The rock burst under the might of my pickaxe, showering me in dust and pebbles. I heaved. Dropping the axe from my magical grasp, releasing an exhale in defeat.
How pitiful I must look. Tarnished by sweat and dirt. Day in and day out, scurrying about like a common farmer.
It was disgraceful.
Groaning hard, I retrieved my axe. My work was not yet finished, and even if I despised my employment and employer... I still had a job to do; and The Great and Powerful Trixie did not intend to ever disappoint.
With a heavy strike, I started to work on the next absurdly large boulder placed before me. Placed by that insufferable Limestone Pie; that employer I oh so fondly mentioned earlier. Such a despicable pony she was. Always demanding, always bartering. Pretending as if she was a respectable businessmare running a respectable business. Such a delusion on her part.
She owned a rock farm; and a clearly lackluster one at that.
Why else would she hire a stranger with no experience and no references, if she and her family were as capable as she so claimed?
Because they weren't, and Trixie was the one who had to suffer for that.
Even though I was effectively trudging through my work, I was making good time it seemed, as the next rock swiftly burst under my assault, spraying me in flakes of stone. I looked at the cluster that laid before me in hope, only to continue on dejected when I found nothing of value.
The key official policy on rock farming was that any and all valuable stones discovered in the rocks are later sold off to the highest bidder, with the farm owner receiving the majority and the discoverer getting the second largest share.
Though that policy would only apply if the farm owner was informed of the find…
But alas, I found nothing and continued on as the nothing I was, searching for nothing in a sea of nothing.
There was nothing for me here.
I wanted something.
Trixie was once a something.
But look at me now, how they would laugh at at me if they saw me like this. More than they usually do.
It was too much.
I yelled, and the next rock crumbled apart with my magic alone. I heaved again, dryly due to how parched I was. I hated this place, I hated these ponies. But what else was there for me to do? Trixie's career was in tatters, my bits were diminished, my home was gone, my family was…
No, ignore it. Ignore them. Too painful.
This farm was my prison, but this prison was my home; without it I'd lose that last little bit of what I have left.
Trixie; ever reliable ever resilient Trixie.
Trixie is mine and mine alone.
The next rock was large, dull and grey. Everything was dull and grey, this whole part of Equestria might as well adopt it as a motto or something. I attempted to push the rock to the ground to make it easier to crack, but it wouldn't budge; too large and too heavy.
Like Limestone Pie. Not that I would ever say it to her face.
I hoisted the axe high and struck, one, two, three and four times. That was all it took. The final impact drove my pick right into the rock as if it was made of sand, and the top crumbled in on itself. It was too easy, far too easy to the point I grew suspicious. No rock had cracked that easily before so what made this one so special?
I was already filthy, working on a farm did that to you. So I paid the dirt no mind as I scrapped my hooves across the scattered fragments of stone until the broken formation looked less like a boulder and more like a table.
A table with the most exquisite diamond I had ever seen embedded in the centre of it.
I marvelled at its majesty; its uncut, clear purity. It was roughly the size of my hoof, but even so, diamonds were quite the rarity in comparison to rubies, sapphires, gems and crystals in Equestria. That shiny thing alone was a unique and gorgeous specimen to behold.
And it was mine.
That thing was the ticket. The bits I would receive for it, the things I could do with those bits!
Trixie could get my life back, Trixie could get back at her.
Twilight Sparkle.
Trixie can show the world which one of us deserves it best.
“Trixie?”
That voice; stale, boring, as plain as can be. The voice that belonged to the one pony on this farm I didn't hold with complete contempt.
“Trixie, you've been working for hours. It's almost time for dinner.”
“Maud, please. Just give me a moment.”
Maud Pie, as cut and as seamless as the pickaxes I use. I had been unnerved by her at first; by her barren expression, her soulless excuse for a first impression. Quite the contrast from the rest of her family; the meek Marble, ancient Igneous, clueless Cloudy and leaching Limestone. Maud was different from the rest, different from everypony else in the land for one momentously simple reason.
Maud didn't judge.
Maud was indiscriminate. Maud never treated anypony different from anypony else. She was always considerate, always blunt, always truthful when nopony else was. Other ponies looked to Trixie like she was a failure, a fake filly on the offensive.
Maud didn't, Maud treated me like a pony, like somepony worth giving the time of day.
Maud was special.
She made me smile, and in this day and age I didn't get that opportunity to do that very often.
I was broken from my daze when the taps of hooves upon the dirt forced my sight back to the rock; where Maud was stood staring straight at the diamond. My diamond.
I froze, Maud had found it, I had been too distracted to notice. I should've done something, I should've hid it when I had the chance!
“Trixie, this diamond…”
That was a sight, a speechless Maud. Just as barren as she was in every other state of existence.
“I found it, and I expect my cut in full!” I proclaim with vigor. That was my diamond and I knew of that obsession Maud had with rocks; how she studied them, sat with them, and probably did far more things with them then I would be comfortable in describing.
