The Starlight Broadcast

by ponyfhtagn

Pt.1 - Chapter 23

Today was the worst day ever.

Cloudy Quartz had not slept because she was caring for Igneous. Igneous had not slept for coughing and fever. Pinkie had not slept either. Instead she had spent almost an hour last night trying to unpack all the boxes and unwrap all the furniture downstairs. Maud had chased her around, fixing up after her and trying to get her to stop it. Pinkie finally did stop around the time that Maud was running out of patience. Pinkie was good. She never took things too far with Maud.

But still Pinkie had not slept. She went outside, picked up a stick with her mouth and began drawing strange shapes and lines in the dirt. She kicked rocks into patterns and traced ripples around the rocks. At first it looked like nothing. Then it looked sort of like art. Then it just looked like a mess—too many lines overlapping and the canvas was ruined. Pinkie would rake the dirt at this point and start over.

Maud indulged her for several more hours, hoping Pinkie would tire herself out. At least like this she wouldn’t be screaming and wrecking the house. Marble and Limestone would get to sleep tonight, and Maud hoped that Igneous would be able to rest and recover.

But then morning came and everything was still wrapped with the feeling of worsening. The dawn did not dismiss the nightmares. Big strong stallions came and took all their stuff and their boxes and loaded it onto a wagon. The wagon went to the train station and its contents went west to the Pie family’s future home.

Maud sat outside and cradled the sleeping Pinkie, who had dozed off after the house had been emptied. Maud watched Limestone and Marble playing their favourite game—the one where Limestone was a big timberwolf and Marble was a little rabbit. Limestone liked the game because she got to roar and howl and run around. Marble liked it because she got to hide behind a rock until Limestone went away.

It was their way, and they seemed to enjoy it. In a larger game Pinkie would play the adventurer who tried to tame the timberwolf, but then also got chased. And Maud would play one of the rocks for her sisters to hide behind. Maud liked being a rock. It was peaceful and you didn’t have to do much. It felt good to be… useful.

Limestone pounced at Marble. Marble skittered off and hid. Limestone bounded around and howled. Pinkie’s ears twitched a bit but she didn’t wake up.

Maud stroked the fluffy mane.

“Rock,” Maud said. “I am a rock.

“I am a piece of something greater.

I am piece my own – at peace.

Beneath the sky, below the earth,

Or somewhere in between.

Rock. I am a rock.

Am I sand or am I stone?

How do I stand?

Or do I flow…

Maybe the desert is my home.

Rock. I am a rock.

My granite surface meets the world.

My core within.

Beneath my skin.

To not give in, with all my might.

To be a part that is apart.

To have a stone inside my heart.

Rock. Am I a rock?

Yet I would be that rock for you.

I would be strong, I would be true,

If I could be that rock for you.

I’ll be the ground

When you fly too high.

I’ll keep you safe beneath that sky.

I’ll be an anchor in the waves.

The river won’t take you away.

Rock. I am your rock.

“I…” Maud hesitated.

Pinkie rolled over on her sister’s lap, lifting a forehoof and wiping gently at Maud’s face.

“I’m not crying,” Maud informed her.

“Oh,” Pinkie said. “Sorry. That was later. I got confused.”

Limestone gave a sudden roar and pounced at Marble’s exposed tail. Marble gave a squeak and scrabbled out from behind the rock she had chosen. Seeing that Pinkie was awake now Marble ran and hid beside Maud.

“Hide me,” Marble whispered.

“Roar!” Limestone said. “Rarrrrr… Where’s that little rabbit?” She winked at Maud. Then continued her prowling and growling. “I hope I don’t run into any adventurers here, rarrrr…”

“Oo! Oo!” Pinkie hopped to the ground and bounded off after Limestone.

“Maud?” Marble whispered. “Is new home going to have timberwolves?”

“Yes,” Maud said. “Lots of timberwolves. Timberwolves everywhere.”

Marble giggled. “No it’s not. Ma said there’s just rocks and ponies.”

“Then maybe Ma didn’t tell you about the stonewolves,” Maud said.

Marble’s eyes widened. “The stonewolves?”

“Yes,” Maud said, leaning closer. “They’re like timberwolves, but they’re made of stone. They’re twice as big and twice as mean.”

“Th-th-that’s okay,” Marble said. “I’ll just hide behind a rock.”

“But that’s the thing,” Maud said, leaning closer. “Sometimes the rock you choose to hide behind could turn out… to be…” Maud leap to her feet. “A big scary stonewolf!”

