//------------------------------//
// Rock Solid Friendship 
// Story: A New Hero 
// by Alex The Lone Wolf 
//------------------------------//

"Huh? There's like no one here." Athena mentioned as we came across  what appeared to be the school that was holding the graduation. "Are you  sure we're at the right place?"

I took a look at the invitation I  had been holding and double-checked the location details on it. "I'm  pretty sure it is." I spent a while searching for some kind of  indication on the building and eventually found some engraved letters  that matched way too closely to the exterior color of the surface.  "Equestrian Institute of Rockology. Yeah, this is it." I read.

"Are you sure it's today?" She asked next.

"Yeah. It has to be." I answered, despite feeling a little doubt linger by.

"Why didn't Pinkie just come with us?" Athena questioned a little frustratedly. "I mean, we're going to the same place, right?"

"She  took an earlier train back home to her rock farm." I explained. "She  has family there, remember? She should be coming here with them."

"…I  guess…" Athena responded with slightly puffed out cheeks before she  turned her attention to the empty chairs in front of the barren stage.  "Let's go sit down and wait then."

Athena and I sat at the front  on the leftmost side and waited quietly. Honestly, it was a little hard  imagining a student coming to school here, considering how barren  everything around us was. It was like a desert…but a rock desert.  Judging from the number of seats that were laid out in front of the  stage, it didn't look like many students were lined up to graduate. How  many students were there anyway?

"I can't see myself coming to school here." Athena opened up the floor for discussion. "It seems so…boring."

"That  reminds me. You've never officially met Maud, have you?" I recalled.  "You've seen her, but I don't think I've introduced you two."

"Er…"  Athena shifted in her seat a bit uncomfortably. "…you…um…don't really  have to introduce me or anything. I'm not sure how I'd be able  to…'connect'…with her. I've seen some of your conversations with her and  man… It's just so awkward! Like how do you not feel weird when she just looks at you without saying anything? It can be really intimidating sometimes."

"It looks that way, but once you get to know her, you get used to it, I guess."

"Maybe when I'm a lot more advanced in my friendship lessons, I'll think about it, kay?" She settled on.

Well, I didn't want to force her to do something she didn't want to do anyway.

"Hey!" We heard behind us. "We're here! We're here!"  Turning our heads, we came across a family of, quite frankly, mundane  colors. However, Pinkie was the only exception, of course. "Everypony,  meet my two good friends! Mr. Blue here is a super wealthy and royal  prince that lives with us in Ponyville! His name is Alex!"

"…wealthy?" I questioned, but I was completely ignored as she moved on to my sister.

"And this  is Athena!" Pinkie stretched out her foreleg and hung it around Athena,  pulling her in for a tight embrace. "She's super sweet and a great  friend to bake with!"

Athena appeared to be a little too surprised  by Pinkie's enthusiasm that she couldn't really give out a proper  hello, but it wasn't necessarily a problem since Pinkie was quick to  excitedly move on to introducing the rest of her family.

I know I  had heard about them before, and I already had an image in my head  before Athena and I even came here. However, meeting them for real like  this, I still couldn't help but be a little surprised. All of them were  just so different from Pinkie. Her father looked so serious, it  almost gave me flashbacks of the father I grew up with. Her mother  nearly looked as if she was genuinely annoyed to be standing in front of  us, and I would've believed that she was against the idea of attending  this graduation if it wasn't for the rare brief moments she would show  some bit of emotion. Her sisters, on the other hoof, were extremely  different from both their parents and Pinkie in their own way.

One  of them made sure to make a convincing approach as if she was trying to  assert her dominance in the group. Never once did a smile draw out on  her lips and never once did her brow unfurrow. Her name was Limestone  Pie. To be honest, after taking a glance at Athena to catch her  reaction, I believed she may have been slightly afraid of Limestone.

Then  there was the last of Pinkie's sisters. She was extremely quiet and  reserved. In fact, she looked as if she wanted to escape out of  introducing herself to us, but Pinkie happily dragged any part of her  that managed to somewhat slip away back into the conversation. She  didn't say a word as she stared at the two of us with a quivering head.  Pinkie actually began speaking on her behalf as if it was the norm. Her  name was Marble Pie.

I was actually afraid that Marble Pie may  have possibly been a mute, but then she surprised the two of us when she  agreed to Pinkie's commentary on her behalf with a soft yet slightly  firm "Mm-hm." Having an extraordinarily vast amount of experience when  it came to a shy personality of a pony, I was sure that Marble and I  could actually get along, especially when comparing her to her brash and  slightly vulgar sister Limestone. However, seeing as this may be the  only time we might actually see each other, I didn't look too much into  establishing a friendship with her just yet.

Overall, just like  with Maud, Pinkie's family seemed like some genuinely nice and caring  ponies, even if they didn't necessarily show it. After all, if Pinkie  thought they were amazing, I was willing to take her word on it.

With  all of us, we took up the entirety of the front row of seats, but  things grew even stranger shortly afterwards. No other pony had shown  up, and only two ponies appeared on stage. One was Maud, and the other  was the announcer going through the process of giving Maud her degree.

I didn't know whether to believe it was completely circumstantial that Maud was the only  one at the time who was graduating, or if she was literally the only  student who attended this school. At this time, I couldn't lie and say I  was worried about how serious her degree and studies would be taken.

Nevertheless,  her graduation was rather a short one for obvious reasons. In fact, the  only thing that kept it lively was Pinkie's constant screaming. Other  than that, it was your standard "Congratulations on making it this far.  Here's your diploma." kind of deal.

It wasn't long before we were  gathered at the train station where Maud began to ditch her graduation  gear. The two sisters waved goodbye to their families before they  accompanied us on the train back to Ponyville. To be honest, I found it a  bit strange, especially since the last time I remembered her being in  Ponyville was when she met us for the first time.

"So, Maud. If  you don't mind me asking… What are you planning to do now that you're  finished with school?" I asked, sitting on the seat in front of her  inside the train.

"Actually, I was considering moving to Ponyville." She answered in her usual deadpan tone.

Pinkie  gasped immediately afterward. "You are?! Really really?!" She tugged at  Maud's clothes tightly with her two front hooves as she stared at her  with an over-the-top grin.

Maud nodded a bit slowly. "It was actually a really tough decision. I was also considering Ghastly Gorge."

"Ghastly  Gorge?" Pinkie's lips curled downwards in both surprise and disgust.  "That terrible, awful, no-fun, all-alone canyon in the middle of  nowhere? Why in Equestria would you ever think about moving there?!  You'd be all by yourself!"

