A Hidden Gem
Silverstream was absolutely ecstatic, the feeling of glee coursing through her body unmatched. Why was so excited? Because it was mentor day at the school of friendship.
After mistaking it for centaur day at first, she became all on board with the idea. She spent the following days in the lead-up to the event in anticipation, eager to meet her mentor.
And the day was finally here.
She practically skipped along as she and her friends made their way to the auditorium, where Princess Twilight and the other teachers would assign students to mentors.
"Oh, I'm so excited!" Squealed Silverstream, a big, goofy grin plastered on her face.
"You are? I hadn't noticed." Quipped Smoulder, her arms folded across her chest. She walked along with the rest of them, an expression on her face that clearly said she wasn't as excited as Silverstream was.
"Aw, lighten up, Smoulder." Replied, Sandbar, his laid-back, easygoing demeanor helping to cool things down. "I personally think it's great you're so excited for mentor day."
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to meeting my mentor too," Ocellus agreed.
"Yeah! Yeah! Yona want to meet mentor also," said Yona.
"Well, as long as I don't get Maud for a mentor, I'll be happy," added Gallus.
Silverstream cocked her head at the griffin's words, a look of confusion coming to adorn her face. "What do you mean?" she asked him. "I've never met her, but from all the things I've heard about her from teacher Pinkie Pie, she sounds nice."
"She is nice," Ocellus confirmed. "But I've met her, and she can also be a bit... boring." The changeling finished with a bit of hesitancy in her voice.
"Boring is an understatement," Gallus remarked. "Everything is about rocks with that mare, and I don't want to spend my whole day learning how rocks form; it's like I said, I don't care who I get for a mentor as long as it's not Maud Pie," he finished.
"Don't worry Gallus," Sandbar smiled. "Lots of mentors have signed up for this, I doubt you have to worry about getting the one you don't want."
As they walked through the ornate, pristine halls of the school, Silverstream found herself contemplating about what the others had said about Maud. "Hmm, boring or not, she sure sounds interesting," she said at last. "We have lots of rocks under the ocean, but they're all wet and slimy, I'd love to see some dry ones for a change!"
"If you wanna see some dry rocks, just go outside. Trust me, you don't want Maud for a mentor." Replied Gallus.
"We're here," Ocellus spoke, notifying the others as they came up on the large double doors that led into the auditorium. Other students could be seen filing in ahead of them, all of them going for the same reason they were. "I guess we're about to find out whether either of you do or don't get Maud as a mentor."
Moving through the large doors, the six found themselves in a spacious room, designed to house large gatherings like the one taking place now. Quietly, the group of friends navigated their way through the rest of the student body as they sought to take their seats.
Sitting down, Silverstream found herself bouncing in her seat in excitement. Looking towards the stage at the front of the room, she could see several figures gathered atop - the mentors that had signed up for the program. There were probably more of them sitting in the stands like the students were, but of all the ones she could see, there were only a few she recognized: first, there was Spitfire, leader of the Wonderbolts: then there was Zecora, the rhyming zebra that lived out in the Everfree: Princesses Twilight's brother, Shinning Armour, Prince of the Crystal Empire: and finally, a pony who Silverstream could only assume was Maud, the rock expert.
In the moments before the announcement began, Silverstream could hear the hushed chatter going on between the other students, all of them equally just as curious about what was about to happen.
Silverstream and the others sat waiting patiently for several minutes, the wait beginning to feel unbearable on the hippogriff. At last, however, the student body quickly hushed up once Headmare Twilight and the other teachers walked up on stage.
"Good morning, students," Headmare Twilight spoke with a smile. "I'm so glad to see you all here today for this event; I'm so moved by how many of you have shown support for mentor day, and I can't wait for the festivities to begin. And on that note, I also want to thank all of the mentors who have signed up for this program, this wouldn't have been possible without you, and I just want to thank you for your contribution.
Now, with all that said and taken care of, what do you all say we get around to assigning students to mentors," Twilight suggested, earning applause from the students.
