# Ponyfinder: Roots of Stone

## by David Silver

### 47 - Home Rest

Maud awoke to a mild surprise. Surrounding her were a variety of small round stones. She moved to rise to find that she was still quite sore and beaten from the battle. Burned, pummeled, but... victorious?

"Is that you, Maud?" Tabitha came in, wearing an apron over her usual clothes. "I sent the others to sleep. Did it work?"

"Did what work?" She slowly sat up on her haunches, breathing slowly and a bit roughly. "What happened?"

Tabitha gestured to the rocks. "I thought some rocks might help you."

Maud looked around at the circle of stones again. Her nose danced lightly. "Not my favorite. Not bad though." She reached for one and chewed into it as one would a loaf a bread, chewing softly. "Thanks."

Tabitha smiled brightly at the acceptance and sat in front of Maud, hands in her lap. "Are you feeling alright? You took a bit of a beating for us today. Thank you for that, by the way. You were amazing!"

Maud regarded Tabitha a moment. "You must be amazing too."

Tabitha blinked at that. "Not that I doubt you, but what makes you think that? I'm not a pony, or a princess."

Maud reached out and put a hoof dead center to Tabitha's chest. "You remind me of somepony. You can be whatever you want to be." She crunched softly on the remainder of her rock, swallowing it with a mildly content expression. "Even a pony. Nothing could stop her from being whatever she wanted." She glanced away, then back at Tabitha. "May I tell you a secret?"

Tabitha was almost vibrating with excitement. "Oh, please. I won't tell a soul."

"Just don't tell our friends." She tilted her head. "Can you talk to souls?"

"Oh, no, just a saying." Tabitha coughed softly. "Sorry. You were saying?"

Maud looked Tabitha over for a silent moment. "I'm jealous."

"You?" Tabitha leaned forward. "What could you be jealous of? You're amazing, and I'm not even exaggerating. I could never even hope to be half the warrior you are."

Maud touched her forehooves together. "I'm strong." She went quiet again.

Tabitha rolled a hand. "Go on." Maud was still silent. "I can wait." Silence was the reply. Tabitha picked up one of the rocks surrounding Maud and brushed it gently before sniffing at it. "Talking isn't easy for you, is it?"

Maud looked to Tabitha and tilted her head, but said nothing still.

"That's alright. We can talk about whatever you like to talk about, or nothing at all." She smiled brightly. "That's what friends are for."

Maud felt her lips quiver and a small smile formed. "That is what friends are for. Do you want to hear about my sister?" She glanced towards the stairs leading upwards. "My real sister."

"Please." Tabitha set the rock down back in its place and leaned forward, ready to listen.

"I have three of them. Marble, Lime, and Pinkie. Each is special in their own way."

Maud described her sisters for what felt like a long time, until Tabitha reached forward and brushed her cheek, startling her out of her telling. "Sorry, you're just... Please, go on."

Maud saw her fingers were dampened. Was she crying again? She didn't like being weak. She didn't like being away from her sisters either. She snapped at a rock instead of talking, chewing loudly and vigorously a moment. "I'm probably boring you."

"No!" Tabitha rolled both her hands together. "Please. Tell me more." She smiled at Maud. "But only if you want to. We can talk about something else. Would you like to hear my dream?"

Maud tilted her head. "You have one?" She paused a moment before nodding. "Go ahead."

"Well..." She tapped her chin. "At first it was the usual kinda thing. Rich husband, whisked away from hard labor, be treated like a princess, you know the deal."

Maud didn't, but simply stayed quiet.

"That didn't happen." Tabitha sighed a little. "First husband died not a year after we tied the knot. Second thought wrestling a bear was a viable thing t'do..." Maud sat up at that, surprise showing on her features. "The last, well, he slowed down the orcs long enough for me to run away. I'll... miss him..."

It was her turn to loose some tears, and Maud reached for her instead, brushing them away as Tabitha had done in return. "We don't have to talk about it."

Tabitha laughed at that. "Let's not be a pair of sad sacks. Look, they're dead. They aren't coming back. You, on the other hand, have your sisters still. Sure they're far away, but you'll get to them."

Maud considered silently a moment. "Is that your dream?"

"Oh! No, I was giving background." She sat up straight. "So, yeah, the husband dream? I'm done with that. I don't want to wait for another man to kill himself being my husband." She put a hand on her chest. "I'm ready to be a princess, the powerful kind. The kind that can defend her friends and family. Being suddenly surrounded by fey? This can't just be happenstance. Just looking at the three of you... I feel something."

"What would that be?" Maud peered at Tabitha intently.

"I don't know, but something." She tapped her heart. "Right here. My place is with you all. I feel like I can become the princess I want to be, with you. Does that sound too weird?"

Maud stood up despite the sharp pains of doing so and began to trot for the door. Tabitha followed, as Maud was sure she would. Outside, the moon shone down on them, giving dim light to see by. Maud turned back to her friend, breath puffing out small bits of steam in the cooler night air. "This world is magic. If you want to be a princess, you must be magic too, or you aren't one."

Tabitha looked baffled. "W-what?"

"Show me your magic."

"But I never learned magic!"

Maud put a hoof to her chest. "I never learned to fight." She thrust that hoof towards the second floor. "Tree Hugger never learned to cast spells. You want to be one of us? Show me your magic." She walked a few steps away, put something down, then backed away from it, revealing it to be the soap that was wagered on the first game of silence. "Here."

Tabitha glared at the bar, then at Maud. "Are you trying to tell me to go away?"

"Show me your magic." Her voice was even and calm. She watched Tabitha, seemingly patient, and as stoic as was her norm.

With a soft grunt, she turned in place then thrust her hands at the bar. "Ha!" Nothing happened. "Ho!" She wiggled her fingers at it, but nothing happened.

"Stop trying to figure it out."

"What?" Tabitha tilted her head. "How am I going to show you magic if I don't figure it out?"

"You either have it, or you don't. Show me your magic."

She placed a hand over her eyes a moment, then smiled. "Right, show you my magic. I said I'm a princess. I should do it like one." She took the most formal stance she could think of, enough to make any true aristocrat weep. "It's time to go away, bar. Shoo!" She dismissed it and looked away. She felt something in her fingers, and heard something strike the ground, but she was looking in the wrong direction to know what happened.

Maud had seen it, and nodded lightly. "Now do it better."

"B-better?" Tabitha looked back and saw a small little furrow in the ground. "I did it!"

"You showed me your magic. Now do it better."

"Shoo!" Tabitha called out as she pointed at the bar, knocking it over with a sudden bolt of arcane force.

Maud winced faintly. It was the same kind of bolt that saw to her defeat earlier that day, but that wasn't Tabitha's fault. "Keep practicing. I got better that way, so did Tree Hugger, so does Paul and Fast. Being part of our party means working."

"Right, working." She put her hands on her hips. "I will work. A princess, a good princess anyway, is not idle! I will earn the respect of my people, and when I take a new husband, I'll be the one protecting him." She suddenly rushed at Maud, grabbing her in a hug. "Thank you!"

Pain seared through her, but she returned the hug with a single leg. In a moment of silence, they didn't need to speak to know one another.