Bejeweled

Blur. Pain. Dizziness. The first words were to come into the mind of the smith as she regained consciousness.

"Oh, look who woke up!" a loud and angry voice echoed through her ears, along with sounds of hooves beating the floor. "I was actually wondering if you mamnm mn mhmnmm DON'T DARE FALL ASLEEP WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" a huge thunder shook the surroundings, making the eyes of the mare pop open.

The blurry image became pinpoint accurate in a sudden. It was Rarity... a grave with the name of Agate enbroided in her fiery eyes. The awful headache kicked her head once more, which she couldn't hide from the ivory one.

"Well, you brought it on yourself." Rarity said with a huff, looking away and heading towards one of the shelves. Only then did Agate notice where they were, in Rarity's room. The sun already lit up the entire place completely, Agate sure was asleep for a long time. Rarity opened the shelf with a help of her blue magic, picking up a little box and carelessly throwing it at her friend.

"I honestly have no idea what were you thinking, but I'm glad I don't need to say you were not thinking at all." Rarity added in her same, frustrated tone "Next time however, I will leave you to rot on the streets, understood?".

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Agate replied, hiding behind her hooves in shame. The pills the mare throw at her were painkillers, something much needed. She popped out one and swallowed it, water was not needed for her. She tried to get up, but it was hard, as her body was numb and it seemed confused about what to do, rendering the unicorn suffering on the floor for a couple seconds. Rarity still looked grumpy, though, she was not satisfied by mere half-sentences.

"Look, I really am sorry. I was all upset and stuff about the letter I thought Fleur sent to me and I needed something to chill off, I should have minded my own business, and it won't happen again, I promise." she apologized towards her. Rarity's frown turned into a warm smile, as she let the mustard coated gaze into her now calm eyes once more. Now this answer sounded much more sincere.

But as Rarity eyed the other unicorn, Agate's face became white from the fright. Roughly two seconds after that frozen solid state, Agate let out a gigantic gasp as she rushed towards the shelf.

"No. No no no no!!" she shouted. Rarity knew this can't be bad, but horrible, if not downright apocalyptic. On the top shelf lied no else but Agate's little gem, broken into pieces by a mindless monster.

"My agate. What happened?" she said, her voice vibrating, as if she was on the verge of crying.

"It was..." Rarity replied, though her mind wanted to get away by saying it was an accident, its aftermath would have been something she could not bear, so she chose the harder, honest route.

"It was me. I broke it out of sheer frustration, I'm truly sorry." she confessed, strolling up to her friend as she put a hoof on her shoulder, "I should have known it is precious to you."

Agate sighed "Belle Garde gave me this when I moved to the workshop, to let me remind of her, or remind myself of who am I, I don't know. Maybe both. She didn't actually tell."

"I... am so sorry, darling." Rarity apologized once more. This mistake cost her friend a memory from somepony, such thing cannot be replaced by any value. "If there is anything I can do to make up for it, please do tell me."

"No, no, it's alright." Agate denied. The fact that Rarity brought her home last night was already too much for her to handle.

"I insist, it clearly is not alright." Rarity replied with the same worried look on her face.

"No, for real it's... nothing." the other denied as she looked away. "It's a bit broken but nothing serious."

"Agate, I ruined an invaluable piece of your past, at least let me make up for my mistake." Rarity shouted back, pressing her hoof against the other's shoulder as she tried to hold her from running away.

The smith hesitated, she kept staring at the floor, then her precious stone. But as she realized her friend will do it whether she likes it or not she gave in with a tiny grin.

"But it better be good."

Rarity chuckled back under her muzzle as she let go of her. She realized that she also had something very similar hidden somewhere in this room. She charged up her horn as a little heart shaped gem appeared from under her bed.

"You know I also have a jewel that means a lot to me." she explained, showing it to her friend.

"Yeah, it looks really precious." Agate told her, checking it out from every direction. It was a heart shaped, red ruby, very high quality at that too. "Would be a shame if something-"

"Don't you dare! This is bad even for a joke." Rarity screamed, as she took the gem away, holding it thigh like filly her teddy bear. Agate had a good giggle at her of course, it was indeed a terrible joke, but still worth it. With a bit of time Rarity also formed a little smile as she rolled her eyes and put the ruby away.

