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// Chapter 3: Workday and Poetry 
// Story: To See Her Smile 
// by Striving Scholar 
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	*TWEEEEET!*

The sounding of the mines whistle signified that another work day was ending that late afternoon. Various miner ponies looked up from their tasks with a mixture of stoic and relieved expressions as they readied for this phase of the day. Many picked up their tools and headed for tool racks and equipment bins while others waited to finish the tasks they were working on before following suit.

Rough Cut smiled as he heard the bell, “Yabba Dabba…oh wait, wrong job site,” he said aloud as he caught himself in glee of finishing work for the day. He looked over his pile of mined gems to sort and took off his hard hat to wipe the sweat from his brow, “Whew...it felt like today would never end…” he muttered to himself while locking up his tools on the workbench toolbox. 

Rough Cut had a job as a sorting pony, whose responsibilities included: working with the gems and stones that were mined, testing their quality and then sorting them into bins to go to their destined uses (i.e. jewelry, accents, building blocks, etc.). His workstation was fairly standard: he had his shaping tools that were used to clean up the gems that came to his table and some small metal and wooden hammers to test the quality of each piece. If they were good, they’d have a nice chime, if not, a tough clunk. He also had a set of jeweler’s eye loupe to help see the initial quality before and after they were sculpted, which was also a task that he did on occasion as well.

Stretching from sitting for a long while,  Rough Cut took a glance at the rest of his station; there were numerous bits of gem and dirt still scattered around the table and two buckets on one side. He cleaned off the scraps and looked to said buckets. The one on the left was his ‘dud’ bucket, which was filled with gems and stones that failed inspection and were to be emptied into a cart to be sent back down into the mines. The other was the ‘keep’ bucket which were good products that were put into another cart to send up for processing. He picked up the half-full bucket of failed gems he had from his sorting and hefted it over to a large metal cart that contained a lot of small, cracked and choppy gems, signifying they did not pass his inspection to go out and be a fine piece of jewelry.

As Rough Cut dumped the rejects gems into the cart, the sound of another bucket tapping the cart reached his ear. Looking over, he was met by a mare with a dusty brown coat and a lighter brown mane. She set her emptied bucket on the ground and wiped sweat from her brow before looking at him with her sharp orange-yellow eyes, “Whew! Heck of a long day today, huh, Cut?” she asked in a thick Hooflyn accent.

Rough Cut shrugged with a smile, “Oh, hey Tiger Eye, yeah it kind of felt like it dragged today, didn’t it?” he replied, recognizing the mare.

Tiger Eye grinned with a chuckle, “Heh, it felt like it sometimes today…and you know it drags when the ‘water cooler’ talks here suck, too!” she continued, referring to an underground stream of running water that miners would use to refill canteens or get a drink, making it the ‘water cooler’ of this ‘office building’.

Tiger Eye, is a rough and tumble Earth Pony miner from Fillydelphia. She and Rough Cut had met during his first week on the mine job...which was a very rough start, although she eventually became friends with Rough Cut. She was rough around the edges and didn't care for conversing when she didn't want to, but that had changed in recent months and was a more pleasant pony now. Rough Cut was the first pony to see her for a pony rather than a rebel filly with all her piercings and harsh demeanor that scared other ponies off growing up.

Aside from her sharp demeanor, Tiger Eye’s most noticeable trait is her piercings and body jewelry that she wore. She had a set of 4 piercings in each of her ears, a lip ring, nose ring and even a bellybutton ring in her current possession. While it wasn’t uncommon for ponies to wear body jewelry, many weren't very attracted to various ‘permanent’ ones; most would wear clip-on styles or would just have one or two sets of ear piercings at most; naturally all of the gems for each were real. A lot of ponies found it easier to not need cleaning and other personal care, but it was all in taste. Due to safety regulations of the mines, Tiger Eye wore only a few studs and removed many of her others until after work.

“Now that’s something if that happened,” Rough Cut replied with a snicker, “So how was it down in the mines? Find a better haul than the junk your unit usually brings up?” he chided, knowing the gems on the side of the mine she works at are often not that profitable, as shown with the amount of rejected stones that came from there when he had to sort through them.

Tiger gave him a dark look before sighing and shook her head, “Nah dude, it’s just the usual rubies and sapphires in that vein. Those, or other things like those weird stones we dug up last week…” she trailed off uneasily. 

Rough Cut smirked as he put the bucket beside his bench, grabbed the good gem batch and turned back to her, “Yeah I remember that…and what it did to you was hilarious,” He chuckled, earning a glare from her.

Tiger Eye just snorted and looked away, “Personally, I’d rather take on those dang Diamond Dogs that keep trying to raid our finds instead of those noisy rocks,” She grumbled, “Seriously, those idiots are the real reason we get scuffed up so much in that new tunnel area of the lower mines, you know that, Cut,” she looked at him seriously.

