Rambling Rock Ridge looked like almost any other collection of rocks, even though Maud seemed to think it was something pretty special. The road had become more of a wagon track and became bumpier and bumpier, with deep ruts as well as places where it had almost vanished.
Maud continued until she reached a place where a faded wooden sign stood in a lonesome vigil, unreadable, forgotten, gone. She had pulled the wagon off of the rough trail and onto an even rougher trail, one leading up along a ravine, before dropping down. At the end of the trail, there was a clearing, and it appeared to be a somewhat decent place to camp.
Basalt. There was basalt all around. Columns of basalt, almost a forest of basalt, sprung up from the ground all around Tarnished Teapot. There were paths in between the basalt. The columns were spread out, there were spaces between them. It was strange and it was beautiful. He had never seen anything quite like this. All of them were squarish, with sharp angles, rough edges, and the formations did not seem natural, yet they were.
Tarnish hobbled between them on three legs, his eyes wide, taking in the visual oddities around him, and dumbstruck by the beauty of the world.
“If you leave your mouth open like that, you might eat a bug again,” Maud said in a bored sounding monotone as she snapped a photo of Tarnish, who happened to be standing in front of an odd octogonal basalt column.
“Maud, how did this happen?” Tarnish asked. For once, he wanted to get the long boring answer; he found that his curiousity was genuine.
“Well, a long time ago, a glacier covered this area, carving a gash into the rock ridge over there. It moved though here too, crushing the basalt. Some of the columns weakened, while others stayed strong. When the glacier melted, there was a lot of flooding, and this area became swampy. Eventually, water flowed through here, and the swamp drained. The weak basalt columns, the ones that crumbled, took damage, or were not strong enough, they were eroded away, leaving behind only the strong ones. Now there is a forest of basalt columns left behind with lots of gaps and spaces between the remaining columns of basalt,” Maud replied, saying everything in a long, droning monotone.
“This place is great for birds… there are a lot of nests at the top of these standing stones.” Tarnish craned his head up, peering out from beneath his pith helmet.
“Birds and many other creatures come here to breed; this place is vital to the local ecosystem and hosts a wide and varied ecology. The biological diversity here is one of the most concentrated in all of Equestria. Lots of bugs, birds, and small mammals.” Maud moved among the basalt columns at an almost glacial pace, looking around, taking everything in.
The rock loving earth pony snapped another picture with the camera around her neck.
This was a peaceful place, a quiet place, a place of contemplation. Tarnish sat down on the soft grass that grew between the columns. He closed his eyes and felt the warmth of the sun shining down upon him. There were no pressing needs at the moment. He had food, even if it was boring food, he had water. There was a rather nice pony he was traveling with. He had been talking with Twilight Sparkle and trying to sort his life out. He had told Twilight about the two brothers selling alchemically laced salts in Dodge City Junction, and confessed his stupidity that had led to his undoing.
Much to his surprise, Twilight Sparkle had not judged him, but had reassured him that everypony made foolish mistakes while they were young and figuring life out. Twilight Sparkle had then told him the story of when she had enchanted a doll named ‘Smarty Pants’ and had been worried about being sent back to magical kindergarten.
Hearing the full story put quite a different spin on things.
“Would you like to see a cave?” Maud asked, interrupting Tarnish’s thoughts. “It’s dark and not many ponies have seen it. I would like to show you.”
Clearing his throat, Tarnish felt warmth creeping over his cheeks. Opening his eyes, Tarnish struggled to reply in such a way that did not sound like innuendo. His sixteen year old mind screamed at him to say something witty. Having learned that his sixteen year old mind was the source of all of his troubles, Tarnish said nothing in reply, but nodded instead.
“This is the reason why basalt is so special,” Maud said as she lowered Tarnish down the hole, a rope tied around his middle. “Most ponies have never seen this, and most ponies would not care.”
It was dark down here. There was nothing to see, and Tarnish was too afraid to use his magic. He had used it a few times, causing some peculiar effects to the world around him, but Maud seemed unaffected thus far. He guided himself down the hole using his hind legs and his good front leg to keep from bumping into the sides of the passage.
This was, as Maud had explained, flood basalt. And flood basalt had unusual properties sometimes. As he descended into the dark, the light from above growing dimmer and dimmer, Tarnish wondered what was down here.
At long last, his hooves touched the ground, which happened to be a wooden platform, or at least felt and sounded like it. Tarnish was surprised. He could see nothing, there was only a pinprick of light from up above.
“Hold on, I’m coming,” Maud said, her voice echoing down the hole.
Tarnish was tempted to illuminate his horn for light. He waited, and could just make out Maud overhead, scrabbling down the passage, bracing her legs out on each side to slow her descent. He stepped out of the way, bumped into a wooden railing, and stood waiting.
Maud dropped down beside, her four hooves thumping upon the wooden planks. She had left most of her gear above ground, but he could see the dim light of an oil lantern that hung around her neck.
Slipping the rope loop from around her neck, Maud placed the lantern upon a wooden post that stood in the corner of the platform. The faint light did nothing but illuminate the immediate space around the pair.
Reaching out her hoof, Maud turned the knob, and the lantern light flared.
Looking around, Tarnish could see what he thought were a million sparkling stars twinkling in the darkness. The lantern light grew even brighter, until at last, it was as bright as it would get. The walls of the cavern were gemstone spikes.
“This is a giant geode.” Maud sat down upon the wooden platform. “We are standing inside of a giant geode.”
“This is beautiful,” Tarnish gasped. He sat down beside Maud and looked around, seeing all of the different colours. Greens, blues, purples, yellows, reds, so many colours. “I had no idea such beauty existed.”
“I come here when I need to get away from the world. When I need to think.” Maud’s voice sounded bored, almost sleepy. Her half open eyelids fluttered. “I’ve been to Canterlot. I wasn’t impressed. They’ve ruined a lot of perfectly good rocks there. But this place is perfect and unspoiled.”
The pair sat together in the flickering lamp light, Tarnished Teapot looking around wide eyed, looking very foalish as he took in the natural beauty all around him, while Maud looked very calm and sedate.
“Maud?”
“Yes?”
“I will remember this day, the day you showed me your cave, as being one of the most special days in my life… thank you.”