Chapter 2
Maud was living on her parents' rock farm along with her sisters, Limestone and Marble Pie. She was content where she was at. Of course, with her emotionless expression, it was hard to tell. But trouble was brewing because the Duke that ruled their part of Equestria was raising taxes and her parents' farm was in debt. Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz were unsure what to do, so Igneous would go beg to the Duke to give them time to raise the bits.
The Duke - Zepher Breeze - lied on his throne lazily, looking bored as he dramatically said.
"Oh, this is so boring! Boring! Boring! Nothing but papers to sign and hearing complaints from the peasants!" he hugely sighed.
His guard bowed before him. "Your Excellence, the rock farmer is here to see you."
"Oh, tell him to go away! Can't you see I'm busy?!" He turned his head to a mare that was feeding him grapes.
"He has been pleading that you see him."
"And again, tell him I'm too busy!"
"Yes, sir." The guard went out to the front doors of the manor and said to Igneous, "I'm sorry, sir, but the Duke… is too busy to see you…"
Igneous knew he had to think fast and so he blurted out the first thing that came to him, "Tell him that thy have a daughter who can turn rocks into gold!"
The guard gaped at him and said, "Wait right here." He quickly went back in. A few minutes later, he came back saying, "The Duke will see you."
Igneous was lead into the throne room where the Duke was smiling at him. "You say you have a daughter that can turn rocks to gold?"
"Um, thy…"
"Because if you are found to be lying… You will be severely punished."
"Uh, yes, sire… Your Grace…"
"You will bring this daughter here tomorrow and she'll be put to the test. If she can turn the rocks to gold, then the debt to your rock farm will be dropped and your daughter shall be my wife."
Igneous gave off a concerned look.
Thunderlane and Flitter were traveling all day and were getting tired. Luckily, they came across the barren rock farm.
"Maybe we can stop here for the night?" Flitter inquired.
"Let's hope so…" Then he spotted a giant egg-shaped boulder, "Whoa, check out that rock!"
They got closer to it, but as they were about to touch it, a pony came out of nowhere yelling.
"NO ONE TOUCHES HOLDER'S BOULDER!"
The couple was startled by the mare's sudden appearance that they ended up bumping into two other mares. One had no emotion on her face while the other barely made a peep.
Limestone glared at the intruders, "What are you doing trespassing on our farm?!"
Thunder held his hoof up, "Please! We don't mean to intrude!"
"All we need is a place to stay for the night!" Flitter pleaded.
Cloudy Quartz showed up, "All those who art weary are welcomed."
"Thank you, ma'am." Thunder smiled. "We're on a quest for my little brother. By any chance have you seen a young grey pegasus come through here?"
"No. Thy am sorry."
"Oh…"
Maud said in her usual monotone voice, "Family is an important value in our home. You are welcomed to stay until you are rested enough to continue your journey."
Limestone sternly pointed, "Only if you follow our rules! Got that?"
The two pegasi gulped and nodded.
"And rule number one: never touch Holder's Boulder!"
"Right…" they meekly said.
Once introductions were exchanged, the couple sat at the dinner table with the Pie sisters and their mother.
Cloudy Quartz said, "Pa should be home soon and then we will begin dinner."
The door opened then and Igneous walked in with a grim expression on his face.
Limestone asked, "Pa? What happened? Did you get to talk to the yucky Duke?"
"Thy did." he saw their houseguests, "Who art they?"
"I'm Thunderlane, sir, and this is my marefriend, Flitter. We're on a quest and your family was kind enough to let us stay for a while."
He gave a nod, "We do what we can for travelers passing by." Then he faced his family with the same grim expression he had on when he first came in. "Thy am afraid thy have told an untruth to the Duke in order to get his attention. Thy told him that my daughter can turn rocks into gold."
"Seriously, Pa?!" Limestone shouted.
Cloudy gave a troubled look, "Igneous Rock, whatever made thou possessed to say such a thing? For we have always upheld an honor to tell the truth."
"The Duke cares only for greed and it's the only thing that wouldst make him listen. He has ordered thee to bring thy daughter who can turn rocks into gold to him tomorrow."
Limestone questioned, "Just who is supposed to be this daughter that can turn rocks into gold? Because it certainly isn't me!"
Maud said, "It's not me."
Marble just stay quiet and shook her head.
Igneous continued, "He also said that he wouldst make the daughter his wife and drop the debt on thy farm."
Everyone was stunned to silence.
Limestone then shouted, "But what about the Choosing Stone?! I thought the Stone choose our spouses. It's tradition!"
"Choosing Stone?" both Flitter and Thunder questioned.
Maud explained, "It's a stone that chooses your partner for life."
Limestone pointed to her parents, "That's how our parents got married. The Stone choose them to be together even when they didn't know each other."
