5 Gemsby LoveandEdifyChaptersProlougeChapter One: Not Taken For GraniteChapter Two: Scaling New HeightsProlouge5 Gems: by LoveandEdify Prolouge “Come on, Twilight. Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do for you this week?” Spike practically begged. Now, this is a question you would normally hear Spike ask for Twilight. But not in that sort of tone, or the fact that he would be nose-to-the-grindscales for months and months and months on end on into the end of the summer. “Now Spike,” Twilight sternly warned him, “You’ve been doing work, work, work nonstop 24/7 for the past year!!!” she paused for a moment to see if that would sink into his hard scales. Her face then immediately crinkled in utter annoyance to see Spike dusting off the Friendship Map for around the 150th time. Today. “When are you gonna go take a break?” Twilight asked annoyed, then her countenance and demeanor softened to that of a caring and loving sister, concerned for her brother’s well-being when she asked, somberly “When am I gonna get the old Spike back?” About a couple hours later... “Spike, it’s almost nighttime. Shouldn’t you at least think about getting any sleep?!?” she asked, frantically worried and concerned about her friend working himself up to exhaustion. “Come on, Twilight!!!” Spike whined in annoyance of such seemingly simple concerns as he was waxing the castle floors, “you know that this is something I do every... HEY!!!” Spike screamed as his train of thought was promptly interrupted by the sudden snap-like sensation of him being teleported with Twilight over to his room. “No more working, Spike!!!” Twilight sternly ordered. Spike looked at the place, confused. “But, Twilight I...” Spike began, “I SAID NO MORE WORKING!!!” she said, practically shrieking with enough force to almost shatter her crystal castle. To say that Spike seemed scared was a vast understatement, as the scream sent him scurrying right under the fluffy twin-sized bed. Twilight then used her magic to gently pull the shivering, nervous young dragon out from under the bed. “I’ve just been so worried about you lately. Everything seemed fine and normal until you started saving up for your trip. And you already had enough money ever since the end of the Winter Wrap-Up. What’s wrong?” Twilight softly beckoned, knowing that only something of a vast magnitude of seriousness can possibly turn the diligent yet chill dragon into an overworking, almost exhausted shiny, scaly husk. Spike sighed, as he knew that there was no way going around this friendship problem. Especially with his best friend. “Alright Twi. You got me.” Spike sadly confessed, with his head dropping towards the ground as he sighed. Twilight then plopped her little brother onto his bed with her magic and sat down next to him as Spike’s eyes met hers once again. “It was because of Rarity and Applejack.” he finally confessed sadly. “Rarity and Applejack?” Twilight asked confused, right as they both perked up to here somepony else teleport in. “Hey Twilight, I’m back from my hiking trip with Trixie, Maud and Thor...” Starlight stopped herself as she saw Twilight and Spike nestled together on the bed as if something was up. “Oh, sorry Twilight.” Starlight awkwardly apologized, “I can tell you about my trip when you two are done.” she offered. “Oh, come on in, Starlight.” Twilight calmly and graciously welcomed, motioning for her to come join them. Starlight trotted over to the side of the bed and sat near Twilight because the bed could only fit one pony. “Go on, Spike.” Twilight gently prodded, turning her attention back to Spike. Spike took a deep breath and resumed. “Alright. So I was earning money for my vacation to Emerald Coves when I was on my way to help Rarity at her boutique. She said I could help out there to earn some extra bits. It was near Hearts and Hooves day, so I thought I could ask her out to dinner with some of the bits I earned; and then I saw her. And she was talking to another stallion.” “Hold on, It could be that Rarity just had another friend over that day.” Starlight attempted to reason, both for her friend and herself; for she always saw the little dragon as a constant companion and friend. “Yeah, except Rarity introduced him as her coltfriend Seveer Stallyn.” Spike affirmed glumly as both the ponies “oh”ed in realization. “She told me that the two had been dating for the past year and that the only reason she hadn’t introduced him to you all is because most of the time; he’s been doing tours with his band.” “What types of performances do they do?” Starlight asked, to lighten the mood before Twilight nudged her to get her out of that particular rabbit hole. “I really am sorry, Spike.” Starlight apologized out of sympathy. “Eh, it’s alright, Star.” Spike responded, hardly paying any attention to his friend’s apology. He then decided to brace himself while continuing. “But it gets worse. About a week or so later, I was working with Applejack on the farm and after what was probably the longest, hardest day of my life; she literally goes up to me and says, ‘Now why’d you neva work hard like this all da time, sugacube?’” Spike asked the question in his best Applejack voice. Although not as twangy or lady-toned; Spike’s impression of Applejack seemed spot-on for someone who’s never really considered doing impressions before. Twilight and Starlight stared in confusion at each other, then at Spike. “I’m pretty sure Applejack didn't mean it like that.” Twilight reasoned sympathetically. “Yeah, I know she didn't,” Spike affirmed, “But after doing some thinking; I figured that she was right. Why don’t I work that hard all the time? I figured that if nopony really appreciated the effort I already put in for them, I might as well keep pushing and pushing on until somepony finally cares about me.” he confessed, his countenance now matching the state of his heart. Crumbling and broken. “Oh Spike, we know that you always work hard for us when we need it. And we know that you usually get tired after doing all of that for us.” Twilight consoled as both she and Starlight cuddled Spike as he continued to let his tears drown onto the pillow. “But don’t you ever ever think that you’d have to work so hard that you’d wear yourself down just to get anypony to care about you.” Starlight continued. “I don’t?” Spike asked in reply as he slowly began to reopen and wipe his watery eyes. “Of course you don’t.” Starlight affirmed. “I still don’t think Applejack quite meant it that way; but hearing all of that right after having someone you loved for a long time, up and toss your feelings out like trash? I can see how it makes you feel so defeated.” Twilight concurred. “Ok, that’s enough.” Twilight and Starlight turned around to see an unexpected mare inside the doorway. “It’s time that Spike hears it from an outside pony now.” the familiar monotone voice of Maud Pie spoke out. While Maud’s voice and countenance was as plain as the gravel country ponies would trample on, very few ponies (ponies that would genuinely consider taking the time to get to know her and be her friend) would read whatever emotion Maud would try to show or portray. But even then, some of her friends can read her better