//------------------------------//
// Episode 26: Maud Pie 
// Story: The Pony Guard (Season 4) 
// by MXCDarkHorse2020 
//------------------------------//


Episode 26:



Maud Pie


It was a bright and early morning in Ponyville for the Lion and Pony Guard. The reason for it is because Pinkie Pie had summoned them for something important or at least they think it is. With Pinkie Pie, you never know what she finds is important to her. Although it didn’t stop her friends from meeting her right outside of her bakery with much put in effort from the Lion Guard since they were all not used to waking up in the early morning.

While Fuli stretched her back, Beshte let loose a big yawn,  Bunga let loose a smaller one while lying on the former’s back, Kyoga looked on very weary, Ono looked like he can barely fly straight compared to the week he was having never ending nightmares, and Kion also just yawned, pushed his slightly messy mane back into place.

"Has anypony heard from Pinkie Pie since yesterday?" Applejack asked everyone wondering what’s going on with her finding it a tad odd herself when she asked them to meet her here. Everyone all shook their heads in response

“I don’t know, but I did hear her tell us it was so important we all had to be here at this hour.” Ono yawned while feeling a tad grumpy himself not wanting to wake up or take part on whatever pointless task she is asking them to do.

Rainbow yawned and stretched like Fuli yet found herself agreeing with the cranky bird. “I don't see what's so important we had to meet her here this early. Celestia hasn't even raised the sun yet!" She gestured to a nearby rooster snoring in front of the purple and slightly pinkish skies on the horizon.

“I wish I knew.” Fuli shrugged. “Hopefully it is for a good reason.”

“Like what? Pecking up new candy? Like that’ll happen.” Ono scoffed but then face-palmed himself. “Hapana! Why did I just do a beak pun.”

“Maybe because you were “beaking.” at the right time.”

Most of the Guard were struggling not to laugh with stifling giggles in response while Ono was just looking on unamused.

“Ha, ha, laugh it up, very funny.” He sarcastically remarked.

“Now, now…” Bunga raised his arms up leaping down in between both Fuli and Ono. “…let’s all calm down before you do something you’ll “egret.”” He laughed his butt while everyone else expect Ono are all just cracking some laughter (even Twilight and Kyoga joined in on the giggling) for a few seconds before calming themselves down. “I honestly have no idea what the hay she’s doing right now.”

“I hope everything's okay." Twilight said feeling concerned herself finding it’s not like her to urgently have them meet with her before the crack of dawn. But nevertheless, she knocked on the door hoping that nothing bad has happened yet. "Pinkie Pie?" she asked. Just seconds later, they heard the sound of a muffled crash inside before Pinkie moved to answer the door, wearing safety googles, and a chef's hat.

"Thank goodness you're all here! There's no time to lose!" Pinkie Pie quickly shoved each of her pony friends inside whileTwilight, Kyoga, and Kion all walked inside, before leading everyone to her important business she wanted to show them. 

Ono unfortunately along with Rainbow both had the misfortune of having the door slammed right in their faces much to their growing irritation before they made their way inside.

“Okay, Pinkie…ow…” Ono said while twitching his bruised beak. “…what’s so important that you wanted to see us at…” looks at the nearby clock. “…five o’clock in the morning for?”

Just then, Twilight and Kion found themselves stepping on something hard.

“Careful!" Pinkie Pie told them as they both looked down and saw colorful pieces of rock candy that got on their hooves and paws. When everything looked up they saw that the pink pony has already prepared a few tons of rock candy that are all packed in barrels all around the shop.

“Poa!” Beshte commented in awe at the sight of the candy all around them.

“Colorful rocks?” Fuli asked looking on surprised at the sight herself. "Pinkie, what is all this?" while Pinkie Pie was strung a bunch of the brightly colorful rocks in a bowl with an eggbeater she held with her mouth. She dropped it in order to speak.

"My sister Maud's gonna be here soon, and I need your help taste-testing my rock candy recipes!" She explained after mixing more rock candy with an eggbeater she previously held with her mouth.

"Uh, we're happy to help you, Pinkie Pie, but this seems like an awful lot of candy." Applejack said feeling hesitant to do so.

"Even for you." Rarity added in agreement.

"I may have gone a teensy bit overboard." Pinkie acknowledged with a sheepish smile.

"Oh, you think?" Ono asked sarcastically still feeling annoyed that this is her super special urgent emergency. But then he remembered her saying of why she made all of this. “All for your sister?"

“Of course! She really loves this kind of candy!”

“Well I guess that makes sense.” Ono now started to understand why she made all of this.

“I know!” She said before handing them each bowls of rock candy for them to taste. “Well, come on! Dig in!”

“Okay.” Twilight shrugged and started tasting without hesitation.

“We will gladly help out the best we can.” Kion vowed on behalf of the Lion Guard who all nodded and uttered “yes.” in agreement.

“Well…” Ono tried to speak to get himself out of this until being glared at by both Fuli and Kyoga into compliance. “…I mean, okay.” He then grumbled to himself. “Even though I probably wouldn’t like it.” And sure enough he was right about that when he found himself gulping down the last bits of rock candy in his mouth. “And sure didn’t now.”





After some taste testing, everyone was left groaning from after enduring all of that sampling of rock candy. And by that, enough sampling to last for hours and that their stomachs were now bloated. Rock candy isn’t easy to chew like any other candy. While Twilight, Beshte, Bunga, and Applejack all had teeth capable of enduring the hard to chew part, other’s had difficultly just trying to bite into them without chipping or cracking their teeth in the process. And even still, all of the candy consuming had their stomachs filled to their limits to the point nobody could eat another bite.

"Everypony ready for more?" Pinkie asked everyone while pushing forward another cart of assorted colorful rock candy.

"Ugh. My teeth hurt." Rainbow Dash groaned, rubbing her bulging belly.

“Mine too!” Bunga also groaned while rubbing his cheeks. “And here I thought it would be easy.”

“No thanks.” Kion raised a paw while shaking his head and wiping his mouth clean of the little bits on his teeth. “I think we had enough.”

“I'm sure your sister will like them." Twilight added after standing up and finishing off her last piece of rock candy.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be on your way to pick up Maud from the train station?" Beshte asked while standing up and shaking the sticking traces of rock candy from his body.

"Oh, but you've only tried half of the flavors, and we have to choose the perfect ones before she gets here so I have time to make more!" Pinkie insisted feeling otherwise while trying to shove as many candies in her mouth as she can from her mouth and then all of the candies from the bin she just carted over all in a matter of seconds. Needless to say the others were quite disturbed when they all saw her do that.

So Twilight stepped forward to offer some advice to calm her down. "Maud is your sister. I'm sure she'll love your rock candy. And I'm pretty sure you've made enough. She's only staying for the week."

"Aw, it's not just for Maud, silly. I'm making candy for all of us!" Pinkie corrected, though it only had the others groaning in response since they are all already full.

"It's part of a very important, super-duper special tradition that only the closest and bestest of friends can share." Pinkie continued. "We're going to make rock candy necklaces together!" She screamed in an excited manner while holding up one of said necklaces. "It all started when Maud and I were fillies on the rock farm. She taught me the Pie family rock candy recipe! It adds a secret ingredient…” She looked around her surroundings before whispering. "It's rocks!"

“No kidding.” Ono remarked in a deadpan manner.

Pinkie having not heard that then carried on in her normal tone of voice. "And she showed me how to string the pieces to make them into a necklace! And once we were done, we'd trade! Maud and I have been trading necklaces back and forth since I moved to Ponyville. They're a sign that we'll always be best friends!"

"Aw, what a great tradition." Applejack complimented with a touched smile.

“And a sure way to make great friends.” Beshte added with the same smile as his strong pony friend.

“Okay wait a second?” Ono spoke up in disbelief. “The secret ingredient is rocks? How exactly is that a secret?!” 

"Yeah. But these are a special kind of rock that Maud discovered." Pinkie explained.

"Oh, what kind of a rock are they?" Fluttershy asked wondering what makes the rocks she is using so special.

"Can't tell ya that, silly! It's a secret!" She replied while whispering the last word before tapping Fluttershy's head. 

“Should have seen that coming.” Kyoga whispered to the Pegasus who still blinked in confusion.

"Now that Maud is heading out to get her rocktorate in rock science and helping oversee some rock handiwork in Ponyville, this may be our last chance to trade them for a really long time. I can't wait for you all to meet her. I just know that my best Ponyville and Pride Lander friends and my best sister friend are gonna become bestest friends! We can make bestest-est friend rock candy necklaces together!"

As she continued she hugged each and every one of her friends one by one. "She expresses herself through fashion just like Rarity, and she's really smart and loves reading just like Twilight and Ono!" she embraced the two ponies with and horns and egret in before pulling in the others. "And she's honest, and loves forest things, and is good at games, is super athletic, has an eye for detail and... Well, oh, she's awesome!"

