Author's Note

Sorry for any of those that received an early notification for this chapter, here I present the REAL chapter and not a 5 second half finished accidentally published version :)

33 Maud

It had been over a week since the Flutterbat incident and in such a short amount of time the season had already begun to change. Leaves became their trademark collage of yellows and oranges, the once sweaty mid days became quite bearable, and the much anticipated cider season was right around the corner. There was definitely a buzz in the air and with Pinkie busy helping with most the decorations around town my schedule was more packed around helping the others. This particular day in question I spent helping around Sweet Apple Acres with thee Rainbow Dash in tow.

Carting over the final couple of baskets I took a rest on the porch stairs wiping off the built up sweat from my brow. Today was probably the most activity I’d done since arriving here, if running for my life didn’t count and the exhaustion was already settling in.

Leaning back staring toward the sky I let out a yawn, “Yeesh I’m tired”

“Already?” A creak on the stairs made it clear Dash had found a spot next to me. “We gotta get you into shape if that’s the case. There’s no way you should be tired after that”

“Well…” I yawned again, “I’m not the one excited about getting some early cider. If it were up to me I’d prefer something better like some pie”

“Dude, what are you talking about? That’s the worst take I’ve ever heard”

“And that’s one of my sayings. How come you gotta copy everything I say?”

“You can’t own a saying. I can say whatever I want”

“Sure but the admiring fan bit you keep pretending to be is a little too far”

“Admiring fan- who’s the one here that has actual fans?”

I scooped her close hugging the sweaty mare against my side, “You’d be surprised but apparently there’s ponies that find me irresistible”

Laughing she pushed herself free standing, “Yuck dude you’re all sweaty!”

“So are you!”

Opening the front door behind us AJ made her way down the steps with a couple of mugs of cider on a tray. Setting them down she took a hearty swig of her own.

“Now that hits the spot! You two enjoy yer drinks and thanks for helpin today. It ain’t ever easy preppin for cider season so any extra hooves I can get is always welcome”

“Course there partner, why I’d helped even if the sky was red and the sun was fallin” she didn’t seem to appreciate the impression as much as Dash.

“Heheh yea hey there.. hehe part- how do you even do that without laughing?”

“Live off the land? Ride free? As easy as breathin sister”

“Oh alright that’s about enough of that. Don’t need you making us sound like a bunch of loose brains”

“I’m just kidding AJ don’t get all upset”

“I know I know but, if Granny Smith hears ya you’d be in for a world of trouble. Just watchin out for you ya”

“I appreciate it” I smiled, lifting my glass to the air. “Much like how I’ll appreciate this drink in your name”

“Hey Apple Jack do you got any more we can have?”

“You mean you can have?”

She twirled a hoof around her already empty mug, “You don’t know, maybe Joey might want more”

She doesn’t even need to ask, only looking my way for a head shake. “No I’m good”

“Oh come on! You couldn’t just say yes? For me?!”

“I’ll get ya another Dash, quit yer yellin”

“Nice… can’t believe you wouldn’t lie for me”

Finishing off my drink I laid back against the porch relaxing. With a nice gentle breeze and some shade the moment had started to become actually comforting, even with the aches and pains.

“You’re not actually tired right?”

“Would it be okay if I was?”

“I’m not trying to make it seem like I think your unfit but, is that like normal for humans?”

“I’m not physically tired, I just haven’t been sleeping well lately. I was up all night last night, couldn’t rest for a second”

“How come?”

“I don’t know. Ever since that night Flutters went all feral mode on us I haven’t been able to sleep and it’s not like I’m having nightmares or anything. Honestly I felt wide awake last few nights in bed. It’s driving me nuts”

Returning with another drink for Dash AJ was quick to head off again. Her day didn’t end here and certainly didn’t have an open slot for relaxing and so with that we waved her off into the orchard.

Dash turned back to me sipping her drink, “You’re not actually turning into a vampony too are you? She did bite you”

“Scratched” I corrected. “And besides, Twilight hit me with that spell as well so I should be fine. It’s probably from stress or something I don’t know, I’ll be fine”

Shrugging she went back to an empty glass not even realizing she’d already chugged it all, “Shit I’m already out!”

“Heh easy on the pepsi fuller”

“Huh?”

“Eh you wouldn’t get it. A human thing. Anyways that pretty much does it for me today, I don’t have any other plans so if you wanna keep hanging out we can”

“Course I wanna keep hanging out but there’s like nothing to do today unless you wanna watch me practice a bit?”

Taking our leave, the path out of Sweet Apple Acres felt much faster during the day. In no time at all we were street bound walking through town.

“Ima be honest Dash it was pretty cool the first few times but, after a while it’s kinda like your just flying around in circles”

“It’s way more than that don’t be disrespectful and today I was thinking about changing it up seeing how my wings still bandaged and all”

“Yeah… still kinda boring for me though. I don’t want to make it seem like what you do isn’t impressive-“

“But..?”

“But too much of one thing kinda ruins it right?”

“Too much cider? You’re telling me too much cider is a bad thing?”

“I don’t even like cider so that’s an easy yeah for me”

“Okay but your tastes suck so imagine it’s something else, like something you like”

“Dash too much of anything is not good”

“That can’t be true”

“Well it is, ask anypony else”

“Alright what about… hey you!”

Shouting over to a nearby mare drying bedsheets she nearly jumps out of her skin at Dash’s voice.

“Woah hey?”

“Can you have too much of a good thing?”

Confused at the question her eyes darted between the two of us, “Uh… I guess?”

“Is that like a yeah or a no cause we need an exact answer”

“It’s a yeah… jeez” she flashed Dash a look before marching off disturbed.

“What was her problem?”

“You” I laughed, “Yelling at her”

“I didn’t yell”

“Has it ever occurred to you that maybe your inside voice and your outside voice might sound exactly the same?”

“Hardy har har so funny, now what do you want to do then? Otherwise I might as well take a nap cause waking up as early as I did today was brutal”

“Says the mare who was on my case for being tired”

“Physically ya nerd! How about you listen better”

“HoW aBoUt YoU LisTeN bEtTeR. That’s what you sound like”

“How about we wrestle then huh? Sounds like you wanna get your butt kicked again if you ask me!”

“Pfft bring it on then! Let’s take this shit over to the lake”

Doing as I suggested and Dash wished we soon stood across from each other in the open field nearby. We often used this area to wrestle in the past as well, the ground much less hard then you’d find around town. That combined with the quick access cool down bath close by made it the prefect spot. Now all that mattered was who would end up pinned first.

In a burst she lounged forward trying to grab a leg which I promptly dived over ending where she stood before. Not giving up she had already spun around and rushed forward again yet my low position from diving left me in the right spot to catch her into my chest. Somewhat painful I took the blow without losing grip and tossed her over my shoulder with a light slam as to not hurt her. For this she appeared even more focused, not taking my gentleness as friendly but rather disrespectful.

