Peaceful nights had filled the Pie family rock farm for many moons until one night, Maud Pie and the other residence of the household were awoken suddenly by flashes of thunder and lightning. There wasn’t too much wind outside the two-story cottage moments before the storm came, but when it arrived, it was loud enough to even wake Maud from her slumber, and keep her awake, too. It astoundingly passed only minutes later, the windmill and silo just outside Maud's window always making terrible noises during nighttime showers, but tonight was more daunting than ever. It was the loudest her ears had ever heard it ring, and she’d heard it ring pretty loudly before.
She lifted herself from the bed, and commented, "Sounds like it's headed up the hills."
She stayed like that for a good moment or two, nearly motionless, waiting for the others to go back to sleep. Once the trampling of hooves just beyond her open door was done, she got up. Walking down the halls, she counted in her head how many seconds went by before the noise from the rains had finally stopped outside her window. "It was at least seven or eight seconds."
All Maud wanted to do that night was sleep. In this summer weather, however, she’d first have to settle for a refreshing glass of water. She poured herself a glass, drank, and sat the glass back down on the table for a second more. She stared at it for a good, long while, and then moved it into the just visible moonlight. As the rays danced through the material, it reminded Maud of a certain pony she had been missing. She hadn’t many shiny things nearby to look at save for the crystal mine shaft, but Maud had already requested not to work there through her father.
She breathed while still looking at the glass, maintaining her emotions, and said in monotone, "This is why I don’t like seeing shiny things… They remind me of Rarity."
She blinked, and stared at the glass cup for what must’ve been minutes. In that time, Maud thought back to when she, Rarity and Pinkie Pie had gone to Manehatten to celebrate their yearly Pie Sisters' Surprise Swap Day. She walked away from it after a nervous shake that she hoped nopony would see, but Maud knew better than that. She knew her sister Marble Pie would surely be hiding in the dark somewhere, watching her, wondering what was the meaning behind Maud’s indifferent behavior.
Once the coast was clear, Marble stood from behind the living room sofa after Maud had left, and quietly whispered curiously, "Rarity? Why would Maud be thinking about her?"
The morning to follow started out like all the other mornings that came before. Nopony left the cottage, and nopony got to work outside the building just yet. Not until just when the sun would reach a certain point in the sky. Nopony would even consider looking out a window just yet; that’s how tired they were. After everypony had woken themselves up, gotten some breakfast and were relatively awake, Igneous Rock would normally get every pony informed once outside what their activities and duties for the day were going to be. He wouldn’t even get the chance, though, because once outside, everypony would be too preoccupied with the task presently forced upon them by unforeseen weather. Had Maud known what this day would bring, she wouldn’t have been in so much of a hurry to get to work on the farm.
They all gasped with the entrance door opening, and then left. One after another, hooves sloshed in the mud that also now creeped its way into the cottage itself. It was easier for Maud to get a glimpse at the outside this time around, especially with Blinkie not in her way. Usually, she’d be right in front of Maud, but during the month that these events were taking place, Blinkie was away at the School of Geology getting her degree. She wouldn’t be fortunate enough to bear witness to the startling sight of the farm’s current condition, though perhaps it was better this way for Blinkie. After all, the farm looked like it was redecorated all over again for Hearth's Warming Eve.
This time, however, it was decorated instead with mud and many tinier, varying gems and diamonds coating nearly all of the Pie family’s soil. Rather than the traditional dull, huge crystals that were dug out from the crystal shaft, the farm was painted with more color than ever. Some were a deeper blue while others were a brighter red. Regardless, all of it was perhaps a bit too brilliant, especially for Maud who had to rub her eyes. Considering Blinkie’s reaction the last time the farm was altered without her permission, this incident would’ve surely upset her had she been there. Some of the mud had even intruded upon Holder’s Boulder.