"She sounds amazing," Rarity responded with a sense of tightness due to be squished from the hug. "But won't she start worrying if you aren't at the train station when she gets here?"

"She sure will…" Two seconds later the realization finally struck her when she gasped. "I gotta get out of here!" She quickly dashed out of the building while sending everyone she was hugging along with goggles and chef's hat into the nearby piles of rock candy in the process.

“So do I…away from all of this candy.” Ono commented and flew out as fast as Pinkie when hopped up on sugar as soon as she was gone.





Sometime later and by the lake outside of Ponyville, the group had set up their picnic where Pinkie and her sister would meet them in a short bit. 

While they were all arranging everything, Tank's gyrocopter flew the turtle across while racing alongside Applejack's dog Winona across the grassy fields.

Kyoga assisted Twilight with arranging the plates and cups while Ono and Applejack handled placing out the food.

Bunga was currently watching from one of the nearby hilltops as the two pets race each other cheering them on.

“Woohoo! Go Tank! Go Winona!” He shouted while seeing the two neck and neck nose and nose while trading the lead with each other.

“Bunga…” Fuli’s voice called out to him having approached him from behind. “Who’s side are you on?”

“On the winner’s side.”

Fuli rolled her eyes in response before continuing to watch and see the two pets race it out just when she left something fluffy and soft appear right beside her…

…Her pet cat nuzzling and wrapping it’s arms around her left front forepaw to which Fuli could not find it in her heart to turn away. She was so cute from her eyes down to her smile it had the cheetah sporting tinted pink blushes when she looked at the kitten in the eye.

Fluttershy who was walking by happened to notice it, yet smiled at the endearing scene before she moved to speak her mind in regards to their setup for their special guest. “Everything's ready!” She said as Twilight and Ono ensured that the place settings were all properly arranged. "I sure hope Maud has an appetite."

"Never met a pony or critter who didn't love Granny Smith's apple spiced muffins!" Applejack said as she placed down a basket with said muffins in them.

“Ooh-hoo—ooh!” Bunga’s mouth watered to the point she drooled over the sight over and forged seeing the very end of the race the two pets were just finishing in favor of attempting to nap one. But just when his claws were inches away from one, it was slapped away by Applejack who caught him in the act! “Aah!”

“Hold it right there you sneaky critter! Those are for when we have our picnic, and that means waiting until both Pie’s get her!”

“Okay, okay, sheesh…” Bunga relented with a slight grumble and raised arms before walking away. “I only wanted one.” He muttered to himself feeling disgruntled over that feeling it shouldn’t have been too much to ask for.

Aside from that…

"Oh, it's no use!" Everyone turned their attention towards Rarity, who walked over to them looking pretty upset… while wearing a big purple hat with diamond shaped rocks attacked to it and a ribbon tied underneath her chin. "I simply cannot find anything suitable to wear!" She complained just when one of the rocks on her hat broke off from her hat and rolled down into the basket of muffins.

Both Bunga and Ono nearly burst out laughing when they saw it finding as one of her most strangest fashion choices left to the point they had to excuse themselves so can express their thoughts about it.

“Oh my goodness! What was that?”

“I know right it looks just like the hat one of those ponies in Canterlot was wearing and it was pretty ridiculous!”

True they know that the fashionista is trying to please their guest but they can’t help she has once again gone overboard in her efforts again.

Ignoring the two who had run off, Rainbow wasn’t very impressed with her friend’s hat. "I doubt she'll notice what anypony's wearing, so what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that it will be very difficult to show Maud what a strong fashion presence we have in Ponyville if the most fashion-forward pony here can't keep her hat from falling apart!" Rarity argued as more rocks fell from her hat.

“I’m sure Maud will still know that even without the hat.” Kion commented. “But even still, it’s a pretty inspiring effort you put forward.”

“Why thank you darling, because that’s exactly the aim of what I was trying for.” Rarity kindly returned feeling pleased that someone get’s it.

"I think we're all a little nervous about Maud's visit." Twilight said in response to the unicorn’s slight anxiety. "She's Pinkie Pie's sister, and it's obvious Pinkie really wants us to hit it off. Being able to make those rock candy necklaces together is really important to her. I'm sure everything will be fine–"

"We're heeeere!" Said pony’s voice called out from nearby. Pinkie Pie waved happily to her friends from the top of the hill before hopping on over to them.

Kion looked up the hill, while seeing that she is the only pony arriving at the moment. “Where's Maud?" He asked.

"She's coming!" Pinkie exclaimed as she turned around with brighten eyes and a big smile in direction of where she’ expected to appear. The others turned their heads in that direction but saw no pony appearing on the horizon. Not even the top of a pony’s head. 

"Uh… you sure?" Kion asked feeling unsure for a second.

“Because I don’t see any pony appearing over that hilltop.” Rainbow added just when Ono takes a fly up for a higher look.

"She's not quite as fast as me." Pinkie explained. "I asked Gummy to stay with her in case she got lost!"

“Found her!” Ono shouted from up high. “She’s on her way and sure is…quite the sight!” He added feeling slightly confused at what he is seeing before flying back over with the others.

Hearing that had the group patiently awaiting for her arrival just when they see somepony slowly making her way on over and finally appearing at the top of the hill. Said pony is her sister all right, but not what everyone expected. She was a pony with turquoise-colored eyes, a gray coat, purple eye shadows with a matching purple mane styled a little similarly to Twilight’s but not as long, dark, and multi-colored as hers yet compared to the other’s bright colors, and was wearing a dark blue dress.

Everyone eyed each other while seeing this pony taking her time with her very slow pace of walking all while Gummy is hanging onto her tail by biting his toothless jaws on it. 

Rainbow Dash flew beside Rarity and Fuli to lean in for a whisper. “Is she even moving?"

“She is…” Fuli answered. “…although admittedly pretty slow compared to an average every day pony.”

"We're over here, Maud!" Pinkie shouted from the bottom of the hill as her sister makes her way downhill.

After a good thirty seconds, she finally approached the whole group just a standard distance apart from each other. Said mare was not like Pinkie Pie due to her darker colors in her appearance along with her stoic expression to the point she isn’t smiling. It was dealing with the exact opposite of Pinkie Pie.

When facing the whole group no one said a word at first while the gray-coated pony simply blinks at them with a blank expression before looking down and paid her attention to a rock on the ground. She bended herself down to the ground to sniff at it.

"Hm. Sedimentary."

"Huh?"

“What?”

"This is a sedimentary rock." Maud clarified, speaking rather emotionlessly. 

“Of course!” Ono realized upon analyzing a rock. “Sedimentary rocks are formed by the accumulation of sediments...chert, some dolomites, flint, iron ore, limestones, and rock salt. Also, organic sedimentary rocks form from the accumulation of plant or animal debris.”

“Really?” Maud stoically asked.

“Oh yeah!” He nodded.

“Interesting.” Twilight genuinely remarked with intrigue while the others looked disturbed by both the knowledge the egret had shared.

“What?!” Ono asked the others sans Twilight. “It’s true!”

If there’s one member of the Guard besides Twilight to delve into something a little too deep into, it’s Ono. But nevertheless, nobody and nopony was going to base their opinions of her from that alone. After all, this pony clearly has a heart of gold deep inside, regardless of the emotionless exterior and Pinkie clearly loves her like any other sister would and it’s something that Kyoga herself can relate too.

"That's really fascinating." Twilight said with smile as she approached her. "Isn't it, guys?” She asked before turning back to Maud. “We're just so thrilled you could come for a visit before your big trip. Pinkie Pie has told us so much about you. I'm Twilight, and this is Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. And these are our friends from the Pride Lands. That's Beshte, Bunga, Fuli, Kyoga, Ono, and Kion."

“Hi!”

“Hello!”

“Great to meet you!”

“Hey!”

“How’s it going?”

“What’s up!”

“So…” Kion moved to say a few introduce words himself. “…you know a lot about rocks do you?”

"Yes, I do." She replied. “And I hear you can and your hippo friend can move rocks with special powers of strength you both have."

“That’s right.”

“We sure can.”

“Can you show me how?”

Both members of the Guard eyed each other before nodding and smiling.

“Sure.”

“Gladly.”

Beshte demonstrated his strength by walking over to the largest boulder he could find and then nudged it with his snout. From there he was to slowly and carefully slide it up onto his back. And to further show his impressive prowess he lunged it all the way to the top of the hill.

“Twende Kiboko!”

As for Kion, he made sure no pony and nobody was within range before locking eyes with the boulder on the hilltop with winds and clouds forming behind him. Once he was ready, he unleashed the power of the Roar on it to crack it in half. If one looks carefully at the cracks, they could see a faint MP formed in them.

