A Diamond in the Rough

Chapters

Late! Late! For a very important date!
A Spa Date
A Young Stallion's Fancy
An Invitation
You Snooze You Lose
A Rainbow in the Dark
Dog Gone It!

Late! Late! For a very important date!

((Good evening. My name is Rainb00m. I'm sure that you may come across this story on fanfiction.net.. before you go and say that this is stolen, I would like to say that I am the author of this fan fiction. I lost my password and the e-mail that my fanfiction.net account was linked to. Not to mention that it sat unused for 2 years before I started this... so I did not know of the back-up e-mails you could link to it to prevent something like that. This was a disclaimer from iDarthy or Blue Eyes White Dragon64 if you prefer. Now... continue with the story and I do hope you enjoy as I will not begin work on chapter 8 until I see this story will flourish and survive here.))

Equestria, a country inhabited by ponies. Two princesses ruled the land with kindness and were beloved by all of their subjects. Princess Celestia, the eldest of the two, raised the sun for the ponies to play and work for the daylight hours. Princess Luna, the youngest, raised the moon at the day's end to allow the ponies to slumber and rest for the oncoming day. Different cities populated the gentle land of Equestria, such as Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Canterlot. However, our story takes place in the tranquil village of Ponyville. It is a rather small compared to the other larger cities in Equestria's borders. The village borders on the edge of Everfree Forest, which is also home to a zebra by the name of Zecora. The village was started by a group of earth ponies, but its land is shared with the unicorns and the pegasuses.

One of the resident unicorns goes by the name of Rarity. She possessed a coat of hair that was as white as the fresh fallen snow after a blizzard. A small white horn protruded from her forehead and was not covered by her long purple mane that was curled at both ends. Her tail was of equal color and was curled as well. The cutie mark on her flank, which matched her special talent of discovering gems, was represented by three lozenge diamonds.

Rarity ran a boutique in Ponyville. She designed clothing, fixed tears, and other seamstress' work for the pony folk of Ponyville to the wealthy ponies of Canterlot. If one were to walk into her boutique, they would have to check out the door to make sure they were still in Ponyville. Her shop seemed to be a tribute to the shops of Canterlot. Different shades of purple adorned the interior and exterior of the building. The interior contained her studio on the first floor which supported the upper floor and the rest of the building with pillars that surrounded the room. Mannequins adorned different corners of the room, some displayed dresses and suits that were completed, some were in the works and others were bare. In the middle of the room was a circular stand surrounded by three mirrors. It was mainly used for when Rarity was sizing somepony up for measurements or for trying on her outfits she designed for herself or others.

The boutique contained two floors. The studio was on the first floor while her living quarters made up the bulk of the second floor. It contained her bedroom, bathroom, a kitchen and a guest room. Her bedroom was also her drawing board room, in which she designed her work. Fabric and discarded designs littered the floor of her room and around the desk where she worked. A blue aura surrounded her horn and pencil as she drew out her designs on the sheet of paper that was placed in front of her.

If one were to look upon this mess, in which she called 'organized chaos', they would assume she was too busy with her work to bother cleaning. This was only half true. The beautiful Rarity was too wrapped up in her work to clean up the 'organized chaos'; but only to fill an empty void in her life, one that should be filled by what most would call 'love'.

Rarity sighed as she stopped drawing for a second and looked over her work. Flipping her mane out of her face, she resumed looking over her artwork.

"It's missing something…" she muttered to herself. Rarity looked over the drawing a few times before she glanced up at the clock and did a double take to make sure she read the time right.

"Oh dear! I'm going to be late for my spa date with Fluttershy!" Rarity exclaimed, the blue aura around her horn vanished and the pencil fell to the table. With a whirl, she faced the direction of the door and charged at it. She stopped at the stairs and walked down them as if she weren't in any sort of hurry at all.

"I'm a lady. I shouldn't be running at all." She mumbled to herself as she reached the end of the stairs, trotting quickly to the door and opening it. Nose held high to the sky, she went to take a step outside when a nearby falcon let out a loud cry, making Rarity freeze in her tracks, which in turn, caused her to notice a rather large mud puddle that had appeared in front of her house. A shriek of disgust erupted from the mare's mouth.

"Mud? How revolting! This simply cannot do!" she complained. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she looked at the puddle. It was too large to find a way around it or to jump over it…without getting herself all dirty that is.

"Ooohh! I'm going to have to miss my spa appointment with Fluttershy!" Rarity complained once more, stamping her hoof down in frustration as she gazed at the mud puddle in a futile effort to find a way across without getting muddy.

Rarity was just about to give up when a voice spoke up.

"Need some help?"

Her eyes widened as she looked around, at eye level, for the source of the voice. It had sounded like that of a stallion.

"Up here!" the voice said once more.

Rarity looked up to the sky and saw a black Pegasus stallion hovering above the mud puddle. A long mane of red and black adorned his head while his tail mimicked the same coloring. His hooves matched the red portion of his mane and tail, while his cutie mark was that of a flaming lightning bolt and three white scars were on his belly. What stood out the most to Rarity were his eyes…they were a dark blue…sapphire-like to her. She was frozen in place, her azure eyes stared deeply into his. It was like discovering an entire cave full of gems and she felt her heart skip a beat.

The black Pegasus tilted his head and repeated his question. "Need some help?"

Rarity's trance was broken and she flipped her mane and blinked her eyes a couple of times.

"Why, yes, I do. You see, some pony made it rain in front of my house and they left this…rather large mud puddle that I cannot possibly get across without" she cleared her throat "getting my beautiful hooves all muddy." She stuck her nose up towards the sky at the very thought of it.

The black Pegasus chuckled a bit. "I can carry you across the puddle if you wish, ma'am." He lowered himself until he was eye level with her and he flew towards her and hovered there. Rarity could feel herself start to blush as her azure eyes met his sapphire ones once more.

"That would be delightful, darling!" she answered, flipping her mane once more.

The black Pegasus chuckled and floated behind her and placed his forelegs underneath hers, causing Rarity to blush a bit harder and utter an "Oh!" when the way the black Pegasus was positioned reminded her of something else.

"Ready?" he asked her and she nodded slowly.

The black Pegasus lifted up about 3 feet. Rarity looked down as he flew over the mud puddle and she could swear that she could feel his heart beat on her back. The ride was over quickly and she felt her hooves touch down on the grassy side on the opposite end of the puddle.

"I greatly appreciate this, darling." Rarity thanked him as he landed in front of her.

"It was no big deal and the least I could do right now…since I…was the pony who made it rain in front of your…home…"he nervously laughed and his ears flattened against his head.

Rarity stared at him for a second, not knowing how she should respond to this. Should she chastise him or not?

"Accidents happen, darling. Now…I don't mean to be rude…but I must get going. I have a previous engagement I need to attend to." Rarity said, she could feel the blush on her cheeks burn hotly as she brushed past him. Her nose turned to the air as she walked down the path to Ponyville.