With a twist she started sprinting circles around me slowly gaining speed. Her force alone bringing a small gust of wind to me and the surrounding grass. Her eyes remained fixated on mine, unfazed and unwavering. Every second that passed my nerves grew expecting an absolute bullet of a tackle. I would need to be quick, there was likely no chance she’d-

*SLAM*

A force from my side picked me clean from the ground sending me onto the sandy edge of the lake. We must’ve rolled at least three or four times until I found myself pinned beneath Dash, her hindquarters resting on my stomach. Her smile couldn’t be more visible.

“I win”

“How… what… I was watching you the whole time”

Had my eyes deceived me?

“I kept running until I saw you relax a little and took advantage. It’s not like you could stay focused longer then I could run” her slightly heavy breathing said otherwise.

“Damn. You must’ve been going fast as shit cause I sware I never saw you jump” I chuckled. “I don’t really stand a chance if you go that hard”

“I wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t hold back so much when you slammed me. You don’t have to go easy on me, I can take it”

“Dash likes it hard you heard it here first”

She rolled her eyes, “Always got to make it sexual”

“Kinda hard not to when your literally sitting on me”

Heavily blushing she jumped off embarrassed, “W-what is that s-supposed to mean? I have to pin you to win!”

“I’m joking ya big softy. If you wanted to cuddle me that badly you could’ve asked”

“Yeah okay says the dude that scratches every mare he meets. You probably wished I stayed on top of you”

“Are you calling me easy?”

“Hey, I wasn’t the one that said it…”

“Dashie! The audacity”

“Normally I might get worried if a stallion said that but, for some reason I feel like you wouldn’t even be offended like that”

“Definitely not and you wouldn’t have to worry about calling me that either. I haven’t been exactly big on the whole cuddle thing ponies like to do since uh… since that day. If it’s like one of you girls I’d be fine but…”

Noticing my discomfort she put a hoof around my shoulder as we sat in the sand. Not one for words she struggled thinking of what to say.

“Are you… okay from that? Like do you think you’re almost back to normal? I didn’t mean to say the last bit like you’re not normal I meant-“

“You’re fine, I get what you mean”

Watching over the cold sweeping waves a breeze rushing over causes me to squint from its chill. It’s smell only worsening the growing pit in my stomach.

“We don’t have to celebrate Nightmare Night if you don’t want to. We can all get together and do something else that’s fun. I bet Pinkie could make up an awesome party”

“It’s Luna’s night I should celebrate it with her”

“Yeah but… you don’t have to do anything that’ll suck if you don’t want to, I bet Luna understands”

“She probably would…”

“Sooo?”

“Dash I’d like to at least pretend I didn’t get raped if that’s okay” the instant it leaves my mouth I know I’ve gone to far backtracking immediately. “Sorry that was… that was fucked up for me to say”

“My bad, I didn’t mean to… sorry”

Almost as if we were back a year ago the familiar feeling was back. I was being sensitive again, making it difficult for my friends to be around me. I hated it.

“Look I didn’t mean to ruin the mood alright? Don’t feel like you have to be careful with what you say around me or what you want to do. If you want to have fun on Nightmare Night then go right ahead, there’s literally no reason you shouldn’t”

“What are you going to do though? If you’re not celebrating how the heck are we supposed to?”

“I might spend the night with Luna. I bet she’ll want to be see me most the night. She probably still blames herself for what happened”

“Why?”

“She thinks because she didn’t watch over me and it happened during her night that it’s her fault even though it’s not. If it’s anyones fault it’s mine for being so stupid”

“I don’t know exactly what happened but, I doubt you did anything wrong either”

Letting out a deep breath I stood up knowing I couldn’t talk much more about it, “I don’t know, either way I fucking hate magic now like that shit can suck a dick”

“Magic can suck a dick”

“Fuck yeah it can”

We watched over the lake a little longer while I lingered over my thoughts a while longer. Maybe if the circumstances had been different and we were in another spot I might struggle to shake the memories as easy but, something about the feeling of the sand between my fingers and the cold breeze against my face cleansed my worries. Enough so that I conjured up a little fun idea.

“You know what? We should fucking prank every unicorn in town just for having magic”

Dash was quick to stop me, “Woah woah, I don’t want ponies to think I got anything against unicorns now”

“Oh.. oh shit heh, can’t really do that can we?”

Laughing she wiped a tear from her eye, “No! That’s… that’s a terrible idea! You’re trying to get me in trouble aren’t you?”

“Heh shit I didn’t think about it alright? Kinda weird thinking of ponies all racially ya know? You all look the same”

Her laughter grew, sending her rolling across the sand, “You… you can’t say that either!”

“I didn’t know! I’m an alien, how am I supposed to know these things?”

“Do I hear fun going on without me?” Appearing from the direction of Ponyville Pinkie made her way over hopping in excitement.

“Don’t worry Pinkie, Joey was just explaining how-“

“How lovely you looked this morning!”

“Awwww thanks a bunchies! Anyways I actually came over here to tell you two my sister is coming to Ponyville!”

“That’s cool, when’s that?” Dash shared a look with me nodding along.

“Today!”

“Today!? Pinkie what do you mean today? How come you’re just telling me now?”

“Your sister is coming today?”

“Yep! At least one of my sis, the others apparently are tooooo busy taking care of the farm so I’ll have to see them next time I go home”

“When did you find out like did you know earlier?”

“Course I did she sent a letter and everything silly. Ponies can’t show up unannounced anywhere they want too”

It nearly made my head spin, “Pinkie why didn’t you tell me! I have to look presentable and clean the house up…”

“Okay maybe I forgot but, I still told you before she got here! That has to count for something”

Sensing the frustration boiling inside me Dash took it as the perfect opportunity to bounce.

“Uhhh oh I forgot I was supposed to go back and help Apple Jack some more heh heh… my bad I should probably get going so bye” zipping off Pinkie waved cheerfully til her sights shifted back to me.

“What’s a matter?”

“Pinkie you can’t spring stuff up on me like this I need time to get ready. I need a haircut, a shave, I mean look at me I look like shit!”

“I like the fuzzy beard!”

“It at least needs a trim! Ugh… I guess I could sweep my hair back or something… maybe gel it… what about the house though I don’t even know if it looks clean”

“I cleaned it this morning! Right when I realized… that I forgot to tell you my sister Maud was coming over and also forgot to mention to her or any of my family that I’m courting an alien from another planet”

“You what?!?”