“Wow! Very impressive!” She remarked without changing her tone.

“Uh…Thanks!”

“Glad you enjoyed it!”

Both Kion and Beshte responded with smiles just for the sake of it yet feeling unsure if she really was impressed.

"I sure did."

"We're ever so glad to meet you." Fluttershy said ready to give it a shot.

"We're just gonna have the best time!" Applejack added, but even still it didn’t trigger a reaction from Maud since all she did was show her trademark blank expression.

After exchanging looks with Twilight, Pinkie, and Bunga who all shrugged in response Rarity took a turn while approaching her. “Pinkie Pie tells me you share my love for fashion."

"I'm really into expressing myself through my wardrobe." Maud replied.

"A-and what is the delightful frock you're wearing now saying?"

"…It doesn't talk. It's a dress."

“Awkward…” Ono whisper muttered to the honey badger.

“No kidding.” Bunga returned in the same whisper tone.

Rarity now felt silly for what she said before quickly trying to save face from further embarrassment. "Oh, yes, of course, I, I just meant, the frock is, just…" She fumbled a bit before walking backwards and stopped talking.

“Nice recovery. Very smooth.” Kyoga quipped feeling she did the right thing there much to the unicorn’s indignant huff.

Just then Winona came barking at and happily running around the visiting pony while the other’s pets all appeared to introduce themselves to Maud.

"Uh, so this here's Winona." Applejack introduced the pets one by one, "That's Owlowiscious, Tank, Opal, Angel, and uh..." Then saw the fluffy kitten purring and affectionately nuzzling her head on Maud’s front hooves. Fuli quickly leaned in to whisper in the farm pony’s ear. “Aww! That’s a cute name.” He teasingly remarked before turning back around when Fuli stared at her with a frown. “Oh right! Fiona!” When Fuli looked aside her cheeks turned red as she blushed feeling very embarrassed herself now. “And Pinkie Pie told us you have a pet, too."

"He's in my pocket." Maud replied.

Fluttershy's eyes widened with interest. "Oh, you have a pocket pet? Like a tiny mouse? Or a baby bird? Or a trained butterfly?" She excitably asked while her pet bunny turned away and crossed his arms in annoyance to the attention she was giving.

Maud Pie reached into her pocket and pulled out her 'pet' before placing him onto the ground. "It's a rock. His name is Boulder."

Fluttershy’s smile dropped much like the rock that landed in front of her because clearly she didn’t expect this. 

A rock itself doesn’t exactly qualify as a pet. It’s not alive, but nevertheless, everyone kept quiet even Bunga who is looking on dumbfounded at what he is seeing. For all of his antics, having a rock for a pet is clearly the strangest thing he ever seen.

Ono also was speechless yet simply kept flapping his wings like nothing had happened to distract him while Beshte looked on curiously to try to understand the ‘emotions.’ of her ‘pet’.

“Poa!” Beshte commented while looking pretty confused as he titled his head to the side. “That’s neat!”

“Are you kidding….” Bunga couldn’t help but blurt before Kyoga quickly placed a paw over his mouth to cut him off mid-sentence.

“Well…that’s pretty interesting. I never would have thought of that.” Kion commented trying to sound like it’s no big deal and not strange like the others think.

“With a good reason…” Fuli muttered to herself while looking aside unheard by anybody finding it really off here.

"This is going to be the best, most awesome, funnest week ever!” Pinkie exclaimed with a smile unaware of the others disturbed reactions. “I can't wait for us all to become bestest friends!"

“And we sure look for to it.” Twilight shared happily before turning to Kion. “Right!”

“Right!” He immediately stated while the others (sans Kyoga) share a slight and awkward laugh.

Truthfully, they are all having a hard time connecting to her, but at the same time they don’t want hurt their pink pony friend’s feelings. Maybe if they all give it some more time, maybe things will improve from there. Hopefully…

…at least Twilight and Kyoga who see the similarities minus the weirdness in her.





With the introductions aside, everyone moved to the picnic table to have their lunch together where everyone enjoyed their sandwiches, fruits, and vegetables together.

During this, Bunga decided to take this opportunity to try to be a good friend and offer her something, so after setting a muffin aside for himself, he moved to walk over to the pony offering her ‘pet’ a bite of her sandwich. “Hey Maud! Would you like a muffin? It’s Applejack’s granny’s famous apple spiced muffins.”

Maud Pie sniffed the basket, which still had one of the rocks that fell off of Rarity's hat. She opened her mouth to take a bite, taking the rock instead of the muffin.

“Oh, wait! That's not…" Bunga tried to tell her albeit a little too little since she already delved her teeth into it. “…a muffin.”

But fortunately and quite strangely, Maud actually liked the taste of rock and managed to chew on it no problem much to everyone’s surprise.

“Did she just…?”

“…bite and eat that rock…?”

Ono and Fuli asked with stunned expressions.

“Like my dad always said, live long enough and you’ll see everything.” Beshte returned while sharing the same feelings they’re thinking right now.

"It's crunchy." Maud said while still chewing.

Pinkie Pie took a bite from one of the actual muffins and found it quite tasty. "Maud's right! They are crunchy! Yum!" She said with her mouth full.

Just looking at the two sisters sitting next to each other makes the mirroring personalities quite clear in plain sight. Yet at the same time, most of them had trouble understanding whether or not this is good or bad. It was especially hard to tell when compared to Pinkie’s cheerful, bubbly, and energetic personality, Maud’s was quite the opposite of hers given her rarely showing emotion.

So Rainbow Dash in an attempt to try to keep the positive momentum going, tried to try for something a little more exciting. “So, uh, Pinkie Pie tells us you like games."

"Boulder and I sometimes play a game called 'Camouflage'. It's kind of like hide and seek but way more intense."

Everyone was stunned into silence once more until Rainbow awkwardly remarked. “Awesome?"

“How intense?” Fuli inquired hoping it might be worth exploring…

“Okay…” She then said while looking and sniffing around the area of rocks around them to where Boulder was hidden along with the others. If only she had taken the time to pick up the specific rocks scent it would have been a lot easier for her, Kion, and Kyoga.

Twilight had levitated many rocks she came across yet still hasn’t found the rock she saw just minutes ago. "Any luck?" She asked the others, who were already looking lost and somewhat uninterested.

"I truly wish I'd spent more time with Boulder, because I'm having a very hard time remembering what he looks like." Fluttershy expressed before tossing aside a rock she was currently holding.

"It's like looking for a pebble in a haystack." Applejack also commented while scattering around some of said pebbles in front of her.

"More like in a pile of pebbles." Ono commented feeling wearily while landing on Beshte’s back having given up the search for this rock of Maud’s already feeling exasperated and frustrated enough with this game while tossing aside the pebbles he scooped up.

"Well, you don't have to make it even harder." Applejack remarked at the egret.

“Oh I’m sorry…” Ono took offense to that. “…did I make hard on you by throwing those rocks into the mix of one’s you’ve already checked?!”

"As a matter of fact, yes!" She returned rather heatedly to which had Kion getting in between the two when they started to get into another glaring showdown.

“Ono! Applejack! Please!” Kion sharply demanded of them.

Both reluctantly backed off after deciding it was for the best it doesn't come down to this so they both turned away from each other yet still heavily peeved at each other.

Rarity grunted in frustration when another rock from her hat fell. "Ugh! I give up! this is impossible!"

"It'll hurt Maud's feelings if we all stop playing." Twilight reminded. "Besides, look how much fun Pinkie Pie's having."

Said mare is looking all over the place going as far as showing her sister all of the rocks she found of all sizes. All while constantly asking. “Is this him? Is this him? Is this him? Is this him?"

“I think we can all survive a little longer, wouldn’t you all agree?” Kyoga gently implored of the others.

“I think we can.” Beshte agreed before turning to the grumpy bird on his back. “Wouldn’t you agree too, Ono?”

"Okay.” Ono relented after a second of thinking.

The rest of the group all complied and continued searching for Maud's pet rock even if it wasn’t to their liking. 

During this the only two that were both really giving it a chance were Twilight and Kyoga who both know what it’s like to be a hard to come out of your shell girl’s given the latter’s tragic upbringing and the former’s brief turn to darkness. And they were both looking really hard for said rock with their magic.

“Nothing over here.” Twilight reported before turning back to the lioness next to her. “How about you?”

“Not much luck here, either.” Kyoga likewise returned with similar results. “But I’m sure we’ll find it soon.”

“The sooner the better.” Twilight returned without second thought. “Although it would be a lot easier had we both really got to see the rock itself a little more to know what we’re supposed to be looking for.”

“I know what you mean.” Kyoga replied. “It’s like trying to find a very special one in a group that all look the same much like that time we had spot out Thurston from the whole herd.”

