//------------------------------//
// Maud: Unexpected Starts 
// Story: Chosen Love 
// by Just A Random Pegasus 
//------------------------------//

Maud and Marble walked side by side to the dining room. The rising sun was beaming through the windows, shining on the two mares. Even after a few months, Maud still found it strange without Limestone around. She, other than Pinkie, is the loud one of the family. Well, she seemed more mellow when she and Lightning Drift visited a little while ago. Whatever Lightning did to her, it seemed like she was much happier. 

The two turned the corner and looked in the dining room. Seated at the table, they found their parents. Igneous had a letter in his hooves, and his mouth was hung open at what was written. Cloudy took a look, and her eyes widened in surprise. 

Maud tilted her head. "Is everything alright?" She asked as Marble nodded her head, showing that she was thinking what Maud had said. The two neared the table as Igneous looked at them, his golden eyes filled with surprise. 

"Yes, Maud, everything is fine." He took a breath before continuing. "We are surprised because Limestone wrote to us." 

Maud raised an eyebrow. "Hasn't she been writing to us a lot?"

Igneous nodded. Cloudy spoke up. "Maud, dear... Limestone..." a smile formed on her lips. "Is happily engaged."

Maud and Marble's eyes went wide.

"What?!" Marble remarked, shocked. This was surprising for Maud to hear. Marble only says things besides "mmhm" when she's really shocked, or really happy. 

Maud shared this amount of shock, though. "Really?" 

Igneous nodded. "Yes. She was just engaged yesterday evening." He then stood up from his seat. "Which brings us to you. Maud, tomorrow, you will be using the Choosing Stone."

Maud's eyes went wide, remembering the tradition. A blush inched its way up her cheeks. She hadn't prepared for leaving yet. She thought she still had at least a few months before she had to go. 

Igneous continued after looking at his daughter's facial expression. "I will tell Limestone and Pinkamena to come over to send thee off." He then walked over to a closet and grabbed a saddlebag inside. "Maud, after breakfast, you must start packing. I will supply thee with some money for the journey."

Maud blinked a few times, surprise in her eyes. "Alright."

She and Marble walked over to the table, taking a seat. Maud sat in silence, wondering what will come the next day. 





Maud woke up in the morning, her heart quickly beating. It was time. Time to use the Choosing Stone. She looked to find Marble still asleep, and decided to slowly walk out of the room without disturbing her. It was still fairly early, but she was sure she could hear voices that didn't belong to her parents coming from downstairs. 

She walked to the dining room and found Pinkie Pie bouncing, and Limestone and Lightning blushing. She also found her parents smiling. She silently walked into the room, hoping to not interrupt whatever they were talking about. She very rarely sees Limestone ever blush, so this was a treat for her. 

However, Pinkie noticed her walk in. "Maud!" She remarked as she hugged her sister. Maud returned the hug before the two broke apart. Pinkie then started giggling and bouncing again.

"I can't believe it! It's your turn! That means, after you, it's..." Pinkie stopped bouncing as she realized this. "My turn!" She then smiled and started bouncing again, this time higher than before. "Oh, I can't wait! Hopefully you and your special somepony will get engaged as quickly as Limestone did!" 

Limestone gave her sister a stern look. "Do you find something wrong with that?" She asked, a bit of defensiveness in her voice.

Pinkie shook her head. "Of course not! Don't get the wrong impression about that!"

Limestone dropped her stern glare and looked back to Maud. "Are you ready?"

Maud blinked. "I'm not sure." 

Limestone remembered the day she went to find her special stallion. A smile inched its way up her cheeks. "That's how I was like. You'll be fine; don't worry."

Hearing these words from Limestone, a mare who normally is not good at giving advice of any kind, was very soothing to Maud's nerves. Maud nodded.

"Alright. Thanks, Limestone." 

Pinkie started bouncing even higher. "I still can't believe I'm going to be planning a wedding!" She then ceased her bouncing for a moment and looked at Lightning, raising an eyebrow. "Say... is there any tradition that your family has done for weddings in the past? I need to coordinate all that into my plans."

Lightning nodded. "There is a tradition, in fact. Well, since my family is all pegasi, we do the traditional Pegasus dance at weddings." His wings twitched. "Though, Limestone is an earth pony, so we can't exactly expect that in our wedding."

Pinkie scratched her chin. She then gasped as a bright smile appeared on her face. "Limestone, I have an idea!" She said as she pulled her unwilling sister to the side. After a minute, Pinkie brought her back and smiled. 

"Well, while we were talking, I told her that I could get Princess Twilight to be the one who weds you."

Lightning's eyes went wide. "What?! P-Princess Twilight?!" His wings shot up. "How will you do that? She's a princess for Celestia's sake!" 