Needless to say the next hour was a blur. Having rushed back to the house I tried my best to get cleaned up not having time to visit the barber or really do anything too fancy. At best I gave myself a shower, my best button up, and a nice slick back hairdo with the time I had. Pinkie meanwhile also forgot to tell anypony else as well so her hour turned into running around town rounding up the girls. Normally I wouldn’t think a relative coming into town was such a big deal but, given how social and friendly these ponies were it shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

Making my way over to the station to meet the others, Luna came with having run into me back at the house. Excited to meet a new friend she struggled to contain herself.

“We get to meet our friends eldest sister! What a special occasion!”

“Don’t judge me for saying this but how?”

“How not? It’s not every day you get to meet a ponies siblings specially one that is a friends. It should be a joyous occasion”

“Back on Earth we didn’t really see it as too much I’ll be honest. I mean it’s not like it’s rare and I’ll probably meet her several times again so I don’t get exactly what’s so exciting?”

“Maybe not rare for Earth but, for Equestria many pony families split up across the globe as time goes on. It’s rare for a pony to stay nearby or with family unless they are to hold duties of that of a farm or other family businesses. I know it might be hard for you to grasp, try thinking of it as a long lost relative you haven’t seen in years”

“It’s really that rare? How come ponies move around so much?”

“Genetics? We are unsure, it likely goes back to ages long ago where migration was more necessary for survival”

Giving only a ‘hm’ in response deciding it was good enough explanation for me, we came upon a few of the others already waiting in place. Although Pinkie was missing, Twilight, Dash, Apple Jack, and Fluttershy sat nearby on a few benches facing the tracks.

“Yo what’s up girls”

“What’s up- Joeeeeeyyyyy woah what’s with the hair? Trying to look good in front of the family?”

I tried my best to ignore Dash sitting beside Twilight.

“Where’s Pinkie?”

“Running off to get Rarity still but… looking at the clock over there they still got a few minutes”

Luna gathered over with the others gleefully cheering in excitement. They really were living up the moment.

“Did Pinkie spring this on you last minute?”

“Yeah… you could tell?”

She giggled running her hoof across my hair, “Can’t say I’ve ever seen a pony with this look”

“I tried okay? At least admire the hair”

“The hair does look good… you should dress up more often”

I smirked, “You like?”

“Save it for after ya big oaf” she giggled trying her best to ignore me.

“Maaybeee I come over late and we watch a movie or something? Heard they made one about that book you love, the crime and uhhh p word one. Potential?”

“Punishment and that actually sounds pretty fun” then looking around to make sure nopony was looking she whispered into my ear. “And maybe we could try out some other things I’ve been thinking about”

When she pulls away the snap of her bottom lip lights my face like a fire. Awkwardly I tried my best to relax before any other parts of my body deciding on acting up. This wouldn’t end up being much of a challenge anyways with Pinkie and Rarity’s sudden arrival as a nearby train made its way closer to station. Gasping for a breath Pinkie gave us all a raised hoof of appreciation.

“Thank you all for coming. I’m sure you’ll all get along great with my sister! She’s amazing!”

“I’m excited to meet another fellow farm pony like myself. Not easy findin many friends in this business”

“She’s even going for her rocktorate in rock science! Can you imagine that?”

“Wait she’s gettin her what?”

Twilight skipped over AJ now curious, “Her rocktorate hm? Sounds like she’s studious, you happen to know if she likes to read as well?”

“She loves to read! Actually she loves just about everything you girls like. She likes fashion, she loves her pet, she even likes to make rock candy necklaces every time we get together!” Clapping her hooves together I could tell she couldn’t wait to see her sister again.

“Well what about me? She like the wonderbolts or anything cool? Like games?”

“She loves games! She’s one of the best at smash the boulder back home. You all have to come and see it sometime or maybe we can play it later today!”

“Sounds like an awesome sister. How come you never told me about her? We never talk about your family”

A little shaken by the question she deflected with a giggle, “It wouldn’t be as big of a surprise if I did silly”

It came off a little weird to me but, for the others it probably looked normal. If not for our time spent together I too would’ve missed it as well. The main tell for me though was her nervous laugh, one she saved for seldom occasion. She did well to hide it seemingly on purpose so I saved my questions for a more appropriate time.

Luna cheesed away too blinded by her excitement to notice either, “Surprises are rather fun”

“She sounds like a great sister Pinkie and thankfully we won’t have long to wait to meet her. Even so, I would have appreciated a little more of a heads up”

“Yeah heheh my bad Twi”

Pulling into the station the train jolted with a steamy hiss having now reached its stop. Small, it held only five passenger carts not including the front and showed signs of heavy use with the painted wooden decor chipping away from the sides. Definitely from the outskirts the bad boy had passed it’s best days.

“There she is! Maud!” Taking off Pinkie hunted down a plain looking grey mare squeezing her with a hug.

As we approached a few things stuck out to me right away. Unlike her pink counterpart Maud lacked any sort of uniqueness with her dull colors and flat long mane. Plain as her style she wore no emotion as well beside the smallest twinge of a smile built around the corner of her mouth. Unsettled I couldn’t focus on it long given my attention was stolen the second I spotted the sweater like garb wrapped around her, the only sign of public decency I’d seen in over a year. Finally a pony that wears clothes.

I gave a sigh of relief overjoyed at the sight, knowing now there was no way we wouldn’t get along.

“This is my older sister Maud! Maud, these are my friends Twilight, Dashie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Apple Jack, and Joey!”

“Actually it’s Rainbow Dash but, you can call me Dash” not responding or really giving any sort of reaction at I sorta cringed at the pause.

Pinkie continued as if nothing had happened, “Joey’s not only one of my bestest most awesomenest friends but, my coltfriend as well!”

Turning her emotionless stare over to me I internally gulped, “H-heh yep, that’s me”

Again she stood silent which felt absolutely crazy to me. I was an alien and her sisters ‘secret’ coltfriend! How could she not care!?

Unable to handle any more awkwardness Twilight piped in, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Maud! Pinkie was telling us about how wonderful a sister you were. Personally I was a little curious once I heard you were a student so I was wondering if there was any books in particular you might recommend?”

Then finally she spoke carrying little to no tone. A voice boring enough to make me worry at what was bound to come.

“I like poetry”

“Oh… is there uh any author in specific you like? Anything by Quill and Ink or Flourish Prose?”

“I prefer to read my own poetry”

“Maud is an amazing writer!” Pinkie exclaimed much too excited.

“That’s great too, I wouldn’t mind hearing some of your writing later if that’s okay with you?”

“It’s okay”

Pushing past Twilight, Rarity approached with her attention straight on Maud’s outfit. “I heard you also enjoy fashion”

“I like to express myself through my clothing”

“And what does todays outfit say?”

“Nothing. Clothes can’t talk” I could tell she was honestly confused at the question.