The good thing to come out of this was that each and every single gemstone held great amounts of value, and could be traded or sold for a wealthy profit. Otherwise, Igneous would’ve likely been even more on edge about the ill timed landslide. As compared with what they had traditionally done for such an important holiday, it wasn’t anywhere near as professional looking. It was utterly messier than ever thanks to all the dirt slung nearly everywhere, but the colors bouncing every which direction almost made up for that, and settled everypony’s nerves. Everypony except for Maud.
She wasn’t prepared to see what she saw that day, and immediately started backing away from the sight as best she could, but with Igneous right behind her blocking Maud's path, she had no choice but to proceed towards the front of the cottage. Everypony except for Maud kept looking all around themselves. Even Maud's father spoke up. "This must be from last night's storm," he commented.
Maud nodded to herself, but nevertheless caught Igneous Rock’s attention. He looked at her, waiting for her to say something about this. Anything, really. “Well,” Maud began, but what came out of her mouth was something she rarely allowed her family to see. That was emotion. “It… certainly is pretty.”
It was because of that response, and the way she behaved that everypony became concerned for Maud, but her parents didn’t dare to even try and find out what was troubling her, not even her father. He knew his daughter well enough to leave things be sometimes, and he figured this might definitely be one of those times. With a short grunt, he began to instruct everypony on what to do. “Right, well,” He said. “Maud… You and Inkie can start gathering all these valuables using one of the wooden wheelbarrows. You should know not to worry about picking up each one individually. Just scoop the mud up, and deliver it to the shed where we’ll sort it all out using sifters.”
Cloudy Quartz was already on her way, saying with a small smile, “I’ll get everything ready. Been too long since we used the bigger sets of sifters.”
It appeared to everypony there that Maud’s mere reaction alone triggered a sudden, small burst of emotion within everypony. It was so slight, and so subtle that nopony had quite realized it yet, but Igneous saw his wife’s grin, and also heard Marble speak to Maud about something. What that something was, he didn’t hear. He had too much on his plate to worry about at the time, and couldn't concentrate enough to listen for much longer. All he did hear was, “I heard you talking last night about…” Everything after that was a muffle. Not to say that he wasn’t concerned much, but Igneous again knew not to intrude in Maud’s business unless he absolutely felt that he had to.
Meanwhile, under an ancient sun that hardened the glistening ground quickly, Maud walked onward. Her sister had brought up what she’d heard the previous night, and was now silent as ever. Marble had only recently been speaking up, and Maud was only now starting to suspect that this might be because of Big Mac. She thought hard about how to respond to the statement, extending the walk greatly. Then, after they’d finally filled the wheelbarrow and were about ready to head back, Maud responded, “Rarity’s a friend of mine.”
All Marble had to do was nod, and smile to get her sister to continue talking. She could’ve talked about how she already remembered Maud telling her about Rarity, or that she wanted to know if this Rarity had anything to do with Maud’s recent behavior, but no. Marble simply kept silent and listened, hopeful that all these things would just come naturally.
“I’ve told you about how we met, and about the time I was in Manehatten with her. She found herself a new store, and… Well… I don’t know what else to say.”
Marble asked, “She just had a strong impact on you, huh?”
Maud nodded back, and stopped shoveling once their load was completely full. Maud mentioned to her sister, “I want to do something to show Rarity that I really do consider her a close friend of mine.”
Marble came up to the entrance to the barn to drop off what they had picked up, and to get another wheelbarrow. Igneous and Cloudy Quartz would be ready to begin sifting by then, so very little time was wasted all around. Upon leaving once again, and all alone, Marble made the suggestion to her sister, “You said she likes shiny things, right?”
Maud nodded. “She does likes diamonds…”
“Why not send her one?”
Maud stopped, and looked down at the sparkling mud piling the edges of where she’d cleaned up the first go around. “That’s… not a bad idea,” she said simply as ever. “But, which one?”
She left Marble with that question, and didn’t say anything else until they had completed their task. Even then, it was just her letting Igneous know that they were now available to begin sifting the jewels from the dirt. the two sisters didn’t bring it up again that evening, and it wouldn’t be until tomorrow that Maud would have her answer.