After that, Silverstream watched with apt attention as Twilight levitated a clipboard with a couple of sheets of paper over to her. Soon, she began to read off names that were on the list, announcing which student got which mentor.
Silverstream eagerly waited in anticipation as mentors were assigned. She watched as individuals like Shinning Armour, and Zecora were each paired off to a pony and a changeling respectively.
As time went on, more and more students were given mentors, and with each name spoken, she found herself becoming more and more restless.
Finally, her excitement reached a boiling point when Twilight started getting to their little friend group. She learned that Ocellus had been paired with BonBon: Sandbar was with Vinal Scratch, Gallus was with Octavia: Smoulder was being mentored by Spitfire: and Yona was with Miss Cheerilee.
As Twilight continued to list off names, and she learned which mentors her friends were getting, Silverstream found it harder and harder to hold in her excitement as her turn drew near. And finally, just when it seemed she was just about to burst, her name was called out.
"Silverstream and Maud Pie," Twilight called out, an audible 'phew' going up from the students who hadn't yet gotten their mentor.
At that, Silverstream felt a huge grin form on her face, excited at finally knowing who her mentor was going to be. That smile stuck with her throughout the rest of the announcement, and once all the names on the list had been paired with a mentor, she still couldn't wipe it off.
After the event, Silverstream wasted no time in meeting her mentor. Once all the students started getting up from their seats, she started seeking out Pinkie Pie's sister, eventually spotting her standing in the corner of the room, away from all the commotion.
Unable to contain herself, Silverstream bounded over to the earth pony, her simplistic mauve mane locked in her gaze.
"HI!" she exclaimed with excitement as she approached her mentor. "You're Maud, right? I'm Silverstream," she reached forward and took Maud's hoof, shaking it fervently, all while the pony's expression remained completely stoic. "I've been looking forward to meeting you, I've been waiting for this day since I first heard about it, and now that it's here I'm just so excited. Were you looking forward to meeting me too?" Silverstream asked with wide eyes.
"Yes," said Maud coolly, meeting her eyes.
"So, what did you have planned for today?" Silverstream asked with curiosity. "I'm sure you have something fun planned, right?"
"Yes," Maud repeated herself from earlier. "I was going to take you on a tour of the cave network beneath Ponyville, where I'll teach you about the wondrous and fascinating world of rocks," she finished in her monotone voice.
"That sound so... cool!" Silverstream exclaimed with excitement, jumping up in the air as she gave a little flutter with her wings.
"Yes, it will be cool, the caves always have a low temperature," replied Maud.
Silverstream paused, looking at her mentor quizzically. "Uh, that's not really what I..." she hesitated, squinting at Maud's face, where she thought she could detect the faintest outline of a smirk etched across her lips.
All at once, her face lit up as she realized what had happened. "Wait! Did you just make a joke?"
"Yes."
"Well, I loved it. So, when are going to head out?" The hippogriff asked.
"Soon," Maud replied. "But first we need to make sure we're prepared; go pack a lunch to take with you, once you're ready meet in the entrance hall and we'll set off, understand?" Maud asked
Silverstream nodded. "Yes Miss Maud, I'll get right on it," she replied, before swiftly taking off to do as instructed.
After grabbing a saddle bag, she packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for later, as well as some chips and water.
Once she had lunch packed, she made her way towards the entrance hall, where Maud was waiting for her just like she'd said.
Upon seeing Silverstream approach, the monotone earth pony perked up, directing her attention to the hippogriff. "Are you ready to go?"
Yes Miss Maud," Silverstream replied, "I am."
"Then let's go," she said, turning to head out the main gate, Silverstream right behind her.
Leaving the school of friendship behind, the two headed for Ponyville, crossing through. Exiting the town's limits, they went towards the forest, where Silverstream found listening to the wildlife around them to be quite enjoyable.
After walking for what must have been about ten or so minutes, they came to a stop when Maud halted in the middle of the path.
