Bejeweled

The door of Rarity's room opened ever so slowly. The unicorn raised her head, but what she saw took her by absolute surprise. Of course, that was Sweetie Belle's room, not hers, she recalled it now. She was not used to such things, nor she really wished to all that much. The seamstress turned her head to the left to see who visited her, and for her disbelief, it was none other than Agate, with something.

"Morning, sleepyhead." she said, carrying a porcelain dish with a sandwich on it as well as a cup of tea. The tailor was baffled by all these unusual things in the sudden, but it took little time for her to get back into the roll of things.

"Aggy, how are you feeling?" Rarity whispered, still showing worry towards her, she had to knew her exact condition.

"Much better, thanks. I made some stuff for you for what you've done yesterday." Agate replied with a smile, as she gave her friend her breakfast. Though a few coughs instantly left her throat soon the ivory mistress took it away from her. It was quite clear she was not healthy to her fullest, but by far better than yesterday. She could come to Canterlot today.

"I'm so glad, dear, but you shouldn't have, really." Rarity replied. It was such a pleasant surprise after all they went through. However, if one thing she wasn't keen on at all is eating in the bed. It was just not comfortable, not to mention the crumbles could fall anywhere if one isn't careful. That, and one more thing.

"I'll eat it a bit later, mind you, I can't eat right after waking up." she added, looking for a place she could leave the dish. The shelf across the room looked like a nice option, so she levitated it there, but kept the tea. She wasn't sure if the smith knew that she loved tea instead of coffee in the morning or it was just mere coincidence but she could not refuse some when waking up. It was cold, or not warm enough to be correct, but she could look past that, after all, it was the gesture that mattered.

"Hmm, pretty good." she added after taking a sip. Though it wasn't as good as hers, for there was a bit too much of lemon, it still had an enjoyable taste. Rarity drank it up, sip by sip, taking her time, then placed the empty cup by the dish as she finally got out of the bed.

"I hope you're ready to go back to Canterlot, I had an idea how we could take the dress without much problems." Rarity explained.

"Packing it bubble wraps?" Agate asked with a smug grin, which Rarity also returned the same way.

"Almost, but more like put it inside a box filled with bubble wraps." the other replied. Their idea was quite similar, but not the same, and this little thing was something the seamstress surprisingly enjoyed despite it happening aplenty of times by now already.

"We should pack up soon though." Agate explained with a cough afterwards, as the two left the room without any sign of hurry and walked back to Rarity's actual bedroom.

"Everything in time, dear, first thing first..." Rarity calmed down the anxious mare, as she walked over to her bed, and with her blue magic, she raised up all the sheets, pillows and the blanket, wrapping it into a huge ball shape "...these are going into the laundry."

With the huge object she strolled back to the door, squeezing it through, then proceeding downwards. It would've been much better if she could have seen things in front of her but there wasn't too much things to knock over so she could walk through the corridor without problems, then go the laundry room. Of course, she could not just throw it all in the washing machine like that, the ball was too big for that. Using her space management skills, she had to do it one by one. It wasn't all that difficult as it sounded like, she has been doing this since forever. She then poured the detergent into its place, turned a knob and the machine took care of the rest. That being done she washed her hooves with her favorite liquid soap, and returned to the showroom where she left her friend.

"Hey Rares, you got a letter." Agate said, who waited for her with the sandwich, and flinging the letter around with her magic.

Hearing that, Rarity's pupils shrunk, but she remained calm outside, and took it with a "Thank you." along with her breakfast and heading to the kitchen where she could properly have it.

"What's in this sandwich, by the way?" she asked, sitting down and having a peek into it.

"Ah, you know, dandelions, daisies, lettuce, these kind of things." Agate listed. Truth was even she didn't know what she put into there by now, but just by looking at it she decided to get something for herself to eat as well.

While the smith walked over to the fridge to get a few things, Rarity took a quick gaze at the letter's case, more importantly to its sender's name. Her suspicion was correct, it was from 'her'. She turned over to the upper shelves and with a swift move, slid it there, next to the pepper and salt cases, Agate must not know about it before time. Speaking of her, she came back a few moments later with some sour cream and rose petals, as well as a knife to prepare it with.

