"We should have a picnic.' Said Maud. Starlight looked up from her books, and blinked a bit to clear the work haze from her head. They were deep in a study date in the castle library, and quite well nested in a quiet corner. Maud was following up on a hunch about geothaumic fields, wild crystal growth, and geovore distribution. Starlight had been compiling a list of spontaneous manifestations of harmonic magic and looking for a pattern, pausing only occasionally to steal glances at her friend. In her opinion, Maud Pie lost in the throes of scholarship was one of the most adorable things in the universe. And a little feeding of an unrequited crush was harmless. Maud's non-sequitur was the first time one of them had talked in hours, working together in companionable silence.
"A picnic?" Starlight was definitely still a bit book drunk, and only half paying attention. Should she count miracle foals or not? On the one hoof it was a legitimate and well documented magical phenomenon. On the other, half the time it turned out to be a bad marriage and the lonely neighbor. Depending on the ratio, it could be more junk data than help. Maybe limit it to medically documented cases and interspecies hybrids? "Sounds fun, who else are you inviting?"
"Just you."
"Oh! Heh heh. Sorry, I just assumed...I mean it's been awhile." Starlight brushed her mane to cover her embarrassment. "I thought you'd at least invite Mud Briar." Great job Starlight, that was in no way awkward.
"He wouldn't come even if I wanted to ask him. We broke up a month ago. It would be too painful." Maud delivered that bombshell in exactly the tone she'd used to comment on the weather, leaving Starlight slack jawed.
"What? But...Maud, why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say anything?" She knew that Maud was stoic, everypony knew Maud was stoic, but this was a bit much. She searched her friend's face for a change in expression, to no avail.
"At first I was too sad. He was very sweet and I liked him very much." Starlight bit her tongue at her friend's insane tastes. Especially since, in all honesty, she probably counted as an 'insane taste' herself. Best not to go down that road. "He liked me too. So it was very painful for both of us that it didn't work out. And later I didn't want to bother anypony else with my troubles."
At that Starlight pulled Maud into a hug. "Maud, I'm sorry. And you should know you can always talk to me okay? You're my best friend, you're not a bother." And Harmony petrify it, this was not the time to be noticing Maud's muscles under her leg, or how warm she felt. Bad Starlight! Maud needs reassurance, stop crushing. Celestia but I'm such a terrible friend.
Maud leaned lightly against Starlight, and brushed their cheeks together for a moment. "Thank you. Boulder said you would say that. I should have listened." Starlight rolled her eyes, and hugged her closer. Maud turned to look her in the eyes. "You always know what to say. It means alot."
Starlight blushed and looked away. "Well, it's not really a big deal is it?" Maud's eyes were like star sapphires and it was not helping.
"It is." Maud brushed her cheek again, and the small touch made Starlight shiver. She really hoped Maud hadn't noticed. Bad Starlight! "You're very special to me. Which is why we should have a picnic. Just us. I want to show you something special."
Starlight scooted away, blushing furiously. "Yes picnic date good. I mean yes, you would be great! I mean..." Starlight closed her eyes and shook her head. She took a deep breath. Wonderful, smoothest unicorn in Equestria. She suppressed the instinctive memory spell forming on her horn. "Can we just pretend the last ten seconds didn't happen? I'd love to go on a picnic with you."
Maud nodded and then, as if nothing of note had just happened, turned and went back to her studies. Starlight's head, meanwhile, was a whirl. Get a grip! She didn't mean it that way. Did she? She's only been single a month. It's been a whole month! I know she also likes mares, but that doesn't mean she's into me. Oh Cadence in whipped cream I need to get it together. The butterflies settled in her stomach, and refused to leave for the remained of the evening.
Starlight trudged up the rocky path after Maud, composing increasingly dire imprecations to the Princesses in her head. So much for subtle romantic overtures. She was hot, sweaty, and had had nothing to do for the past half hour but stare either at the ground or the obnoxiously toned backside of the mare in front of her. Not that she'd ordinarily mind such a thing. But that was before the hike, and flies, and the Quarry Eel. And Maud was many things, most of them great qualities Starlight would happily expound upon at length. But 'loquacious' was not one of them. At least the path was leveling out, running along the base of a sudden rock face that Jutted smoothly from the ground.
"We're here" said Maud.
