Maud finds a new friend for Boulder and for herself during a trip to the Perilous Peaks.
When Maud visits the Perilous Peaks, a place full of strangely silent creatures called Kirin, in search of a new friend for her pet rock Boulder, she comes across a mountaintop where she meets a very special Kirin named Autumn Blaze, who just might have the perfect friend for Boulder... and Maud herself.
Autumn Blaze vector on the cover is by SmurfettyBlue
"Last stop! We’ve reached the Peaks Of Peril! End of the line! Everypony out!" The tall grey train conductor barked.
Maud Pie gave the stallion her last remaining bits, and stepped out of the colourful train she had just been riding in, and onto the wooden platform in front of her, which creaked gently as her soft grey hooves touched it. She almost wasn’t expecting a platform at all, let alone anything that looked like a train station out here, as this specific area was said to be super quiet 24/7, with hardly any activity around it.
Maude glanced around at the new land she was in. Her two-hour long train ride had finally brought her to her destination: the Peaks Of Peril, the beautiful landscape sitting on the very edge of Equestria. In front of the Earth pony was a magnificent-looking group of tall grassy mountains, with some trees at the bottom bending away to form an entrance of sorts, as though it were beckoning Maud to enter it.
She craned her neck to look upwards as she thought she heard loud screeching coming from above, and sure enough, their were three large roc's, flying under the sweltering hot sun in search of some tasty dragon scales to munch on.
"Well, Boulder, this is the place." Maud said dully to nobody in particular. She then reached into a pouch on her side and pulled out a dirty grey rock. She blew away some of the dust as she began to walk towards the attractive mountains. "I hope you’re as excited as I am."
Maud had traveled far away to this land for one reason only: to find a new friend for her pet rock, Boulder. While Maud loved rocks, it was nearly impossible to find a good companion for her friend, as all the rocks she had found in places like Ponyville, the Ghastly Gorge, and even her own rock farm where she lived didn’t fit the description she was looking for. She wanted one that was special, one that she could talk to just like she could talk to Boulder. Not even Mudbriar's pet stick was very friendly to the rock, as it kept poking it and calling it names, though when Maud said this to anypony they just thought she was crazy.
After consulting Princess Twilight, Maud was allowed to look at the castle map to decide where she wanted to search next. Fluttershy happened to be in the room and pointed out some places like Mount Aris, which practically one giant rock, and Starlight's old village, with rocks that definitely didn’t contain any cutie marks.
The one that caught her eye was on the edge of the map: the Peaks of Peril, where there seemed to be lots of cool rocks for her to find. Twilight's only warning was that the mountains were home to a friendly species called Kirin, but also evil, destructive flaming monsters who looked like them, called Nirik (Maud got the name pun halfway through the train ride.)
So now, here Maud was, walking across the rocky path leading into the mountains. She kept her eye out for any rocks that Boulder might like, but he didn’t exactly seem to like any of them. "Poor Boulder." Maud droned as she held the rock up to her chest. "The conductor on the train told us this place has the perfect rocks, remember? I’m sure we’ll find someone for you."
Soon, Maud had entered the large looming forest and was immediacy met by a trio of small squirrels that scurried past her into the bright green bushes of the jungle. Maud continued moving on while looking downward at the rocks she came across. Most of them were too small, too big and mean-looking, or just too dirty. "I don’t want you playing rough and getting sick." Maud explained.
She was getting hungry, and was just about to stop and find some berries to eat when in her confusion she suddenly bumped into something. "Ugh." She mumbled as she sat up, saying it like a regular word. "Who put that sign there?"
Gathering her bearings, however, she realized it wasn’t just an object; it was, in fact, a pony. A tall, brown pony standing with its flank to her. Except she noticed it had dark brown fur on its tail and the back of its rear legs, and a green pattern on its rump that made it look kind of like a turtle. And it’s horn was jagged and red, and when it turned around quietly to look at the confused mare, she saw it had a ring of brown fur going around its neck like a scarf. It had dark black eyelashes and big red eyes that looked unfazed at her, and the same green pattern going up its head between its eyes.