"And that's exactly why I decided on  Ponyville." Maud responded before casting her head down a bit. "As much  as I would have loved studying the unfamiliar rocks there, I wasn't  really looking forward to being alone…" Unexpectedly, Maud turned her  expressionless gaze over at me. "I had a good time at Manehattan, and I  thought if I actually moved to Ponyville…there'd be a lot more  opportunities to enjoy myself as I did then…"

Her stare remained  fixated on me, and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to personally address  it or not. Somewhat fortunately, Pinkie Pie grabbed the spotlight above  me by the neck and focused it on her as she excitedly lurched over to  her sister.

"Are you kidding?! You'll make ALL kinds of  good memories in Ponyville! I'm so glad you're moving home with us!  We'll live together and get bunk beds and I'll make us fuzzy slippers  that say 'Best Sister Friends Forever', although I probably can't fit  all those words on a slipper, so maybe just 'BSFF', but we don't have to  decide right now because we'll be together all the time since when it  comes to Ponyville, the doctor is in!"

Contrary to her  continuously babbling sister, Maud's facial features remained unmoved.  "I don't mind living together at first, Pinkie, but I would like to find  a place of my own sometime."

"No problem! That's A-Okay! I'm just  glad that we'll be living so close together! It's been so long since  we've been in the same town for more than a few days!"

As Maud and  Pinkie continued their conversation, I noticed Athena giving me a sort  of an attentive look in the middle of it. It was the kind of look you  gave someone when you wanted their attention but didn't exactly want to  say anything to merit it. As soon as we had been looking directly at  each other, her brow lightly furrowed, and I began hearing a distinct  voice in my head.

I don't want to have to talk like this, but I  didn't want there to be a chance in anyone else hearing this. I kind of  want to talk to Maud, but just looking at her is hard enough. Like, I  can pretty much tell how she feels, but having that blank and  expressionless face right on the forefront makes things so awkward. Have  you ever been in a situation where you know someone loves you but at  times you feel they might hate your guts? It's kind of like that. How do  you do it? How do you not get even a bit scared when Maud just stares  at you as if she finds you extremely boring or something?

Uh.  That's a hard question to answer. I just feel comfortable around her, I  guess? I think what helped was that she sort of made a good first  impression on me personally. When she had made that joke about her dress  not talking because it's a dress, I knew this pony was something  entirely else in a good way. In other words, she definitely seemed like  somepony I could get along with, despite the unfamiliar personality.

Hm.  I guess I'm a little late to the party, huh? I wonder if things would  have been different if we both had met her face-to-face at the same  time.

Well, not that I'm forcing you to do anything, but  since she's moving to Ponyville, you could always try starting something  to get to know her. That's if you're interested though.

Heh heh. Maybe.

With that last remark, Athena returned a short and simple smile.

"Ooh!  Why didn't you guys tell me you were having a staring contest?!" Pinkie  exclaimed, snapping our attention back to them almost immediately.  "Maud and I love that game! She always beats me every time though…"

As  Pinkie thought to herself for a short moment, I ironically noticed Maud  holding a fixated stare over at her, and it seemed she hadn't blinked  at all for the last few minutes.





"What  do you want to do first, Maud?!" Pinkie asked as she eagerly hopped  past the train station after we had arrived back in Ponyville. "Since  this is officially your first day here in Ponyville, I was thinking we  could throw you a 'Congrats on graduating and moving to Ponyville with  your Best Sister Friend Forever' party! Of course, it's a shame it won't  really be a surprise because I love surprises. But,  you can definitely help me bake the cake and set up the decorations!  It'll give us so much sister bonding time! Oh…but it isn't exactly party  etiquette if the pony the party is for is helping set up the party  itself…" Pinkie gave her head a good shake after making her lengthy  suggestion before stopping in her tracks and facing Maud directly.  "You're the smarty pants doctor here, Maud. It's your choice to make!"

"I wouldn't mind a party." Maud simply answered. "But, I'd like it if we just kept it between us."

"Aaah."  Pinkie returned a bit of a cheeky yet playful kind of smirk as she  pulled a clipboard out of her mane and began making notes on it. "No  problemo. After all, if the whole town was invited, we wouldn't really  get to focus our time together on each other, huh? Totally cool. Small  party. Got it. And for your cake? Type of frosting? Color? Size? Do you  want number candles or stick candles that make out the numbers? Wait.  That's for birthdays. Well, it doesn't matter! It's your big day, so  whatever you want is fine with me!"

"Surprise me." Maud calmly replied.

"In  that case, I'll make the most amazing cake you'll ever lay your taste  buds on!" Pinkie promised as she scribbled hastily on her clipboard. "We  can start heading over to Sugarcube Corner right now! If you see  anything that catches your eye, you can let me know and I'll be sure to  work some of my Pinkie magic!"

Pinkie began to continue to hop forward at a lively pace, but Maud's response froze her in place for a short moment.

"Actually, I was interested in checking out that gem cave you told me Ponyville has, Pinkie."

"Oh, sure! But, what about your party?" Pinkie asked.

"Hey,  you said it yourself, didn't you?" Athena spoke up, walking over to  Pinkie Pie. "It's not really 'party etiquette' if the pony you're  throwing the party for is helping you set up for said party. Why don't  you let her explore the cave while we get the party together?"

"Excellent  idea, Athena!" Pinkie praised with a satisfied smile. "Can I count on  you to help make this one of the best parties ever for our newly  graduated doctor?"

"I always love a good party." Athena  enthusiastically accepted with a bright closed-eye grin. "Especially  when I get to eat some of the sweets beforehoof."

Pinkie Pie and  Athena bumped hooves with each other before Pinkie giggled giddily to  herself in excitement. "Then, it's settled! Ooh, I can't wait!" She then  turned over to Maud. "Okay, Maud. You go on ahead, and I'll let you  know when we're done if you haven't stopped by Sugarcube Corner by then.  The cave is pretty dark and is a little spooky at times, so you should  definitely take Alex with you! You wouldn't want to be by yourself,  right?"

Maud faced her attention over to me for a short while before she turned back to Pinkie Pie. "Mm-hm." She nodded and said softly.

"Great!  Come on, Athena! It's time to embark on an everlasting quest to make  Maud the bestest cake she'll ever have the pleasure of eating!" Pinkie  encouraged as she began to make a dash for her bakery.

"Right behind you, Pinkie!" Athena accepted as she raced after Pinkie, leaving Maud and me on our own.