"I know a place where we can find a new one for you." Rarity said. "After you washed your teeth of course."

Agate still had the slight smell of a brewery in her mouth, which needed to be eliminated, not to mention her mane that was a mess. To the bathroom they went, then a breakfast, and only afterwards could they afford a bit of treasure hunting.

Having a breakfast and set themselves appropriately, the two mares were ready to hit the place where Rarity finds her gems. The streets were pretty busy by the time, and the sun was bombarding everything below with its searing hot rays. Luckily though, they packed water this time, two bottles of it in Rarity's bags to prevent what happened last time.

"So, where did you get that fire ruby from?" Agate asked on the way.

"Oh, I got that from my little Spikey-Wikey." Rarity replied, almost turning out of her personality "He is the most adorable dragon living at Twilight's, he is her assistant."

"Wait, that short purple guy? So you know Twilight too?" Agate asked with a huge grin.

"Why she is one of my closest friends in town, why do you ask?"

"Oh, how small is Equestria!" Agate laughed "I was actually her classmate in school... for a while that is. We always called her Twilight Sunburn for her obsession with the princess and all that. So you're in love with her sidekick?" the other mare asked, wagging her eyebrows as she leaned closer to her partner.

"Well, I definitely find him adorable, but as for a serious love interest..." Rarity noted, thinking a bit more seriously on the topic "Not likely, he is just a baby dragon after all.". A crush was alright in her eyes, but even in a more adult state, Spike was still a dragon no matter what. Not to mention after what happened last time, their relationship had little to no chance in advancing.

"How about you? Have you found that special somepony?" she asked, turning to the right at a T-turn that was leading out from Ponyville.

"Meh, no. I mean the guards are cool and stuff, I tried a lot of them but, they don't have that special... thing." Agate tried to explain, but her fairly lacking vocabulary gave her a hard time. Rarity was quite confused about the term "trying", it made the whole thing sounds just wrong, but she knew Agate's wording of choice was not the best so she knew she didn't mean that.

"I guess I get it." Rarity responded with an awkward giggle. "Better choose one for a lifetime, I agree with that, even though I must admit it is easy to turn my head as well, especially these times." she added, scratching the back of her head.

"Yeah... and I don't really think they think I'm good-looking anyway." the mustard one added with a faked smile.

This kind of confused and a bit saddened Rarity, for she knew well the aspects of beauty and Agate had a lot of potential in herself she did not know of yet. It was most likely of her environtment's standards and her uncaring behavior towards her appearance.

"Speaking of which, I've met the doctor who works in the hospital yesterday, he looks so handsome, I think of asking him out soon." the seamstress said with a romantic sigh afterwards. Rarity was keeping an eye out on him for a while now... too much in her opinion. It was time to take action.

"Where are we going exactly?" Agate asked as she noticed they left the town quite a bit by now and were in the path of a forest.

"Here." Rarity answered, as the mares arrived in a dusty field surrounded by a rocky valley. This is where Rarity always went if she needed more gems for her decorations, and even though years passed, it just didn't seem to run out of treasures.

She turned to her pal with a friendly wink "Don't worry Agate, I'll find the rarest, most precious gemstone in-"

"..."

"...or, something more common and simpler, that will do too." she corrected herself. The warm and lovely smile and the gentle gaze reminded Rarity of something important. She knew that carat did not matter her friend. Agate was something different, so she needed something different.

Agate giggled at her. It felt so great somepony caring about her so much.

"You know, I wish mom would have learnt that." she sighed.

"Hm?"

"That the simple, cheap things can be valuable too." she replied "But instead, she became nothing but a gold digger."

Rarity did not say a word, but listened as Agate kept working up over the matter once again, maybe she had something that might be important.

"You know what it feels like being a part of a project to milk money?" she asked, Rarity raising an eyebrow.

"I was always expected to choose the best things, was treated like a princess just so I can get on well with the rich and raise the sum of the family. You know what I mean." she continued, furious, almost shouting by now. That was the point where the ivory mistress decided to interfere.

"It's okay, Aggy." Rarity calmed her by patting her on the back "Don't beat yourself up over it, you're here and that's what matters." she told her, as her horn charged up. In that second, small auras of blue started to glow under the ground, things only her eyes saw. She knew the exact location of the jewels, all she needed was to dig them up.

