14th Malachite, 222
Standing on the lip of earth that overlooks the gaping maw in the ground in the middle of Shadytrails, Tunda carefully makes her way down the slope and to the dark entrance to the mine proper. One hoof she keeps held off the ground, a candle holder with a lit candle attached to it. As she approaches the shadiest part of town, the mare holds up the flame in front of her and boldly strides into the stony tunnel where the batpony she seeks spends most of his time.
The echoing of hooves meeting the quartzite floor fill the air between pings of the miner’s chisel. It grabs the stallion’s attention fairly quickly, prompting him to turn and face the new source of light. The lantern which Silver already had with him helps pick out the physical features of his guest. He releases the pick from his mouth, placing it on the ground so that he can speak freely, “Tunda? Wasn’t expecting to see you down here. So how have you been today?”
The mare approaches and gives a wide smile, teeth reflecting more light than her darker coat. "Very well, I should say. I had pleasant news to share, if you don't mind the delay." She points a hoof at the rock he was working on just before she interrupted.
“Good news, eh? I’m always up for hearing some of that. Let me guess, a caravan showed up? Or maybe somepony found orange trees?”
"Orange trees? Now that would please, but my news doesn't have to do fruit, or merchants come to sell their loot." Tunda steps over toward a wall, passing the light near it and looking for the sort of pretty gems Silver has mentioned. She'll continue making him guess at why she's here as she does.
Interspersed within the solid sea of grayish-pink rock are chunks of rough, bluish-black fragments, which could well be the tourmaline that Silver had no doubt mentioned to her in past days, “Um, one of the residents has a musical instrument and has volunteered to play for us next time we sing?” Silver tilts his head in question.
Tunda sits on her haunches and picks up one of the blue rock fragments in her unused hoof, then uses the tuft of her tail to brush it off. "Another good guess, my batty pony, but no it isn't so, alas if only." She brings it up closer her face, examining it with interest.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Silver remarks with a smirk as he rolls his eyes, “How many guesses do I get before you tell me? Did you find a place where lightning strikes twice? Or a Sasquatch? The Fountain of Youth?” He decides to overwhelm her with randomness until she gives him the truth, “A spider with wings? The end of the rainbow? Ice that doesn’t melt?”
Tunda chuckles and stands. "Those would all be noteworthy it's true," she walks past the stallion, brushing his withers with her tail as she passes. "But this is news about me and you."
Well, now he’s really confused. I’m just about out of ideas. If it was news dealing with me, wouldn’t I know about it? He scratches his head, only to realize that there’s a helmet in the way, “Um...uh...oh, I give up! What is it?”
Tilting her head and smiling, Tunda speaks excitedly. "You know the houses our friends are building with their labors? I've been told the two of us are to be neighbours!"
“Huh? Oh! I knew that more houses were being built soon, but I didn’t know who would be living next to who.” The bronze-eyed stallion wipes some sweat and dirt from his forehead with his ever-present neckerchief. “So our houses are going to be right next to each other? That’s great to hear! It’ll be really convenient for when we want to hang out or practice our singing. The only way to make it better would be if Rosewood ended up living on the other side of me.”
"I don't know who the other houses belong to, only that Patina and Jack will live nearby, to name a few." Tunda purses her lips slightly. "I haven't spoken to miss Rosewood very much yet. But I would guess that it won't be far away where her house is set."
The stallion sits on the cold ground, lifting his pick with a hoof and examining it, “Actually, the first house belongs to Rosewood. Or at least that’s what she told me. I guess I could come and check after I get done with my shift to see exactly where our two houses will be, right?”
Tunda nods. "When does your shift end? If it's soon, I could wait until then. Maybe you could show me around the mine? I'd like to see where you spend your time."
At her question, Silver leans over and examines the hourglass that he has set beside his lantern, “I’d say...about forty more minutes. Maybe forty-five. Depends on how long it takes me to get the last shipments of stone out of here.” The bat-pony stands back up and lifts one of the rocks dispersed across the floor with a hoof, “I guess I could show you a few things while I load up the basket with fragments, sure!”
Over the next fifteen minutes, Silver Rush shows Tunda the layout of the cavern. He also describes what particular substances he is excavating today as well as the procedures he uses to get them up to the surface world. The two of them climb the stairs so that he can demonstrate the mechanism he uses to lift the presently rock-filled bucket out of the mine. “So once I get that bucket loaded onto the pull cart and bring it over to the masons, that’s about it for me. After that, I go back down and start the process all over again until I get all the material I need.”
With interest in him and his work, Tunda listens to the lecture about the rocks, asking questions at what seems to be appropriate times. The pulley system leaves her wondering about the things that aren't usable by the masons. "Another question, from this stems. If you take the stone to the masons, what do you do with the precious gems?"
“Ah, those,” Silver laments for a moment, “Since nopony here has the skill to cut them, we usually just stock those away in boxes. I have kept a small hoof-full of them in my own collection, with Ms. Hookbill’s blessing. Such a shame that their full beauty will remain hidden for the foreseeable future.”
Tunda bumps her side against Silver. "I'm sure we'll have one skilled in cutting gems, soon. To our little community, it would be quite a boon."