“Only smaller and more distinctive searching.” Twilight recalled from having to point her hoof to the zebra standing in the twelfth row and the two-hundred and third from the left side of the pack. “All it takes for that zebra is to indulge in a little “Panic and Run! Panic and Run! to start a frenzy scene.” She mimicked said zebra while wildly raising her own hooves up similarity to how he and his herd did many, many, many times in the past.

Kyoga stifled a giggle and playful smirk in response. “Geez Twilight, I didn’t know you’re that capable of mimicking others.”

“Eeh.” She shrugged humbly. “I just happen to be a pony with many talents. Yet, rock finding’s not one of them.”

“Sure isn’t.” Kyoga agreed before they continued their search for that particular rock. Up until…

"Found him." Maud suddenly said, causing all heads to turn upwards and look at the dull colored pony holding Boulder in her hoof.

"Oh! Where was he?" Pinkie asked eagerly.

"He was hiding in my pocket."

Ono’s eye twitched before dropping to the ground face-first while Fuli face-palms herself before collapsing to the ground in frustration.

"Oh, come on!" Rainbow exclaimed in response to what she just said and how she played them.

Just then Fiona came crawling up to her master while purring and meowing to get her attention. Fuli looked down towards her direction to see her begging in need of something. She also turned back towards the direction of all of the other’s pets all together and laying on the ground feeling very worn out from today.

“Aww, it’s okay.” Fuli affectionately said to her before scooping her up and placing her on her back to allow her to enjoy the comforts of her soft fur. “Well it’s been a nice afternoon but…” She yawned and stretched her back. “…I think’s it’s time we get going.”

“Fuli’s right.” Fluttershy politely added. “It's getting awfully late, and they've had a very busy day."

"Maud and I had better get going too." Pinkie Pie happily returned just when Gummy climbed up on Maud’s head. "I want her to taste the rock candy we're gonna use for our best friends necklaces! Aw, yeah!"

The two Pie sisters walked away from the group, leaving the others alone and safe to express their thoughts about Maud Pie. And they were all quite perplexed and at a neutral standpoint with each other.

"Well, Maud sure is quite a character." Kion remarked feeling awkward about saying it even if it was the nicest words he could say at the moment.

“No kidding!” Bunga agreed. “And I thought I was the weird one of the group.”

“You are and still are.” Ono bluntly remarked to which Bunga laughed it off.

“Good one, Ono!”

Ono groaned in response before sharing his thoughts. “Thanks but I’m serious though.”

"Exactly! We spent all day digging in the dirt, and he was in her pocket the whole time?!" Rainbow added feeling very irritated of what they just spent their quality bonding time over.

"On the bright side, Boulder seemed really sweet." Fluttershy said looking on the bright side of it.

"He's a rock!" The hot headed Pegasus angrily shouted in response.

"Come on, everyone. I'm sure Maud was just nervous about meeting all of us." Twilight said, trying to calm her agitated friends down and to keep everyone from assuming the worst in her.

"Maybe she was just acting a little 'off' because she was shy or somethin'." Applejack theorized.

"Exactly. It must be awfully intimidating to meet all of us at once, especially since we're already such good friends."

“Probably.” Kion felt the need to agree with her before pondering and thinking of another idea. “Maybe we should try meeting with her one-on-one instead.”

“Hmm….” Kyoga thought about it. “That could work.” 

“Of course!” Twilight agreed. “And that way she’ll bond with us even more that before."

“Yeah!” Bunga really like the proposal. “I can show her of how I bravely collect honey from the tallest trees in Ponyville! She’ll love that! Hopefully.”

“That’s a start.” Twilight nodded in response. “And if we do so, I'm sure we'll be making those best friend rock candy necklaces in no time."

“I certainly hope so.” Ono muttered to himself still feeling very doubtful about all of that.

The next day, the Lion and Pony Guard all went forward with their decision to spend one-on-one time with Maud Pie.





First up was Rarity who had Ono for company who both work together in showcasing their talents in the former’s sense of fashion and the latter’s keen sight in finding a nice outfit for the pony. 

"Where shall we start?" Rarity said as she showed the two sisters her multiple fabric choices. "I've chosen a few fabrics that I think will be stunning with y–" the unicorn stopped on her tracks when Maud had her eyes set on something else other than what she was about to propose to her.

"Choices, choices, choices!" Pinkie happily commented while hopping on over to her sister’s side.

“See something else you like?” Ono inquired while he and Rarity try their hardest to be accommodating as possible to her when Rarity walks over to add her input on the matter.

"…Of course, if you don't see anything that speaks to you, I would be happy to suggest–"

"I like this one." Maud held up a gray colored towel she was just looking at which had brown spots on them.

“That?” Ono asked as he moved in to further inspect it. “Oh, of course. Whatever makes you happy.”

Rarity however, laughed in response to Maud’s choice. "Pinkie Pie didn't tell us you were so funny!"

"What do you mean?" Maud asked after blinking once.

Rarity was left slightly mortified when along with Ono waving his wings around wishing for her to stop right there had her realize that this is Maud’s ideal choice. "Oh, well, it's just... I believe that is a dishtowel." she said as she levitated the said dish towel with her magic. Maud remained unfazed as before, but upon seeing Pinkie Pie's smiling, the unicorn attempted to smooth things over before anything else could happen. "B-b-but it does go very well with your complexion. I'm sure I could work my magic and turn it into something fabulous."

"Rarity, Ono, and my sister working together to design something amazing! This is the best day ever!" Pinkie exclaimed happily as she hugged her stoic sister just when Ono takes a look and presents Rarity some fabric ideas that will work.

Rarity levitated the similar options aside from the dish towel that Ono had keenly picked up. She picked up a few other pieces of fabric that had the same dark colors as the dishtowel of Maud’s intrigue yet set aside the brown stains. While the two agreed they accept her choice in fashion and color, they truthfully didn’t want her to go walking around looking dirty. It just wouldn’t be clean, nor would it look or sound right no matter how one would say or look at it.

"Perhaps I could sew all of these together and make you something you'd like." The unicorn offered.

"No thanks. One is enough." Maud declined before moving to take the dish towel and placed it around her neck like a scarf.

"Doesn't Maud make the coolest scarves?" Pinkie asked looking very pleased as ever. Even though it wasn’t helping her friends at the moment who all they could do was watch on and accept it with disappointment.

"Quite…"

“Affirmative…”





So with both Rarity and Ono having no luck in being able to connect with her, Fluttershy and Beshte both took a turn by inviting the Pie sisters on a nature walk through the woods with Angel Bunny accompanying them. 

During the walk, a green colored hummingbird flew both Fluttershy and Beshte both leading the way, twittering happily.

“Hi there, little guy.”

"Hello there, Hummingway. I'm ever so happy to see you."

The two happily greeted.

"What's he saying?" Pinkie asked as she quickly rushed up to them.

"He says hello, and he's happy to see us too." Fluttershy answered.

"I wish I could speak hummingbird.” Pinkie eagerly expressed before hopping away. “Humm! Hum-m-m-m-m, hum!"

“Just takes some practice before you get the hang of it.” Beshte assured before turning back towards Fluttershy who in turn saw Maud looking down at a nearby rock, from which a spider with red eyes and long dark gray fangs was crawling on top of. Both the kindest members of the Guard both approached the pony with the sweetest smiles with the hopes they can get through to her. They both looked down at the spider, showing no fear despite it’s creepy look given their long expertise in dealing with animals.

"These spiders only live in Ponyville, and even though they may look a teeny bit scary, they're actually very sweet and help keep other, more dangerous insects away!" Fluttershy explained just when the spider gave her a small flower along with one for Beshte who take a turn in sharing some words of wisdom himself.

“Goes to show that there’s more than meets the eye, wouldn’t you say so, Maud. Maud?”

"I was looking at the rock." Maud corrected, leaving Fluttershy blushing in embarrassment.

"Oh."

“Okay.”

After the hike, Pinkie Pie happily waved goodbye as she and Maud left the cottage. "Thanks again, Fluttershy, Beshte! Start thinking about which flavors you want to put on your best friend rock candy necklace!" 

“Oh we will.” Beshte happily returned before dropping the smile once the two were truly out of sight. “Hopefully it’ll work out.”

"Oh gosh. I'm not sure we're even friends yet." Fluttershy expressed feeling worried since even being nothing but kindness had the pony showing any clear emotion that indicates that they are now good friends.

“Maybe she just has a different way of showing it.” Beshte suggested.

"Yes, maybe." She reluctantly agreed even though the uncertainty still remains.





Next up, is Twilight’s turn who she along with Kyoga show her the many books at the Golden Oaks Library, hoping to find a special reading connection they share together.

"Maud is a total bookworm. She loves poetry!" Pinkie happily expressed while riding around on the book ladder.