Maud  and I turned towards each other, and she only revealed an expected  unreadable expression on her face to me. I honestly wasn't expecting for  things to turn out the way they did, but I did have the day  open for Maud for her graduation. So, there wasn't any problem with the  plans that were just made on the spot a moment ago.

"Guess we should get going, huh?" I asked.

"Sure." She answered with a slightly raised pitch in her voice.





Maud  and I strapped on hardhats and began wandering the gem cave with our  attached lights practically leading the way. I couldn't remember the  last time I had been in this cave, and if it wasn't for the gems, I most  likely would have felt uncomfortable being in such a dark, quiet, and  fairly narrow place.

Maud's eyes noticeably wandered around as the  light from her helmet followed the direction of her head. As hard as it  still was to tell what exactly had been running through her mind, I  wasn't afraid to ask her about it.

"See any rocks that catch your eye?" I asked.

"Not really." She replied, shifting her focus onto me. "All of these gems on the walls are actually really common."

"Oh,  yeah?" I took a look at the gems for myself. Whether they had actually  been common or not, they were still pretty to look at. "I hope this  isn't making you regret choosing Ponyville over Ghastly Gorge." I  half-joked.

"Rocks aren't the reason why I chose Ponyville." She claimed, analyzing a jagged part of the wall with her hoof.

"I  don't think I ever asked you before, did I?" I brought up, realizing  something I couldn't believe I still hadn't learned about her. "If you  don't mind me asking, what got you into rocks so much? Was it from  working at your family's rock farm when you were little?"

"You  could say that." Maud pulled her attention away from what she had been  studying and turned to face me. "But, that was only the start. After  all, having spent nearly my childhood on a rock farm, I found that each  one of them has a different story to tell." Digging into her pocket, she  pulled out a familiar pebble. "Like Boulder here." She lifted her hoof  and pointed at a particular line on the surface of her pet rock. "This  tells me he's over two thousand years old, but he hardly looks a day  over six hundred to me."

"…wow. You're really smart." I could only  compliment her, seeing as I had nothing else worthy enough to share in  regards to her keen eye. I turned over to glance back at the multitude  of gems surrounding us as she stuffed Boulder back into her pocket. "I  know some ponies can think rocks are just dull and boring, but, I mean, I  think they play a much bigger role than we let on. To be honest, I  don't see myself going as far as to study them as intricately as you do,  but I do definitely find myself appreciating them, especially when you come into the equation. I guess you just have a way of giving 'life' to rocks, so to speak."

"You really think so?" She asked.

"Yeah.  Thinking about it, you can't help but wonder about the stories these  rocks have when you find them all together like this. You have  sapphires, emeralds, rubies, the works. Were they all brought together  like this by some kind of force or something? Or did they just…you  know…happen to be together by coincidence?" After rambling for a bit, I  found myself lightly chuckling. "Sorry, this might be a dumb question  coming from somepony who hardly knows anything about rocks."

Maud  shook her head and averted her eyes to the ground for a moment. "That's  another reason why I like rocks. They don't exclude you if  you're…different from other ponies."

Sensing she had been speaking from experience, I felt the need to address it.

"Well,  different can be good. Life wouldn't be interesting if we were all the  same, right? I definitely wouldn't want to exclude you from my life at  all."

"I know." She slowly nodded and drew a little closer to me.  "That's why I like being with you. You don't ignore me, and you don't  act nice to me just because you feel like you have to be."

"You  know I'm not the only one, right?" I wondered, feeling a little  concerned when it came to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie loves you with all of her  heart, just in case you haven't been able to tell." I smirked lightly.

"I  know. And I feel the same way about her." Maud clarified. "It's  just…she's my sister. It's really nice to have somepony who's like that  and isn't family."

"Yeah, I think I get what you mean."

It  was hard to relate to her completely, considering I sort of experienced  love from friends first before family. However, I supposed Pinkie Pie  fell into the category of loving her sister naturally because she was  family. It was different when it came to ponies that you weren't related  to. In other words, I guess it was more of an accomplishment when it  was some pony you didn't grow up with and thus achieved a friend through  your own social merit, in a sense.

"Anyways, if somepony like me  can appreciate you just the way you are, I'm sure there's other ponies  that'd feel the same." I continued.

"Thanks. But, I'm really happy  just having you around." She admitted, despite her neutral and  untouched facial expression that would say otherwise. Although, even if  her true emotions weren't plastered on her face like they usually would  be with Pinkie, I genuinely felt as if I could feel them touch me  faintly at the very least.

Unexpectedly, she raised her head and began sniffing at the air a little bit.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I smell the breaking of minerals." She faced me and answered. "Somepony else is here. Or, maybe even…something else."

I  was usually able to laugh at her obvious jokes, even when she looked  serious about them. However, during this moment, it was honestly a  little difficult. Her statement could have been easily taken as  something gravely serious. With me knowing that different kinds of  creatures could be definitely lurking underground, I wasn't so confident  to simply brush it off as a joke.

"What do you want to do? Do you want to leave for now?" I questioned her.

"No, it's fine." She responded and began walking forward.

"…if you say so." I returned, finding her vague answer acceptable enough to continue our exploration.

A  short moment after, we found what appeared to be another faint light  ahead of us. Accompanying this light were barely audible sounds. I  wasn't sure in Maud's case, but I decided to cautiously step towards it  until I was able to get a good look at whoever else was also in here  with us.

Once I was in a position where I was able to shine my  light at the slightly darkened figure, I noticed the color of another  hard hat with a bright blue bow on the back of it. After having a quick  glance over her mane and coat, it didn't take more than a second to  figure out who it had been this entire time.

"Oh. Rarity?" I called out.

She  brought her head over her shoulder to have a look behind her before  facing her body towards me completely. "Oh! Why, hello, Alex!" She then  noticed the pony besides me and acknowledged her as well with a small  gasp. "Maud, darling! It's lovely to see you again! Oh! I heard about  your grand accomplishment. Congratulations on your rocktorate. What are  you doing now?"

Realizing what Rarity had just gotten herself  into, I somewhat anxiously tensed my hooves and turned directly over to  Maud in expectation for a piece of her often-misunderstood humor.

Here it comes! Here it comes!

"Talking to you." She delivered after a few seconds of complete and utter silence.

I couldn't help but snicker.

"Oh,  y— Right." Rarity laughed along after taking notice of my reaction, but  I wasn't sure if it sounded a little forced or not. She then cleared  her throat before changing the topic. "Well, if your trained eye happens  to see a chartreuse gem, I'm desperate to find one."

