"Maud! Maud!" Pinkie shouted as she rapidly knocked on the door of her family's home.
"Maud!" Rarity yelled, assisting Pinkie in trying to get Maud to come outside.
Finally, the door opened. Maud stepped out with the usual blank expression of boredom on her face. Her dress looked just as plain, as it barely moved in the light breeze that rested on the Pie family's rock farm. She spoke, her voice empty.
"Yes, Pinkie, Rarity?"
"I'll let you handle this," Rarity whispered rather awkwardly into Pinkie's ear, then stepped back.
Pinkie shot Rarity a look of excitement anyways, then turned to look back at Maud. "C'mere, c'mere, c'mere!" she said happily, bouncing up and down quickly in place.
Maud slowly blinked, still frowning, her eyes expressionless, then said, "Okay."
Pinkie bounced past Rarity, then the white mare sped after her. Maud followed them, her expression making her look uninterested.
"By the way, Rarity, I know you used to like Tom, but that was when you were discorded. I bet Maud is the right mare for him!" Pinkie said quietly to Rarity.
The pink mare bounced away, leaving Rarity trotting slowly at Maud's side.
"Tom is, very handsome?" Rarity said awkwardly as Maud glanced at her, then looked forward again.
"That's nice," Maud said in her usual empty voice.
The conversation ended almost immediately when Rarity found it too hard to even look at Maud confidently when she knew how boring she was with her knowledge of rocks.
The two mares caught up to Pinkie Pie, only to be greeted by a boulder.
"Maud, this is Tom!" Pinkie Pie said, smiling broadly as she showed them the boulder.
"It's a big rock," Maud simply said.
"And you should date him!" Pinkie Pie added, still extremely excited.
Silence filled the air once Pinkie Pie spoke. Maud stared at her younger sister blankly, although Rarity guessed Maud was slightly angry at Pinkie Pie for suggesting that she should date a boulder named Tom. The dress-making pony decided to take action and spoke rather nervously.
"Well, you don't have to! You can if you want to, though!" Rarity said, speaking rather quickly.
Maud shrugged, then said, "I'll do it."
Pinkie shot into the air like a rocket. "Yes!" she shouted as she landed.
Rarity let out a gasp of shock and surprise, then explained, "We'll set up the date for you. 7:00 P.M., perhaps, Maud?"
Maud shrugged carelessly again. "Sure," she said in a bored voice.
"Wonderful!" Rarity said.
"Come on, Rarity! Let's set up the date now! This will be so awesome!" Pinkie Pie said quickly, galloping away again in nothing but happiness.
"Okay, darling," Rarity sighed, following Pinkie Pie again. Maud returned to the Pie family's house, leaving Tom alone to rest in the middle of the Pie family's rock farm.
"Honestly, you two," Twilight sighed.
"Please, Twilight. This would make Maud, Pinkie, and, well, Tom happy!" Rarity pleaded desperately, ready to use an adorable face on Twilight that would force her to use the speaking spell on Tom.
"Rarity's right, Twilight! Come on, Twilight, please?" Pinkie Pie agreed.
"You're the princess of friendship and magic, aren't you? A good friend would help other good friends," Rarity said again, a wide smile appearing on her face.
"Yeah, Rarity's right! Again!" Pinkie Pie agreed again, her happy gaze turned toward Rarity.
Twilight's eyes widened as she blushed, slightly embarrassed. "Yes, but, I think this is just strange!"
"Why, how, darling?" Rarity pressed, stepping toward the purple alicorn.
"Yeah, what's so weird about using magic to make a boulder talk during a date with a mare?" Pinkie Pie prompted, approaching Twilight as well so she stood at Rarity's side.
Rarity took a moment to think about what Pinkie said and thought the whole thing was definitely strange, but she had to do it for Pinkie's older sister's happiness, as well as for the happiness of the party-loving pony herself.
Twilight gave in, but she definitely looked irritated. "Fine." The book-loving mare let out a slightly long sigh of exhaustion.
"Oh, goodie, goodie, goodie!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she bounced in place again. Rarity only smiled at Twilight.
"Yes, thank you, darling," Rarity said quietly.
Twilight stared at the boulder in front of her. Its large shadow was looming over her.
"Well, Tom, I hope this works," she said as a magenta aura began to surround her horn.
A light breeze blew Twilight's mane back as the aura grew brighter. Magenta sparks flew out of the tip of Twilight's horn. Shortly after, a beam of light swiftly shot at Tom. The light wrapped around the boulder, and a faint, weak flash of white slightly blinded Twilight. The brightness disappeared, and the darkness returned to the entire room, except for the romantic candle in the middle of the table next to Twilight.
A crack suddenly appeared on the front of Tom, then opened and closed as he spoke.
"Hello, Twilight. Thanks for giving me the ability to talk. Say, where's Maud? Isn't it 7:00 P.M. now?"
Twilight's mouth fell open in shock. "The spell worked...Tom...you can talk! Oh this is perfect! Now Rarity and Pinkie Pie owe me 20 bits for this...each."
"Well? Where's Maud? I'm sure it's 7:00 P.M. now!" Tom continued, a little bit impatient now.
"Oh, she's coming. Yes, it's 7:00 P.M. now. I'll go get her!" Twilight explained, rushing out of the room shortly after.
