Meet-cute among the stones

Silver had arrived at the convention early to set up the last things on her table and prepare for the second day. The previous day she had mostly talked with ponies about her research and the upcoming exhibit at the museum she was preparing. A lot of ponies had been interested, but she hadn’t charmed her way to any grants yet. She hadn’t made a lot of sales either, other than a few crystals from the Ghastly Gorge and a decently preserved opalized ammonite she had found on a trip with her brother a few months prior. The lack of sales, unfortunately, also meant that she’d still not found the bits for the dig and research trip she was hoping to achieve with Pod-ny in the newly discovered location, where she had found the ammonite.
She re-arranged some of the crystals and added new ones in-between. Hopefully today would be better, and as the doors opened and ponies poured into the hall, she put on a smile and prepared for another day of interactions.

Around lunch time, she was already starting to feel a bit exhausted. She wasn’t normally one to talk to ponies, but she always made sure to do these events for both her research’s sake and to share her passion with others. It was probably also a good idea to put herself out there from time to time and meet new faces, she thought to herself. Normally she was confined to talking with her colleagues at the museum or being by herself as she researched and worked with the exhibit, so social interactions wasn’t exactly what she did the most – especially not with ponies who wasn’t professors or students at the university.

“Excuse me, what’s this beauty?” a voice said on her left. She had been deep in thought, and hadn’t seen them approach, so the voice spooked her a bit.

“Oh, sorry, what was that? I must’ve drifted off in my own thoughts for a moment there,” she said with a small laugh.

“Haha, no worries,” the pony said and smiled. “I was just wondering what this beautiful crystal would be?”

Silver picked up the crystal and handed it to the young mare. “This is an amethyst from the Yakyakistan mountains. It’s one of the best places for these, since their composition of iron gives them the most beautiful violet colour,” she said excitedly. Amethyst was Silver’s absolute favourite crystal, and she had an extensive collection at home of the most particularly beautiful ones she’d found during her trips around the world.

“It really does look stunning,” the mare said. “I knew I felt drawn towards your table for a reason!” Silver noticed that the mare said this while maintaining eye contact and smiling ever so slightly. She noticed the pretty lavender rose coloured eyes of the mare along with her smile and felt a slight blush. She quickly returned to the conversation.

“Oh, yeah, these amethysts have that effect on ponies. They’re so beautiful and uniquely deep in their colour. They are always a guest favourite at the museum,” she said. “And I think this one in particular would look great with you! It goes really well with your eyes.” Silver blushed a bit again. Why’d she said that? She didn’t mean for it to come out as flirty as she’d said it. She needed to stay professional.

“Why, thank you!” the mare said. “This one really feels right as well. It has a certain energy and vibe to it. Maybe it has been infused with a bit of the beauty of whoever found it.”

Silver suddenly felt shyer than normal and averted her eyes a bit. Was that mare flirting with her? She looked back at her and saw her smile back at her. The mare got a slight dimple whenever she smiled. Her smile was a bit crooked, but that in no way took away from how cute it was – au contraire. Wait, why was she thinking about her smile now? She couldn’t afford to lose this sale because she couldn’t keep her thoughts straight. What was she about to say again?
Oh right, she had given Silver a compliment. Uhm, how was she supposed to respond to that? She wasn’t really good at getting compliments.

"U-uhm, have you... uhm... have you seen thi-this pretty piece of a-ammolite? It's really pretty,” Silver stammered, trying to change the subject.

The mare smiled. "You're really pretty," she said and winked. Silver blushed even more now and looked back down at the crystals in front of her. "Uhm... Eeeeh..."
Oh my goodness, why does she have to be so gorgeous? Silver thought to herself. Was she actually flirting with her, or did she just misinterpret the signals? No, the beautiful mare ought to be flirting. She had told Silver that she was pretty and kept redirecting the conversation from the crystals to Silver.
She didn’t even know this mare, let alone her name. How could she be so infatuated with her, despite knowing nothing about her? She wasn’t one to just fall for ponies so quickly. This was a very unusual situation for her.

Silver decided to try and talk a bit more with her to test the waters just a bit further. She looked up at the mare again, despite still feeling really shy. “S-so, would you be interested in the amethyst? It’s normally 30 bits, b-but you seem like you’re genuinely into crystals, and you’re really kind and friendly, so I’d sell it to you f-for 25,” she said.

