Letters To Maud
Letters To Maud
Written by: Midnight Rose
Edited by: Salnalus, with help from: Sweetie-Bot-Error
The sun’s brilliant rays shone down and into Sugarcube Corner, or to be more exact, Pinkie Pie’s bedroom. The pink mare herself was on her bed at the moment, a quill with bright purple feathers in her mouth. Scrolls of all sorts were scattered around her. Some had ink blots on them, but most were completely bare.
This was one of those very rare moments in Pinkie’s life when she was quiet, thoughtful, and most of all, calm. She had been thinking very hard about what to write to her sister, Maud Pie, for quite some time...but the words she felt like writing just didn’t seem to feel natural.
Pinkie sighed as she heard the birds chirped merrily outside. She really wanted to go out and do something today...anything other than this, but she knew Maud would love to get a letter from her little sister, even if she had to stay inside all day just to find the perfect words.
“Why is this so hard? I write to Limestone and Marble all the time. Shouldn’t Maud be easy to write to?” Pinkie asked herself.
She glanced over at Gummy, almost as if he had the answer to her question. His asynchronous blink made his owner smile.
“No, you’re right, Gummy! I shouldn’t give up! I should buckle down and write the bestest letter ever!” Pinkie cried, hopping a little hop on her bed.
As she landed, she got an idea. Everypony was very excited about the picnic she had planned for next week, and she had gotten the most brilliant idea ever!
She grabbed a piece of parchment and quickly began to write.
Dear Maud,
How have you and everypony else been doing back home? I’m fine, but I miss you. I miss all of you, yes even Ma and Pa. I hope nothing’s changed too much since I’ve been gone, I’d be sad if all of you didn’t smile every now and again.
Anyways, I was thinking of this picnic I planned for next week, it’s on Saturday. I hoped that you’d be interested in coming.
Ponyville’s really interesting and I’d love for you to meet all my friends. I know that you all would be best friends! They are just so amazing, I can’t wait for you to meet them!
I kinda wanna tell you about them, but I’ll save that for another letter. This one’s a little blotchy, I’ve spilled some ink on it by accident.
Love, Pinkie.
A large, bleak brown landscape surrounded the Pie family rock farm. The whole of the farm was covered in a dreary fog that made it hard to see anything, making the already tiring task of turning over the fields slightly dangerous. Maud had fallen over more than once already.
However, a promise of a letter that would come today brightened Maud’s spirits if only just a little. She had waited for this for almost a whole month. Pinkie’s letter’s had been less frequent as of late. She assumed her sister was busy. Maud’s anxiety had been creeping up on her and now its ugly head was showing. The familiar smell of minerals helped ease her mind.
Her anxiety was with her up until the dinner bell rang. Maud sighed as she placed one of the biggest boulders on the rock pile she had been working on, and walked towards her tiny farm-house.
Maud’s expertly hidden anxiety had completely vanished as she entered the house. Everypony had been waiting for her, for she had the most work to do, and the smell of her mother’s rock cakes wafted through the kitchen-dining room.
These cakes were Maud’s favorites and she blinked excitedly and sat down on her plain wood chair.
Igneous Pie, her father, passed around the cakes and waited for everypony to get settled before he began to speak. His deadpan disposition helped take Maud’s mind off the anxiety.
“A letter came for you today, Maud.” He told her.
This statement made Maud want to smile, but she only nodded her head in response. It was a lot harder to be cheerful when Pinkie wasn’t around.
Her father coughed and rolled the letter down the table and onto her place-mat. The letter smelled familiar, of cotton candy. Maud nodded her head slightly, picked the letter up and read it aloud to her family. She always did this when she got a letter. She knew the rest of the family would like to know what Pinkie had to say.
“Dear, Maud,” She started reading, “how have you and everypony else been doing back at home? I’m fine, but I miss you, I miss all of you, yes even Ma and Pa.”
As Maud read that line, Igneous’s eyebrow rose, but he remained silent.
“I hope nothing’s changed too much since I’ve been gone, I’d be sad if you all didn’t smile every now and again...” She stopped reading, and looked at her father.
His face was still as stoic as ever, but he looked like somepony had brightened his day, Maud knew this because his eyes began to sparkle. This rare occasion made Maud smile, for the first time in weeks.
“Well, you can tell her that you’re still smiling.” Igneous said, staring blankly at Maud.