Her blue magic engulfed the little shovel in her backpack and levitated it out, hitting the ground and shoving away some of it. After three or four more digs it was there. An orange garnet, it had a strange, uneven form, with colorful spots all over it. Not a too beautiful gem, at least in the eyes of Rarity. It didn't have anything special in it.

Time to look further. Agate didn't tell a word, of course, she wanted Rarity to choose. Tt was her gift after all, and the seamstress also knew it is not necessary to ask what kind she would like, since the gesture was all that mattered. Yet she wanted something that was unique, and fitting for a mare like the smith. Something that's "Agate-ish".

She took a sip from the bottle of water and her shovel hit the ground once more. This time, she dug up a turqoise, although it was broken as the shovel shattered it into two pieces. Unusable. She buried it back and looked further.

"You are awfully silent back there. Is something wrong?" she asked back as she headed towards the next location.

"I was just thinking, you know, when we were talking about mom, I realized I haven't seen your parents." Agate noted, following her friend.

"Oh yes, they are on a vacation right now. Speaking of which, it was suppose to be over soon, I hope they had a good time." Rarity responded with a delightful smile "I'll show a picture when we get home."

And thus she started digging again. Several seconds later, another gemstone appeared, a red cuprite of a rather uneven form. Rarity took it up and dusted it off, as she noticed something on it. Was this it?

The red was intense and fiery, while black cracks ran along its surface, making out a rough, jittery shape of a heart in the middle. Yes, it definitely resonated well with the smith, it was hot and determined, but also fragile as well, it fit a pony like Agate. The problem was that it was a cuprite, a gemstone hardly ever used in jewelcrafts for its poor quality. To put it back or to keep it, that was the question.

"Agate." Rarity turned around "Please accept this gem as a form of apology." she told her, handing it to the ebony mistress. Her eyes sparkled up seeing the little heart shape in the middle, but she was modest.

"You really shouldn't have, Rares." she said, after taking a look at every side of the little gem that was half the size of her hoof.

"Shh, don't even think of starting it over again." Rarity told her, with a little giggle afterwards. Agate put away the gift in Rarity's bag and the two bound together with a warm hug. Rarity's skin was so soft and smooth for her friend, while Agate seemed the opposite, a bit more rough, a strange feeling for both mares. Eventually, they broke the bond and were facing towards one another again.

"Then it is decided, thank you." Agate said once more, as she took the lead back to Ponyville. Knowing where they came from, and that was pretty much the only road there, it was easy.

"Anytime darling." Rarity replied "You know, I planned to start making the dress today, but it's too late for that, so how about going to that Spa Weekend you were so interested about?" she suggested.

Agate couldn't help but burst out in giggles, if only Rarity would have known she spent all day there yesterday. She went into it, of course. Agate asked for a bottle of water for a bit of a drink as the unicorns headed home.

After a quick lunch of salads to keep them in shape (and really, who can eat warm food in such heat?), Rarity decided to show her friend something. She opened the wardrobe in the living room and took out a square piece of wood. A picture of the family in a dark, wooden frame.

"The whole family." Rarity said with a warm look as Agate took a look at it from her left. Though it didn't last too long until the seamstress grew a frown and looked away. "I must admit it's not the best photo we have though."

And, oh boy, Agate saw why, she barely could withhold the laughter. On the top left corner, Rarity's mom with a light lavender coat and a purple-blue mane, but moreover, a grin that Agate does usually when she is having a mad idea. Big, clearly unnatural and a bit of creepy. Her hoof laying on the shoulder of her little daughter Rarity, who just couldn't look into the camera, but in disappointment stared at the ground at her right corner, as if she'd think "The things I'm putting up with."

On the right, a macho white stallion with an awesome mustache and a straw hat, smiling a little as he waved to the camera with one hoof and did the best thing ever in the other. Below him was Sweetie Belle, her right eye socket raised, crossed eyes shrunk as the leg of the stallion wrapped around her, like if she was being crushed from his sheer force. It was hilarious.

Rarity put it away in shame as the other unicorn kept snickering.

