Rocks Are (Not) Dumb

by Glimglam

Rating: everyone
Tags: Apple Bloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Maud Pie, Slice of Life
Length: 5063

Maud Pie returns to Ponyville. Though, not for the reason very many ponies expected...

Apple Bloom thinks rocks are dumb.

Maud takes it upon herself to convince the filly otherwise.

Big thanks to Majin Syeekoh for begging me allowing me the chance to write this.

Published 2014-12-21 21:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-21 21:40:02 UTC

Sedimentary, My Dear Bloom

“B-but, Maud! You only just got back!”

“I've been back for a week,” was the eldest sister's eventual and terse reply.

“That's not what I…” Marble shook her head, still following her sister and trying to talk some sense into her. “I mean, like, it hasn't been that long since your last trip there, and the last time you were there, it already was for a week! And this is completely out of nowhere, too!”

Maud merely kept walking, unfazed. “Sometimes duty calls are short-notice,” she said, still locked in the same monotone. “It can't be helped.”

The two of them were already out of the house, and passing the field by the road which led away to the closest train station. Marble Pie was beside herself with confusion, having tried again and again in vain to reason with her rock-steady sibling. Limestone, working in the fields, happened to glance over and spot the two. She raised an eyebrow at the sight, almost curious as to the problem, but then merely shrugged and got back to work, not exactly in a mood nor position to question Maud's actions by now.

“At least tell me why you're going, this time!” Marble begged, trying to grip her sister's frock with her teeth in an attempt to hold her back—which was just as fruitless, simply being dragged along with the mare as she carried on walking, barely regarding Marble's attempts to stop her.

“I won't be away long,” she soon replied, finally stopping and looking back at her sister. “There is just one problem that needs my attention. It involves one of our distant cousins. Which is why I'm taking it seriously.”

Marble was only more confused than before. “But… how do you even know there's a problem? We never got any mail from them, or anything!”

“Boulder's friends told me,” her sibling simply replied, glancing over at a few idle rocks strewn along the side of the road. There was a pause, and she added, “Rocks like to gossip.”

The gray mare blinked, looking down at them as well with a bewildered expression. Her initial knee-jerk reaction was to want to question Maud's reasoning, but she knew all too well by now that – much like Pinkie – sometimes it was best to simply let it be.

“I… fine,” Marble conceded at last, sighing. “But, I still don't—” She stopped herself, seeing that Maud had already turned away and was heading down the road. With a frown, she simply watched her go, shaking her head.

“You didn't honestly expect to change her mind, did you, sis?”

Marble looked toward the field, and saw her other sister, Limestone, leaning over the wood fence with an incredulous expression. She shook her head again. “No, I didn't,” she admitted. “But I guess I thought I'd still try, at least…”

Limestone rolled her eyes. “Marble, our sis is stubborn, and you know it. Once she's dead-set on something, there's no changing her mind. Especially not when it comes to rocks.”

“Yes, I know…” Marble sighed again, leaning against the fence herself with a tired expression. “She said it was a problem with our cousin, or something. And that the rocks told her all about it, to boot…”

Limestone blinked. “…Wait. We have a cousin?”

~O~

Apple Bloom was bored.

Her day just wasn't going as well as she hoped it would have been. Between getting in trouble in school earlier that day for not only failing her homework, but talking back to Miss Cheerilee, and her friends all being too busy with their own arrangements to go crusading (and leaving her alone at the clubhouse), she was feeling rather miserable. But mostly bored. She didn't really care about what happened in school, no, nor did she about not having her friends to hang around with… But she was still bored.

If Apple Bloom could have been any more bored than she was, one could nail her to the side of a tree, and she would feel nothing—since she would be little more than a block of wood at that point. She just wanted something to do.

Something to do that didn't include homework, at least.

She huffed, gently bumping her cranium against the wall of the clubhouse a few times with a light thud. “Bored, bored, bored,” she grumbled repeatedly, knocking her head on the wall with each word. It was bad enough that she was being forced to redo the assignment, plus a little extra, but she had to go it alone this time. Applejack would be awfully cross with her if she found out the trouble she was in, so she couldn't risk trying to ask her for any help with it.

Apple Bloom glared at the paper in front of her, willing it to burst into flames on the spot so she would be spared from its hold. Sadly, such spontaneous combustion was not to come, and she sat down with a heavy sigh. “Stupid, dumb rocks…”

“No, they're not.”

