Rarity's Rescue

As she skipped around and hummed to herself, Rarity stopped near the window on the ground floor and glanced out into the sky.  It sure was cloudy out there, but some of the sunset could be seen poking through the clouds in the sky.  “Oh, I do hope that it doesn’t rain,” she commented to Opalescence who meowed quietly in reply.  Rarity pulled herself away from the window and went back to her skipping and humming whilst she gathered her things.  She popped open a nearby trunk with her magic and began to sift through it for her saddlebags.  “I just have to get my hooves on these gems,” she continued to explain to her feline companion, “I just know that they’ll make this last project of the season one for the books.”  Opalescence meowed once more and yawned afterwards; her owner’s fashion pursuits were trivial matters to her.

At last, Rarity found her saddlebags and flung them over her back.  They felt rather loose, so she stepped over to a nearby mirror and used it to adjust the bags.  “I know I should have gone earlier, but I simply haven’t had the time.  I must say that it’s been quite a busy week,” she sighed as she finally adjusted the saddlebag.  Before she walked off to gather the rest of her things, she checked herself for beauty in the mirror.  “You look fabulous dear,” she quietly commented herself.  The saddlebags were new and of her own creation, but she had just never had the opportunity to wear them.  Perhaps she would take the long way through town to her destination and show them off.  “Do you know why these gems are so special Opal?” Rarity asked as she walked around the room in search of some other things.

Again, Opal only meowed as she rolled over onto her back and watched her owner trot around the room upside down.  “There’s my map,” Rarity said as she used her magic to grasp the map that Opal was laying atop and subsequently rolled her off of it.  Opal hissed and growled as she struggled to right herself, but let it slide as Rarity looked away from her and packed the bag down in her saddle.  “Anyway,” Rarity continued aloud, “they’re very important and very valuable.  They’re only around this time of the year and are so very hard to find, but I dare say that I think I’ve found the jackpot!” she said the final part with a singsong voice.  “I have to hurry though, because if it rains the soil will get moist and cause them to shrivel up into dust.  Not very hardy gems, but very beautiful,” she commented.

“Well,” she said as she checked around the room and made sure that she didn’t forget anything, “I have to go Opal, but Momma will be back soon,” she smiled at the little feline and then kissed it on the cheek.  The cat recoiled though, and tried furiously to wipe the kiss off of its own cheek.  Rarity sighed and rolled her eyes, “Goodbye dear,” she said as she went out the door; all the while Opal rolled furiously on her perch on the table as she tried to cleanse herself.

It was getting pretty late, but she still had quite a while until it got dark.  Still though, she would have to hurry as she would have to do all of the work herself.  Spikey Wikey had offered to help her, but the poor little sick thing was grounded in bed and there was no way that Rarity would have him risk getting worse over her.  Thus, Rarity merely scouted about and used a spell that Twilight had taught her to peer beneath the earth so that she could pinpoint the spots on her makeshift map.  To dig, she would just bring her trusty gardening spade along.

As she walked out of her front door, Rarity glanced back towards her fabulous saddlebags.  She wanted very much to take the scenic route as she had planned, but she was simply too pressed for time.  The clouds in the distance seemed to be growing darker and far more ominous, so it was all she could do to hurry to her destination.  She started to walk at first, but as it seemed to her that the clouds were getting closer, she increased her speed to a trot and stayed like this all the way up until she reached the very edge of Ponyville.  She crossed the final bridge along the dirt path and continued on for a few more minutes until she eventually reached a big dead tree which signaled for her to go off of the path.  After that, she went up and down a few hills and eventually reached a secluded dirt spot which really seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.

A vulture crowed on a nearby branch and Rarity watched as it flew off; she gulped.  Dead earth all around her, a quickly fading sunset and ominous clouds, and absolute silence all around her made for a very uncomfortable feeling.  “OK Rarity,” she tried to calm herself, “We won’t be here long.  Just a few spots and then home,” she told herself firmly and then took a deep breath.  She looked up towards the sky and heaved a sigh, “At least the sunset is beautiful.”  She took out her spade and then pulled the map out of her saddlebag so that she could find her first spot.  She walked around for a little bit as she scoped out her surrounding and tried to get an idea of exactly where she was.  The map, like her surrounding, was mostly barren so she had to use some scribbled down markers such as the nearby tree, also dead, and then leave the rest to luck.  She walked around for a little bit until she eventually was ready to dig.  “If I’m correct,” she mumbled to herself, muzzle buried in the map, “my first spot should be right…” she walked a few more paces, “here.”  She flung the spade down in the ground to mark her spot.

