Rock Solid Bond
Maud stared out the window at the vast plains of the rock farm. She was bored. She had read every book on the shelf in the living room, put together puzzles and even made her own sandwich for dinner, but she was lonely and bored. Earlier, she had heard Ma screaming upstairs and her Gran was flying everywhere in a frenzy, while Pa was nowhere to be seen.
Now, the house was finally quiet. Maud had eventually learned that her little sibling was here.
For months, her Ma and Pa wouldn’t stop talking about it. To be honest, Maud wasn’t a big fan of the idea. Why did she need a younger sibling? Wasn’t she enough? If her parents needed help on the rock farm, why didn’t they hire somepony?
Either way, Maud realized that her opinion didn’t matter.
She just didn’t know it would take so long for her little sibling to get here. She had been waiting since early this morning, when the big hoof on the clock was at the seven. Now, it was at the six, and the sun was starting to go down. She had tried going upstairs, but Gran kept telling her to wait. So, being the mature, responsible filly that she was, Maud waited.
But she certainly didn’t like it. She wanted to do something; like help Pa break the sedimentary rocks, or have Ma teach her how to make necklaces with the quartz. Even listen to her Gran babble on about silly things. It would be better than this.
There was the light sound of hoofsteps walking around, and Maud sighed.
She wondered what was going on…
...then again, she had to follow orders. So Maud kept staring out the window.
A few coyotes ran on the horizon, chasing something. Probably a poor little bunny.
She looked down, and shuddered when she saw the yellow spotted lizards dash on the dusty road. Her Pa had to shoot those nasty reptiles on a daily basis; one bite would kill a full grown pony.
The breeze made the small pebbles skid across the dirt.
Maud rubbed her eyes, and softly yawned. Normally, she would have been tucked in an hour ago, but she wasn’t allowed upstairs so she couldn’t go to bed. She wished that she could be sleeping, with her comfy comforter and her cuddly teddy bear, Mister Wrinkles. She laid her head down on the windowsill, about to try and catch forty winks--
--when somepony suddenly softly shook her.
“Hey there, sweetheart. You awake?” a soft, heartwarming, high-pitched voice said.
“Hi, Gran,” Maud mumbled. “Is everything ok now?”
“It sure is,” her Gran smiled. “You kept hanging on, huh? Bet you’re real tired now, aren’t ya?” She giggled when her granddaughter nodded. “Ok, honey, I’ll put you to bed. But do you wanna meet your little sisters first?”
Maud wrinkled her nose, and cocked her head to the side. “Ma and Pa said I was getting one little sibling,” she muttered.
Gran smirked. “Life is full of surprises,” she declared. “You got three cute little sisters.”
Maud let out a soft oh. Her Ma and Pa weren’t expecting to have that many. They only wanted one. She wondered what they would do with the other two. Maybe they would sell them to the farm down the lane, like they did when their old dog, Trent, had puppies last year.
“Sure, I guess I could meet them,” Maud said halfheartedly.
“That’s the spirit,” Gran beamed.
She picked up the weary filly and placed the child on her back. Maud held onto her grandmother’s sunshine yellow mane as they zipped up the stairs. She liked it when Gran took her on flights; sometimes they would go up to the clouds.
But it was short-lived for now.
Maud shakily stood down on the hardwood, and raised an eyebrow when Gran did the shushing motion her Ma always did. Maud nodded, and pretended to zip her lips as she followed her Gran into the bedroom. She looked around, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Ma was asleep, while Pa was cleaning things up. But when Maud saw three little bumps on the bed move, she darted over. She stood up on her hind legs and leaned against the wood frame of the bed to get a better look.
Her Gran stood next to her, and smiled.
“Maudeline, these are your sisters,” she explained.
“Gran, my name is Maud,” the filly argued, giving a cute pout.
“You’re just like your mother. Always shortening out your perfectly beautiful name,” Gran said, with a sigh and a shake of her head. “I hope your sisters can appreciate the names that they were given.” She pointed to a filly with a navy coat, and a grey mane. “That’s Blinkamena. She’s the oldest.”
Maud scrunched her nose up. “But I thought I was the oldest! I’m a big filly. I’m five,” she declared proudly.
She frowned when her Gran laughed.
“Blinkamena is the oldest of the three, sweetheart,” Gran said. “And then, we have Inkamena.” She pushed an all grey filly away from the edge of the bed. “She’s in the middle.”
“And what about that one?” Maud asked.
She was pointing to the final little filly, who looked vastly different compared to everypony else in their family. The newborn was all pink; a really, really bright pink. There wasn’t a dull thing about her. Maud didn’t know if she liked it or not, but this other filly was definitely the brightest thing she had ever seen on the rock farm.
“That’s the youngest,” her Gran murmured. “Her name is Pinkamena.”
“It suits her,” Maud stated bluntly.
She was surprised when Pinkamena had scooted over, and nudged Maud’s hoof. She was even more perplexed when her youngest sister fluttered open her eyes and looked at her.
“She’s got eyes like me!” Maud whispered loudly.
The same beautiful blue. Sometimes, they looked like the sky, and other times, they were like the ocean. On a rare occasion, it was both. Maud decided that was her favorite part about this Pinkamena filly.
Maud backed away a little when the little fillies all began softly crying.
“...hi there?” she muttered.
“Surprise, can you wake up Sue?” her Pa called from the doorway as he left the room. “I don’t want them little rugrats gettin’ any louder.”
“On it,” Gran said.
She nudged Maud, and gave a small little smile.
“Come on, honey, let’s put you to bed. You’ve been up long enough. Tomorrow, maybe when your baby sisters aren’t so fussy, you can get to know them better,” she offered.
Maud gave a small nod. “Ok,” she said softly.
She looked at her little sisters one last time, and gave a small smile.
“Hi,” she said again.
“You’re going to love them,” her Gran spoke up. “I know it.”
Maud hesitated. “Maybe,” she mused.