"Shall we take our way to the park, then?" she asked after a small coughing, to get away from the topic as soon as possible. Something told Agate that the seamstress didn't have that good relation with her parents, if not a hate, just a bit of inconvenience because their differences.

"Fine for me." Agate replied, still grinning a little bit, but already getting over the matter.

"One more thing I want to show you, dear, come." Rarity told her, waving her hooves towards herself as a sign of following "I know one more thing other than finding jewels."

She lead her friend upstairs, then stopped her in front of the entrance of her room.

"I'll be right back." she said, as she entered the room alone, closing it behind her.

Agate wondered what was it this time, as the unicorn behind the door kept humming sweet melodies. The sound of the shelves being pulled out and pushed back was heard randomly at times, and a minute or two the door opened.

Rarity stepped out, her mane tied back into a gigantic nest of curls in the back, as her eyes were shaded by a pair of glasses with jarring, dark red frames that brought out her beautiful azure blue rims and eye shadows even more.

"Well, how is it?" she asked in a rather seductive look in her eyes. Agate's face turned red from the sight. Rarity was looking more than good. Yet still, the mare modestly undershoot with the simple answer: "Charming."

"Here, I bought one for you too." Rarity told her, as she levitated similar glasses of blue from behind her, putting them on her friend. It didn't look as good on Agate, but it didn't matter much. It was time to show her secret powers in its full glory.

Rarity set her glasses a bit lower on her nose and opened the door, winking back with a sly smile at Agate who stayed close behind her.

She locked the door, putting the keys in her reticule as they headed towards the park, Rarity in the lead, Agate next to her but a step behind on her right.

Rarity's stroll was confident, with the same devilish, sassy smile and look on her face that looked forwards. She had a slight sway her hips with each step to make her tail swing just a little bit.

Only then did Agate notice that uncomfortable feeling they were being watched, but after all, this was the point. Stallions passing by looked back, the ones on the side changing their attention sometimes forgetting about their open mouth. Agate kept eyeing the scenery in front and in her side, when a huge sound of someone being hit was heard from behind.

"Don't look back." Rarity told her a moment later in a high-pitched melody, her eyes aimed straight towards the road, with no distraction. Agate also knew what likely happened, maybe that cyan blue mare whom they passed by slapped the stallion who she was talking with, because he was staring at them. The angry gibberish fading from behind just confirmed that, how hilarious. Is this what being a lady came with? She could certainly live with that.

The brown catwalk reached out to the park at last and Agate was already waving at her friends.

"Good afternoon." Rarity told them, with a bit of her magic pulling up the glasses to her forehead.

"Hey girls!" Agate greeted them as well. Rarity had the urge to tell her off again, but everyone had such a good, jovial mood, she didn't to be the party popper.

"Miss Agate! Miss Rarity!" Vera replied from behind the counter.

Rarity turned to Agate "I guess since you're not into the other things, we shall have another hot bath?" she asked. There was not too much choice either, so a bath was the optimal thing.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we're having a cooling bath therapy today, not a hot one." Vera interrupted in her usual modesty.

"Yeah, the girls got the idea of a cold one when I... uh..." Agate added, overshooting her sentence once again by accident, which resulted in her awkwardly stopping with wide eyes and shrunk pupils which were seen from behind her shades as well.

"It's alright too, I can understand." Rarity giggled back at Vera, after giving her friend 'that look'. She payed for both of them and they headed into the empty pool. A little dip into the water to check its temperature, but it was no ice cold, just a tiny bit cool. A little bit later, both mares were in the refreshing water. The sun was to settle soon and hid behind the tree, so the heat of it was no source of annoyance anymore. The whole setting was perfect.

"So what were you doing here yesterday?" Rarity asked in a happy tone, though it gave off the vibe of masking something more of the opposite feeling. Agate hated this, ever since their first bigger conflict she was unusually afraid of Rarity's darker side. Even she didn't know why she couldn't just ignore it and move on as she'd usually do, there was something in the seamstress. Something that frightened her.

"Well, you know." Agate began her confession with vibrating voice stuffed with fear "I kind of passed out here from heat stroke and the girls helped me out, so I helped them out with their stuff afterwards in return." she continued, hoping her friend won't lash out at her, nor imply anything of that sort happening in the close future.

"Oh, did you now?" Rarity said, a touch of skepticism in her voice. "I suppose you learned from it."