A Spa Date

The black Pegasus was the farthest thing from Rarity's mind as she entered the spa. Fluttershy was already there waiting for her when she arrived. "Oh, hello Rarity." Fluttershy greeted in a soft voice. "Hello Fluttershy dear." Rarity responded as she trotted to stand next to her friend. "I hope I'm not too late."Rarity muttered.

"Oh no! I think you're just in ti-"Fluttershy was interrupted as one of the spa ponies called their names. The two mares trotted to the back where their treatment began. They spoke as the spa ponies did their work. Rarity talked about her work and how hard it was to find the gems she needed for this order while Fluttershy quietly listened.

The conversation changed directions while they sat in the spa bath. "So...um Rarity...have you..." Fluttershy started to say. "Have I what, Fluttershy?" Rarity replied and looked at her friend with a confused look. "Found any other to pony to be your…"Fluttershy looked down into the water and blushed.

Rarity blinked a few times before realizing what she was implying. "No no, dear. I've given up since that incident at the Gala." Rarity replied. She thought about Prince Blueblood and was reminded of how stuck up and un chivilistic he was. Rarity shook her head before saying "Speaking of stallions…there's this black Pegasus who made a rather large mud puddle in front of my home." She complained.

"Did he have blue eyes and a scar on his belly?" Fluttershy asked with interest. She had lifted her head to look at Rarity. "Y-yes he did…do you know him?" Rarity asked, looking at Fluttershy. Fluttershy nodded. "Oh yes. I was friends with him back in Cloudsdale." She said "His name is Solar."

Rarity listened with curiosity and couldn't help thinking about those blue eyes of his. "Really…"Rarity said absent mindedly. "Oh yes. He is living with Rainbow Dash right now." Fluttershy replied.

"Oh…are they dating?" Rarity asked. For some reason… she was hoping that they were not. Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh no. They've been friends for their whole lives. He just recently came back from Cloudsdale and he's living with her until he can get back on his hooves." She explained. Rarity felt her heart jump at this. "Oh! I see." Rarity replied, trying to hide that growing bud of excitement that dwelled within her.

Fluttershy picked up on this and giggled. "Rarity… do you…?" she started to say when Rarity shook her head. "No no! He's much too messy for me!" she retorted. Fluttershy smiled at this and got out of the tub. Rarity quickly followed. "Well, Fluttershy, dear, I had a blast but I really must get back. I have a rather large order to fill. Ta ta, dear!" Rarity said. "Oh, good bye Rarity." Fluttershy responded as Rarity trotted out the door.

Rarity's mind wandered back to her order and soon that turned to gems; sapphires, to be exact. "Hey sis!" Rarity's concentration was snapped; she looked around for the source of it when she saw Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo. All three of them were covered head to hoof in dirt! "Sweetie Belle! Why on earth are you all covered in dirt?" Rarity spat out in shock. "We were trying to find our special talent!" Sweetie Belle said. "Gardening!" Applebloom piped up. "But…it didn't work out so well." Scootaloo added. Rarity looked at the three fillies and sighed. "Girls, I-"Rarity started but stopped when a male voice called out for Scootaloo. The filly looked around and jumped a bit and smiled as she saw the owner of the voice. "Brother!" she called. Rarity looked up to see two figures coming down to land. One blue and the other black. Rarity's heart jumped as she recognized them as Solar and Rainbow Dash.

Solar landed first and was followed by Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo quickly moved over to hug her older brother, who returned the hug. Dirt collected on his hide but he didn't really notice or care. "Still trying to find your cutie mark, eh?" Solar asked, smiling. Scootaloo nodded.

"Yeah! We tried gardening but that really did not work out too well." She said as Sweetie Belle and Applebloom nodded in agreement. Solar chuckled before saying "Don't worry, you three. You'll find your special talents soon enough." Solar looked down at Scootaloo and laughed. "Well, mom told me to come grab you for your doctor's appointment but I think a bath is in order first." he added.

"Doctors and a bath?" Scootaloo repeated in shock. Solar nodded and took notice of Rarity out of the corner of his eye. "Oh! Hi there! I cleaned up the mud puddle in front of your house." Solar said as Dashie made a coughing noise. "With Dashie's help…of course." he quickly added.

"Yeah, this pony still needs to learn how to control his urge to make it rain!" Rainbow Dash joked, bumping into Solar playfully. Solar laughed along with her before looking back at Rarity.

"I don't think we exchanged names earlier. My name is Solar." He said. Rarity almost said 'I know.' but quickly managed to fix it and said instead "I'm Rarity, charmed to meet you." Solar smiled. "Beautiful name…I wish I could stay a bit longer but mom will tan my hide if I don't get Scoot home. I'll see ya around!" Solar said.

"Bye guys." Scootaloo said to the other two fillies. "Bye Scootaloo." They said at the same time. "See ya, Rarity." Rainbow Dash said.

The three ponies turned around and trotted towards Solar's parents' place. "Good bye Rainbow Dash…and Solar." Rairty said as she watched Solar trott away. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom slipped away and headed towards Sugarcube Corner. Rarity sighed and she found herself lost in the day dream sea.

A Young Stallion's Fancy

Scootaloo ran a bit ahead of Solar and Rainbow Dash as they trotted along the road. It wasn't a long walk to Solar's parents' house. They reached it within a few minutes. His mother was already outside waiting for their return; she was a beautiful Pegasus mare for her age. Her daughter looked a lot like her, save for her eyes that is; Solar had inherited those from his mother. Her cutie mark was that of a scroll, due to her special talent being writing. "Solar! Scootaloo!" their mother called out as they came closer to the house.

"Hi mom!" Solar and Scootaloo said at the same time. "And hello to you as well, Rainbow Dash!" their mother greeted the rainbow mane mare. "Hey there, Sunny." Dashie replied with a smile.

Scootaloo used this time to sneak past her mother to go and hide in the house, but it seems that even pony mothers carry the dreaded 'eyes on back of head' trick. "Where do you think you're going, little one?" Sunny asked, turning around to look at her. Scootaloo walked back over to her mother with a not so happy look. "Another cutie mark crusade, dear?" Sunny asked, taking notice of the dirt on her daughter. "Yeah. We thought gardening was our special talent." Scootaloo pouted.

"Don't worry, squirt. You'll find it soon enough…most likely on accident." Rainbow Dash encouraged. Scootaloo smiled at this and went up next to her mother. "Well… it was nice seeing you again, mom. And Scoot, you behave for yourself." Solar said, hugging both his sister and his mother.

"Good bye, big brother!" Scootaloo said as Solar and Rainbow Dash took off in the air. They flew for a while; they were over Sweet Apple Acres before one of the ponies said something.