"Oh, sorry." Maud said calmly as she stood up, trying to ignore the creature's funny-looking appearance. "I’m Maud. Pie." She said, pausing before saying her last name as usual. The... whatever it was didn’t respond. It just looked at Maud and blinked. "So... yeah." Maud said, becoming slightly weirded out by the pony's awkward silence. After a few seconds of just staring at each other and blinking, the creature simply turned around and trotted off, slapping Maud in the face with its long tail in the process.
"Ouch. Wait." She called out as she began to follow after, though her voice was so low the pony probably wouldn’t have heard it as it walked onward, leading her through the crazy forest and into a clearing. Maud was so light on her hooves, she wondered if the thing even knew she was following it.
But all her thoughts were soon brought to a complete stop. As she stepped into the area, Maud was surprised to see an entire village before her eyes. It wasn’t anywhere as big as Ponyville, just a small collection of brown and beige huts. When she looked around, though, she saw that some had built little houses into the trees. Right in the middle of the village was a giant sparkling fountain of water, surrounded by multiple stands of delicious-smelling fruits that made her stomach growl.
"Wow, this is nice." Maud said to the brown creature, but it had already skipped off to meet some of its friends that had just emerged from the darkness. She then noticed multiple others that had just left their homes, and most of them were staring awkwardly at Maud, not saying anything, not that she showed much emotion back. Then a tall, slim creature stepped up to the front of the pack.
She had a grey body and a red horn and green fur draped around her chest, and white patterns on her nose and rump, like the others. And of course, she was silent as she looked Maud up and down. "So... how's it going?" Maud finally decided to start some kind of conversation, but all the tall creature did was turn her head to look at the pony funny, and the others followed suit.
"I’m Maud. Pie." She introduced herself. "I’m looking for a friend for my pet." She held out Boulder, who she could tell was scared because he had been awfully quiet lately. "He’s a rock, by the way, in case you couldn’t tell." Maud said. The leader narrowed her eyes like Maud had just told a bad joke.
"Do you know where I can find any more rocks? I was told your village was full of them." She said, and muttered under her breath "I bet they’re louder than you."
The things must have heard her, somehow, because they all looked angry with their horns beginning to flicker and flames starting to form around their eyes. "Uh, are you guys okay? Do you all need some kind of time out?" Maud sassed. "I do stand up by the way." This seemed to have sealed her fate, as the leader stepped forward and pointed behind her to a spooky-looking entrance to a dangerous and creepy forest.
"Well, okay... if that’s where the rocks are." The gullible earth pony said. "Come on, Boulder. Let’s find you a friend." She put Boulder back into his pouch and began slowly walking into the forest. As far as the mysterious yet grumpy creatures watching her were concerned, Maud had nothing to fear now but wild animals, bad weather... and one particular cheery Kirin that would have exactly what she was looking for.
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.
Maud Pie groaned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she woke up in her strangely comfy bed to the sound of rain beating softly against the roof above her head, and birds chirping from outside the window. She couldn’t remember the last time it had rained at the rock farm, let alone had birds visit it, unless the vultures that occasionally swarmed the land and ate the corpses of their former employees counted, which they definitely didn’t. She looked at the clock on the nightstand just inches away from her face, which read 7:05 AM.
"Oh, I must have went home last night and fallen asleep." Maud said quietly, not wanting to wake up her sisters in their rooms with her loud irritating voice. Except usually her parents would be downstairs by now, making rock soup for breakfast, and Marble and Limestone would be hard at work in the fields.
Maud looked at the nightstand, expecting to see Boulder sleeping, but he wasn’t there. And since when was her nightstand just a giant rock? (Okay, she had to admit that was pretty cool) She slowly climbed out of bed and immediately tripped over a bottle of champagne that was tossed carelessly onto the floor. "Ouch." She mumbled as she got up.
Maud looked around the room and blinked a few and slowly grew horrified as she realized that this WASN'T her room. First of all, it was actually a colour other than grey and the walls were made of bamboo sticks instead of rubble. And the bed she had apparently just drunkenly passed out in had a soft brown mattress instead of hard grey sheets. And man, was it hot out here! The weather down at the rock farm was usually about as warm as the family's expressions.