Flitter asked, "So… it can choose a soul mate?"
Thunder inquired, "Does it really work?"
Cloudy went to a trunk where she lifted a round shape covered in wrapping and gently set it on the table. She unwrapped it to reveal the Choosing Stone.
"Two ponies must touch it and if it glows, then thou art meant to be partners through marriage and life."
Thunder and Flitter exchanged glances, wondering if they should try it. In the end, they did and to their amazement, it glowed!
They embraced in happiness, knowing they would never need to worry about finding the right pony anymore.
Lime pointed, "Not to ruin your lovey-dovey moment, but my family is in the middle of crisis!"
Flitter proclaimed, "You're right. Sorry about that."
Igneous motioned, "None of thou wouldst have to forgo the Choosing Stone, for thy will be punished for thy lie, which thy will humbly take."
Thunderlane said, "Can't you just trick the Duke into thinking you made gold with the rocks?"
Lime gestured, "We could. If we actually had gold to use!"
Flitter said, "Then let us help you. We'll find some gold and give it to you. It'll make the Duke think you made actual gold!"
Cloudy questioned, "But which one of our daughters will do such a task?"
Maud stated, "I will. I know everything about rocks."
"Are you sure?" Flitter asked.
Maud took out a pebble, "Don't worry. Boulder will keep me company."
The next day, Igneous escorted Maud to the manor as Flitter and Thunderlane watched from some bushes. They went inside and the couple found a window, where they overheard the Duke.
"So. You are the daughter that can turn rocks into gold?" he gave a greedy grin.
"My name is Maud Pie."
"Well, your name will be Duchess once you prove you can turn the rocks into gold. I will show you the room where you'll be working."
Maud was taken to a room full of rocks ranging from small to big.
"You have until tomorrow morning to complete the job, and if it turns out you can't do it… Your whole family will be thrown in the dungeon, but… no pressure." He went out and locked the door behind her.
Maud went to the only window that was in the room and signaled Flitter and Thunder to where she was at.
"You'll have to hurry and find some gold or else my family will be in trouble."
Thunder asked, "How much time do we have?"
"Tomorrow morning."
Flitter said, "That gives us 24 hours."
"Can you do it?" Maud asked.
The couple agreed enthusiastically.
Thunder panicked once they were walking in the woods, "24 hours?! 24 hours?! That Duke is crazy!"
"No, it's crazy of him to think a pony can turn rocks into gold."
"He really is greedy to think that."
They kept walking down the road when they heard something wheeling toward them. They looked ahead and spotted a donkey wearing a black toupee and pulling a large cart full of objects. He passed them by without so much as a glance, but then a scrapbook fell out of his cart.
Flitter noticed the book opened to an old picture of two donkeys at a large social event. She picked it up and went to the donkey, "Sir, you dropped this."
"Oh. Thank you." he held the scrapbook for a bit before putting it back in the cart.
"Who was she?" Flitter asked.
The donkey sighed, "Matilda, my special friend…"
Thunderlane came up to them, "Was she your girlfriend?"
"No, but I was hoping she would be. We met at the Grand Galloping Gala years ago and when I came to her room the next day, she was already gone. I've spent half a lifetime trying to find her again."
Flitter touched her heart, "How sad!"
Thunder gave a sad look, "At this rate, I'll have to spend half a lifetime trying to find my brother…"
The donkey questioned, "Brother?"
"I too have lost someone important to me…"
Flitter said while comforting her steady, "It's a long story, I'm afraid. But we are on a quest to find Thunder's little brother who has disappeared. But right now, we're in the middle of helping a friend before her whole family gets in trouble."
The donkey asked, "What kind of trouble?"
They quickly explained to the donkey the whole situation and they could see him pondering as he took it all in and muttered, "Rocks into gold… ridiculous…"
When they finished the story, he inquired, "So you need gold?"
Thunder said, "Yes, and we only got until tomorrow morning to find some."
"Hmm… I'm not sure if it'll be a good idea, but I remembered passing a dragon's cave a while back. If it has gold, then it might work."
"A dragon's cave?!" the couple exclaimed.
Flitter asked with worry, "Isn't that dangerous?"
Thunder stated, "Unfortunately, it's our only option at this point. Thank you so much, sir. Uh, we didn't catch your name."
"It's Cranky. Cranky Doodle Donkey, but you hafta call me Cranky."
"Got it. Thank you again."
Flitter stopped her boyfriend, "Wait, Thunder. Even if there is gold, how are we going to be able to carry it to the Duke's manor?"
"Oh gosh… you're right…" Then he looked toward Cranky's wagon. Thinking fast, he told the donkey, "Cranky, I have to ask for a favor."
"What kind of favor?" he gruffly said.
