It was early. Far too early, as a matter of fact, something Blueblood, Big Mac, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Cheese all thought as they waked up to Sugarcube Corner.
“Has anypony heard from Pinkie since yesterday?” Cheese asked, only to get a chorus of ‘mm-mm’s and shaking heads in response.
Rainbow yawned and stretched before griping, “I don’t see what’s so important we had to be here this early - Celestia hasn’t even raised the sun yet!”
A nearby rooster snoozing on the fence served to exemplify Rainbow’s point.
“Well, I just hope all is well,” Blueblood responded before knocking on the door to the bakery. He startled a moment when they heard loud clattering sounds from within before Pinkie opened the door, for some random reason, a chef’s hat and safety goggles.
“Thank goodness you’re all-” Pinkie started but quickly noticed some absent faces. “Wait… Where’re Midnight, Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Thundy, and Soarin?”
“Soarin left yesterday evening to go visit his mom in Cloudsdale,” Rainbow responded with tired sigh, "and Thunderlane went with him to go see my dad at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory about something.”
“Th’ missus got called by th’ Equestrian Society fer th’ Preservation o’ Rare Creatures t’ help a special critter get ready t’ become a momma,” Big Mac explained, recalling the happiness his wife expressed at being a godmother to another adorable little animal. "An' AJ's off at Appleoosa to a powwow thrown by th' Buffalo Tribe."
“And as for Midnight and Twilight,” Blueblood added, “Aunt Celestia requested their help in playing host to some visiting dignitaries,”
“Well there’s no time to lose!” Pinkie announced before she grabbed Rarity and Cheese, throwing them inside, pushing Blueblood in tow, while accidentally closing the door on Rainbow that she smacked her face into it.
“Hey- Whoa!” Rainbow had snapped while rubbing her face when Pinkie quickly yanked her inside.
“Watch your step!” Pinkie warned, causing everypony to look at the floor and see it was covered with colorful rocks.
“By the Pale One, Pinkie, what is all this?” Blueblood asked, seeing Pinkie taking a whisk to a bowl of said colored rocks.
“My sister Maud’s coming to visit soon and I need your help taste-testing all my rock candy recipes!”
“Ooh, rock candy?!” Cheese was already licking his lips, “That sounds gouda!”
“Well, darling as happy as we are to help you in taste-testing,” Rarity spoke up, “this is rather a great amount of candy. Even for you!”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac nodded in agreement.
“I might have gone a… teensy bit overboard,” Pinkie admitted with a sheepish smile, given she was surrounded by piles of rock candy that stood taller than even Blueblood and Big Mac!
The piles were all over the bakery, made up of rock candy pieces as small as grains of sand and some that could have been used as bricks! But any further desires to politely decline were dashed when Cheese ‘whoopee’d into a pile or green rock candy, and poked his head out, speaking with a mouthful, “C’mon ev’wypoawny, itsh good shtuff!”
Seeing their favorite party ponies get into it, the rest followed suit, and it wasn’t long before they were all (sans Cheese and Pinkie) sick of rock candy, as Blueblood, Big Mac, and Rainbow all clutched their overstuffed aching tummies, Rainbow’s lips flecked with specks of rock candy, Rarity forcing herself to sample another tiny morsel, Big Mac BELCHING so loudly it made a few rock-candy-slides, one of which wound up burying Blueblood while the farmer pony sighed in relief.
“Everypony ready for more?” Pinkie asked as she wheeled in another barrel-ful of rock candy.
“Ugh, my teeth hurt…” moaned Rainbow Dash, Big Mac HURKED and looked away from the barrel of candy while Rarity took a hoofkerchief and wiped away any mess on her face.
“Pinkie dear, I do believe we’ve had a suitable amount,” Rarity was already considering what her dentist was gonna say upon her next appointment. “Besides, shouldn’t you be venturing off to the train station to meet Maud upon her arrival?”
“But you’ve only tried half the flavors,” Pinkie worried, “and we have to choose the perfect ones before she gets here so I have time to make more!”
“Then lemme at `em, Pinks!” Cheese took the barrel of candy and poured them down his gullet, gobbling them up while noisily savoring the deliciousness!