than others. “Oh, hey Maud.” Twilight responded, politely trying to hide the fact that she felt caught off-guard, “We were just going to...” “Let Maud help Spike so that he could feel loved from an outside source so that I can explain what’s going on here? That’s a great idea, Twilight!!!” Starlight quickly interrupted Twilight with an exaggerated sense of realization. Twilight gasped, but no sound came out at the total awkwardness of the situation. Starlight on the other hand, winked at Twilight and shouted, “You got this, Maud.” before instantaneously teleporting her and Twilight out of the room. Although there were some things about Maud that were, quite literally, stone-faced and expressionless; this didn’t mean she was emotionless. Not in the slightest. Most of the time, you would just have to look past what is being expressed; and look at her words and actions. Like right now. The deep, slow breathing, the nervous yet steady gait in her stride and her head occasionally bobbing up and down. Not like a bobblehead, but rather, like the swaying of a pendulum inside an old grandfather clock. Like you could tell by those actions that, for some unknown reason, she was nervous as she scaled her way to meet the little dragon. A reason that will be shared, when our story truly begins... Author's Note Alright Everypony, this new story is going to be a more... boulder attempt at reaching the fandom. Ok, ok... I’m almost done. First off, I wanna give a shout-out to the amazing Scribbler for putting out an amazing YouTube video a couple of weeks ago that has inspired this story. (Here it is...) She’s an amazing voice-actress, a true-blue MLP fan and someone I would highly recommend subscribing to and hopefully she’ll catch wind of and do a reading of this amazing story when it’s complete too. Next chapter’s gonna be out soon (hopefully, amidst my other projects for this site). Until then... Keep Loving, Keep Edifying and KEEEEEEEEEEP LoveandEdifying. See ya. Chapter One: Not Taken For Granite5 Gems: by LoveandEdify Chapter One: Not Taken For Granite Maud stepped into Spike’s room, not knowing much of what to expect she could do about the situation at hoof. Especially after two ponies who immensely cared about him already seemed to cheer him up. What could a rock farmer possibly have to offer? A rock farmer. That’s all she ever was. And she wasn’t even a bubbly break from the normal like her sister Pinkie-Pie. She was as mundane as the rest of them. From the soft, monotone voice she was stuck with as long as she could remember to the ash-grey color of her body, to the faded purple of her mane; no wonder she was more often seen with a frown on her face. Even during all the good times. One of those good times happened to be when she visited her sister in Ponyville for the first time in a long while. After a series of misunderstandings and assumptions, Maud was finally able to connect with the rest of the Mane 6 over how much her sister’s happiness meant to all of them. Obviously it wasn’t the last time she was involved with their adventures. She enjoyed meeting up with all of Pinkie’s friends whenever she was in town; and now that she lived closer to the small town of Ponyville; she felt even mores truly happy that she could have a much-improved work-life balance. Whether she was looking for rare gems and rocks for research, flying kites with Starlight Glimmer, playing random games with Pinkie-Pie or just enjoying a relaxing night in her new cave-house, Maud Pie seemed to finally have everything going her way. Graduating as a valerocktorian at her school, making some of the best friends (that weren’t rocks) she ever had and her own home to finally accomplish her dreams. What more could she ask for? Well, there were four things she could ask for: to be as well-respected (if not moreso) than her younger sister, to help others fulfill their dreams, find someone to love and share her life with them forever. While she knew that the first one might not happen as quickly as she would like, the other three she was accomplishing this very day. Out of all the males she had met; there wasn’t any that intrigued her more than the little dragon known as Spike. He was a small purple dragon with smaller green scales humping over his back like hills. His message-delivering fire was always useful in a pinch, although obviously Spike had more than one type of fire inside of him. In fact, it was the more mental, hidden fires that had taken Maud’s heart. The way that he stayed burning bright for all of his friends whenever they needed him. Regardless of whether it was helping save the world, assisting others with various errands, volunteering to be a pincushion (She was still wanting to throw Rarity into a rockslide for that one) or simply just being there for advice or a shoulder to cry on. The complete natural sense of exuberance and joy mixed with wisdom that she loved, cherished and adored the most about him. So when Maud was teleported to Twilight’s castle by Starlight at the end of a group adventure to hear that something was wrong with Spike, her crystal heart was shattered into a million pieces for her friend. But because she couldn’t show emotions as well as Pinkie, her emotions weren’t as easily seen by just anypony. Luckily, Starlight Glimmer knew exactly what Maud was trying to convey. She was even willing to bet that Starlight was focused enough to see the tears coming out of Maud’s eyes while Twilight was distracted while calculating what exactly Starlight’s friends were even doing there in the first place. As soon as Starlight and Twilight were out of the room, Maud gently strode over to where Spike was on the bed. She could see the pain in his eyes as he wiped his eyes on his blanket. “I don’t think that blanket’s the best thing for your eyes. Maybe you should find something softer and more comfortable.” Maud insisted, as Spike sat up and lifted his head from the blanket. “Like what?” Spike asked, his voice still choked up from all the crying as he gazed towards Maud’s eyes. Spike then stared in surprise as he saw Maud stretch out in front of him, very much like a cat would, and laying down on her stomach. “Like my mane. Or my shoulders. Or both. I’ve been trying a new shampoo called Bubbly’s Bubbly Bubblegum. I smell good, don’t you think?” As Maud finished her comments, Spike curiously bent down and took a whiff from Maud’s mane. “Whoa! Hey, you’re right Maud. This does smell good.” Spike affirmed as he rose back to his sitting position after the aroma awoken his nerves. “Did you think I would lie to you? You think because I’m a rock-farmer I would smell rather putrid and I would look unattractive to you.” Maud replied, in the same monotone voice, but staring Spike down as if she was here to collect a penance upon his poor dragon soul. Spike stared at Maud and swallowed nervously. “What, no... I mean, I never expected you to... to...” Spike then sighed in defeat, as Maud’s penance stare gazed into Spike in a way that could send Fluttershy’s “Flutter-Stare” back to Magic Kindergarten. Maud smiled, then sat back up next to Spike. “Are you comfortable enough to tell me what’s bothering you now?” she sympathetically queried. As