Twilight Sparkle, Meet General Mountain
Hi General Mountain, My name's Twilight.
Princess Twilight Sparkle breathed deeply as she flew through the sky, the wind rushing past her, blasting her mane back as the streams of air coursed through her fur.
It had been only a few days since she and her friends had overcome the fearsome Lord Tirek, and made safe Equestria and all it's inhabitants. At least for the time being.
Twilight found herself flying over the battlefield where she and Tirek had fought one another. The memories of it still fresh it her mind as she saw the scorch and shattered earth. There were still some smouldering piles of rubble here and there. It amazed her still that she had commanded so much power as to do something like this.
She flapped her wings a few times to gain altitude as she came to a mountain with a hole which went straight through it. She recalled this as the mountain Tirek had thrown her into, and then pushed her through.
Her body still ached at the memory. She flew up to the summit of the mountain and landed atop it, and once again overlooked the demolished landscape, a part of her feeling guilty that so much land was destroyed, in part to her actions.
She let out a sigh and couldn't help but tear up slightly, and then she became aware of what sounded like immensely heavy hoofsteps approaching her from behind.
Snapping to attention and spinning around, ready for a fight, she stopped when she saw a curious sight.
It looked like a statue of an Earth Pony Stallion, roughly her height. It's features were grey, and uniformly smooth, with only a few cracks on it's surface. It looked like an amazing sculpture. Twilight tilted her head and looked it over curiously, "Where did you come from?" she asked allowed, not expecting an answer.
"I've always been here," the statue spoke.
Twilight's eyes widened and with a gasp she jumped back, "W-what?!" she asked in shock.
"I've always been here," it spoke again, it's tone flat and even.
"Y-you can talk?" She asked, managing to compose herself somewhat.
The statue tilted it's head, but it's expression stayed the same as it's mouth moved to speak once more. "I have a voice," it said simply. "I have no reason not to speak."
Twilight blinked a few times in disbelief, still not sure what to make of things.
The statue moved closer without her noticing and she tensed up as it looked her over. "I remember you," it said.
Twilight grew more uncomfortable as she considered ways out of this strange situation, "W-what do you mean?" she asked. "You know me?"
The Statue looked her in the eye with it's blank stare, "I should." It said. "You went right through me."
Twilight raised an eyebrow, "Huh?!" It was an odd statement to say her went through him.
"You, and that Centaur, you both went right through me," It said again, it's tone as flat as ever.
"We.... went through a mountain," Twilight tried to argue, still confused as to what in the world this strange creature was talking about.
"I am the Mountain," it stated as a matter of fact. "The Centaur pushed you straight through me."
Twilight gawked at the stone pony who claimed to be a mountain, unsure what to make of it's words. She couldn't detect any anger from it's voice, but she had trouble figuring out if there was any emotion behind it at all. "Umm.... I'm sorry Mr. Mountain, I didn't intend to go through you."
The statue tilted it's head the other way, "It's okay," it said. "I'm rock solid."
Twilight wasn't sure if that was a joke or not, still unable to decipher much of a tone through its speech. "Um, well, I'm still sorry, I would have tried to keep you from getting hurt if I knew you were alive."
"Mountains don't tend to complain much," it said. "Some ponies can't hear us even when we do."
"Well, I'll try to keep my ears open around mountains more often," she smiled at it, trying to alleviate some of the awkwardness of the situation. "You're certainly a tough mountain though."
The statue nodded, "My name is General Malachite Mountain, but my friends call me Mal," it said, blinking it's stone eyes at her.
Twilight smiled again, "Well, hello General Mountain, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, of Equestria," she introduced herself to it as a Princess should, giving him a respectful bow.
Mal bowed back to her in return, "It's an honor, Princess," it replied in it's same stone faced expression.
Twilight smiled, still curious about it, "So, how are you talking to me if you're a mountain?" she asked, starting to grow a little excited at talking to something she didn't even know was alive until a moment ago.
"Same as you," Mal replied. "I have a voice," it repeated itself from earlier.
Twilight laughed a little nervously, "Well, yes, but I mean," her hoof rubbed the back of her head as she smiled sheepishly, "I never heard of a mountain speaking before now."
Mal looked up as if in thought, "I suppose none of us have anything important to say." It said, "Or we're just stubborn, rocks are very good at keeping to themselves."
'Still with that stoic tone, I can't make heads or tails of this mountain,' Twilight thought to herself as she asked it another question. "Why do you think you stay so quiet?"
"Ponies sometimes take us for Granite," it replied, it's face remaining impassive even though Twilight's curved in a smile at the pun, wondering if it was intentional or not. "Some mountains don't want to speak when they don't think they'd be listened to anyways."
Twilight nodded, "I guess I can understand that."
The statue tilted it's head, "Ponies can learn a lot from mountains if you ask me," it said. "I'd hate to come across as prideful, but mountains are very patient, lasting and strong. It's a shame more ponies won't stop and listen to mountains, too busy moving about I suppose."
Twilight, again, was at a loss for what Mal had meant in it's words. "I'm not sure Ponies can be like mountains."
"A pony should be a pony, and a mountain a mountain, but patients is a lesson all things should learn," Mal said.
Twilight looked down and thought about the words. "Do you talk to ponies a lot?" she asked it.
"No," was the simple reply. "I talk to anyone who stops on my summit. Mostly birds, and bears," it said. "Bears like to listen, they're like mountains."
The Alicorn Princess smiled again, "And what do you tell the birds and bears?"
"I tell the birds where best to build a nest on me, and I tell the bears the best caves," it said plainly. "But sometimes one or two stay longer, and I share stories of days long past. All mountains are old compared to any creature on this world, we all have many stories to tell."
"Will you tell me a story sometime?" Twilight asked, "If I come to your summit again?"
The statue nodded, "I shale," the princess giggled at the rock pun. "I take it you're going to start moving again?" it asked.
Twilight nodded, "I have to, my friends may start to wonder where I am and get worried."
Mal nodded, "I understand, perhaps you could bring them to meet me when you next visit," it said.
"You wouldn't mind a lot of company?" Twilight asked.
"Mountains are large, we are accommodating, we don't mind large numbers of guests," was the mountain's answer.
Twilight smiled, "Well, I'll be sure to bring as many as I can, it would be metamorhpical avalanche of ponies," she giggled at her own pun.
Mal showed no change in expression, "I look forward to it, it sounds like it will rock" it said in its ever stoic demeanor.
"My sediments exactly," Twilight chuckled, her wings flapping, allowing her to hover in the air. "I hope to see you soon, General Mountain."
The statue stayed silent for a moment before speaking again, "My friends call me, Mal, Princess Twilight," it said.
Twilight Sparkle smiled, "and my friends just call me Twilight, Mal," she told him.
Mal nodded, "Than I will see you and your friends later, Twilight."
With that, Twilight flew off into the distance, and the statue remained where she left it.
Mal would wait for her to return.
Mountains were patient.