Maud awoke to see Tree Hugger parked in the center of the room. Some aromatic smoke drifted up from her between her soft whickering noises. Maud couldn't see her face, as she was facing away. Flint and Paul were gone.
Maud felt uncertainty. She felt a lot of things. She wasn't an unfeeling person, despite some rumors. She just wasn't good at expressing them. She decided to simply act as if she had seen nothing. "Good morning."
Tree Hugger turned placidly towards Maud, looking relaxed to a whole new level. "Woah, hey... I found some choice herb not far from here... Do you want to try some? It'll put the mellow back in you." She squirmed a little and got her crossed hindlegs back under herself. "Sorry about that, you caught me in the middle of some deep thoughts."
Maud tilted her head faintly to the left. "Are you alright?"
Hugger blinked slowly. "What? I didn't do more than half a lid. I can maintain." She made a slow wave of her left forehoof. "Come on, righteous sister. There's nothing nicer than to luxuriate in nature's glow with a close friend."
Maud shook her head. "No, thanks." She rose and circled Hugger, looking her over. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Hugger tried to turn with Maud, only to end up sprawled across the floor. The embers of whatever she had been smoking scattered. Fortunately the recently cleaned dirt floor did little more than snuff out the flames instead of catching ablaze. "Bummer..."
Maud blinked slowly as she looked over her downed friend. "Are you sure the plants here are the same you're used to?"
Hugger waved a hoof impotently, not aimed at any one thing it seemed. "I can hear them talking! Talking to me... They said to enjoy them, to relax..."
Maud nodded at Tree Hugger. "You look relaxed." Too relaxed, by her own measure. She considered a moment. "Maybe it's stronger than what you normally use?"
Tree Hugger slowly pushed up to her haunches and nodded blearily at Maud. "Maybe... Oh fine, stop staring at me like that."
Maud recoiled lightly. Her expression hadn't changed, it hardly ever did. How?
Tree Hugger slumped against Maud. "I can hear your song, sister of stone. I'm sorry, please forgive me my harmless trip."
Maud picked up the half-incapacitated Tree Hugger easily and bore her to the bunk bed. She tucked Hugger in gently. "Rest here."
"Heart of stone, heart of stone..." Tree Hugger began to sing softly as she nestled into her new bedding, eyes closing. "She's cold outside, but inside so warm! Look at those dead eyes, all the surprise is what's inside. Heart of stone, eyes of jewels..." She suddenly went quiet, soft snores rumbling out of her instead.
Maud took a slow breath, then allowed the smallest quirk of a smile in the isolation. "You're a little like her..."
She strode outside and looked around. It was mid morning. She quietly chastised herself for not rising with the sun. Her father and sisters would have chastised her if she got up so late on the farm. She could see humans working the fields surrounding the town to one side. They were just as busy as she would have been on the rock farm, but they were farming vegetables, not rocks. Maybe some fruit too.
The low call of a cow brought her attention to part of the land that seemed dedicated to ranching, which confused her. Why were the cows and horses there so much... larger than cows and ponies back home? They seemed uninterested in much of the world around them, and said nothing... She wandered towards them. She reared up on the fence keeping them in and watched the two pens. The horses were milling around and playing in their area, and the cows mostly placidly standing, but even they had games to play. Neither tried to ever leave their space.
A horse came close to her and Maud tilted her head towards it. A stallion. "Hello."
The stallion whickered at her and leaned in, sniffing at her gently. He had no words for her. He lipped at her mane, making a mess of it in a simple grooming attempt. Maud reached up and gently pet it across the snout before backing away, sparing her mane further attention. They were not ponies, not even huge ponies.
"Just stay calm..." A human was approaching, it, her hands were spread out. "Don't know how you got out, but we'll get you nice and safe with your friends."
Maud glanced at the stallion as it trotted away. It didn't look that much like her. Her gaze returned to the human approaching her. "Good morning."
That got her. She stopped right in her tracks and stared at Maud with surprise. "W-what? Horse don't talk."
Maud pointed at herself. "I am a pony. Your horses are nice."
She nodded a little, then smiled. "They are. I take care of the-- Wait, what do you mean, pony? That there's a pony." She pointed to a smaller area where little horses lived. "I'm getting the idea you aren't one of those, either."
Maud considered how to answer that. "I am a different kind of pony. My name is Maud. Maud Pie."
She nodded uncertainly. "I see... Well, so long as you're not some wild spirit, here to try to set my horses loose, I guess I'm alright with that."
Maud shook her head. "They look happy."
She smiled brightly at that. "I work hard to keep them that way. They're practically my children."
A loud clanging sound made the horses and the cows upset, while the ranching human looked around like wolves were upon her. "You'd best run and hide, little pony. That's the raid alarm!" She took off at a sprint towards the house closest to the horses.
Raid? Maud did a slow turn, trying to find the source of the disturbance. She spotted a male human running down the road. "Raiders! Bandits! Wat--" Another human suddenly came around the corner, mounted and with sword drawn. He spotted the runner and nudged his horse to action. He was going to hurt that man.
