Maud Pie on Line One
“Trixie, who do we have on the line today?” Starlight smiled at her friend in anticipation.
“We have Maud on line one.”
Maud? Starlight’s eyebrows lifted. “Well, let’s get right to that, then.” Starlight pressed the button to connect the call. “Hello, Maud. I’m listening.”
“Hi, Starlight. The reason I’m calling is some disagreements with my boyfriend.”
“Oh?” Starlight frowned. “And what sort of disagreements?”
“Well, Mudbriar wants to go to a lumberjack protest next Tuesday, but that’s the same day as a geode show in Appleloosa.”
“I’m sorry, just out of curiosity’s sake, what are a bunch of lumberjacks protesting and what has Mudbriar interested in supporting them?”
“I misspoke. The lumberjacks are cutting down a section of the White Tail Woods and Mudbriar wants to go and protest.”
“Uh…huh.”
“He’s very good at writing protest chants. Do you want to hear one?”
“NO!” Starlight blurted out the refusal and quickly covered her mouth. “I mean, no, thank you, that’s rather off-topic. Back to such, I’m getting that the conflict is you’re not sure which activity to go to?”
“I want to support Mudbriar, but I also don’t want to miss the geode show, I go every year. It’s the most exciting rock event in the entire southwest.”
Starlight sighed. “We can’t allow Mudbriar to take you away from that party, can we?” She ignored Trixie’s snickering as she adjusted her headphones. “Perhaps what you need to do is just be honest with him about your conflict.”
“I have.”
“And?”
“He doesn’t want to miss the protest, either.”
Starlight held up her hooves. “Perhaps the easy solution is best then – you could each attend the event you like and just not spend the day together. Is that an option?”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful, glad I could help.” Starlight reached to the cut call button and tapped it. “Trixie, I think that one was a bit of a softball, how about something more befitting my talents as a problem resolver?” She smirked.
Trixie smirked back. “Sure. We have Maud on line two.”
“Huh?” Starlight reached to the switchboard and tapped the button. “Hello?”
“Hi, Starlight. There’s something I could use help with.”
“Oh?”
“I’m worried one of my friends may be trying to get me to break up with my boyfriend.”
Starlight frowned. “Why would you say that?”
“They told me I should go to the geode show without Mudbriar.”
“Maud, I only said that to try and solve your problem!” Starlight protested. “I would never try to split you up from Mudbriar, I know how happy he makes you!”
“I was talking about Sunburst.”
Starlight blinked. “Oh… um, well that’s another matter.”
“Why?”
“To be honest, I’m just not comfortable being part of this, Sunburst is my oldest friend and he’s entitled to his opinion. I’m not going to denounce him on-air like you’re prompting me to.”
“So you agree with him?”
“No!”
“You agree with me?”
“NO!”
“You seem a bit confused about the situation, Starlight. Should I start over?”
“NO!” Starlight rubbed her hoof to her head. “Maud, this is why I ask callers to use an alias, so any personal biases I may have on them from my own relationships with them can be taken off the table, and I can give them my fair, unfiltered opinion. If I didn’t know I was talking to you about Mudbriar and Sunburst, I might very well see things entirely different and could be honest with you about my thoughts without feeling guilty over taking sides. You see?”
“That sounds reasonable. Goodbye.”
The drone of a dead line filled the airwaves. Starlight groaned and cut the call. “Apologies to our listeners for that tirade. Trixie, let’s go back to the easy ones. Who do we have?”
“We have May on line three.”
“Great.” Starlight pressed the button.
“Hi, Starlight. My name is May.”
Starlight barely had the strength to keep her head from falling forward to slam on her desk as she heard Maud’s voice in her headphones. “Yes?”
“I’m worried I may have upset my friend Stardust.”
Starlight struggled to stay calm. “Why say that?”
“I asked her for opinions on my relationship with my boyfriend Mudbramble, and I asked her to take sides between me and her friend Sunlight.”
“And how did she react to that?”
“I think I may have confused her.”
“I’m sure she’s not the only one,” Starlight muttered.
“I’d like to tell her that I’m sorry and I didn’t mean to get her involved in a spat like this. I’m willing to do anything it takes to make amends and repair our friendship.”
Starlight’s angry expression softened. “Well, Mau-May, I’m sure in her heart, she already knows and appreciates your concern. That’s enough for her.”
“I’d also like to invite her to a geode show with me.”
“I think that may be taking it too far.”