"We're here," said Maud.
Looking ahead of them, Silverstream was entranced by the sight of a large cave opening on a nearby hill. It seemed so mysterious, like an uncharted island, or an unexplored valley, just waiting for someone to plunge into its depths.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" she had just been about to bound off towards the cave when suddenly Maud stopped her.
"Hold on, we're not ready yet," she told the energetic hippogriff. Reaching into her saddlebag, she pulled out two hard hats, passing one to Silverstream. "One important rule about spelunking," she began as she put on her hard hat, "never go in a cave without protection, you never know when rocks might start falling."
Silently mouthing the word 'ohh' Silverstream did like her mentor and put on her hard hat, not wanting to get hit by falling rocks.
"Now we can go,' Maud led the way forward as they walked towards the cave. Entering the gaping opening in the Earth's surface, Silverstream watched as the sunlight from outside slowly faded away, the area around them getting dimmer and dimmer as they descended into shadow. However, things didn't become pitch black, as the hard hats Maud brought along also had flashlights built in, allowing them to see in the darkness.
As they started venturing into the tunnels, Maud began educating Silverstream on the world of rocks.
"Geogoligy is a fascinating subject, and as such, there are many things to know about this field of research, so I'm going to teach you all can. We'll start by naming the different types of rocks and ore we come across, and learning how to identify them.
She pointed a hoof at the right side of the cave wall. "This rock type to your right is known as granite, it comes in various shades of white, gray, and brown, and tends to be covered in speckles; and you can also note that it usually has a coarse texture to it."
Things went on like that for a little while, with Maud continuing to list off the different rocks they came across; other students might have been bored out of their minds, but Silverstream couldn't get enough of what her mentor was telling her.
"-And not only can you identify rocks by their appearance, but you can also identify them by how they taste as well," Maud went on.
"Wait! You can TASTE rocks!" Silverstream exclaimed in surprise, getting caught on what her mentor said.
"Yes," she replied. "And I think we should have you try right now," she said, picking up a rock off the ground and passing it to the hippogriff. "Taste this, and tell me what kind of rock you think it is."
Silverstream took the rock as instructed, looking down at it inquisitively; she never imagined that she would be tasting a rock, but there was a first time for everything she supposed. Sticking her tongue out, she gently licked the stone she held in her talon. It had the expected earthy taste to it, but beyond that, she didn't know what to make of the flavor she was now trying to identify in her mouth. "Ummm... Limestone?" she guessed at last.
"Incorrect," Maud said," what you have there is basalt, limestone has more of a sourness to it.
"Ohh, sorry," Silverstream apologized.
"There's no need to be sorry," said Maud, "rocks have very subtle flavors to them, and it can sometimes take years for experts to learn to detect them all.
"Wow! You sure do know a lot about rocks," Silverstream said with amazement.
"I would hope so, it is my major," Maud joked, in that unique tone of hers. "Come on, we have more to see."
As the pair continued on through the tunnels, Silverstream became privy to all kinds of things. Stalagmites and stalactites could be found all throughout the caves, Muad being a great mentor by explaining how they form. All kinds of beautiful crystals and rock formations dotted the network of passages, with the hippogriff becoming entranced by their wonderous splendor.
At one point, they came across a chasm, a ropebridge tying the two different sides together. As they crossed, Silverstream looked down to find a river running at the bottom of the fissure, the water churning along underground.
Silverstream found everything they did to be absolutely fascinating, all the things down here were so interesting; Maud had proven to be an excellent mentor so far, she'd taught her so many things about rocks that she'd never known before.
They continued walking down the tunnel, something fascinating no doubt laying ahead of them. As they moved along, however, Silverstream was suddenly caught off guard when Maud stopped in the middle of the path, an alerted look plastered on her face. Before she could ask what was wrong, the cave around them started to shake, gently at first, but became more and more violent.