"That's a beautiful name." Rainbow Dash said in a semi-mocking voice. Solar turned his head and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me?" he asked with slight confusion.

Dashie held up a hoof to her mouth and giggled. "That's what you said after Rarity told you her name!" Solar could feel himself blush as he replied. "It was nothing! I've just never heard of a name like that before!" he looked ahead of him as Dashie giggled again. "Whatever you say, Coltablanca." She replied and giggled once more.

"I've got a thing to do… I'll meet up with you at Pinkie's." Solar retorted and took off to the right.

"A thing with Rarity?" Dashie yelled, letting out a gut-busting laugh. He blushed even harder and yelled back "Shut up!" as he flew towards the lake that Sweet Apple Acres had.

Solar landed next to the lake and looked out at the water and sighed. He watched the movement of the waves as the wind blew across the water. Solar's blue eyes wandered about as he slowly slipped back into his mind and thought about the day's events.

His mind swirled back to the moment when he first laid eyes on the unicorn named Rarity. He sighed as he thought about her purple mane, how it curled and her gorgeous tail.

He flipped over on his back and lost himself in the waves. His mind fell back on Rarity once more and he sighed a third time as he thought of her gentle azure eyes. "Well, look what we got here." Some pony with a rather familiar accent said.

"Huh?" Solar said, flipping around and finding himself face-to-face with a green eyed and light orange hide colored pony.

"Hey there, Applejack!" Solar said.

"Well howdy there, Solar." Applejack replied as the black Pegasus flipped over and got back on his hooves. "Ah didn't know y'all was back here in Ponyville." Applejack said as she watched Solar get up.

"I actually just got back the other day. I think Pinkie Pie is throwing some party today for me." Solar replied, shaking the grass out of his mane.

"Oh yeah. She came by earlier and invited me. Ah wasn't gonna go on account of all these apples needin' ta be bucked. But, if it's for y'all… y'all can expect me there, cow pony!" Applejack said, winking at him. Solar laughed and nudged the light orange mare.

"I guess I'll see ya at the party then." Solar said, hugging his old friend.

"Ah'll definitely be there, sugar cube." Applejack replied, returning his hug.

"Good! Cause I've missed ya!" Solar said, before he took off into the air. Applejack watched as he flew off and she sighed. She still found it difficult to believe that they had shared a romantic night once. She shook her head and turned around to trot back towards the farmhouse.

Solar grinned as he flew through the air. He breathed in the air and exhaled it out. He felt alive up here, he was free. He felt like nothing could bring him back down to the grass of the earth. He looked down at the ground and he saw something that almost made him drop straight out of the sky. He managed to catch himself and flew to the safety of a nearby cloud.

He peeked over the cloud and down at the ground. It was Rarity; she was trotting along happily on the road back to her home. Solar watched her and as he did, his heart started to beat faster. He even thought her trotting was beautiful.

He sighed and as he did, Rarity must've heard him as she had looked up at the sky. Solar quickly lowered his head, hoping to Celestia that she had not seen him. A few moments passed and Solar dared to peek his head up to look. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found that she had not seen him.

He watched her flank as she trotted along and an idea crept into his mind; he decided to follow her. He took off from the cloud he was perched upon and followed her by cloud hopping.

Rarity never stopped to look back up at the clouds as she continued on her way home and Solar eventually stopped at the cloud that was right over her house as she went inside.

"Oh, hay stack!" he cursed and was about to take back off when a pair of voices made him freeze in his tracks. He quickly lowered his head and watched from the hole in the cloud that he had made. What he saw was a purple unicorn and a purple and green dragon riding upon her back, he scanned his mind for all of the ponies that he knew about that lived in Ponyville. These two never came up in his mind.

"Huh…they must've moved here sometime after I left." Solar muttered to himself and he watched them knock on the beautiful mare's door.

An Invitation

Solar rolled onto his back, his whole world seemingly flipped upside down. Those two strangers hadn't come out of Rarity's for a good hour or so. What could they possibly be doing? He sighed, and in doing so, blew a chunk of his cloud seat away. Solar was so wrapped up in his wondering about the actions of the two ponies and the dragon to notice a certain pink earth pony come bouncing along the trail with a basket full of envelopes attached to the top of her head.

Pinkie hummed happily to herself as she bounced along the trail, her old friend Solar was back in town and she was holding a party for him that very evening. She had just left Twilight's place to give out hers and Spike's invitations and found their residence to be empty. So she had decided to go give the rest of the invitations out and to check back with Twilight later.

Pinkie abruptly stopped and looked up at a cloud that was hanging over Rarity's house. She could see a bit of a red and black tail hanging over the edge of the cloud and she immediately recognized it as belonging to Solar. Pinkie stared at his tail for a moment and started to rub her front hooves together and broke out into a huge smile as an idea creeped its way into her mind. She took a deep breath, held it in for a few seconds and let out a big yell.

"!"

Her yell echoed and birds flew out of their trees, while Solar fell out of his cloud and landed on his back with a loud THUMP! "Crabapples, Pinkie Pie! What in Luna's name were you thinking?" Solar spat out, getting up slowly and winced a bit from the pain in his back.

Pinkie raised a hoof to her mouth and mocked deep thinking for several seconds until finally breaking this false meditation with a shrug and a grin. Before Solar could say anything, he heard Rarity's door open and he turned to see Rarity and the unknown pony and dragon standing there, looking at them.

"Solar…Pinkie Pie..? What on earth are you two DOING out here?" Rarity asked, looking back and forth between the two.

Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to stay something as Solar quickly placed a hoof over her mouth and said "I was helping Pinkie with…uh…with..." He heard Pinkie's muffled voice coming forth from underneath his hoof and he removed it to hear her saying "Handing out invitations to your party, silly nilly!" Solar quickly nodded in agreement. "Yeah! And yours was next, Rarity!" Solar said, looking into the the basket on top of Pinkie's head and found the one with Rarity's name on it and he plucked it out.

He hovered over to her and tenderly delivered it to her. "Oh…thank you, Solar." Rarity replied, accepting the invite.

Pinkie Pie bounced over to the trio in the door way and stopped in front of the unknown pony and dragon. "There you guys are!" she exclaimed, lowering her head as the purple unicorn and the dragon plucked an envelope each from the basket.

Solar's attention from Rarity was broken as he had just realized that he didn't even know this other pony and dragon pair.

"I'm sorry. I don't think we've met before! My name is Solar." He said.

The purple pony spoke first. "Well met, Solar. I am Twilight Sparkle, faithful student to Princess Celestia and this is my assistant, Spike!" she replied.

"Hey there, Solar!" Spike piped up.

Solar nodded at Spike and then said "Wow…so you know the princess AND you have a baby dragon for an assistant?" Solar asked with interest.