Taking a bite of her breakfast, Rarity was quite pleased with the results, Agate didn't spare the materials. Maybe that'd explain why she chose such a simplistic one for herself though, but she hurried nowhere.

"Rarity, I was thinking." Agate said between two bites "Now that I've met your parents and we're going to Canterlot, maybe I should also... you know, get to introduce you to mom." she explained. Though her face told everything about how she dreaded to do that, it was a very intriguing idea for the seamstress. She was curious, and had a few plans in those cases, but they were not even close to 100% chance of working, given the lack of information.

"She might not like me, but I think she'll like you." Agate added. Yes, this was the problem, though it might be potentially harmful, it'd been a perfect chance for them to come clean with her help. On the other hoof, who was Rarity to just come into family affairs like that? Maybe the whole thing did not worth the risk.

"Maybe after all this is over, perhaps." Rarity replied. She couldn't find an excuse to deny it, as such she decided to postpone it for later, when she makes up her mind about it.

"Oh, alright." Agate responded coughing some more afterwards, though the worry was still on her face a little bit. She had to visit her sooner or later anyway, it was a necessary evil. Rarity finished her meal and put the dish into the sink, cleaning it could wait, there were other important things to do now.

"Could you jump down to the general store and get some aeroplast, please? I'll pack up all we might need in the meantime." Rarity asked her politely.

"Get some what?" the smith asked back hearing the strange word.

"Bubble paper, for cushioning the dress." the other explained. She should have seen that coming, though. Despite that, the ebony mistress replied with a happy nod. Thus the ivory gave her some funds from her wallet she stored in one of her shelves and sent her on her way. Now that she was alone, she had time for her little message. She trotted back to the kitchen and opened it. She kept reading and humming, then with a satisfied look, she put the paper back. Everything was going according to the plan.

The sky was empty despite the roads were all muddy from the yesterday's rain, covered with puddles of many kinds. How birazze. Agate was trotting down the streets in the meanwhile, without any fear of being lost. She knew where to go, she knew what go get, not to mention she knew the mare heading her way, waving from the corner of the street. It was Roseluck and her friends again, the girls she ran the shop with. That reminded her, she barely spent any time with them so far, she kept postponing it for later and later.

"Hey, Agate." Rose greeted her, turning to her friends "Girls this is Agate."

"I'm Lily." the cute, raspberry colored blonde said, shaking hooves with her. Her voice was high pitched and somehow perfectly fitting. For some reason though, she reminded the smith of those dancer mares in Haywaii brochures. All she needed was the grass skirt.

"I'm Daisy." the hot pink with a curly green hair told her. She looked pretty odd, it seemed as if her mane was dyed or something. She sounded more mature than her fellow, still.

After a little hoofshake, the smith found it best to apologize "Hey, Rose, sorry for being pretty busy nowadays. I got to get some bubble wrap for Rary from the store, but we can talk in the meanwhile." she suggested.

"We were heading that way too." Daisy told her in a cheerful tone. It was decided, then, four of them tagged along as they began walking down the road again.

"That's great." Agate responded, but she couldn't help but cough afterwards.

"Are you alright Agate?" Rose asked her with a worrisome look.

"Yeah, yeah, just caught something yesterday, not a big deal." she responded with a few more coughs right afterwards.

"Don't worry though, if we win that competition with Rares I can buy that house here, so we can meet more often." the smith explained. Though the money alone was not enough for her, she thought about taking a smaller loan, or something.

"That'd be wonderful. Which house do you think of, by the way?" Rose replied, clapping her hooves in joy.

"Ah, you know, that faraway one on Hay Row 13th outside town." Agate responded confidently keeping her eyes on the road.

However, the collective mass of gasps from the trio instantly turned her attention there, as Lily reached for her forehead, fainting like in some overdramatic play.

"The Horror House of Hay Row." Rose whispered with a terrified voice.

"Why, what's wrong with the house?" Agate asked, completely baffled about what is happening.

"It's cursed!" the three of them shouted back, their fright echoing through the streets. The smith's head recoiled in confusion, but Rose was to make everything clear in a moment.