"I've got lots of poetry." Twilight offered as she levitated said books. "Do you read anything by Quilland Ink? Or Flourish Prose?"

“Who’s this in the picture?” Maud asked upon spotting something on the center table. It is a newspaper featuring two pictures on the front page of it, one with a picture of Scar in his lion form, and another in his new lion / alicorn hybrid form.

“Who?” Twilight asked felling confused until she was presented the image itself. “Oh!” She was now left feeling uncomfortable with the subject already. “That’s a major enemy of the Pride Lands and Equestria. He’s someone that the most powerful ponies and lions have to be full alert on considering how dangerous he is.”

“Do you have a history with him?”

“Just a brief one.” She replied wanting to keep it short and brief yet the awkwardness she showed from shifting her eyes to the side and her immediate response showed to Maud that there is more that meets the eye to the story.

“Anyway…” Kyoga spoke up deciding to change the subject. “What kind of poetry do you like?”

"I prefer to read my own poetry." Maud replied.

“Really?”

"Oh, I'd love to hear some of it!" Twilight said feeling interested herself.

Maud cleared throat before she began reciting it. And like before her voice remained monotonous.

"Rock.

You are a rock.

Gray.

You are gray.

Like a rock.

Which you are.

Rock."

Twilight blinked left speechless along with Kyoga. To them it was interesting, yet deep down they felt it was mostly flat in regards to her dull love of rocks. 

“Well that’s quite a poem.”

“I never would thought of that.”

The two replied more accepting of it than previous friends. 

"I've written thousands." Maud said just when Pinkie continued to slide back and forth on the ladder.

"She's so prolific!"

"This next one is about rocks. They're all about rocks."

“Of course.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

The two girls replied before they both sat down ready to hear it with genuine smiles even if it’s going to mean listening to her deadpan tone recite it.

"Rocks; these are my rocks.

Sediments: make me sedimental.

Smooth and round, asleep in the ground.

Shades of brown and gray…"





Following their visit to the library, the two sisters made their way to Sweet Apple Acres where Applejack and Kion are. Just outside the barn, Pinkie Pie speed around the nearest apple tree on the nearest hilltop to get an apple. Once she got, she immediately sped right back and placed it onto the table along with the other red and green apples.

While Kion was helping peel them, Applejack was stirring the pot on the stove with the spoon in her mouth. The latter moved to place the spoon down on the side so she can approach and check up on Maud.

"You 'bout done peelin' them apples for the cider, Maud?" Applejack asked just when Kion turned his head towards her to see her progress.

"I think this one is done." Maud replied. She moved aside and revealed to Applejack to what she’s done. The country pony cringed at the sight of an apple completely splattered on the table, right under a large rock. It was pretty clear Maud didn't even use the peeler for the apple, for she instead crushed it with a rock. To Applejack, it was a sight that had left her horrified to see such an apple wasted with such brutality.

“I don’t know, Applejack.” Kion said just as shocked.

However, Applejack forced herself to smile before replying. "Oh, uh, yep. That's a very interestin' method you got there." While she backed up she nearly tripped over the pressure cooker from behind in front of the stove.

"Should I peel another?" Maud asked ready to use her rock to do the same to another apple.

Before Applejack could quickly protest against it, Kion quickly moved to intervene first. “No, we’re good.” He assured before handing Applejack the apples that he already peeled. “We’ve got enough apples for the job.”

Just then, Pinkie Pie came in and sniffed the steaming cider Applejack was making. "Can we taste it now?"

"Sure, why not?"

“Let’s do it!” Kion also agreed ready to have some cider himself.

Using a ladle, Applejack poured the cider into wooden mugs. Pinkie Pie wasted no time in chugging the whole drink down her throat while Kion took a smaller sip, and Maud just stared at her drink. When Pinkie was done, she dropped the mug back on the counter with her mouth.

"Wow! That's the best apple cider I've ever had!"

“It’s really great!”

"What do you think, Maud?" Applejack asked the pony who had yet to take a taste. Surely, the family famous apple cider is something that even the most stoic fellows like herself, Twilight, and Kyoga could give the pony a warm feeling inside.

No not that warm feeling….

Maud took a sip, yet her usual expression still remains as it was.

"It tastes like apples." She assessed.

"Told you she was super honest, just like you!" Pinkie Pie said while hugging her contry pony friend, nuzzling cheek to cheek.

"Yeah. We're practically twins, heh." Applejack hesitantly said.

“Like juice in apples.” Kion metaphorically added while sharing the farm pony’s equal discomfort of having to lie about their true thoughts about Maud’s honesty and handling things around here.





Back at the lake from the other day, Rainbow Dash and Fuli were both there where the Pie sisters have joined them in a friendly game of rock tossing. In this game, Rainbow Dash was clearly having the time of her life since she managed to toss it just over the pond just right in front of Fuli’s.

"Yeah!” 

“Congrats!” Fuli stated while looking aside briefly personally wishing that she still had her super-strength superpowers back when they were in fighting crime in the Power Ponies world. Even though she wasn’t a fan of the outfit itself and not someone who would want to wear a skirt, she really loved the power’s she was gifted when there. 

Maud was next. “Let's see you beat that!" Rainbow said to her before having to quickly duck when a rock came flying past her. "Whooaa!" The rock Maud threw flew not only over the lake, but all the way towards the far off mountains beyond from the rock Beshte had thrown the other day and Kion had cracked using the Roar. When the rock landed, the force it created cause an explosion so huge it created large mushroom cloud, along with a powerful gust of wind, and a tsunami when the whole body of water from the lake was pushed and sent right at them.

“Oh, no.” Fuli muttered before quickly sprinting away from the scene before she could get soaked along with the other girls.

After that had happened, Pinkie emerged with her mane now flatten while riding on a log she landed on, before she proceeded to roll with her hooves across the lake. 

"That was amazing!" Pinkie exclaimed very excited as always.

Rainbow Dash popped her head out of the water, spitting some of the water just when Fuli quickly arrives back on the scene where the former turns to Maud, who is wet like the others, yet still as quiet and stoic as before.

"Whoa.” Fuli said with widen eyes that actually happened.

“How'd you do that?" Rainbow asked.

"I threw it." Maud simply answered.

“I guess you won this one, Maud." Rainbow added admittedly, yet had bruised pride deep down from saying it.

"I'm not really into... 'winning'." Maud returned. 

Rainbow Dash gasped in shock while Fuli was left speechless at the very thought would ever cross into anyone’s mind.

“Then what are you into?” Fuli wondered in her mind, feeling it was better to keep it to herself than say it outright before remembering. “Oh, right. Rocks.”





Then when it came to Bunga’s turn since most of the Lion Guard were already paired up with other’s when the two sisters came by their respective places as he moved to climb the tallest tree in Ponyville to get the highest grubs to live on a tree.

Thankfully this tree is just in the middle of a field in the nearby forest and was nowhere near any water and the roots and bark of said tree were healthy and strong.

“Okay! Now that this tree is strong and sturdy. Getting those bugs up there will be easy!”

Bunga clasped and rubbed his claws together before moving to climb his way all the towards the very top.

“You got it Bunga! Woo-hoo!” Pinkie loudly cheered through one of her mega-phones.

Thankfully, it wasn’t the mega-phone she used to shout after Rainbow Dash and Ono when they went away to the Wonderbolts Academy but it was still loud to the point the tree got shaken up from the impact of the energetic pony’s voice.

“Whoa! Whoa!” Bunga nearly lost his grip before managing to regain control of himself before inching his way closer and closer to the very top. When he reached the very top he carefully leaned over the bending portion of the top. “Almost…Almost there…” He said while stretching his claws towards the biggest chunk of clustered bugs on the nearby leafs until he managed to snag them on over to him. “Got them!”

“YIPPPPIEEEE!” Pinkie shouted through her megaphone causing the startled honey badger to slip and end up falling down towards the ground with his collected grub falling after him.

“WWWHOOOOAAAAA!”

Luckily he was able to catch the last tree branch hanging over from the ground along with the leaf full of grubs. “Phew! That was close!”

*SNAP!*

“Whoa! Ouch!” Bunga exclaimed when he ended up falling onto his back while still managing to catch all of the grubs. “So….Maud…” He groaned while moving to stand up while leaning over in pain. “…was that impressive or what? Maud?”

Said pony, was however preoccupied with a pile of nearby rocks while holding up her ‘pet’ Boudler.

“What’s going on Maud?”

“Boulder’s out on his playdate.” She replied without a change in tone.

“Okay…nice…” Bunga remarked as is before he heard a small creak up his spine. “Ow! My back!”





Sometime when meeting up with the others, Bunga was able to recover from his injury no problem. After all, a magical land, means magical healing involved, and that did the trick for him.