Spike explained the story of what exactly happened, Maud sat silently, like a stone, and listened. While she felt terrible for her crush; she was also happy for herself. Happy, in finally realizing what good a rock farmer could be. The one who would prod him to not cheapen his life and its value. Neigh, she would be a firm foundation as which to lay it down. Both the joys and the pain. The triumphs and the failures. The insignificant, boring, mundane details of daily living and the heroic, valiant majestic happenings. No matter the cost, no matter the trial. She knew that while Spike’s other friends would be more than happy to care about him in a pinch, she knew what she had that the others wouldn’t. She was a rock. True. Solid. Constant. “I care about you, Spike. Even when it seems like no one else does. If you don’t believe me, I will prove it.” Maud informed the little dragon as he finally curled up in his bed to sleep. She gently put the covers over him and fluffed his pillow before quietly exiting the room. Leaving him to finally get a peaceful night’s sleep after a sorrow-filled day. A few minutes later... Maud must have lost track of how much time had went by because the first thing she noticed on her way out was her hoof stepping on a piece of paper of some kind that was neatly rolled up right outside the door. Dear Maud, Thanks a lot for helping out with Spike. I’m sure it means a lot to him to see somepony who cares about him that’s not around him as much. Anyway, after a brief discussion, we’ve decided to tell Spike that he’s earned a week-long vacation at Scale Coves, a small island which he’s been wanting to go on vacation for a long time. Probably because it’s located near one of the largest gem caves in the world. You can probably sleep in Spike’s room because by the time you read this, we’ll already be fast asleep. And by the way, on the floor or get him off the bed! Starlight already told me about your crush on him. I’m not mad at you, Maud. Silly me for assuming you’ll do something terrible. It’s just that Spike is more than my best friend. He’s been my little brother ever since I hatched and raised him from Magic kindergarten and, well, after what happened between him and Rarity; I would just hate to see his heart demolished like that again. I wish you the best of luck, and of course I’ll help you out with him. Just know that, and... oh Celestia, I’m gonna be a terrible Princess of Friendship here... hehehe KNOW THAT IF YOU EVER, EVER, EVER BREAK EVEN A SINGLE PEBBLE OF HIS CRYSTAL HEART; NOT EVEN TARTARUS WILL BE SAFE FOR YOU TO HIDE FROM MY WRATH!!! Sorry about that. Anyway, see ya tomorrow, Maud. Your friend, Twilight Sparkle. “Whoa. That was dark.” Maud thought quietly. While her voice was still in that cursed monotone, you could still tell that the emotion in that voice was nervousness. What could she possibly do to give Spike a trip to remember in such a short amount of time? It was then she remembered something. One, she was a Pie. Two, Pies have weird physics-breaking abilities for some reason. (An example of that was how she outchucked Rainbow-Dash in a stone-tossing game, and how she ran an obstacle-course at unnaturally quick-speed and punched through a boulder to save her sister. No, I did not stutter. Watch the Maud Pie episode yourself. Right now!!!) And finally, she actually went and harvested gems from the caves of Scale Coves before. With new determination, she threw the door open (somehow not waking anybody up) and tip-toed across the room and gave Spike a swift and tender kiss on the cheek. “Farewell, my amethyst. I will bring you a gift tomorrow, and you will remember it. Forever.” she whispered, before riding off into the midnight sky. Author's Note Alright, let’s start by getting to the main thing here. I know that while a lot of you have enjoyed this story (and it is still getting new followers every day, and I thank you all for that), you all have had issues with the grammar and the spacing. So I will try to explain this as best I can. I have been having continuous issues with the spacing and the length of writing ever since coming onto this site, and it has interfered with my normal writing style numerous times. First off, I didn’t know how negatively the typical center alignment would be received at the time. I usually do that because for as many words I write per sentence and how long it would take for me to organize it all, I thought that that would be the best approach. Let’s just say that I deeply underestimated the flak here. So next, I relearned the alignment I used from English class. The idea of this was to have it double-spaced for easy reading. And there inlines the issue. See, how you would look at a story when you’re reading it as a spectator against how you would see it if you’re writing on the computer are two entirely different things. To me, a lot of the stories I read looked like they had a center-alignment (example) and thus, that was how I initially started. After all the complaints, I had to work hard and re-edit to get a clear story across. One, the site wouldn’t let me indent to indicate a new paragraph. Two, for every time I would try to type normally, “Show Preview” reveals that the writing still looked wonky. So, my apologies in advance for all the terrible grammar, alignment and everything else. I just wanted to LoveandEdify, and apparently, that’s not good enough on my own. That’s why, starting with Chapter 3 (aka, the one where the Deviantart and the Scribbler vid finally get their props), there will be a guest writer/editor for every chapter. I’ve always had good ideas and am a great conceptualist, but this go around, I'll need some help from the Fimfiction community to get this story to the new heights it was meant to fly. Who’s with me? Alright then, I already have a few guest author ideas and I will be messaging them for ways to collaborate with me. And hopefully, Chapter 3 will be out soon. Until then... Keep Loving, Keep Edifying and KEEEEEEEEEEEEEP LoveandEdiying. Chapter Two: Scaling New Heights5 Gems: by LoveandEdify and also by today’s special co-author/editor... Peni Parker Chapter Two: Scaling New Heights “And that’s that. All teleported safely and soundly to their homes.” Twilight verified as she finished casting a teleportation spell while Starlight used a different one to help clean up the mess. “Phew, yeah” Starlight sighed exhausted as she levitated a napkin towards her to wipe off some sweat from her forehead. “Thank you so much for allowing me and my friends to crash here.” Starlight graciously thanked. “No problem, Starlight.” she responded warmly, “Although I’ll have to admit, I wish that you and your friends weren’t nearly all stuck in a blizzard in Yakyakistan when I had to teleport you out.” she spoke softly, clear concern and compassion in her voice. “Don’t worry, we’re all now...” Starlight was then interrupted by a rapidly galloping grey ghost of a blur, nearly dropping what had to have been a small satchel of sorts before Starlight caught it with her magic. “I thought Maud was still here in the castle!” a rather confused and befuddled Twilight observed, earning a shrug from Starlight as they both raced to