A Diamond in the Rough

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.