//------------------------------//
// Prelude #I; The Great and Powerful Thief 
// Story: Magical Intentions, Vol. I 
// by Aureane 
//------------------------------//

		 Joy, Saturday morning.  Another day with Pinkie at the park-- and her friend.  Why do I always get dragged into this?

I don't see how that glimmering, violet mare in front of me has anything to do with my good standing in Equestria.  Not that I ever had a standing, anyway.  But, I digress.  If this is necessary to Pinkie Pie, then it is necessary to me.  At least it's still only one I have to deal with this time.  The last instance, all five of her friends at once... I could barely contain myself.  Not that they saw in the first place.

"Er," Starlight tilts her head, unimpressed by the grey, cold statue looking down, yielding no reaction to her.  "Pinkie, are you sure she's happy?  She looks like she's... bummed out."

"Are you kidding me?!  Maud Pie is absolutely delighted to see you!" The pink pony exclaims, holding her smile up and tossing her arms into the air.  The grey mare blinks at Starlight and looks up at her sister, maintaining the same, apathetic appearance.  

I guess she didn't sleep well last night, or something, Starlight wonders.  A few moments pass as she tries to hide her confusion, and Pinkie eventually notices Maud's expectant, yet neutral stare.  

"Oh, excuse me!  Starlight, meet Maud.  Maud, meet Starlight!"  However, seeing that neither of them moves a single muscle, she grabs both of their hooves and gets them to formally greet each other.  She then bounces back to unload a round of her party cannon, which yields no spectacular reactions throughout the town square, save for Starlight, as most of Ponyville's citizens are used to unpredictable celebrations like this by now.  Pinkie then flashes back to her previous position, standing alongside Maud.  The inexpressive mare turns her head to lock gazes with Starlight.  

"Nice to meet you," she states.

"He he- uh, you too," the unicorn responds, utilizing magic to flick out the confetti that had stuck to her mane.  She can't think of anything else to add.  Although, to Starlight's surprise, Maud's hoof was amazingly soft, especially after all of the stories she had heard from Pinkie about her being able to break down rocks, lands, and even mountains.  With her mind set on this, she musters up a question, raising a friendly hoof, "Maud, your sister has told me all about you.  Up until now, and to the best of my understanding, I'm surprised that Twilight- nor any of the others- has mentioned your amazing story.  Only Pinkie has.  Is it true that you rescued her from a giant boulder?"

Maud doesn't respond, instead holding true to her everyday stare.  Starlight waits patiently, almost sweating, wondering if she made the wrong notion hitting at such a personal topic.  She wonders if she was even in the position to ask that kind of question out of the blue.  However, before she brings forth an apology, she looks at Pinkie, and to no doubt, she is frantically nodding, being her usual, joyful self and wrapping a hoof around her sister, hugging her gratefully.  Pinkie exclaims, "yup!  It was all big sis!"  And then cheerfully, she blurts out, "uh-huh!  You should have seen the boulder!  It was literally THIS huge!"  She spreads out her arms and they extend to the size of the original boulder, nearly taking up the proportion of a whale.  Now this unpredictable action scares off some of the nearby citizens- and Derpy Hooves, who is flying by to deliver mail, bumps into Pinkie's massive arms mid-flight, falling to the ground with a lump on her head, the letters scattered everywhere.  In the distance, some ponies trot over to lend her a helping hoof.

To this, Starlight adjusts her posture and prepares to ask Maud another question, without taking a single second to ask why the hyper mare was able to do that.  "Right...  so, how exactly did you go about breaking that huge rock?"  

Promptly, the grey earth pony opens her mouth to begin, and Starlight believes she has finally clicked her, leaning in closer just in case.  "I broke the rock," she remarks.

Starlight's head falls along with her curiosity, but nonetheless, she forces herself to stand tall, feigning a smile towards her.  "Right, right.  That's... impressive," she claims, visually growing all the more uncomfortable, "um, Pinkie, may I have a moment with you, about the meeting I have with Twilight Sparkle tonight?  It's really important."