“W-why… of course cause… errr”

“I heard you got a pet. Fluttershy here has tons of pets back at her cottage and loves takin care of animals”

“I do have a pet. He’s in my pocket”

“Why I bet he’s just the cutest little fella. Can we see him?”

Taking a hoof to her pocket she pulls out a small stone, letting it fall to the ground in dramatic silence. It was a literal mic drop and nearly sent me into a laughing fit from the absurdity. I had to actually bite my finger just to calm down.

“He’s a rock. His names Boulder. I carry him everywhere”

Cant laugh… Pinkie will get upset… my god I wanna laugh!

Not helping things at all Dash nearly blew a gasket at the sight. Like an angry cat her mane even ruffled up! With a shake of her head she was the last one to try and relate.

“Pinkie said you like games”

Without blinking her stone like figure slightly shifted toward Dash, “Sometimes me and Boulder play hide and seek. It can take hours”

“Probably cause Boulders really good at it I bet! How about we play hide and seek with Boulder right now? Games are the best way to start off a day!”

An actual hour passed. A literal hour. We spent our time actually looking for a rock. Now you’re probably thinking ‘why wouldn’t you just say you don’t want to play’ or something like that. Maybe even give up? How about you give up huh? I can’t say that shit to Pinkies sister I just met! What kind of example does that set? That I’m a quitter and no fun? Speaking of no fun searching for a rock sure hits the nail on the metaphorical coffin.

Shifting through my own pile grumbling to nopony in particular I was interrupted by Dash’s furious poking.

“Ow, hey what the fuck?” I whispered. “What was that for?”

Loudly and desperate, she whispered back, “Say something to Pinkie! If I have to spend another minute looking for a pebble I’m going to scream”

“I can’t do that!”

“Why cause it’s rude? You know what’s actually rude? Making us search for a fuckin pebble!”

“C-could you keep it down?! I get it’s fucking stupid alright, and I’m miserable doing this too but, Maud is Pinkie’s sister and she’s trying to make friends with us okay? It shouldn’t take being the friendship princess to figure that out”

“Ugh this is stupid. Tell her uh… tell her… tell her anything, I can’t keep doing this! It feels like I’m one of those ponies with the big ball and chain smacking rocks all day in prison. It’s going to make me go insane”

“That’s not actually a thing in this day in age is it still?”

“That’s- Joey! Grrrr!” Making sure to windup real good for her kick I braced for impact using my shoulder.

“Girls! Maud found him!” Pinkie shouted freezing us both.

Tracing a hoof from her eyes to mine Dash made it clear she wouldn’t soon forget. I took the precautionary warning by mouthing ‘sorry’ to which she returned a head shake and face hoof. Potentially I had skated free but after what happened next my fate would be up for question.

“He was in my pocket”

Letting loose the pebble in dramatic fashion once more I could feel the steam building in the mare behind me.

“OH COME ON!”

“That was fun and all but, maybe you should show Maud around town a bit and catch up? Maybe you two could meet with each of us again later today?”

Heeding Twilights advice without noticing the clear desperation, Pinkie leaped into the air at the idea.

“That sounds like a great idea Twilight! Alright Maud follow me! Our first stop I’ll show you Sugar Cube Corner!” She bounced off leaving the queer mare behind in a hurry.

With a blank stare back she headed off following Pinkie, leaving me with a shiver.

Dash exploded, “How could she be Pinkie’s sister? They were nothing alike!”

“She sure was… unique”

“Unique? Rarity she was down right weird!”

“It what way was she weird?”

Remembering Luna’s quirkiness, she likely struggled to see how she was any different from most ponies. Mainly due to a lack of experience Maud must have come off as just shy.

“Uhhh I don’t know maybe all the staring without talking!?”

“Perhaps she is a good listener”

Oh Luna you innocent soul

“I’ll be honest I wasn’t sure if it were a joke at first knowin Pinkie an all but, I kinda get the feeling that wasn’t the case”

Sensing the overwhelming tide Twilight tried her best to help reel in the worry, “She was probably nervous. I know I was nervous when I first moved to Ponyville and met you all and I bet you all had your opinions of me right away too. I think we all should try meeting her on our own and reserving any judgement until then. How’s that sound?”

“I guess but if she tries to make me play that rock game again Twilight I swear…”

“Give her chance okay?”

“…fine”

“Great! So who wants to meet her first?”

Back at home with Luna my gut swirled around in anticipation. That whole first impression was terrible. From the awkward no reply to the shitty game, I had felt almost no relatable vibes. She was a walking rock! Emotionless!

“Joey must you pace about while we read? It is quite distracting”

I had completely forget she was there, resting near the side of the couch with reading glasses perched at her muzzles end. In magic she held a large blue book, a romance novel she recently found herself glued to. It was another one of her phases now completely lost in the world of romantic writing. Even going as far as meeting with Twilight and Rarity within the dreamscape for their nightly book club. She would deny her addiction however, simply stating that it was just ‘dabbling’.

“Sorry”

I sat down beside her on the couch spilling over the many possibilities of her arrival in my head. What she could ask, what she could say, and worst of all what opinion of me she might take back to Pinkie’s family. The last thing I needed was to not have her fathers approval. Shaking my head it wasn’t the time to be thinking about marriage plus I wouldn’t need his approval anyway.

With a sigh Luna placed the book to the side patting her lap, “Come. We cannot stand to see you so worked up”

Doing as she asks I place my head down on her lap facing away toward the fireplace. Her hoof made its way through my long swept back hair as she hummed lightly in delight.

“You know you have a lovely mane for not being a pony”

“T-thanks…”

“Tis nothing to be embarrassed about. Plenty of stallions keep long manes nowadays. Why we saw a stallion just the other day wearing eye liner! T’would cause an uproar had it been when we were a filly. The youth is much-“

“Luna please don’t refer to me as the youth”

“And what was it your age was again?”

“Twenty… two?”

“Thou forget their own age?” She replied confused.

“I was twenty one I think when I first arrived here? It’s definitely been over a year so… I’m probably twenty two”

A wave of dread washed over her expression and a hoof made it’s way to her mouth in stunned realization.

“We… missed thou’s birthday…”

“I did too so don’t feel bad”, I snickered. “Sorta got swept under the rug with the whole transferred to a new reality thing. That mixed with the different year length crap makes remembering my birthday a teeny bit harder”

“Then we still could celebrate, even pick a date you would figure most aligns. I am sure Pinkie would like that very much as well given her… inclinations”

“Yeah but, I never liked celebrating my birthday anyways. Felt kinda stupid rewarding someone for not dying one more year. That and all the attention was yucky”

She simply rolled her eyes, “Once word gets to Miss Pie it will not be your say. Might as well make the decision before it is made for you”

“Ugh… I’ll do it later, maybe sometime this week. Maybe never”

“Good however, I do not believe we have gotten to the crux of thou’s worry so would you mind explaining the reasoning behind our interrupting reading?”

