//------------------------------//
// Act 2.2 
// Story: Simply Beautiful 
// by FinnPony 
//------------------------------//


Simply beautiful
by FinnPony

Act 2.2


It was dark. Not as dark as during night time. It was even darker. Pitch black actually. So dark that a pony couldn’t see past it’s own hooves. It was also very very quiet. Abandoned mining tunnels had a bad habit of being just like that. 

The thick, calm silence was cruelly broken by a clattering of hooves that echoed through the tunnels. Soon the darkness was sliced by a bright beam of light. It came from a flashlight that was being held by a grey pony covered in black dust. She held the flashlight in her mouth while navigating through the tunnels that could be many kilometers in lenght.

Maud Pie had her purple mane tied to a ponytail so it wouldn’t get in the way of her work. her fur was messy and the green dress she always wore had many scratches on it. Many would have thought that she would be exhausted by all the walking she had been through that day. Well, she was not. She was actually feeling pretty happy.

She had enjoyed her work about fifty percent more since she had met Trenderhoof the other day. Now she had something to look forward. Still, even she was anxious to meet Trenderhoof again, she had her doubts.

Date. 

That word kept spinning in her mind. First things that came to her mind from a word date were movies, cafe, and something to eat. Not that she didn’t like those things, but all of those things had one thing in common. The ponies who were on a date were always the center of attention, especially when another of them was a celebrity like Trenderhoof.

Maud shook her head to clear it and focused back to her task of getting out of the mine. It didn’t take long for her to get her thoughts back in order. She didn’t understand how someponies could get lost there. She herself knew exactly where she was. 

She was about two hundred meters from the surface. Next she would need to turn left, then right, right again then straight past two next junctions and then left again. Then there would be ladders where she could climb back to the surface. Simple.

She kept going and in about half an hour later she could smell the fresh air. Five minutes later she  was at the ladders that would lead her to the surface. She looked up and saw a small white dot above her. Ten minutes more and she was standing at the edge of a two by two meters wide hole that led back to the mine itself.

Now that she was out of the mine, she let her thoughts wander back to the little, or big problem that she was having. She really wanted to spent more time with Trenderhoof, but didn’t know if she could. 

Frustrated by it, Maud decided to sit down. She walked to a fallen tree trunk and sat down. She started to look around herself. All the trees around the mine were cut down back in the time when the mine was still used. The trees had been used to build houses for the miners, but all the wooden buildings had been either demolished. She could still see couple of rock foundations peeking from the ground.

Maud turned to look at the full saddlebag next to her. Usually she would spent all her breaks examining the samples she had with her, but didn’t feel like doing that right at that moment. Her head was too full of questions at that moment. Instead she opened the saddlebag and dug out a small black notebook, pen and a sandwich wrapped in cellophane. In a swift motion she ripped the cellophane away and flipped her notebook open.

Maud took couple of dainty bites from her sandwich while flipping through the pages of her notebook. It didn’t actually have any notes in it, just some personal thoughts she had and  poems. Lots and lots of poem. Most of them… or actually every single of them were about rocks. She liked rocks.

Maud tried to think a tittle for a new poet but didn’t feel like writing after all. With a frustrated sigh she tossed the notebook on top of her saddlebag and continued her feast. She had only couple of bites left when she heard something that made her perk up. She didn’t know what it was until she heard it again.

A quiet mumbling. Somepony was somewhere close by. By the sounds of it it was a stallion, and somehow one particular stallion came into her mind. She stayed still for a second, just staring in front of her. Could it be?

She quickly munched the rest of her sandwich  and rose up, scanning the area around her. No sign of anypony, but she could still hear that quiet mumbling. There had been couple of teens hanging around and getting drunk there, but Maud hadn’t minded them. This time it was different though. The voice was too deep to belong to a teen, and Maud thought that it sounded somehow familiar. She felt her heartbeat raising.

She left her saddlebag against the fallen tree and carefully started to walk towards the sound. She realized that the voice came from behind small hill near her. After small hesitating moment, Maud slowly started to climb up the gently sloping hill, bracing herself. She sneaked towards the hilltop and craned her neck to see better. What she saw was… surprising at least.

A bit further down the hill there stood a stallion. It was Trenderhoof, standing in front of a big boulder. That wasn’t even the surprising thing. His clothing were.

Trenderhoof was wearing a white helmet and on his waist was a utility belt with small pick hanging on it. The big glasses he usually wore had been replaced by smaller, more practical ones and he wasn’t wearing his trademark sweater either.