The filly let out a yelp at the sudden voice, startled as she jumped up onto her hooves and almost fell backwards. She looked up, and saw a pony that she had never seen before, looking down at her with a perfectly flat expression. “Wh-what the hay?!” she snapped, both surprised and confused. “Who are you and how'd you get in here?”

The mare blinked. “There was no door,” she said simply. “I just walked inside.”

Apple Bloom didn't recognize the pony – sweet Luna, that look she was giving her was creepy – but did know that she wasn't allowed in the clubhouse. “Y-you can't be in here!” she said quickly, reaching up to try and push her backward (but to no avail). “Crusaders only!”

She tilted her head, as if in curiosity, but her expression did not change. Nor did her stance and position on the floor, as Apple Bloom tried in vain to push her outside. “I don't know who the 'crusaders' are,” she said, “but I did come here to see you.”

Apple Bloom stopped pushing for a moment, looking up at her again with narrowed eyes. “…Why?” she asked. “And who even are you? I ain't never seen you before.”

“Maud,” she replied, still using that same, odd tone that gave the filly the creeps from how cold it was. “I've met your sister before.”

“Oh.” The filly blinked. “You know my sis? From where?”

“I visited my sister, Pinkie, last week,” Maud explained. “I met her friends, your sister included.” She then reached into her pocket, pulling out a small, oblong stone and holding it in front of her. “This is my rock. His name is Boulder.”

There was a silence between them.

“Boulder says hi,” Maud said, still in that monotone.

Apple Bloom blinked again, looking at the rock with a bewildered expression. “Uhh… hi?”

“…” Another moment of silence, with Maud glancing down at the rock before looking back at the filly. “He says it's nice to meet you.”

She raised an eyebrow at her in response. “It's… nice to meet him, too? I guess?” she replied with obvious uncertainty, somehow feeling even more disturbed than before. Maud's earlier words eventually clicked in her mind, however. “Wait… you're Pinkie's sister?”

Maud simply nodded. “I am. I said I was.”

…Well, that would explain a few things… I guess, Apple Bloom thought, just as another realization came to her. “Then… that means you're my cousin, too?”

“You are Applejack's sister,” she replied, “and I am Pinkie's sister. Applejack is Pinkie's fourth cousin, twice removed by a fifth.” There was a brief pause. “Which means yes.”

“Oh…” Apple Bloom was silent for a moment as she processed this. Once it finally sunk in, however, her look of confusion had become an ear-to-ear grin. “Wow! Another cousin! I have another cousin!”

Before Maud even knew it, Apple Bloom had wrapped her forelegs around her neck in a tight hug. She blinked, looking down at the excited filly with the same blank expression she always wore. “Yes, you do,” she said, responding to her outburst as dryly as ever.

As excited as Apple Bloom was (and how she had simply decided to overlook the “creepy” factor for now), she still couldn't shake away a few nagging thoughts. She backed out of the hug with a nervous smile, again noticing how her demeanor and expression were unchanged. “So, uh… how do you know about me, anyway?” she asked. “Did Applejack mention me before?”

“No.”

“…no?”

“Yes.”

“…oh. Then how?”

“Boulder's friends told me.”

Apple Bloom tilted her head, looking dumbfounded. “Who…?”

“Boulder's friends are rocks.”

“…Rocks told you?”

“Rocks like to gossip.”

“…”

The filly blinked, not sure what to make of that. Her being Pinkie's sister would explain away most of the oddities, but even by Pinkie standards, she was certainly… weird. Apple Bloom felt uneasy again under her cousin's gaze.  “Of… course they do,” she said after an uncomfortably-long silence, forcing a smile.

Maud blinked again, still silently staring at her. She glanced at the rock in her hoof, setting it on the floor in front of her as she sat down as well. “Boulder wants you to apologize.”

“He wants me to apo—huh? Why?” she said, her unease shifting into disbelief. “What for?”

“For calling rocks dumb. He took offense.” She paused, and then added, “Most of his friends did, too.”

Apple Bloom looked down at the rock, then back up at Maud, incredulity written all over her expression. “I… no! Why should I? They are dumb!”

Maud blinked, and tilted her head. “Why?”

“They… they just are, okay?”

“That's not a reason.”

The filly grumbled. “Reason enough for me, at least…”

Silence between them reigned for a moment, before Maud clued-in on her young cousin's irritation. “You seem to be upset.”

“Oh, no kiddin'?” snapped Apple Bloom, who then glared down at her paper, inwardly hoping to be able to send it to the moon with her mind alone. Once again, she was unsuccessful.