“Phew! That’s better! I tell you there’s nothing like a magical spa treatment to vanquish those pains up from behind.”

“Yep! And you’re welcome for recommending it to you.” Ono commented feeling a sense of gratitude is in order.

“Thanks, Ono. For everything while there.” Bunga nonchalantly replied, surprising the egret with what he viewed was unexpected considering that he is the kind of guy who just simply brush it aside like it was literally nothing.

“Oh…well…no problem….” He stuttered in reply before refocusing his attention to why they are all here. “Anyways…” He cleared his throat before continuing. “…compared to dealing with Pinkie’s dull as ever sister that’s probably now the highlight of my week.”

“Yeah…what is her deal anyway?” Bunga asked trying to understand why Maud is so hard to get to. “She’s practically nothing but me during a bad and boring day.”

“I don’t know.” Kion answered unable to provide a reason himself. “I mean all I know is that she really love rocks and rocks by itself.”

“She is admittedly a strange pony.” Fuli confessed. “Yet impressively strong enough to actually toss a rock far and hard enough to cause a massive tidal wave to rain down on us, for which I was lucky enough to avoid.”

“Did she really?” Beshte curiously asked.

“I know. Hard to believe and it’s something you’ll have to see it to believe it, but it’s so very true. But still I haven’t seen much of a reaction out of her out all of that.”

“I know.” Ono agreed. “And here I thought Kyoga and Twilight were like the emo-teens of the bunch.” But then he saw and noticed they weren’t around. “Speaking of which, where are those two anyway? I thought they’d be joining us by now?”

“Twilight’s out performing some more of her community service at the nearby rock mines and Kyoga decided to join her for comfort.” Kion answered with a sympathetic sigh for his best friend. “They’re really having her work hard in wanting to redeem herself.”

“I know.” Ono said with sympathy for the alicorn now hard at work in heaving the carts of gems with Kyoga backing her up in ensuring that the cart wheeling goes smoothly, unaware that in just a little bit they'll soon be meeting up with Maud who also happened to be there for research purposes. “I mean I get she’s done quite a few things that put her on par some of Scar’s actions but isn’t it bad enough that she’s already feeling depressed inside and has already accepted enough punishment as it is?”

“Sometimes you really have to prove yourself that you really want to redeem yourself in order to regain everyone’s trust here.” Kion explained feeling it’s somewhat fair even if it is tough to accept.

“Mmm…” Ono just said still not quite agreeing with how Twilight’s been treated but really didn’t have much to say to counter-argue when Pinkie quickly opened the door to greet them.

"Great, you're all here! Maud is out looking for rocks, so this is the perfect time for us to set up everything we'll need to make our best friend rock candy necklaces!" Pinkie happily told everyone while twiddling her hooves together.

The Lion and Pony Guard however couldn’t find it in themselves to smile and share her excitement due to their true feelings about her sister surfacing over the thoughts.

Pinkie's smile faded and stopped twiddling her hooves upon seeing this.

"What's wrong?" She asked in concern before turning to Kion hoping he can tell her what’s bugging them. "Kion?"

Kion had to be pushed forward by Applejack and receive glances from the other’s in order to push forward into giving the bad news to her straight. Truthfully, he didn’t want to be the one break it to her, but everyone else wouldn’t speak up for him this time around.

"Uh, Pinkie, I'm not sure now is the best time to make best friend rock candy necklaces."

"Why not?"

"Well…"

“Well, darling, you see…" Rarity began, but then she too hesitated, before letting Fluttershy take over the explaining from here.

"You're ever so thoughtful to share your special bonding ritual with us, but, uh…"

"But what?" Pinkie asked with a smile.

“Oh for Nala’s sake. That’s it!” Ono spoke up having enough of this. “The truth is we’re not seeing eye to eye with Maud, okay!”

Pinkie widen her eyes in surprise at the egret’s brave yet brutal display of honesty yet couldn’t help but wonder why they aren’t striking a friendship with her so Applejack stepped forward to smooth things over to ensure her feelings.

“What Ono meant to say is, we've all been tryin' real hard to get closer to Maud, but, well... maybe some ponies just don't click the way others do."

The others said “Uh-huh.” while nodding their heads together in agreement.

“I’m sorry Pinkie…” Kion continued. “…we really are and we actually did try to be her friend too, but…” He sighed before pressing forward. …we just wouldn't feel right making something that means we're best friends if, well, we aren't."

Pinkie's poofy mane deflated upon hearing this, which means she is now deeply hurt from what she is hearing from her bestest friend. And seeing this had Kion looking aside with regret telling her this along with hurting her by telling her this. She then forced herself to smile to mask the hurt she is feeling before backing her way inside. 

“Oh. Okay. If anypony needs me, I'll be in here trying to figure out what to do with two hundred pounds of rock candy." She moved to close the door with her teeth before stepping inside to do exactly while feeling depressed deep inside.

Kion’s ears flatten in shame, mentally berating himself for doing that to her before walking away from Sugarcube Corner with nothing else that can be said to make the situation better. If he hadn’t experienced the heartbreak of his past experience with Twilight, this would have been the worst thing he’s ever said and done. Even when he was trying his hardest to be honest about his feelings.





“What did I just do?!” Kion shouted before slumped down to sit on the floor of the Golden Oaks Library. “I can’t believe I made one of my friends cry like that.”

“Me too.” Fuli said in solemn agreement. “We just trying to have us become friends with her and we didn’t really explore her well enough to give it chance.”

"I feel awful! Just awful…" Rarity said while pacing around the room.

“Yep! We all were pretty much jerks.” Ono bluntly remarked.

“Thanks, Ono.” Fuli sarcastically fired back with her mood failing to improve with that comment. “Along with having courage in telling the harsh truth for once.”

“Don’t mention it!” Ono said without second thought. “I learned from the best.”

Applejack glared at the egret in response briefly before turning back to the others.

"Maybe we should have just pretended we were friends with Maud." Fluttershy suggested.

Kion shook his head at that idea. "If we didn't tell Pinkie Pie that we hadn't all become the best of friends, I think Maud would have."

"Maybe, but who really knows?” Rainbow returned while sitting on a high bookshelf fiddling with a rock. “That pony is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an igneous."

"Don't you mean "inside an enigma"?" Ono corrected with a quirked brow.

"Nope. I mean igneous. It's a kind of rock. Ask me how I know that."

“Maybe Twilight would…” Kion thought. “…but then again who really knows about really reading other ponies minds without playing them like keys on a piano.”

“Well actually she does play piano.” Bunga brought up.

“Bunga, he meant that as an expression.” Fuli irritably returned.

“No really…” Bunga insisted while turning their attention to the source of a nearby piano playing. “Look!”

Everyone turned their direction towards Twilight just arriving back at the library while riding a piano on towards her home in Ponyville accompanied by two ponies beside her both wearing harnesses to help pull the piano forward together. 

Fletcher's Song from the Club

One is a white coated pony with a blue mane and sky blue streaks in them wearing a pair of headphones over her ears and a purple-tinted pair of shades. She was playing and wheeling a music keyboard that had electronic beats in the music she played accompanying with it. She was able to play to the light beats of a drum-set yet more on the downbeat side of things.

The other is a silver coated pony with purple eyes, black mane, wearing a pink bow tie similar to what Twilight wore when she was visiting Canterlot High in the other world, playing a cello using a bow to play a deep tone to accompany the music Twilight was playing.

“Poa!”

Everyone watched in silent awe as she plays a gently soft, subtle, and exquisite manner on the keyboard just when she leads them inside the library while settling the piano she acquired into the side of the room all while playing the song up until the very end.

Her hooves were gentle on each keystroke and moving precisely and elegantly like the way she wanted them to in order to create a melodic tune. It was like she knew the right touches and movements in order to make the song she was playing work like magic.

Truthfully none of the others knew how she was able to do all of this, she just happened to be a natural at it somehow all while transporting it all the way from the store to her home.

By the time she finished playing her song, the piano was placed right where she wanted it to be. Right, exactly beside her desk and right in front of the window.

Taking a deep breath after backing away from her piano, she turned towards both ponies who helped play alongside her and unhooked the harnesses that helped them safely transport it here.

“Thank you both.” She gently and kindly expressed her gratitude before handing them each a bag of bits for their services before leading them outside of the library. After they left she closed the door and prepared to mentally return to the comforts of the many books inside the library. Well…at least before finding that most of her friends are already here. “…Ooh!”

“Wow!” Bunga was the first speak his astonishment of her new hobby. “You’re amazing!”

“So simply elegant and divine!” Rarity added.

“Where did you learn to play like that?” Beshte curiously asked.

“And when?” Ono added.

Twilight was left stunned for a few seconds after realizing that they all just saw her new talent. Truthfully, she wanted it to be a private hobby and she really wasn’t counting on any of them actually being here when she came back. But then again, it is a public library so everyone’s welcome of course.