She kept one as a pet.
I had the pleasure of witnessing another wonder in addition to the diamond that day, a rarity that the world had never seen before and would likely never see again.
Maud’s expression changed.
It was minor and it was mute, but it was there and I had seen it happen. Her thinned mouth deepened into a frown, her eyebrows rose inwards and her eyes, her eyes twinkled and shone amongst the stars starting to gather above as the sun veered ever closer to the horizon.
Maud looked sad.
“Maud?” I cautiously began, this was uncharted territory after all; a Maud expressing feeling. “Maud what's wrong?” I continued, hoping to prompt the mare to open up. Maud regularly asked how Trixie was feeling and Trixie never had anything good to say to her.
Trixie would return the favour.
Maud shifted to look at the diamond, which was practically glowing against the setting sun. It reflected off her face, highlighting the dust and sweat she was coated in after a hard day's work. “That diamond,” she began. Her expression may have changed, but her voice was just as dull as ever. “That diamond is beautiful. I would like to examine it.”
So that was it, Maud wanted the diamond. She wanted my diamond. “Well I'm sorry, Maud. But I found it and I claimed it! As soon as I dig it out of that rock I'm hoofing it off to your sister so she can sell it for a fortune.” My recollection of the bits it would bring me made me grin. All those coins, the things I could buy with them.
I could get another wagon, another cape, another hat.
“I'll buy it from you.”
It was blunt, and it was most certainly unexpected. I gawked at Maud, surprised by her proposal. But that didn't mean that I didn't consider it; I would get the bits much earlier, I could be outta here by sundown if I wanted to.
But Limestone could get me more.
“I'm sorry, Maud, but I can't,” I refused. “You wouldn't understand. I need as many bits as I can get, it's not that I don't want to give it to you it's just that… I need the bits.”
It sounded just as pitiful to say it out loud.
If Maud was angry, sad, accepting or in denial, I could not tell. Her expression returned to what it remained as on a practically permanent basis. Dulled.
“Okay.” Was all she said before she walked away.
That was it? What about the diamond? What was she thinking? Did she even care all that much about it? Was she just putting on a brave face?
I couldn't tell, she looked the same as she always did.
“Wait, Maud!” I ran to her. “You're going? Just like that? What about the diamond? You're not… upset are you?” I said with a hint of fear, afraid I had alienated the one pony whose opinion I still valued.
I need the bits.
Maud just stared, blank, always blank! “It's okay, you can do what you want with it. I'll still buy it if you change your mind though, it's worth all my bits and more, but all my bits is the most I can offer.” After that, Maud just kept on walking, and Trixie stood alone in the dirt.
Maud wanted the diamond but Trixie couldn't just give it to her, she needed to sell it for all it was worth. Any amount of bits Maud could give her were nothing compared to what one of Limestone’s merchant friends could fetch her.
But Maud had looked so sad.
I took my frustration out upon the rock, ripping the prized stone from its core and cradled it to my chest. It was majestic. Shimmering various shades, reflecting the stars that now lingered above and my own azure coat, it was so beautiful I almost regretted having to part with it so soon.
But I need the bits.
Don't I?
No bits mean I have nothing; you can't get along without bits, you can't eat without bits, drink without bits, stay warm without bits. You can't live without bits!
You can't knock a purple librarian down a peg without bits to do the heavy lifting for you.
But Maud wanted that diamond.
Maud had been there, everyday on the worst of days. On the days where Trixie would shout, scream, cry, whatever. Maud was there. Maud was always there.
Maud held her tight and didn't let her go.
And Maud was worth more bits than Trixie would ever possess.
Trixie was ashamed that it took her this long to come to the right decision.
I need the bits, but I don't need that many bits.
I can get by with far less, and I can find a way to get back on top with far less. It wasn't like Trixie started out with everything hoofed to her on a silver platter.
Trixie would find a way, Trixie would always find a way. She found this farm, she found her stones, she found that diamond. But Maud had found me.
Trixie didn't deserve Maud, but Maud deserved that diamond.
I left early that night, I knew where Maud kept her bits. A brown sack filled to the brim. When she opens the cabinet they had been housed in the next morning she will instead find a diamond the size of a tangerine. Worth far more than the bits I had taken I assure you, I even left some behind.
Once this was all over, once I was back on top, I would return. On a lighter day where I can give Maud the world that was taken from me. Taken by that stupid unicorn mare.
Twilight Sparkle was going to pay.
I ran, ran as fast as I could. I was free, free of the Alicorn Amulet, free of Ponyville and free of my past.
I never needed the bits.
I never even needed Twilight Sparkle.
I need my Maud.
Author's Note
Something quick I wrote today, nothing spectacular but was just something I've had on mind to do for a while now, this complete and utterly original and unique premise that nobody else has done before.
Yep, nobody else.