Twilight nodded and said "Yes. I hate to have to cut this short and I hope you do not think it rude of me but I need to get some more studying done if I want to attend your party tonight. Good bye, Solar." Twilight bid her farewell as Spike got on her back and waved good bye.

"I'll see you then!" he called back and turned his attention back at Rarity who had opened the letter and gasped.

"Pinkie! You can expect me there! I have the perfect outfit for this party!" She exclaimed excitedly, closing the door in such a rush that Solar barely managed to get out of the way to avoid having his wing clipped.

Rarity let out a breath of relief after she had slammed the door shut. Her heart was beating about 10 times the normal beats per minute. 'A party? In Solar's honor? ' She let out an excited squeal and then, quickly realizing what had spewed forth from her mouth, covered it with her hoof. She was a lady! Ladies did not make such childish noises like that! She cleared her throat as a fine coat of blush appeared on her snout.

Rarity pranced across the room and over to her closet where she kept all of the outfits she had designed and created. Her horn started to glow blue as she used her magic to sift through the different dresses in her wardrobe, trying to find the perfect gown for this evening's activities. She hummed as she searched through the bowels of her somewhat endless closet.

Each dress was shoved aside as she continued to search. She eventually stopped as a box had somehow found its way into her sea of dresses.

"I don't remember this being in here." Rarity mumbled to herself as she opened the box. She gasped as the lid opened. Inside was the fire ruby necklace that she had made when Spike gave her the fire gem as a gift. She broke out into a grin and did a little dance on the spot.

"Perfect! This is the perfect item for tonight!" Rarity announced to herself. She picked up the necklace from its resting place inside of the box and fastened it around her neck using magic. She trotted over to the nearby mirror and looked at her reflection and gave a satisfied smile.

Rarity flipped her mane and blinked a couple of times at her reflection. She really did not understand this growing feeling inside of her heart. This didn't happen with Prince Blueblood or any pony else before. Why was this different? Why was HE different?

She trotted over to her bed and flopped down, blowing a stray lock of her mane that had fallen in front of her face. She turned her head towards the clock that she kept on the nightstand nearby. The party was not for another few hours. She laid her head back down on the bed and sighed.

Opal, her cat, looked up at her mistress with wondering eyes. They say that animals can sense when their owner's moods change and if they like or don't like some pony. That was the case here at this moment. Opal could feel Rarity's emotions flowing from her. From the day Rarity took her home as a kitten to this very day, not once had Rarity been like this.

Opal licked her paw and returned to the bed that was directly next to Rarity's own.

Sighing once more, Rarity flipped over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling and day dreaming of the event that was in just a couple more hours.

You Snooze You Lose

Several hours seemed to slowly melt away to Rarity. She had found an old fashion magazine and was flipping through it. She absent mindedly glanced up at clock and had to perform a double take to make sure she had read it right. The party was in 15 minutes. As quick as lightning, she leapt off the bed and was in front of the mirror. Looking herself over and making sure everything was perfect. When she was satisfied with her appearance, she turned around and headed out the door.

The sun was already going and it made the sky extremely beautiful. The shades of pink and orange seemed to have been placed there themselves by the mighty dragons. Rarity sighed happily as she gazed upon the sun as Celestia lowered it and allowed for Luna to bring up the moon. Rarity increased the speed of her trotting as the moon slowly rose to take the sun's place. Many ponies were also on the route to Sugarcube Corner which caused Rarity to look around with uncertainty.

"How many ponies did Pinkie invite?" she thought as she passed by Derpy Hooves and Cherilee. She looked ahead and saw the lights that were spewing forth from Sugarcube Corner and the loud rock music that seemed to shake the very foundations of Ponyville. Rarity, who was in fact more of a classical music listener, ignored this music as she reached the door. Having to quickly step back as the Cutie Mark Crusaders burst through the door and almost knocking the unicorn mare right on her behind.

Rarity was about to yell at her sister and warn her to be more careful when something stuck out to her in the corner of her eye. Solar was standing at the back of the room and was engaged in a conversation with Twilight Sparkle. Butterflies filled Rarity's stomach as she walked in, her mind focused on the black Pegasus. Solar looked over to the entrance area and saw Rarity trotting over towards him and he immediately broke into a rather large smile. Twilight picked up on this and she giggled. "I need to go check on Spike anyway. Go get her, tiger." She said and turned around and trotted on over to the snack table where Spike and Pinkie had started a cake eating contest.

"Rarity! I'm glad you made it!" Solar said, trotting over to meet with her in the middle of the room.

"Well, I wouldn't miss this party for the world, dear." Rarity replied, batting her eyelashes in a flirtatious manner. Solar smiled and he noticed the gem that hung around her neck.

"That is a beautiful necklace you have on." Solar complimented, and just as he said it Wonderful Tonight by Eric Colton started to play over the stereo. Rarity giggled and she blushed a little.

"Oh? This old thing? Well, I just found it lying around and thought it would be perfect for this evening!" she replied. Solar chuckled a bit.

"You were right. But, you would still have looked wonderful without it." He replied, moving a bit closer to Rarity. She giggled slightly as he moved towards her. She could smell him, his scent was that of freshly cut grass on a summer day and she was loving it.

Twilight had reached the snack table just as Spike had called out 'Uncle!' declaring Pinkie the winner. Twilight giggled as she watched the baby dragon pull himself up and belched, releasing a small jet of green flame.

"Well, you know what they say! You can't have your cake and eat it too!" Pinkie Pie giggled manically as somewhere in the sea of party ponies a ba dum tss! could be heard.

"So, Spike are you-" Twilight started to say as she turned to look at the baby dragon and stopped speaking as she saw the angry glare in his eyes.

"Spike…is something wrong?" Twilight asked, worrying about the infant dragon. Spike turned his head quickly to look at Twilight. A shiver ran down the unicorn's spine as her purple eyes met his rage filled green ones.

"Did you see them?" he furiously asked, belching out green flames once more.

"Who are you talking about, Spike? Twilight asked, tilting her head a bit in confusion at his question.

"Who else would I be talking about, Twilight? It's Solar and Rarity!" Spike exclaimed in anger, he turned his head to glare daggers of jealousy and rage at Solar. Twilight sighed. She was fully aware of Spikes crush on Rarity and knew of how jealous a dragon could be. Before Twilight could act, Spike furiously leapt down from his seat and yelled out to Twilight.

"She's wearing the fire ruby I gave her! She's using it to flirt with him! I can't bucking believe this!" he gritted his teeth and made a step towards the two ponies and was cut off by Twilight as she seemed to move at Rainbow Dash speed to stop him from advancing any further towards them.

"Spike, I know you're jealous. But, look at her. She feels something for him…you can see it in her eyes." She said, looking down at Spike and could read the hurt that seemed to be plastered in his eyes. Spike looked up at Twilight's eyes for a moment and sighed. "Alright…" he softly said and he spun on his heels and headed back to the snack table. He pulled out a chair and pulled himself into it and laid his head down on the table.