Maud looked down at the paper as well, tilting her head slightly as she studied it. “These questions,” she mused, suddenly snatching up the paper from under Apple Bloom's nose and holding it up to read herself. “They're about rocks.”

“Hey! Gimme that back!” cried the filly, grabbing the paper back in a hurry from her, almost ripping it in the process. “I need that!”

The mare blinked at the sudden outburst. “You call rocks dumb,” she observed, piecing together the problem in her mind, “because you are stumped on questions about them.”

“Well…”

“Because you know nothing about them.”

“H-hey! I know plenty!” she argued, pouting as she held the paper tightly. “There's… uh… rocks, pebbles, boulders, skipping stones…”

Maud was silent for a moment, then asked, “Do you know what a sedimentary rock is?”

“A sedi—” Apple Bloom cut herself short, trying to mouth out the unfamiliar word. “…what?”

“Sedimentary,” her cousin repeated. “A rock made of sediments. Like sandstone. Or slate. Or limestone.” She paused again, and then added, “I have a sister named Limestone.”

“Uh… seh… seh-duh… sediments?”

“Yes. Sediments.”

“The hay are those?”

Maud was silent for a moment, regarding the filly with her usual flat expression. “You don't know?” she asked, with the faintest hint of dull surprise in her voice.

“Well…” Apple Bloom sighed. “Not really, no…”

“They are small fragments of broken-down minerals and older rocks,” Maud explained. “Sometimes organic matter, too. Very small, and fine. Sand is made of sediments. So is clay. And soil.”

The filly blinked. “Sand, like… at the beach? And like clay in the ground? Dirt?”

“Yes. Exactly like that.”

“Oh…” Apple Bloom tilted her head, still feeling confused. “But, how does that stuff make rocks? I can't even make sandcastles unless the stuff's wet, or whatever. It's all so… loose.”

“The sediments pile and accumulate,” she continued. “They're deposited in places by water, ice, or air. More of them pile onto each other, pressing down harder the deeper they go. The heat and pressure of such depths eventually harden them. It takes many years for a rock to form. Hundreds. Thousands.”

The filly thought about that, for a moment. Those dumb old rocks were HOW old? And in years, too? As much as she didn't want to be impressed by that, Apple Bloom had to at least be amazed at how long it took to make a simple skipping stone.

“Coal is a sedimentary rock, too,” she noted. “It's mostly made of things that were once alive, though. Small, decayed things. ”

“…Wait. Really? The stuff that fuels the train, and some furnaces, and stuff?”

“Yes.”

Apple Bloom blinked. “Huh…”

“There's also igneous rocks,” Maud went on. “Rocks made from volcanoes, when hot magma cools and forms rock. Intrusive rocks, like granite, which is made inside the earth. Extrusive rocks, like basalt, made on the outside.” She paused again, blinking. “…My father is named Igneous.”

“That's… nice,” said Apple Bloom, who had now picked up her pencil and was starting to write down what Maud was explaining to her. It was surprisingly difficult, even considering that Maud was a fairly slow speaker, but she somehow managed to keep up. Apple Bloom couldn't have possibly imagined that there was this much to learn about rocks.

“Metamorphic rocks,” she drolled on, speaking with (marginally) more vigor than before. “Those are really intense. They start out as one type of rock, but when extreme heat and pressure is applied to them, they become an entirely new kind of rock. Limestone can become marble, and granite can become gneiss. My sister always said that gneiss had a funny-sounding name.”

“Wait, really?

“Yes. I also have a sister named Marble, and she—”

“They can do that?”

“Yes. I said that they could.”

“Wow, that's…” She paused for a moment, considering sheer possibility of a rock becoming an entirely new rock. How was that even possible? “That's pretty cool!”

Maud tilted her head. “Not cool. Hot. The temperature needs to be at least one hundred and fifty centigrade for—”

“No, that's… not what I meant. I meant it's really—” Apple Bloom stopped herself,  realizing her own curiosity and fascination was betraying her. Rocks aren't supposed to be cool! They're just rocks! Maybe a few of them could do some interesting things, but for the most part, they're all just the same, dull-gray thing, aren't they? “—uh… never mind.”

The mare didn't give off any sign that she had picked up on her faux pas, but somehow, Apple Bloom still felt that she suspected something regardless. Luckily for her, Maud didn't make a point about it. “Do you know what a pony that studies rocks is called?” she asked, almost randomly.

