920 Well, I'm confused. Why is someone's theory now suddenly canons Oh god, has my fic reached the level where headcanons are a thing?
6626010
Uh... Are you saying that Maud isn't more curt when she's in a bad mood, but it's just hard to read? That she does express her emotions, and not even in atypical ways, just less so?
That's what I meant with "in this fic".
Also, in canon, I think Maud was probably on the level, but it's... well an interesting way to read her that maybe she wasn't entirely on the level, but it was very hard to tell because... well it's always hard to tell. It's Maud. I've seen times where she's written to actually have a well developed sense of humor that just rarely comes over because there's no appreciable difference between her normal dry and her "funny" dry.
6626109 I'm not saying nothing! You can't prove a darn thing.
Maud is, I will confirm, awesome. She's also a real treat to write for, both her and Tree Hugger. They have good and different personalities and are dealing with the stresses of their adventures in different ways.