"Get down!" Maud said with seriousness, shoving herself on top of Silverstream as rocks started falling from the ceiling. Silverstream's heart started beating rapidly as everything shook; she instinctively threw her talons over her head, squeezing her eyes shut as she prayed for things to settle.
After a few moments, the shaking began to die down, to the point where Maud thought it was safe enough to get up. Standing up herself, Silverstream stood on trembling legs, her nerves on edge after what just happened.
"Are you alright?" Maud asked with concern.
Silverstream nodded her head, "yes, I'm fine, just a bit shaken up is all," she replied. Looking past Maud, her eyes went wide as she saw the way they'd come in from had caved in. "Oh no! The tunnel collapsed, we're trapped" Silverstream exclaimed in a panic.
"It's going to be okay," Maud said as she took stock of their situation.
"What do you mean it's going to be okay!" Silverstream exclaimed hysterically. "The path is blocked and we're trapped here now, how is it going to be okay?" she panicked, her heart beating hard again as she imagined them wasting away in the tunnels until the end.
But Maud was quick to put an end to that, approaching the distressed hippogriff, she put a hoof on her shoulder meant to both steady and comfort her. "Silverstream, look at me," she said in her calm, stoic voice, catching her ward's attention. "Everything is going to be all right, I know these tunnels like the back of my hoof, and there are multiple ways in and out of these caves; I can guide us to the nearest exit, but I can't have you freaking out."
Silverstreams breathing began to slow, the hippogriff getting ahold of her nerves as she looked at the composed face of her mentor. "Are you sure?" she asked, fear evident in her voice.
"I'll get you out of these caves and get you home," she replied, "I promise."
Silverstream gulped nervously, doing her best to swallow the fear in her heart. "O-okay, I trust you," she said shakily.
"We better get moving, then," said Maud as she turned towards the unobstructed path. "The sooner we get to the exit, the better."
"Alright, lead the way," Silverstream said as she followed Maud through the dark caves.
In such a short amount of time, the day had changed so dramatically in tone, that Silverstream wasn't sure what to feel. Everything had started out so well, she'd been having a great day with her mentor, learning a lot about rocks and seeing so much down here in the caves. But then the quake happened, and they were now on their way to another exit. Silverstream had faith that Maud would be able to get her out, but that didn't mean she wasn't still scared; everything had taken such an unexpected turn, her nerves were still reeling from the ordeal, and she could only pray that nothing else would go wrong.
They continued on walking for quite a while, to the point where time seemed to slow to a crawl for Silverstream; where she was once fascinated by the caves around her, she now barely noticed them anymore, the wonder of this subterranean world fading from her mind as they moved towards the exit.
After a while, the two began to tire from all the walking, the onset of exhaustion setting in. "We should rest," said Maud, a sentiment that Silverstrean wholeheartedly agreed with. Moving off the main path, the two made camp among a cluster of stalagmites.
"The other exit is still away off," Maud said as she removed her saddlebag. "We should stop for the night, and continue on our way in the morning."
As Silverstream slipped off her own saddlebag, she watched as Maud removed some things from her pack; using some emergency supplies she brought with her, the earth pony got going a small fire to keep them warm.
Getting comfortable, the two of them took out the food they brought along, and started to eat as the flames roared in front of them.
The pair sat in silence for a few moments, letting the ambiance of the fire fill the caves.
"I'm sorry," Maud said solemnly after a few seconds, setting her daisy sandwich aside as she stared into the dancing flames. "This shouldn't have happened, you should be enjoying your day, not trapped underground like this; this wouldn't have happened if I didn't sign up to be a mentor."
As Maud continued on, Silverstream could see where this train of thought was taking the mare and she wouldn't have any of it. "You stop right there," the hippogriff said sternly, speaking as one would to a child. "I won't hear any of that, you understand. This is not your fault, so don't go blaming it on yourself; this has been one of the most exciting days of my life, even with the cave-in, and I have you to thank for it."