“Hmm, that’s a fair price,” the mare said. “You know what, I’ll pay you the 25, and then lunch is on me. What do you say to that offer?”

Even if you shot Silver with a taser, you wouldn’t be able to match the shock that washed through her in that moment. All thoughts left her head immediately and she just stood there, stunned, for a moment. The mare smiled and giggled, looking at her. “I’ll take that as a yes then? What do you say I meet you in the cafeteria in 15 minutes, and you can bring my amethyst for me? Looking forward to it,” she said, and winked at Silver. The mare placed 20 bits on the table and left towards the hall’s cafeteria. Silver was still just standing there, stunned and thoughtless. She didn’t know if it was her heart pounding or her colleague poking her shoulder.

When Silver finally came to herself again, she noticed her colleague had arrived to cover for her while she took a lunch break. She told the colleague about a few ponies who’d be back during her break to pick up their purchases, put the amethyst in her saddlebag and then she went off towards the cafeteria for her apparent date. She walked slowly, not because she wasn’t in hurry to get there; she was actually starving, but rather because if she walked faster, her wobbly knees would probably collapse under her. Why was she so nervous? It was just lunch with a friendly mare, nothing more than that. A friendly, really pretty and beautiful mare… Oh goodness, Silver, what have you gotten yourself into this time? she thought.

As she entered the cafeteria, she looked around for the purple batpony. She spotted her in the other end of the cafeteria, deeply engaged in reading a book. Silver made her way towards her, and she felt her heart pound and flutter more and more as she approached the table. Was it just her or was it really hot in here?

As she came up to the table, the mare looked up from her book and smiled when she noticed Silver. “Hey again! That was more than 15 minutes,” she said, with a twinkle in her eye. “So, what does a rock pony like yourself usually eat for lunch? I, myself, am more of a hay fries kind of gal.” She laughed, and Silver couldn’t help but notice how adorable it sounded.

“Uhm, well, uuh…” she stammered. Why had she suddenly lost all her words? Come on, Silver! Pull yourself together!
“I, uhm, usually prefer the dandelion burger here. They get their dandelions from a local farmer close by, so it’s sustainably sourced.” Silver laughed nervously.

“Oh, you’re environmentally conscious, huh? Me too! I’ll get us both a dandelion burger then! I’ll be right back, pretty,” she said with a wink, and walked towards the food clerk.
Yep, it was definitely hot in here, Silver thought.

When the mare returned, she carried two plates of burger with fries using her magic. She set them down on the table and put the book she was reading into her own saddlebag. As it floated up from the table, Silver noticed the title: “Crystals and their properties: a guide to spirituality.” Was this pony spiritual? She had been talking about vibes and energies earlier, when discussing the amethyst, but Silver hadn't thought about it further - probably because she'd been so flustered. She wanted to ask her about it, but then remembered her own saddlebag containing the amethyst.

"Oh, before I forget: here's your crystal," Silver said, handing the amethyst to the mare.

"Thank you so much! It's simply beautiful. Just like you," she said, once again looking at Silver with that crooked smile. Silver took a bite of her burger to hide that she was getting very flustered again. The two mares sat and ate for a few minutes, not saying a word. But every time Silver looked up from her plate, she was met with those beautiful eyes looking at her. After several minutes, Silver had finished most of her hay fries and put the last bite of her burger in her mouth. As she finished chewing, she looked up at the mare again and asked, "so, I never really caught your name? I'm Silver Rhodochrosite."

The mare put down the fry she was about to eat. "Silver. That's a really beautiful name! I'm Amaya."

"Well, hey there, Amaya," Silver said. "And what do you do for a living then?"

"Nothing much. I'm currently just between jobs, trying to find myself," Amaya said. "How about you, Silver? If I had to guess, I'd say you seem too stylish and pretty to be working in the dirt."

Silver laughed, "well, you'd be somewhat correct with that assumption. I am a geologist in Canterlot, so I mostly work inside the museum with dusty books and showcases, but I do enjoy and regularly go on trips to do field work and dig in the dirt."