"Many years ago the house had two floors, but its owner had to be taken to the hospital because the wooden floor crashed underneath him."

"And then, the floor crashed under the next ones bed."

"They got rid of the second floor, but legend say the curse is still there, and when the first floor will crash you will fall..."

"To Hell!" they shouted together. What a strange rumor, Agate could understand what Rarity meant when she said the pony folk is paranoid. It was shocking the three of them could perform this speech like that the first place, it sounded like a play in a theatre.

"I... see." she replied. Still, what could she do? Miss this opportunity just because a rumor? No way. She continued her way towards the store that was just up in front of her, but the flower ponies had something different in their minds... they didn't follow her anymore.

"I guess it's time to part ways then." she noted "See you around."

"Please be careful!" three of them replied together with worried faces, as they saw the smith go towards the shop. It was pretty strange, but Agate had no time to think of that now, she had to take care about something else.

'Wait, what was it?' she thought to herself, scratching her jaw. It took a couple seconds until the answer hit her head like lightning.

"Oh yeah, bubble paper." she said aloud, followed by a silly little giggle as she opened the door of the store and headed in.

Rarity was packing into her luggage in the meanwhile. Neat and tidy, even the scratch Agate left on it a couple days ago didn't stand out all that much. As she trotted over to her shelf and opened it, she noticed the folded newspaper inside it. It was not very new, yet just a couple days old, and it had a particular advertisement in it the seamstress circled around with red. She took the paper and threw it in the trash can. She needed that intel no more.

"Rarity!" the voice of the mustard colored hit her ears, as said pony walked in, with a pack of what she went away for.

"I'm glad you're back, I hope you didn't pop all of it away the way back." Rarity giggled back. Knowing Agate well enough, that was something completely expectable, and, well, for a good reason, it was a thing even she herself has a hard time resisting.

Rarity took the cushioning material, and with the help of her hooves, spread it across the inside of a cardboard box she have prepared. Then, she laid the beautiful, though quite heavy dress inside it, packaging it in the wrap then sealing the box. While they were in a hurry before, this time she took her time with ensuring the product's safety.

"Alright, that should do it." Agate said, raising the box with her magic, but soon she levitated it up in the air, its lower part had a notable bulge on it. Bad sign, their work was just too heavy for the cardboard, and its corners could let go of their hold on the whole thing.

"You know what? I'm taking no chances." Rarity said in a determined voice, as she pulled out her little cart and laid the box into it. It fit just right. Perfect. Now all that was left is to have Agate pack up too.

Though it was sad, nothing could last forever, and the smith acknowledge that when its time to go, its time to go. The brown luggages she brought filled up with her tools, gems, accessories, shampoos and the like.

"Did two whole weeks pass this quickly?" she asked aloud. It was so easy to remember everything that happened. Just a few, but priceless memories of hers.

"I was wondering about just the same thing." Rarity added in a gray voice. So much happened in so little time, changes that she never thought of happening. It truly was a remarkable experience, one she'll hardly forget.

Aggy closed the last of her pack, and was ready to go. There was no reason to hold back now, the two of them moved downstairs and out the streets. As the ivory mistress locked the door to her home, the ebony one bid a small, silent farewell to it.

Two of them could not come up with words they could exchange on the way to the station, however, just looking into one another's eyes were enough to see the tension, the nervousness, and the sadness as well.

"Two adult's tickets, please." Rarity said after stepping up to the counter.

"Two?" Agate asked in confusion.

"Well, there are two of us, right?" Rarity replied with a subtle grin, as she took the tickets and paid them up. Even now she had a kind heart, and Agate could not say a word. Where she'd have been by now without her?

The train station was less crowded than usual, at this time of the day it was quite surprising, though. Agate strolled over to the schedule to check the times, then when she found the answers to her questions she turned back to Rarity.

"Just a couple minutes." Agate announced with a smile, but there was something else behind that joy.

"You look so heartbroken, darling. Is there anything I can help?" Rarity explained. She knew the answers of course, Agate didn't want to get back to Canterlot for obvious reasons. But at the same time, she couldn't stay at Rarity forever either.