"Oh Spike…" Twilight mumbled, looking at her friend and assistant with pity. She sighed and turned her head to watch Rarity and Solar and smiled a bit from the sight. This was something she had never seen Rarity do, she seemed so…relaxed when she was talking to Solar. Of course…Twilight knew that the hands of jealousy could grab any pony at any second. Twilight Sparkle shook the idea out of her head and trotted back to the snack table, brushing past Rainbow Dash as she did.

Dashie didn't even notice, as her eyes and attention were focused on Solar. A sense of longing filled her eyes as she watched him flirt with Rarity. She let loose a sigh as Applejack approached her.

"Somethin' wrong, sugar cube?" the earth pony asked upon hearing the sigh escape from Rainbow Dash's mouth.

"Nope." Dashie replied absent-mindedly. Applejack moved up close to be able to stand next to the light blue Pegasus and followed her gaze across the room that led straight to Solar. Applejack had to perform a double check to make sure she saw what she thought she saw just right and she grinned and said "Any reason that y'all is starin' over at Solar for?" this seemed to snap Dashie out of her trance. As she turned her head quickly to look at Applejack, a fine coat of blush started to form across her snout as she stammered "Wha-what are you talking about?" her eyes widened a bit as she saw Applejack's grin grow a bit larger. "Is there any reason as to why y'all is lookin' over at Solar with them googely eyes?" she teased.

"You're seeing things!" Dashie retorted, the red on her snout glowing brighter with every second that passed by. Applejack laughed and trotted into the crowd to leave Rainbow Dash with her thoughts and her feelings.

Solar shuffled in place a bit. His heart seemed to want to beat itself straight out of his chest and onto the floor below. His blue eyes seemed to always connect with Rarity's azure eyes and would just never want to leave her gaze.

"I don't know about you. But, I'm thirsty, could I offer you some punch?" Solar offered, smiling slightly.

"Some punch would be delightful." Rarity replied. Solar nodded and he turned to trot over to the snack table, passing by Applejack as he did. As they passed by, she winked and laughed. Solar looked at her with slight confusion as they passed, but shrugged it off as he reached the table.

Humming happily as he poured the drink from the large punch bowl into two of the cups that surrounded the bowl. He was just about to finish by placing two straws in them and placing them on a tray, he saw Spike glaring daggers at him from the corner of his eye. He fully turned his head to get a better look at the dragon.

"Something wrong, Spike?" Solar asked him. Spike stood up so fast that Solar thought the little dragon was going to fly right through the roof. The dragon opened his mouth to yell at Solar and warn him to stay away from Rarity when some pony else yelled "Solar!"

"Hmm?" Solar said, looking around the room to see which pony had called him and saw Twilight Sparkle trotting towards him.

"Oh hey, Twilight!" Solar said as she advanced towards him.

"There you are, Solar. We need your help with something." Twilight said.

"Oh, sure. I just need to get Rarity's drink over to her and then I'll-' Solar started to say as a purple aura covered the two cups, a couple of straws and the tray and they levitated into the air. Solar watched as they floated and stopped in front of Twilight, whose horn was producing the same purple aura.

"I'll handle the drinks. Come on." She said and moved into the crowd. Shrugging, Solar followed her into the sea of ponies.

"So, what is it you need help with?" Solar asked. Twilight shook her head.

"I actually didn't. Spike…well…being a dragon...he tends to have a rather large jealousy streak." She started to explain. Solar tilted his head.

"I don't understand." He said.

"Spike has had a crush on Rarity for a while. And that necklace she has on… he gave her that gem." She continued, turning her head slightly to look at Solar.

Solar nodded slowly "I think I got it…" he replied as Twilight stopped. Solar craned his neck to see that she had stopped in front of Rarity.

"I'm back!" he announced and a giggle came from Rarity's mouth.

"Welcome back, darling." She replied, smiling at the black Pegasus.

"Thanks Twilight. I can take the drinks from here." Solar said. Twilight nodded and lowered the tray and Solar grabbed it in his mouth.

"Have fun, you two." Twilight said and winked before taking her leave back into the sea of party ponies. Solar looked around and saw an empty table that was near their current location. He motioned to it with his head and he took a step back to allow Rarity to go first.

"Such a gentlecolt." Rarity giggled as she walked past Solar, brushing him with her tail. The black Pegasus blushed a bit and followed behind her. Minding the two drinks on the tray that was in his mouth. He managed to place the tray down on the table without spilling a drop.

"A drink for the pretty mare?" Solar asked, nudging the glass to Rarity with his nose. She accepted the drink and looked up to him and said "Why thank you, Solar." She thanked him and took a sip through the straw that stuck out from the glass. Solar watched as the white unicorn drank from her cup and was about to drink from his own, when the DJ changed the song that played. Solar's ears perked up and he looked over at the DJ and then back to Rarity. "This song…" he said, walking around the table and stood by her.

"May I ask your hoof in this dance?" he asked, winking.

"Solar…this isn't a song that we can dance…"Rarity tried to explain, but Solar grabbed her hoof and dragged her onto the dance floor.

"You mean you've never danced to Jessie's Filly before?" Solar teased as they stopped in the middle of the dance floor.

"Well…I…" Rarity started to say as Solar started to shake his body.

"Just let the music do the talking, Rare!" Solar said, smiling at her. Rarity froze. He just… called her 'Rare'. She felt something melt. She thought it was cute…a nickname…just something he called her.

"Okay, Solar." She softly replied and she started to slowly mimic Solar's movements. She looked into his eyes and he looked into hers. The song increased and so did their movements. Their bodies seemed to move as one, never missing a beat. While they danced, time herself seemed to slow as they gazed into each other's eyes. The song seemed to go on forever. When they stood still, the DJ announced he was taking an intermission. The two ponies looked at each other with sweat dripping down their faces and their manes were out of place.

"Come on." Solar said, in between pants of breath and he motioned back to the table and they walked side-by-side as they made the short journey back to the table. They took their seats and started on finishing the drinks that stood before them. The cups were drained within seconds. They looked at each other from across the table and laughed. Solar felt…strange. He laughed more than he should have and he stopped. He looked at her, his ears flattened to the side of his head and blush started to form upon his snout.

Rarity giggled, no matter what face he made or how his mane looked. He still managed to look cute to her. They didn't realize that during the trance they were both under. But, they moved closer to each other with each passing second. Snouts were close to each other, opened just slightly to allow the other to meet.

"Solar!" a small voice piped up. The trance broke as Solar turned his head to see a very tired Scootaloo standing before him, struggling to keep herself upright and not passed out on the floor.

"Yes, Scoots?" he asked, slightly irritated at his younger sister for intruding.