Maud smiled at Silverstreams words. "You know," she began, looking at the fire once more. "I had actually debated on whether or not I should sign up to be a mentor, there are many ponies who find me to be boring, and a part of me was worried they wouldn't want me for a mentor."
"I don't think you're boring," said Silverstream, earning a hopeful look from Maud. "I think you've been a great mentor, you've taught me so much today, and I couldn't be more grateful. In my eyes, you're Equestria's greatest, most amazing, most interesting mentor ever! And I'm so glad we've gotten to spend the day together," finished Silverstream.
Maud smiled warmly, Silverstreams words clearly having made an effect on her. "Thank you, Silverstream, it means a lot to hear you say that. And on that note, I think you have been an excellent mentee, and I'm grateful to have spent time with you too."
Silverstream smiled as well.
After the warm exchange between the two of them, the pair finished off their food. Then, they settled in for the night, getting some sleep as the fire burned in the background.
In the morning, they gathered up their stuff before heading off again, continuing on their way toward the exit.
After walking for a little bit, Silverstream paused when Maud deviated from the path, heading over to a cluster of spherical rock outcroppings. "Umm... Miss Maud, what are you up to?" Silverstream asked in confusion.
Maud simply waved a hoof over towards her. "Come closer, I want to show you something."
At the prompt, Silverstream inched up to her mentor, a curious look on her face. As she stood there, she watched as Maud took one of the spherical rocks and broke it away from the cluster. Then, she took the rock and bashed it hard against the cave wall, causing it to split down the middle. Just as Silverstream was about to question Maud's actions, her words were stolen from her mouth as Maud separated the two pieces. Instead of just being solid rock all the way through, the center was hollow, filled with glittering crystals that would make Rarity swoon.
"It's called a geode," said Maud, passing it to Silverstream.
"It's incredible," said Silverstream as she took the geode, staring at it with wide-eyed fascination. "Thank you for showing me."
"You're welcome. Now come on, let's get moving," said Maud as she stepped back onto the path. Silverstream set the geode in her saddlebag as a keepsake of the day, before hurrying after her mentor.
They trekked on through the caves before they came across a junction where the tunnel split into several. Once again, Maud came to a stop, what appeared to be a look of hesitancy on her face.
"Miss Maud, is everything okay?" Silverstream approached her mentor, a note of worry in her voice.
"Yes," Maud replied, easing her fears. "It's just been a little while since I've been down this way, and I'm trying to recall which tunnel is the correct one."
"Well, maybe I could help?" Silverstream suggested, "Is there anything you recall about the correct path you can tell me?"
Maud paused, an inquisitive look on her face. "Hmm, I do remember there being some granite in the tunnel we want..."
"Hey, you showed me how to identify granite!" Silverstream exclaimed with excitement. "We could both go search the tunnels, increasing our chances of finding the right one!"
"I suppose," Maud said, a thoughtful look in her eye that indicated she was thinking it over. "Very well," she said after a moment, "but you need to promise to be careful. You shouldn't have to go too far to find the granite, but if you lose sight of the junction you need to turn back, understand?" Maud asked, a seriousness in her voice.
Silverstream nodded. "I do Miss Maud, don't worry, I'll be as careful as one can be."
With that, the two split up, each going off to search a different tunnel.
Silverstream began exploring the first tunnel she chose, doing her best to find what she was looking for. She examined the cave walls and floors as best as she could, but she couldn't yet see any signs of there being granite here. Looking back, she found that the junction was now almost out of sight, meaning it was time to turn back.
Returning to her starting point, Silverstream checked for any sign of Maud but didn't see her mentor. So choosing a new tunnel, she began to investigate this one as well. She hadn't gone very far before she started seeing signs of promise as she spotted clusters of what looked to be granite along the walls, floor, and ceiling. Seeing this, she felt hopeful that she had found what she was looking for, however, she wanted to be sure about it before she went and told Maud.
Stepping up to the formations, she took a closer look to confirm it was what she thought it was. She even licked it, finding the taste to be as Maud described. Now feeling confident in her findings, she ran back to get her mentor.