Maud looked to her right for a second before bending down to pick something up.

"I found one."

"Oh,  you're an absolute darling!" Rarity spotted the gem on her hoof and  graciously accepted it with her magic. "Spike?" She looked over her  shoulder and called over. It wasn't long before a small dragon appeared  by her side and held out a basket of acquired gems.

"Oh, Spike's with you?" I questioned, feeling a small sense of relief. "I was hoping you didn't come here by yourself."

"Nonsense."  Rarity dismissed. "Spike is such a dear. He's been helping me for a  while now. I only have to get after him a few times when it looks like  he's ready to snack on a really important gem, which reminds me… Be sure  not to partake in this one, okay, Spike?" She pointed out her newly  attained gem. "This will surely make my gown stand out at Countess  Coloratura's album release party. Do you know how rare this is?"

"That's actually a really common gem." Maud pointed out.

"Huh?" Rarity and Spike returned with a look of confusion on their faces.

Without  turning back, Maud kicked out a piece of the wall with her hindleg.  Behind her, dozens of the same gems poured out. Turning her head  upwards, she lifted her hoof in order to present all the other gems that  surrounded us. "These are all really common gems."

"…they are…?" Rarity lips began to tremble as water leaked out from her eyes.

…uh, she probably didn't need to know that.

"So,  what, right?" I immediately began talking. "Just become they're common  doesn't mean that they won't look great, right?" I approached Rarity and  made an attempt to comfort her. "They don't need to know about that.  I'm sure a lot of the great-looking things sold in Canterlot aren't all  made from rare things."

"…I…I suppose you're right." She seemed to  agree, but I was left unsure if her opinion was based on the need to  cease the tears that were just about ready to come out from her eyes or  if it was what she really thought. "After all, I've many of my dresses  from what once began as really common fabric. I really was  looking forward to using what I thought were rare gems, however…" She  sighed sadly as she spent a moment staring over her basket of collected  gems.

"Don't worry about it." I tried to tell her with confidence. "Just…forget the fact that they're…um…common."

"Alex is right. You still make pretty dresses." Maud added.

"Thank you, you two. Um…I'll keep looking around."

I turned to Maud a bit worriedly before responding to Rarity. "Be safe."

"Mm-hm." She nodded and then faced Spike. "Let's go then, Spike."

The two left in the other direction, leaving me feeling both guilty and awkward with Maud.

"Um." I began as I rubbed the back of my neck a little bit. "You…want to go see how Pinkie's doing with your party?"

"Sure." Maud answered familiarly before we began heading back to the entrance of the cave.





Arriving at Sugarcube Corner, I had to admit that the party wasn't really a party  in my eyes. I didn't know if Pinkie had particular names for  differentiating types of parties, but since no more than four ponies  participated in this event, it was more of a 'get-together' than a party  in my opinion. Nevertheless, it was comfortable enough for Maud, and  each of us spent a good while partaking in the celebration.

As for  a few interesting details, the cake that Pinkie had surprised her  sister with took the appearance of a fairly large rock or boulder. In  other words, the cake had jagged layers, and its color was dull which  went against Pinkie's usual tastes. Despite the exterior color, cutting  inside revealed a chocolatey interior. I was almost afraid that it would  end up being as hard as an actual rock, but thankfully it wasn't.

"That was delish!"  Pinkie commented as she licked away any remaining crumbs on her lips.  "What do you say we call it a day, Maud? It's been such a big day for  you after all. You're probably tired from the crazy graduation ceremony and the train ride over here! How about we get you settled in upstairs?"

"Okay." Maud answered briefly.

"I  guess Athena and I should get going to." I acknowledged as I stood up  from the table we had gathered on. "Thanks for the cake, Pinkie. It was  really good."

"Just wait till Maud's birthday! I'll make an even better cake! Say goodbye, Maud!"

"See  you." Maud stared directly at me as she softly expressed her farewell  before she was practically dragged upstairs by Pinkie.

Athena  shuddered lightly beside me. "It's so uncanny. It's like her emotions  and her actual being are two completely different ponies. I know I can  read emotions pretty well, but, man, I think Pinkie does a way better  job at it when it comes to Maud."

"Yeah." I returned, continuing  to look at the stairway they had used to leave for a moment before I  faced towards Athena. "It's still a little hard for me to read her mind.  All I can really do is just not take her mannerisms too literally, if  you know what I mean."

"Well, since she's going to be staying in  Ponyville, hopefully, I can get used to it as well you are in the near  future." She then lightly nudged me out the door. "Come on! Let's head  back to the castle."





I spent the  rest of the day/night doing the usual, such as hearing about Twilight  and Starlight's day. Other than that, there didn't seem to be anything  out of the ordinarily new. However, things were a bit…different the next  morning.

I had been unexpectedly woken with a monotonous knock on  my door. I had still been somewhat half-asleep as I dragged myself out  of bed to answer it. When I opened the door, it took me some time to  register who the pony in front of me had been.

"Hello." She calmly greeted.

"…Maud?" I rubbed my eyes to make sure I was seeing correctly. "Oh. Uh, hey. What are you doing here? Is something up?"

Maud lifted her head directly upwards and froze it in place for a good while before bringing it back down. "The ceiling."

"Oh.  Yeah. Heh." Usually, I would have laughed much more expressively at one  of her jokes, but since I was still recovering from being suddenly  woken up, all that came out was more of a heavy exhale. "I wasn't  expecting to see you here all of a sudden."

"I thought we could do something together today." She replied. "Are you hungry? We could get breakfast."

I  wasn't sure exactly what it was…but something seemed off about Maud  here. It wasn't that anything was wrong with her. It was more like…maybe  I was witnessing something of her that I hadn't seen before?

Athena,  Twilight, Starlight, and Spike were surely surprised to find an  unexpected guest at the dining table when everypony gathered for  breakfast.

"Uh…hi, Maud!" Twilight greeted, clearly put off by her sudden presence. "Pinkie's not with you?"

"She's  working right now." Maud answered as she remained still in her seat  next to me. Afterward, she reached into her pocket and pulled out  Boulder, placing him on the dining table by her empty plate. She spotted  Spike across from her and proceeded to ask him a question. "How's  Rarity doing with her gems?"

"Oh, uh." Spike scratched the scales  on his head with his claw and shifted a bit uncomfortably. "She didn't  really find any new gems to use for her dress, so she's a little worried  about it."

"Oh." Maud responded with.