Pinkie lets go of Maud and jumps up and down repetitively.  "Okie Dokie, Starlight!" She bounces over to the unicorn, and when she is within a viable distance, Starlight pulls her in, holding a hoof up and speaking in a quiet, serious tone, right into her ear.

"Pinkie Pie, I thought your sister would be- you know- more," she struggles in the search for a proper word, "...cheerful than that!"

But the pink mare doesn't seem to understand the accusation.  "What are you talking about?  She's absolutely excited right now!  No pony has ever asked her TWO questions before!  They're usually fully astonished from the first one alone!"

To confirm the status of the grey pony, Starlight peeks past Pinkie's shoulder.  She has thrown Boulder, her pet rock, onto the ground, and is enjoying the scenery.

Starlight pops back to her original position, looking disappointed.  "Whatever."  Suddenly, a brilliant question jumps into her mind.   Having had enough time to figure out the impulses of her reactive friend, she teases, "say, Pinkie, can you go fetch Maud and I two extremely-super-duper-rare-lemon-squeezy cupcakes from the ghastly gorge?"

Pinkie Pie gasps, giving a second to think about it.  Then, with excitement, she pops up behind Maud Pie and blurts aloud.  “Why didn't I think of that?!"  She hops back to Starlight and drags her over to Maud.  "I'll be back Maud, I'm off to fetch us some extremely-super-duper-rare-lemon-squeezy cupcakes!  Have fun with your new friend while I'm gone, Starlight!"  She dashes off, already out of sight-- still appearing once more to blast out another load from her party cannon, just before leaving for sure.

Starlight looks down at the second wave of confetti and sighs.  She stares at the uneventful mare in front of her, to whom returns the same action.  Well, I may as well ask the obvious, Starlight thinks.  "Say, Maud, what would you do if you could talk more?”

To this, the pony twitches an ear.  Starlight believes she has her this time.  After a considerable while, she finally replies, "I would talk more."

"Great."  Instead of being disappointed yet again, Starlight smiles, almost devilishly.  "You wouldn't mind coming this way, then?  Pinkie might take quite a bit of time to get those cupcakes."  Maud Pie casually picks up Boulder, shifts her eyes toward her, and then proceeds to follow up by her side.

They walk on until they reach an old wagon just behind some run-down pony houses.  Starlight boasts, finishing up her anecdote, "and that is how I came to be at this village, of course, after enslaving multiple towns, eh heh..." she winces, but then returns to a smile, "even still, I've finally made a good friend, and I wouldn't mind it if you met them.  Let's go in, shall we?" She opens the door, and the grey mare obliges.


~


The door closes promptly behind the two equines.  There are too many artifacts, props, and chests to name within the mobile structure.  Nonetheless, Maud retains her straight face.  Starlight takes no note to this, and calls out with a hoof aside her mouth, "Oh, Trix!  Can you do me a favor?"  In response, a unicorn with starry clothing walks out from the back of the wagon, chuckling lightheartedly.

"Well sure, what are friends for, Glimmie?"  Though, it isn't long before she notices the dull mare standing in the room.  "Oh, I see you've brought a... well, somepony else."  She looks unimpressed, raising an eyebrow.  "What was it you wanted to ask of me?"

"Right.  My friend here is in the need to express herself properly, and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me out.  Except- you know- without magic this time.  I really need the practice.  And who knows?  It might be fun.  What do you say?"

Trixie immediately gets taken back by the violet mare's words.  "Friend?"  She says, with a nearly untraceable sense of despair, "you've already made another... friend?"  

"Well, not exactly.  Pinkie Pie introduced me to her today.  Her name is Maud Pie.  Maud Pie, this is Trixie, the friend I was telling you about."

The... friend?  Trixie thinks.  Is that what I am to her now?  Just, the?  Nonetheless, with a slow, controlled tone, she calmly questions, "Pinkie's sister, huh?"  She bats a quick eye at Maud, who simply blinks back in return.  Trixie looks disgusted and turns her head again, venting, "I never thought I'd say it.  I didn't think you'd be into ponies who were so,” she notices that the grey pony has a rock on the floor, and is completely unaware of her claim, “...inactive.  What do you even see in her?"  Trixie, by this point, is examining the stone equine closely, pinching her cheek, making a funny face, and attempting to tickle her just to see if she'll move.  Nothing happens as Maud merely shifts her hooves to realign her posture.