Maud’s smile faded, if only a little, as she continued to read the letter.
“Anyways, I’ve been thinking about this picnic I planned for next week, it’s on Saturday. It’ll be so exciting.” Maud blinked as she read ‘exciting’ in a deadpan tone, just to show her excitement.
“A picnic? In the beginning of Spring? Wouldn’t she get cold?” Her mother, Cloudy Quartz asked.
Maud simply shrugged and continued to read.
“I hoped that you would be interested in coming.” She blinked and looked up at her parents.
They had an odd expression on their faces as they looked back and forth between each other. Igneous sighed and placed a hoof on his wife’s own.
“Do you think she should go?” He asked her. Cloudy sighed and nodded a small nod.
Maud’s hopes soared, and she smiled again. She had been hoping to go to Canterlot for their geology studies, and a pit-stop in Ponyville would be very nice.
“Thanks, Mom and Dad. I bet Pinkie will be pretty happy about this news,” Maud replied.
She was so excited now, she didn’t even feel like eating. She pushed her plate away and silently got up off her chair. Igneous gave her a nod and she began to walk up the stairs, always keeping her slow and careful pace.
When Maud finally reached her bedroom, her heart and mind began to race. How in Equestria would she talk to Pinkie? Was there really anything to say?
Her days on the rock farm had been slow and boring without Pinkie there to brighten things. Maud sighed and pulled Boulder, her pet rock, from her pocket.
Turning him around in her hoof, she decided to lie on the brown carpet and begin her letter. She had already gotten her supplies ready. So with Boulder in her left hoof, and a quill in her mouth, she began her letter.
Dear Pinkie Pie, She wrote, pausing for a moment to find the right words. Maud wanted her sister to enjoy this letter as much as she enjoyed hers.
I really enjoyed getting your letter this afternoon. I was somewhat surprised that it came late, but I figured it was probably because you are so far away now.
Ponyville is interesting, huh? A town built by earth ponies, which holds every kind of pony, even an alicorn now, would be interesting indeed. Your friends sound intriguing, in a way.
I think Boulder and I would very much enjoy a picnic hosted by you. It’s been a while since I’ve been to one of your famous parties. I guess that’s why nopony around here smiles too much. They all miss you. Especially me.
Maud paused for a long while here. She was trying very hard not to cry. Her smile was fading as rapidly as she was writing.
I hope this visit will help me remember how to smile again.
Yours Forever,
Maud
Pinkie’s work at Sugar Cube Corner had made her less anxious about her sister’s reply than she would have normally been. Mrs.Cake needed extra help today, but only because Mr. Cake had sprained his leg and his wife had been tending to him and doing her job at the same time.
She was also getting the twins settled into school, so the blue mare was indeed very busy. Pinkie had almost forgot about her letter, that is until the postmare came.
“Letter for Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie?” The postmare said, sticking out her gray hoof.
There was indeed a letter there, and Pinkie’s smile widened as she heard her name. She left her work station, rather enthusiastically and rushed over to the postmare, who blinked in surprise.
“Ooh, that’s me!” She squeaked.
The mare smiled and handed her the letter. Pinkie’s smile grew from ear to ear, as she rushed up to her room. She had even forgotten to explain to Mrs.Cake why she was cutting her work short. She was just too excited!
Pinkie galloped upstairs and accidentally slammed her door closed behind her. Once in her room, she unrolled Maud’s letter and began to read it. It wasn’t very long, but it was a little sad, it certainly made Pinkie tear up a little. Why was nopony smiling anymore? She thought they had said that they would at least practice once a day.
She didn’t want to dwell on it too much though, what she wanted to do was write her sister’s reply.
Writing reply letters was certainly easier for Pinkie. She knew what she wanted to say, and the words seemed to fly out of her mind, through the quill, and onto the page before her.
Dear Maud,
Why in Equestria are you ponies not smiling!? Didn’t I tell you to smile at least once a day? Sheesh, you’d think you would all become depressed by now. Ooh, I’m sorry! That was mean. I hope you’re not feeling depressed. If you are, you and everypony can come and visit me in Ponyville!
Sorry if I’m rambling a little, I know Pa used to hate it when I rambled on and on and on and on...oh where was I? Oh yeah, I’m just so excited for your visit! Hey! Maybe after your visit, you could check out Canterlot! I’m sure Twilight could get you into some of the more ‘exclusive’ venues if you asked nicely. She’s so great!