catch Maud before she was about to rampage into royals know where. A few seconds later... Luckily, they were able to figure out where Maud was going so that they could teleport to the area first ahead of her. Right in front of Spike’s bedroom door. Unluckily, even that high level of prepardness couldn't stop them from being bulldozed by the lovesick mare in a collision that sent all 3 of them tumbling directly onto the top of Spike's bed. The good news was that they were just on the foot of the bed. The bad news was that they were in a peculiar Twister kind of dotted position and poor little Spike was just waking up. "I swear this isn't what it looks like." Maud explained in her usual stoic tone. Spike stretched yawned, and slowly poened his eyes ready to greet the day. "Well if it's breakfast in bed, Princess Celestia, that's exactly what it look li..." Spike's tranced and dreamish tone stopped dead in its tracks when his vision finally cleared to see Twilight's mouth opened in a gasp, Starlight's face almost squirm and Maud simply rolling her eyes at the whole thing. Spike gasped and quickly hid underneath the covers while Twilight performed a spell that untangled everypony and plopped them all off Spike's bed, yet still close enough to the spooked silly dragon. After a couple of seconds, both Starlight and Twilight laughed at the hilarious situation as Spike slowly creeped out from under the covers. Maud didn't feel like laughing, but did think the moment was hilarious and gave a small smile. "Ok, I think we all have some explaining to do." Twilight remarked after using her magic to get the currently embarrassed dragon out of his bed. About 15 minutes later... "So yeah, I should've figured that you weren't Princess Celestia serving me pancakes. I'm sorry, Maud." Spike sheepishly apologized. There was a silence in the room for the next couple of minutes. Not the awkward kind associated with paralyzing fear, nor the one that is meditative on mistakes or memories. But rather, the kind that is there for only the sake of filling a void with its emptiness. Dead silence. "It's alright, Spike I once dreamt that someone brought me breakfast in bed too." Maud finally interjected like ripples in water. "Oh? Who's that?" Spike asked curiously yet humbly, as it remained unclear whether Maud had forgiven Spike or not. Maud gave a small smirk before responding. "My boyfriend." A brief chorus of "oooooooh"s followed from Twilight and Starlight as they galloped off the bed and out of the room at breakneck speeds, whinnying like schoolfillies. "Oh wow. Congratulations." Spike offered awkwardly, oblivious to the other ponies leaving, but still focused on Maud's now gentle and soothing smile. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend, Maud. When do you think we'll meet him?" he asked curiously. Maud whipped her mane confidently, accidentally hitting Spike's right eye in the process. "Sooner than you'd realize." she firmly affirmed with a wink. Spike knew that Maud's tone was monotone as always, but it was hinted with something else. Something else that he couldn't quite put his scaly dragon claws on. What was it? He was brought back to his senses by the sound of the creaking closet door. He turned to see Maud retrieving some sort of leather sack and bringing it over to him. "I brought you a gift for the trip." she explained, holding up the satchel that was somehow unharmed by the one-mare stampede from earlier. Spike held out his claws and felt the soft, leathery satchel before taking a small peek at the contents. "I've packed you bread, butter and five rocks." Maud explained. Sure enough, as Spike peeked into the bag, there was a loaf of break and a stick of butter, but he couldn't find the rocks for some reason. "What for?" Spike asked; curious as to why one, Maud rarely seemed to know him and wouldn't have a real reason to care about something like this; and two, he saved more than enough bits for treats for the whole week and souvenirs for him and his friends when he returned. "You will spread the butter on the bread and eat it." Maud explained matter-of-factly, although Spike could tell by the emphasis of her words (despite their lack of clear emotion) sounded like he was being scolded by Miss Cheerilee for not knowing his A-B-C's. "And the rocks?" Spike dared to ask, trying to get to the bottom of this mystery before he had to catch the next train. "They're in the bag. I said I packed them." Maud clarified, as if Spike were actually a gargoyle. Ears but no brain. "Maud, is there something you're trying to tell me?" Spike asked befuddled, hoping to know why exactly someone as stoney-faced and closed-off as Maud would be seeming to be this open and affectionate as of late. Not that he had minded it, he actually enjoyed and hoped that they could become closer friends. However, this wasn't the platonic adoration he would typically receive from such a creature wanting to be better friends he was seeing from her, but rather... something else. Before Maud had a chance to explain, Twilight and Starlight alerted the two that it was time to take Spike to the train station for his trip. Once the group was all teleported over there, they all gave Spike a big group hug and watched intently as his train started off towards his new adventure. Author's Note My apologies if that ending seemed a little rushed. Funny story about that. So Peni and I were working together on this story, as you would all know. But all of the sudden, for the longest time, I was without a laptop because mine finally busted after serving as a reliable writing tool for the past 5 years. I had most of the story written down and saved already, but once I got my new laptop, I knew that none of you deserved to wait another 6-8 months for an update. So I kind of rushed the ending to this chapter a bit. My sincere apologies. Anyway, shoutout to the always amazing Peni Parker for assisting me with this story. Fun Fact: The scene where Spike utters about breakfast in bed was one of many possible joke ideas for after Maud crashes the crew into the bed is an excellent collaborative effort between me and Peni. I always had the scene planned for how Maud would crash everyone into the bed and have it be incredibly awkward while still being appropriate. In fact, Peni was the one who suggested that Maud would say, "I swaer this isn't what it looks like." as a creative way to put Maud's awkward attempts at love on display. However, she suggested that Spike's response would be him defending Maud. However, I decided to go a different route. Spike has been known to be a heavy sleeper, and him groggily responding towards the effect of him still being halfway in between dreamland and reality would be an absolute hit. Anyhow, that's it for this chapter. Oh it's great to be amongst the living. If anyone wants to volunteer to be a co-writer for another chapter in this story, let me know in the comments or DM me. Next time, Spike enjoys his vacation but a certain rock-colored mare won't stay off his mind. Also, why bread, butter and rocks? How is Maud going to make her intentions clear with that kind of gesture? We'll find out all of that next time. Keep Loving, Keep Edifying and KEEEEEEEEP LoveandEdifying. Catcha later.