Starlight doesn't know how to answer her sudden question.  In the midst of her race for words, she floors the pedal, "well, that's the thing.  I don't see anything, really.  She won't express herself openly, no matter what you try."

Refusing to lose to a good challenge, Trixie trots to the back of the wagon and comes back out with a special, red and black box.  "Starlight, will you come to this side of the room, please?  I'd like to try something-- it might help Maud out," she requests.

"Um... okay, Trix," Starlight says, reluctantly leaving Maud Pie's side and complying to her friend's order.

"Good," Trixie states, grinning and readying herself.  "Well, Maud, I don't suppose you know what's in... this box!"  Without warning, she opens the lid and tosses it upon the floor-- and through the stone pony's eyes, a horrific, ancient creature made purely out of captured phantoms and undefined spirits desperately attempts to claw its way towards her.  Recklessly, the container scrambles and kicks about the room as the hyperactive phenomenon struggles to remember how to move properly, dragging its base closer and closer to the grey equine, screeching and dancing about.  "Oopsies," Trixie declares, thinking to herself, oh, this will definitely move her.  Starlight cowers to the floor, covering her eyes- having seen enough.  

Even as the rising terror gathers closer, screaming and pounding at the floor, Maud Pie shows no fear.  Instead, she takes the time to check her surroundings.  Hm... there are traces of stone in these wooden floors.  If I calculate the right pitch...

In contrast to the wizard's anticipated outcome, Maud Pie firmly stomps her hoof into the floor at a slightly slanted angle, and a dusty, pale sound wave undetectable by the common Equestrian ear reverberates throughout the wagon.  In an instant, the monster trembles, frightened by the high pitched sound, and it soon works its way back into the box from whence it came, willingly locking itself shut-- preferably for another eternity.  Maud Pie then picks up Boulder and dusts him off.  

"No!  How?!"  Trixie is surprised, but she quickly recollects her cool and brushes away the situation.  "Whatever.  That thing wouldn't have done much, even if it did break loose."  The starry mare raises her hooves.  "That's right, because it was only an illusion, a feat only possible by the great and powerful Trixie!"  However, she corrects herself when she sees that Starlight has gotten back up, tossing her a vexed look.  "...I mean, the perfectly normal Trixie!"  She raises her hooves higher, but it only ends in a glare.  "Oh, whatever," she says, returning to her normal position.  "That was a Hexxill," she explains.  "Rare creatures gathered from the souls of ancient war ponies.  It's best if you don't ask how I have it."  

Trixie skips right down to the weakness.  "Any sudden, intense frequency acting upon its body scares it away, so that's why generally flies.  Because we were in a wagon, there weren't many pitches acting upon it, which is how it was able to get out.  Because it was bound to the box, it couldn't immediately escape and flutter on out of here."

To this, Starlight is relieved, and with the otherworldly creature out of the question, she says, "well, I'm pretty sure I'll still be having nightmares tonight.  Thanks, Trix."  She looks over to the gray mare.  "But wait--" She turns, "Maud Pie, how did you know what that was?"  She adds.

"Hmf!"  Trixie interrupts, "she must have read it in a book somewhere.  Who knows.  If I were just as quiet as her, I'd be reading all of the time," she says as she moves over to pick up the box, ignoring the grey mare.  Starlight looks at her hypocritical friend.  No, Trixie, she thinks.  That quiet mare must be something more.  The caped pony confirms the status of Maud.  "Well, there's definitely nothing in the world that will move this boring horse.  If that box didn't do it, nothing will.  Have fun with your 'friend', Glimmie.  There's a new spell waiting for me in the back."  With a look of feigned supremacy glued to her face, Trixie marches towards her declaration.