Huh. Tunda seems to be strangely ‘cozy’ today. “We can always hope. Perhaps if Ms. Hookbill requests it, she can have a lapidary sent here at some point in the future. Shame none of the newest migrants seem to have that skill. Or if they do, she hasn’t...I mean…they haven’t told me.” For a moment, the bat-pegasus has his glance drift off into the distance, pondering something as he taps a hoof against one of the wooden cranks.
The look doesn't escape Tunda's notice. "Is something the matter? You have a certain stare. And you said 'she', as if you meant a certain mare?" He could mean miss Isolde, since she would be the one to ask about new arrivals, but something tells her intuition that it's more than that.
Oops. Looks like the cat is out of the bag now. Doesn’t really matter, I suppose. Rosewood seemed to be as confused about the ‘incident’ as I was when I explained it to her, so I should probably ask Tunda about it anyway. “Yeah...I do kind of have a question of my own. I don’t know if you can give me an answer or not, but I guess it’s worth a shot.” The stallion’s eyes search for any eavesdroppers before concluding that the two are indeed alone, “Do you know why a mare would kiss a stallion, for no obvious reason, mind you, and then immediately act like she regretted it?”
Tunda's ears fold back for a moment. "Only one reason that comes to mind. That she's shy and worries that he won't return her feelings in kind."
He leans over and places an elbow on a support beam, “I guess that might make sense in some contexts, but...I don’t know. I guess it’s pretty obvious that the stallion I’m talking about is me, right? I know I can’t hide that from your keen sense of observation. I mean, there was absolutely no indication that it was going to happen. It wasn’t like I was inviting it or anything. I don’t even know if you could properly call that mare and I ‘friends’ yet...”
"So then you don't feel the same way?" Tunda asks with a bit of forced casualness, and then continues, assured. "Then it seems clear to me, she saw that on your face."
The miner lowers his gaze, “Well...I do have to admit that my reaction wasn’t the most positive, but can you blame me? I mean, wouldn’t you recoil if somepony sprung that on you when you had barely even talked to them in the past?” He shakes his head, “I do feel kind of bad about it...I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. What must she think of me now?”
"She should realize it was wrong to spring that on you," Tunda says, nodding in agreement. "But it's important you're honest with her soon. Don't let her wonder if you do feel the same, but instead tell her you don't, without giving blame."
“Here I was thinking that stuff like that develops over time, not happen in an instant. Though romance isn’t something I know a whole lot about. I guess I’ll handle this as I need to. Only time will tell.” Silver raises his eyes towards the Sun, noting its position. “I think I should head back down and finish off my shift. You can still wait for me if you want to show me the houses when I’m done.” The bat-pony begins to move back towards the staircase, “Oh, and, thanks for the talk, Tunda.” Even if I’m still confused.
She opens her mouth to say something, but stops and pauses before starting again. "It costs one nothing to give friendly advice. I only hope to end your problem, it will suffice. I'll be here when you've finished your shift," Tunda says, and ends there. ...But I still wonder who would make an advance so swift. The thought doesn’t bother the mare overmuch, who watches the bat go back into his cave, smiling and then finally letting out a chuckle to herself. She’ll surely see which pony it was. The situation could make a good poem, she ponders, and the thought amuses her even more.
It's a funny thing about truisms, that for every one there's another that advises the opposite. Each of Tunda's tales could be told alongside another with the other moral. Sometimes fortune favors the bold, and it's said the early bird gets the worm. But perhaps this other mare was too bold, and others would say that the second mouse gets the cheese. If the other mare played the hare, then Tunda can be the tortoise... no matter how much she might like to choose a more flattering metaphor. No zebra with a coat like hers is so much like a scaly reptile, after all!
After another twenty-five minutes had passed, the fanged pony had managed to wrap up his work. Once he had dropped off the last shipment of stone with the masons, he returned the wagon to the mine entrance and unstrapped himself, “That should do it! How about we go see those soon-to-be houses now?”
Standing up from laying down in the grass, Tunda walks over. "We should go what, for our homes, they have in store. But on the way, I'm curious about what we talked about before."
Removing his mining helmet, he straightens up his black-violet mane, “Before? You mean the kiss? What else do you want to know?” Maybe she has another bit of insight for me.
Tunda gives him a lopsided, amused smirk. "You left out one important fact. Which mare was it by whom you were attacked?"
Silver yields a nervous laugh, “Heh, attacked. Never would have thought to put it quite like that.” He then draws a breath, “I’m not really sure if it’s my place...but I’ll tell you on one condition: you have to give me your word that you won’t tell anypony else about this. If rumors got around, it could be harmful to her. Maybe to me as well.”
She nods, understanding the concern. "That is more than fair enough, and I promise it will stay between the two of us." Tunda holds a hoof up to her chest as she does.
“Alright then…” The bat stallion clears his throat, allowing his lenticular pupils to scan once more for the presence of others. He keeps his voice low, “...it was Ms. Frame. Lattice Frame, I mean. The gray earth pony with the blue mane?”
The mare knits her brows. "I believe I know the pony you mean, but I've never had a chance speak with her that I've seen."
“Well, if you ever do, try not to let on that you know what she did, okay?” The stallion looks past the zebra, “Now, how about we go see how Rose and the other carpenters are doing with our houses? It sure feels good knowing that I’ll soon have my own roof to sleep under!”