“You plan on answering these questions, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“That is if you feel comfortable in wanting to talk to us about it.” Fluttershy added to get the others to cut her some slack.

Twilight sighed before replying. “Of course. Thanks. And in answer to your questions, this is just something I’ve taken up when I was meeting up with both Octavia and DJ at the music store downtown, a personal and private hobby of mine…or at least it was.” She said while looking aside from the others briefly. “Something that I decided to do with myself whenever I feel down ever since…you know.”

“Right…” Kion said knowing exactly why. “…that.”

“Anyways…” Twilight said seeking to change the uncomfortable subject. “….how did it go with Maud?”

“Not so great.” Kion confessed while resisting the urge to cry. “I just hurt Pinkie’s feelings and made her cry because none of us could be able to become good friends with her sister.”

“Ooh…sorry I asked.” She replied with a slight cringing regret. “…yet, not a very good feeling I can relate to.”

“How so?”

“If all of the horrible things I’ve said in the past before are any evidence.” Twilight explained while pulling up past memories of said incidents with her magic. “Many moments of my past self that I’ve come to regret myself with many apologies I owe all of you for even saying all of that to all of you.”

“Yes, who could forget all of that?” Fuli asked.

“Ponies who are capable of holding a grudge for some time.” Twilight answered. “Or in your case, lions like Scar.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Yep.”

“Eeyup.”

“No kidding.”

“Totally.”

“Quite an unforgiving guy right there.”

“Definitely up there.”

“No question there.”

The rest of the Guard uttered in agreement. Ono, Applejack, Bunga, Fuli, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Beshte all said in that order.

Before the conversation could continue, a knock on the door was heard and Twilight used her magic to open it. It was Pinkie Pie hopping on all four legs, all while smiling and happy as before.

"I've come up with just the thing to bring everybody closer together!"

Just after Pinkie had left, Kyoga had just arrived looking just as confused as everyone else. "What did I miss?"





Wondering what she means by that, everyone followed her towards where Maud was waiting for them courtesy of her sister’s request. When they met up with her, they all find themselves standing in front of something that is left them all puzzling in thought.

Said sights had them seeing that seems to be an obstacle course that none of them have ever seen before. There was a large pile of rocks with one huge boulder balancing on the very top. A hoop in between a large green tube with tightropes connected to a tower with a large pink dome and a purple tube connected to it. In between the two slides were three tall piles of books

Curious to what it was she was talking about, the group followed their now more excitable friend to a clearing near the forest, where Maud Pie was waiting patiently. Once they arrived, the entire group were both intrigued and confused as to what they were seeing. It appeared to be some form of obstacle course complete with hoops, tightropes tied to the end of a long sliding tube that was sustained by a wooden ladder. At the very beginning there is a slide made out of an orange tube leading to an assortment of colors forming some kind of soft fabric in a small pit with a wooden wheel standing beside it.

"I call it "Pinkie-Rainbow-Rari-Twi-Apple-Flutter-Kion-Kyoga-Bunga-Ono-Beshte-Fuli-Maud Fun Time"!" Pinkie proudly presented her handy-work to them all.

"Huh?" Rainbow asked reading everyone’s mind’s at the moment.

Followed by Kion asking the question on everyone’s mind as well. “Pinkie, What exactly is all of this?”

"It combines everybody's interests into one giant activity that we can all enjoy together and that will totally bring all of my bestest friends together as bestestest friends!" Pinkie explained before moving to stand beside several mannequins, each wearing a variety of helmets, hats, glasses, bubble rap, pillows, and buckets for some to use as helmets. "You'll need these."

“Huh?” Bunga repeated. “For whatever this fun thing you have created here?”

Pinkie nodded while putting on a snorkel over her helmet, and knee pads on her legs  before demonstrating her obstacle course by going into the first two tubes, filled with a splattered substance inside of it. "Probably better for me to show you. Watch this! Applesauce tunnel for Applejack…along with a mud tunnel for both Beshte and Bunga." She slid down the tubes, tunneling through the apple sauce and mud until landing in the crater filled with the all of the fabric she gathered. "Pretty shiny stuff for Rarity…" She leaped out of it and ran ahead towards the pile of books in front of her. "Reading material for Twilight and Ono…" Next, she moved towards a track-like portion of the course as part of the next activity. “A quick sprint around for Fuli…" she then sat on a table player poker with a few animals before placing her cards down to let them know she wins much to their dismay. "Critter time for Fluttershy…" Next, she then moved towards the center of the course where two punching bags was placed with an image of Scar on it, “A quick tackle and brawl down for both Kion and Kyoga…” She next went into the pink dome, pressed a button to start the inside fan, which caused a few cupcakes to appear and float around her. "Cupcakes for yours truly…" she said while eating one of the cupcakes, and then moved to walk on the tightrope, "And it's a race for Rainbow Dash!"

"Pinkie Pie, what is that?!" Twilight asked while pointing to the unstable rock hill that looked like it was going to topple over anytime soon.

"A rock slide, of course! For Maud! First you climb, then you slide!" Pinkie answered before moving to hop her way towards the top.

“I don’t know why but I got a bad feeling about this.” Bunga whispered to the others.

“Me too!” Applejack agreed. 

“For once, Bunga thinks this is a very bad idea.” Ono added while watching Pinkie make her way up the rock tower. “And it is! That’s not even safe!”

“Pinkie, that’s dangerous! Get away from there!” Kion shouted after her friend out of fear for her safety much like his father would say if he caught him or Kiara doing that.

“Relax, Kion” The pink pony assured as she made her way up. “Everything’s perfectly under control…Huh!”

In all of her excitement, Pinkie Pie's front hoof hit against a rock, causing one just above her to fall and land on one of her front hooves, trapping herself in the process. When she tried and struggled to free herself, the un-sturdy hill began to shake leading to more rocks falling out of place and right towards Pinkie to further trap her in her place.

“Oh no.”

"Oh, goodness!" Fluttershy exclaimed as the hill continued to shake and more and more rocks began to fall, the hill itself lost its balance and began to crumble. The gigantic boulder at the top began to slide down…directly at Pinkie Pie, who still couldn't break free due to her hooves deeply stuck in the rocks.

"Help!"

Acting fast, Fuli and Twilight moved towards the avalanche in order to save their friend. At the same time Maud Pie moved right by them at a super-fast speed. She quickly donned a biker’s helmet before moving to the run the entire obstacle course at record time with both Fuli and Twilight while visibly amazed of what she has just displayed. All while showing a look of determination in contrast to her deadpan demeanor something that even the rest of the Guard was amazed themselves to the point they were all dropping their rocks at the very sight.

Maud came over to her sister’s aid quicker than Rainbow Dash could ever imagine of happening by jumping in front of the giant boulder, and then rapidly punched it like a drill making it’s way through to crush it into tiny pieces. She then quickly punched the rocks trapping Pinkie thus freeing her when they were punched to pieces.

Knowing that the two sisters were still in danger, Beshte and Kyoga quickly rushed over to stabilize the tower long enough for his friends to escape, while Fuli and Twilight made their way up the tower.

With quick speed and precision, Fuli was able to scoop Pinkie up off of her hooves before making a speedy descent down the rock hill, while Twilight flew over to do the same to Maud. Once the two were able to fly down with the two sisters, Beshte quickly released his hold on the tower while Kyoga doubles down to push the leaning weight of the rock pile backwards in order to give her friend the time to get to safety.

After Beshte had fled, Kyoga along with Rarity and Twilight all worked their magic and rearranging the rocks in a proper formation to ensure that it is stabilized to keep anymore rocks from falling over them before the latter along with cheetah moved the Pie sisters to safety.

The rest of the group sighed in relief. Everyone was safe and that’s all that matters. However, both Ono and Rainbow Dash were still shocked by what Maud had just displayed in order to rescue Pinkie. 

"What– how– what?!" 

“How did she…?! How could she possibly…?!”

They both exclaimed at the exact same time speaking over each other.

Once both Fuli and Twilight returned to the ground they both gently placed the two earth ponies onto the ground. And immediately Maud wrapped her hoof around her sister, hugging her with a sense of relief written on her face. Relief that she was still alive.

"Pinkie Pie, what were you thinking?" Maud chastised, her voice sounding incredibly concerned and worried in contrast to her usual stoic demeanor that she had shown up until this point.

“Yeah, Pinkie, why did you do that? You could have been killed today!” Kion joined in sharing the same concerned relief as Maud.

Pinkie Pie hung her head in shame before answering. "I guess I wasn't."

“Well hopefully you’ve learned not to put yourself in danger like that again and that I am only telling you this because I care about you.” Kion further expressed while hugging her tightly. “I don’t want lose you or anyone else here.”