"Hold on-- you've never even answered my first question.  Aren't you going to help me?"

Trixie turns to her fellow unicorn, raising a hoof and making an arch to emphasize her point.  "Help?  Well, there's nothing to "fix" about her.  That's obviously how she is."

By then, Starlight has grown tired of Trixie disrespecting Maud's rights to silence.  "Hey, stop referring to her like that, and just answer me.  I'm sure that, even as the way she is now, she is probably just having a rough time.  Especially since you've deliberately attacked her with that-- Hexma or whatever.  It's either a yes, or a no,"  she states, and she moves in front of Maud Pie to assert her choice, waiting as if she were a mother scolding her own child.  Carefully, Maud is examining Boulder, checking for any collateral damage.

The great and powerful mare takes a moment to pass unto Starlight the magic of her own silence, turning around to consider her current position.  She keeps her back away from the unicorn and the earth pony, and to this, the equalized pony witnesses something she had never once seen before in her own friend.  No way.  Trixie is suddenly... crying?  

Starlight is left there standing dumbfounded, finally choosing to move up besides her- looking about her shoulders to confirm her deduction.  "Trixie?"  Starlight calls out.

After a few moments, Trixie breaks the stabbing noiselessness, with a low and controlled tone, as if any minute she could snap by now, "Fine.  Then... no."  Trixie mutters, almost whispering, forcing the other unicorn to lean in.  She shows no true signs until she makes the decision to turn around and openly reveal her teary face.  This is probably the first time the violet pony has ever seen Trixie express herself.  Trixie jumps straight to the point, having kept it in for so long, "I guess... I'm not important to you anymore.  You--" she lowers her head, wiping a tear from her eye, "you're better than I am.  And you know what?  I can accept that.  But I don't approve of her."    

These words shoot straight through Starlight's heart, but her magical friend continues on with her sharp tongue.  

"I-- I thought we were friends-- and best show biz partners!  I don't understand, you're saying you're just going to have--" Trixie wipes her eye to toughen up and finish her sentence, but it's no use.  Her tears are already leaking onto the wooden floor.  She takes off her hat and uses it as a fan.

Then, after a few seconds, she points a hoof at Maud, who is not paying attention, but is rather more entertained in watching Boulder spin on an automated merry go-round.   Starlight, at this point, can only do so much good as to acknowledge the starry unicorn's emotions.

Another wave of tears drips out from the sideshow pony, and she finally gathers her voice.  "You pull her in here, believing that that pony is worthy of your friendship?  I mean, look at her!  She has nothing besides that rock of hers!  We have our own show!"  Trixie outbursts, almost yelling, but her voice cracks throughout her words.  "I don't care if she's the coolest, calmest pony in the world, she hasn't known you for as long as I.  Do you expect--"  Trixie dashes up to Maud and presses her cheeks together, "this, to mean anything to you?"  

Maud shows no reaction at all, tossing two eyes towards the great and powerful mare, and then looking back to Boulder spinning around on the contraption.  Trixie looks straight into Starlight's eyes, and she is so shocked by her own sudden outburst that she doesn't even care how many fluids she's spilling by now.  

To no hesitation, Trixie gives up her explanation.   She sees that her own friend looks confused.  Of course she wouldn’t understand, Trixie thinks.  She moves up to Starlight and rests against her shoulder, allowing the violet pony to relax a little.  After winding down, Trixie hugs her friend, forgetting about Maud, giving her a hug warm enough to light Ponyville for ages.  "I'm sorry, I just..." As she lowers her head, "I-- no.  If you want to go with her, so be it.  I won't hold you back!"  The last word in her speech trails off as she looks up towards the equalized equine, dropping her hat on the floor.  The two stand opposite to each other, as if they were holding a Western standoff.