“Maud” Luna doesn’t budge, patiently waiting for me to continue. “Okay it’s more then just Maud, I’m worried about what she’ll say to Pinkie’s family when she gets back. What if they don’t like me?”

“Pfft please, there are much worse stallions Pinkie could have fallen for then thou. They will love you, I am sure”

“What if they’re all like Maud?”

“You do not even know if she dislikes you, why speculate? These issues are only living within thou’s imagination. Simply take a pause to clear your thoughts and focus on the now”

I took a few deep breathes to calm myself, noticing the warm touch of Luna’s legs beneath my head once I had settled. Her gentle stroking through my hair helped soothe me as well, slowly leading me to a much desired nap. Heavy, my eyelids struggled to stay open. Partnered with the soft humming of Luna’s voice I felt my strength leave me. Only her sudden question kept me from slumber.

“Has thou been attending their therapy sessions as suggested?”

Smacking my lips I flipped around facing Luna, “You’re asking cause you know I haven’t been to one in a while aren’t you?”

“Our sister had sent a letter. Is there a reason you’ve stopped?”

“Haven’t felt the need to… also you used another contraction”

“Joey we are serious! You made such great strides since attending them. What if you digress?”

I sat up, flipping her over to be the one laying on top instead. With a boop to her nose I smiled, “That’s not going to happen. I feel way better now”

Worried her focused shifted around the room searching for the right words to say. After a few seconds her glimmering eyes met mine, “There is a certain… night coming. What are we to do if something were to happen?”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll spend the whole night with you to keep you from worrying. How about that?”

Still unsure she conceited with a nuzzle, “You keep this mare restless, I swear”

“Perhaps I could help?”

Raising a brow she smirked, “Go on”

I leaned in slightly meeting her gaze with purpose. Without saying a word or making a gesture we both knew what we wanted. Our desire drew us in closer until her hot breath could be felt against me, an insatiable urge. Soft. The only word my brain could comprehend, her passionate touch intoxicating. I was lost in the embrace, engulfed in her scent absorbing every fine detail of Luna I could.

Selfishly I wished to go on yet my body begged for a break and so I caught the cold air now separating us. Her beautiful teal eyes sparkled brightly almost sucking me back in immediately however, I happened to notice her own huffing, clearly spent herself. We stayed interlocked as if blinking itself could somehow awake us from a dream.

“W-we…we need…” she blushed, much too flustered to finish.

As if I could read her mind just from staring she noticed the change in my expression.

“Y-You sure?”

“…yes”

Met again with her lips I am tangled in a mess of hooves and feathers, lost in the heavy smell of lilac. Gentle in her touch she still was inexperienced bumping her horn against me and causing us both to have a momentary laugh. She brushed against my cheek rubbing her soft fur against me while finding a comfortable spot nuzzled against my neck. I gave a playful suck into her own drawing a sharp chirp devolving us both into laughter.

“That tickles!”

I gave another, this time causing less of a reaction and more of a moan to which her hooves scrambled for something to squeeze. Without warning she made her way up my shirt running across my abs and chest with her long legs. She kissed against my cheek admiring my features with a slow methodic rub. It became hot, in more then one way.

“You’re fuckin hot”

“Are we?” She rubbed lower, tracing down my stomach and stopped slightly above my waist.

The teasing was becoming a problem and when I looked to Luna it was clearly an issue for her as well. She was the reddest I’d ever seen her and almost looked as if she might fizzle out at any moment, her eyes in a daze. She lusted for more.

“Joey… we must…” I nodded reaching to remove my shirt.

“JOEY MAUD’S HERE TO MEET YOU! SHE’S SUPER EXCITED!” In a flop we both fell to the floor scrambling.

Hidden by the couch I bravely peaked over seeing the two sisters near the door which drew Pinkie over in a hurry.

“Hey watcha doin on the floor?”

“Uh ya know, just laying around”

“And how come Lulu’s on the floor too? We’re you two playing some new game without me? You know I love new games, how could you!?”

I stood up ruffling Pinkies mane and checking over to our guest, her focus more towards the decorations of our home. Maud seemed to had found particular interest in some of the photos Pinkie and I took together during our trip with the Apples.

“That was a trip Pinkie and I went on with one of our friends, the orange cowpony you met, Apple Jack”

Grabbing one of the picture frames Pinkie pointed to one of us falling down a waterfall. I myself was catapulted away from the boat screaming in terror.

“This is when we fell down a waterfall! It was so much fun!”

“Looks fun” her emotion didn’t match her words.

“Anyways this is Joey! He’s my awesome, funny, handsome, colt friend! He’s amazing at everything! Except not worrying, he’s always doing that”

Shaking my head at Pinkie I fail to notice Maud breaking my personal bubble, her face near inches from me. With a few sniffs she pulled away.

“You smell like Pinkie”

“I erm.. we use the same shampoo… saves bits plus I kinda like it” I already felt uncomfortable.

“Also this is Luna- I mean Lulu. I don’t think she introduced herself when you first met but that’s okay cause we can just do that right now like we’re doing!” With the attention spanning over to Luna I realized I wasn’t the only one feeling uncomfortable.

Thankfully while hidden behind the couch she used the time to disguise yet her face still remained red, “Hello, like Pinkie said my name is Lulu Moonlight. It’s a pleasure to meet you”

Tilting her head slightly Maud looked to Luna confused about something. It’s not until she spoke again that my heart nearly fell out of my chest.

“I’m Maud, Pinkies sister. You look like princess Luna”

“W-well I uhhh… get t-that a lot! M-maybe we’re related like long distant cousins heh heh…” she was as rattled as me.

“Anywho since this is your first time meeting Maud and there’s going to be like a bazillion times that we have fun together in the future I might as well teach you how to make rock candy!”

“Rock candy? Like the sugary hard candy?”

“Duh, what other kind of candy is called rock candy silly?” Taking Maud by the shoulder she pulled her over to the kitchen. “Cmon I’ll show you how to make it and then we can make necklaces for each other! You’ll be like us two”

Sure as shit I hadn’t even noticed the candy necklaces around both their necks. Simplistic in design they were a shiny colorful display of many shapes and sizes held together by thin string. The many ‘rocks’ were almost round in shape much larger then any rock candy I’d seen before.

Unfortunately I wasn’t a very big fan of rock candy but, I wouldn’t dare sour the mood. Looking back to Luna she shrugs, slightly relieved at her disguise working. Guess we were learning how to make candy today.

Fast forwarding a bit the four of us sat around Pinkie in a circle wearing our aprons and chef hats dressed for the situation. It wasn’t my choice but after Luna and Pinkie found my pony sized apron to be too hilarious to remove I made the rest of them dress accordingly as well.

