Interesting Development from New Episode · 4:32am Apr 3rd, 2016
No, this episode did not make me like Maud--you'll get me to eat pickled beets without puking before you get me to like her. 
I just watched the episode because A) I want to watch all the episodes of MLP at least once, and B) I wanted to see more of Manehattan so that I have a better idea of what Tomato sees every day.
Speaking of Tomato, this episode brought up something that made a little something going on with Tomato in Brotherly Bonding Time actually plausible!
Maud Sense.
It surprised me that she apparently has that... and can perform offscreen teleportation. And she's not a party pony.
Granted, I did have Ponyacci say that everypony has a little bit of party pony within them (after all, we've seen the occasional cartoonish nonsense from the other members of the Mane Six, a bunch from Spike, and several other non-party ponies), but it's interesting to note.
Now, if you've been reading Brotherly Bonding Time, you may have noticed that Tomato's been doing some pretty weird things lately. Aside from the absurd dexterity and liberal use of his tail (can be explained away by excess of magic within it), we have:
~ His apparent ability to keep his mane straight out of sheer will (come on, hair gel wouldn't realistically last that long on the Sandwich Summer Vacation), only to be defied with a simple tug of his forelock
~ Swallow food whole with little trouble (and he fit a lot of pizza slices in his mouth once).
~ Pulled a pocket watch he apparently didn't own out of his pocket once
~ Where the heck does he store the books he's reading?
~ His entire escape sequence from Chapter 11.5
~ Need I mention the caffeine rush in Our Town?
Some of these you could explain away with other things, but I don't think that caffeine rush can be so easily explained away (especially after what had literally been said just before he dumped that coffee down his throat). Or, you could just say that I'm taking a cartoon way too seriously.
But, yeah, I have been writing Tomato as sort of a "repressed party pony" for a long time (mainly because he represents what I think could have happened to Cheese had he stayed in Manehattan), with his proximity to Cheese making it act up a bit more than usual. Heck, had things gone differently, Tommy may have been the party pony instead of Cheese. I have been worrying that Tomato would be "breaking the rules" about how nonsense magic like that works, and that because he was "destined" for his talent that it's not possible for him to possess what I like to call "jester magic."
And then Maud Pie of all ponies gives Tomato a bit of credibility. Weird.
Aaaaand, that's it for my insane ramblings. Here, have a cute picture. 
Oddly enough, I saw it as confirming my SWSV fanon about Pinkie and Maud being full sisters to one another but only half-sisters to Limestone and Marble. Though really, I'm the only one casting Pinkie as a full-on Messiah and Maud as her Champion, and I can't really expect anyone else to go there. And good luck on there being a fifth, giant invisible eight-headed Pie Sister!
Under the more plausible vanilla canon, I'm guessing that this may be a Pie family thing, maybe the reason the Choosing Stone approved of Igenous and Cloudy? That their daughters in general have special destinies and powers? Of course we've seen no sign of any special powers involving Limestone and Marble -- but then we haven't had any episodes other than "Hearth Breakers" that really focused on them.
I also think that it's interesting that both Maud and Pinkie have familiars -- Boulder and Gummy respectively. I think that Boulder is sapient and able to communicate in some way with other rock formations. I think that this implies some interesting things about the MLP world, but remember that in G1 there was a sapient mountain. Gummy, of course, is clearly sapient -- we've heard his internal monologue (in "Slice of Life").
I actually like Maud Pie. I think she's an utterly-hilarious and brilliant monomaniac, and as I like geology I'd love to talk to her about it sometime. I don't think if I lived in that world I'd necessariy want to marry her, but I think I'd want to be her friend. Maud's apparently-creepy and emotionless, but underneath that is quite loving and loyal to the few Ponies she really cares about -- and top of that list is Pinkie Pie.
I wouldn't ship her with Tommy, though.
Maud seems to be so straight-laced as to approach zaniness from the other side. That or, like the Maud Sense, she can channel party pony magic in the defense of her party pony sister. After all, her Sense appears to detect ways to make Pinkie feel better, which would also explain how she picks out such great gifts. (Of course, another part of that is Pinkie's love and receptiveness. Maud could give her a dish towel ad she'd think it was the best thing ever.)
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Eh, my headcanon doesn't limit this whole mysterious cartoon magic thing to the Pies. I like most of them, but I don't want to give them special treatment by saying they're the only family who can develop "special senses" for whatever specific thing. Probably one of the few families who have it likely being a genetic trait, instead of randomly popping up in one child like most other families.
My 'verse has it be a part of the Sandwiches too, with it being suppressed because Mozzarella has probably figured out what's going on and does everything she can to stop her sons from turning into "freaks" (especially since they live in Manehattan, and you saw how the city ponies reacted to Pinkie being Pinkie). Heck, I can imagine it being a reason for little Cheese being so shy--Mom probably hammered it in so much that when he was picked on for his hair and glasses on his first day of school, his imagination went wild with what would happen if he used his crazy abilities.
On a side note, it kind of adds another layer to Cheese's jealousy of Tomato--Cheese acts weird, he gets teased by his classmates; Tomato acts weird, he gets lauded by his. That's oughta sting, especially since Tomato's younger, he didn't have as much pressure to be normal.
The powers went dormant as he sunk deeper in the hole, only getting reactivated when he saw Pinkie and realized that perhaps he could use that magic to do what she does. Then he went off to Ponyacci to learn some tricks and get an idea on how to use it better and direct it to a specific purpose, then later started traveling in order to refine his prowess, and BAM! You've got a party pony.
And meanwhile, Tomato suddenly has more pressure to act normal (which he goes along with because A) he got depressed and B) was later pretty angry with Cheese and wanted to spite him in an indirect way), while also simultaneously receiving pressure to be perfect . He's not as good at controlling the magic as Cheese is, as it tends to leak out (or outright explodes when coffee is thrown in the mix). He needs to find a specific purpose for it, lest it keep using him as part of a joke.
Pfft, imagine Tomato with a "Tommy Sense". I wonder what would trigger it.
But, anyway, I don't limit it to the Pies--I've been writing Tomato with his suppressed crazy too long to accept that, and learning to balance that with his business talent is part of his character arc in Brotherly Bonding Time.
On another note, I think Maud Sense works as some sort of seismic sense, kind of like Toph's. That's my guess.