“Uhh…” Apple Bloom wracked her brain for an answer, rubbing her head as she hummed and stuttered. She knew that they had mentioned this in class before, but what it was escaped her. “A… geologist?”

“No.”

“…Wait, no?” She blinked. “But, I was sure that…”

“Yes. Geology is the study of earth. Petrology is the study of rocks,” the mare explained concisely. “A pony that studies rocks is called a petrologist.” She was silent again, then tacked on, “If it makes you feel better, you weren't too far off.”

Apple Bloom normally would have been happy to know the real answer, but, the one that Maud gave her certainly wasn't the one that she remembered hearing about. “But… that's not what we were told, though.”

“You're only a filly,” she responded impassively. “They probably try to dumb down the topics for you to handle.” Another pause. “Which makes no sense. If they're supposed to educate you, they should make the effort to teach you.”

“I… guess so?” Apple Bloom said, feeling unsure. She glanced down at her page, which she had already gotten good progress on, based on everything Maud told her. She wasn't entirely sure she understood every single part of it, but most of it did make a little sense to her…

“Do you know what mining is?” Maud asked again, rather suddenly.

The filly didn't need to think for very long; she'd heard about it plenty of times before. “Well, yeah,” she said. “I heard from Sweetie Belle that her sister would go collectin' gems outta dirt, and rocks, and whatever. And they get coal outta these mines somewhere, too.”

“Ore,” Maud clarified. “They collect coal ore.”

“Ore, coal, dirt, same thing,” Apple Bloom said, shrugging. “They just get that stuff outta the ground, don't they?”

“They extract the ore. The ore then has to be separated from the resource that they want to get from it. It can't be used straight out of the mine.”

The filly tilted her head. “What're you tryin' to get at?”

“Ore is mostly rock,” Maud pointed out. “Rocks hold the resources that we use. We rely on those resources, so we rely also on rocks. Rocks are important.”

Apple Bloom blinked. “I still don't see what the big deal is, though,” she continued, furrowing her brow with thought. “What's so great about rocks? Maybe some of them are cool, and maybe we get some stuff we need out of them, but a lot of them are just… boring.”

Maud blinked. “Do you know what you are sitting on?” she asked stolidly, though there was the slightest inflection that suggested disbelief in her voice.

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow at her. “…The floor?”

“And what's the floor sitting on?”

“A tree…”

“What's the tree sitting on?”

“Uh… the earth?” She narrowed her eyes. “What're you gettin' at?”

“And earth is made of?”

“A bunch of dirt.”

“And dirt is made of?”

Apple Bloom was silent for a moment as she thought, before responding, “…Sediments.”

“And what are sediments made of?”

“…” The filly sighed. “Broken-down rocks…”

“And all of those sediments are resting on top of what?”

“…More rocks…”

Maud remained silent, and then simply nodded. “We are all living on a rock,” she said. “A living rock. If there were no such thing as rocks, we would not be here. We owe rocks our existence.” She nudged the rock on the floor in front of her, glancing down at it before looking at Apple Bloom expectantly.

The filly looked down at the rock as well, staring at it in silence for several moments. She sighed again, finally caving in as she leveled a bored look at the rock, muttering out an apology. “Sorry for callin' you dumb, Boulder…”

Maud looked down at her rock again, silent, then back up at Apple Bloom. “…He says you could have put a bit more heart into that, but he'll accept it,” she said.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. I can't believe I just apologized to a rock, she thought, shaking her head with disbelief. 'More heart'? It's a rock, how would it know anything about that?

The mare was silent as she picked up Boulder again, glancing at it. “And he says you should apologize to your teacher, as well,” she 'translated' for the rock. “You weren't being very nice when you compared her mother to a discombobulated mule at the day's end.”

“Uughh,” groaned Apple Bloom distastefully. She didn't bother questioning how Maud knew about that; probably more nonsense involving her rocks, or something. “I was havin' a bad day, okay? Didn't feel like I could care about anything, then…”

Maud looked down at her cousin's paper. “I helped you answer your questions,” she pointed out. “So I don't think he is asking too much.”

As much as she didn't like it, Apple Bloom knew she would have to face the music sooner or later. She sighed, and nodded. “Fine…”

There was another bout of silence between them. Maud was the first to break it. “You were also going to say something, earlier.”

The filly grumbled, glancing up at Maud and then back down at the floor, staying silent at first. She could still feel her cousin's eyes boring holes in her, though, and knew she likely wouldn't give it up. “Rocks are awsmmuh…” she mumbled, trailing off on the last word.

