In 1030 *A.L.E., Matilda 'Maud' Pie escaped from Shawflank Prison. All they found of her was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub. I remember thinking it would take an Earth Pony six hundred years to tunnel through the wall with it. Old Maud did it in less than twenty. Oh, Maud loved geology. I imagine it appealed to her meticulous nature. An ice age here, million years of mountain building there. Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure, and time. That, and a big goddamn poster. Like I said, in prison a pony will do most anything to keep his mind occupied. Turns out Maud's favorite hobby was totin' her wall out into the exercise yard, a hoofull at a time. I guess after Tommy was killed, Maud decided she'd been here just about long enough. Maud did like she was told, buffed those horseshoes to a high mirror shine. The guards simply didn't notice. Neither did I... I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a pony's horseshoes? Maud crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want to. Five hundred yards... that's the length of five hoofball fields, just shy of half a mile.



Not long after the warden deprived us of his company, I got a postcard in the mail. It was blank, but the postmark said Fort Hancock. Fort Hancock... right on the border. That's where Maud crossed. When I picture her heading south in her own car with the top down, it always makes me laugh. Maud Pie... who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side. Maud Pie... headed for the coast.



I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free pony can feel, a free pony at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake her hoof. I hope the ocean is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.



