Boulder
I woke up to a strange sound...
...A new sound...
It sounded chaotic, unnerving even. Like the rivers that flowed by our house. Like the rivers that washed out the edges of many previously jagged rocks, smoothing them...
But the river wasn't that close to home...
Though I tried not to pick favorites in the silent rocks around me, in that moment, I wanted to be more like a river rock...
I trotted out of the house, and into the outhouse where the noise was coming from.
"Hey, Maud!" Pinkie ran over to me, grabbed my face, then turned and threw her arm over my whithers. With her other arm, she gestured to the myriad pastries and bowl of punch on the three neatly positioned tables. "You're late to the party!" She grinned...
The changes to the outhouse were interesting... But what was more interesting was Pinkie: my younger sister normally didn't wear her hair that poofy... Normally I liked straight hair, but for her, it seemed somehow fitting...
...The rest of my family seemed different too...
Inkie was spinning with a strange look on her face. The corners of her mouth were turned up and her teeth were barred. Her eyes also bent upwards somehow, resisting gravity...
Blinkie was wearing a similar grin, but her eyes felt... calmer. They still resisted gravity in the same way Inkie's did, but less so...
Blinkie stood on her hind legs, and punched the air like one would punch the ground.
Mom and dad were similar... but somehow different...
They danced in circles, holding hooves with each other...
They felt more like the fresh igneous rocks from young volcanoes as they tumbled together. Inkie, Blinkie, and I on the other hoof were like crystals grown over time... meticulously tended to in a dark, warm cave... This was a confusing comparison though: mom and dad were much older than us, while crystals took very long to form... Then again, how long did igneous rocks take to form?
"Uh..." Pinkie waved her hoof in front of my face, "Maud?"
Suddenly, Pinkie no longer had those upturned features on her face that confused me so much. Now she was wearing those wide eyes and those downturned lips she often wore...
But this time... it was different...
Her eyes were directed at me instead of the ground.
"Do you not like the party?" She asked.
...
I looked left and right. There were things I didn't understand... but then, I never did jump into a river before... I knew better than to jump into a real one.
Pinkie had changed the outhouse into an alien world, and my family changed with it. They were just as new and somewhat scary as the tables and pastries, but somehow this new world felt welcoming...
...Pinkie was the river. My family were pebbles carried in her flow, tumbling together and slowly losing their jagged edges... becoming smooth...
I was still beside the river. I was as jagged and unyielding as any boulder...
...But just this once, I would let the winds tumble me...
...Just this once, I would fall into the river...
The corners of my mouth turned up.
I felt my face rise by itself... slightly...
Pinkie tilted her head. I guess my expression wasn't like the rest of the family's...
But Pinkie asked me a question, and she expected an answer...
What was that word that Pinkie always mentioned? That word that she always used when talking about other ponies? That word I felt was much more fitting for rocks?
Ah... that word...
"I love it," I felt my face rise once more.
"You do?" She asked, and scrutinized my expression once more, as if she were examining a very small pebble... "You do!"
She threw her arms around me and squeezed...
But what was this feeling? It was similar to what I sometimes felt towards rocks, but it was also so different...
...I gasped.
It felt like when I found my first geode...
At first, I thought it was just a lighter rock. I thought that maybe it was sick, so I carried it around for a while, trying to nurse it back to health...
Eventually, I dropped it. I found that it wasn't a rock at all, but a geode...
I felt simultaneously betrayed and relieved: the thing before me was never a normal rock, and it was never sick...
...It was never an ordinary rock...
...And that was okay.
I remembered Pinkie always frowning at the ground... I used to think she was sick, but now she's opened up to us...
And now I know she was never sick.
Pinkie was never a rock, she was a river...
And that was okay.
...
I ran up to my sister and hugged her...
"Maud?" She asked. Her head was tilted, her face was turned. I recognized that expression; she was confused.
The flow around me stopped. My family all turned to look at me.
What was I thinking? I was a boulder, of course I would stop the flow of a river...
...But pinkie didn't stop.