Pinkie snorted with laugher. "Oh, silly Lighting." She then ruffled his mane. "Princess Twilight is one of my best friends! She would be more than happy to wed you two!" 

Lightning took a breath. "Oh. But, wait... how do you know her? How did you meet her in the first place?"

Pinkie smiled. "Well, that's a pretty long story. I'll explain it all to you after Maud leaves." 

Lightning nodded. "Alright."

Igneous walked up to Maud. "Speaking of that... we must start eating so you can get started on your way. Do you have your stuff packed?"

Maud nodded. "Yep." 

Igneous gave her a brief smile. "Alright."

Now, Marble entered the room. She looked at Limestone, Lightning, and Pinkie and gave them smiles. She then stepped a little closer to the happily engaged lovebirds.

"Congratulations, you two," she said silently. You would have to be a foot away at most to clearly hear what she said.

"Thanks, Marble." Limestone replied before smirking. "You know... you're going to have to use the Stone soon."

Marble blushed and immediately hid her face in her long mane. "Mmhm." 

Everypony then took a seat at the table. Silence engulfed the area for a minute before Cloudy cleared her throat, smiling at Maud.

"Maud, dear, are you sure you're ready?"

Maud blinked. "Sure. I guess."

Maud then took some rock soup and started eating. She also made sure to put a piece of the cake Pinkie brought on her plate.

She heard loud eating and glanced over to her left. It looked like Pinkie and Lightning were having a cake eating contest. Pinkie, of course, took the victory. She took a few seconds to pat her stomach as the Pegasus finished up. She then let out a few giggles as he looked at her in surprise.

"Lighty, you really need a lot of practice." She then stuck her tongue out and took another piece of cake. Maud had always wondered how Pinkie managed to eat so many sweets at a time. She continued to wonder as she finished her soup and started eating her cake. It was rare for the family to get cake, especially for breakfast, but with a stallion with a huge appetite for desserts (as said by Limestone) is coming over, a fairly large cake is needed. 

Maud finished her cake, wiped her mouth, and looked around the area. As Pinkie finished her third slice of cake, she slouched a bit in her chair. 

"Ugh! I'm full!" She thrusted her hooves onto the table. She then made eye contact with Maud and sprung up from her seat. "And I think we all know what time it is!~" She said in a teasing voice as she made her way to Maud's bag, making sure everything was alright. She then picked it up and dropped it onto her sister's back.

Igneous and Cloudy stood up from their seats, making their way over to their daughter. They smiled brightly at her. "Ready?"

Maud nodded. "Yep."

Igneous looked at her for a moment before walking over to the picture where the key to the Choosing Stone was hidden behind. He took it out and held it in his hoof. "Then I guess we should be heading out. You want enough time to search for your soulmate in daylight."

Maud nodded to his statement. Even though she seemed neutral and expressionless about this on the outside, on the inside, her heart was pounding in her chest. She couldn't remember the last time that happened. 

She was cut off from her thoughts by Pinkie strongly wrapping around her. Marble, Limestone, and Cloudy joined into the hug. Maud returned it, and after hugging for a few seconds, they all broke apart. 

"Good luck!" Her family said at the same time, brightly smiling at her. Maud felt a small smile inch its way up her face as well. It was rare that a smile even formed on her lips at all. 

Lightning walked over by Limestone. "Maud, good luck. I know you'll do great, sis-in-law." He said with a wink. 

Maud's small smile remained on her face. "Thank you, brother-in-law." She saw Limestone holding in a giggle at this. Since when did she ever giggle? She must have gone through a bigger change than I thought...

Igneous walked up next to her. "Ready to go to the mine?"

Maud nodded. "Yep." 

"You'll do great, Maud!" Pinkie said as everypony else nodded their heads. "Bye!" 

Maud waved as she stepped outside. After closing the door, she heard many voices coming from inside. They all sounded pretty excited. Maud turned and stepped by her father's side, who was looking down at her. 

"I can't believe it. My second daughter is already using the Choosing Stone." A smile appeared on his face. "It's just... a bit hard to believe."

Maud nodded. "I agree. I had no idea that I would have to use the Stone so soon."

Igneous gave a warm chuckle. "Me neither. But, Limestone and Lightning Drift are quite fond of each other. I can understand why they took the next step." 

Maud nodded again. "Yeah. It's pretty obvious to tell that they're meant for each other."

Igneous nodded as well as they neared the mines. They stepped inside, and walked towards the door that was sealed by a lock. Igneous lifted the key up to the door and turned the lock. The door opened, and he held it open for Maud, who entered wide-eyed. Maud saw a bright light at the end of the tunnel. She walked down, feeling enraptured by the light. With every step, she felt more and more nerves fluttering in her stomach.

She finally was about a step away from the pulsing stone. She heard her father's hoof-steps by her side. 

