//------------------------------// // Meeting with Maud // Story: Of Night and Stone // by Kirb //------------------------------// Of Night and Stone By Kirb Chapter Seven Meeting with Maud The Moon floated above Ponyville in the Equestrian sky. It cast barely enough light to see things. Brooklyn surveyed the town beneath him as he glided. Being nocturnal, gargoyles’ eyes were adapted to see better at night, and besides, he knew where he was going. He flew past the town, past the streets and buildings, past Town Hall, past the library tree, until he arrived at the outskirts of town. He found himself once again flying over the Park, and landed near a patch of trees. I think I’ll walk the rest of the way, he thought. I’ll be better able to see if any more traps are here, whether they’re set up by the Cutie Mark Crusaders or otherwise. And it’ll also be easier to keep an eye out for Maud. Unfortunately, as he looked he couldn’t seem to find the earth pony he was looking for anywhere. Hm, now where could she be? Could she be waiting behind a tree to surprise me? No, that’s not like her. Did she… did she leave? I certainly hope not. I don’t want to make her sad. Oh, please tell me she didn’t leave… Upon rounding the corner, Brooklyn breathed a sigh of relief. Maud sat near the park bench where she had first found Brooklyn, passing a pebble back and forth in between her front hooves. Of course, she’d be in the place where she first met me. Clever little pony. “You’re late,” Maud said in her standard monotone, looking up at Brooklyn. “I’m sorry.” Brooklyn walked over towards Maud, sitting down next to the little pony. “I got caught up.” “What do you mean by that?” Though Maud’s voice lacked emotion, there was a hint of aggression in this last question. Brooklyn sighed. “I was captured by three little girls who wanted to find their special talents in gargoyle catching.” … “Smooth move there, Brooklyn,” Elisa muttered to herself. Twilight was watching Brooklyn and Maud from a distance away, looking through a pair of binoculars, but she turned her head to shush Elisa. “Ssh! We don’t want to reveal ourselves to them.” “Sorry,” Elisa replied in a quieter tone. “Yeah!” Pinkie whispered. “You don’t want to reveal ourselves to them! Unless we wanted to go with my original plan!” The human and two ponies had been waiting there in the park for several minutes, but only just now started paying attention as Brooklyn had only just now arrived. Twilight and Pinkie were both wearing black leather sneaking suits that covered their full bodies. “Pinkie, somehow I don’t think a surprise party would work,” Elisa whispered. “I know Brooklyn, and I can only assume that Maud wouldn’t appreciate that either.” “Will you two be quiet?” Twilight insisted. “Maud’s talking.” The three watched as Maud continued to toss the pebble. “Gargoyle catching? You’re joking with me.” “Unfortunately, I’m serious.” Brooklyn raised his right arm to scratch the back of his head, and a sheepish grin came to his face. “They caught me by using electric fence. Electricity weakens gargoyles.” “Wait, I’m confused,” Twilight whispered. “What is Brooklyn talking about?” “He mentioned something about being captured by three fillies,” Elisa replied. “Apparently, they wanted to find their cutie marks in gargoyle catching.” “Sounds like the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Twilight muttered. “Who?” asked Elisa. “I told you about them,” Twilight whispered as she turned her head toward Elisa once more. “That little trio that includes Applejack and Rarity’s sisters?” “Oh yeah,” Elisa nodded as she remembered now. “They’re the ones who go around looking for their cutie marks.” “Ah, I remember when I got my cutie mark!” Pinkie interrupted. “Do you want to know about it? It all started many, many millennia ago…” “Ssh!” Twilight shushed Pinkie. “Your sister is talking again.” “You’re serious, then.” Maud continued to pass the pebble back and forth. “I suppose that would explain the screaming I heard. I thought it sounded like your voice.” “Well, it was. That was one of my less than proud moments. It would’ve been easier if they just tied ropes around me. I could have easily broken free, then.” Maud didn’t reply immediately. It was clear that she was thinking. “So electricity is a gargoyle’s weakness. Will you tell me more about gargoyles?” “Sure, but wouldn’t it be more comfortable to sit on that bench?” Brooklyn pointed to it, its blue paint glimmering in the moonlight. “Okay,” Maud replied. She picked up the pebble and put it into her pocket, then stood up; however, before she was able to walk to the bench, Brooklyn picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the bench, much like how someone would carry a cat. “Aw, he carried her over to the bench!” Elisa smiled. “Those two are so cute together!” “Do you always do this?” asked a frustrated Twilight. “Do what?” Elisa replied. “Do you always talk a lot when you’re trying to be sneaky?” Twilight clarified. “Oh.” Elisa blushed. “Yeah, I do that sometimes, but only in a whisper. It’s a nervous habit. I sometimes do