Well, I really should get back to work...I know I said I’d tell you all about my friends, but I guess you’ll just have to find out about them when you get here. I promise they’re all amazing though!
Always,
Pinkie (xoxoxoxox)
As the week went by, Pinkie and Maud sent each other various letters. Pinkie was becoming more and more excited for her sister’s visit. Maud was as well, but she never let anypony see. The two mares both spent their days in their usual way.
Pinkie had been busy, she had been visiting all of her friends. She had told almost everypony about Maud. Twilight had been the last one on her list, Pinkie didn’t know why, she just was. It was probably because that Pinkie was the most nervous about telling Twilight.
She had no idea why.
Twilight’s house was calm and quiet, and as Pinkie rang the doorbell, she wondered how Twilight would react to this...She had never even told her about Maud before. She had told her about Limestone and Marble, but had forgotten Maud.
That wasn’t really her fault, Maud hadn’t been in contact with her for so long (mostly on account of being so busy), Pinkie had almost forgotten that she even had an older sister. The only contact they had shared was the tradition of sending each other rock candy necklaces, and this had only begun when Maud had discovered those special rocks. That had been when she was seven. Pinkie had been four at the time.
Pinkie had been daydreaming so much that she hadn’t realized that Twilight had opened her door. She blinked in surprise as Twilight said a confused sounding, “Hi, Pinkie.”
Twilight smiled and let her friend inside, Pinkie bounced inside happily. The library was one of Pinkie’s favorite places, and seeing Twilight was always a plus.
“Oh hey Twilight! How are you? I’m great! I’m super great! I’m probably the bestest I’ve been in a long, long time! Like so great that I could probably jump in the sky and I’d start flying! That’s how great I am!” Pinkie said, jumping up and down ecstatically.
Twilight smiled, “I’m fine Pinkie. What’s got you so excited?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie giggled and smiled brightly. “Somepony very special to me is gonna come and visit!” Pinkie explained, with a little hop.
This statement made Twilight’s smile widen, “Ooh, who’s coming Pinkie? Is it a relative?” She asked.
Pinkie smiled, came closer to Twilight who blinked in surprise as Pinkie bopped her on her muzzle with her hoof. “Yup! It’s one of my sisters! Maud is coming!” Pinkie replied.
Twilight laughed and backed up. Pinkie just smiled back at her like nothing was wrong, and Twilight smiled again.
“I didn’t know you had another sister.” Twilight replied.
Pinkie was now at the bookshelves, it seemed she was looking for something. Twilight walked by Pinkie who smiled and laughed.
“I do! She’s my older sister. I haven’t talked about her much because the two of us have just been so busy…but I got a lot of pictures of her in my room. Hey, can I borrow this from you?” Pinkie asked as she picked up a Geology book.
Twilight nodded. “Sure thing. Does Maud like rocks?” Twilight asked, wondering why in Equestria somepony would like something so boring.
Pinkie giggled, “Oh, ‘like’ is an understatement. She loves rocks! She’d probably marry a rock if she could!” Pinkie replied with a hop towards the door.
Twilight looked at Pinkie with a tilt of her head and a quizzical expression. Somepony who spends all their time with rocks, and who sounded incredibly boring, was related to Pinkie Pie? Twilight thought that all of Pinkie’s family were super-energetic just like Pinkie was.
“So, she’s into rocks then? That seems like an odd hobby,” Twilight remarked.
Pinkie shrugged and walked towards the door. “Well, Maud’s been with rocks her whole life. My whole family has. I love her anyways though. She always supports me and everything I do. That’s all that really matters,” Pinkie said, an innocent look in her eyes.
Twilight smiled, Pinkie was right. It shouldn’t really matter what Maud did for a living, it should just matter if she loved her sister, and apparently she did. Twilight nodded at Pinkie and led her out of the library. The two said their goodbyes and Pinkie headed off to Sugar-Cube Corner, a cheerful smile on her face.
Pinkie knew in her heart that her sister would fit in here in Ponyville. Hopefully, her friends would see how much she loved her sister, and how much Maud loved her as well. Pinkie smiled as she flopped on her bed, ready to write her sister another letter.
Dear Maud,
You rock.
Love, Pinkie Pie
The End.
