"Hello... um is this... Cheese Sandwich?"
"That's me! Who's this?"
"I-It's Maud... Maud Pie."
"OH! Hey there Maud! I was just about to call you! How is Pinkie Pie! We haven't talked in a while. I called her but she didn't answer so I was gonna call you! How are you? How's she?" Cheese Sandwich babbled in a muffled voice over the phone. Maud winced.
"That's... That's why I called you..." Maud said slowly. There was a cold, disturbing silence.
"Maud... Maud?" Cheese Sandwich asked in a hushed whisper. The silence continued, hanging over the line like a wet rag splashed in heavy oils. Maud began to weep over the telephone.
"Oh... Maud..." Cheese Sandwich whispered. Maud hung up abruptly and slammed down the phone. She took in a heaved breath and sat down with her face in her hooves, pushing her mane back as she watched tears drip down on to the brittle, crusty, bleached table cloth, softening the crust and wetting the wood table underneath.
Maud peered to the side of her. There was a picture of Pinkie Pie, Blinkie Pie, Inkie Pie, her father, her mother and herself. Her entire family was in this picture. Her mouth trembled for a bit. Maud sighed and put it down. She couldn't bear to see a picture of Pinkie Pie at a time like this. Pinkie Pie had been caught in the rock slide. She didn't survive. Maud stood up and walked out the door. The rock farm was empty as always. It had always been dark, gray, and barren. It was empty, and it was barren. Barren of every thing but rocks. The rocks were spread out over the field. Maud had always loved rocks. They consumed most of her thoughts. She thought she loved them as much she loved her family. She would never feel that way again. She rarely showed her emotions clearly. But now was different. Things became so daunting it felt like a lash in the face. That lash had woken her up like an alarm clock. She shook her head and went inside and paced around the kitchen.
Maud soon returned to her post at the telephone. She called Cheese Sandwich.
"Cheese?" Maud asked.
"Oh, Maud! You hung up and I got worried! Is everything alright?!"
"I need you to throw a party for Pinkie Pie." Maud winced at each word.
"That's it? Great! What kind?" Cheese asked excitedly.
"A funeral..." Maud snapped flatly. The line was silent. There was nothing but quiet and the buzz of the telephone cables. There was just a dead silence. Just as dead as Maud's dear sister.
"Oh... Ok, Maud... No problem..." Cheese choked out. He hung up slowly.
Maud sat down.
"Ohh... What am I going to do?!" Maud moaned. She was lost. She had felt lost before. Like when Pinkie had tried to force a friendship between her best friends and Maud. But now, she was lost. She was...misplaced. Like she was a shredded up doll, thrown to the side of a dusty room.
Maud walked out side. The sky was a rocky gray. Normally, this was her favorite weather. It reminded her of boulders. She hated it. She now hated one of the few things she loved. The very thing she lived for killed her inside. A harsh tear bit her bottom eyelids and threatened to escape. Maud fell on the hard ground, crying. As she collapsed onto the solid dirt, she pierced her face on a small, sharp pebble. She turned to look at one of the pile of rocks from one of the western fields.
"You did this...! You stupid rock!" Maud screamed and bashed her gray hoof over the largest rock. It exploded in a dusty cloud. Maud began to cry again. Tears rushed down her face. She cried harder. Blood from the cut rolled down her chin. Salty tears stung and burned her open cut.
Crack! Maud looked up, her tears stung her cheeks. She wiped her eyes and looked around. What was that noise?! CRACK! There it was again! Maud looked around madly. Crr... Maud twitched her ears.
CRACK!
There was a bright flash of light and Maud heard screaming. A terrible storm had hit. And a vicious strike of lightning had struck a tree. The Pie family became frantic as flies in a jar when they saw lighting strike so close. The Pie family ran around trying to round each other up. Maud was the only one who sat still. She didn't care. It may as well strike her.
Another terrifying crack slashed through the air. More screaming.
"Inkie's trapped!" Maud heard her mother screech. She shot up like a bullet and ran to the metal wind mill that Inkie was trapped inside of. The lighting had sent a shock wave so harshly that some of the furniture had collapsed in front of the door, trapping Maud's sister, Inkie Pie. Lighting struck again, forcing the rest of the Pie family to be thrown back wards.
Maud staggered but gradually got up. She turned her head and her jaw dropped. The world seem to mute itself. The only thong that could be heard was snapping. The snapping of fire. Salty tears swam down Maud's face. Then wind mill collapsed into flames. And it had taken Inkie with it.
****
The following day, Maud's mother was in the hospital. The shock wave had shoved her back. The impact had snapped her leg. her left back leg was broken.
"Does it feel any better, Mrs. Pie?" Nurse Red Heart asked. Mrs. Pie coughed and shook her head.