Prolouge5 Gems: by LoveandEdify Prolouge “Come on, Twilight. Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do for you this week?” Spike practically begged. Now, this is a question you would normally hear Spike ask for Twilight. But not in that sort of tone, or the fact that he would be nose-to-the-grindscales for months and months and months on end on into the end of the summer. “Now Spike,” Twilight sternly warned him, “You’ve been doing work, work, work nonstop 24/7 for the past year!!!” she paused for a moment to see if that would sink into his hard scales. Her face then immediately crinkled in utter annoyance to see Spike dusting off the Friendship Map for around the 150th time. Today. “When are you gonna go take a break?” Twilight asked annoyed, then her countenance and demeanor softened to that of a caring and loving sister, concerned for her brother’s well-being when she asked, somberly “When am I gonna get the old Spike back?” About a couple hours later... “Spike, it’s almost nighttime. Shouldn’t you at least think about getting any sleep?!?” she asked, frantically worried and concerned about her friend working himself up to exhaustion. “Come on, Twilight!!!” Spike whined in annoyance of such seemingly simple concerns as he was waxing the castle floors, “you know that this is something I do every... HEY!!!” Spike screamed as his train of thought was promptly interrupted by the sudden snap-like sensation of him being teleported with Twilight over to his room. “No more working, Spike!!!” Twilight sternly ordered. Spike looked at the place, confused. “But, Twilight I...” Spike began, “I SAID NO MORE WORKING!!!” she said, practically shrieking with enough force to almost shatter her crystal castle. To say that Spike seemed scared was a vast understatement, as the scream sent him scurrying right under the fluffy twin-sized bed. Twilight then used her magic to gently pull the shivering, nervous young dragon out from under the bed. “I’ve just been so worried about you lately. Everything seemed fine and normal until you started saving up for your trip. And you already had enough money ever since the end of the Winter Wrap-Up. What’s wrong?” Twilight softly beckoned, knowing that only something of a vast magnitude of seriousness can possibly turn the diligent yet chill dragon into an overworking, almost exhausted shiny, scaly husk. Spike sighed, as he knew that there was no way going around this friendship problem. Especially with his best friend. “Alright Twi. You got me.” Spike sadly confessed, with his head dropping towards the ground as he sighed. Twilight then plopped her little brother onto his bed with her magic and sat down next to him as Spike’s eyes met hers once again. “It was because of Rarity and Applejack.” he finally confessed sadly. “Rarity and Applejack?” Twilight asked confused, right as they both perked up to here somepony else teleport in. “Hey Twilight, I’m back from my hiking trip with Trixie, Maud and Thor...” Starlight stopped herself as she saw Twilight and Spike nestled together on the bed as if something was up. “Oh, sorry Twilight.” Starlight awkwardly apologized, “I can tell you about my trip when you two are done.” she offered. “Oh, come on in, Starlight.” Twilight calmly and graciously welcomed, motioning for her to come join them. Starlight trotted over to the side of the bed and sat near Twilight because the bed could only fit one pony. “Go on, Spike.” Twilight gently prodded, turning her attention back to Spike. Spike took a deep breath and resumed. “Alright. So I was earning money for my vacation to Emerald Coves when I was on my way to help Rarity at her boutique. She said I could help out there to earn some extra bits. It was near Hearts and Hooves day, so I thought I could ask her out to dinner with some of the bits I earned; and then I saw her. And she was talking to another stallion.” “Hold on, It could be that Rarity just had another friend over that day.” Starlight attempted to reason, both for her friend and herself; for she always saw the little dragon as a constant companion and friend. “Yeah, except Rarity introduced him as her coltfriend Seveer Stallyn.” Spike affirmed glumly as both the ponies “oh”ed in realization. “She told me that the two had been dating for the past year and that the only reason she hadn’t introduced him to you all is because most of the time; he’s been doing tours with his band.” “What types of performances do they do?” Starlight asked, to lighten the mood before Twilight nudged her to get her out of that particular rabbit hole. “I really am sorry, Spike.” Starlight apologized out of sympathy. “Eh, it’s alright, Star.” Spike responded, hardly paying any attention to his friend’s apology. He then decided to brace himself while continuing. “But it gets worse. About a week or so later, I was working with Applejack on the farm and after what was probably the longest, hardest day of my life; she literally goes up to me and says, ‘Now why’d you neva work hard like this all da time, sugacube?’” Spike asked the question in his best Applejack voice. Although not as twangy or lady-toned; Spike’s impression of Applejack seemed spot-on for someone who’s never really considered doing impressions before. Twilight and Starlight stared in confusion at each other, then at Spike. “I’m pretty sure Applejack didn't mean it like that.” Twilight reasoned sympathetically. “Yeah, I know she didn't,” Spike affirmed, “But after doing some thinking; I figured that she was right. Why don’t I work that hard all the time? I figured that if nopony really appreciated the effort I already put in for them, I might as well keep pushing and pushing on until somepony finally cares about me.” he confessed, his countenance now matching the state of his heart. Crumbling and broken. “Oh Spike, we know that you always work hard for us when we need it. And we know that you usually get tired after doing all of that for us.” Twilight consoled as both she and Starlight cuddled Spike as he continued to let his tears drown onto the pillow. “But don’t you ever ever think that you’d have to work so hard that you’d wear yourself down just to get anypony to care about you.” Starlight continued. “I don’t?” Spike asked in reply as he slowly began to reopen and wipe his watery eyes. “Of course you don’t.” Starlight affirmed. “I still don’t think Applejack quite meant it that way; but hearing all of that right after having someone you loved for a long time, up and toss your feelings out like trash? I can see how it makes you feel so defeated.” Twilight concurred. “Ok, that’s enough.” Twilight and Starlight turned around to see an unexpected mare inside the doorway. “It’s time that Spike hears it from an outside pony now.” the familiar monotone voice of Maud Pie spoke out. While Maud’s voice and countenance was as plain as the gravel country ponies would trample on, very few ponies (ponies that would genuinely consider taking the time to get to know her and be her friend) would read whatever emotion Maud would try to show or portray. But even then, some of her friends can read her better than others. “Oh, hey Maud.” Twilight responded, politely