An unfamiliar and  disturbing silence enveloped between all of us after she had said that. I  felt like I needed to say something to break it, but there was honestly  nothing that came to mind.

"I told her that she'd be great! So…" Spike tried his best to dispel the void, but he only seemed to prolong it.

"So…Twilight!"  Athena brought up, turning her head from where she sat in order to get a  view of a pony balancing a large serving plate with her magic. "How are  those pancakes coming?"

"Coming right up." Twilight hovered a  large stack between us onto the center of the table. She then proceeded  to take the seat between Spike and Starlight across me. "Alright,  everypony, dig in!"

"Ooh!" Athena nudged me with her hoof. "Get me five!"

After  Twilight, Starlight, and Spike had their share on their plates, I went  and fulfilled Athena's request by using my magic and also grabbed a few  for me as well. I turned to Maud, who was the only one left with an  empty plate. "How many do you want, Maud?"

She faced Boulder for a few seconds before she lifted up her head to answer me. "Three's fine."

As  I brought her pancakes over to her, I noticed Starlight looked to be  studying Maud intently for a good while. "Now that I look at you, you  seem familiar. Have we met before?" She asked.

"Yes." Maud responded shortly, tearing her eyes away from the pancakes lying on her plate.

"I knew it!" Starlight exclaimed out loud.

"Huh?!" The rest of us turned our heads towards the two, heavily surprised.

"Y-You two know each other?" Twilight questioned.

None  of us ever believed that Starlight had actually met Maud for herself  ever since she had joined up with us, so this was definitely something  we weren't expecting to hear about like this.

"Yeah!" Starlight  answered and continued to study Maud for a bit. "When was it? Hm. No,  no, don't tell me. Um..." She placed her hoof onto the bottom of her  chin as the same silence from before began to unfold quickly upon us  once again. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Starlight to speak back  up. "Yeah. See, I was really hoping you'd tell me while I pretended to  remember."

"So, when did you two meet?" I asked Maud myself, curious to know.

"I  traveled Equestria for my rocktorate dissertation." Maud proceeded to  explain as she recalled. "I had been studying a rock that caught my eye  outside of a village in the middle of nowhere when she showed up and  asked me where she could find a super-powerful stone that can store the  cutie mark magic of an entire village. So, I pointed her towards a big  cave I had looked through before we met. We never saw each other again  after that. Not until now, at least."

"Hold on. So, Starlight was  able to enslave a whole village because you told her where to find a  rock that could do just that?" Spike questioned.

"Maud and  Starlight met when she still lived at the village. Let's just leave it  at that, okay? Heh heh." Twilight motioned for the topic to close as she  laughed a bit uncomfortably.

Starlight followed soon after with a  slightly nervous and bothered chuckle of her own. "Hehe, yeah.  Actually, I think I'm going to take this to go." Starlight pushed  herself away from the table and brought the plate along with her. "There  are a few things I have to take care of, so I'll see you all later!"  She went on to laugh a bit more as she left before the last thing we  heard was a drawn-out sigh.

"Um…" With a worried look on her face, Twilight turned over to Maud. "Maud, let's not, uh, tell anypony else about that, okay?"

"It's not like she's enslaved anypony lately." She reasoned with.

There  was another still silence between all of us before Athena went ahead  and blurted something out quite forcefully with a mouthful of pancakes.

"Mmm! These sure are some good pancakes!"

I had to admit that an uncomfortable vibe lingered around for the rest of our breakfast together.





Nevertheless,  things began feeling a little…different even after we had finished  breakfast. None of us wanted to address the elephant in the room, but  each of us except for the elephant herself knew it was kind of  troubling.

If it wasn't obvious enough already, that 'elephant' was Maud.

It's  not like any of us didn't want her around. It was just that, for some  reason, she was sticking by us pretty closely and following us around  whether it was simple tasks or for work. Whenever we had tried to ask  her about, she would only respond with literal and serious statements.

Maud, is there something you need from us?

No.

Maud, are you okay with just standing around like that?

Yes.

Twilight  and I felt tempted to get to the root of things and ask her why she  kept hanging around us straight up, but both of us felt that saying that  would be a little too rude.

It wasn't until I stopped by my room  sometime during the day when I had a better understanding of why she had  been staying inside the castle the entire time. Maud had been following  me quietly all the way towards my room, and I didn't bother questioning  her about it until she was inside my room with me.

"Hey, Maud, can I ask you something?" I said.

"What is it?" She responded with, keeping direct eye contact with me.

"Don't  take this the wrong way, but I…kind of want to know why you've been  here since this morning. Considering you just graduated and are settling  here in Ponyville, I thought you'd be looking into what you're going to  do, where you're going to stay, and all that stuff."

"I'm hanging out with you." She stated, surprising me a bit.

"…'hanging out?'" I felt the need to question.

"I'm here in Ponyville now, so that means I can hang out with you a lot more than just one day, right?"

I wasn't sure if she had a good grasp on what hanging out with a friend really was.

"Um,  yeah, but I've been just mostly doing other stuff here at the castle  while you followed around. I don't want to keep you here if you're just  going to watch, you know what I mean?"

"It's okay. I've spent  practically my whole life looking at rocks and studying them. I don't  find it bothersome at all when you're busy with work. I just like being  with you."

I found myself unexpectedly being brought onto some  weird predicament. I didn't believe I ever had been in a situation where  a pony just followed me around, almost like a pet, and didn't mind at  all when there's plenty of other better things that pony could be doing  than sticking with me.

"Oh…" I merely responded with, not knowing what else I could say at the time.

"Also, whenever the time comes that you're finally free, I'll be right here if there's something you want to do with me."

I  couldn't help but also find myself feeling an overwhelming layer of  responsibility being pulled over me. No offense, Maud, but you're not  the only pony I spend time with…

"You sure there aren't other  things you'd have more fun doing? I'm sure Pinkie Pie has games she'd  love to play with you after she's done with work." I suggested.

"Whenever she wants to play, she usually just comes and finds me, so I think I'm okay for now."

Uh-huh.

Well…Pinkie  Pie has been crazy about Maud coming to stay in Ponyville for the  longest time, so surely it won't be long before she comes and picks Maud  up to drag her back to Sugarcube Corner, right?

I actually received my answer to that the time that Pinkie Pie ended up finding Maud with me at the castle.

"Oh, so that's  where you've been this whole time! I've been wondering where you were,  silly!" Pinkie hopped right into the room we had been in.

"Hi, Pinkie." Maud answered in her usual tone.