Maud would not allow it. She felt her inner energy flare to fiery life. She felt lighter than air, and she propelled herself forward in a thunderous gallop, swallowing up ground as if she were flying. The last time she went this fast, her sister had been in dire trouble. This time, she went to save a stranger. Everyone deserved a rescue...
The rider didn't expect resistance, certainly not in the form of a grey pony in tattered clothing, charging directly for him. He raised his sword high. "What witchery does this town employ? Your pet dies with the rest of you."
The man being chased had his opportunity, and vanished down the road, not even sparing a thanks to Maud on the way. She didn't notice. She was too busy galloping into battle. The rider brought the sword down as she came into range and she turned her gallop into a roll suddenly, ducking under the blade and leaving it to embed in the ground as she came up just before the man and his horse. With a powerful jump, she spun in mid air and brought a hoof against his chest, thudding pleasingly against his leather-clad chest.
He grunted in pain and perhaps annoyance as he drew his blade back and brought it in a lethal arc down at the pony that bothered him so. She thrust out a hoof, trying to deflect it, and getting a thin cut along her foreleg for her trouble, though far less than the wound he had planned for her. She took a slow breath. She hadn't hit quite the right spot last time. She wouldn't make that mistake again. She let him swing one more time and leaped while he was extended towards her. She brought a forehoof in and slammed it dead center in his chest. He gasped in a choked way, before she spun on the way down, catching him in right in the chin with both hind hooves. He fell from his horse limply.
The horse was spooked by his sudden dismount, and bolted off. Maud let it run. "Give up."
The man couldn't reply, struggling to regain his breath. His sword lay beside him, dropped from his limp hands. Maud gave it a solid kick, sending it sliding away across the street. "Enough."
The sudden sound of galloping hooves caught Maud's attention. A fresh wave of men were approaching. More bandits? No, she recognized one of them. The 'Lord of the Land'. That same lord stopped in front of Maud as he waved the others past. "You caught one? You've surprised me this day." He looked pleased.
The man on the ground recovered his breath and tried to scramble away, to be stabbed through the back with the lord's lance with a wet noise of the lethal blow. "Scum." The lord shook his lance to work free the body of the bandit. "You speak, do you not?"
Maud nodded. "Yes. Why did you hurt him?"
The lord raised a brow high. "Their band killed at least four people in the last hour, and aimed to do more than that. A swift death was too good for him. Enough of that. You've served me well, and I reward such things." He pulled out several coins and tossed them just before Maud. "Give that to your handlers, with my thanks. I look forward to your performance tonight."
Without waiting for a reply, he nudged his horse, and they were gone at a gallop down the road. Already things were starting to calm down. People were emerging form their hiding places. Maud took the coins that had been given to her. They were like bits, but not. They were gold, but showed some human on them. She tucked them into her worn frock gently.
"Miss?" A human was talking to her. "Y-you want first dibs?"
First dibs? "On what?"
He looked quite nervous indeed. "You defeated him, miss. I saw it... You have the right to take what you want."
Maud blinked slowly. How strange and awful this world was, where people had such rules of politeness. Still, they did need what they could find. She nodded and approached the fallen man. She saw a bag hanging from his belt. Inside where a few trinkets, and some coins, but they were dull copper in color. She had no interest in anything he wore. This sentiment was not shared by the others, who stripped him down and carted his body to somewhere else.
Maud didn't care to ask.
She did move to the sword he had left behind. It was an impressive thing. Long, sharp, straight. It was made to kill. He had wanted to kill her with it. She took it by the hilt in her mouth and walked off with it back to the hut.
Flint was back. He smiled on seeing her, though it faded quickly. "Where'd you get that there?" He pointed at her sword.
She set it to the side. "First dibs."
He went rigid. "Y-you fought them?!"
Maud turned back to him. "I fought one. Oh." She drew out her bag and pulled out the strange gold coins she had been given. "I was told to give this to you, with his thanks."
His eyes somehow went wider as he reached with shaking hands for the coins. "You..." He curled his fingers around them and brought them closer. "We owe you. You really are a blessin' straight from the gods themselves. You weren't hurt, I hope."
Maud shrugged lightly. "I'm fine."
He chuckled a little. "You always say that. I bet you'd say it while you were holding your guts in." He moved to the bunk and gently nudged Tree Hugger. "Hey, wake up."
Tree Hugger woke with a groan, then began to stretch out. "What? Oh, hello Flint."
Flint nodded. "Hey. Your friend was in a fight. Look her over, would ya?"
Tree Hugger half-fell/half-slid from the bed and got to her hooves with shaking legs. "Dear sister of stone, are you well?"
"I'm fine."
"See? She always says that."
Tree Hugger stepped across the room to look Maud over carefully. "You've been cut!"
Maud drew the leg away from Hugger. "It's fine. They barely hit me."
Tree Hugger spread out her hooves. "Do you not want the healing power of nature?"
Maud shook her head. "Save it for something more serious."
Tree Hugger flopped onto her haunches. "You are so brave..."