trying to hide the fact that she felt caught off-guard, “We were just going to...” “Let Maud help Spike so that he could feel loved from an outside source so that I can explain what’s going on here? That’s a great idea, Twilight!!!” Starlight quickly interrupted Twilight with an exaggerated sense of realization. Twilight gasped, but no sound came out at the total awkwardness of the situation. Starlight on the other hand, winked at Twilight and shouted, “You got this, Maud.” before instantaneously teleporting her and Twilight out of the room. Although there were some things about Maud that were, quite literally, stone-faced and expressionless; this didn’t mean she was emotionless. Not in the slightest. Most of the time, you would just have to look past what is being expressed; and look at her words and actions. Like right now. The deep, slow breathing, the nervous yet steady gait in her stride and her head occasionally bobbing up and down. Not like a bobblehead, but rather, like the swaying of a pendulum inside an old grandfather clock. Like you could tell by those actions that, for some unknown reason, she was nervous as she scaled her way to meet the little dragon. A reason that will be shared, when our story truly begins... Author's Note Alright Everypony, this new story is going to be a more... boulder attempt at reaching the fandom. Ok, ok... I’m almost done. First off, I wanna give a shout-out to the amazing Scribbler for putting out an amazing YouTube video a couple of weeks ago that has inspired this story. (Here it is...) She’s an amazing voice-actress, a true-blue MLP fan and someone I would highly recommend subscribing to and hopefully she’ll catch wind of and do a reading of this amazing story when it’s complete too. Next chapter’s gonna be out soon (hopefully, amidst my other projects for this site). Until then... Keep Loving, Keep Edifying and KEEEEEEEEEEP LoveandEdifying. See ya.
Chapter One: Not Taken For Granite5 Gems: by LoveandEdify Chapter One: Not Taken For Granite Maud stepped into Spike’s room, not knowing much of what to expect she could do about the situation at hoof. Especially after two ponies who immensely cared about him already seemed to cheer him up. What could a rock farmer possibly have to offer? A rock farmer. That’s all she ever was. And she wasn’t even a bubbly break from the normal like her sister Pinkie-Pie. She was as mundane as the rest of them. From the soft, monotone voice she was stuck with as long as she could remember to the ash-grey color of her body, to the faded purple of her mane; no wonder she was more often seen with a frown on her face. Even during all the good times. One of those good times happened to be when she visited her sister in Ponyville for the first time in a long while. After a series of misunderstandings and assumptions, Maud was finally able to connect with the rest of the Mane 6 over how much her sister’s happiness meant to all of them. Obviously it wasn’t the last time she was involved with their adventures. She enjoyed meeting up with all of Pinkie’s friends whenever she was in town; and now that she lived closer to the small town of Ponyville; she felt even mores truly happy that she could have a much-improved work-life balance. Whether she was looking for rare gems and rocks for research, flying kites with Starlight Glimmer, playing random games with Pinkie-Pie or just enjoying a relaxing night in her new cave-house, Maud Pie seemed to finally have everything going her way. Graduating as a valerocktorian at her school, making some of the best friends (that weren’t rocks) she ever had and her own home to finally accomplish her dreams. What more could she ask for? Well, there were four things she could ask for: to be as well-respected (if not moreso) than her younger sister, to help others fulfill their dreams, find someone to love and share her life with them forever. While she knew that the first one might not happen as quickly as she would like, the other three she was accomplishing this very day. Out of all the males she had met; there wasn’t any that intrigued her more than the little dragon known as Spike. He was a small purple dragon with smaller green scales humping over his back like hills. His message-delivering fire was always useful in a pinch, although obviously Spike had more than one type of fire inside of him. In fact, it was the more mental, hidden fires that had taken Maud’s heart. The way that he stayed burning bright for all of his friends whenever they needed him. Regardless of whether it was helping save the world, assisting others with various errands, volunteering to be a pincushion (She was still wanting to throw Rarity into a rockslide for that one) or simply just being there for advice or a shoulder to cry on. The complete natural sense of exuberance and joy mixed with wisdom that she loved, cherished and adored the most about him. So when Maud was teleported to Twilight’s castle by Starlight at the end of a group adventure to hear that something was wrong with Spike, her crystal heart was shattered into a million pieces for her friend. But because she couldn’t show emotions as well as Pinkie, her emotions weren’t as easily seen by just anypony. Luckily, Starlight Glimmer knew exactly what Maud was trying to convey. She was even willing to bet that Starlight was focused enough to see the tears coming out of Maud’s eyes while Twilight was distracted while calculating what exactly Starlight’s friends were even doing there in the first place. As soon as Starlight and Twilight were out of the room, Maud gently strode over to where Spike was on the bed. She could see the pain in his eyes as he wiped his eyes on his blanket. “I don’t think that blanket’s the best thing for your eyes. Maybe you should find something softer and more comfortable.” Maud insisted, as Spike sat up and lifted his head from the blanket. “Like what?” Spike asked, his voice still choked up from all the crying as he gazed towards Maud’s eyes. Spike then stared in surprise as he saw Maud stretch out in front of him, very much like a cat would, and laying down on her stomach. “Like my mane. Or my shoulders. Or both. I’ve been trying a new shampoo called Bubbly’s Bubbly Bubblegum. I smell good, don’t you think?” As Maud finished her comments, Spike curiously bent down and took a whiff from Maud’s mane. “Whoa! Hey, you’re right Maud. This does smell good.” Spike affirmed as he rose back to his sitting position after the aroma awoken his nerves. “Did you think I would lie to you? You think because I’m a rock-farmer I would smell rather putrid and I would look unattractive to you.” Maud replied, in the same monotone voice, but staring Spike down as if she was here to collect a penance upon his poor dragon soul. Spike stared at Maud and swallowed nervously. “What, no... I mean, I never expected you to... to...” Spike then sighed in defeat, as Maud’s penance stare gazed into Spike in a way that could send Fluttershy’s “Flutter-Stare” back to Magic Kindergarten. Maud smiled, then sat back up next to Spike. “Are you comfortable enough to tell me what’s bothering you now?” she sympathetically queried. As Spike explained the story of what exactly