"It'll disappear, don't worry about it." Agate replied. Rarity wasn't worried, for she knew what was to happen with time might change the smith's life for the better, even with the... temporary drawbacks. She trusted her.

The whistle of the train was heard now, and it came closer and closer. Seems like Rarity was spot on with her memories, even if she didn't tell. The ponies around began to gather up in smaller groups, hopping up once it stopped completely and opened its doors. Rarity went in first, leading the way and deciding on where to take place. Agate just followed, silently, the melancholy clearly showing on her face. They decided not to put to baggages into the train's hold, but keep them by themselves, placing them in front of, or on the seats by around. The cart was especially close, Rarity kept that parked just left to her, in the corridors.

'Poor girl...' Rarity thought, making herself comfortable while the smith kept staring outside in front of her. She didn't want to go back there, and it was understandable, most likely Rarity herself wouldn't want to in her place. Then she gazed over to the little cart left in the corridor, if anything, that might have the solution.

The ride was silent, and it just fueled the endless loop of nostalgia in their mind. However, there wasn't anything to do about that.

The Sun started to settle and the scenery was anything but unfamiliar for both of them. Canterlot, big concrete palace on the top of the tallest mountain of Equestria. The machinery slowed down which took ever so long, until it came to a complete halt.

"There is something I'd like you to do, Agate." Rarity explained in a much colder tone of her voice. Whatever it was seemed a serious matter.

"While I take this to your workshop could you get to the house on Sapphire Road 5? It's quite important client of mine so please do it for both of us." she added.

"Why? What should I do?" Agate asked in confusion.

"You'll know when you get there, just hurry." Rarity responded. The whole thing seemed very out of the blue and unusual, but Agate went with it, as the two hopped off the train.

The smith helped the other one take off their package, while she took care of her luggages. Agate's load was quite heavy but Rarity could handle it, though she was struggling.

"I can take it, just get the task done." she reassured her partner, though it was a question for just how long she can hold them.

Agate nodded silently, and trotted away to the location. Soon as she was out of her view she laid all four bags on the ground, one next to the other. There were aplenty of ponies coming off the train, many of them single stallions. It was a perfect time to unsheathe her secret weapon.

"Sapphire Street, Sapphire Street, Sapphire... there it is." Agate said aloud as she began counting the numbers. She arrived rather fast, so she most likely was not late... whatever it is she could have been late from.

She strolled over to the one with the big six on its side and pushed the button by the side of the door. The melody of a famous great bell was heard from inside, playing for a few seconds before fading away.

The doorknob twisted and who revealed herself from behind it rekindled a feeling in the smith she haven't felt for weeks.

"Miss Agate?" a familiar voice said in a questioning, pessimist manner.

Burning rage! Agate's eyebrows instantly narrowed just at the sight, for who greeted her was none other, then her fillyhood etiquette teacher. Though many years has passed, her pink coat and red, fancy mane hardly changed, it still had the pink streaks and the curls in the end. Her cutie mark was a pair of flowers.

Despite the anger, Agate also felt a strange confusion bugging her mind. What was she doing here and how come she was Rarity's client and what did she want from here the first place? Questions she would not likely get answers for, as such she reacted the same way her old enemy did.

"Mrs. Velour?" she asked back in a half frustrated, half baffled tone. Camellia Velour was one of a kind, she is known to be very patient... but she has her limits. Her mother enrolled the little Agate  into her class in hopes of the young mare learning some manners, but things did not turn out very well.

"Here to recover the classes you've skipped?" the mare asked. She was condescending and calm, and that was just oil on the fire, despite she said the truth. Agate was on the point of smashing her in the face, but one string of thought withheld her. She planned on taking revenge. She planned to show her what she got, and rub under her nose that a ponyvillian beat her at her game. Turning her own weapon against her, that's how real fighters fight.

"Not now, thank you, my friend Rarity told me to come here to... do... something. She didn't explain it." Agate replied, cold as steel.

"Yes, yes, come in." the earth pony replied, dropping all the consent and letting the unicorn ahead of her. Skeptical first but Agate moved inside the wonderfully decorated room. It was over the top for her but it didn't surprise her the least, instead she let Velour close the door and lead her to the kitchen.