“That sounds interesting! What do you do when you’re out in the field then?” Amaya looked at Silver with genuine interest. It felt nice to talk to somepony who showed interest in her, and not just the rocks and crystals like she was used to. Normally ponies didn’t want to hear about her research but would just ask the same questions about geology:
How old is these rocks? It says so on the sign.
Is this crystal real or a fake? It’s real, along with every other crystal here.
How much do you earn? Not enough to justify doing this for anything but passion.
Have you found a dinosaur? Yes, but that was the project of my brother in the paleontology department.
She loved talking about her work and enlightening ponies on the matter, but after years in the museum, she’d sort of grown tired from hearing and answering the same questions almost daily. It was mostly foals and students at the university who asked new, exciting questions about her and her work as a science. So having Amaya show her this much interest really warmed her, and she couldn’t help but smile a bit.
She began to tell Amaya about some of her most exciting field trips, like the time during her studies when she and her classmates found this huge agate concretion containing the prettiest botryoidal chalcedony deposits. They’d brought it with them back to the university as part of their assignment on the area, and afterwards they’d gotten it cut into 5 chunks and each of them had taken one of them home. Silver was displaying hers on the bookshelf right beside all her books and the scientific papers she’d saved during her studies.

After telling the story, she noticed that Amaya had been looking at her and smiling for the entire duration of her blabbering. She suddenly felt a bit self-conscious about going out on a tangent and blushed again. “Sorry,” she said. “I think I got a bit carried away there.”

“That’s okay.” Amaya gave Silver a reassuring look. “It was nice listening and seeing you shine with passion while talking. You look really cute when talking about your work, do you know that?” Silver didn’t know how to respond to that and just looked away again. She felt her cheeks getting hotter again and hoped that Amaya didn’t notice.

Silver and Amaya talked for the next hour, until Silver suddenly realised, she’d left her colleague covering for her at the table.

“I’m sorry, Amaya. I have to get back the table. Normally I only leave to eat, and then return right after, but I must’ve forgotten about the time talking to you.” Silver smiled awkwardly. “It’s been really nice talking to you though! And thank you so much for the lunch. It was…” Silver blushed again. “Uhm, it was such a nice gesture. You’re really sweet.”

“It was my pleasure. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you more. You’re quite the pony, Silver Rhodochrosite!” Amaya stood up from her chair and walked around the table to Silver’s side. “And thank you for the amethyst. I know just where to put it at home.” She opened her mouth, but promptly closed it again, as if she wanted to say something but changed her mind. Why did she seem so nervous all of a sudden?
Amaya opened her mouth again but hesitated a bit. She looked at Silver, and Silver noticed that Amaya seemed to blush a bit now as well. The sudden nervousness seemed very odd, since she’d been so confident all day.

Amaya finally seemed to have gained her voice back. “I was wondering… If you wouldn’t mind, of course…” Silver felt her own cheeks flush too now. Amaya looked cute trying to find her words, Silver thought to herself.

“Uhm… If you weren’t busy later, after the convention ends, then…” Silver felt her heart flutter and her cheeks turning pinker than her coat.

Amaya sighed. “I was just wondering if you’d want to go out and get some dinner as well after you’re done here later...?” Silver was definitely blushing now, and the room felt very hot.

“Are you asking me… on a date?” Silver asked, heart aflutter. Amaya smiled that crooked smile again and blushed. Silver felt simultaneously happy and insanely nervous again. What was she gonna say? She had enjoyed this lunch, but would she want to go on an actual date with this mare? Silver felt really unsure, and her thoughts was racing. She’d been looking forward to going home and not having to talk with more new ponies after the convention ended, as her social batteries was running really low already by the time, she reached lunchtime. Besides, she’d agreed to meet up with her brother sometime tonight and discuss the convention and how many bits she’d earned for the field trip.
But on the other hoof, she wasn’t feeling tired right now. Actually, now that she thought about it, the time spent with Amaya seemed to have replenished some of her mental energy. And Amaya was just standing there, waiting for an answer. Oh, what was she gonna do?

She must have looked incredibly lost, because Amaya poked her hoof and asked, “you okay there, Silver? You’re looking a little overwhelmed.”

Silver snapped back. “Oh, sorry haha. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.” She nervously scratched her neck.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Amaya said, with a hint of sadness in her voice. “It was just really nice talking to you, and I thought that we- “

“I’d love to go have dinner with you, Amaya!” Silver touched Amaya’s hoof with her own. “I’d love to go on a date with you, I mean…” Was it medically safe for a heart to beat this fast? Silver could feel her hooves shake with nervousness. She began to absentmindedly stroke the hair on her tail with the other hoof. A stim she’d had for as long as she could remember.