"Whoa!" Pinkie pulled herself closer to Maud until her face was in full view of her vision. "What happened to you!? You're like…beaming with excitement! Did I miss something super fun and amazing?"

"Not really." Maud responded with no change in her facial expression.

"Ahhh."  Pinkie lightly poked her sister as she drew up a kind of mischievous  grin on her face. "I see what's going on! You're having loads of fun  with Alex, aren't you? I get it now!" She then drew away from Maud and  continuously glanced at us both. "Don't let me stop you! If it keeps you  in Ponyville, by all means, keep the party going! Oh, but save some fun  for me too, will you?"

"…but we aren't even part—"

"I'm going to check out other parts of Ponyville! See you later!" Pinkie exclaimed loudly before leaving the room.

I couldn't help but glance over at Maud to see her returning the look.





I  didn't want to believe it, but my feelings towards Maud were faintly  yet undeniably changing. And I couldn't say it was the good kind. All I  could assume was that it was related to her sticking by me practically  all day every day, and there were no signs of this kind of behavior  wearing out.

Maud was there when I'd spend time with the others,  such as Rarity, Applejack, and especially Fluttershy. It was only  natural of them to try and get along with Maud, but it was painfully  obvious that our time with each other was being heavily affected by her  presence.

It wasn't all bad, as her behavior wasn't exactly  intruding whatsoever. She was mostly passive, but it was just the fact  that she was there simply watching that was causing some problems. It  was definitely one of the reasons why I couldn't share intimacy with  Fluttershy as if it had been only the two of us.

Of course, if I  asked Maud to leave the room for a bit, she'd be obedient, but if I was  to do that constantly, that'd only layer over from her being a friend to  something more like a pet. I honestly didn't know how I felt about this  situation in it's entirety. It was the first time I had ever  experienced this, and I had no clue on what to do about it. Sure, I  could have informed her of the issue as gently as I could, but I also  didn't want to hurt her feelings. She had just moved to Ponyville, and I  didn't exactly want to give her some kind of push to move away.

Whether  it was a mistake on my part or not, the only path I could bring myself  to take was to accept it as wholesomely as I could and hope that things  smoothed themselves out in the near future.

I didn't feel like my  complete self as I almost absentmindedly helped set the table for dinner  in the castle dining room. Maud and Twilight had been there with me  while Athena and Spike were back at the kitchen. Maud had also been  helping us set the table, and we had already been expecting that she'd  be joining us. Whether Pinkie would be joining us as well was a mystery.

I noticed Twilight make a few subtle glances at me before we heard Maud making an announcement at the end of the table.

"I'm going to go wash my hooves."

She quietly stepped out through the doors before Twilight raised a question to me.

"You've been acting a bit different lately. Is everything alright?"

"I  can't say it is." I placed down the plate I had been holding and then  simply stared at the glass I had set earlier. "Look… You know I like  Maud, right? I think she's pretty awesome to be around. But, obviously,  you've had to notice it lately. I don't know how to feel with her being  by my side all the time. I can't even get time with Fluttershy in  properly."

"Haven't you tried talking to her about it?" Twilight asked.

"…I  don't really want to hurt her. Considering that it's hard for me to  tell what she's really feeling, I don't know how I'd do when it comes to  a serious talk like that. Besides… She told me that I'm the only pony  who isn't family that gets her, and I'm thinking that that is something that heavily influenced her to move here. I don't want to be the reason she moves away because I 'need my space'."

The more I thought about it, the more upset I began feeling.

"Argh!"  I, unfortunately, exerted out a piece of that frustration. "I hate  this! I don't know if it's a good thing for Maud to be living here. She  wants to keep spending time with me, and I don't know if I can do it  anymore. I like Maud, but there's only so much I can do with her every  day. I'm starting to wonder if she would have been better off in Ghastly  Gorge."

I sighed heavily afterwards. It was mostly silent in the  room we were in until the sound of Twilight's hooves clacked on closer  to me.

"Believe me. The last thing I want is for her to be alone,  but I've got certain duties to do with you too, you know?" I continued a  little more calmly now. "Not to mention that I like spending time with  our other friends too. I don't want to tell her that I've got other  important things to do just because of the way it sounds. I don't want  her to think that she's not good enough or something because she doesn't  really have any other friends to spend time with. If she was at Ghastly  Gorge, she could be doing what she loved. There aren't many rocks here  that catch her eye. If she's going to be spending her time looking at  rocks on her own, it'd be better to do it at Ghastly Gorge, right? The  place she was interested in the first place because of all the kind of  different rocks there that we don't have here. Ugh..."

I buried my head within my forelegs after resting them on top of the table.

"Maybe  that's why I was able to get so along with Maud before she came and  moved here…" I mentioned, my voice being slightly muffled by my legs. "I  didn't think she was going to want to stick by me every day. Before, we  only saw each other every once in a while, so it was only natural for  us to be together the day we'd see each other. I just wish I could tell  her this and know for sure that she wouldn't take it hard."

"Well, I'm with you." Twilight supported. "I think it's obvious that she likes being around you. I'm sure  you can find a way to tell her that won't sound as bad as you think.  Tell you what. After she goes home for the day, why don't we get  together in the library and I'll help you figure out a way to tell her  how you've been feeling?"

I slightly lifted up my head and noticed the kind look Twilight had been sending me.

"That…sounds pretty good. Okay, I guess we can give it a shot."

We  heard the doors to the dining room open, surprising us when we realized  that Maud was supposed to be back in a manner of minutes.

However, it had only been Athena, and she seemed to have an odd look on her face.

"…uh, hey." She greeted as she took a few glances back at the hall behind her. "Did something happen with Maud?"

"No? I don't think so. She said she was going to go wash her hooves. Why?" I asked.

"Oh. Hm." Athena seemed to juggle something on her mind before she turned her attention back to us. "It's nothing, I guess."

Everyone gathered in the dining hall once the food had been ready. All but one pony actually…

"Huh? Maud's not eating with us?" Starlight noticed the empty plate and seat in front of her.

"She  never came back from washing her hooves." Twilight mentioned with a  confused look on her face. "You think Pinkie might've come and dragged  her off for something?"

"Let me go check." I excused myself from the table and proceeded to start my search around the castle.

First,  I looked around the nearest washroom, but there was no sign of her. I  began checking a few rooms around the area, but I had no luck. I even  went as far to check my room, but there was nothing worth noting. Trying  to find a particular pony was pretty difficult in a huge castle like  ours, but after nearly searching every room, I came up empty-hooved.