"If you let us you use your wagon, we can help you on your search for Matilda. I know how much you want to find her, but with us helping you, you might be able to finally find her."
Cranky's face softened at the idea and then he said, "It's a deal."
Once they headed to the dragon's cave, they told Cranky how Thunderlane was forced away from his brother and Cranky told them how special Matilda was to him. The donkey may have been a grump, but knowing that somepony else was having the same problem he was of losing someone he loved made the grouch feel warm.
When they had reached the cave, they saw the large dragon was sleeping, which gave them an opportunity to sneak some of the treasure hoard. They had to remove Cranky's stuff, but they promised him they would come for it once they freed Maud.
All night, they snuck in the treasure to Maud's rock room and removed the rocks out. By dawn, Flitter and Thunder were exhausted and fell asleep outside just as Duke Zephyr Breeze entered the room and was amazed at the gold surrounding Maud.
"This is spectacular! Wonderful!" He turned to his guards, "Prepare for the ceremony! We wed this evening!"
"Excuse me." Maud said.
"Yes…? My sweet?" he leaned in a flirtatious way.
She flatly said, "It's nice that you would take me as a wife, but I don't want to get married…"
"Don't…? Don't want to get married?! But darling, you will be marrying me! It can't get better than that! Besides, a deal is a deal. You marry me and your family doesn't have to pay for their debt!" He went out.
When Flitter and Thunderlane woke up, Maud told them the whole thing.
She said with no emotion, "So I have to marry him… or else my family will still have to pay for the debt."
Flitter thought this over, "But would they have to if you were, say, kidnapped?"
Thunder raised his brow, "What are you getting at, Flit?"
She got them in a huddle and for the first time since they met her, Maud showed a bit of a smile.
Everything was all set. Thunder and Flitter wore black suits covering their faces while Cranky was below them with his wagon. Flit gave the signal and Thunder knocked down a vase, startling the guards outside the room. Maud then spoke in her usual tone.
"Help. I'm being taken by bandits."
The guards rushed in just in time to see Flitter and Thunder carrying off Maud out the window. One of the guards alerted the Duke as he shouted out.
"Well, go after her, you fools! Where else am I going to have a bride that can make rocks to gold and make him the richest Duke in Equestria?!"
The guards just shrugged and went out.
Thunder and Flitter had Cranky stop at the rock farm so Maud could say goodbye to her family before going into hiding from the Duke. It was agreed she would come with them until the Duke had forgotten all about her. They even gave her family some of the treasure they had left over to help them in case the Duke still forced them to pay off their debts.
As time went on, Maud became part of the gang. When it was safe for her to come home, she stayed with them to repay for her friends' kindness to her and her family as she was determined to help Thunderlane reunite with his brother.
It was the next morning as the band woke up to eat breakfast that Braeburn was fixing up. Thunderlane was slowly chewing as they faced his gang, which consisted of his marefriend and three of his oldest friends. He sighed as he spoke to them.
"Guys… for six years, I have been on this search and I can't thank you enough for joining me and helping me all that you can. But maybe… it's time we end this…"
They gaped at him and Flitter shouted, "No! We can't!"
He shook his head, "Rumble is gone. I have to accept that. It's time we get on with our lives."
Little Strongheart protested, "But Thunder, you have never given up hope of finding him before!"
"I keep having dreams reminding me of that day… I should take it as a sign that he's never coming back…"
Maud said, "Or maybe… you should take it as a sign that you will be seeing him soon…"
Flitter took her coltfriend's hoof, "She's right… For the past few weeks now you keep having those dreams. Maybe it is a sign that you'll finally find him."
"I wish I could believe that…"
Braeburn motioned, "Sounds to me you need a pep talk and we alone ain't gonna cut it."
Strongheart got the gist, "Once we're done with breakfast, let's head to Ponyville."
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Wow!
You have exceeded my expectations.
So, do they ever find Matilda?
Matilda chapter, now.
And this is why I don't like Zephyr.
7341371 Hmm, I don't know. I feel like Zephyr was a bigger jerk in this chapter than he actually is in canon.
Where's Cranky now?
7341371
7341459
Exactly, at least in the canon world he had been born to a humble home and had a sister to keep him straight.
7343158 Well, that makes sense.
Sooooo, what happens next do they find Rumble and meet his wife Scootaloo, or do they give up the search
7341131 I'm pretty sure they do, because she's been living in Ponyville the whole time Cranky's been looking for her
You misused tge word Thy.
8121624 I'm not sure what you mean.
8121887 "thy" means "your", as in honor thy mother and thy father... you are right that Igneous Rock would use the word, 'thy' but that is the wrong use of it. Rule of thumb, if you use the word 'thy' and translate it to 'your' and the sentence makes no sense in context, then you have used the wrong word.