“Okay so who wants to pick out the flavors?”

I raised a hand confused, “I thought they all tasted the same right? It’s just water, sugar, and syrup”

Surprisingly Maud answered, “Pinkie makes it different”

I sat expecting more from her answer but instead only received a blank stare.

“I use fruit juice, soda, water, sparkling water, Ponyrade, and sometimes… sometimes I even use vodka”

That sounds gross, “Okay but I don’t think we have many options in the fridge Pinkie, I haven’t been to the store-“

“Me and Maud went before we came here! I bought all types of different options and Maud picked out the seltzer”

Course she did cause it tastes like CHALK!

Luna dug through the grocery bags beside me with her tail whipping side to side, “Could we use this grape juice?”

Placing it on the counter I dug through the options as well seeing that she wasn’t lying when she said she brought options. She had to have spent almost a hundred bits on all of this! To make things worse there wasn’t even a flavor I really desired looking into it.

“Actually I’m all for the grape flavor as well”

“Okay and I’ll use… strawberries!”

Taking all of our choices and shoving the rest to the side Pinkie started filing a pot immediately with ingredients. Eventually she had Luna help as well, showing the ropes to a good candy necklace. I sorta stood by and watched as Maud also stirred a pot of her own to the side. Not long after we started, all of our necklaces lay resting in their candy solutions waiting to crystallize.

“Now we have to wait an hour until they’re done and everypony gets to enjoy their candy! So I’m the meantime let’s play a game to get to know each other better”

Not wasting a moment she dove into the hallway closet quickly pulled out a game of ‘cards against Equestria’. It was her most recent favorite and relatively new to Equestria although much more family friendly then it’s Earthly counterpart. I didn’t mind it though as it only made it that much funnier when I finally did make the game vulgar.

Flipping out cards to all of us Pinkie slapped the first black card down while I explained the game to Luna. With Maud as the first judge I figured it would take a real good card to get a laugh… if she even could.

“-and whatever card Maud thinks is the best wins and that person gets one black card”

“And you win once you have collected five of those correct?”

“Actually it’s whatever amount you want it to be! I only said five cause our candy might be done by then”

“Hm, then consider our card the best” placing one down she purposely slid it right in front of Maud.

“No ya goof it’s supposed to be anonymous who uses each card to make things fair. Ya can’t make somepony pick your card Lu”

“Perhaps…. until they are persuaded”

I shook my head going through my own deck checking over my options and back to the black card in front. It read, ‘I’m sure glad I had ______ for grandma’, prompting for my card to fill the blank space. Between all seven of my options I was stuck between using ‘a slippery hoof’ and ‘a gentle yet persuasive force’. After debating over the two I settled with a slippery hoof hoping the other card might come in handy later. Sliding my card forward for Maud to shuffle she flipped them all over not changing once in emotion. She didn’t even read them aloud.

“This one”

Pushing a card aside with a hoof we all peered to see the winner. ‘A large boulder’.

Pinkie jumped for joy, “Yay! That’s my card! Okay Joeys the judge now!”

“W-wait what about my card? A slippery hoof is pretty good!”

Raising an eyebrow Maud met my confusion, “Why would that be helpful?”

God please help me for I might lose my patience with this mare

Now judge I pulled from the black card pile reading the sentence aloud, “Ah blank, my favorite pastime”

Without wasting a second Pinkie slammed down her card giggling, “Heheh mines a winner”

Maud followed next placing her card without a word while Luna was the last pushing her card toward me with a wink. Her persistence was worthy of a chuckle but, not a free win and so I shuffled and read aloud the cards left from right.

“Ah, stealing charitable donations, my favorite pastime”

Trying to appear innocent Pinkie looked around, “Wow who put that one? That’s a pretty good card”

Okay so that was Pinkies

“Ah, the muffin stallion, my favorite pastime”

Luna immediately outed herself, “I didn’t have a good card I swear!”

Shaking my head I read the last card, “Ah, a hard days work, my favorite pastime. Hm… innocent as the last one is which kinda makes it funny I still gotta go with the first card”

“Yes!!!!” Pinkie hoof pumped in excitement. “I liked your card Maud”

She didn’t react simply drawing another white card to her deck. “Mine wasn’t supposed to be funny”

This is going to be a long game isn’t it?

Finally after a somehow painful game of cards against Equestria, Pinkie stood victorious while the next closest sat Luna. It truly came down to a game of who had the most rock related or serious cards and completely derailed my plans of winning. Of course I never was that competitive so I still aimed for laughs which Luna and Pinkie appreciated but, I couldn’t crack Maud. In fact I hadn’t seen her smile once.

Lost in my own failure to relate with Maud even a little, I was startled by a shout from the kitchen, “Candies done!”

Trying out the candy necklace it was surprisingly more flavorful then I’d remembered before making me realize either my grandmas rock candy kinda sucked or Pinkies was just that good. Sucking away on the sharp rock like a jawbreaker I had noticed Maud was the only one to not make a move toward her necklace, settling for wearing it around her neck. Chewing on her own Pinkie had spotted my staring and was kind enough to explain.

“Oh Maud always saves her necklace for later, she’s kind of a light eater”

Bumping into me Luna pulled at my waist, “Could you share some of yours? I am curious of the flavor” and as she spoke I saw her already purple colored tongue.

“Uh yeah sure”

With a quick crunch I then remembered we had picked the same flavor. Luna looked too cute admiring the flavor and covered in sugary crumbs to be mad with so I let it slide handing her some more. She even made happy little stomps when she saw I had more, eating them from my hand.

Maud broke her silence, “I have to use the restroom”

“It’s right down the hall that way” Pinkie pointed still chewing away.

Patiently I waited for Maud to leave quickly whispering over to Pinkie, “I’m going to be brutally honest Pink and I know you’re not going to like what I have to say but, I don’t think me and Maud are ever going to be friends. We’re just too different and she.. clearly seems to be not having fun”

“What are you taking about? Maud is having a blast! She just doesn’t show it like other ponies but, I can still tell. Call it sisterly prowess”

“Are you sure? I’m not exactly getting the same vibe here. Well, really any vibe”

Gobbling up the last of her candy she smacked her hoofs together to shake off some of the sugar before placing a hoof to her chin.

“Hm… maybe there’s a way I could prove it to you and the rest of the girls so that you’ll believe me”

“So I wasn’t the only one?”

Pinkies mane deflated a little but she held her smile. Unfortunately I could still see it was an act with her eyes giving away the worry.

“All the girls had… well… I sorta kinda hoped that maybe when Maud met you that we’d find at least one pony that liked her. I even told her you had to like her, cause you get along with everypony! You even put up with me…”

Sinking to the floor Pinkie melted into a puddle of herself hiding behind her hooves. I turned around making a motion for some privacy from Luna which she nodded understandably back, taking the rest of my candy with her. Finally gone I sat down next to Pinkie slowly rubbing her back as she sulked.