"Well, Maud, touch the stone with thou hoof, and the current will start flowing through you. Lift your hoof from it once you stop feeling the current transferring to you." He smiled warmly. "Maud, I love you, and wish you luck."

Maud's heart started to beat even faster. She couldn't believe this was really happening. "Thanks, father." She then looked back to the Stone, took a deep breath, and lifted her hoof. She slowly brought it down to the rock, and placed her hoof on it. After a second of contact, she felt a current flowing through her body. Her mane was flowing from the strange current. After a minute, she didn't feel anything else transferring from the rock, so she withdrew her hoof.

Just like that, the current started flowing throughout her whole body; primarily in her legs. She then had the urge to run. Without even saying goodbye to her father, she started to sprint at full speed out of the mines.

As she passed by her house, she briefly saw Pinkie bouncing, cheering her on. She picked up pace a bit, now nearing the train station.

Once she was at the train station, she sat on a seat, twiddling with her hooves. She knew the train came by at about the same time every day, and hoped that she wasn't too late.

However, her fears were alieved when she heard a train coming in her direction. She jumped up from the seat, bouncing from hoof to hoof. She did not know how to respond to the strange current.

The train stopped as Maud looked at the conductor. The conductor gave her a smile. 

"Hello, miss. Where are you going?"

Maud remembered what her father had said: to go to Canterlot, and find the area where the current is the strongest. 

"Canterlot, please."

The conductor nodded. "That will be ten bits, please."

Maud quickly took the bits out of her saddlebag, accidentally spilling some on the ground in the process. After paying some to the conductor, she frantically picked up the ones she spilled. The conductor walked to the front of the train after closing the door.

After Maud finally picked up all the bits she dropped, she made her way over to a seat and plopped down. After sitting down, the current felt even more awkward. She knew she couldn't walk for the whole ride, so she stayed still, looking out the window.

She couldn't explain the feeling. It felt so... warm. So loving. Is was pleasant, but also awkward and a nuisance in a way. Oh well. It would be more than rewarding in the end. Thinking about this brought warmth to her cheeks. 





After a fairly lengthy journey, the train finally reached Canterlot. The current was now much stronger than it was before she left the rock farm, which symbolized that she went in the right direction.

She started to walk the paths in Canterlot, trying to find the spot where the current is strongest. She finally found it, and took out her map. Her eyes went wide when she saw which direction the current was leading her to.

The Crystal Empire. She couldn't believe it. It was the only place in that direction! 

She decided to quickly trot back to the station, not wanting to waste any time. When she arrived, she made sure to pay for tickets to the Empire, and boarded the train again. Nerves once again exploded in her stomach. She couldn't believe this was really happening. 





Having to sleep in the train, she awoke the next morning, feeling sort of refreshed. The current made it a bit difficult to go to sleep, but it was fairly easy to fall asleep after growing a bit tired from riding on a train for most of the day. 

She made her way out of her room and looked out a window. She looked ahead to see a glimmering castle adoring the skyline of the Crystal Empire. It seemed beautiful, and she wasn't even in the Empire yet!

When the train reached the station, she left and thanked the conductor. She then gazed around, mouth open in shock. It was gorgeous. The crystals sparkled from the light of the sun, showing the brilliance of the Empire.

She tried to take a step, but found it extremely hard to lift a leg. The current was so strong. She now knew that she found the right place. The place where her soulmate is. 

She continued to walk, or at least, try to walk in the direction where the current was growing. It seemed to be growing slightly warmer and stronger with the more steps she took.

As she was walking, she looked at all the crystal ponies walking by. Their coats shined brightly in the morning sunlight. Maud looked up to the buildings, which were also all shimmering. It would be hard to find a spot that wasn't. 

She soon saw a sign that had a rock on it attached to one of the buildings. As she looked at it, she felt the current grow even stronger. By looking at the rocks in the window, she could tell that this was a rock shop. And by feeling the current, she could tell that she was in the right place.

She took a gulp before opening the door, seeing many rocks and geodes of all kinds on shelves. Novelty crystals were also being sold to tourists who wanted to take a crystal home. She looked to see a crystal stallion at the desk. He lowered his glasses and looked at her.

"Hello! Welcome to-"

He was cut off by a back door being opened, and a crystal unicorn stallion approaching. As soon as Maud got a glance of his shimmering coat, the current started going insane. It was hard to process.

"Boss!" The stallion at the desk remarked. The unicorn who had entered smiled. 

"Don't be scared. It seems like profits have soared this month, and-" he looked up to see Maud, and he immediately stopped talking. Maud couldn't steal her glance away from him at the moment. She looked at his shimmering blue coat and neat white mane, along with the most gorgeous orange eyes she had ever seen. 

Her brain could barely process anything at the moment. All she could think of were the gorgeous orange crystals that were staring back at her.