happened, Maud sat silently, like a stone, and listened. While she felt terrible for her crush; she was also happy for herself. Happy, in finally realizing what good a rock farmer could be. The one who would prod him to not cheapen his life and its value. Neigh, she would be a firm foundation as which to lay it down. Both the joys and the pain. The triumphs and the failures. The insignificant, boring, mundane details of daily living and the heroic, valiant majestic happenings. No matter the cost, no matter the trial. She knew that while Spike’s other friends would be more than happy to care about him in a pinch, she knew what she had that the others wouldn’t. She was a rock. True. Solid. Constant. “I care about you, Spike. Even when it seems like no one else does. If you don’t believe me, I will prove it.” Maud informed the little dragon as he finally curled up in his bed to sleep. She gently put the covers over him and fluffed his pillow before quietly exiting the room. Leaving him to finally get a peaceful night’s sleep after a sorrow-filled day. A few minutes later... Maud must have lost track of how much time had went by because the first thing she noticed on her way out was her hoof stepping on a piece of paper of some kind that was neatly rolled up right outside the door. Dear Maud, Thanks a lot for helping out with Spike. I’m sure it means a lot to him to see somepony who cares about him that’s not around him as much. Anyway, after a brief discussion, we’ve decided to tell Spike that he’s earned a week-long vacation at Scale Coves, a small island which he’s been wanting to go on vacation for a long time. Probably because it’s located near one of the largest gem caves in the world. You can probably sleep in Spike’s room because by the time you read this, we’ll already be fast asleep. And by the way, on the floor or get him off the bed! Starlight already told me about your crush on him. I’m not mad at you, Maud. Silly me for assuming you’ll do something terrible. It’s just that Spike is more than my best friend. He’s been my little brother ever since I hatched and raised him from Magic kindergarten and, well, after what happened between him and Rarity; I would just hate to see his heart demolished like that again. I wish you the best of luck, and of course I’ll help you out with him. Just know that, and... oh Celestia, I’m gonna be a terrible Princess of Friendship here... hehehe KNOW THAT IF YOU EVER, EVER, EVER BREAK EVEN A SINGLE PEBBLE OF HIS CRYSTAL HEART; NOT EVEN TARTARUS WILL BE SAFE FOR YOU TO HIDE FROM MY WRATH!!! Sorry about that. Anyway, see ya tomorrow, Maud. Your friend, Twilight Sparkle. “Whoa. That was dark.” Maud thought quietly. While her voice was still in that cursed monotone, you could still tell that the emotion in that voice was nervousness. What could she possibly do to give Spike a trip to remember in such a short amount of time? It was then she remembered something. One, she was a Pie. Two, Pies have weird physics-breaking abilities for some reason. (An example of that was how she outchucked Rainbow-Dash in a stone-tossing game, and how she ran an obstacle-course at unnaturally quick-speed and punched through a boulder to save her sister. No, I did not stutter. Watch the Maud Pie episode yourself. Right now!!!) And finally, she actually went and harvested gems from the caves of Scale Coves before. With new determination, she threw the door open (somehow not waking anybody up) and tip-toed across the room and gave Spike a swift and tender kiss on the cheek. “Farewell, my amethyst. I will bring you a gift tomorrow, and you will remember it. Forever.” she whispered, before riding off into the midnight sky. Author's Note Alright, let’s start by getting to the main thing here. I know that while a lot of you have enjoyed this story (and it is still getting new followers every day, and I thank you all for that), you all have had issues with the grammar and the spacing. So I will try to explain this as best I can. I have been having continuous issues with the spacing and the length of writing ever since coming onto this site, and it has interfered with my normal writing style numerous times. First off, I didn’t know how negatively the typical center alignment would be received at the time. I usually do that because for as many words I write per sentence and how long it would take for me to organize it all, I thought that that would be the best approach. Let’s just say that I deeply underestimated the flak here. So next, I relearned the alignment I used from English class. The idea of this was to have it double-spaced for easy reading. And there inlines the issue. See, how you would look at a story when you’re reading it as a spectator against how you would see it if you’re writing on the computer are two entirely different things. To me, a lot of the stories I read looked like they had a center-alignment (example) and thus, that was how I initially started. After all the complaints, I had to work hard and re-edit to get a clear story across. One, the site wouldn’t let me indent to indicate a new paragraph. Two, for every time I would try to type normally, “Show Preview” reveals that the writing still looked wonky. So, my apologies in advance for all the terrible grammar, alignment and everything else. I just wanted to LoveandEdify, and apparently, that’s not good enough on my own. That’s why, starting with Chapter 3 (aka, the one where the Deviantart and the Scribbler vid finally get their props), there will be a guest writer/editor for every chapter. I’ve always had good ideas and am a great conceptualist, but this go around, I'll need some help from the Fimfiction community to get this story to the new heights it was meant to fly. Who’s with me? Alright then, I already have a few guest author ideas and I will be messaging them for ways to collaborate with me. And hopefully, Chapter 3 will be out soon. Until then... Keep Loving, Keep Edifying and KEEEEEEEEEEEEEP LoveandEdiying.
Chapter Two: Scaling New Heights5 Gems: by LoveandEdify and also by today’s special co-author/editor... Peni Parker Chapter Two: Scaling New Heights “And that’s that. All teleported safely and soundly to their homes.” Twilight verified as she finished casting a teleportation spell while Starlight used a different one to help clean up the mess. “Phew, yeah” Starlight sighed exhausted as she levitated a napkin towards her to wipe off some sweat from her forehead. “Thank you so much for allowing me and my friends to crash here.” Starlight graciously thanked. “No problem, Starlight.” she responded warmly, “Although I’ll have to admit, I wish that you and your friends weren’t nearly all stuck in a blizzard in Yakyakistan when I had to teleport you out.” she spoke softly, clear concern and compassion in her voice. “Don’t worry, we’re all now...” Starlight was then interrupted by a rapidly galloping grey ghost of a blur, nearly dropping what had to have been a small satchel of sorts before Starlight caught it with her magic. “I thought Maud was still here in the castle!” a rather confused and befuddled Twilight observed, earning a shrug from Starlight as they both raced to catch Maud before she was about to rampage into