Maud Pie walked across the rocky wasteland of Southern Equestria. There were a lot of rocks around, and she liked that. She'd need to know all about them if she wanted to get her rocktorate. A rocktorate was like a doctorate. But for rocks. Or so Maud had been told. She figured that Southern Equestria was the best place to study rocks. There were a lot of rocks there. A lot of different kinds. That would help her study rocks.
Maud came to a complete stop, opened up the brown satchel at her side, took out a cloth, and wiped the sweat from her brow. Maud considered that she might have to come back when it wasn't so hot. Her keen eyes scanned her surroundings for any sign of shade to take a moment of respite from the scorching sun, but she couldn't find any close by.
Oh well.
Maud put the cloth back in her satchel, closed it, then started walking again. Before her stood a maze of tall, majestic boulders. Most ponies didn't go into them, because it was dangerous. She continued on at her careful pace, her eyes never leaving the rocky cluster as it drew closer. She blinked, then took a deep sniff. Salty, but earthy. These rocks had been here a long time. Sedimentary rocks. She also caught a whiff of a more metallic scent. The maze had igneous rocks, too. Good.
Within a quarter of an hour of walking, Maud entered the cluster of rocks. She scanned the towering rocks and the mighty boulders, and the corner of her mouth twitched up almost imperceptively. Rarely had she shown such excitement. She looked to a large boulder. Maybe that sedimentary rock first. It looked old. She looked at a rock tower. Maybe that igneous rock. That, too, looked old. She could learn a lot about rocks here. In the back of her mind she did regret that none of her classmates had offered to make the journey with her. Not to talk to, but just to be there for the sake of having another pony there. Even with the excitement of rocks, this trip would be dull at times. She put her hoof to her pocket and felt Pinkie Pie's letter, which said that Pinkie was always there with her. Not literally, though, so Maud still needed to brace herself for the loneliness.
Regardless, she had to start somewhere. She carefully took the cloth out once more, wiped the sweat from her brow, put the cloth back, and began walking into the maze of rocks.
* * * *
The sun started going down. That was good. The heat became less intense. But it also became darker, meaning that Maud couldn't see as well. She put a sedimentary rock the size of her hoof down on the ground and ran her tongue over the surface. Salty.
"Sedimentary rock." She rotated it to get a better view of the other side. "Taste test indicates detritus not found in other parts of Equestria. This rock is older than most rocks." She leaned in and sniffed it. "Possibly ten million years."
She took her pencil in her mouth and wrote that down on a notepad lying in the dirt next to her. She flipped to a fresh page and realized that she'd need to get a new notebook out soon. Maud had almost filled this one up entirely.
Maud put her pencil and notebook back in her satchel. She stood up and dusted her frock off before looking at the sky. She probably only had another half an hour before it became too dark to do any more research. She would need to get a base camp set up soon. She looked around at her current surroundings. No, not enough room for a camp.
Maud stared straight ahead at a rock formation, images flashing through her mind's eye as she tried to remember the mental map she had made of the rock maze. If she remembered correctly, a clearing in the rocks about half a mile north might make a decent place for a camp. She began walking towards her destination. She hopped up on the rock formation in front of her, to get over it. Doing so would save time, she figured. It was too wide around to simply walk, but not too tall to hop over. She reached the top and began jumping down the various rock protrusions, taking note of the massive rock wall in front of her.
Unfortunately, not all rocks are sturdy. Either that, or Maud simply jumped on one the wrong way. As soon as she hopped to the next rock about halfway down the formation, she felt the ground start to give way underneath her. With nothing to grab onto, and no time to hop to the next rock, Maud Pie went tumbling down the rock formations, the sound of the rock she had set loose thundering behind her.
Huh, Maud thought philosophically as she bounced off one boulder to the next like a cross between a pinball and a slinky. She began to wonder if maybe--
WHACK.
Maud Pie hit the ground, both physically and mentally coming to a complete stop.
She lay unmoving at the base of the rock wall, one sleeve of her beloved frock beginning to stain with blood. A calm wind blew through the land, gently brushing her mane away from her face as she lay there.
"Ow," she said, meaning every syllable of it.
Maud blinked slightly slower than normal and gently sat up, rubbing her head. She pressed her hoof to a sore spot on her head, then checked the hoof. She didn't see any blood. She looked down to her injured foreleg and pulled the sleeve up. Just a small cut. Nothing too serious. Maud grunted quietly and slowly got to her hooves. However, just before she could stand up straight, she hit her head on a boulder resting above her.
"Ow," she said again, meaning it less this time.
She rubbed her head and moved out of the way of the boulder. It had wedged itself between the stone wall and the formation she had just taken a tumble from. The thought occurred to her that if it hadn't, it would have crushed her. She scanned the boulder, looking for anything special about it. It was a sedimentary rock like most of the ones she had seen that day. She tapped it with her hoof. Solid. She continued looking at it, and that's when she noticed an oddity. There, at the very end of the boulder, wedged between it and the rock wall, was a small rock, slightly smaller than her hoof. She tilted her head and honed in on it. Another thought occurred to her. This one stating that this small rock had stopped the boulder by wedging itself between it and the rock wall. A ridiculous notion. A one in ten billion chance, really. But the proof seemed to be in front of her. This small rock had saved her.
Maud pressed down on the small rock with one forehoof, then slammed the other one into the boulder as hard as she could. The boulder cracked in half, and the two pieces crashed onto the ground, leaving only the rock in Maud's hoof. She moved away from the pieces of the nearly fatal boulder, and put the rock in her hoof on a clear patch of dirt. She sat down in front of it, and stared at it.
It was a small, smooth, oval shaped rock. Sedimentary, if she could guess. It didn't move, as rocks are wont to do. She gently poked it with her hoof.
"Hm."
Maud felt herself unsure of what to do. In truth, this rock was merely that. No significant value, really. She had seen thousands of them around today just like it. And yet... this one had saved her life through some strange twist of fate. She laid down in front of it and leaned in for a closer look.
"Hm," she repeated.
This small thing ensured that she could continue her research. It ensured that she could see Pinkie Pie again. It had, literally, stopped a falling boulder to do all of that. Somehow.
Boulder.
The corner of Maud's mouth once again twitched up in an almost unseen smile.
"Boulder."
She picked the rock up and held it in her hoof. Tilting her head ever so slightly, Maud ran her other hoof over the rock.
"Boulder."
Maud nodded. The rock was named Boulder. Her almost imperceptible smile widened ever so slightly, and she felt an odd rush of affection for this little rock. This rock could have been ground into powder to save her, but it held fast.
Oddly enough, now she didn't feel so alone.
"Do you want to help me study rocks, Boulder?"
The rock did not answer, but an answer was not needed. Maud already knew what Boulder would say if he chose to speak. Maud considered for a moment that it may just have a personality. She had named it, ergo it did. She stood up and gently placed Boulder in her front pocket, right next to Pinkie Pie's letter. Maud walked back over to where she had fallen and picked up her satchel, which had come off during the fall. She felt Boulder's weight in her pocket, and it said that it, no, he, was there for her. And would always be. She put the satchel back on her side, and went out to find the open spot for base camp. The sun finally went down, bathing the rock maze in darkness. Moments later, the moon rose in the sky, lighting the way for a small rock, nestled safely in the pocket of a pony who didn't feel so lonely anymore now that she had found a friend.