“Hey, you enjoy playing 'whack a dog' and you know it,” Rough Cut interjected smugly, pointing a knowing hoof at her.

Tiger Eye shot him a dark and sly smirk, and snorted, “Yeah...you know I did…” she leaned back against the cart with her hooves crossed, “So anyway, Cut...what’cha doin’ tomorrow night? Got any big plans?” she asked, “Me, Gear Grind, and some other crew members are heading to that new tavern that opened up down the block; wanna come with?”

Rough Cut thought about it, “I’m up for that, sure. What time are ya meeting up for there?” he asked.

“We were thinking maybe around six, we could meet up,” Tiger continued, before a thought crossed her mind, “Oh yeah, didn’t you mention something about your marefriend comin’ to town before?” she asked in a teasing tone.

Rough Cut blinked and blushed, “wha-? N-no, she’s not my marefriend!” he replied, flustered, “I said my best friend from college was coming and she happened to be a mare.” He defended.

Tiger Eye smiled and chuckled as she dumped Rough Cut's bucket into the good gem cart, “I know, I was just teasin’ ya,” she said with a warm gaze at him, “Anyway, why don’t you invite her along, too? I’ve only met her a couple times and…well…I think I’ll get to know more about her when we’ve got time to talk, y’know?” She suggested as she walked over to his work bench and grabbed the good gem bucket.

Rough Cut thought about that idea an shrugged, “Sure, that sounds good; I’ll ask her about it and let ya know.”

Tiger smiled and her ears twitched, “Great! Ok, me and Gear Grind are gonna be at the Whinny-link diner around 6 tomorrow night. Ask your friend and bring her along. If she doesn’t, then it’s her loss and we’ll still have a good time,” she salute-waved to him and then pushed the small cart up tunnel way and then looked back at him, “We’ll see you then,” she gave him a wink and wheeled their section's payload cart up towards the entrance before finishing her work day.

Rough Cut looked after her for a few moments and let out a satisfied snort and headed towards the locker area.


~***~


After putting his gear into his locker, Rough Cut made his way towards the mine entrance. Most of the other miners had already left, save for a few stragglers who were staying late to finish other projects.

As he rounded a corner in the main tunnel, he spotted another pony who stood silently observing a jagged rock formation along the wall. He could easily recognize the purple mane and gray fur adorned in a frock. Maud was there in the mines. Surprised as well as happy, he trotted over to her.

Hearing the echoing hoof steps coming towards her, Maud’s ear twitched and she looked back to see who it was, “Hello, Rough Cut. I was hoping you’d be coming out soon,” she greeted and then turned her attention back to the wall.

“Oh, hey Maud, I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” he said and smiled slyly, “What, did you come out here to see me or something?” he half-joked.

“That is part of the reason, yes,” she started as he walked up beside her, “I came to inquire about researching the vein of Amethyst that was discovered recently; you mentioned it when you and my sister the other day,” she reminded him.

“Oh yeah, I did, didn’t I?” Rough Cut replied, recalling that part of the conversation, “So…what’s the word on that situation?”

“There are a lot of words, actually,” Maud said, making Rough Cut blink, “I met with the foreman as he was on his way home a short while ago; he said that there were a few veins discovered and that he would be glad to have somepony show me around and inspect some samples from it. He also said he wanted to open up the section tunnel for more room to work in and said once it was done in a couple days, he would be glad to let me inspect it,” she explained.

“Oh yeah, I did see a lot of rubble and junk getting cleared in that section these past few days. It must have been them,” Rough Cut said, stealing a glance back at the mines before looking up at the rock wall she was gazing at so intently, “So what are you looking at?” he asked, curious about what aspect she was doting over on the wall.

“I was observing the formation of the wall and how it looks different compared to different parts of this tunnel,” she began, “this wall is well crafted and the shape is rather unique compared to the other rocks of the tunnel, this one has shapes on it,” she detailed, looking at different chisel marks up the wall from the days it was created, save for some smoothing out from time and refining work.

Rough Cut tilted his head and looked up the wall, trying to see what she was talking about, but didn’t see much. It looked like the same wall he and every other worker had passed in and out of for the entire time he had worked there. As the afternoon sun hit it, he did see some shadows that created some new shapes from the way it cast them, but to him, it did very little to change the overall appearance of the wall. His pondering was interrupted by some scribbling noises beside him and he looked over to see Maud, who was now sitting and holding a small notebook in her hoof.

Maud scribbled something down in said notebook and jiggled the pencil around in her tongue as she pondered about something.

“Find some inspiration in the wall, Maud?” Rough Cut asked.

Maud blinked, surprised by his voice and looked at him, “Yes,” she stated, “I thought of a poem from looking at the rocks and shadows. Would you like to hear it, Cut?”