Coming back up to the junction, she found her mentor emerging from one of the tunnels. "Miss Maud, I think I found the granite!" she exclaimed proudly. "I even tasted it to make sure, granite has a tangy flavor to it, right."
Maud nodded, a smile forming on her face. "Yes, that's right."
"It's right down this way," said Silverstream, guiding her mentor down the right tunnel. When Maud saw the granite, she looked towards Silverstream fondly, a glint of pride showing in her eyes. "Well done," she congratulated the hippogriff, "you did well."
Silverstream bushed, waving a leg bashfully. "Oh, it was nothing, just using all the stuff you taught me. So, anyway, now that we've found the right path shouldn't we get moving?" Silverstream asked after a moment.
Maud nodded again. "Yes, that we should."
"After you," said Silverstream, holding out a talon in the direction they wanted to go.
Maud smiled as she accepted the offered gesture, leading the two of them down the tunnel. The pair followed the path, using Silverstream's discovery to guide them home. Soon, they began to notice the darkness around them start to recede, being cast off by a glow ahead of them.
"We made it!" Silverstream exclaimed, jumping with jubilation as they exited the caves at last, the light from Celestia's sun bathing them in its glow. "You got us out, Miss Maud, just like you said you would."
Maud gave Silverstream an inquisitive look. "Well, I can't say I did it alone. You did a good job down there, and I'm impressed at how much you learned- you have the makings of a great geologist."
Silverstream smiled at Maud's words. "Well, I can hardly take all the credit; everything I know, I owe all to you, because you're such a great teacher. It's like I said before, you're Equestria's greatest, most amazing, most interesting mentor ever, and I could never have learned all this if it wasn't for you." Wordlessly, Silverstream reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the geode, the two halves put back together. "You're like this geode," Silverstream said as she showed it to Maud. "While to some, you may seem boring and unassuming on the outside, but on the inside..." she separated the two halves, showing the crystals within. "...You sparkle."
Maud smiled softly, her eyes watering up ever so slightly. "Thank you for those kind words, Silverstream, you have no idea how much that meant to me."
"You're welcome," Silverstream smiled back.
"We should probably get you back to your school now," Maud said after their little exchange of words. "Your teachers must be worried sick."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Silverstream agreed before the two of them started walking toward the school.
Soon, the school of friendship came into view, and Silverstream had never been more happy to see it. It felt like a lifetime had passed since she first left with Maud on mentor day, and with everything that had happened, she was just glad to be back. The front doors burst open as they approached the school, with Headmare Twilight running out towards them.
"Oh thank Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed a look of relief on her face. 'We were so worried when you didn't come back yesterday, we thought maybe something bad had happened - we were actually just about to organize a search party to find you."
"Thank you, Twilight," Maud said. "But that won't be necessary, we're here now."
"What happened?" Twilight asked.
"There was a cave-in as we were exploring the mines, we were unharmed, but we had to find a different way out," Maud explained.
"Yeah," Silverstream added. "It was pretty scary for a while there, but Miss Maud had everything under control."
"Well, I'm glad that the two of you are okay," said Twilight. "I better go tell the others that you're alright, so I'll let you be in the meantime," Twilight said to the pair before she quickly raced back towards the school.
"Well, that sure was quite the day," Silverstream said once Twilight was gone.
"It was, wasn't it?" Maud agreed with the hippogriff's words.
"I'm so glad I got to spend the day with you, I learned so much with you as my mentor." Suddenly, Silverstream shot forward and engulfed Maud in a hug, wrapping her forelegs around the mare endearingly. "Thank you so much for all you've done for me," said Silvserstream, "I'm so glad that I got you for a mentor."
With a smile, Maud returned the hug. "You're absolutely welcome, Silvserstream, and I'm glad I was able to get such an amazing mentee as you."
Silverstream smiled right back, pressing into Maud's embrace as she savored this touching moment with her mentor.