Blueblood rose up out of the rock candy and kindly said, “Pinkie, Maud is your sister; I am certain she’ll love your rock candy. And given she’s only staying for a week, I’d say you’ve made more than enough with plenty to spare.”
“Oh it’s not just for Maud, Bluey!” Pinkie shook her hoof at Blueblood’s face. “I’m making candy for all of us! Even for Midnight, Twilight, Flutters, AJ, Thundy, and Soar for when they get back!”
That declaration was met with a round of groans from the others while Cheese just licked his lips more.
“It’s part of a very important, super-duper special tradition that only the closest and bestest of friends can share…” Pinkie said in her usually comical version of a serious face that quickly broke into a big smile as she held up a string of rock candy and announced, “We’re gonna make rock candy necklaces together! AUGH!!!”
She then whipped out a notebook and crayons and drew visual aids, “It all started when Maud and I were fillies on the rock farm. She taught me the Pie Family Rock Candy Recipe! It has a secret ingredient… IT’S ROCKS! And she showed me how to string the pieces to make them into a necklace, and once we were done we’d trade!”
Pinkie then stood up, having finished her visual aids, “Maud and I have been trading necklaces back n’ forth since I moved to Ponyville! They’re a sign that we’ll always be best friends.”
“Aw, that tradition’s real a-oka, Pinkie!” Cheese smiled warmly, Big Mac giving an agreeable ‘eeyup’.
“Wait a minute!” Rainbow spoke up with an incredulous tone, “The secret ingredient is rocks?!”
“Yeah, but these are a special kind of rock that Maud discovered!” Pinkie confirmed and clarified.
“Really? Wha’ kinda rock are they?” Big Mac asked.
“Can’t tell ya that, silly!” Pinkie giggled before whisper-shouting, “It’s a secret!”
She then stepped back and went on, “Now that Maud’s heading off to get her Rocktorate in Rock Science, this may be our last chance to trade them for a really long time! I can’t wait for you all to meet her - I just know that some of my best Ponyville friends and my best sister friend are gonna become bestest friends! We can make bestestest friend rock candy necklaces together!”
She then zipped up to each of her friends in turn, “She expresses herself in fashion, just like Rarity, and she’s really smart and like science just like Bluey! She’s a hard worker, she’s good at games, she likes music!”
By this time, she’d pulled each of her friends into a lung-collapsing group-hug, “And-! Well… she’s AWESOME!!!!”
“She sounds… amazing!” Rarity grunted as she tried to breathe, “but… won’t she… start worrying if you’re not at the train station when she… gets here?!”
“She sure will,” Pinkie responded, the question going over her head for a brief moment before she GASP’d in realization. “I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!!!!”
She threw off her friends, scattering them about the bakery and the rock candy, before she galloped out the door.
The sun shone with a warm glow over Ponyville, and over a group of friends all getting ready.
Rainbow, Blueblood, Cheese Sandwich, Big Mac and Rarity had all met up on the outskirts of town by a lovely pond to set the perfect scene for Pinkie’s sister. The area was beautiful and doubled well as a wide open space for the group’s pets to play about.
Tank whizzed about, his helicopter harness buzzing away, Rarity’s cat Opalescence lounging about under the shade of a tree, alongside Blueblood’s peacock Splendor, whom seemed to be trying to show off to the disinterested feline. Big Mac’s hen, Goldilocks, was warily watching the newest pet on the scene, Basil, Cheese Sandwich’s new pet honey badger. Basil was an odd fellow, acting friendly towards the pets and towards Cheese and his previous owner, Fluttershy.
Nopony else however had been able to get near him without suffering razor-sharp claws to their face.
“Oh, it’s no use!” Rarity complained as she approached the picnic that had been laid out for the group, her odd hat drawing everypony’s notice. The hat seemed almost as tall as she was, colored lovely lavender. But the eye-catcher was the strange assortment of crystals covering it.
Noticing the looks, Rarity gave a sigh and plopped herself down beside her beau on the picnic blanket. “I simply cannot find anything to wear.”