Maud examined the sight with her mouth a bit open. What the hay was he doing there, in those clothes? She then noticed that Trenderhoof was struggling with something, swearing quietly and pulling his right fore hoof. By closer inspection Maud realised that his hoof was stuck under the big boulder in front of him. She frowned. The boulder was gabbro specimen. They were the most mischievous kind of rocks she knew. He didn’t look like he was hurt though, but clearly couldn’t get free by himself. Maud would have found the situation funny, but Trenderhoof’s weird clothing got all her attention. 

She kept looking at the stallion in trouble for a minute longer, before realizing that he may need some help. She almost tiptoed towards him, and he didn’t seem to notice her. He was too busy trying to get his hoof free. Maud stopped just couple of steps behind him.

“Hey,” she said and Trenderhoof almost jumped out of his skin. He turned around as much as he could without ripping his own hoof off and looked towards Maud with scared look. It soon changed into a happy smile though. Maud deadpanned at him. That smile was something she liked in him more than anything else. It was so charming and somehow just seemed so genuine. It was something like Pinkie Pie’s smile, but it felt somehow different, better.

“Hello Maud,” Trenderhoof exclaimed. Maud didn’t answer. She was still a bit confused by his appearance. Trenderhoof noticed her looking at his clothes. He puffed out his chest and asked, “Well, what do you think?”
“About what?” she asked while curiously poking the small pickhammer on his utility belt. Once again a question he hadn’t expected.
“I-I’m an geologist!” he tried. Maud’s eyes went wide, but then she returned to her calm state and said with a shake of her head, “No you’re not.”
Trenderhoof looked at her with his mouth a little open. He then gulped and said, sounding almost sad, “I thought that you’d like if I’d look like one.”

Maud was about to say something but then his words came through to her. He had dressed as a geologist to impress her? She looked at the smiling stallion in front of her and felt heat rising onto her cheeks. She managed to keep it under control and kept her poker face.

“It’s…” she started and a hopeful expression spread on Trenderhoof’s face. 

“Nice.”  

There was a deep silence after that. Both of them kept staring at their hooves. After a minute Maud remembered that Trenderhoof was in trouble.

“Do you need help?” she asked from Trenderhoof who started to smile sheepishly. He coughed nervously and said, “I’m okay.”
“Your hoof is stuck,” Maud said and pointed at his hoof that was indeed stuck. He shrugged and said with bad faked poker face, “Its nothing, really. I can get it out of there whenever I want.”
Maud gave her a look that made him chuckle nervously. He rubbed the back of his head with his free hoof and mumbled, “Yeah… Whenever I want.”

Maud shook her head and sighed. She then walked over to the boulder and put her front hooves against it. 
“Watch out,” Trenderhoof warned. “ It’s pretty heavy. A pretty mare like you might get h…”
He was cut out by Maud pushing the boulder with little effort, making it rise from over his hoof like it was made out of paper mass. Trenderhoof stared at her with his jaw almost hitting the ground. Maud returned his stare and after couple of more seconds she asked a bit annoyedly, “Are you going to take your hoof away or not?”
“Oh,” he exclaimed when he realised that he was now free. He backed couple of steps and Maud released the rock. It came down to the ground with loud thud that made them both jump couple of inches off the ground.

Maud looked amusedly at the stallion who stared at the big rock that she had just lifted up. She turned around and started to slowly walk towards the saddlebag she had left behind. It didn’t take long before Trenderhoof raced next to her. He had a respectful smile on his lips as he started to speak, “Well that was something!”
“What?” Maud asked, clearly knowing what he meant. He had a big grin on his face as he continued to adore her, “I’ve never seen a mare with your strenght!”
“That’s nothing,” Maud said and shrugged while getting closer towards the fallen tree where her saddlebag was. Trenderhoof just chuckled a little and kept walking side by side with her. 

When they reached the fallen tree, he spoke again, “You must be wondering why I’m here.”
“Yes,” Maud answered.
Trenderhoof stopped and sat on the tree trunk when Maud started to pick her things up.
“I thought that you like working, yes?” he asked from Maud, who simply nodded.
“And I am mighty interested about your work,” he continued, earning Maud’s attention. 
“So I decided that we should meet here!” he finished while throwing his hooves up in the air. Maud stopped her packing and looked at him with that deadpan look.
“Is this our date?” she asked.
“Oh… Um… Sure!” Trenderhoof exclaimed. Maud gave him a calm stare. She turned to look away from him while thinking how well things had worked out. She didn’t need to go to the town with him, so she wouldn’t feel awkward being the center of the attention. And she liked working with rocks, and now she could do that while spending time with him! It was perfect.