“Ahhhh!” Marble squealed in delight and bolted. “The rocks are alive!”

“Roar,” Maud said and chased after her.

“Rarrrrr!” Limestone jumped in the way. “Stop! Stonewolf. I have decided that the rabbit is my friend now, and I’m going to stop you!”

“Oh no,” Maud said. “A timberwolf.”

“Rarr!” Limestone jumped at Maud and tried to wrestle her down.

Ma let them play for another few hours while she cared for Igneous and waited for the buyer to arrive. Eventually a stallion named Filthy Rich turned up with a briefcase full of bits, and a lawyer pony with a briefcase full of paperwork. Maud tended to her Pa while Cloudy Quartz dealt with the visitors.

Maud would creep out into the hall and peer down the stairs to listen to the exchange. Maud didn’t know much about money, so she didn’t know if the bits they were getting were a fair amount for the exchange of the farm. All she knew was how much to charge for when ponies came to buy things. Still, she was pretty sure that if she added up all the worth of all the rocks on the farm, then what Filthy Rich was offering seemed a bit too low.

But Cloudy Quartz took it. Ma didn’t want money anyway, Maud supposed. Ma just wanted to moved back west as fast as possible. Maud heard a briefcase click and then the scratching of quills. Papers shuffled and bits rattled.

“It’s not much to look at,” Filthy Rich was saying. “But I guess I can always build something here. Once we get all these crags out of the way. Although that crystal mine could be promising.”

Maud went back to her parents’ room and shut the door. It hurt too much to listen to. She dabbed at her Pa’s forehead with a washcloth and checked the temperature on his thermometer again.

“How am I doing, Eldest?” he rasped.

Maud hadn’t realised he was awake. “You could be better,” she said. “Isn’t that what you used to say to me? Good effort, but you could be better.”

“Aye…” he said. “And did it work?”

Maud nodded. “Yes, Pa. Much better. And you?”

He closed his eyes as a look of discomfort crawled across his face. “I have a journey yet to go. Do not fret, dear, for soon we will be returned to the land of our kin and I will be restored by our great Healing Stone.”

“Yes Pa,” Maud said. “And then you will be better.”

“Aye,” he breathed. “We will…”

The deed was done. The papers were signed and the bits had been exchanged. The farmhouse was empty and the train was waiting. Cloudy Quartz and Maud managed to get Igneous into the farm cart, all rugged with blankets to keep him warm. Cloudy Quartz pulled the wagon while Limestone and Marble helped clear rocks from the path, to make the ride as smooth as possible.

Maud carried a travel bag across her back. It had food and water for the night and morning they would spend on the train; and it had supplies to help care for Pa. Maud was following along behind the wagon when she stopped to take one last look at her beloved home and realised that Pinkie was no longer behind her.

The cart trundled on out of earshot and still Pinkie was nowhere to be seen.

“Pinkie?” Maud called, looking urgently around the wastes. “Pinkie? Pinkie!?”

“Maud?” said a little voice.

Maud turned and breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought you had run away.”

Pinkie shook her head. She was sitting and holding something between her hooves but Maud couldn’t see what it was.

“It’s time to go,” Maud said.

Pinkie continued to fidget.

“All our stuff has gone already,” Maud said. “There’s nothing for us here.”

Pinkie nodded. “I know. So… I brought you this. You weren’t supposed to find it yet. That was later. But then we moved and you didn’t find it. So I brought it for you because it’s your favourite.”

Pinkie lifted her hoof at last and held up the small, smooth grey pebble.

Maud blinked at it. She tilted her head and studied it from different angles. She sniffed it. “Hm. Magnesium rich basalt,” she said. She tilted her head again. “…he’s kind of cute.”

Pinkie grinned and put the rock in Maud’s hoof. “I know what you’re gonna name him.”

“You do?”

Pinkie nodded vigorously.

Maud smiled at the little rock. “Me too.” She slipped the little rock into her travel bag. “Come on, Pinkie. Let’s get to the train.”

“Kay,” Pinkie said, following her sister.

They had only walked a few paces before Pinkie spoke up.

“…it was Boulder, right? You named him Boulder?”

“Yes Pinkie. His name is Boulder.”

“I knew it,” Pinkie giggled and jumped for joy.

The compartment they had on the train was nothing fancy. It was a reasonable room with a bed for Igneous and a smaller foldout cot for the four fillies to squish into, horizontally. The hooves of Maud’s hind legs hung over the edge, but her sisters seemed to fit comfortably enough all beside her.