Blueblood snaked a hoof around her and pulled in close. “No need to worry, Rarity. Having done my own studies in geology, I’m sure Maud will appreciate your choice of attire.”
Rarity gave an appreciative smile and nuzzled him, ignoring the fact that the act knocked loose some of her crystals into the muffin basket Big Mac had brought.
After a little while of silence, Rainbow finally gave a huff and asked, “So, anypony have any idea when they’re getting here? Pinkie made Maud seem like a really big deal.”
“Ah’m sure it won’ be long now, Rainbow, just be patient.” Big Mac nodded to her, as she scuffled passed. Rainbow groaned but settled down.
“I think we’re all rather nervous about Maud’s visit,” Blueblood spoke, “I mean, after all, she’s Pinkie Pie’s sister, and clearly Pinkie wishes for us all get along. I could just feel how important it is to her for us to make those rock-candy necklaces.”
“Heh-hey! Turn those nervousy-frowns upside-down, everypony!” Cheese piped in with an encouraging grin. “I swear on camembert that everything’s gonna be just gouda-”
“WE’RE HERE!!”
The group all stood to attention and turned to a nearby hill, where they could see Pinkie enthusiastically hopping towards them, her trademark grin plastered across her face.
However as the party pony landed in front of them, something became very apparent.
“Hey Pinkie, where’s Maud? I don't see her.” - GASP!!! - “Unless she’s invisible! Why didn’t you say your sister was invisible! She’d be so good at hide and seek! Quick, Maud say something so I know where you are! I HAVE TO KNOW YOUR INVISIBLE SECRETS!!”
As everypony just stared at Cheese Sandwich, who was now running about in circles trying to find an invisible pony, Pinkie just started giggling, “No, no, silly Cheesy. Maudie’s not invisible. She’s not quite as fast as me. She’ll be here any minute though so get ready, everypony!”
Cheese immediately stopped his searched and jolted into position next to Pinkie with a smile just as wide as her own. Mac, Rainbow, Blueblood and Rarity, all shared a look and just gave a chuckle. Pinkie and Cheese, they certainly were excitable ponies. Then they too turned and faced the hill noting that despite Pinkie’s declaration, there was still no sign of Maud.
They waited some more…
“Uh, are you sure she’s coming?” Rainbow questioned as there was still no sign of Pinkie’s big sister.
“Yepper-doodles, she’ll be here aaaaaaaany second now. I even asked Gummy to stay with her in case she got lost”
So the group continued to wait.
And wait…
Until finally a distant grey head appeared in the distance and the group waited for her to trot on over.
And continued to wait…
“Is she even moving?” Rainbow whispered to Rarity in genuine bafflement.
Slowly the grey head turned into a full pony, slowly getting closer. Very slowly.
“WE’RE OVER HERE, MAUD!” Pinkie shouted, jumping up and waving, briefly startling, Rainbow, Rarity, Blueblood and Mac, while Cheese just started bouncing in excitement.
Finally Maud arrived. She was slightly taller than Pinkie, but otherwise retained a (vague) familiar appearance to her sister. Her mane was a dull purple, combed neatly, as was her tail, which the group noted was being bitten by Gummy, who clung on tightly despite his dull uncomprehending stare. The mare wore a cobalt blue dress with a black belt strapped securely around her barrel. Her most distinguishing feature however was the blank emotionless expression on her face. She didn’t look remotely excited. Or happy… or frankly anything really, besides maybe bored.
As the mare approached, she came to a stop, then with a slow blink she tilted her head to a stone lying on the path in front of her. She stayed still for a moment before leaning down to the rock and… giving it a sniff?
“Hmm… sedimentary,” was her comment, which was as emotionless as her expression, which still had yet to change.
The group just looked at each other before Rainbow Dash voiced what was on their minds. “Huh?”
Maud just picked the stone up and looked at them. “This is a sedimentary rock.”
Silence. Maud just stood still holding the stone, looking completely disinterested while the rest of the ponies just looked at her. Finally Blueblood moved forward.
“Uh, yes I suppose it is. Very… impressive of you to identify that... random rock on the path.”