"Can you take me home...I'm-" Scootaloo started to say, but was lost as she let out a yawn. Solar smiled and he trotted over to his sister and knelt down so she could climb on his back. Which she managed to do after a short minute. As soon as Solar felt his sister find a comfortable position on his back, he stood up. He was about to speak to Rarity when he heard the soft snoring from Scootaloo and he smiled.

"I'm sorry Rarity. Maybe…if you're not doing anything." Solar started and Rarity trotted up to him and planted a kiss on his left cheek.

"I'll see you at 10." She said, winking.

"See you then…"he said, he smiled softly and he blushed. He turned around and trotted back towards the entrance.

Rarity's heart fluttered and she let out a sigh. Yes… this pony was different from the others…she could feel it. Deep within her heart of hearts…she could feel it.

A Rainbow in the Dark

The soft snoring from Scootaloo, and the clopping sounds his hooves made as they hit the earth, were the only noises that penetrated the silent and rather unusually cool night as Solar trotted along the path to his parent's home. The moon illuminated the path ahead and casted a shadow of his form onto the ground below. Solar looked at his shadow, with Scootaloo's sleeping form on top of it, out of the corner of his eye and smiled. His mind swam in the sea of memories stored within his brain. The scent of Rarity invaded his nostrils. She smelled of honeysuckle. He let out a sigh as he felt a tingle on the cheek that she had kissed.

He could feel Scootaloo's gentle breathing on his back as he trotted along the path. His speed picking up a bit as his parents home came into his view, slowing only when he felt his younger sister starting to slide off his back.

For what seemed like an eternity to accomplish, Solar reached the door that kept the inside of his parents' home safe from Mother Nature. He lifted one of his front hooves and slowly pushed the door open. It let out a low moan as it opened up to allow the Pegasus to enter. Solar walked slowly into the home and stopped to allow his eyes to adjust to the dark interior which seemed to wrap around him and his younger sister like a blanket.

Their house was not one that pegasi usually lived in for they lived inside of a rather large tree. When Solar was a colt, they had lived in the skies much like Rainbow Dash currently did. They had moved down to the earth after Solar had left for Cloudsdale shortly after Scootaloo was born. If Solar could turn on a lamp without awaking his younger sister or alerting his sleeping parents, he would be in the living room, which was adorned with a rug, coffee table, couch and pictures of Solar, Scootaloo and the rest of their family.

Solar stood there for a few seconds to allow his eyes to finish adjusting to the darker interior of the house before he dared to venture any further inside. He moved slowly towards the staircase which was located near the back of the living room and started to climb the stairs carefully as to not let the sleeping filly on his back fall off. He reached the top and walked slowly towards his sister's room. Solar silently thanked Celestia that her room was the closest to the staircase. He nudged the door open with his noise and it silently swung inward and he walked in.

Her room was covered with various posters of Spitfire from the Wonderbolts and pictures of her and Rainbow Dash with only a few of them containing Solar. One of them that did contain him was of when she was born. Solar looked at it for a few seconds and a smile awoke on his face. Fighting back the small army of tears that were trying to force their way down his face as memories flooded his mind, he turned his head to look at a picture of Dashie and Scoots and mouthed the words "Thank you, Dashie" and turned around to put Scootaloo to bed.

A sense of guilt and regret washed over him as he thought about how he had not been there much for his sister. He was glad that Dashie had stepped up and been a replacement role model in his absence. He was glad that his oldest and dearest friend had taken up the burden of teaching Scootaloo the things that he should have taught her and for somepony for Scootaloo to look up to.

When he reached the bed, he lowered himself closer, whispering "Scootaloo, we're home." No answer from the filly. He tried again for the next few minutes until he saw one of her eyes flutter open. "We're home, little sister." He whispered. Scoots let out a big yawn and climbed off her brother's back and onto the bed and curled back up into a ball. Smiling, Solar grabbed the blanket that sat on a corner of her bed and pulled it up so that it wrapped itself around her. Satisfied, he nuzzled Scootaloo and started to head out of the room when he heard her sleepy voice say

"Big brother?"

He stopped where he was at and turned his head to say "Yes, Scoots?"

"You're not going back to Cloudsdale…right?"

Solar chuckled. "No, little sister. I'm here to stay."

"Good." Her sleepy voice spoke up. "I don't want you to go back there…I love you, big brother…" and with that, Scootaloo slipped back into deep sleep.

"I love you too, Scoots." He whispered back and returned to his task of leaving. He trotted out of her room, slowly closing it as he left and headed down the stairs. Being careful of how fast he moved down them and back outside of the house. He closed the front door behind him and trotted a few steps away from the door before he yawned and stretched his wings.

The fresh air infiltrated his nostrils and gave him a sudden jolt of energy. His legs kicked him off of the earth and he spread his wings to keep himself airborne. As he ascended into the heavens, he let his mind wander once more. He thought of this evening, he thought of how he needed to be there more for his sister. He thought of helping Pinkie set up the party and how she seemed more…Pinkie Pie-ish than usual. He thought of Rarity more than anything else. He would see her tomorrow. His excitement caused him to perform a few loop-de-loops in the sky.

He continued his flight back towards Sugarcube Corner, humming softly to himself as the houses below him started to fill with ponies returning home. Solar looked down in confusion, the party had just started. Why was everypony leaving? Upon closer inspection, he saw that they were bringing their foals home.

He started the descent back down to the earth as Sugarcube Corner came into view when a rainbow sped past him. Solar stopped in mid flight and twirled around in the air to watch it go. He knew that it was Rainbow Dash who had just sped past him.

"That's odd…Dashie isn't one to leave a party so early…" he mumbled to himself.

He looked back at Sugarcube and then back at the direction where he saw Dashie take off. He took off after Rainbow Dash without a second thought. His black and red streak followed after her multi colored one. He followed it for a good mile or so and the rainbow trail ended abruptly as if she just dropped out of the sky. The black Pegasus stopped and hovered, looking around in the skies wildly for if she had just slowed down or if something had grabbed her in mid flight. His ears perked up as they picked up a noise that originated from the ground below, he tilted his head downward to look at what was underneath him and saw a rainbow mane sitting next to the lake that was below him.

He slowly started to make his descent from the sky and he watched her as she sat near the water's edge and he thought a whisper came from her as he got closer. The sound of his beating wings seemed to have aroused her from her trance as her head snapped up to see who was trying to sneak up on her. She seemed to relax as she recognized who the wings belonged to as a small smile appeared on her face.

"Hey Solar." She said as the black Pegasus landed next to her. "I thought you would be at the party after you brought Scootaloo home." Dashie added as she watched Solar fold his wings and sit down. He looked at her and shrugged and said

"I was on my way back when you dashed past me." He chuckled a bit at his pun while Dashie just smiled. She sighed before saying

"I just needed some air." She wasn't exactly lying, she needed the fresh air. But, the biggest reason was so that she didn't have to watch Solar and Rarity flirt again. Solar studied her for a minute, his blue eyes trying to read her eyes. Rainbow Dash kept them where they were, looking into Solar's eyes.