At this point, I felt myself began to lightly panic.

Is  it possible that…she…might've heard me…? Does her 'Maud Sense' actually  include some kind of super hearing? No… there's been a bunch of times  that would make that a stupid assumption. Then, what? Did Pinkie really  come and pick her up for something?

That was all we could assume  when she wasn't back at the table. Either way, I began feeling an  abnormal amount of guilt as the seat beside me remained empty. For the  rest of the day/night, she hadn't shown up, and this thought bothered me  so much that I couldn't even concentrate when Twilight tried helping me  come up with something to tell Maud about my troubles. In fact, I  hardly was able to even sleep that night.





"HEY! WAKE UP!"

A  screeching voice startled me so much that I nearly fell out of bed  listening to it. It was far more effective than a loud and constantly  clanging alarm bell.

"Huh? What's—?"

Before I could even clearly ask, a pair of pink blurry hooves shook me hastily.

"What happened?!"

"What  are you talking about?!" I responded angrily, finally removing the pony  on top of me with the use of my magic and allowed myself to stand back  up on my own four hooves.

The pony that had caused the interrupting intrusion was none other than Pinkie Pie.

"Maud's  gone!" She exclaimed, causing my heart to drop once I heard it clearly.  "I found a note on my bed this morning that she left, and she said she  changed her mind about staying in Ponyville! She's moving to Ghastly  Gorge!"

No way!? Did she really hear me talking about her?! Gah! I'm so stupid!

"Come on!" Pinkie Pie began dragging me. "We have to go catch up to her!"

It  took me a moment to get my legs working, but I was able to run with her  outside of the castle. However, at the train station, she surprised me  by literally throwing me into the closest train we could see.

Ghastly  Gorge had been an entirely new location for me, and that was a straight  disadvantage when it came to trying to find Maud. It was extremely  windy and even a bit foggy, its attributes contributing to the name.

"Hold  on!" Pinkie stretched her foreleg out in front of me and began sniffing  at what appeared to be imprinted on the slightly muddy ground.  Unnecessarily, she stuck out her tongue and chewed a part of the dirt.  "Maud tracks!"

"You didn't need to taste it." I told her. "Who else would be here?"

I  looked out at where the tracks led, and I found that they were  dangerously close to the cliffside. I unintentionally gulped,  instinctively fearing the thought of Maud falling victim to the depths  below. We continued our search, almost as if the howling winds within  the gorge literally pushed us on ahead.

Up ahead, Pinkie gasped sharply. "There she is! Maud!"

She  was right. We saw her quite a way in front of us wearing her usual  dress along with a hardhat. I was relieved to see her, but at the same  time, that relief died out as soon as I saw what she stood in front of  her. She directly stood at the edge of the cliffside, and she had been  clearly gazing out into the abyss. I didn't like the look of it at all.

"Maud!" I called out.

"You were the one that got away." She mentioned suddenly. "I can't let you go."

What…? What was she talking about?

All I could do was slowly step towards her as her back faced me. I didn't want to make any sudden movements.

"I really need you in my life. If I can't have you, then I don't know what else I can do."

She continued speaking oddly. Despite this, I focused more on approaching her without startling her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't hold back my feelings anymore. I'm doing this because of you."

Just as I was about to gently reach out to her, she suddenly jumped.

"Maud!" I cried out as Pinkie finally released the breath she had been holding through a loud scream.

I  poked my head over the cliffside, afraid that I'd see a terrifying  sight. However, I had been completely taken aback by what laid below. I  saw Maud's body, but it took me a short moment to realize that she had  been standing upright.

From what I was able to see, she looked  okay. In fact, she had been holding something in particular in her hoof.  It wasn't until I jumped down for myself when I realized that the drop  wasn't all as dramatic as it looked. Pinkie joined me by hopping down  the wall shortly afterwards.

"…Maud?" I cautiously called.

"Hm?"  She pulled her attention away from the object she had been holding and  noticed Pinkie and me gazing back at her in concern. "Oh, hi, Alex.  Pinkie."

"What are you doing here, Maud?!" Pinkie nearly cried out.

"Emerald Jasper." Maud raised her hoof and revealed some kind of rock with greenish stripes on it.

"Wait a minute. Up there on that cliff. You were talking about the rock?" I raised my question.

"Of course. What did you think I was talking about?" She responded with.

I was sort of at a loss for words. All I could do was just let a sigh of relief escape from my lips.

"Why,  Maud?!" Pinkie was left unsatisfied. "Why did you go and leave like  that?! What do you think you're doing leaving us for Ghastly Gorge?!"

Maud remained silent for a moment as she blinked exactly two times before answering. "What?"

"You left a note on my bed! You said you were moving to Ghastly Gorge instead of Ponyville!" Pinkie clarified.

"…I said I was just going to go to Ghastly Gorge for a while." Maud corrected. "I needed some time to myself."

I felt my heart drop once again when I heard that.

"O-Oh…  Heh heh." Pinkie reacted a little nervously as a wave of heat rose up  on her face. "I read the note so quick, I guess I read it wrong, hehe."

"H-Hey… Are you okay?" I couldn't help but ask Maud.

"I'm okay." She answered directly.

However,  for some reason, I felt as if the type of tone she used was  significantly different than the one she used when she was with me  before. It could have just been my guilt misreading things, but I didn't  want to write it off so easily.

"How do you feel about going home now?" Pinkie asked. "It's actually kind of scary here, especially if you're all alone."

Maud  raised her hoof to take a look at the rock she had obtained. It must  have been pretty rare if she was still holding on to it. "Sure." She  answered. Once again, the tone was much different, and I couldn't keep  from worrying over her true feelings.

"I have to say, Maud. I know  this place has rocks and everything, but I don't think it's a good  place at all for you to be at. You look pretty gloomy after all."  Pinkie's comment stuck a dagger in me. She continued speaking as she led  us out of here. "Sheesh. Even I'm starting to get bummed out by the place. Not to worry though! I've got just the thing for you when we're back in Ponyville!"

"Okay." Maud returned briefly.

Inside,  there was just something tugging at me to come clean with her, even if I  actually had nothing to do with how she was feeling.

Pinkie  hopped on over to the train stop and looked out for the next train. It  was probably going to be a while before the next one came and imagining  the awkward wait between us pushed me even further.

"Maud, mind if we talk for a bit?" I softly called for her before she could catch up to Pinkie.

She turned back and faced me. "What is it?"