"Thank you!" Tom called again as Twilight disappeared from the light of the somewhat dim candle and into the darkness. "Please come back soon!"
"Just come over here, Maud," Rarity instructed in a murmur.
"Okay. Where's Tom?" Maud questioned in a mutter.
"Over here," Rarity said quietly. Soon, they were in the room that Tom was in, with Pinkie and Twilight standing next to the boulder.
"Now, Maud, we'll be over here, watching you two. If you need anything, just call one of us!" Rarity explained as she rushed into the darkness with Twilight and Pinkie Pie.
"Okay," Maud simply said, then she turned to look at Tom.
"This is already romantic! Look at this rock meal!" Tom said.
"Sure, it's great," the rock-obsessed mare simply said.
"Well, let's eat," Tom suggested happily.
Maud slowly chewed her meal, which was food literally made out of rocks. Tom's meal remained untouched. She easily finished her meal, then drank her entire beverage that was made of rocks as well.
"It's going great!" Pinkie Pie commented quietly. Her excitement easily shone in her eyes.
"Yeah, I guess so," Twilight agreed nervously.
"I suppose so too," Rarity said, clearly uncertain about the date going well.
"If only you were a pony," Maud suddenly sighed.
Rarity shot an abrupt glare at Twilight, while Pinkie Pie's mouth fell open in surprise.
"Oh, no, no, no!" Pinkie said quickly. "Maud needs another wish!"
Twilight yelled in panic and galloped out of the room.
Pinkie Pie looked at Rarity, using the feared technique of getting what you want. Puppy dog eyes. Pinkie Pie's eyes went wide and glittery, as if she had instantly turned into an anime or chibi pony, and made a cute frown that was accompanied by an adorable, small whimpering sound.
Rarity sighed in a sort of disgusted or she-always-does-this tone.
"Please, Rarity? Use your magic to make Tom a pony!" Pinkie Pie begged, her cuteness now overwhelming Rarity.
"D'awww..." Rarity said. She suddenly looked up, shook her head, and focused on making Tom a pony. "Fine."
The unicorn turned to look at Tom. Her horn created a glamorous light blue aura, and it was beautiful, like her eyes. The aura whirled around her horn and suddenly sped towards Tom, then wrapped around him like Twilight's aura earlier. But this spell was now different. The blue light was gone, replaced by a white light. It covered Tom, turning him into a white silhouette, then his shape slowly started to change from a boulder to a stallion. Pinkie Pie turned on anime music to accompany this transformation. She lost her chibi look.
The light finally disappeared, and Tom appeared again as a grey stallion with a color scheme extremely similar to, if not identical, Maud's own. The anime music stopped.
Maud's eyes widened slightly, shocked. For once, she did not look bored.
"You look...beautiful," Maud complimented Tom, leaning in to gaze at him dreamily.
Pinkie Pie squealed in excitement. She flashed the happiest look ever at Rarity. Rarity forced herself to smile in return, although she still wasn't certain about the date going well. Maud and a boulder as a pony going on a date together didn't seem like a good idea, despite Maud's obsession with rocks.
"I think we should leave now," Rarity said hastily, already inching towards the shadows.
"Oh, come on, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie sighed, pulling Rarity in. The fashion designer almost fell.
Rarity blinked slowly at Pinkie Pie as if she was crazy. Well, the pink mare already was crazy for her love of parties and how she was always hyper, but still. She looked back at the two ponies engaging in a romantic conversation, rolling her eyes in boredom. It seemed like Maud passed her former bored expression onto Rarity.
Pinkie Pie shook in exhilaration as she noticed Maud and Tom leaning in towards each other. She shook Rarity as well. "Look, look, look!"
Rarity had no choice but to stare at the two ponies. They were both smiling at each other. The white unicorn groaned, but she was still anxious. Pinkie Pie made her quiet with a shh.
Then it all ended when, instead of a kiss, the two hugged each other affectionately. Maud spoke first, her eyes shining and, for once, they were not dull.
"Do you want to come to the rock farm with me?"
Tom looked amazed, as if the hug with Maud was as awesome as saving Equestria alone and getting a reward from Princess Celestia for it. He slowly nodded. Then he spoke too, as if to make it clear that he wanted to return to the rock farm.
"Yes," he confirmed.
Maud let out a small gasp of amazement, then approached Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Tom followed her, staring at her as if she was as beautiful as a diamond. Well, diamonds were beautiful to Rarity.
"Thank you," Maud said, mostly to Pinkie Pie. Rarity's ears drooped, but Maud winked at her, and the unicorn brightened up.
"I should thank Twilight too," Tom said. They both nuzzled each other romantically. Rarity avoided looking at them on purpose, but Pinkie Pie stared at them dreamily.
"D'awww!" Pinkie Pie said, adoring this moment. Her eyes sparkled with happiness for Maud and Tom.
The two lovers headed off into the darkness, leaving Rarity and Pinkie Pie alone in the dimly-lit room. The candle light was beginning to go dark.
"Let's go," Rarity said.
Pinkie Pie nodded. The white mare took off immediately, exhausted from having to stand there and watch a date between a mare that loved rocks and a boulder that she had to turn into a stallion. The pink pony bounced after quickly, cheerful. She smiled the whole way back, much to the irritated Rarity's annoyance.