The door creaked open. It was not a pretty sight. One might wonder what the purpose of such a room could have, yet it was clear that it was not meant to be welcoming. In fact, it was as far from welcoming as one could get. It was...cold, in every sense of the word. The air was cool, like a winter day, only no snow fell from the sky. There appeared to be no sign of life. No laughter, no movement, not even a breeze. Colder still were the walls which were made from the hardest stone known to Equestria, and cut so neatly and packed so tightly that not even the sharpest blade could fit between them. With just the slightest touch of a hoof, one could feel the sadness from the walls of the room.
Lining the walls and filling the room were pickaxes. There they stood, neatly in rows upon rows filling the room far into the shadows at the far end. Such an arrangement was unsettling. It was as though the tools were standing in ranks, awaiting a command from a higher power. If there was a hint of life, this was it, albeit not a bright one. With the only source of light coming from the door, it appeared that the room stretched to infinity. However after passing row after row of ominous pickaxes, there came an end to the room.
After the final line of picks stood a wall, not unlike the others in the room. Like those, it was made of the same stone and used the same craftsmanship, but there was something else. On the ground, against the wall, was what at first glance night appear to be a shadowy mess. Yet with some adjustment, one could make out the faint figure of a pony. A pony garbed in in a bluish cloak. A pony who seemed to have succumbed to the room's sadness and given up on life. A pony with a cutie mark shaped like a rock diamond.
"Maud? Wh-what are you doing here?" asked a voice.
The pony lifted its head, and what came next was a sight to behold. Its mane had been cut, from the straight locks it once had to the haphazard, almost bald buzz cut it now had. Its once beautiful eyelashes had been plucked clean. Numerous cuts adorned its face and parts of its body. Between its hooves it clutched a small notebook, which it held tight against its body. All the while tears wear streaming down its face and forming a puddle on the floor.
After a great silence, it spoke in a soft voice: "I'm sorry.
Author's Note
I'm willing to admit, the first draft was not that good. I felt it tried to much to be a copy (which kind of went against the original intent). Also the ending of the original first chapter was really shoe-horned in (despite me saying I didn't want to shoe-horn it in). Instead of doing my original chapter 1, I decided to do this prologue thingy, and I kept the lyrics in because I thought it was a good closer. I might remove it though.
EDIT: I had to remove the lyrics because I'm not supposed to put copyrighted song lyrics in my stories.
Happiest Days of Our Lives
Rock,
You are a rock.
Grey,
You are grey
Like a rock,
Which you are.
Rock
It had been months since the two had seen each other. To Maud, it felt like Pinkie had been beside her the whole time. She wasn't sure where her sister found the time, or how it was possible, but Pinkie had managed to send a letter to Maud every day since their last get-together. On some days she remembered getting two, but this might have been a side effect from over working. The letters varied from pretend conversations to in depth stories about her friends and their wild escapades. Pinkie seemed to have lots of friends, the entirety of Ponyville it seemed, but she was quite fond of five of them in particular.
These five, Pinkie had assured her, were the kindest and friendliest ponies in all of Equestria. There was Applejack, A. J., as Pinkie would often abbreviate her name, who was an earth pony who ran Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville's largest and only apple farm which she ran it with her grandmother, little sister, and older brother. Then there was Rainbow Dash, a blue Pegasus with a mane of so many colors that a beautiful rainbow followed her every where she flies. Fluttershy, another Pegasus, was a kind pony who lived in a cottage by the Everfree Forest and took care of animals. Rarity, a unicorn with a high taste for fashion and ran her shop in the town. Last there was Twilight, the princess of friendship, who lived at the library in the middle of town. The letters had gone into much more detail in regards to their personalities and traits, but these short summaries were going to be much more helpful to Maud when her sister introduced her to her friends. Not used to having such a large group of friends, nor one with such variety, she needed a quick reference to know which pony was which.
Maud sat in her cabin as the train headed to Ponyville. The countryside rolled passed her eyes as she stared blankly out the window. She was wearing her usual grey dress. While many wouldn't consider it stylish or even worth looking at, it had a special meaning to her. Grey, to Maud, was a reflection of her personality; it's not quite black, soulless and empty, yet it doesn't call much attention to itself. A very neutral color. With her was her pet rock, Boulder. Knowing Boulder was not a big fan of crowds, Maud had let him hide in her pocket. It wasn't too long before the landscape began turning into the cottages and shops that made up Ponyville. "Looks like we're here, Boulder," she thought to herself as the train pulled up to the station.
"Maud!" The mare had barely stepped off the train when she was almost tackled by a pink blur. It gripped her body in tight hug. Maud gave a slight smile, for it was none other than her little sister Pinkie Pie, with her pet alligator, Gummy, riding on her back. The Pink horse loosened her grip and Maud pulled Pinkie into a light hug of her own. "I'm so glad you decided to stop by on your way home from your trip! Now you can meet all of my super-duper awesome friends!"
"Okay," Maud replied. They started trotting away from the station, Pinkie's trots soon turned into hops.
"I knew you would be excited to meet them! I'll go on ahead and they let them know you're here! Just follow the road and you'll see them!" She then proceeded to hop much faster in front of Maud. "Whoops!" She said as she moved back towards Maud. "I almost forgot!" She placed her pet alligator on Maud's back. "Gummy will keep an eye out in case you get lost!" She then bounded down the road to wait with her friends. Maud wasn't sure how a toothless reptile was going to be helpful, but she learned over time that's just how her sister rolled.
As she headed down the path, Maud decided to take her time and take in her surroundings. It wasn't often she visited Ponyville, and during those visits her primary focus was to see Pinkie. This time, however, she felt as though she should take some time and observe the town. She passed by the Mayor's office, where she caught a quick glimpse of the Mayor dying her mane through her window. Moving along she passed by several stalls run by ponies of all shapes and sizes, even one who looked like a carrot who just so happened to be selling carrots. I sure hope Pinkie's friends will have food with them, Maud thought to herself as her stomach growled.
Continuing on her trot, she passed by the schoolyard. Maud paused to look at the young foals playing on swings and pushing each other down the slide. They looked so joyful, so full of life, it brought back memories of her childhood. Memories of her sisters. While life on the rock farm was mostly hard work, she recalled many fun experiences with her family. Making rock candy necklaces with Pinkie, roughhousing with Limestone, and keeping an eye on Marble. Seeing the fillies and colts brought back such warm memories of her past, she felt as though she could stand there, watching them the whole day. Soon the bell rang, and the students began to run to the school house, eager to return to their classes.
"You!"
A familiar voice began to ring through her ear between the "clangs" of the bell.
"Yes, you! Stand still, lassie!"
Unfortunately, the best moments can't last forever.
Author's Note
So this is the first full length chapter of "The Rock Wall." It's actually a lot shorter than what I had planned, but I thought that some of the topics that were going to be included would work much better in the next chapter. On that note, the next chapter is more of an inbetween-er, meaning it won't directly follow this one, but is still important to the story. This is one of my first fanfics, so I'm open to criticism.