The compartment rumbled softly as they journeyed into the night. The clack of wheels was distant but noticeable. It was too dark out to see anything interesting passing outside the window. Inside the compartment was lit by the gentle glow of a dim lantern beside Pa’s bed, where Ma sat up to tend to him.

“Drink your soup, dear,” Cloudy Quartz was saying. “You must try to get some food down before the rest of our journey. Soon we will be home and you will be well.”

Igneous coughed and turned away from the bowl of soup. He groaned. “To think… such a small thing as a chill from overworking could become something that leaves a grown stallion so tired and weak. I find I barely have the strength to eat.”

“Igneous, please, just try,” Cloudy Quartz told him.

He heaved a rougher cough.

Maud’s ears pricked up, as she had not really been sleeping. How long had he had that cough?

“Water, my dear,” Igneous said.

“There is water in the soup,” Cloudy Quartz assured him.

“No,” he said. “I thirst for water. Please.”

Ma put the soup bowl aside and got up from her seat. “Of course. I shall return.”

She kissed him on the forehead and walked softly from the room.

“Maud…” Pinkie whispered very, very quietly.

Maud only heard her because Pinkie’s muzzle was right next to her ear. She opened her eyes and met Pinkie’s own.

“Shhh,” Pinkie said, all frowns and seriousness.

The little filly reached up to her fluffy mane and drew out the small glass vial of dark blue liquid.

“He needs it,” Pinkie whispered. “I see it.”

Maud closed her eyes and opened them again. “He wants the Healing Stone.”

“There isn’t time,” Pinkie whispered. “I see it.”

“What? What do you see when you see things?” Maud whispered back. “I don’t understand.”

“I see how things change,” Pinkie whispered, pushing the potion into Maud’s hooves. “Please, Maud. Don’t let Pa die.”

Maud lay there stunned and breathing. The potion felt so small and cold in her hooves. So fragile.

“Please,” Pinkie whispered again. “He needs it.”

Maud carefully sat up and crawled out from the covers. She approached the bedside as quietly as she could. Pa’s eyes were closed as he lay there panting. She uncapped the little bottle and tipped the contents into the bowl of soup and stirred it in.

“Quartz?” Pa rasped quietly. “Quartz, is that you? Do you have my water?”

“It’s Maud,” she said. “Pa, you’re going to drink your soup.”

“I’m not hungry,” he said, eyes half open but unfocused.

“Pa,” Maud insisted. “Even when we are tired, or cold, or scared, we do what must be done. You taught me that. You are recovering well but you cold do better. Now help me and help Ma and drink your soup.”

Maud climbed up on the stool beside the bed and picked up the bowl.

Igneous gave a brief smile. “Ahh, you sound just like your mother. But she’s too worried to bully me now.”

“Well somepony has to,” Maud said. “Now drink.”

She put the bowl to his lips and he managed to get most of it down before exhaustion bested him at last. Maud’s hooves were trembling slightly when she put the bowl back on the nightstand.

The compartment door slide gently open. “Maud?”

Maud looked over at her mother. “He drank some soup.”

Cloudy Quartz smiled. “Thankyou, Eldest. You have been so strong for us.”

Maud climbed down and went back to her bed. Ma came into the room, shut the door and set a glass of water down on the nightstand.

Igneous was breathing heavily, but they were the peaceful breaths of sleep.

Maud crawled back under the covers, next to Pinkie.

The little filly opened one blue eye inquisitively.

“I don’t know,” Maud whispered, pulling Pinkie close.

Pinkie smiled and nuzzled against her sister’s heartbeat. “I do…”

Author's Note:

11th June 2017 -- changed Maud's description of Boulder as a 'metamorphic' rock to 'magnesium rich basalt' which is an igneous rock I believe, to comply with new MLP episodes. (I will occasionally change or update this fic's canon when the change is a simple cosmetic superficial change, such as this, and doesn't alter the course of the story.)

Comments

[Composer99]

The sequences with Pinkie and Maud alternate between touching and creepy: creepy because of Pinkie's Lovecraftian cutie mark and talent; touching because of the novel bond forming between the two sisters.

(Also, as Pinkie is growing more comfortable with her talent and herself, one can almost perceive hints of the Pinkie Pie we know and love from the "prime timeline", though of course presumably she is in this story/timeline forever a different pony.)

All I have to say is: well done!