Seeing she still didn’t seem to show any reaction to Blueblood’s words, he slowly back up next to his girlfriend. Finally, Cheese’s excitement could no longer be contained.
“HI! I’m Cheese Sandwich! Pinkie's told us so much about you and you sound SO awesome and fun! We’re all going to have the best time on your visit getting to see Ponyville and learn about your time on the rock farm and what Pinkie was like as a filly and” - GASP!! - “Oh silly me, let me introduce you to the rest of our friends here!”
The orange stallion grabbed a startled Big Mac and shoved him in front of the older pie mare. “This is Big Mac, he and his sister Applejack run Sweet Apple Acres, that big apple farm you probably saw from the train coming into town!”
“Uh, h-howdy?” Big Mac stuttered with a forced polite smile.
Before he could get anything else out, he was suddenly shunted aside as Cheese grabbed Rainbow Dash and shoved her in Maud’s face.
“This here is Rainbow Dash, Ponyville’s top weather pony alongside our other friend Thunderlane, and she’s also gonna be a Wonderbolt one day!”
“Uh yeah that’s me, totally awesome and all. It’s nice to me…” the mare hadn’t finished her sentence before she was flung on top of Big Mac, who was just getting back to his hooves, causing him to ‘oof’ onto his belly.
Now in front of Maud was Blueblood, who looked a little panicked he was about to get hurled about shortly.
“This is Prince Blueblood from Canterlot. He’s a super-smart airship engineer, a business-pony, he’s Princess Celestia’s honorary nephew, and owns his own airship company in Canterlot! He doesn’t live there anymore though. See, he moved here to Ponyville so he could get to know his new friends and be close to his girlfriend Rarity!”
“That would be me, Ponyville’s resident fashionista and owner of the famous Carousel Boutique.” Rarity introduced herself, quickly stepping forward to prevent herself being abruptly dragged and getting her boyfriend shoved over.
Maud, just continued to stare at them all blankly.
Seeing that Cheese and Pinkie were both just watching with excitement, Rarity decided to continue trying to start conversation with Maud.
“So, Pinkie Pie tells me your share my love of fashion?”
“I’m really into expressing myself through my wardrobe.” Maud replied in complete monotone, doing nothing except slowly blink.
Refusing to let the conversation drop, Rarity continued, “A-and what is the delightful frock you’re wearing now saying?”
Maud just stared at her blankly for a moment before replying, “It doesn’t talk; it’s a dress.”
The mare raised an eyebrow briefly, looking for a microsecond slightly baffled, before the blankness once again consumed her face.
Rarity had no idea how to respond. “Uh well y-yes of I course… I just meant with the frock a-and the… frock and… doesn’t speak and…”
The diamond diva just stumbled back next to her boyfriend, looking completely lost and confused. Blueblood wrapped a hoof around her to provide comfort, but his own expression was just as baffled as her own.
Silence settled again for a moment, before a whizzing noise caught their attention as Tank puttered onto the scene, narrowly avoiding braining Rainbow in the head. The mare quickly grasped her pet and pulled her in close, seizing on another possible topic of conversation.
“Ooh, ooh, Maud, this awesome little guy here is Tank.” Rainbow affectionately rubbed his head, and the old tortoise gave a smile. At his own slow yet constant pace.
While Maud still didn’t react, the others grasped hold of the topic quickly.
“Y-yes, and over by that tree is my darling Opalescence. She can be a bit of a hooful, but I love her dearly.” Rarity gave a smile to her pet, and Opal briefly returned it before returning to her catnap. Beside her, Splendor strutted forward, sensing he was now the centre of attention.
“This prestigious fellow is Splendor. He loves nothing more than to show off his dazzling plumage,” Blueblood smiled as Splendor displayed his tail feathers proudly to Maud.
A clucking drew their attention next as Goldilocks gave a wing-assisted leap and positioned herself atop the back of Big Mac’s work-collar. He gave a smile and gently ruffled her feathers before turning to Maud.
“This here is muh hen, Goldilocks. She lives out on th’ farm with me an’ she’s a lil’ sweetheart.”
Maud just blinked again.
Suddenly the black and white form of Basil was thrust into the mare’s face.