In response, Starlight picks up Trixie's hat, soon bringing her own head to level with her friend's and placing the hat back upon their head.  Trixie is about to say something, but Starlight gently places a hoof atop her starry partner's mouth.  "Don't worry.  I... think I understand, Trix."  Allowing her own tears to fall to the ground, she ignores her own bodily sentiments and manages to wipe a tear off of Trixie's eye, responding with sincerity, "look, ever since the night of the magic show, I never doubted our friendship.  Maud Pie would never replace you.  I just thought she could be our friend, not my friend.  Our friend.  And I know she needs help.  She wants help."  Starlight leans down against Trixie's shoulder.  “But I never thought that introducing somepony else to you could--” she gathers her broken voice together, swallowing what feels like a fish in her throat, “c-could-- concern you this much.  I never knew that our friendship was this fragile,”  Starlight bows her head down, nearly to the floor, in defeat- it was as if Trixie had beaten out everything they knew of each other, and had tossed it out along the sidewalk for it to simmer amongst the sun of Celestia.

Trixie looks stunned, laying out a hoof to hold her friend.  She closes her eyes and inner regret trickles out from her core.  "No,  you’re right, Starlight.  So I suddenly got a little jealous.  S--Sorry, " she stutters.

Starlight looks up at her friend, and they meet their eyes once more, sparkling from their own tears.  "Trixie," she responds, speechless at that point.

Trixie then places her hoof over the unicorn's mouth and glances into her eyes, looking as calm as Boulder, to whom is still enjoying the merry-go-round ride.  Maud Pie is smiling to herself, noticing the amount of glee in her own pet rock, but the two unicorns don't take notice, as they are too busy with each other to think about anything else.  "Starlight," Trixie says, now nearly in a low whisper.  A few minutes pass as they hold each other, arm in arm.  Eventually, her unicorn friend blinks, putting forth a question.

"Is everything all right now?  We've been holding each other for... quite the while," Starlight points out.  With that said, she is just about ready to separate their warm holds for one another, but Trixie pulls her in even closer, making the decision to inch herself up to her partner's face, almost to the point where they can feel each other's hearts beating.  Starlight lets go of Trixie to go about her own business, but to no avail-- the starry mare has her trapped, and her cheeks are flushed with a rosy color.  She is breathing slowly, focusing only on Starlight.  "What the?"  the redeemed mare says, noticing her friend's drastic change of the hold she has on her.  However, as soon as she is able to react to what her friend is doing, the equalized pony is already far from breaking free.  Her irises thin themselves out in the midst of her struggle, and she puts up a hoof to stop Trixie's passionate advance.  "Wait!  T-Trixie, what are you-"

"Ssh," Trixie urges, moving in for her self-proclaimed reward.  She then moves against her assistant, and their luscious lips come into contact.  Starlight was too late.  Her irises shake, as if she had just been stabbed in the gut and left to burn atop the feelings of confusion.  With futility, she still makes an attempt to push Trixie back, but Trixie won't let her go, instead holding her tighter, up to the point where nothing can be done.  Starlight tries to cast a spell, tossing forth a blast of magic, but it phases past Trixie and into a mirror in the room, and then into a piece of silverware before it is absorbed into the merry go-round, accelerating its spin-- only doing good to heighten Trixie's excitement.  

The equalized mare has no other choice but to relax herself, and she finally sinks into Trixie's advance, causing her violet eyes to widen to their normal level as she presses back against her friend's desire, almost willingly, resting a hoof on her friend's cheek-- not to escape, nor to enjoy, but to give up.  Trixie still has her eyes open, looking deep into Starlight's core, revealing a sincere, flaming-- no-- obsessive nature she had never witnessed before.  Starlight closes her eyes, escaping her partner's ravaging purple gaze.  No.  No, I wouldn't have ever imagined Trixie doing this, Starlight thinks.  My first kiss.  Gone like that.  No.  Please, no.  Not like this.  Trixie, why would you even--

Before she is able to finish her thought, Trixie leans back to separate their lips from one another, once again forgetting about the guest in the room.  Drool leaks from the tip of her tongue.  The caped mare giggles, staring embarrassingly, hearts flashing in her eyes.  "Oh my, was that too much of a great and powerful kiss for you, Glimmie?"  She adds.  To this, she channels magic in her horn and wipes the two of them off with a spare piece of cloth, looking as if a gear had permanently switched in her eyes.  