"I... I feel light headed." She fell back onto her hospital bed. The nurse turned to Clyde.
"What are the conditions at your farm?" She demanded. Clyde looked bewildered. He began stammering nervously.
"Was it clean?!" Nurse Red Heart huffed.
"Uh... Well, she had skinned her leg on the ground so... uhh."
"Then, no" Nurse Red Heart cut him off. Blinkie had come back into the room carrying a tray of food.
"How is she?" She asked in a hushed, choked voice after she had set down the tray on her mother's lap
"She'll be fine...hopefully." The nurse said.
"Hopefully?!" Blinkie asked, darkly. "Hopefully... so... you're not even sure... are you?!" There was a sharp edge to her voice.
"Ms.Pie... nopony has a 100%-"
"You're not even sure are you?!" Blinkie screamed. "So..." Blinkie began to speak and shuddered.
"Blinkie don't even say it." Clyde warned sharply.
"So Ma's gonna die?" Blinkie stated flatly. She said it! Maud was shocked. She said it! I can't believe it! I can't believe she said it!
Mrs. Pie began to weep. She was scared. Nopony could have held it against her. Her own daughter was leaning to the suggestion of her dying.
"Blinkie Pie! That's enough!" Clyde roared and struck Blinkie sharply across the face.
"It's the truth, Pa! Ya can't change it!" Blinkie growled and held her cheek. She ran out of the room.
"I'm going home." Clyde said darkly.
Their voices could be heard from the hallway.
Blinkie, how... how dare you.
Tsk... she's as good as dead any ways.
She's fine! Shut your mouth!
I'm going home, Pa.
Blinkie Pie...
What?
If she dies... you're next.
Maud felt her heart skip a beat. No! She thought. No! no-no-no-nooo!!
Maud didn't go home that night. She stayed out. She was afraid. That day, she went to Ponyville. It was all she could do...
She knocked on the library door. Twilight answered.
"Maud... Oh..." Twilight was speechless.
"Hello..." Maud gulped and wiped her eyes.
"Come inside... We... The rest of us... We're all here." And they were. Rainbow Dash, Flutter Shy, Rarity, Spike, Twilight, Apple Jack, and even Cheese Sandwich was gathered in the library.
All of Ponyville was dark and dreary. The usual light and happiness died with Pinkie Pie. Pinkie's closest friends were planning their best friend's funeral. It had to be perfect. Pinkie Pie had lived for parties. Now, there would have to be a suitable party... one that Pinkie Pie could not have lived for.
****
"I... I'm home." Maud opened the door to the temporary shelter that the Pie family had gotten on their property. There wasn't an answer.
"Hello?" Maud called out.
Hweeeeeee...wheeeewwww... Hweeeeee... There was the sounds of sirens. And they were getting louder. Red and blue flashed about and noisy police carts parked firmly in front of the shack. A police entered and stood by her side as other cops ran stampeded into the hut. Maud was bewildered. She opened her mouth in shock and protest.
"How long have you been here?" The cop demanded.
"I just got here?! Whats going on!" Maud asked. Maud got her answer. I'm not sure whether I just didn't want to hear it... She thought. Or... I just wasn't ready to here it yet.
"We got a call," The officer said. "From Blinkie Pie. She claimed her father was attacking her." Maud shuddered. Her father had threatened Blinkie... But it wasn't a threat... It was a promise. Maud's mother had died of infection in the hospital.
"Do you know her?" The officer asked. Maud gulped.
"Uh... Yes..." Maud shivered.
"Relation?" The officer continued to inquire.
"She... She's my sister."
A second officer came up to them, a mare.
"Could... Could I see them?" Maud asked. The two cops exchanged glances. This was obviously the first time any pony would ask to see their dead relatives.
"I don't see why not..." One said. Maud walked inside. Blinkie was on the floor, a knife in her back, stab marks and hoof prints scattered over her. Clyde Pie was lying underneath the book case, crushed to death. Maud peered closer. There were two of Blinkie's hoof prints on the side of the shelf. It didn't take a cop or some csi pony to figure this out. Clyde had attacked Blinkie, beating her and stabbing her, and Blinkie kicked the book shelf onto Clyde.
"Oh Celestia... I have to get away from here." Maud whimpered and turned away, not daring to look at the bodies of her family.
Maud walked away. She walked away from all she had known, all she had cared for. It was all she could do, all she knew how to do now. Every thing she loved was gone. Maud looked down, tears bubbled from her eye lids.
Where do I go now? She wondered. Where could she go? Maud looked up. There wasn't any where to go but straight ahead. Maud thought of the possibilities. She could find a new place in the world, away from what she had known, away from the pain and sorrow of void she called her home. Or... She thought of the worst possible thing... The void would simply just drag her back and swallow her up before she could leave.
What am I gonna do...