"Aww," She smiled again and moved her head closer to me with wide, twinkling eyes. It was yet another expression I didn't know...
She lightly held my head with her hooves after departing from the hug, "You must really like it..."
One corner of her mouth turned up more than the other, "Well come on!" She grabbed my front hooves, "Let's party!"
I walked by the river again, further this time...
...Much further...
I kept on thinking about Pinkie... How did my jumping in affect her? How would it affect me?
...
There was a small pile of rocks by the edge of the river, further ahead...
...
I looked down at the pile below me...
Each rock had tumbled through the river for who knows how long until it was deposited here. Each rock had been smoothed to differing degrees...
But one of them seemed different: it was too smooth...
...It must have been in the river forever...
...
...It would have to have shrunk after such a long time; it had to have started out much larger...
...
I walked towards the rock that I suddenly felt I had much in common with...
...Had it started out as a boulder, like me?
...Did it dare to let the wind tumble it, to let the water buff it, like I did?
"Hello," I picked up the rock in my hoof and stared at it for a while...
"Boulder..."
...
...I didn't respond: it was a rock.
...But it was my rock...
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...Ellipsis...
Superb!
I really liked delving into Maud's inner thoughts in this story. The metaphors were quite captivating.
That ending was also an excellent touch. Very nice way to wrap it all up. This story really made me want to reach out and give Maud a big hug.
Already!? The episode came out today!
4088832
I never thought something as plain as rocks could be used in such a beautiful way. You really got one beautiful story here. Maud's thoughts just seem so... natural, like droplets of water falling on a pile of pebbles.
good stuff!
Love, love, love it! And on the same day of the episode release? Extra love on that!
THIS PARTICULAR FIC RIGHT HERE!
I must reply to every single comment for the glory of the goddess of OCPD, Twilight!
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4088932
Thanks!
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4088732
Aww... I can just imagine what Maud would say to your hug offer: "..."
Though, she'd probably like you for offering, and might accept, I don't know really... But who doesn't like hugs?
And thanks for the compliments on the story.
This fic is amazing. I like the development and the inner thoughts are good.
The last part about Boulder though? Wish it were canon cause it's perfect.
4090147
Thanks!
And I just got a hilarious thought: Imagine if Maud were real and somepony showed this to her, then she said she just picked up a random rock...
Personally, I try to do overly epic and sentimental things too often. So for me it's both hilarious and relieving to see that stuff subverted occasionally.
4090172 Like what hot minute did with Applejack's hat?
Yup, can relate to that but there's nothing wrong with making epically sentimental back stories for some stuff till canon approves or guns it down 'cause it's fun.
4090224
Yup, like that.
I agree there's nothing wrong in making those back stories... I guess I'm just craving some anticlimactic humor.
Like this:
4090278 Nice!
Maud seems to be a good source for it so I could imagine her saying that.
I could also imagine her saving Pinkie from a giant boulder with her crushing hooves, breaking and taming what's left of it as a pet/projectile/something that reminds her of how Pinkie Pie could have died and how important she is to her/untalkative buddy.
Could've used a quick editor and a little less ellipsis (I'm glad you lampshaded that here 4088646). Otherwise, pretty touching story!
Great fic, very nice in character dialogue from Maud. A couple small nitpicks though, Pinkie's flashback states the party was held in a silo, and though it hasn't officially been made canon, a chapter book named Pinkie's sisters Marble and Limestone instead of Inkie and Blinkie.
The Maud character tag has been created. Just thought you would like to know.
Ah, this was great. It was nice to see what's going inside Maud's head.
I loved it
(How did you write this so fast and yet made it so good? The episode just came out yesterday...)
4090351
Yeah, I tried editing this myself, and it was harder than I thought.
Also, thanks.
4090671
Thanks.
I actually didn't really know what a silo was before you commented about it, which is why I just called it an out-house.
And choosing between Marble and Limestone or Inkie and Blinkie was tough. Marble and Limestone were mentioned in a book according to the wiki, but the name 'Maud' along with 'Inkie and Blinkie' (and also Pinkie) gave a nod to the poem "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod".