"No... Trixie, no..." Starlight is about to refute her, but she holds back.  "I mean, it was... fine,"  Starlight says as she slowly backs off, breaking their hold, looking as if she had witnessed a death scene just before her eyes.  "But...why?  Why didn't you just... ask me first?"  Her tears start dripping amongst her own confusion.

Trixie ignores her question, turning her head to the side and pondering, pressing a hoof to her lips, her heart still racing.  "I admit, as great and powerful as I am, I've... never felt something like this before.  I guess I got caught up in the moment," she claims as she uses an arm to shrug.

By this point, Starlight is halfway backed to the entrance, shocked by what her own friend had just stolen from her.  She doesn't even notice Maud Pie as she is nearing the door.  Maud Pie turns, ignoring Boulder, nonchalantly watching the drama.  "W-- will I always be one of your puppets like this, Trixie?"  She cries aloud, feeling betrayed yet again. 

The wannabe spell caster comes to par with her own fantasies, seeing that Starlight isn't as happy as she thought she'd be.  She bats an eye.  "What's wrong, Starlight?  You're acting like I've done something awfully wrong to you.  Though, I do admit, your lips were a little dry.  Good thing I took care of that,"  Trixie teases, raises an eyebrow, and looks towards the ceiling, dreaming once more.  "Didn't you like it?  Or did you want to go again, just to make sure?"  She turns around, facing away from her friend, blushing and chuckling with a hoof over her mouth.

That's it.  This is the point of no return for Starlight.  The unicorn charges up a major ball of energy, gritting her teeth and planning to disintegrate her for taking this so lightly- but seeing that Maud is in the way, she blurts, offended and confused, cancelling her spell.  "D-- dry?  Wrong?  Again?  No, you've done everything wrong!  This...  you had absolutely no right to kiss me!"  She exclaims as an ocean of tears starts up from the foundations of her eyes, and she impulsively outlines the door with her magic, bolting outside as it slams against the wall, cracking the hinges.

Trixie can't help but laugh, totally absent to the alarming sound.  She jokes, "but Starlight, wasn't it nice?  I just couldn't help giving you a smooch... or, was the great and powerful wizard too daunting this time?"  However, the wizard takes note that there is no longer any noise, apart from the slow, creaking of the entrance, and the sound of a working, motorized toy.  She finally turns back and looks in front of her, only noticing two things: Maud Pie, and a spinning Boulder.  "Star...light?"  Her blush immediately fades, and she looks about in disbelief, soon calling out to the silent pony.  "Maud, where did she go?  Don't tell me--"  Maud Pie has her attention aimed at the frozen equine, but it isn't too long before she turns around to press the power button on the merry go-round, watching it come to a delayed stop.  She then picks up Boulder and turns back to give Trixie her full attention.  Dead silence fills the room.

Interesting, Maud thinks as she slightly tilts her head, intrigued by the blue specimen- seeing that the hatted mare is staring out at her in pure shock.

In this very instance, Trixie could swear there was some trace of rage hiding deep within the rock pony's eyes.  She looks down.  "Just-- whatever you want to do to me, do it.  I deserve it."  She doesn't turn around, but instead closes her eyes to accept her fate, taking off her hat and dropping it to the floor-- removing her cape and letting it fall.  "Make it quick."  She says, a tear falling from her right eye, her head shaking and her lips quivering out of fear.

But after a long, hard moment of silence, Trixie calms down, eventually hoping that even the quiet equine would hold some leeway for her and still be there by the time she peeked.  To her examination, she opens an eye, and notices that she was gone just as quickly as she had arrived, and the door is shut, as if nopony had ever came to visit her at all.  The only trace of any visitors are the tears left on her solemn, heartbroken face.  Trixie recalls that what had just happened was no different than all of the times she had spent trying to get back at Twilight- only this time, she didn't lose to Twilight-- she didn't lose to anypony but herself.  

