One sunny afternoon, Maud brought her new friend Starlight to a cave where lied a rock she wanted to show her.



"Here." the earth pony told her with a neutral tone.

"Mmm. What's so special about that peridot?" the unicorn questioned her.

"This gem have been there for centuries. It is also the only one I found in this cave and...."

"But it's still a gem." the purple mare interrupted her.

"No. There is something else.... disturbing." the gray mare continued. "I've been in this cave many times to check this particular rock. Sometimes, I can heard a voice coming from it."

"Huh? Wait a minute! Are you trying to scare me or freak me out again?" the unicorn asked her.

"Not this time. It even called me a 'clut' because I refused to help her." the earth pony replied.

"Her?" Starlight replied, surprised.

"The voice was feminine." Maud answered.

"Okay. What now?" she asked her friend.

"I thought that you would tell me." the gray mare replied.

"Me? I"m not rockologist, even less a geologist."

"You know magic, right?" asked Maud.

"Yes, but... This is out of league! And I studied a lot of books of magic in my life!" the purple mare quickly replied. "Mmm. I guess we better show this gem to Twilight, then."

"No." the earth pony replied.

"What? Why?"

"She is not a close friend like you."

"What's the problem? You want answers, right? She is more qualified and knowlegable than me on that domain. Besides, she is your sister's closest friends." the unicorn told her.

"She may want to remove it from the stone." replied Maud.

"What's wrong about that? And knowing her, she wouldn't." Starlight retorted.

"I have a bad feeling that this gem was put there for a reason." the gray mare said with a worried tone.

"Huh?" said the purple mare before taking a closer look at the base of the gem. "Mmm."

"Also, there was something else I wanted to show you." the earth pony added.

"Oh? What is it?" asked the unicorn.

"Even wanted a place to hide from Pinkie's pinkie sense?" asked Maud.

"Okay. Now you got me interested."



BEautiful work