"Yes, yes, I did." Agate replied, but she noticed some movement at a distance, somepony going down the road towards the park.

"Hey look, more guys." she told aloud, watching the light gray, slightly bulkier stallion with a cap talking with a bit thinner, similarly gray one behind the mare on the other side of the pool "Think you can seduce them too?" she asked in whispers.

Rarity turned around to take a look at them, releasing a muffled chuckle behind her lips "Why don't you give it a try?". It was no challenge for Rarity, and she wanted to see the smith giving a try at it as well. She had all she needed, she was just yet to know about it.

"Me?!" Agate whispered "But you're the hot stuff."

"Trust me, you can do it." Rarity whispered, as she swam next to the other mare "Just let them look at you first, not backwards."

The stallions were awfully close by that time, it was now or never.

Agate took a deep breath and with a deep sigh, she emerged from the pool, leaning back on her flank to the side of the pool as she stared to her right into the streets of the town. Rarity switched to submarine mode, sinking deep enough so her jaw and above were out from the liquid.

Soon, she had the urge to look at the guys once more, and they were both watching her pretty close up.

"The glasses." Rarity whispered as a hint from below. Agate had a panic reaction, but calmed down fast and handled it like Rarity would. She raised her right hoof, and aligned a little bit downwards to have it partially reveal her sassy irises of amethyst, just a little bit, as a honeyed string.

It worked, they got the bait! The two guys waving and wagging their eyebrows, the bulky one even letting out a little whistle. Time to put the cherry on the top, Rarity also joined her friend, leaning on her front hooves, showing off the back of her marvelous body. She already had her glasses set accordingly and gave that seductive look too.

The guys stopped in place to adore the sight of the two, whispering about things better left untold, yet still giving off signs of flirting at times. Rarity's right eye moved as lightning to give off a cheeky wink, that made both guys give off an "Ooh!" and bombard her with inviting body language.

After growing bored of them, Rarity giggled softly once more as she returned back into the pool to have the water cover her neck again, Agate following her after a bit of waving.

"See, I had no doubt in you." Rarity giggled "Just don't hold them for long, these kind of ones won't ever break the contact unless you do." she laughed, along with Agate, who could proudly state that she was able to seduce somepony for once.

"I can't believe it. This was so cool." she said in an astonished manner "Never knew hooking up guys was that easy."

"See? You're a beautiful mare, Aggy." Rarity told her, placing her hoof one her friend's shoulder once more, a feeling that meant so much for the smith, "I'm pretty sure a lot of guards are actually interested in you behind the scenes."

"Hello ladies." a masculine voice was heard from somewhere. It was the buxom guy from before, coming back for more. Naturally, his presence took Rarity by surprise as she backed off with a loud gasp as she used her hooves to cover her... chest?

"Mind if I join?" he added in a teasing manner.

"In matter of fact, yes, we do mind Jug." Rarity replied in a frustrated voice.

"What's up bulky?" Agate said, her voice full of excitement.

"Hey cutie, you have good taste for wine, right?" the stallion asked with an inviting gaze.

"Jug!" Rarity screamed madly.

"Alright, alright, I'm out." the stallion replied with resent, but still leaned towards the other mare for a quick whisper "Saddle street 14.". Then he hurried to get away from the wrath of the other unicorn.

Rarity sighed up as she enveloped her body in the water again.

"You know her Rares?" the ebony mistress asked, but the answer was pretty obvious already.

"Yes, he is Full Jug, or Juggernaut as he calls himself, an owner of pub few streets away. Also an atrocious lovelace." Rarity told with a deep, uninterested voice. It was not the first time getting into this situation with him, unfortunately.

There were nopony but them in the spa's territory anymore and Vera already started to pack up around the counter. It was time for them to go as well. The girls left the pool and dried themselves up with Rarity's towels she brought.

"Hey girls, mind if I join you?" Agate asked the beauticians, approaching them. She was glad to spend any moment with them.

"Oh, Miss Agate, we're already in your debt about yesterday." Lotus replied as she put the pillows away in her luggage.

"Agate!" Rarity shouted from behind as she was drying her mane still "Don't bother the girls while they're in the middle of something."