"Uh, where am I?" Maud said, a bit louder now as she was starting to get nervous. Her sharp ears picked up the sudden sound of yawning behind her, and she turned around in horror to see a pudgy, greyish pony-like creature roll over in bed and stare up at her with her big beautiful morning eyes. "Hey, you. You're finally awake." She said with a smile.
Maud was too stunned to say anything, but it likely wouldn’t have been a scream anyways. "Um... hi. I’m Maud. Pie." She said. It never hurt to be a little friendly. Autumn Blaze rolled her eyes. "It’s okay. I remember I was a little nervous my first time I was in bed with with another creature." She hopped out of bed and walked up close to Maud so she could feel her warm breath against her face.
"So, what do you want to do know? Have breakfast? Put on a play about two wicked witches who can’t agree on anything and have the same evil boyfriend? Ooh, or maybe we could go and watch the sun rise?” She said as she jumped around excitedly. Maud was so confused: not only had she just slept with that thing, but she was being so happy and jumpy about it.
"Hold on- what’s supposed to happen now?" Maud said worriedly. "I have to go home now with Boulder." Autumn stopped hopping around and looked at the pony seriously for a minute before chuckling softly. "Come on, you can’t leave just like that. There’s so much more to see and do out here! Liiiiiike..."
Autumn disappeared into her closet for a minute before emerging wearing an outfit from the play Horselet, and holding up the skull of a buffalo in one hoof. "To be or not to be. That is the question..." She said with a giggle. "Get it? Because it’s from that play."
Maud shrugged. "I’m not much of a theater pony. Although the part with examining skulls sounds nice." Autumn Blaze looked unamused for a brief moment, before she suddenly looked excited and pushed past Maud. "Oh my gosh, look Maud! The rain has stopped! The sun is coming out!" She said excitedly as she leaped over to the window, which was now letting golden rays of sunlight pour into the messy room. Autumn sat back and stretched for a minute in the sunlight. "Ahhhh. Always good to get some exercise in the morning after."
"The morning after what?" Maud asked, but she was interrupted of course by the energetic Kirin. "Come on, you, let’s go watch it together!" She exclaimed as she trotted out the door, taking the frowning pony with her.
Maud wasn’t quite sure what to make of the sunrise. There was hardly even any sun down on the farm- she couldn’t stop thinking about the farm all of a sudden. She felt homesick for a second. But then those feelings disappeared, as the red sun slowly peeked over the mountains on the horizon, and spread its light over the small village and forest down below like butter on toast, eventually reaching the two mares as they sat on the edge of the cliff and watched.
"Man, that’s one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen..." Autumn Blaze gushed as she put a hoof on her heart. "Yeah, it’s great." Maud said with her boring tone that Autumn tried to ignore. It was then that Maud brought her attention back to that strange village. "What ARE those ponies down there anyways?"
Autumn sighed. "That’s a long story... so um, do you want the normal version or the song version?" When Maud didn’t respond she kept talking anyways and explained the whole story with her village going berserk and taking a vow of silence and her deciding to get her voice back, which ultimately led to her exile.
"And I lived miserably ever after up here, with just me and Mr. Twig.” Autumn said, shedding a few tears while Maud just looked on, feeling sad for her on the inside. Suddenly, she realized something. "Oh, that’s right. We should check on them to see how they’re doing."
It turned out that Boulder and Mr. Twig had slept together in a little wooden bed Autumn had just made for her days prior. They were sound asleep on the couch, judging by how quiet the onlooking ponies were. "Awww, they’re adorable together." Maud said with a small smile. "Yeah, kind of like us." Autumn Blaze teased as she elbowed the pony, who sighed in annoyance. "No, Autumn Blaze, I really can't stay. This is just wrong. I’ve got a boyfriend back home in Ponyville, and Boulder already found his friend, so..."
Autumn sighed as she rubbed her front hoof. "Yeah, I understand." Maud immediately felt a twang or guilt in her heart and raised a hoof to lift up her neck fur. "But if you want, I could keep in touch and visit again."
Autumn smiled. "Heh. I’d like that." Then she went in for another kiss, but was pushed away by Maud. "Oh, heh, right. And no more of that. Ooh, how about just this?" She wrapped her hooves around Maud and gave her a huge bone-crunching goodby hug. "Is that good enough?"
Maud smiled quietly and closed her eyes. "It’s perfect."