that when I’m on the job, too. Not really beneficial.” “I like talking too!” Pinkie blurted out. “Oh, and not just when I’m trying to be sneaky! I like talking when I’m not trying to be sneaky, too! I like talking all the time! Like right now! I could go on talking for hours--” She was shut up by Twilight’s hoof covering her mouth. “Pinkie,” Twilight began, “if you don’t keep quiet, they’ll know we’re here, and you don’t want that, do you?” Pinkie shook her head. “Good.” Twilight removed her hoof. … Brooklyn’s ears perked up as he heard a noise. He turned his head in the direction of the noise, but all he saw were bushes. “What is it?” Maud asked. “Hm? Oh, nothing. It’s just, well, I could have sworn I heard something.” He sat down on one side of the bench and set Maud on the other side. “You ponies are really light, you know that?” asked Brooklyn. “And small, too. Ponies in my world are bigger.” “There are ponies in your world?” Maud asked, getting comfortable on the bench in the same position she had sat on the grass. “Yeah, but they don’t talk or fly or use magic. They aren’t really interesting. But anyway, you were asking me about gargoyles.” “I was.” Maud thought about her first question. “You can fly with those wings and you’re strong. What other abilities do you have?” “Hmmm.” Brooklyn never really had to answer these types of questions before. “Well, not all of us can fly. Bronx, one of the members of our clan, doesn’t have wings. He’s more like a dog, anyway, and he doesn’t talk. But for the most part, you named it. Flying and strength. Oh, and we’re good swimmers, too.” “Interesting. Why do you turn into rock during the daytime?” “Really, I don’t know. A former member of our clan, Demona, got a spell cast on her to turn her into a human during the daytime. Elisa thinks it’s something about conserving energy--that we’re able to sleep at night and that sunlight also gives us energy.” “Hm. So what do gargoyles usually do?” “We usually just do things that normal people--er, ponies, do. That is, if ponies do the same things as people. But one thing that gargoyles have been trained to do is protect.” “Protect?” “Yeah, we had to protect the castle from invaders at night. I know Hudson always says, ‘A gargoyle can no more stop protecting the castle than breathing the air.’ In Manhattan, our former home, we protected the city from crime. I guess we’ll have to do that here, but from what I’ve heard there really isn’t much crime at all.” “Like superheroes in comic books?” “Yeah, sort of! Do you read many comic books?” “I’m not really into that. My books are all about geology.” Brooklyn raised an eyebrow. All the books she has are about geology? Okay, that’s a little weird. Then again, I know she grew up working on a rock farm. “Hey, I met your sister Pinkie Pie earlier.” “You met Pinkie?” “Yeah. She’s very… er, different from you.” “I know I don’t express myself the same way she does.” “It’s not a problem! I was just… well, surprised.” “Yeah, she was always the black sheep back at the rock farm. Or the pink sheep, whichever one fits better.” Brooklyn chuckled. Wow, so she has a sense of humor. I’m surprised. “So you and Pinkie grew up working on a rock farm? I bet that was quite the strange life.” “We got some free time, but it was mostly very one-note, yeah.” “Hey, I’ve told you about what I do during my free time. What about you? Do you have any interests, hobbies? What do you like?” Maud paused before responding. “I like rocks.” Brooklyn raised an eyebrow and put on a fake smile. Her mind is very one-track, it seems. “Can I ask you a question, Brooklyn?” Maud asked. “You just did, so sure.” Brooklyn leaned back on his end of the bench. “What do you want to know?” “First of all, sorry I’m asking so many questions. I don’t really know about gargoyles, of course, and meeting a creature who turns into rock in the daytime is just very interesting.” “No, it’s okay. So what’s your question?” “Well, how do you reproduce?” If Brooklyn had been drinking, he would have spit out his beverage all over the ground. Instead, his eyes just widened and sweat began dripping down his face. “Um, why do you ask?” “As I said. Curiosity. You’re the first creature I’ve met who is essentially a living rock. Also, when I saw your clan this morning I didn’t see any females.” Despite Maud’s emotionless voice, Brooklyn suspected there might have been something more. He also could have sworn he heard the bush giggle. “We do have a female member in the clan, Angela. But with that said, I suppose we reproduce in the same way humans do, and I assume that also applies to ponies. Thing is, we usually pick out mates for life. After we mate, the females lay eggs, which are put in a rookery and hatched. Young gargoyles are raised by the clan; children don’t usually know who their parents are.” Just then, Brooklyn heard a voice coming from the bush. “Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh! I wonder if Maud will lay eggs!” … “Pinkie, that’s not how it works!” Twilight whispered. “And be quiet! We don’t want them to notice us!” “Um, not to burst your