4090675
Thanks.
4091421
Thanks. added.
4091484
Thanks.
(I got better at visualization after a while, visualized the Pie sister's old home, then played with them like this.)
4090278
...Now I can't help but think she would really like Steven Wright jokes.
This one-shot.....wasn't bad. I do like this story but I do wish to see more of Maud's inner thoughts and development of her friendship with Pinkie Pie.
It's a good fanfic though.
Love her River vs Rocks perspective on types of people. And the (internal) speech pattern. Very expressive of her personality.
/)
4093134
I loved the second one the most!
4093238
Thanks.
I might have gone a bit quick on this one. I tend to do that in a lot of my stories.
4093525
Thanks.
(\
What a seemingly simple, yet surprisingly superb story. Given how Maud and Pinkie likely never left the farm at this age, it makes sense that Maud wouldn't have too many things to compare other ponies to, her rock obsession none with standing. What is especially nice is her acceptance of Pinkie's differences so quickly, yet not without some effort; its things like that which really bring a family together.
4094234
Thank you!
I also found your comment about Maud's acceptance to be quite heartwarming.
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140202173659/lego/images/1/11/Citizen_kane_clapping.gif
THIS IS AMAZING.
It's like a Terrence Malick movie....but in words.
Well done indeed my friend, well done indeed.
This story is a thing of beauty.
Not sure if I'm a bit slow on the uptake but I think someone pulled a Pac-Man reference on my !@# in MLP: Inkie, Blinkie, Pinkie, and Maud as in reference to Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde. I'm always the last horse to cross the finish line.
I wouldn't call this a sad story. It's mostly just slice of life. It's not sad at all. It's nice, though, just not the sad story I was hoping for.
That was beautifully written, and just like her to use rocks as metaphors. Have a mustached dragon
This story is a Masterpiece. Of epic proportions that have rocked me to my very boulder.
Congratulations. It isnt often a story makes me feel this much. keep up the good work.
i.imgur.com/6MrWqNZ.png
4102033
Yeah, it's not really the typical sad where someone dies and everyone has to cope with it and either come closer together or move apart because of it. It's more emotionally dramatic than sad, though there is the part about how Pinkie always used to be on the rock farm, so I think it should technically still qualify...
Sorry if I misled you though.
4099331
Huh, I guess it could be that too. Maud and Clyde are kind of different though. I think it was more the fandom making that reference. I'm not sure whether Hasbro accepted the names though. They have accepted other character names.
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So much praise, I can't take it...
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derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/3/15/575878__safe_pinkie+pie_animated_screencap_hub+logo_hubble_hub_confetti_maud+pie_spoiler-colon-s04e18.gif
4125670
Enjoy
4125670 It's fine! You still got a favorite, didn't you?
4127835
*checks*
Yup!
I have added this story to my new recommendation group here.
4232979
Ooh, thanks.
If I may make a recommendation to your recommendation group: have you read Melody by Pseudo_Nym?
I think it's better than this story, but it didn't get much attention because title, timing, cover picture, and other things not related to the quality of writing.
4233246 I'll check it out.
4233246 Thank you very much for the recommendation!
I ended up loveing both of Pseudo_Nym's stories.
Tone down on the ellipses.
Otherwise great stuff.
Sorry to be pedantic but this just bugged me.
This is an outhouse: 2.bp.blogspot.com/-C-bE-Wno0lo/Tc9NCgQmLlI/AAAAAAAADS4/wiyqiLpYYmI/s400/outhouseshahada.jpg
They tend to be small, even the two seat version isn't big enough for a party. And then there's the smell.
I recommend a small edit to the story summary.
Change the red text to "her sister and herself".
4748168
Ah, thanks. I suppose the reflexive pronoun is needed in this case, and your ordering puts emphasis on 'herself', which is the subject that's less expected.
Changed.
Well done. I particularly like where she thought the rock was sick. :D
This was a nice little thing. Thanks 5184884 for the recommendation.
I love how you portrayed Maud's train of thought here.