Maudlin

Lofty Withers #1 · Feb 28th, 2021 · 4 · ·

I like that she didn't take Maud for granite. She's a real gem. It's crystal clear that she rose to the occasion without getting Maud, even under pressure. Now she can start another relationship with a clean slate. Might be a gneiss opportunity.

FanOfMostEverything

FanOfMostEverything #2 · Feb 28th, 2021 · 2 · ·

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I headcanon "Rose Quartz" as the actual name of Nana Pinkie, so this was a bit of a trip for me. Still, beautiful bit of tragic romance between two kindred spirits. Alas, Maud just wasn't looking for a relationship at that point in her academic career.

Fillyfoolish

Fillyfoolish #3 · Feb 28th, 2021 · 1 · ·

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10700160
Maud sure rocks.

10700509
It's not my fault all pony names are variants of one another 🙃

Also, to anypony who is annoyed Fillyfoolish wrote unrequited romance again : Ending is left intentionally ambiguous, the fact being that even if Maud does return feelings she cares more about her work than any pony (with the exception of Pinkie Pie, I suppose.)

Thank you both for reading.

Bicyclette

Bicyclette #4 · Feb 28th, 2021 · · ·

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;_;

“You’re applying force to the gem at the wrong angle. Tilt your hooves thirty degrees clockwise around its surface normal and push forward.”

Way to catch my eye with Maud Math out of the gate.

“Nopony could count every atom of the smallest gemstone, but everypony can understand a grid. What seems like infinity in the natural world is nothing more than the simplest pattern replicated at every integer scale.” She paused. “There is beauty in that.”

More Maud Math! So beautiful.

She shook her head, kicking the dirt as she sighed. “Life needs me to follow the rocks, but life needs you to follow your family. Our paths are intersecting but not identical. Don’t give up your life to chase after somepony else’s.” She opened her saddlebag with her mouth and fished out a small piece of quartz. “For you.”

As is this paragraph. Maud is too wise to not recognize the circumstances were not right.

From the pinkish tint I recognized rose quartz. Tears flowed freely as I confessed, “I love you, Maud.”
The stillness of the silence that followed wrung my stomach. After the eternity between heart beats, she shifted. “Okay.”

What else could she have said? Just so very Maud. By anypony else, this reaction would seem callous, but Maud is saying so much in so little.

Also I would never be annoyed by more unrequited romance! What is more beautiful than a love that is never realized? What can be more beautiful than a crystal of pure potential, untainted by the defects of reality, never dulled by the vagaries of entropy and time?

Fillyfoolish