“This here is my new friend Basil! I only got him a few days ago from Fluttershy, Big Mac’s wife. He was a little upset at first that he wasn’t still living with his best friend Angel Bunny, but I think he really like’s Pepper Pony’s now, especially since whenever he hissed, Mrs. Spice give him pizza to leave her alone. I should probably stop him doing that but he always just gives me this adorable snuffle whenever I bring it up and I get all distracted. I’m very easily distrac- OH LOOK, A BUTTERFLY!”
GASP. “WHERE?!”
Cheese suddenly left Basil in front of Maud as he and Pinkie ran about chasing a butterfly that was unfortunate enough to have fluttered into the area. Maud watched them for a moment and almost appeared to smile, before turning her attention to the honey badger sitting front of her.
Suddenly, Blueblood, Rarity, Mac and Rainbow all got nervous. In the short time they had known Basil, they had discovered two things:
One - He didn’t like anypony except Cheese, Pinkie, Fluttershy and the rest of the group’s pets.
Two - Anypony who ignored this fact usually ended up clawed in the face (At this point, they weren’t sure who was more of a nightmare, Basil or Angel. The fact that they were best friends was even worse).
Deciding to cut off a problem before it started, Rainbow dived forward to grab Basil.
“Heh heh, Basil can be a bit temperamental I’ll just take him over to Cheese and- OW!”
Having noticed Rainbow approaching him from the corner of his eye, Basil snarled as he swiped at the mare, clipping her hooves. Almost instantly, Rainbow Dash cowered behind Big Mac, clutching her hoof.
Basil gave a haughty sniff at the rainbow mare before he turned back to Maud. He stared at her. She stared back. He gave her a brief sniff. Maud just stared. Basil gave an approving nod, briefly nuzzled Maud’s hoof then walked off, shoving Splendor out of his way. The group just stared for a moment in confusion.
Well, it seemed Maud could be added to the list of ponies safe to be around Basil.
Deciding to ignore what just happened, Big Mac decided to press on.
“Pinkie Pie told us ya have a pet o’ yer own. Did a bring th’ lil’ critter along?” Big Mac asked while Rainbow Dash cautiously stepped out from behind him while glaring at Basil the whole time.
Maud blinked again the replied in her dull tone, “He’s in my pocket.”
This brought a smile to Mac’s face. “Oh tha’ would certainly get muh `Shy all excited. She loves lil’ critters. What is it, a mouse `r a baby bird? A frog?”
Maud stared for a moment before replying.
“It’s a rock.”
She reached up into a her dress pocket and pulled out a pebble and dropped it in front of the group. They all just stared at it as Maud informed them, “His name’s Boulder.”
Cheese was suddenly back on the scene, his nose pressed right against Boulder.
“Hi Boulder, I’m Cheese Sandwich! You seem like a really nice rock. Maud must take good care of you. I’m sure you’ll both have a great time here in Ponyville.”
Beside him Pinkie beamed. “This is going to be the best most awesome week ever! I can’t wait for us all to become bestest friends!”
“Me too, Pinkie, we are all going to have so much fun!” Cheese cried, wrapping one hoof around her and the other around Maud while beaming just as wide.
Everypony just chuckled awkwardly when Pinkie chimed in, “Hey Maud, come join me over here on the picnic blanket!”
They all looked and sure enough, Pinkie was lying on the picnic table, smiling and waving them all over. They quickly looked back to where Pinkie had previously been. Instead, only Maud stood there while Cheese had likewise vanished.
“Mm-mm! That’s gouda!”
They looked again and saw Cheese happily munching on some cheesybread he’d brought.
They shared confused looks while Maud maintained a flat look although her brow raised by the barest of a millimeter in interest. She’d never seen another pony so random and wacky as her sister.
“Maybe I’ll try some of that,” Maud stated as she joined the party ponies on the picnic table.
The rest of the friends shrugged and followed suit.
For the next few minutes, everypony focused on enjoying their picnic. After eating half of her daisy sandwich, Maud set it down and placed Boulder next to it for “him” to get his fill.
“Uh, Maud?”