“Oh, uhm, really?!” Amaya said, her crooked smile spreading even wider than before. Sweet Celestia, she really is the most adorable pony I’ve met, Silver thought.

“Yes, definitely,” Silver said.

Amaya seemed to try and regain her composure. “Well, that’s splendid. I’ll, uhm, meet you outside the convention centre at 6pm then?”

“It’s a date,” Silver said, and stood up from her chair. “I’m looking forward to it.”

As Silver turned to start walking back towards her table, her tail brushed ever so slightly against Amaya’s leg. She felt a buzz as their coats made contacts, and she felt her heart skip a beat.

“I’m looking forward too,” Amaya said. “Have a great rest of the day at the convention.”

“You too,” she said, and did a small wave with her hoof. Silver trotted back to her table and apologised to her colleague for taking so long.

“It’s no big deal, Silver,” her colleague said. “I saw you talking to that nice mare, and judging by you blushing, I’d assume you didn’t just spend your lunch break fiddling around.” She winked at Silver, and Silver shyly laughed, averting her eyes down to the crystals.
Her colleague didn’t question Silver further, but Silver could feel the teasing look of her colleague.

As the day progressed, Silver returned to her professional appearance and continued to talk with ponies that approach the table. She made a few more sales, and she even got to take a walk around the centre herself when her friends, Alyva Pages and Strawberry Cookie, arrived and said they’d keep an eye on things for her for a while.
Silver managed to find a decently sized baryte concretion with a well-preserved clam inside at the table of a paleontologist from down in Manehattan and some really lovely, polished pieces of amethyst and rhodochrosite. When she returned to her table, she got Alyva to drill and smooth out a hole in both pieces and then put them on a leather string. Silver wanted to give it to Amaya later as a little thanks for the lunch.
She also made sure notify Pod-ny about her change of plans. He sent a reply back saying, that normally he’d be annoyed but if his little-wittle baby sister had a date, he’d of course change the plans for her. He also made sure to add that he hoped she was prepared for the many jokes and teasing he was obligated to subject her to as her big, strong brother. Silver snorted and laughed to herself. You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family, she thought to herself and smiled.

As the convention was closing down and everypony was either packing down their tables or already had left, Silver dragged the cart with the remaining boxes and bags of crystals and stuff out to her wagon, she saw somepony walk towards her. She looked up and saw Amaya approaching. Her eyes were shining, and her crooked smile looked adorable as ever.

“Ready for dinner?” she asked Silver.

“Ready as can be,” Silver said. “But before we can go, I need some help with these boxes.” She winked at Amaya, and Amaya nodded and started lifting boxes onto the wagon with her magic. The two unicorns worked for a few minutes, occasionally brushing against each other. When they were finished, Silver looked at Amaya.

“Right, that’s the last of them. My friends will be here shortly to take it back to the museum.” She looked at Amaya, and then pulled the bracelet out of her saddlebag. “Now, I have a little thing for you as thanks for the lunch and company.”
Silver floated the bracelet over to Amaya, and she grabbed it and looked at the gift.

“This is simply beautiful, Silver!” Amaya exclaimed. “What stones is this?”

“It’s a rhodochrosite and an amethyst. I thought those would be a nice combination, because, well, you know…” Silver blushed and looked away. Amaya put on the bracelet and walked over to Silver.

“I love this a lot, Silver.” Amaya gave Silver a small kiss on the cheek.
My goodness, Silver thought, when did it get so hot out here too?

She looked up at Amaya. “It’s my pleasure. Shall we go?” she asked.

“I’d love nothing more,” Amaya said, and started walking beside Silver. The two unicorns walked and chatted all the way to the restaurant. Silver kept catching Amaya looking at her every time she glanced up from the gravel road, and she continued to do so for the remainder of the evening. Silver couldn’t imagine a better way to spend her evening, and as the night concluded and Silver began to feel the exhaustion of having been social for an entire day and therefore had to return home, the two mares agreed to go get dinner again a few days later, when her social batteries was fully charged again.

And despite being absolutely dead tired, Silver couldn’t help but feel excited and giddy with anticipation for the next time she’d see Amaya. This had been a good convention, and when Silver returned home and was greeted by her deerfox, Speck, as she came through her front door, she went straight to bed. She curled up on the soft mattress, Speck cuddling up next to her, and she smiled as she drifted to sleep, dreaming of a cute batpony unicorn and crystals.
This had certainly been a most splendid convention.

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