This was the same silence, only a hundred times worse.  Being alone had never hurt as much as this.  And she had nothing to throw the blame on, save for her own skin.  What had she done to Starlight, her own friend?  She falls to the floor, mustering up some magic to levitate the merry go-round towards her, turning it on and watching it spin with perfect centrifugal motion.  "I've really done it this time..."  and to this, she looks up in major regret, embracing the still silence.  After a considerable amount of time watching the object spin, she lifts it up into the air and abruptly ends her interaction upon it, allowing it to drop to the floor and wind down in disruption.  As she cries herself closer to dreamland, she uses her magic amongst the shattered, broken pieces, making every attempt to piece the contraption back together.  She recalls that this was still the same wagon she's been alone in for so many years.  

That pony thinks she knows silence?  Trixie thinks, already hoping to scapegoat the grey equine, she thinks she knows pain?  She takes these last moments to compare herself to Maud Pie, just before closing her eyes and accepting the lifeless pitch black of her mind, leaving her hat and cape aside her.  Who does she think she is...

Trixie lets one last tear go.


~


Celestia's summer sun shines in the very middle of the sky, marking the arrival of high noon.  Having found a nice tree to lie under, Starlight rests safely under its shade, deeming it a safe enough sanctuary to recollect her feelings.  The mare is just too upset to break down anymore, instead using the sounds of the chirping birds and whistling wind to get the thoughts of Trixie out of her head.

"I'm not going back ever again," she mutters to herself, poking at the grass as she stirs a hoof into the ground, searching for a bug or two to play with.  A small spider eventually makes its way onto her right arm-  deadly drool is all over its fangs as it stops to curiously observe the mare.  Instead of shooing it away as she usually does, Starlight simply sighs.  "If you're going to bite me, go ahead."  The spider growls in compliance.  However, rather than biting her, it suddenly stands up on its back four legs and crosses its front two pairs, assertively shaking its head.  The arachnid then proceeds to think with a front arm tucked under its chin, wondering what to do next.

After a few moments of consideration, the creature comes up with a final decision to place its arm in its mouth and whistle, causing three other spiders to crawl onto Starlight's arm, looking just as scary as the last.  "A spider raid?"  Starlight quickly looks at them with precaution, charging her horn, and they swiftly drop their intimidating acts, moving into their proper positions.  She lets the magic dissipate into the air.  Formally, the tiniest spider turns to her and bows, but shakes its head again, this time standing up with a refined posture.  It claps its front two legs together, and the three spiders take out their corresponding instruments: a trumpet made out of a strand of grass for the medium-sized fellow, a piano made of acorns for the larger, and a bass violin made from arachnid silk, for that of the largest.  Seeing that they are all ready, the smallest spider turns around and lifts up its arms: one, two, three, four... coming out in a symphony of musical precision.  

With a closer ear, the spiders are playing the most extravagant, beautiful piece ever, taking the time to carry out each individual rhythm, having already practiced the same song so many times.  But, to Starlight, it sounds like a bunch of screeching and scratching going about.  Without meaning to offend, she tells the group, "it's sweet that you're doing this, but I can't hear you very well.  Can you play a little louder?"  The conductor speeds up, and its musical spiders take action, increasing the intensity of their instruments, but to no use.  "...Maybe just- a little more louder?"  

Eventually, she has the spiders playing at the speed of light, trying their best to allow the unicorn to hear their song, sweating and working hard at their trade.  "I'm sorry, I really can't hear anything," Starlight claims.  Nonetheless, the group plays on, too determined to stop now.  After about ten seconds of ridiculously fast playing, they drop their instruments, giving in and collapsing, panting hard.  "Thanks for trying, though," she says.  They gather themselves and crawl back into the grass.

Starlight retracts her arm for something to lean her head on, remembering Trixie's sudden action as she takes note of the surrounding Ponyville citizens going about their Saturday afternoon.  They're lucky that they have such... normal lives, she thinks, mustering up a sigh.  They don't have to worry about anything.