She looked to see Big Mac, smiling kindly as he pushed a basket forward, “Wanna try one o’ Granny Smith’s apple-spice muffins?”
Maud answered by randomly taking a bite into the basket of muffins, except what she bit into was not a muffin. Rather it was one of the stones from Rarity’s hat that had earlier fallen into the basket.
After chewing and giving a rather audible crack of her mouthful, Maud commented, “Itsh crunchy.”
Big Mac and Rarity shared a weird look when Pinkie and Cheese each took a muffin and ate away.
“MM! She’sh right,” Cheese said with a mouthful, “they are crunchy!”
“Yum!” Pinkie smiled, savoring the deliciousness.
“So, uh… Pinkie said that you like games?” Rainbow brought up.
“Boulder and I sometimes play a game called ‘camouflage’. It’s kind of like ‘hide & seek’ but way more intense,” Maud replied with only the slightest of emphasis on the ‘way’.
…
“...Awesome?” Rainbow wasn’t sure of what else to say.
“Yeah, that does sound awesome!” Cheese leapt to his hooves. “I wanna play!”
‘Camouflage’ turned out to be even more difficult than Maud had implied. The friends weren’t sure how long they’d been searching (among several piles of rocks) for Boulder but they were certain it had been at least an hour.
As Blueblood levitated some rocks to the ‘checked’ pile, he stood up, asking, “Any luck so far?”
“What do you think?” grumbled Rainbow as she laid on a large rock, having grown tired of the tedious activity just a minute after it began.
“Rainbow’s right, this here’s like lookin’ for a pebble in a haystack,” Big Mac sighed.
“More like in a pile of pebbles,” Rarity muttered as one of the stones on her hat fell, earning her a stink eye from Big Mac.
“Really?” Big Mac asked, provoking Rarity to exasperate.
“UGH! I give up - This is impossible!”
“Just a little longer, everypony,” Blueblood encouraged, “I mean… Pinkie and Cheese seem to be enjoying themselves.”
He pointed out the two party ponies, as they kept popping all over the place while pointing out various rocks to Maud.
“Is this it?”
“Is this it?”
“Is this it?”
“Is this it?”
“After all, it might hurt Maud’s feelings if we stopped playing,” Blueblood reasoned, which earned some groans of consent.
“Found him.”
They all looked to Maud, as she held up a pebble they assumed must be Boulder.
Pinkie and Cheese bounced up to Maud, Pinkie asking, “Where was he?”
“He was hiding in my pocket,” Maud answered.
“Boulder, you sneaky pebble you,” Cheese chuckled while Rainbow growled.
“Are you serious?!”
Big Mac sighed, actually agreeing somewhat with Rainbow when he felt a light pecking on his hind leg, He looked to see Goldilocks, as she pointed with her wing. He looked and saw all the pets lounging about, bored.
“Uh, sorry to cut this short,” Big Mac spoke up, “but Ah think it’s time t' get these critters home.”
“Maud and I gotta get going too!” Pinkie agreed, as Gummy climbed onto Maud’s head. “I want her to taste the rock candy we’re gonna use for our.. Best friends necklaces! OH YEAH!”
As the Pie Sisters left, the friends finally talked without the pressure of not sounding rude in front of their guest.
“She sure ain’t wha’ Ah expected,” Big Mac said before pausing. “...Was Ah ever tha’ quiet?”
“We spent hours digging through the dirt and he was in her pocket the whole time?!” Rainbow griped.
“Ya gotta admit!” Cheese agreed, “He was sneaky…!”
“HE’S A ROCK!!!” Rainbow snapped.
“C’mon, everypony, perhaps meeting all of us at the same time was just a little… overwhelming for Maud,” Blueblood mediated.
“Yeah, she seemed a mite shy,” Big Mac considered.
“Exactly! It can be rather daunting to meet an entire group of good friends at once,” Blueblood pointed out, which everypony had to agree on.
“I got an idea! And it’s just gouda!” Cheese sprung up. “Why don’t we all spend time with Maud one at a time? It’ll make getting to know each other easier and I swear on camembert by the time we’re all done we’ll be making those rock-candy necklaces!”