"Um…" I tried thinking of a way to start it off. "Are you…mad at me?"

She stared at me for a second. "No."

"Last night." I brought up. "Why'd you leave without saying anything?"

Her  eyes averted, and she remained silent for another moment before she  answered. "I was scared." That was the only confirmation I needed at  that point, and the guilt that had been growing inside me finally fell  on my heart like a huge weight. "You put up with me so much that you got  tired of it. I almost can't believe I didn't see it earlier. I'm… I'm  really sad." She said all this while keeping her usual deadpan look. "I  just really like spending time with you. You were the only  friend I ever had that felt real to me. But, I understand. You don't  want to be friends anymore. It's okay. After all, I guess it's why I  don't really have any other friends besides rocks in the first place…"

"Huh?!" I almost yelled out. "Maud, no…! Why would you think I didn't want to be friends with you anymore?"

"You  said that I'd be better off in Ghastly Gorge." She repeated. "It was  pretty clear you were tired of me." She turned her head away and seemed  to stare towards the area we had come back from. "To be honest, I didn't  come here to just to have some time to myself. I came here to take a  look around for somewhere to stay. Of course, I couldn't tell Pinkie  that."

I could only assume that Maud heard little of what I had  said and took it out of context if she thought that I was dumping her as  a friend. I fervently shook my head and proceeded to correct her.  "Maud, you'll always be my friend. What you heard… I was…trying to  figure out a way to tell you that…you know…you were hanging out with me  a...bit too much. Believe me, hanging out with you is great,  but when I've got other stuff on my plate, it gets a little stressful,  you know? I didn't want to send you away like a jerk, but I guess I  ended up doing that anyway, huh? I never wanted you to leave, nor did I  want us to stop being friends. I just…I don't know…"

"Do you really mean that?" She asked, returning her gaze back at me.

"Of course, I do." I told her. "You're important to me. I wouldn't want to lose you just like I wouldn't want to lose Pinkie."

She  focused on the ground below her for a moment. "I'm sorry." She suddenly  apologized. "I guess I should have talked to you about it before going  off on my own. I was just really…scared of hearing the truth straight  from you. I wasn't sure if I would've been able to handle it."

Coming from someone who's normal expression is a poker face? That's a lot…

"I'm  the sorry one." I stated. "I should have been the one to talk to you  first. I guess I was just a little scared of losing you too, heh." I  chuckled a bit embarrassingly.

Without saying anything, she  proceeded to step closer towards me. After locking eyes with mine for a  somewhat long silent while, she pressed her chest against me.

"I  don't really know how friendships work." She admitted. "But I want us to  be honest with each other. If I'm spending too much time with you, I  want you to tell me. If I'm worried about something you said or did,  then I want to talk to you. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, of course, it  is." I returned earnestly. "And, I promise you. I'd never want the two  of us to stop being friends. So, if I say anything that might sound a  little bad or mean, just know that I don't mean it like if I don't like  you anymore."

"Mm." I felt her head slightly nod before she pulled  away. "You know… It's actually pretty rare for me to talk about my  feelings like this."

"That's a good thing…? I think…?" I couldn't quite figure out how I was supposed to take her comment.

Nevertheless,  Maud continued to stand there in front of me without saying anymore.  Then, she surprisingly lifted a smile from her lips.

"Train's here! Come on! Let's go!" We heard Pinkie scream over from the stop.

"Let's head home then." I told Maud. "That is, I'm hoping you'll still be staying in Ponyville."

"Rocks could never be worth more than friendship." She stated before sending me another sweet smile.





Some  time after returning to Ponyville, I felt the need to offer a very  short and not as dramatic explanation to everyone at the castle for  Maud's behavior the night she had left during our dinner. And, this  ended up leading me to have a more in-depth conversation about it with  Athena in our room.

"Ah! So, that explains it!" She stomped her  hoof as if she had just finished solving some puzzle that had been on  her mind for a while now.

"What?" I asked.

"That night." She  referred to. "Before I went into the dining room, I noticed Maud acting  strange when she was walking past me back in the hall. I told her 'Hi',  and she told me 'Hi' back. But, I noticed she was extremely  and unusually blue for some reason. I couldn't think of a reason why  she'd be so sad, especially after hanging with you all the time. But,  her misunderstanding of the situation explains it all. Hm. Guess I  should have brought it up to you sooner. Sorry!" She apologized while  sticking her tongue out a bit playfully.

"It's not like you kept  it for weeks before we could straighten things out." I said. "I'm just  glad we got things settled before they could've gotten any worse."

A few brief knocks sounded at the door, surprising the two of us.

I walked up to the door and opened it, finding Maud standing outside in the hall.

"Hello. I was just wondering if you wanted to take a look at my new place."

"Whoa.  You got a place already?" I questioned, generally intrigued. Taking a  short look back at Athena, I accepted her offer. "Sure. I'm actually  interested to see what kind of place grabbed your attention."

"Well, it's not exactly in Ponyville." Maud mentioned as she began leading us out of the castle. "More like Ponyville-adjacent."





Stepping  into Maud's new personal space, I was at an utter loss for words. To be  quite honest, I believed she had us all beat when it came to our own  homes, especially considering that our castle was something that  magically popped out straight from the ground.

Her place of living  was something more of an outdoor-living space that I supposed was still  technically an indoor-living space since it was in a part of the gem  cave we had explored together not too long ago. I had no idea that such a  place like this with waterfalls existed within the same gem cave.

"Wow,  Maud." I spoke soon after I was able to have a good look at the place  and realize it wasn't just my imagination. "I can't imagine a place any  more perfect for you to stay in."

"Mm-hm." She nodded. "You could say I picked a real 'gem'."

I  was surprised to hear laughter other than my own. It hadn't been  Athena, but it was actually someone else that we were used to seeing  back at the castle.

"Starlight?" I questioned the sight of her.

"Hiya." She returned a friendly wave.

"She actually helped me find and decorate the place." Maud explained. "She's pretty cool."

"Thanks!" Starlight expressed gleefully. "You're cool too."

"If you want to come over or stay the night, you're more than welcome to." Maud offered to those that were interested.

"Sounds good, Maud." I answered. "Any idea what you're going to do now that you've got somewhere to stay?"

"I kind of feel like taking a nap."

I wasn't so sure if she was being serious or just pulling our leg as per her literal humor.

Either  way, I was glad to see that she was already making new and unexpected  friends. Plus, I was looking forward to seeing her around more now that  she was in Ponyville. Without her acting as if I'd be gone the next day,  of course.