“Of course if you want we can go and have a coffee or something...” he started, but Maud turn back towards him.
“No.” she quickly said. “I prefer this opinion.”
Trenderhoof seemed relieved and started to clap his hooves together while saying, “Splendid!”

Maud turned back towards her saddlebag and threw her notebook inside it. She then lifted onto her back and stared at the brown stallion.
“What now?” she asked from him. 
“You just do your thing!” he said cheeringly.
“My thing?” Maud asked and gave him a strange look. Trenderhoof chuckled and clarified with a smile, “You just continue working. I’ll hang around and I’ll take care of the talking too.”
Maud nodded. It sounded like a good arrangement to her.
“Lets go then!” Trenderhoof said happily. “I can also help if you want.”

Maud knew that she didn’t need help with anything, but didn’t want to be rude. She thought for a second before coming up with a task easy enough for him.

“You can carry my saddlebag.”

“With pleasure!”

Maud took a hold of her bag and lifted it from her back onto Trenderhoof’s. He was clearly surprised by the weight of it but did a good job trying to hold his calm look on his face.
“Is it too heavy?” Maud asked and was about to lift it off from his back, but he shook his head quickly and said, “Not… at all. I can manage.”
He had determination. She had to give him that.
“Thanks,” she said, making Trenderhoof smile proudly. He did a small bow and said with playful voice, “Anything for you.”

This time Maud couldn’t control her blushing, something that wasn’t like her at all. She turned her face away from him and started to walk towards the entrance to the mine. Trenderhoof huffed while sifting the weight of the bag on his back. Maud felt strange feeling of sudden happiness flow through her. It was first time when a stallion carried her saddlebag for her. Actually many had offered their help but she had never accepted it. Anyway, she liked when he offered his help. 

The heavy bag on Trenderhoof’s back It didn’t stop him from chatting with her.
“So what are you actually doing in here?” Trenderhoof asked.
“I am studying if there is enough minerals in this mine to reopen it,” Maud answered and he listened in awe. 
“You work in an abandoned mine all alone? Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” he asked and Maud shrugged. She then looked at him and said with almost smug tone, “Not for me at least.”
Trenderhoof snickered and said, “I believe you.”
Then he looked at Maud and asked, “Could I see the mine?”
“Sure.” Maud answered. “I was going there actually.”

“Ooh… Can’t wait.”

And he didn’t need to. As if on cue Maud stopped on her tracks and put her hoof against Trenderhoof’s chest, stopping him too. He looked at her with confused look on his face.
“It’s right here,” Maud said and pointed at the small hole in the ground about twenty inches away from where he was standing. He looked at the hole and then at Maud. 
“That’s the mine?” he asked and pointed at the hole.
“Yes.” Maud answered. Trenderhoof took careful step towards the entrance and peeked over the edge. All he saw was the first ten meters of ladders and then just thick darkness. It wasn’t like the mines he had seen in the pictures. There wasn’t electric lights, no elevator or anything else actually. Just darkness.

He gulped and then muttered to himself quietly, “Oh boy…”
Maud noticed his concern. She walked next to him and said, “Just follow me and you’ll be fine.”


* * *


“I told you to follow me,” Maud lectured Trenderhoof, who rubbed his aching head. They had already come out of the mine, after only thirty minutes after going down there. Their little trip hadn’t gone too well.

“Sorry. I didn’t see that the ceiling was so low,” he said and drooped his ears embarrassedly. Maud didn’t hear that. She was checking Trenderhoof’s head for cuts or bruises, running her hoof in his blonde mane. It was so soft that she didn’t remember to focus on her task. She kept petting his silky mane until he asked, “Is there anything?”

She snapped back to reality and felt how a deep blush emerged onto her cheeks. She shook her head and sat next to him. She grabbed the white helmet Tenderhoof had wore and examined it. It had a small crack on the spot where it had hit the ceiling off the low tunnel. She then turned towards the looming Trenderhoof.

She thought how she got really scared when Trenderhoof yelped in the dark. She first thought that something bad had happened to him when she had seen him holding his head, so they rushed to the surface. Gladly he hadn’t any injuries. Well, maybe his ego had gotten couple  bumps.

“Good that you had a helmet,” Maud said and placed the white helmet back to the ground between them. Trenderhoof sighed sadly and said, “Yeah… Sorry that I ruined your work.”
Maud looked towards the entrance to the mine. That little mishap had indeed made her fall a bit behind the schedule. Not that she really cared. She was just happy that he was okay.