The clear, white floor, the light blue walls filled with paintings, gigantic windows, and decorated chairs and tables, they all emitted the true canterlotian aura... the thing that irritated Agate most. On the table waited many kinds of sweet treats, with dishes, knives, forks and everything set up in a nice and fancy fashion. Even the serviettes were folded in a beautiful shape of a pond lotus on the porcelain. The whole thing was like a restaurant, really, which just confused Agate even more.

"Take a seat, please, we have time aplenty so let's talk a little." the mare told her. Oh there were plenty of seats to take as well, it was some weird thing of measuring wealth. The longer table and more seats, the more money they had.

Though unlike she expected, Velour didn't sit at the far end of it, but chose one in the middle. As such, Agate sat down in front of her, this way they could be facing in front of one another without being very far away.

"Talk?" Agate asked as she made herself comfortable on the wooden chair with elegant, blue-white cushioning. It was extremely strange, why would she bother putting this all up if they hated each other. It made no sense.

"Long time we haven't spoken, is it weird that I invited an old acquaintance for a small chit-chat?" the earth pony replied with an 'innocent' counter-question. She definitely wanted to say something but was beating around the bush.

"Considering we're not... in the best terms, yeah, pretty much." Agate answered, still cold and semi-hostile towards her old teacher. Velour frowned at what she heard, but she took the teapot and poured some of its steaming hot contents to herself.

"That doesn't mean we can't meet once in a while." the teacher responded, taking a dish filled with rectangular slices of sweets with her mouth and placing it in front of the smith. "Please take some, trust me they're not poisonous."

Agate took a look at the selection, there were ones with chocolate cover, vanilla pudding filling, and many more. She took a gerbaud piece with her magic and put it on her little piece of porcelain, soon she put aside the decoration of course. With that done, Velour pulled back the dish to the middle of the table.

Despite only deserts were on it, there were quite a handful of forks and knives, two of each to be exact. Agate took the ones by her side and began cutting bite-sized pieces of the treat.

Velour also took one for herself as they started to eat, and have that little 'talk' of theirs. Agate left no choice for her to get around this time. The ball was in her court now and she didn't let this opportunity slip away.

"So, tell me, what this sudden burst if kindness is all about?" she asked, verbally charging at Velour, which the teacher did not take all that well, but expected. Agate wanted answers, of course.

"Fine, I see you want me to get to the point. Be that way." she replied in an offended manner, as she shut her blue eyes from the smith, taking a small sip of her tea.

"We've grown up Miss Agate, several years has passed since we last met." Velour added as she opened her eyes once more, gazing deep into Agate's "I see no reason to hold our grudges anymore, the past is the past." she continued, and from the looks of it, she was quite serious about the matter.

She was right at a point, Agate was just a filly when all that happened, things have change since. Looking back, she could hardly remember those distant memories about why, but her instinct told her the mare is evil. It was something that burned into her memories, but upon closer inspection, she found no proper reason to call her so anymore.

"I think... suppose that's true." Agate replied, looking at the lower left corner of her eyes.

"Can I take this as peace, then?" Velour asked for confirmation.

"Yes, yes. If I could forgive Octavia I can forgive you too." the smith sighed with resent. After so much years of holding grudge on her she finally was over it. Though she had no clue if it was for the better, or worse.

"Thank you, I'm sure she'll appreciate it." Velour replied.

Before Agate could ask back who that 'she' was, the sound of clapping interrupted them from the right, slow and gentle.

As the pony walked closer, revealing herself from behind the open door, Agate almost froze from the sight. Ivory coat and purple curls, it was somepony both of them knew: Rarity.

Soon Agate's mind could process her presence a second clapping joined from her left, Velour's. As Rarity came closer and closer so did the claps come faster and faster. Things were too sudden and strange for her to understand, but it all was to be explained very soon.

"Congratulations, Miss Agate." Velour complimented "You passed."

"You have no idea how proud I am of you right now, darling." Rarity joined, gently laying a hoof on Agate's back.

All the smith could reply was a simple "Huh?", she still was most confused about what's happening.