"I understand…it is pretty crowded in there. I think Pinkie invited everypony in the village there." Solar said, he smiled and looked out towards the lake they were sitting by.

It seemed like an eternity before either of them spoke, Solar being the one who broke the silence.

"I never thanked you…"he said, eyes fixated on the reflection of the moon on the surface of the lake.

"Thanked me for what?" Dash asked, turning her head to look at him.

"For being there for Scootaloo." He turned his head away from the reflection of the moon to look at her as he spoke to her.

"Oh…it was no big deal." She replied, smiling.

Solar grinned and he looked up to the sky and he inhaled some of the air.

"Well…what shall we do now?" he asked her.

"I wasn't planning on returning to the party…you can go back if you want to." Dashie replied.

Solar nodded. "I guess I should go back for a bit." He turned around to get ready to take back off into the air. "I'll see you at home then." Solar said. He stopped in mid turn and he turned back to Rainbow Dash and held out his right front hoof for a hoof bump, which she accepted by bumping his hoof with her own.

"Of course!" Dashie replied.

Solar grinned and levitated into the air. He waved to Rainbow Dash and he took off into the night, leaving a red and black streak in the night sky. Rainbow Dash watched him as he went and she sighed and kicked a rock that was near her front hooves and heard a splash! as it hit the water's surface. She could tell he cared for Rarity and she wasn't happy about it.

"He's my closest friend… why can't I be happy for him?" She asked herself. With a final sigh, she lifted herself into the air. She suddenly felt tired and drained of energy. She just wanted to go home and rest.

And that's what she did, she flew back to her cloud home, passing out as soon as she walked through the front door. Solar returned a few hours later and almost tripped on her sleeping form. He chuckled and managed to move her over to her couch that also served as her bed and he covered her up with a nearby blanket.

"Good night, Dashie." Solar whispered, he turned and trotted to his own room and yawned. The black Pegasus crawled into the bed that sat in the middle of the room and fell into the realm of dreams almost instantly.

The dreams he dreamt contained mixtures of Rarity and fantasies of another nature. Twice he awoke in excitement for the day that he and Rarity would spend together, only to gaze outside the window to see that Luna still governed over Equestria's skies. With an impatient sigh, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Dog Gone It!

Solar was still asleep when the sun rose into the sky and sent its beams through his window. The stallion only stirred as the light hit his closed eyelids and squeezed them tighter for a second before opening them. He had to squint as the beams of sunlight invaded his eyes and he raised his front right hoof to his face to block it as he sat up. He blinked several times before he lowered his hoof and fully opened his eyes. Yawning, he pushed himself off the bed and walked out of the room. He took notice of the empty couch and knew that Dashie must've gotten up a lot earlier to go practice flight movements.

The stallion stretched his wings once and walked out of the cloud castle. He looked up at the sky to determine the time.

'It's still too early for my date with Rarity.' He thought and his stomach growled loudly. He laughed to himself and leapt off the cloud and he glided for a while, riding the wind until Ponyville came into sight. He flapped his wings and started to descend from the sky, his red hooves touched down onto the soft green grass and he folded his wings up.

Solar's eyes wandered about the early happenings of Ponyville. Few shops were open and were accompanied by a few carts that sold various fruits, vegetables and trinkets. He was slightly surprised to see Applejack here so early with her stall full of some of Sweet Apple Acres best apples all set up and ready to be bought.

"Good morning, Applejack!" Solar greeted the orange earth pony as he trotted closer to her stall.

"Good mornin' to y'all as well, sugar cube!" Applejack replied and waved to the black Pegasus.

"I didn't expect to see you here so early." Solar commented, watching as Big Macintosh pulled a cart full of apples up to the stall.

Applejack waited until her brother stopped and went over and unloaded the cart, which didn't take that long.

"Ah think that's the rest of 'em, Big Macintosh. Thank ya for ya help." She said to her brother who replied with a simple 'Eeyup."

"Morning, Big Mac." Solar said to the large red earth pony.

"Mornin', Solar." Big Mac replied as he headed back in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

"So, what're y'all doin' up before the crack of noon?" Applejack asked as she turned back to Solar, winking a green eye at him. Solar laughed at this and replied.

"I'm going to be spending the day with Rarity."

Applejack stared at him for a second, remembering how she saw the way Rainbow Dash was acting while she watched the two ponies at the party. She shook her head at this and said;

"Ah! Ah suppose y'all will have some fun?" AJ asked, winking once more and causing Solar to blush deeply, the red sticking out like a sore thumb on his black coat.

"Might be too soon for that, AJ." Solar responded. His stomach gave a large growl after he said this. Applejack laughed and motioned with her head to an apple pie that sat on her stall.

"Granny Smith baked this for me. Ah reckon y'all are gonna need it if y'all are gonna be with Rarity today."

Solar looked at her for a second before saying.

"Wait…are you sure about this?"
Applejack nodded.

"Of course, sugar cube. Ah promised Fluttershy that Ah'd go have lunch with her. So y'all go ahead and take that there pie." She replied.

Solar nodded his thanks and picked up the pie with his mouth. He waved a good bye to Applejack and left to find a spot to eat the pie. The smell of it wafted into his nose.

'Granny Smith always knew how to make the best pies...' The Pegasus thought, memories of when he and Applejack were foals returned to him. They would eat the pies that Granny Smith baked after a long day of playing in the fields that made up the farm.

Solar soon decided to pick an empty picnic table that was located underneath a large tree that gave off an equally large patch of shade.

He sat the pie down on the table and pulled himself onto the bench and dug into the pie. The apples exploded into a flavor sensation in his mouth and his stomach graciously accepted it. It took him a rather short time to finish it, announcing it with a low belch. He licked the remaining crumbs off of his face before he picked up the empty pie tin and disposed of it in a nearby trash can.

Solar stretched his wings. He decided that he would walk the rest of the way to Rarity's boutique. It wasn't that far and it would give him time to fully stretch his legs. He shook his head, ruffling his mane once and started down the path that led to Rarity's.

It had taken Solar a bit longer than he expected to get to Rarity's place. Mostly because he ran into Daisy, a pink earth pony with a green mane and a flower for a cutie mark, and as soon as he told her of his plans, she delightfully told him to wait and went into her garden. After about 15 minutes of waiting, she returned and shoved a bouquet of white tulips in his hooves and said "Here, give her these." Solar had asked her how much it would cost and she told him it was on the house, sending him on his way.

He held the white tulips clenched in his mouth and stared at the door. He inhaled and exhaled before he raised one of his front hooves and knocked. He heard Rarity's faint voice from the inside say:

"Just a minute please!"