She looks down on them for while, inevitably coming to terms with them, assuming that they have already resolved their own problems.  After a while, Starlight begins to close her eyes, trickling into unconsciousness.  Drowsily, and one last time, the unicorn opens her eyes to look upon the citizens, initially failing to notice that somepony else is standing in front of her.  Mistaking them for Trixie, Starlight whelps, jumps, and hits her back against the tree.  "Oof!--  No, stop!  Get back!"  Her eyes are closed as she begins to panic, covering her mouth and turning away, charging energy in her horn in the midst of her meltdown.  "I-- I don't want you here!  Leave me alone!"  She lets out a blast and it travels past the silhouette.  A farmer who is passing by luckily notices the beam heading straight for him, and he ducks for cover as it singes through his straw hat.  

Realizing that he's still alive, the farmer turns around, and to his surprise, cheers, claiming he's going to be rich as he dances and jumps around, praising Celestia with the sight of money in his eyes.  The beam had turned his apples into shiny gemstones.  Joyfully, he starts pushing the cart, despite how heavy it is, and starts mumbling something about taking time off.

The grey mare is standing there, staring at the unicorn with the same, static eyes.  "Starlight," she says.

The violet mage peeks out from under her hooves.  "What?...  Maud?"  She's more astonished to the fact that the mare has bothered to mention her name.

The rock pony nods in response.

"H- how did you know I was here?"  But the violet pony receives nothing from her.  "Well, you don't have to answer that.  I was just... resting."  Starlight puts her head back down, aiming to continue her nap.

Maud Pie maintains her eye contact with the unicorn, only saying one word.  "Rock," she states.

Starlight rubs an eye, wondering what she had just said.  "Huh?"  She lifts up an ear, opening an eye.

"Rock.  My pet rock.  His name is Boulder."  Maud holds her stone up.

"Your... pet rock."  Starlight states, but surprisingly, she doesn't find that hard to believe.  That's the same piece of earth she's been holding onto, ever since they met earlier in the morning.  Maud is still not quite the conversation starter, but Starlight does appreciate her company.  She sits up.  "Maud, please don't mind me asking this-- but what are rocks even good for?  Do rocks even do anything for you?  I," Starlight tilts her head, "...don't see rocks in the same way that you do."

Silence follows, causing Starlight to wonder if she's truly offended her this time.

Without a single flinch, Maud Pie makes a sound with what sounds like she's clearing her throat.  "Ahem."  She picks up Boulder with her right hoof, citing, "rock.  You are a rock.  Grey.  You are grey.  Like a rock.  Which you are.  Rock."  She puts her stone back down.  "One of my best poems."

"Hum... great poem, I guess," Starlight says.  But seeing as she had bothered to recite that, something else jumps into her mind.  "Maud, may I hold Boulder?"

Her quiet friend seems to freeze to this, as if Starlight had finally said the right words for once.  Moving unusually, she looks to her left, and then to her right, making sure that nopony else is around.  She pushes Boulder towards her.  Starlight blinks at the stone mare.  "No way, you're serious?"  

"Sure."  For once, Starlight could hear what sounds like excitement in her voice.  Maud Pie decides to move next to the unicorn, taking a seat next to her.  "He's sedimentary."

Starlight isn't sure how to react to this.  Nonetheless, she keeps to her word, picking up the plain, ovular rock.  She looks over to Maud, noticing no change in her calm expression.  With a closer look, Starlight sees that Boulder has fine swirls surrounding his shell, like several rivers flowing about the very core of another planet.  Though, with further examination, there was just something about this rock that seemed out of place.  Starlight looks all about the stone, examining each and every molecular placement.  A foreign nature finally catches her eye.

On one of the flat sides of Boulder, there is what seems like a small shift in the tiny rivers, and with a keen eye, Starlight can make sense of a smaller, highlighted circle.  Curious about this, the unicorn channels her magic, applying pressure to the shape, and- surely enough- it props open.

For the first time, Starlight looks over to Maud Pie, witnessing a satisfactory smile on the grey mare's face.

And Starlight smiles in return, completely elated, laying down- admiring the deep depths of her reserved, green eyes.


~