“I’m sorry Pinkie… if it makes things any better I can still try and be friends with her. It’s not like I dislike the mare I just don’t relate with her. It’s almost like… like walking in a maze to find out what topics might not lead to a dead end and even if I have the map, the solution, I still don’t know much about geology or rocks and that stuff. Maybe there’s a way she can relate with us all that includes rocks or something, I don’t know”

Snapping out of her funk in an instant she jumped up into the air, catching the magically appeared lightbulb above her head and tossing it into the trash.

“I have an idea! Meet us both by the lake in thirty minutes”

“Was that a lightbulb? Pinkie what’s going on? What are we doing?”

Coming back from the bathroom Pinkie grabbed Maud in a hurry and rushed out of the house screaming back to me, “And bring Luna- Lulu too!”

Confused a slightly worried at whatever terrifying idea she just conjured, I remained seated until Luna appeared back from where Pinkie had left, face still covered in candy.

“What was that?”

“Pinkie had an idea… also get over here, your face is a mess”

“A mess? Why surely you would not think we would actually consider the fact our face was filthy, specially after such a small treat and our proper etiquette experience”

“Yeah okay Lu then would you mind explaining this?”

Wiping the candy from her face it stained the sleeve of my shirt heavily causing a feint blush to rush toward her face.

“Why that sleeve was dirty before! Clearly caused from your own tasting!”

“Luna you ate all my candy…”

“…so we did”

Running into a few of the others on our way over I could tell the mood was definitely not good. Most of the girls looked tired and unsure if it was too late to head back now. They all were trying their best to keep their composures… well almost all of them, Dash was definitely pissed and not afraid to hide it. Maud must have given them the same treatment I received.

Distracted as I relived the horror of playing hide and seek again, apparently Dash snapped.

“-AND THEN she said she doesn’t even care about winning! …. WINNING!!!”

Rarity scoffed, “That is nothing dearie, you should have experienced the hour of torture I went through just to get a single design for the mare only to find out it would be the EXACT SAME THING SHE WAS WEARING!! The audacity she has to even suggest she’s into fashion!”

“Ever listen to somepony else’s poetry for an hour?” We all winced in pain for Twilight equally.

“Well I fer one don’t ever want to remember what I went through again but I was sorta curious bout how it went with with Joey seein how she’s Pinkies sister and all”

Much too cheerfully Twilight made her way between Luna and I expecting good news only to be met with my defeated expression.

“It uh.. it didn’t go well did it?”

“We had a decent time I would say?” Luna butted in. “We played a game of cards and even made these delicious candy necklaces which by the way we will need more ingredients for on our way home so do not forget to remind us”

Bumping my hip with her hoof, Twilights faith had returned, “That sounds nice huh? So why the long face?”

Turning to face her stiff as stone I didn’t give a single emotion, “Twilight I can’t relate with that mare, she’s too much… or in this case too little. There’s literally nothing we have in common and her sense of humor is unbelievably dry and when I say dry I mean like drinking a glass of sand on the sun”

“Luna made it seem like a good time, maybe you’re overreacting”

“Shit I hope so”

Reaching the outskirts of town and crossing over a few of the grassy hills around the Everfree forest out final stop eventually came into view. There it was our little hangout spot only something was different. Was it the changing of the leaves colors? No. Was it the lack of Pinkie Pie greeting us with exuberance? No. Maybe it was the ridiculous gauntlet of many swinging dangers that did it? Yea, probably.

“What in tarnation?”

“Oh gosh”

“Goodness”

“Woah”

“Huuuuhhhhh?”

“What a joyous opportunity!” We all turned to the sound of Luna’s clapping, the attention slowly slowing her down to a stop. “What? Does this not scream fun?”

“Hiya girls! Over here!”

Ecstatically Pinkie shouted over to us jumping up and down while Maud sat nearby wearing a strange helmet of some sort. Not until we got much closer did it become clear it’s resemblance to that of stereotypical chopper gang helmet, like straight out of a movie. Even had the pointless dangerous spike on top to boot!

Following one of the massive swinging logs nearby Twilight winced with worry, “Pinkie what is this?”

“It’s an obstacle course and not just any ole regular one neither! Nope, it’s my ‘Maud shows everypony how cool she is so that everypony becomes friends course of friendship’! I made the name up a few minutes ago”

I could only sigh, rubbing frustrated circles into my forehead before the pain finally stopped me.

“Pinkie nopony is doing this obstacle course, it’s ridiculously unsafe. I mean look at that part, what is that? A swinging axe tightrope walk? Are you trying to kill somepony?”

“What?! It has to be this scary otherwise the purpose wouldn’t be in the name! All of you have been trying to be friends with Maud so hard and… and I know Maud would like the same, she’s been trying too so I figured this would be an amazing opportunity for everypony”

“By putting Maud’s life in danger? Pinkie I don’t have to think a ponies cool or funny or relatable to be friends with them”

Way too certain of her idea she didn’t even seem to hear the last part stepping back some toward her course.

“It’s not dangerous! Look, I’ll prove it by doing it first”, Then in a flash she took off climbing onto the gauntlet.

“PINKIE!”

The girls gasped in surprise and my eyes bulged in disbelief. Even Maud seemed to shift in her posture as if to stop her.

Absolutely terrified for her well-being I grabbed Twilight immediately, “Twilight you gotta stop her!”

“A-and do what?! Grab her with my magic? What if I make a mistake and she gets hurt?”

I turn back for a second seeing her already dip and weave through several fiery hoops instantly reigniting my panic, “She’s going to get hurt anyway! You gotta do something!”

“Yelling at me isn’t going to fix anything alright!?”

I turned to Luna just as desperate, “Luna?! Please?”

Uncomfortable with the decision she shook her head, “Twilight is right, it would be unwise to attempt to stop her now”

Ungifted myself I had no choice but to pray she made it through at this point. Closing my eyes I listened to the others reactions until Luna tapped my shoulder. After what felt like the longest three minutes of my life I opened my eyes with relief. Thankfully with relative ease Pinkie made it to the end standing atop a large pile of rocks nearly thirty feet high. Laughing and dancing she pointed down to us.

“See? It wasn’t dangerous at all! Even I could do it and I’m no where near as impressive as Maud”

I was fired up, pissed at her carelessness. I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if she got hurt! “Okay great Pinkie you proved your point now get down!”

“Oookaaaayyy”

With a leap she started sliding down the rocks drawing out the breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding. Dizzy from the moment I felt like sitting down, my chest painfully throbbing as well. Was I having a panic attack? It had been so long since the last.