Maud then turned to both Twilight and Fuli for what they did up there. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

“No problem. You’re not the only one who knows how to be quick in the face of danger.”

They both replied while nodding in the same emotion as Maud at the moment.

“We’re just glad we were able to save you before anything else can happen.”

“And that sure was very impressive strength you showed us there.”

“Thanks.” Maud returned genuinely. “I truly care for my sister.”

Both Beshte and Kyoga smiled in response hearing this from her. She might be a pony who very rarely expressed it but that alone tells them their love and care for Pinkie Pie is there deep down and helped that have common ground together.

She then turned back to her sister just when Kion moves to remove the helmet and snorkel from Pinkie’s face so she can place a hoof on her younger sister’s chin.

"I know how important it is to you that your friends become my friends, but I just don't think it's going to happen. I think it would be best if I just go back to the rock farm and spend the rest of the week there."

“But…but…” Bunga stammered in pleading protest. “…you just got here!”

Sadly, it wasn’t enough to change her mind.

"It was nice to meet you all. Makes me happy knowing Pinkie Pie has such good friends." Maud said to them very gratefully before walking away.

"But… we never even got to make our rock candy necklaces... Wait, Maud! I'll come with you!" Pinkie Pie shouted and pleaded after her. Even though things didn’t quite work out like she hoped, she still didn’t feel quite whole without that one very special sister bonding activity having never been tackled.

"I can't believe Maud cut her trip short." Kion sadly lamented.

"I can't believe we nearly lost Pinkie Pie to that ridiculous obstacle course." Rarity said still mentally recovering from the experience.

"Thank goodness Maud was able to reach her in time." Fluttershy added in relief.

"Did you see how fast Maud moved?" Rainbow asked sporting an amazed smile.

“I did.” Fuli shared feeling amazed herself. “And I wouldn’t have believed it had I not saw.”

"And the way she smashed that huge rock into dust?” Ono added sharing his astonished thoughts. “I mean, how in the Pride Lands did she do that?"

"Pinkie Pie was in trouble." Kyoga explained. "Maud would move mountains for her if she had to. I would do the same for you girls."

"And I would have done the same for you Twilight." Kion shared to which the alicorn smiled in response to.

“And I know exactly what we all have in common with Maud.” Twilight returned having already figured out what they need to do now. “Something that just might be worthy of a very important super-duper special tradition that only the closest and bestest of friends can share!"

“Like what?” Kion asked curiously.

“That is something I’ll explain on the way…” She replied before leading everyone on over to where both Pinkie and Maud are headed.





Sometime later, the Pie sisters have managed to hitch the next train ride back over to where the Pie family rock farm is, although Pinkie was left downcast with the inevitable of having say goodbye to her sister when they get off of this train. Sure, she knows that the heart of gold is in there, but deep down she just wished she could have stayed the whole week. It was there she realized what her foolish attempt of trying to get everyone to bond together had cost herself and that got her usual smile to drop.

"Thank you for coming with me." Maud said, her voice now back to its stoic tone as she petted Boulder. "I don't know how long I'll be gone on my rock research trip. I'm glad I still get to spend some time with you before I go."

"Me too. I'm sorry I put so much pressure on everybody to bond. I only wanted my friends to get to know my amazing older sister." Pinkie returned before hugging Maud. "Besides, who knows how angry they must be with me for scarring them like that.

"Don't feel bad." Maud assured. "Your friends love you just as much as I do."

"I know."

Eventually, their train ride came to its destination, allowing the two sisters to arrive at their family’s rock farm, which of course is filled with rocks. The place itself was almost completely bare of life and color, much like the Pride Lands when Scar took over. It would be hard to believe that Pinkie Pie managed to grow up into being a silly and energetic pony in this kind of environment.

Suddenly, Maud stopped herself and Pinkie before pointing her hoof forward at something in front of them. The rest of the Lion and Pony Guard already here with smiles and several bags of rock candy in tow.

"What are you all doing here?" Pinkie asked very surprised to see them all here.

Kion started off while approaching them. "Pinkie Pie, we're so sorry we hurt your feelings by not bonding with Maud right away. And Maud, we're sorry that you felt the only way to spare Pinkie Pie's feelings was to leave Ponyville early."

The others nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, even though you are kind of like an emo-teen.” Bunga suddenly was greeted when Applejack raised a hoof ready to dope slap him upside the head until he quickly raised his claws up in surrender before doing it to himself while falling on his back.

"But we've seen how much you care about Pinkie Pie first hoof." Applejack continued.

“Pinkie Pie's happiness means as much to us as it does to you, and we're sorry we couldn't see it sooner.” Kion continued his apology on behalf of the Guard. “The thing that makes us click and creates a special bond between us is how much we all love Pinkie Pie!"

"Aw, shucks!" Pinkie responded while gushing at these very heartfelt words.

"That's a pretty great thing to have in common, if you ask me." Twilight remarked with a smile, "What do you think, Maud?"

Maud was silent and stoic like before until she then said. "Sure."

Once again, the rest of the group (sans Twilight and Kyoga) felt uneasy like before when they were trying to bond with Maud in Ponyville.

"What's wrong?" Pinkie asked.

"Sorry, darling. I think we all just thought she'd be a bit more excited about this." Rarity explained.

"Are you kidding me? I've never seen her more excited in my entire life!" Pinkie said with one of the biggest smiles she’s ever done in her life.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't show my enthusiasm for things quite in the same way my sister does." Maud explained while watching her sister do somersaults and cartwheels around them. 

“She does have a point.” Twilight brought up.

“Take it from lions and ponies who’ve been through that phase before.” Kyoga added leaving the others to understand and make sense out of it.

"Uh, we noticed." Rainbow Dash replied. "And we're totally cool with it."

“Uh-huh!” The others all stated in agreement whole Pinkie does a victory dance complete with spreading confetti all around them.

“Now how about making those rock candy necklaces you all were talking about huh? Because I am dying to try it.” Bunga eagerly exclaimed before moving to fetch himself some of the rock candy Beshte was carrying over on his back.





After spending the rest of the week they had planned to spend in Ponyville on the rock farm creating rock candy necklaces they all moved back towards the train station so they can all head back home. 

Admittedly, it was more fun that they actually expected it to be and they all actually got to taste the rock candy in full glory. Even if it was hard to chew and swallow it was all worth the bonding experience and it was something that Bunga who did more eating than necklace making during most of the visit would do again if he had the chance.

By the time they arrived, the train had pulled up to the station and each and every friend had their own self-made necklaces ready to give to their new friend.

"Maud, we'd like to give you something to take on your trip, so that you remember all your new friends." Twilight said on behalf of the Guard as she levitated her necklace and placed it around Maud's neck. One by one, the ponies and Pride Landers all placed their necklaces around their new friend's neck, with the Pride Landers going last. Applejack's was designed in the shape of an apple, Fluttershy's was shaped like flowers, Rarity’s was shaped like an elegant princess necklace, Rainbow Dash’s was a lightning bolt, Beshte’s compromised of a few blue rocks along with Ono’s orange necklace given that they had the most difficultly in putting them together since they lacked the other’s claws. Fuli’s was compromised of mostly yellow, green, and orange rocks, while Kyoga’s was made of red and pink rocks, and Kion’s was made of yellow and red rocks, true to their natural colors of fur, hair, and eyes.

"Thank you." Maud sincerely said even when being stoic as always.

"Try not to eat all the candy before you leave!" Pinkie advised as she and her sister exchanged the necklaces they made for each another. When Pinkie received hers she wasted no time in tasting the wonderful flavors they held deep inside the stone exterior which mirrored of how much she loves her sister.

Maud then pulled out a box from her saddle bag and placed her the necklace Pinkie had given her into it. Inside were more rock candy necklaces that her sister had given to her through the many times they made necklaces together over the years, something that Twilight, Kion, and Kyoga were all astonished to see this.

"Are those all the necklaces Pinkie Pie sent you?" Twilight asked to which Maud nodded in response.

"Mm-hm."

"You mean you haven't eaten any of them?" Kion asked equally surprised.

"I don't really like candy." Maud explained before smiling rather sweetly and turning her attention along with the others towards Pinkie happily devouring the last rock on her necklace. "But I do love Pinkie Pie."

Maud along with Kion, Twilight, and Kyoga all smiled as they watched the adorable scene. 

In the end, most of the Guard learned another valuable lesson. Even if those like her, and even Kyoga and (to an extent) Twilight hardly show emotion at times, they all still truly care for those who they value as friends. And that was something that further warmed the alicorn’s heart deep down having a sense of warm happiness reignited inside of her. A feeling that she hadn’t experienced in quite a while. And that was something she had Maud to thank after happening to come across her in the rock mines along with Kyoga back there.