Oh thank Celestia, thought Starlight, and threw herself and the picnic supplies to the ground. "Great! We're here! It's lovely! Where's here?"
"My favorite thrust fault. It's called Flourishing Little Bear for the discoverer. But I call her Ursa Minor."
"...Right." Starlight's stomach sank. A rock. Of course Maud had wanted to show her a rock. It wasn't like that was her life's passion or anything like that. Stupid Starlight. "It's very...nice" she managed to get out. Darn it just because you're, alright, crushing on her something fierce, that doesn't mean she has to like you back. She wanted to show you something special to her. Try to be happy about that. She put on what was, she hoped, an interested smile. "So this is your favorite thrust fault? What's special about it?"
"Come over here." Starlight struggled to her hooves and trotted over to where Maud stood, hoof resting on the cliff face. "I've been told that my jargon can be a bit thick. So I'll use layman's terms."
"Well that's not necessary really, but thanks" said Starlight, mentally giving a sigh of relief. She got enough of that from Twilight, and she didn't want to have to drink another textbook to follow along. The ink tasted awful, the information was temporary, and it ruined a perfectly good book.
Maud raised an eyebrow at her.
"Okay fine, you got me. But I do try to follow along."
"It's okay. My degree isn't for nothing. You know magic. I know rocks. But I want to show you some of it." Starlight nodded. "So put your hoof on mine and cast Cadance's Magical Mingling."
"I...but...what" Starlight was blushing beet red now. Princess Cadance had indeed published many original spells. But their compilation, "The Most Special Spellbook", was most often sold in plain black covers and would never be carried in a public library. Never mind that she had it memorized, or why, how did Maud know about it?
"I want you to be able to sense what I do when I touch the stone." Maud looked down. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
Oh, right. That was what that spell was for wasn't it. "No, no it's okay. I'm just a bit on edge now, that's all. Just give me a minute." She put her hoof on Maud's, and started to cast. It's alright, she told herself. Sure it's a spell from the most infamous book of love magic known to ponykind. And yes, it was specifically meant for couples of mixed races to explore each other's magic and become more comfortable with each other. And yes, if Maud has read The Most Special Spellbook she knows that. But it's still just practical.
The tingling of casting transmuted to a low pulsing hum as it completed, and Starlight's senses expanded in a rush. Through Maud, the thrust fault was no longer simply a cliff. She could feel the fault itself, a deep cleft in the earth extending beyond her new vision.
"Not so deep yet" said Maud, and she felt the magic concentrate on the stone in front of her. Before her eyes, it all sprang forward in sharp focus. The subtle variations of mineral color stood out like a secret rainbow, hidden patterns of crystal structure and weathering visible plain as day.
"It's beautiful" she gasped. "This is how you see things all the time?"
"When I focus. There's more if you use touch." A shift, and she could feel the layers of stone. The water flowing between them. There was a subtle flex of power Starlight didn't quite understand, and the flow changed. The cliff face gleamed wetly, and there was a bubbly whistle as a tiny spring began to flow along the fault cleft. Well, thought Starlight, that's not suggestive at all. Or maybe I've just got a dirty mind. She looked at Maud, and could have sworn she saw the faintest of smiles on her face. She grinned back.
"Now we go deeper" Maud said, and their minds plunged into the ground. Time seemed to slow, and there was a seemingly endless moment floating together in the dark folds of the earth.
"Can you feel the power here?" Maud said in her ear, her voice actually soft and reverent.
"Yes." Starlight could, a deep and trembling energy built up far below them, rising around them, deep and flowing. It pulsed along the line of the fault with a strangely pleasant ache.
"It's the geothaumic energy. It accumulates in places like this. It even can react, with the right kind of stimulus."
"Mmm." I probably shouldn't be enjoying this quite so much, Starlight thought, or leaning into her. Or is she leaning into me?
"The most interesting thing about a thrust fault" Maud continued, her breath hot in Starlight's ear, "is how they form. Stone seems eternal and unchanging. But it isn't. Over time tension builds. Two great forces running together. The energy rises. It's desperate for release."
And Starlight gasped as Maud nibbled her ear, expertly caressing it with her tongue.
Oh, she thought, as a dizzy thrill ran all through her body, this is really happening.
"Starlight," said Maud, turning Starlight's head to face her, "make me an earthquake."