Maud tilted her head, but did not say anything.

Apple Bloom cast a look up at her, the two engaging in something of a short staring contest before she finally gave it up. “R-rocks are… awesome,” she finally forced out. “There, I said it…”

The mare blinked. “I would have also accepted 'rocks are not dumb', but that is fine too,” she said, stowing Boulder in her pocket. She then took out another rock, but a considerably different one; it had straight bands of both light and dark minerals composing it, with a fairly coarse overall texture. Setting it down in front of Apple Bloom, she explained, “It's a rock. Her name is Pebble. I'd like you to take care of her for a while.”

“Huh?” Apple Bloom looked up at her cousin, confusion evident on her face. “Take care of a rock? Why?”

“Because rocks are awesome.” Something of a coy smile finally found its way onto Maud's face, however slight it was. “You said so, yourself.”

~O~

“…So, that's why I just wanted to say…”

Apple Bloom trailed off, looking up at her teacher with a sheepish expression. There was no going back, and she was already here and present, so… she had to try, at least. It wasn't like she had anything to lose, at this point. She sighed, then finally managed to force out, “…I'm sorry. Really, honestly sorry.” A pause, and then she quietly tacked on, “For callin' your mom a legless donkey.”

Cheerilee gave the apologetic filly a stern look-over for moment, considering her apology, then softened her glare and let out a chuckle. “It's fine, Apple Bloom,” she assured her with a smile. “You were simply upset at the time. Honestly, I've had bad days like that, too. I'm just glad you had the courage to stand and take responsibility for it.”

“Th-thanks, Miss Cheerilee,” Apple Bloom said, managing a smile in return and sighing with relief. “I just, uh… felt real bad about it, y'know?”

“Yes, yes, I understand,” Cheerilee said. “Some mistakes will weigh on your mind, and the best way to make up for it is simply owning up, most of the time. I'm a teacher, Apple Bloom. I've seen this time and time again, trust me.”

The filly nodded, reaching into her saddlebags and pulling out a familiar-looking question sheet. “Also, I, uh… finished that paper for ya.”

“Oh? That was fast,” the teacher remarked. “Did you get some help, this time?”

Apple Bloom blinked, and chuckled nervously. “Oh, uh… yeah, I did,” she said, offering the paper to her. “She seemed to know her stuff, so, yeah.”

“Heh, I can at least tell that you've written this yourself,” Cheerilee said as she took the paper, giggling.

“Hey, fancy writin' is hard…”

The teacher flashed Apple Bloom a playful smile, then turned her attention to the filly's paper. She squinted a bit as she scanned the page top to bottom, looking over the given answers. Her student was clearly tense, yet hopeful, but she didn't notice it.

“…Well then,” she said at last, having finished checking the paper, “I must say, you certainly had a good helper on this. It's perfect.”

“P-perfect?” Apple Bloom echoed, her eyes wide. “Really?”

Cheerilee chuckled, and nodded. “Oh, yes! I'm actually quite surprised you got the petrologist one,” she commented, skimming the page once more with a smile. “Not too many fillies and colts know that. Or even adults, for that matter! I would have also accepted geologist, since it's technically correct, to an extent. It's what we taught in the curriculum, as well, so it's what I expected at first.”

Apple Bloom blinked. She thought that she heard geologist from somewhere. But Maud was right? Wow. “Oh, uh… thanks, Miss Cheerilee,” she said with a smile.

“All the rock types, examples given, the uses we've had for rocks… You seem to have got them all right,” Cheerilee said, nodding. “You certainly must have had good help! Who was it, out of curiosity? Did you get Twilight to help you?”

“Oh, uh… no, actually,” she explained. “It was my cousin Maud. Pinkie's sister.”

Cheerilee quirked an eyebrow. “Oh? Really? That's a bit of a surprise,” she said. “I didn't know she had a sister in town.”

“Well, neither did I, until today,” Apple Bloom said with a nervous laugh. “She's… interestin'. But she knows a lot about rocks. I'd say she was a pretty good teacher, kinda, heh…”

“Given from these results alone compared to your first, I'd certainly say so,” said Cheerilee, resting a hoof under her chin with thought. “I wonder if we should invite her to class, someday…”

“Everyone'll probably have trouble stayin' awake,” Apple Bloom remarked.

“You mean that they don't, already?” Cheerilee quipped right back, smirking a bit.

The filly giggled. “Got a good point there, miss.”