“It’s okay,” Maud answered and looked at him. Trenderhoof gave her a small smile before saying with sheepish grin on his face, “I think I’ll let you do your work from here on.”

They then spent a small moment in silence, and strangely enough Maud found the silence uncomfortable. Usually she didn’t like small talk, but this time she wanted to talk. It took her a moment before she noticed her saddlebag and came up with a topic.

“Are you hungry?” she asked from Trenderhoof. He held his stomach for a second and nodded, saying, “A little bit.”
“I still have one sandwich left,” Maud said and pointed at her saddlebag. “We can share.”
Trenderoof’s ears sprung up and he started to smile happily. The smile almost made Maud blush again.
“I’d like that,” He said. With that Maud pulled her saddlebag in front of her and started to go through it. The sandwich was under all her equipment so she had to empty almost all of her things before reaching the treat. Maud placed the black notebook on the ground. Trenderhoof noticed it and looked at it for a second, before taking it into his hooves and asking, “What’s this?”

Maud turned around and her eyes went wide when she saw what he was holding. She jumped towards him and grabbed the notebook. She held it tightly against her chest and turned her back towards him. She didn’t want him to read any of the things she had written in it.

“Ohh… Was that like… a diary or something?” Trenderhoof asked, sounding sorry. Maud nodded and looked at the notebook in her hooves.
“Sorry,” Trenderhoof said quietly. “I was just interested.”
“It’s okay,” Maud said without changing her tone. She swept some dust off from the notebook’s cover. 

“There’s just some thoughts and poems there anyways.”

“Poems?”

Maud nodded. Trenderoof’s mouth was open and he had surprised look on his face. He inched closer to Maud and asked, “Do you write poems?”
Maud nodded again, a bit coyly this time. Trenderhoof smiled strangely and said, “I’d like to hear your poems. I wrote some myself, but couldn’t get the rhyme right in the end.”
“What?” Maud asked. Only one pony had asked to hear her poems before. It was Twilight Sparkle, but Maud could tell that she hadn’t liked them. After that she hadn’t read them to anypony. Not even her family.
“Really?” she asked.

“Yes! I couldn’t quite come up with a good rhym….”

“No, Do you really want to hear my poems?” She asked. Would his answer even matter? Would she really read her works to him?

“Of course I would like that!”

She would. Something in him made it impossible to resist. Was it his blonde, blow dried mane? Violet eyes or that damn smile he always wore when he was around her? She didn’t know but she found herself nodding again. That made his smile grew even wider. Their stares met for a second when Maud turned to look at him. 

Their gazes lingered in each others eyes for a second before Maud turned back towards her notebook, trying to hide her blush. It didn’t work but Trenderhoof didn’t say anything. He just kept smiling.

Blushing Maud opened her notebook and flipped to an random page. She noticed that on the right page was one of her best works.

She cleared her voice and Trenderhoof leaned towards her. Then she started to read.


“Rock.
You are a rock.
Gray.
You are gray.
Like a rock.
Which you are.
Rock.”


She finished reading and turned towards Trenderhoof, waiting for a reaction. Trenderhoof had a frown on his face, which Maud thought looked like a confused one. She quickly thought that he hadn’t liked her poem and shut her notebook.
“They’re not so special really,” she said quietly and stared at the ground.

“That was different,” Trenderhoof said, gaining her attention. Maud saw that he had a warm smile on his lips. When he had her attention, he continued, “It was full of personality, it was simple and told about the writer’s feelings.”
“You just made that up,” Maud said with deadpan stare. Trenderhoof chuckled and gave her a sheepish smile.
“Maybe, but you know what…” he started, clearly waiting for Maud to ask ‘what’.

“What?”

“I really liked it,” He said with a smile. Maud blinked slowly and stared right into his eyes.
“Really?” she asked and saw how he nodded eagerly. Twilight had said that she liked her poets too, but maud knew she hadn’t meant it. This stallion in front of her though, he seemed to like it for real.

“Can I hear another?”

“What?” Maud asked for third time in a short time. If Trenderhoof wouldn’t have known better, he would have thought that she had bad hearing. 
“Can I hear another one?” He repeated with a ensuring smile. Maud had hard time trying to speak. His question had been so unexpected that her brain didn’t know how to react. Luckily her mouth did, and she said, “Sure.”

They stared at each other. Maud kept staring into Trenderhoof’s eyes while thinking how she couldn’t have asked for a better date. Then she started to speak. She remembered almost all of her poems by heart, so she stared into his violet eyes while speaking.


“Rocks; these are my rocks.
Sediments: make me sedimental.
Smooth and round, asleep in the ground.
Shades of brown and gray…”