“AHH! My hoof!” Pinkies shout brought my attention back along with a rush of adrenaline.

Stuck between two rocks she fought to free herself in pain. I didn’t hesitate this time rushing over and climbing up to help her while the rest of the girls followed behind. Much further ahead I reached her with some considerable space between myself and the next mare.

She grasped at her leg with teary eyes, the appendage slightly wedged between the two boulders.

“Ow… I think I rolled it”

“I’m going to get you free okay? Here let me lift this real quick” with most of my strength I pushed at the boulder shifting her free with a yelp.

She protected her leg instantly with her body groaning from the pain. Terrified it was much worse then a sprain I kneeled down beside her carefully pulling her hoof away.

“Let me see it” it wasn’t discolored but did appear a little swollen already. “Here I’m going to pick you up okay? We’re heading home and this whole Maud friend gauntlet thing, is over”

“B-but-“

“We’re not going to argue. You gave me a fucking heart attack Pinkie, don’t ever do something like this again”

Sniffling quietly she still held her leg facing toward the ground, “…sorry”

I sighed, placing my forehead against her own. With a whisper I stopped her crying. “I can’t lose you… alright?”

She wiped away at her tears nodding and snuggled close in my arms. I felt bad for the way I acted but, now wasn’t really the time to apologize. Scooping her up I spun around getting ready to head back down but, stopped when I noticed the still considerable gap between myself and the next pony. In fact everypony was looking at me… or were they? Was it something behind me?

“JOEY LOOK OUT!”

Before I could even look a flash of grey shot behind me leaving a thunderous crunch in its wake. When I finally did turn around all that was left was Maud and a split boulder beside her. She had saved my life. In a hurry she brushed her face against Pinkies.

“Are you okay?” Her eyes darted over Pinkie worried.

“Y-yeah… think I just rolled my ankle heheh… ow”

Still in my arms their embrace was a little awkward but seemingly enough for Maud. She pulled away suddenly, her brow furrowed in anger.

“Why did you do that?”

“I wanted you to be friends with my friends and I figured if they saw how amazing you really were that you’d all have to be friends”

“Pinkie… your friends don’t have to like me for us to get along. Haven’t you noticed how much they tried already? I know I’m not the most interesting pony or the most fun but that doesn’t mean we can’t all spend time together. Maybe from now on whenever I come to visit it can just be the two of us for a weekend? How’s that? That way I won’t be a bother for your friends”

Pinkies mane deflated covering half of her blushing face, “I-I… I’m sorry Maud and I’m sorry girls. I never meant for anything like this to happen. I just wanted everypony to be friends and hangout together but I guess I was being too needy”

“Actually-“ I spoke up, “-I think we can be great friends after all”

Confused Maud tilted her head, “How’s that?”

“Well for starters you just saved my life but, let’s get Pinkie some ice for her leg and I’ll explain more”

We all headed back to my place meeting in my living room around the fireplace. Sitting on the couch I played with Pinkies mane as she rested in my lap, her ankle wrapped in a few gauzes and an ice pack. Given the days outdoorsy chill we all settled in for some hot chocolate relaxing and joking around. It was then I explained.

“I mean since we all love this chaotic little pink mare here-“ I said while squeezing her cheek, “-I know for a fact we can be friends”

A little unsure still Maud took a sip from her drink, “You think that would be enough?”

I took one long look at Pinkie, soaking in her presence. “Yeah… in fact I consider you friend already”

To my amazement and the other mares around Maud did something next that blew our minds. She smiled. Not anything egregious or excessive but a small grin at the corner of her lip. Enough so to force a smile out of us all.

“Hm… that’s… nice. A friend. Friends. I’ve never had friends before”

“Well then Maud consider us your first! I’m sure I speak for us all when I saw you’re welcome to stay in Ponyville with us whenever you like”

It was a shared sentiment to which everypony nodded in agreement to Mauds surprise. Obviously she wasn’t used to the hospitality and quickly found herself lost for words, taking a drink from her mug instead to hide her smile.

“See Maud? I told ya they’d love you! How couldn’t they you’re like the most awesomest bestest sister a pony could have! Just don’t tell Marble and Limestone I said that” she giggled.

“And Maud what Twilight said was true. If you ever feel like stopping by to see Pinkie, my door will always be open”

“Yep and since were all friends now what about staying one more night and leaving in the morning? We can have lots of fun still today I mean it’s only like five or six”

All too calm Maud made her way over to Pinkie patting her sisters head with a hoof, “Actually Pinkie, I think I’ve overstayed my welcome. You should know as much as anypony how much I’m needed back at the farm”

“Tis only an extra night, why not stay?” Luna didn’t even bother to change her tone.

She took a long look back to her sister before answering, “I don’t want to miss my train”

The group bellowed in a disappointed groan.

Hesitant, Pinkie poked me, “Joey could you walk Maud to the station for me? My hoof still hurts too much and I usually wave her off”

Taking a few looks between the sisters I could feel an alternative motive. It was an odd request but, I wouldn’t dare deny.

“Sure”

Alone together at the station the two of us didn’t talk much. The only real conversation we did have was about the candy necklace still untouched around her neck.

“Still not hungry enough for that necklace?”

Looking down as if to check it was still there she grinned once she spotted it. “Actually I don’t like rock candy but, I know Pinkie loves it and that’s good enough for me”

She about exploded my heart, “You really do love Pinkie. I’m glad her sister is such a great pony”

“I’m glad you’re her coltfriend”

“Oh please, I’m a piece of work. I’m the lucky one”

“No I mean it. I never thought Pinkie would grow up when she left the farm but, seeing how she is now… I’m sure you had some role to play”

“So this is her grown up?”

She almost chuckled from the thought, “Yes. She’s all grown up now. Though I never imagined she’d court a pony so… normal”

“Me? I’m normal?” I pointed to myself in disbelief.

“Seem to be the voice of reason from what I saw”

“Well at least some ponies understand what I go through”

Pulling up to the station the same old rickety train from this morning arrived again and with an ear piercing screech came to a halt. Picking herself up Maud started her way off giving me a wave goodbye to which I returned until she disappeared inside.

She was a strange mare that’s for sure but, even stranger it kinda made sense she was Pinkies sister. I’m sure her other sisters make up emotions Pinkie and Maud are missing like some sort of cruel joke on genetics.

“Joey” Mauds voice from the train window startled me but got my attention. “Make sure to keep Pinkie happy. She’s a light for us all”

“I will… and Maud, thanks for well… saving my life earlier. That was pretty amazing”

“Meh, it was just a boulder” She was all too serious, climbing back down into her seat and vanishing into the train.

With a loud squealing horn she shrunk into the horizon leaving me to my short walk home. I guess if there was anything I learned from today it was that I shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Otherwise I could miss out, miss out on someone amazing.