A Friend For Boulder

by Autumnblazelover61

A Good Friend, And Maybe More

The forest was quiet and damp as Maud made her way through all of the different twisting and turning grassy paths, which led her farther and farther into the Peaks jungle. She had to push through multiple trees and prickly bushes, which ripped off little pierces of her bland-looking outfit and parts of her purple hair, and all the puddles she was splashing in were starting to make her ankles and sleeves wet.

She was starting to wonder if the creatures she had just in the village met were really telling the truth or not when they told her there were good rocks in the forest. She could tell by their eyes. The way they were narrowed into little slits were kind of unsettling, like they hated everything she was saying but weren’t saying anything. She was used to that from other ponies.

When her sisters gave her looks like that at home, it usually meant they were mad at her about something. Well, except for Pinkie Pie. She was never angry at her sister. But she had no idea what could have upset them so quickly.

"Okay, Boulder. Keep your eyes peeled for some new friends." Maud said in her usual deadpan voice, and then sighed. "If I’m being honest, I also wouldn’t mind finding a new friend out here as well. Like not just a rock or a stick—even though Mudbriar would probably like that- but a real live pony... or it could be dead. That would be okay too. I mean, Starlight and the others are nice, but I just want to find somepony who likes rocks and twigs and other inanimate objects as much as I do, you know?" Boulder didn’t respond. "Yeah, you know."

Suddenly, Maud heard a rustling sound from some bushes nearby, and she turned around to look for the source of the noise, hoping it was some kind of noisy rock. "Oh, get ready, Boulder. Maybe it’s a jumpy kind of granite, like that one I found that time in Appleoosa." To her dismay, it wasn’t a rock. Or a twig. Or even a parasprite. Instead, a brown furry squirrel jumped out from the bushes and chirped a few times before running off.

Maud sighed quietly. "Well, maybe I could find some more squirrels that I could make angry. You know, because I can make my voice so loud and aggravating. Then maybe they’d find some rocks to throw at me, and then I could collect some and-"

"Who are you taking to?" A calm and attractive voice suddenly said from behind Maud, causing the pony to turn around and look at the creature who spoke.

She was a plump, wide-eyed lovely-looking greyish pony with that same strange red jagged horn protruding from her perfectly sized forehead, and brown fur around her lovely neck that the others had, and green patterns on her attractively furry body and light brown hair on her long sexy tail. She also had big beautiful yellow eyes that stared intently at Maud.

"Are you lost? Or did you just stop to look at that annoying little squirrel. Yeah, that happens a lot." She smiled adorably and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Between you and me, though, I think he’s pretty cute."

"Oh, hello. I’m Maud. Pie." Maud said, sheepishly looking down at the green tips of the thing's hooves, one of which was raised slightly as it's eyes looked Maud over, as if it was in a hypnotic trance. "Wow, that’s a pretty nice name. I’m Autumn. Blaze." She said, giggling at her imitation of Maud.

Maud didn’t know what to think. She decided to say the first thing that came to her mind. "You talk a lot more than the others." She pointed out. The creature's green-tipped ears sagged as she looked down and pawed at the ground sadly. "Oh, yeah. That. It’s kind of a long story." She said, and looked away from Maud sadly.

Suddenly, the two ponies heard a loud rumbling sound. Maud rubbed her stomach. "Sorry. Sometimes when I get hungry you can hardly hear my voice over my stomach."

Autumn Blaze laughed softly, feeling better now as Maud's sense of humour was enough to cheer up even the frowniest of ponies. "It’s not that. It’s THAT." She pointed up at the sky, and Maud looked up to just in time for a rain drop to land in her eye. "Ouch." She said, which made the creature laugh again, since most of the things Maud said sounded like she never cared. "Yeah. It’s about to rain. We Kirin have to put up with that a lot."

She turned around, rearing her soft flank in Maud's face as her long tail swished around. "Follow me, Maud. I know somewhere we can go." And with that, Autumn Blaze the Kirin hopped off, humming to herself in her lovely voice as she jumped from puddle to puddle, splashing herself with water as rain dripped onto her body. The hot mare didn’t even notice as she kept singing about the rain.

Maud looked between the Kirin and Boulder, and then shrugged like she had some kind of secret language with the rock and followed her.

After a few long minutes of trotting after the skipping pony, Maud found herself standing before a dirt path leading up to a tall, looming shack that stood on the edge of a very tall cliff overlooking the beautiful valley. It was made out of tall bamboo-like sticks and and covered in moss and surrounded by rocks with faces drawn on them. Maud smiled. This girl had taste.