bubble, Twilight, but I think they did…” Elisa pointed at the gargoyle and pony at the bench, and Twilight and Pinkie noticed that Brooklyn was looking back at them. “Well, maybe they didn’t notice!” Twilight whispered, ducking her head lower under the branch. “We definitely notice you,” Maud called to them. Twilight ducked lower, and pulled Elisa and Pinkie down with her. “What? But how?” “I know, right?” Pinkie replied. “She couldn’t have noticed us! We wore these sneaking suits! That makes us practically invisible, right?” “Who is it?” Brooklyn called over to them, standing up. “We know you’re out there!” “Guess we’ve been found out,” said Elisa, standing up. Pinkie and Twilight stuck their heads out from behind the bush too. “Hi, Brooklyn.” “Elisa?” Brooklyn walked towards the human. “What are YOU doing here?” “Well, we wanted to check on you,” Elisa began to explain, “and make sure you were doing alright with Maud.” “Yeah! And we totally weren’t just spying on you and Maud because we wanted you and her to get together as a couple!” Pinkie then gasped and shut her mouth, but all too late. “Pinkie!” Twilight facehoofed. “I’m sorry!” Pinkie apologized. “Sometimes my mouth goes off and I can’t stop it!” Brooklyn had a very stern look on his face. “Really, Elisa? I can’t believe you’d do this…” Elisa opened her mouth to begin, but Pinkie stepped in before she could start. “Well, you won’t have to, because you won’t even remember us!” She pulled up the hood of her leather jumpsuit. “We’re wearing sneaking suits! We can just slip away and you won’t even remember what happened, or that we were even here to begin with!” She started tiptoeing away, but it proved ineffective because she couldn’t really tiptoe with hooves. “Pinkie, that’s not how a sneaking suit works,” Twilight stated. “It’s not?” Pinkie seemed surprised by this. “I thought they were supposed to turn you invisible? How do they work?” “They don’t turn you invisible!” Twilight groaned. “There are spells for that! These suits just make you harder to see at night! Hence, why they’re black!” “But Brooklyn and Maud still saw us!” Pinkie glared at the unicorn. “Twilight, I think you got ripped off.” “Gee, I wonder why they saw us,” Elisa remarked. Pinkie turned to the human. “Hey!” “Well, no offense, Pinkie, but you’re not very good at sneaking,” Elisa explained. “She really isn’t,” Maud said. Wanting to change the subject, Pinkie galloped over to Maud. “Um, hey Maud!” Pinkie said nervously. “How are you doing?” “And she’s also not very good at changing the subject,” Maud remarked. Pinkie blushed and smiled sheepishly. “Will the three of you leave already?” Brooklyn impatiently insisted. “It’s a little embarrassing, at least to me.” Pinkie sighed. “Fine… but I’m still wearing this sneaking suit!” Twilight and Pinkie turned to walk away. Elisa followed them, but turned and waved to Brooklyn. “Bye, Brookie!” she remarked coyly, remembering what Maud called him the previous day. Brooklyn visibly flinched, then rolled his eyes and sat back down next to Maud. … The clock read 3:11 when Brooklyn finally landed back on the deck of Town Hall. Twilight had gone to sleep a few hours earlier, and Elisa and the other gargoyles were inside. They all turned their heads in the direction of the door when it swung open and Brooklyn walked in. He was grumbling something to himself, and his face bore a frustrated expression. He slammed the door behind him. “Hi,” he muttered. When he looked up, Brooklyn noticed that all the others in the room were staring at him. “Um, why are you all looking at me that way?” “Lexington told us you got yourself into a rough situation today,” Goliath spoke. “He told you?” Brooklyn groaned. “Ohhhh boy. Well, let’s get this over with. Bring on the taunting.” Hudson chuckled. “Gettin’ a bit out of shape, aren’t ya, lad?” “Yeah!” remarked Broadway. “Taken down by three little girls who aren’t even half your size! Slow week for you, eh?” Brooklyn glared at Broadway. “Alright, you two have made your point already.” “Oh, I don’t think they have,” said Elisa. “In fact, I don’t think they’ll ever let you hear the end of this one.” Brooklyn raised an eyebrow. “Exactly how much did Lex tell you guys, anyway?” “Only that you got caught by three school-age fillies,” Goliath said. “You really shouldn’t let that happen. I hope I didn’t make you my second-in-command for nothing.” “Oh, come on!” Brooklyn snapped. “They had an electric fence!” “Well, that does slightly lessen the humiliation,” said Hudson, smiling, “but not by much, laddie.” “Well, why am I the only one in this?” Brooklyn asked. “I don’t see you all relentlessly teasing Lex when he was caught!” “For one, you’re more fun to make fun of,” Angela began, “because you take yourself so seriously, it’s just a lot more fun to tease you. For another thing, Lex is out on patrol. How do you know we won’t tease him about it when he gets back?” “Also, Lex didn’t really tell us,” finished Elisa, “though that would explain why he smelled like smoke.” “Whatever,” Brooklyn muttered. He turned and started to go back