royals know where. A few seconds later... Luckily, they were able to figure out where Maud was going so that they could teleport to the area first ahead of her. Right in front of Spike’s bedroom door. Unluckily, even that high level of prepardness couldn't stop them from being bulldozed by the lovesick mare in a collision that sent all 3 of them tumbling directly onto the top of Spike's bed. The good news was that they were just on the foot of the bed. The bad news was that they were in a peculiar Twister kind of dotted position and poor little Spike was just waking up. "I swear this isn't what it looks like." Maud explained in her usual stoic tone. Spike stretched yawned, and slowly poened his eyes ready to greet the day. "Well if it's breakfast in bed, Princess Celestia, that's exactly what it look li..." Spike's tranced and dreamish tone stopped dead in its tracks when his vision finally cleared to see Twilight's mouth opened in a gasp, Starlight's face almost squirm and Maud simply rolling her eyes at the whole thing. Spike gasped and quickly hid underneath the covers while Twilight performed a spell that untangled everypony and plopped them all off Spike's bed, yet still close enough to the spooked silly dragon. After a couple of seconds, both Starlight and Twilight laughed at the hilarious situation as Spike slowly creeped out from under the covers. Maud didn't feel like laughing, but did think the moment was hilarious and gave a small smile. "Ok, I think we all have some explaining to do." Twilight remarked after using her magic to get the currently embarrassed dragon out of his bed. About 15 minutes later... "So yeah, I should've figured that you weren't Princess Celestia serving me pancakes. I'm sorry, Maud." Spike sheepishly apologized. There was a silence in the room for the next couple of minutes. Not the awkward kind associated with paralyzing fear, nor the one that is meditative on mistakes or memories. But rather, the kind that is there for only the sake of filling a void with its emptiness. Dead silence. "It's alright, Spike I once dreamt that someone brought me breakfast in bed too." Maud finally interjected like ripples in water. "Oh? Who's that?" Spike asked curiously yet humbly, as it remained unclear whether Maud had forgiven Spike or not. Maud gave a small smirk before responding. "My boyfriend." A brief chorus of "oooooooh"s followed from Twilight and Starlight as they galloped off the bed and out of the room at breakneck speeds, whinnying like schoolfillies. "Oh wow. Congratulations." Spike offered awkwardly, oblivious to the other ponies leaving, but still focused on Maud's now gentle and soothing smile. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend, Maud. When do you think we'll meet him?" he asked curiously. Maud whipped her mane confidently, accidentally hitting Spike's right eye in the process. "Sooner than you'd realize." she firmly affirmed with a wink. Spike knew that Maud's tone was monotone as always, but it was hinted with something else. Something else that he couldn't quite put his scaly dragon claws on. What was it? He was brought back to his senses by the sound of the creaking closet door. He turned to see Maud retrieving some sort of leather sack and bringing it over to him. "I brought you a gift for the trip." she explained, holding up the satchel that was somehow unharmed by the one-mare stampede from earlier. Spike held out his claws and felt the soft, leathery satchel before taking a small peek at the contents. "I've packed you bread, butter and five rocks." Maud explained. Sure enough, as Spike peeked into the bag, there was a loaf of break and a stick of butter, but he couldn't find the rocks for some reason. "What for?" Spike asked; curious as to why one, Maud rarely seemed to know him and wouldn't have a real reason to care about something like this; and two, he saved more than enough bits for treats for the whole week and souvenirs for him and his friends when he returned. "You will spread the butter on the bread and eat it." Maud explained matter-of-factly, although Spike could tell by the emphasis of her words (despite their lack of clear emotion) sounded like he was being scolded by Miss Cheerilee for not knowing his A-B-C's. "And the rocks?" Spike dared to ask, trying to get to the bottom of this mystery before he had to catch the next train. "They're in the bag. I said I packed them." Maud clarified, as if Spike were actually a gargoyle. Ears but no brain. "Maud, is there something you're trying to tell me?" Spike asked befuddled, hoping to know why exactly someone as stoney-faced and closed-off as Maud would be seeming to be this open and affectionate as of late. Not that he had minded it, he actually enjoyed and hoped that they could become closer friends. However, this wasn't the platonic adoration he would typically receive from such a creature wanting to be better friends he was seeing from her, but rather... something else. Before Maud had a chance to explain, Twilight and Starlight alerted the two that it was time to take Spike to the train station for his trip. Once the group was all teleported over there, they all gave Spike a big group hug and watched intently as his train started off towards his new adventure. Author's Note My apologies if that ending seemed a little rushed. Funny story about that. So Peni and I were working together on this story, as you would all know. But all of the sudden, for the longest time, I was without a laptop because mine finally busted after serving as a reliable writing tool for the past 5 years. I had most of the story written down and saved already, but once I got my new laptop, I knew that none of you deserved to wait another 6-8 months for an update. So I kind of rushed the ending to this chapter a bit. My sincere apologies. Anyway, shoutout to the always amazing Peni Parker for assisting me with this story. Fun Fact: The scene where Spike utters about breakfast in bed was one of many possible joke ideas for after Maud crashes the crew into the bed is an excellent collaborative effort between me and Peni. I always had the scene planned for how Maud would crash everyone into the bed and have it be incredibly awkward while still being appropriate. In fact, Peni was the one who suggested that Maud would say, "I swaer this isn't what it looks like." as a creative way to put Maud's awkward attempts at love on display. However, she suggested that Spike's response would be him defending Maud. However, I decided to go a different route. Spike has been known to be a heavy sleeper, and him groggily responding towards the effect of him still being halfway in between dreamland and reality would be an absolute hit. Anyhow, that's it for this chapter. Oh it's great to be amongst the living. If anyone wants to volunteer to be a co-writer for another chapter in this story, let me know in the comments or DM me. Next time, Spike enjoys his vacation but a certain rock-colored mare won't stay off his mind. Also, why bread, butter and rocks? How is Maud going to make her intentions clear with that kind of gesture? We'll find out all of that next time. Keep Loving, Keep Edifying and KEEEEEEEEP LoveandEdifying. Catcha later.