Solar felt his heart beat a bit faster and he started to sweat. He thought that Rarity would be able to hear his heart beating as she opened the door. A look of stress was on her face, but was quickly replaced with one of happiness as she saw who it was at the door.

"Oh, darling! Please come in! It seems that we have a flaw in our plans for this day. Tsk tsk." She said, motioning for him to come inside. Solar took a step inside and remembered the flowers he held in his mouth.

"Oh! Rarity, these flowers are for you!" he said out of the side of his mouth.

"Oh, Solar! They're absolutely gorgeous!" Rarity said as the blue aura of her magic covered her horn and the bouquet of flowers. Solar opened his mouth and watched as the flowers levitated over to Rarity's nose. She sniffed them and gave a delightful giggle and said:

"These are white tulips! How did you know that they're my absolute favorite?"

"Just a lucky guess." Solar replied, blushing and smiling sheepishly. He made a mental note that he would have to thank Daisy. He watched as Rarity moved up the stairs and heard the sound of items being moved about, rushing water and the sound of her coming back down the stairs with a vase full of water with the flowers he gave her in it.

"So… what is this flaw you mentioned?" he asked as he watched her place the flowers on a desk she had by a window.

Rarity hesitated before she answered.

"Well… an order just came in. I could've gotten it finished before you arrived but I'm missing the key element."

Solar raised an eyebrow at this.

"And that is?"

"Gems, darling." She replied cutely.

Rarity turned her back to him for a second to look over the dress, which Solar assumed was the order she was working on.

"Do you need any help?" Solar asked her, trying to be helpful.

Rarity turned her head and looked at him for a second.

"Why…yes I do! I need some pony…some pony strong to help me pull the cart." She said the second part in a sort of whisper-like tone and she looked Solar over. Solar smiled and puffed out his chest.

"Well, Miss Rarity. I believe you have found that exact pony!"

Before Solar knew it, he had been hitched to a metal cart and was following Rarity up the side of a mountain. They made small talk about the various going ons in their lives. Solar asked Rarity about her line of work and she talked about it eagerly. Solar listened quietly and asked questions when needed.

"Wait." Rarity said, holding her hoof up and Solar stopped.

He watched as her horn started to glow blue and she was still for a moment. Rarity trotted forward and stomped her hoof down, leaving a hoof print.

"Solar, dear. Could you dig here for me?" she asked sweetly.

"Oh, sure." Solar said as he hovered over to the spot. The empty cart followed behind him and he stopped next to Rarity and started to paw at the ground with his front right hoof and was surprised at the short time it took him to dig until he hit a small pile of assorted gems.

Rarity peered at them from next to Solar for a second. She nodded approvingly and the blue aura of her magic wrapped itself around the pile and she brought them over to the cart and deposited them into it. Solar was amazed. He had no idea that magic could do that.

"That was awesome!" Solar said. His wings started to beat faster in his excitement.

Rarity giggled and flipped her mane.

"That was nothing, darling. Could you help me again? I believe there is some more right over here." Rarity replied, pointing north with her hoof.

They spent the next few hours on the mountain looking for gems. Rarity would find them and Solar would dig them up and pull the cart. He really didn't mind, he liked it in fact. It would help him condition his body for more training for the Wonderbolt auditions.

As soon as they had filled the cart up to the brim with their glittering treasure, they turned back towards the path down the mountain. The path cut through a section of the Everfree Forest. It was a perfect spot for an ambush with both sides littered with the trees of the Everfree Forest. A stick snapped in the brush to the left of them.

Solar stopped and turned his head in that direction, Rarity saw that he had stopped and she followed his lead.

"Is everything alright, darling?" she asked, watching him with her azure eyes.

"Yeah…I thought I heard something… must've been a rabbit or something." Solar replied. He shook his head and they started back down the path back home. Not long after they had returned to the task of returning home, another noise had grabbed Solar's attention as it floated into his ears. It was a voice this time. He stopped once more and scanned the wooded area.

"Come out! I know you're there!" Solar yelled into the wooded area, his yell caused Rarity to stop and look at him.

Silence was their only companion for the next minute or so.

"The gemses!" a voice said from the wooded area, the leaves rustled and three figures leapt onto the road in front of them. Solar snorted and tensed his body up and got ready to fight the figures. Solar studied the strange figures and realized they were dogs. They walked upright and supported themselves with arms that were reminiscent of a gorilla's arms. Each wore a vest and a collar of gems. They differed in sizes as well. One was small, another was large and the third was tall. The small and large dogs were both muscular and shared the same colored vest, gray, but differed in fur color. The large one was a bluish gray while the smaller one was a lighter brownish tan.

The tall one wore a red vest, which Solar assumed made him the leader. If the different colored vest didn't prove his leadership, an orange gem hung on his collar like a dog tag. His fur matched his comrade's vests and a pair of green eyes leered at Solar. The red vest raised a paw and pointed it at Solar.

"The black pony has the gemses! Gets him!" The other two crouched low and charged at Solar. The Pegasus let out a yell and prepared to retaliate.

"STOP!" The red vested one yelled out, the other two halted. He charged forward and grabbed the smaller one and turned him around so they were eye to eye.

"Spot! You did not mention that the whiney pony accompanied him!" the red vested one hissed at him.

Spot shrugged. "I did nots see the whiney pony! Onlys the black pony!" he replied. The red vested one turned him around towards Rarity's direction, who mockingly started to quiver her lip. Spot yelped and bowed his head towards her.

"So sorry, Miss Rarity! We did not know!" The large one slapped Spot across the back of the head and the red vested one said.

"Do nots call hers that! We ares not her dogs!"

"Buts she will starts the whinings!" Spot replied, which resulted in another slap from the large dog.

"Hits me agains!" Spot growled at him. The large dog blinked dumbly at the smaller dog for a second and slapped him once more. With a growl, Spot tore free from the red vest's grip and pounced on the large dog. The red vested one tried to intervene, but was instead hit in the nose by a stray paw. With a roar, he joined in the brawl himself.

Solar just floated there, dumbstruck by what had just happened in front of him. He stared at the three brawling dogs. 'What the hay just happened?' As he was still, trying to piece out what happened, Rarity trotted over to him and nudged his leg.

"Let's go before they stop their useless bickering." She whispered to him.

Solar nodded and followed her down the path. When the sounds of the fighting faded from their ears, Solar looked at Rarity and asked "Friends of yours?"

Rarity flipped her mane and replied "They kidnapped me a while back… but I made them regret that." She winked at him. This caused Solar to laugh. "Interesting." He said and pulled up closer to her.

"Ugh. I am positively dirty!" she complained looking at her hooves.

"Well…we'll get cleaned up and maybe we can head down to the Summer Sun festival." Rarity gave him a small smile.

"I'd like that." She said. Solar returned her smile and they walked in silence the rest of the way back, just enjoying each other's company.