Finally, she began to dig.  Since the earth was so dry, it was hard for her to dig in the first place, but Rarity had to take extra care with these gems.  They were highly unpredictable as to what depth they were located at, and the slightest chip could make one of these rarities worthless.  Spike’s claws would prove invaluable for a task like this, but, as Rarity had to keep telling herself, one had to make do with what one had.  She struggled at first with the digging, her magic being the only thing that kept the spade from flying off from the pressure, but was eventually able to get the hang of it.

As the minutes ticked on, Rarity’s hole got deeper and deeper.  Eventually, she felt as though she might not find the gems hidden beneath.  Could it be that she had read the map wrong and was digging feet, maybe yards off?  What if she was digging to narrow?  “Oh, maybe I should just give up,” she mumbled to herself as she stopped digging and glanced down into the hole.  “I made it last season without these, so what’s the harm in waiting one more?”  She sighed and dug her spade helplessly into the ground just one last time.  As she blinked in dismay though, she saw a bright flash of light come from the hole.  At first she thought it might have only been the sunlight reflecting, or perhaps it had been her eyes playing tricks, but when she glanced down into the hole one more time she saw the heads of several gems sticking out.  “This is it!” she said aloud with excitement.  “OK,” she took a deep, concentrated breath, “I must be careful with this.”

Rarity used the precision afforded by her trained eye and by her magic to maneuver the spade around and make the hole just a little deeper and wider.  She knew that she only needed to make it so that she could get force the gems out of the earth with her magic.  Eventually, as more time passed, Rarity was able to make it so that she could pull the gems out.  She counted as she placed the precious objects into her saddlebags.  “One, two, three, four, five, six…” she stopped once she placed the final one in there.  “Six,” she noted to herself and proceeded to do a little fashion math.  The gems were only moderate in size so she wasn’t sure how much it would cover on her new project, but at the same time she wasn’t sure if she had enough time to scout for more gems.  Then again, she could just go sell the gems at the cost of not being able to bring her vision to life.  She did have sixty-thousand worth of gems in her saddlebags after all.  She glanced towards the mountains in the distance where she could see the lighting flash and hear the thunder roll.  It put her in quite a dilemma.  Should she risk it?

Rarity sighed and looked down at her map.  If she was correct, there was a collection of gems just a few paces away from where she was.  She looked down at the map, up towards the mountains, down at the map, and then back up towards the mountains.  “I can do this,” she told herself as she followed the map closely to her next destination.  “Just this last bit and then on home.  If I don’t find anything in about five minutes, I’ll go.”  Rarity glanced up at the sky just one final time and saw that the clouds were now looming menacingly over her.

She knew she had to be quick, so when she found her spot she began to dig with all of her might.  Not once did she take her eyes off of the hole or the spade, and not once did she stop to let her magical stamina replenish.  Again, it seemed as if these gems were going to be deeper below the earth than expected.  Still, maybe she would have the time to get to them.  No, just five minutes.  That’s all Rarity, she had to constantly remind herself.  The idea of having gems so rare was so tantalizing to her that it was all she could do to try.  In that attempt to try though, Rarity found herself going over her five minute mark, and then her ten minute mark.  Soon even, the thunder rolled and it began to sprinkle very lightly and yet Rarity continue to dig.  “OK,” she said aloud as she noted the rain, “no problem.  I’ve still got a little time.  I just need to be quick about getting them out and into my saddlebags.”

The thunder rolled once more, almost as if it was trying to tell her to call it quits.  Rarity was persistent though, and she flung her spade into the dirt just one more time.  Once she did though, she saw the very same bright flash of light come out of it.  She gasped in excitement and said, “This is it!”  She got down on her knees and craned her head over to peer into the hole, which, with any luck, would shield the gems from the rain.  The thunder rolled just one last time and Rarity couldn’t help but feel it inside of her and smell it in the air that things were about to turn violent with the storm real soon.

“Gotta be quick,” she mumbled to herself one more time.  “Gotta be quick,” she repeated as she shuffled her spade hurriedly yet carefully throughout the hole.  “Got it,” she said eventually as a smile came across her face.  The gems were revealed and now all she had to do was place them in her bag.  She was sure to remain delicate with the task, but hurried as quickly as she could.  Once finished, she checked the hole just once more to make sure that she hadn’t missed anything.

It was around that time though that she felt the hard slam across the back of her head.  She didn’t really have the time to say anything or do anything before the world started to go dark, however she was able to utter a little whimper.  She blinked a few times as she tried to find out what was happening, but she just couldn’t seem to keep her eyes open and she just felt so tired.  She closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.  Rarity was out cold.