outside, until… “Brooklyn, wait!” Goliath called to him. “There’s something else we would like to ask you about.” “Ugh, what?” Brooklyn groaned. “I heard you went on a date tonight,” Goliath said. “A date?” Brooklyn raised an eyebrow. “Is that what Lex told you?” “Well, him and me,” Elisa said. “Sorry, Brooklyn, but I told him--” “Look!” Brooklyn interrupted. “It wasn’t a date. At least, I don’t think it was. I just wanted to hang out with Maud, that’s all.” “Ooh, Maud!” Angela remarked. “Is she a pretty pony? Do you like her?” “I bet you’d love to ride that pony, wouldn’t you?” Broadway smirked. “Gah!” Brooklyn walked out frustrated and slammed the door behind him. “I think ya pushed him way o’er his limit, laddie,” Hudson said to Broadway. “…Maybe I should deal with this,” said Goliath. He headed to the door. “Goliath, wait!” Elisa said, following him. Upon opening the door and stepping out onto the deck, the two found Brooklyn looking out over the edge, leaning on the rail. “Brooklyn?” Goliath began. The young gargoyle turned his head to face Goliath. “Oh hey, Goliath, Elisa. You here to taunt me some more?” “Have I ever made fun of you, Brooklyn?” Goliath asked. “Yes,” Brooklyn replied, looking back at the town. Goliath sighed. “Okay, I have. But really, right now I just want to talk to you.” “About what?” “Well, I need to warn you about trusting the natives here. Remember, we just moved here. We know very little about these ponies, and forming close bonds with some of them can be… well, hazardous. They could turn on you, and that includes this Maud character I have heard so much about.” “I really think you’re all overreacting. I don’t plan on having a relationship with her. For now it’s just a friendship, and not a very close one at that.” “Well, yes, but friendships can be deadly. I remember when the Captain of the Guard betrayed all of us to Hakon.” “Understood. Now is that all?” Elisa decided to reenter into the conversation. “Not quite.” “Ugh!” Brooklyn groaned. “What else?” “I was just going to ask you how your date went?” Elisa asked. “It wasn’t a date, Elisa.” “Alright, but how did it go?” Brooklyn groaned. “Not well.” “Was it because Twilight, Pinkie and I were watching you?” Elisa asked. “That certainly didn’t help. But apart from that, Maud is just.. just…” “Just what?” “She’s… just… strange, alright? She doesn’t talk a lot, leading to uncomfortable silences. And when she does talk, it’s all about rocks! I mean it! I know she grew up on a rock farm, but this is almost an obsession! She has a pet rock named ‘Boulder’! She writes poems about rocks! And they’re terrible poems by the way! Almost as bad as the poetry from that one book you got for me!” “You mean the Vogons from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?” “Yeah! It’s all like ‘Rock. You are a rock. Gray. You are gray. Like a rock.’ It doesn’t rhyme--it just compares things to themselves! GAH! She is just weird! I don’t understand her one bit!” “Just because you don’t always understand her doesn’t mean you can’t get along,” said Goliath. “Like Elisa and me in our early days.” “You don’t get it!” Brooklyn snapped. “Maud is probably one of the strangest--no, the strangest, person or pony I’ve ever met! And that’s saying a lot!” Goliath and Elisa looked at each other, then back at Brooklyn, who was grumbling again. Dead silence fell over the deck, until Elisa finally decided to speak up. “Does this mean you don’t like her, Brooklyn?” “I already told you,” muttered Brooklyn. “She’s the strangest pony I’ve ever met.” “That wasn’t a noooo!” Elisa sang out teasingly. Brooklyn sighed. “If you must know, I’ll be meeting her tomorrow night.” Elisa suppressed a giggle, and Goliath even had to hide a brief smile. … Several miles away from Ponyville lay the ruins of an ancient castle. Just outside the massive Everfree Forest, this castle housed the royal sisters of Equestria, Princesses Celestia and Luna, a thousand years ago. A long, rickety rope bridge crossed over a gorge from the end of the forest, to the castle. A shadowy tall figure stepped out of the forest. This figure was humanoid, and clothed in a large, dark gray overcoat, which he pulled the hood over his head to obscure his face. He starting onto the rope bridge and navigated it, making sure to be careful. One misstep and the figure would never be seen again. As the tall figure finished crossing the bridge, he looked around at the abandoned castle. He hummed to himself, clearly thinking about something. “Well, it could use a little fixing up, but it’ll do.” The moonlight’s illumination was not nearly enough for him. He reached into a pocket of his large overcoat for a flashlight and flicked it on, then continued inside. He walked through many halls, and past many rooms, until he finally arrived in the enormous throne room. Two thrones sat at one end of the room with two large tapestries on the wall behind them: a faded yellow painting of the sun, and a blue one of the Moon. The figure walked over to the throne in front of the sun tapestry and sat down. A grin came to his face. “From one castle to another.”