Autumn Blaze continued hopping happily like she was used to seeing the secluded house up on the mountain. "Wow." Maud said when she finally made it to the top. "This is cool. Have you been here before?"

The Kirin rubbed her front hoof awkwardly. " Yeah, I have. I mean, I sort of... live here..." She said, and blushed, hoping the pony wouldn’t ask any questions. "Oh. That’s cool." Was all Maud said. Autumn breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at her before gesturing for Maud to follow her up the stairs.

Soon, they were inside the fort, which didn’t look half bad on the inside, either. "Woah, you built all this?" Maud asked. Autumn gave a sort of teasing grin. "Eh, what can I say? A girl has to work out."

Suddenly, a thunderous growl rang out through the house, causing the whole thing to shake. At first Maud thought it was thunder, but then she realized it was Autumn Blaze's stomach growling loudly. "Getting hungry?" Maud said. She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as Autumn Blaze pressed a hoof against her soft groaning belly. "Heh, yeah, sorry. I haven’t been this hungry since... well, that’s another long story."

They ended up spending the rest of the evening munching on some delicious fruits Autumn had found out in the forest and collected in her kitchen. It was the best snack Maud had ever had, even better than the rock-candy necklaces Pinkie and her friends made for her when she first came to Ponyville... well, okay, she hated those things, but still. "Ah, much better." Autumn happily rubbed her full tummy as she sat next to Maud on the couch in the living room, which was lit up by the candles she had breathed flames into, though the wind blowing in blew out one or two every few minutes, slowly making the room more and more dark. "You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to move this thing out here." She said as she patted the couch cushion she was seated on. "So, what brings you to the Peaks of Peril, Maud?"

Until now, Maud has forgotten why she had come to the "Last Stop Of Equestria" in the first place. Spending all this time with this strange new creature, it had completely slipped her mind. "Oh, right. I’m looking for a friend for my pet."

Autumn's face lit up and she clapped her hooves excitedly. "You have a PET? That’s great! Is it a frog? A salamander? Ooh! A BUGBEAR?" She grinned crazily as she pushed her face way up close to Maud's. Maud silently pulled out Boulder from his pouch. At first Autumn thought it was a joke. But then she saw how dead serious Maud was and just shrugged it off like everypony else. "I mean, yeah, a rock is a pretty cool pet, too."

Maud gave Boulder a quick kiss. "I came out here to find a friend for him. He’s been really lonely lately. I was told this place had some good rocks. Have you seen any?"

"Oh, well, pfft, yeah, of course. I’ve met a lot of them. They’re so smart and funny." She replied.

Maud didn’t know what was stranger: the fact she talked to all those big painted rocks or that she thought Boulder could actually befriend them. "Um, I was thinking maybe something smaller."

Autumn Blaze thought for a minute and then realized. "OMC! I know! Wait right here!" She skipped off into the other room. While she was gone, Maud looked around the room and noticed she had multiple magazines and books carelessly strewn about on the floor. They had titles like Playkirin, The Fault In Our Candles, and Qilin's Magazine. She never heard of them before, but just assumed they were some sort of adventure comics.

When Autumn returned, she hid both her hooves behind her back. "Okay, close your eyes." She said. Maud shrugged and closed her eyes, and when she opened them she was staring at a hoof with a face drain on it and a stick on it. "Say hello to Mr. Twig." Autumn said with a giggle. "I found him in a crummy mountain town somewhere."

Majd's eyes widened. "A TWIG? That’s like what my boyfriend Mudbriar has for a pet." She then noticed Autumn drooping slightly at the mention of the word "boyfriend", but she shook it away and put Mr. Twig .

Maud took the two pets and put them on the floor. They didn’t move, obviously, aside from the wind coming in from the window blowing Mr. Twig over slightly, but Maud knew they were having fun. Maud smiled, which didn’t happen often. as Autumn leaned her head over, closer to her's. "Heh heh. They really are having fun together." Maud said. "Yeah..." Autumn said, putting a hoof on her heart as she looked at the Earth pony. "You know, we both seem look like the kind of ponies who need... friends, too."

Maud smiled warmly at the Kirin. "Yeah. Yeah, I would."

And then, without hesitation, the two leaned over and kissed, as the wind coming in from the night sky blew out the last candle in the room.

Author's Note:

Heh, guess I’m starting a new ship. 😜😜

Autumn Blaze's comment about the last time she was super hungry is a reference to my other story, The Island Of Empty Tummies.

The book titles reference Playboy, Th Fault In Our Stars, and People's Magazine.

Comments

[Sozmioi]

That escalated abruptly