Rough Cut smiled, “Sure, I'll hear what you’ve come up with,” 

Maud took a breath and composed herself, preparing to do something she liked to do, “Rock, you are dark, casting shadows over other rocks. Because the sun is low, that is why, rock.” She recited in her normal, fluid manner.

Rough Cut listened intently and nodded as she finished, “Nice poem, as always Maud,” he said, “Did you have other poems that you’ve thought of lately?” 

Maud nodded, “Yes. I’ve had a lot of poems created from inspiration like this since we last met. It has been several months,” she said.

Rough Cut shrugged with a half-smile, “Fair enough. Anyway, if ya want, you could show me some of those newer poems you made, later,” he offered kindly.

“Sure, I’ll show you some of it later…if you want to see it, I mean,” she trailed off, looking at him warmly.

“I’ll listen if you'd like me to,” Rough Cut replied, honestly interested in her writings…much like when he had first heard them back in College…


~Flashback: Summer of first year college~


That day's project in a"Research of Geological Purpose" class, had the class working out in the rocky upper hills of Trottingham. The subject matter of the day, was observing the proper digging techniques of finding different types of asphalt material stones and mixing them into samples of pavement and/or bricks

Rough Cut sat, taking a break and chiseling some rocks in the shade while Maud finished her set of samples on the mat they had set up for their lunch. Once she had finished, she joined him on the mat and ate quietly.

After a short while of silence, Rough Cut heard some pencil scribbles and looked over at Maud. She was laying on the grass, her pet rock Boulder beside her, with a pencil in her teeth as she wrote something into a small black notebook that she kept with her.

Maud didn’t seem to notice his gaze as she wiggled the pencil around in thought before returning it to the page and continuing to write.

Rough Cut tilted his head curiously. It wasn't the notebook she had before for taking notes and data for the research papers before, so he was curious about this. He had seen her writing before, but never knew what it was that she was writing, “What’cha doing, Maud?” He asked.

Maud finished her sentence and looked over to him, “I’m writing some poems while we have our break time,” she stated flatly.

“You do poetry?” Rough Cut asked.

“yes, I do.” Maud replied calmly, “is that a problem for you or something?” She asked flatly.

Rough Cut shook his head, “Nah, I’m just surprised you like something other than rocks…and your family, “he replied, honestly, as those were her most prominent traits that he knew about her.

Maud blinked, “Yes, I really enjoy poetry. I’ve enjoyed it ever since I was a filly,” she started, “growing up on my family’s rock farm, I became interested in writing poetry after reading a book about it. I’ve been writing ever since,” she explained with a hint of passion in her voice before looking over the poem again.

Rough Cut adjusted his mane and remained silent as Maud continued to write in her book, “Hey uh…could I hear some…?” he asked.

Maud paused from her writing and looked up at him, “You want to listen to some of my poetry?” she asked curiously.

Rough Cut shrugged, “Sure.” 

Maud closed her eyes, placed her pencil down and turned back a good chunk of pages in her book, “This one, I wrote a while ago, but it’s one of my better ones,” she stated, “Rocks, these are my rocks. Sediments make me sentimental. Smooth and round, Asleep in the ground. Shades of brown, and Gray.” She concluded before looking up at Rough Cut.

Rough Cut blinked after hearing it and gave her a blinded dear look, “Huh, wow, that’s, uh…hm...” he trailed off, trying to think.

Maud looked back at her book, almost un-phased, “It’s ok, my poetry isn’t easy to understand,” she said before picking up her pencil again, “it’s fine if you don’t get them; thanks for listening anyway, Rough Cut.”

Rough Cut shook off the confusion and caught himself, feeling like he upset her, “Wha? No, no, I didn’t ‘not’ like it,” he stated, making her pause, “I’m just…taking it in, that’s all. geez, give me a sec to think here...” he assured her curtly.

Maud looked at him quizzically, awaiting whatever kind of curious answer he could possibly have.

Rough Cut looked away and scratched his chin, trying to think of the better words for it in the heat of the moment; he could tell she was watching and waiting for an answer, “Well…I thought it was pretty…abstract,” he paused, “but it had a big message behind it about rocks being in the ground…and colors and…stuff…” he trailed off, trying to piece a response together the right way.

Maud’s eyes widened slightly, “Yes, I was conveying the calmness a rock would have, sleeping in the soft soil and also with a collection of them being around.” She explained in clear detail, “Thank you for seeing what I was trying to convey, Cut, though you don’t need to pretend to enjoy them,” she concluded, “My poetry isn’t what most ponies find…understandable, but I enjoy writing them."

Rough Cut shook his head, “Again, I did like it and…” he trailed off with a sigh, “Look, I’m no poet, but I get what you’re trying to say. Not gonna lie, it's different than any other poetry I’ve read,” he said honestly, making Maud blink, “but yeah, that’s what makes your stuff interesting; it’s not like a typical formal fancy junk ya read in many books, so it’s cool to hear another version of something besides a ‘cookie cutter’ style of writing.”