With a smile, Cheerilee set the paper down onto her desk. “All that aside, of course… Consider the assignment aced, Apple Bloom! Here's hoping you keep up the good work.” She chuckled. “That is, if you can help it.”

“Well, I'll sure try,” said the filly in turn, giggling. She started heading out the door of the schoolhouse, turning back to say before she left, “Thanks a ton, Miss Cheerilee!”

“Anytime, Apple Bloom!” replied Cheerilee, waving to the filly as she stepped out the door. She chuckled to herself after her student left, setting the paper onto a stack of others as she looked through the next papers to grade. “Ah, Snips and Snails… Once again doing each others work, I see. And poorly, at that…”

Outside the school, Apple Bloom stopped at the curb by the road, fishing the rock that Maud had given her out of her saddlebag. She spent a moment looking at it. It was… pretty, in a strange sort of way. The perfectly-straight, banded patterns of various shades, coupled with the coarse mineral grains that shimmered slightly in the dying light of afternoon; there was something simple and fascinating about it.

“Huh… Well, you don't look too half-bad, don't you, Pebble?” she said, feeling a little foalish for talking to it in the first place. “Just another rock at a distance, but right close up… Ya start seein' all the shiny little bits and pieces… Makes me kinda wonder how old you are.”

She shrugged, stuffing the rock back into the saddlebag. “C'mon then, Pebble,” said Apple Bloom. “Might as well go home 'fore it gets dark.”

With that, the filly started off down the road toward Sweet Apple Acres, saddlebag and rock in tow. She never would have thought the day would turn out like this, but in hindsight, it still turned out for the best. She wouldn't get in trouble, she wouldn't have to hide, and, in a strange sort of way, she wouldn't even be alone anymore.

Maud had taught her a lot of things, however indirectly it was. About the role rocks played, what they were, where they were, and even waxed a bit of philosophy around them. Apple Bloom wasn't sure if rocks really were as amazing as her cousin considered them, nor was she certain if she could “take care of” the rock she'd been given. Heck, she didn't even really know how rocks had told Maud about her at all. But there was definitely one thing she now knew:

They sure as hay weren't dumb.

~O~

The sun was only just starting to set when Maud finally arrived back at the rock farm. She expected that her sisters had already retired from working in the fields by then, and was not surprised to see that said fields were empty. She did not expect, however, that she would be jumped by a particularly-joyous Marble barely a trot through the front door of the house.

“Maud! You're back!” she exclaimed, rushing up to her almost instantly and wrapping her in a hug, catching the oft-unflappable mare by surprise.

Limestone appeared from behind her, rolling her eyes. “See, I told you she would be back, Marble…”

The eldest sister blinked. “Marble,” she replied, just as tone-dry as ever, “you seem happy to see me.”

“Well, of course,” she said. “I'm just glad to see you back so soon after you left all of a sudden! How did it go? Was there even a problem?”

“It went well,” said Maud, quite tersely. “I taught our cousin about rocks. It was highly enjoyable.”

Her tone didn't seem to suggest any excitement, but having lived with her for years, Marble could pick up on it regardless. “That's great!” she said, smiling. “And we're glad that you're back too, because—”

“Also, I'm going back.”

“—whuh? Already?” Marble blinked, dumbfounded. “But… you literally just got back, this time!”

Maud was impassive. “I'm going to be teaching more foals about rocks,” she replied, as deadpan as ever. “It's going to be so wonderful. So I came back to tell you I would be leaving again.”

“Lemme guess,” Limestone cut in, “Boulder's friends told you about this?”

“No. Pebble's friends.”

Limestone quirked an eyebrow. “…Who?”

“Pebble. She's a rock,” Maud explained stoically. “And also Boulder's distant cousin. I gave her to our cousin to look after.” A pause, before she then added, “Her friends are also rocks.”

“…” Limestone turned and walked out of the room. “Have fun with that, then,” she said as she left.

“I will,” said an oblivious Maud in reply, despite her sister's absence. “It's going to be so much fun. I should go tell Father the good news.” She started to head out of the kitchen, but stopped to take Boulder out of her pocket and rest him on the table, beside a sandwich that had already been made and left out. “Boulder is hungry, though. He should probably eat before we leave.”

Marble was speechless as she watched her sister slowly walk out of the room, beyond confused. She sighed and shook her head, simply unable to comprehend Maud's reasoning in the slightest. It was always about the rocks…

Casting a look at the rock left on the table beside her sandwich, she huffed.

Rocks are dumb…