"I'm just trying to help." Agate shouted back "After all the stuff they put into their work for you, you could do at least this much to pay back, really.". She regretted it in an instant, her body recoiling a little bit as she prepared herself for the worst, letting out a tiny 'whoops' from her mouth even.  At times like these she wished she could just put a lock on her mouth to prevent these kind of things happening.

Rarity stopped rubbing the textile against her mane. How agressive her friend turned into all a sudden, this was entirely new to her. She didn't tell everything, the seamstress felt, but she decided to go with the flow this time, maybe the answer will reveal itself.

"I guess you are right." she sighed, turning to the earth pony "Miss Lotus, is there anything we can help with."

"Oh dear, Miss Rarity, this is so kind of you." Lotus replied "We'd need to bring these back, could you help us taking in a bed and the counter? We can bring in the rest ourselves."

"I'll take the pool then!" Agate shouted. She couldn't wait to lift that gigantic thing, and she already attempted to move it, but Aloe interrupted.

"Wait, I'll just empty it first." the beautician told her, as she opened a tiny hatchway in the other side, resulting in the water to pour out onto the flowerbeds behind. Then she closed it back afterwards. To no one's surprise, Agate could lift it up without any difficulties this time, in fact, she could swear this was lighter than the beds. That was quite disappointing, she wanted a real challenge now. So with a witty idea, she put in all the little things, coolers, luggages, and others too.

Burdened with the equipment, the mares slowly but surely reached the spa's building. Taking in the beds were relatively easy compared to the huge, wooden pool, that needed to be rollen in on its side. However, with time and a bit of puzzle-solving skills, everything was back in its place.

"Well, with that being done" Rarity said aloud, wiping down some sweat with an exhale "I think we'll be on our way, then." she said, targeting the front door.

"Well, then see you girls." Agate added, resigning with the though Rarity wanted to get out as fast as possible.

"Please wait!" Lotus shouted, looking at Aloe with a nod, who quickly rushed behind the counter for something.

"Miss Agate, for all your kindness and help towards us, please accept this gift from the Day Spa." Lotus added, strolling towards the mustard unicorn with her eyes and voice dripping from gratitude. Meanwhile Aloe also returned and joined her, holding something out towards her. It was a white robe with a beautiful collar of a golden color, just like Rarity's. On the robe stood a capital "A" letter, proud and strong, simple, straightforwards and rock solid, unlike the elegant and thin "R" that is on her friend's. It looked simply marvelous.

"W-what?" Rarity said as her left eye twitched a little bit.

"Oh, Celestia, a custom robe!" shouted Agate in joy, moved by the gesture inside so much.

"It comes with the membership, along with different discounts and special VIP privileges and services." Aloe explained, as Agate took the robe and tried it on.

"W-what?!" Rarity repeated.

"Ooh, thank you, thank you Aloe!" Agate screamed as she jumped to the pink pony and gave her a cuddle in her beautiful, custom dress. "Thank you too, Lolo." she told the other one, repeating it with the other pony as well. She just looked so happy, she kept laughing and hugging the beauticians one by one. Rarity was still baffled about how that happened, but seeing how happy her friend was and knowing she helped and befriended with them was enough for now to grow a delightful smile on her cheeks.

Agate took off her gift and folded it together, giving it back to Lotus. "Thank you girls, you're the best friends I could wish for, along with Rares." she added. With that, it was time to return home at once. The sun already hid behind the hills.

The twins saw them off as they kept waving and waving and waving until they truly disappeared.

"I don't really understand." Rarity told her "In what way did you help them to earn the membership?"

"Well, after I passed out and they nursed me back on the spot, I decided to stay and help them out all day the way I could." Agate confessed "Why, how did you earn your membership?"

"Well.... One time I overheard them talking about closing off the spa because the lack of funds. So, I donated the entire income of one of my collections to the spa." Rarity explained. "I think the idea of such facility in a semi-rular town like Ponyville is a great one, everypony deserves a little relaxation once, not just big city ponies."

"This explains why you weren't talking with them too much."

"And it explains why you kept chit-chatting with them all the time."

The two unicorns began giggling now that everything was clear for them. Though their actions were completely different, in the core, both mistresses were driven by the same thing: Generosity. Yet, for some reason, deep inside Agate felt she can thank this all to Rarity.