Maud raised a brow, still not convinced, “I don’t think that baking cookies has anything to do with my poetry, Cut. They’re about rocks, not cutting cookies into different shapes for appealing to those who eat them.”

Rough Cut's face hit the blanket, “Yeah, I know, I meant…” he caught himself about who he was talking to, “Ok, yeah, but um…” he took a breath to think about it for a moment, “Poetry is actually very much like…” he looked around and then spotted the stone and chisel he had been using before and an idea sprang to mind, “Chiseling! Yeah, it’s like working with chisels,” he explained, holding one up to her.

Maud eyed the tool and tilted her head, “It’s like a crafting tool?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Rough Cut clarified and then picked up a small rock from his pile for an example, “See, they say you get a smooth finish to a rock if you use a no. 8 filing chisel, right?” Maud nodded, “Well, you can get the same result if ya use a no. 2 shaping-tip chisel too. It just takes a different approach to do it the same way,” he picked up another chisel for his example, “Anyway, my point is, that your poetry is good and says what you’re trying to get it to say, but you’re just taking a different way of doing it; both ways work, even if ponies don’t get what you’re trying to do by doing it that different way.” He concluded with a smile.

Maud’s eyes widened visibly and she looked at him in surprise. Nopony had ever tried to understand her poetry the way he had…yet alone, be able to use an example about rocks to describe it, “Thank you, Cut. I hadn't thought of it that way, but you have a point. It's nice to think of a way to express things in line with your talent,” she said warmly.

Rough Cut smirked, cleared his throat and rubbed a hoof across his chest, “Yeah, well, it’s kind of a knack and…stuff…even if I just think of it last second, ya know?” he tried to sound cool and said with confidence.

Maud looked at him for a moment, a small smile gracing her lips as images of a similar looking younger colt with a charcoal mane played with her back in the rock fields of her family farm, “Yes…I understand that,” she simply said and then looked up at him with more to talk about now.

The pair continued their conversation and while not very close at this point, they were slowly warming up to each other and learning more every day.


~Flashback End~


Rough Cut chuckled at the thought of that event, “Yeah…I did have a way with words…even if they weren’t really that great,” he admitted, trying to hide the fact he really hadn't planned on sounding that smart.

Maud nodded and picked up her book to put it back into her satchel before returning to the rock formation in front of her.

Rough Cut watched her for a moment and then a topic mentioned earlier came to mind, “Hey, Maud?” he asked, she turned her head to him, “I was wondering…me and a couple friends, you've met them before, were going to head to a new pub across town tomorrow evening after work…and I was wondering if…” he hesitated nervously, “if you’d like to join me- us for dinner there?” he asked with a smile.

“Dinner with your friends?” Maud asked.

“Yeah, if ya wanna anyway…I know you don’t like too much social stuff with other ponies if you don’t want to, but I just thought I’d offer,” he assured her, understanding how she was.

Maud shook her head, “No, I’d be glad to go,” Rough Cut’s ears perked up, “I don’t have a problem with any of your friends, Cut. It’s Tiger Eye and Gear Grinder, right?” She asked and he nodded, “Sure, I’d love to go to dinner with you.”

“Awesome! It should be a fun time. I mean, I haven’t been there so I don’t know if the grub’s any good, but yeah at least we’ll have company,” he said in relief that she wanted to go.

Maud nodded and picked her satchel up, “Yeah, it will be. I am about done here for today; do you want to head home? Pinkie said she was making a special surprise for us when we returned.”

Rough Cut nodded, but then winced at the implication, “Well…I just hope she’s not trying to ‘experiment’ with any ‘special’ dinner recipes she thinks of…that last one a couple months ago was not a good one…” he trailed off as they left the mines together.

Maud chuckled a grunt and shook her head, “Don’t worry, she isn’t experimenting, just cooking regular food,” she told them as she walked beside him closely. "Are you ready to go, Cut?" she looked back at him with a warm smile in the setting sunlight.

Rough Cut froze in place and his heart beat faster as he looked at her. She looked very nice in the sunlight reflecting off her eyes and a genuine smile gracing her lips. It was a smile that was rare to see on her face; in the several years he had known her, this was a rare treat...and one he would never tire of seeing if he could.

Maud's smile disappeared and she tilted her head curiously as he didn't respond, "Rough Cut, are you ok?"

"Huh?" Rough Cut shook his head and cleared his throat, "O-oh, yeah, sorry. It's good that she's making regular grub this time," he said with a sheepish smile and trotted up next to her. Maud just blinked in response and continued walking together with him towards Pinkie's place together. He just hoped that the surprise was good food this time at home as well as the dinner being tasty and enjoyable.