"Miss Rarity made this little test for you." Velour chuckled as she turned her head towards the seamstress "Impressive work, I must say, she became a completely new pony."

"Thank you, Miss Velour." Rarity replied before turning back to Agate "I knew if you can stand a dinner with a nemesis of yours you'll be absolutely ready for what is to come."

"Wait, so you tested me with her?!" Agate launched up from the chair as her head finally put the pieces together.

Rarity was surprised at this little lash-out, but deep inside she was afraid of this happen. She recessed, taking a couple steps back from her as she turned away in embarrassment.

Agate sighed lowering the volume of her voice, but keeping its frustrated style "I told you not to try bringing me closer to the canterlotians."

She really did, and Rarity recalled it clearly, but it was a promise she couldn't keep. Agate turned away, she turned away and walked away. Things started to fall apart in Rarity's mind, but she tried to hold the situation together, strolling after the smith towards the window.

"I'm sorry Aggy, but it was for the best. You had to learn to control your hostility before it could have the chance to control you." she explained ever so gently, but her voice was dripping from despair.

Agate did not reply, and that was a grim sign. Rarity's heart pounded like never before, as her mind couldn't think of anything but images of a shattered friendship.

"Can you forgive me, Aggy?" she asked, but the answer took next to an eternity to come.

Agate just sighed "Yeah, yeah, just... it might take a little time." she replied, gazing out the window, then turning away from it seeing the fancy ponies on the street.

"Thank you for the wonderful evening, Mrs. Velour." she said in a bittersweet voice, which the teacher replied with a worried "Thank you.". It was time to go home at once.

Agate was silent of the way, so was Rarity who just walked behind her with a worried look on her face. She felt terrible for what happened but as she stated, it was necessary. All she could do is let time wash away the pain. The Sun was long gone by the time the smith opened the door to her home... or at least she wanted to, until she recalled that the keys were given to Rarity. The seamstress opened the workshop and they entered, their luggages and the cart still waiting by the side. Rarity most likely left them there and hurried to where they came from right after.

They headed upstairs to get a bit of a rest, but Agate was thinking of something else. She walked over to the rectangular window next to her simplistic bed and stared out at the void. Not the void only, but more like, at her reflection. Her mane was washed and set nicely, almost like never before. Her breath was fine, though giving off the aroma of nuts and chocolate. Her skin... it looked like that of those models, and her posture was still and slightly more elegant as well. But...

"Agate. May I ask... what is in your mind?" Rarity questioned from behind her. Agate needed not to turn back, she saw the seamstress reflection just as clearly as hers.

"You know... when Velour said 'I'm like a completely new pony'..." she explained, but she didn't really know how to pour her heart's content out.

She didn't need to, though, for the ivory already knew what's all this about, her ebony counterpart was see-through as the very glass in front, after all.

"Is that what bothers you? That you assume you've changed completely?" she asked as she walked up just a few inches of the smith's left.

Agate's ears perked up in that second, as her amethyst rims turned at the seamstress' skyblue ones. A tiny 'Mhm.' left her throat only.

"Oh Aggy..." Rarity sighed "All I did was give you knowledge, tools you can use to survive in this concrete jungle, no more." she explained in a soft, almost motherly voice and look of the same kind "You did not change. I'd hate if you'd change, darling."

Agate could not reply.

The two was looking directly in one another's eyes, the beautiful art galleries of their soul. Countless of masterpieces made of turquoise and amethyst paint filled the ellipse-shaped room from all sides. As they started to lose sense of reality once again, though, sounds of ponies speaking and laughing outside prevented that.

Rarity turned away first to take a look but all she could see is the dark gray wall of the other house in front. She didn't bother to search for it any more, she decided to do something she haven't done in quite some time.

"I think I'll get something to eat." she said, heading towards the door, but the mustard coated stopped her.

"Rarity!" she said, patiently waiting until the seamstress turned her head around completely "No hard feelings." she added with a sweet smile.

"I'm glad." Rarity replied, returning the gentle gesture. She waited up the smith who wished to join her and after Agate lead her out of the room, she closed the door with her magical powers.