In a shady patch beneath a tree, two ponies lay beside one another upon a soft carpet of blue flowers. Flung out around them were two hats, a bluish-green smock, and a belt. One of them, male, lay upon his back, his head resting upon the earth, and one of his front legs was in a cast. The other, female, was laying on her stomach, her head resting upon the barrel of the colt lying upon his back. Her eyes were closed, her breathing deep and content.
“Tarnish?”
“What Maud?”
“You know, before I met you, I was trying to make peace with the idea that I would be alone. Nopony else ever showed any interest.”
“That’s awful, Maud, I’m sorry.”
“I sort of figured it was my nature… to be as solitary as a stone. Everything else about me is like a stone. My cutie mark really does reflect who and what I am.” Maud’s eyes opened and her head moved, but she did not lift it away from Tarnish’s barrel as she looked over at his muzzle, which was pointing skywards. “When I was in school, I would put my professors to sleep when I gave my dissertations. You would think that if anypony would listen to me talk about rocks, it would be them.”
Lifting his good leg, Tarnish draped it over Maud’s neck. She was warm, somewhat sweaty, her pelt still damp from her exertion. It was hard to work a whinny out of Maud, but Tarnished Teapot knew it could be done.
“That day, when you wouldn’t stop looking at me, when you watched everything I did, and then I gave you the silent treatment to see what you would do, that was a very special day for me. That was the day I knew.”
“You knew that I was interested and I wasn’t paying attention to you just because I was bored?” Tarnish asked.
Feeling surprised, Maud made no outward show of emotion. Tarnish remembered their conversation. Maud sighed, her sides inflating like bellows and then heaving out a sound that was the very embodiment of apathy. “That was the day I knew that you were the one. Maybe it was blind hope, or optimism, but I knew. I have never placed much value in blind hope or optimism before, optimism is Pinkie Pie’s prefered state of being. But all of a sudden, I had hope that I wouldn’t be alone. You hung on my every word. When I went silent, you worried that you had hurt my feelings. You made the assumption that I had feelings and you cared about them.”
“I can’t believe that I thought about leaving.” Tarnish gave Maud a little squeeze.
“You were scared. I was too, even then. I’m scared right now,” Maud said, her voice its usual flat monotone.
Tarnish knew Maud enough to take what she said at face value. Even if she didn’t sound scared, if she said it, then she was. One had to force themselves to take what Maud said in a serious manner, and ignore how she said it.
“Every mare, every filly, wants to know that they are pretty and desirable. It bothers me, but it is true. I think the same is true for stallions and colts… they want to know that they are wanted and somepony needs them.” Maud closed her eyes, her long eyelashes coming to rest upon her cheeks. “You came along and you called me weird. You watched me. You made me feel special, important. You said I was pretty. You made me feel wanted.”
“Oh, I want you, believe me,” Tarnish said.
Maud suffered a moment of feeling like a very, very flustered filly. “See, right now, you and I could be doing something else, but we’re just laying here in the shade talking. That’s how I know that you want me.”
A coltish giggle escaped Tarnish.
“I mean, right now, you’re happy to see me.” Maud’s eyes opened and she gave a sidelong glance at Tarnish. “For some reason, we’re still just talking.”
“Talking is important,” Tarnish replied.
Maud heaved another sigh. “I don’t want this moment to end...”
“Cloudy Pie, you look a bit out of sorts. You okay?” Igneous looked at his wife.
“No, Igneous, I’m not okay.” Cloudy bit down on her lip in a nervous manner, and then began to chew upon it.
“What’s wrong?” Igneous asked.
“Igneous, I’m… I’m…” Cloudy batted her eyelashes at her husband. “Igneous, I’m so happy right now that I’m beside myself and the house is empty and none of our foals are home and we’re all alone and I’m flustered, I feel a little warm Igneous and I—”
“You’re frisky!” Igneous blinked once and then his eyes went wide.
“Yes Igneous, I am feeling frisky. There is love in the air, and it has put me in quite a mood!” Reaching up, Cloudy yanked out the hairpins holding her mane in a tight bun. Her mane spilled down around her neck.
Huffing a bit, Igneous began to breathe a bit heavier at the sight of Cloudy’s mane spilling around her shoulders. He reached up and wiped his brow with the back of his fetlock. “Well then, I suppose it is never too early to go to bed… early to bed, early to rise—”
“Oh no Igneous, not the bed.” Cloudy gave her husband a sultry come-hither stare. “The kitchen table… the same place we made our little Maudlin… when my mother was out of the house and visiting town. All sorts of good things are made in my kitchen.”
Sweating, Igneous remembered that day all too well. He had been called inside by Cloudy. He had entered through the kitchen door and found her bent over the table, her tail hiked up in the air, smiling over her shoulder at him. The memory alone was enough to leave him feeling quite heated and he took a deep breath.
Turning about, Cloudy Quartz flicked her husband in the nose with her tail as she disappeared into the kitchen, giving him an inviting stare over her shoulder.