Bejeweled

The afternoon arrived soon, and a meeting was in process. Rarity - regardless how much it irritated her - needed to visit Agate once again before they could begin their journey home, to Ponyville.

Much to her surprise however, Agate was a bit of different this time. Much... better, to say so. Her mouth wasn't smelling anymore, and her set mane shown visible strokes made by hairbrush.

"Hey-ho, Rares, Sweetie! How was your day?" she asked, letting the fellows in.

"Pretty good, actually." the ivory coated replied. It filled her heart with pleasure, and most importantly, hope, that she saw her partner actually doing something with herself. She thought it was time to change tactics, but she revised once again what she learned of her so far. Agate seemed to be submissive to her in certain circumstances. Despite her rough nature, she is actually pretty fragile, making Rarity try to go somewhat easier on her this time and see what happens.

"This way, I found the perfect stuff for you Rares, I have it all set up." the mustard coated told her in excitement, as she lead the other two into her bedroom. It didn't at all look like a Canterlotian bedroom though, in fact, it rather had a sort of Manehatten feeling to it. The floor was made of wood instead of the default, checkered marble. The ribbons and the silk was all stripped from the walls, much like the curtains and the bed. It was a casual, single bed without any sort of decoration, whatsoever. Same applied to the shelves, desks and wardrobes, simple, and wooden. Even by ponyvillian standards, this room was rather undecorated.

In the middle however stood a mannequin in a wonderful golden armor with a purple, diamond patterned textile under it. It looked amazing, yet a bit of strange and unknown for the seamstress.

"Neat, huh? I made this from a faulty armor that got rejected. Thought I could make something out of it." the armorsmith explained. Rarity stepped closer, taking a look at every of its details.

"Certainly... interesting, to say at least." Rarity told, scratching her chin. The armor was amazing, no doubt, even for a faulty one. It's shape was wonderful and smooth, the curls in the gold were elegant and graceful. But that thing under it... it just looked like if somepony would have took up a picnic rug on her back, then put the armor on. It had potential, but not in this state.

"It fits your mane and even your cutie mark, try it on, I can't wait to see it." the hyped up Agate squealed.

There was no other way, Rarity had to pick it up and feel it herself. She took off the piece from the doll and slipped her head through the hole, putting it on. The weigh made her succumb for a second, as her body was not used to this sort of fashion, but she straightened up again a few seconds later. Agate already prepared her big, rectangular mirror on the side of the room, so Rarity could take a look at herself.

The sight was... strange, to say at least. The textile was long enough the reach down to the ground a little bit, fading every part of the unicorn away.

"Rarity, the mage. So, how is it?" Agate asked, waiting for the response like a kid by an ice cream carriage.

"It's... nice?" Rarity responded with a fake smile, that turned serious a moment afterwards. "Okay, I'll just be honest: The armor part is brilliant, really, but this... curtain, is just terrible. I hope you don't mind." she told her friend, with an apologetic ending. The whole thing reminded her of the incident when she let her friends design their Gala clothes, namely Twilight's gigantic robe, only with some extra weight on this one.

"It's okay..." Agate replied with an awkward grin "It was just a work in progress anyway."

"Was?" asked Sweetie Belle out of the blue. The seamstress also caught with her ears. It sounded as if Agate just want to abandon the entire design because of Rarity's criticism.

"Is! I mean is." the armorsmith corrected herself... but it seemed a bit too late for that. Rarity knew, Agate is a sensitive soul inside, and should be dealt with appropriately.

Rarity strolled towards her, putting her right hoof on Agate's back to reassure her "Aggy, you can stay with us at home in Ponyville for the contest if you'd like to."

"R-really?" Agate shouted up, shutting her mouth with her hoof the next moment.

Rarity shut her eyes and nodded. Agate was on the verge on tearing up, her pupils grew huge and she stared giving off muffled noises of excitement and joy. It was just heartwarming to watch to the seamstress.

"I knew it! Thank you so much!" she jumped, embracing her new friend thigh as she could, which was not much since the armor protected her.

"When will the next train come?"

"About half an hour, I think." Agate replied.

"Half an hour?!" Rarity screamed, as she tried to take off Agate's work with the help of her unicorn magic "Okay, umm, we haven't really packed up yet, so-"

"It's alright, go ahead. I've already-." Agate cut in, shutting her eyes with a little grin, just to get them both opened by the sudden move of the seamstress.

With some problems Rarity could get out of the armor and put it aside on the bed. It was the time. Rarity decided that she has to reveal her plan she made for Agate, now or never. The odds were on her side, she was the puppeteer, and Agate was the doll. However, inside she hoped she didn't need to reveal this to the armorsmith. She grabbed both shoulders of the armorsmith and leaned up real close, close enough to see her own reflection in her eyes.

"However, before we set off to Ponyville, I need you to promise me something."

Agate freaked out a little bit over the sudden move, but remained standstill when she responded "Y-yes?"

"I need you to become a lady."

"WHAT?!?" screamed the armorsmith, as she forced off Rarity's hooves from herself aggressively "No way!".

A hot-headed and expectable response, but Rarity didn't want to play her joker card yet, rather just try again.

"Please, Agate. This is the only way we can win this contest, and you know that as well." she explained, remaining soft and calm like the lady she was.

Agate was showing her teeth, the sheer anger and total disgust was clearly seen on her face. Yet the inconvenient truth started to gain territory on it, unnerving her completely. She had no choice, after all, Rarity could just let her rot here with ease. She hated the thought of Rarity having such an upper hoof, but a sacrifice is a sacrifice. With a final sigh, she mumbled back her response: "Okay..."

"Excuse me?"

"Okay!"

"Great, now that being decided, I think we'll just leave." Rarity told her, trying to get out from there as soon as possible.

"Sure... see ya." Agate responded, completely dissatisfied and grumpy. She didn't want to, not a single part of her braincells wanted to... but she had to.

"See you later, come Sweetie." the seamstress told her sister, hurrying out from the building, back to her hotel. But then, in the first turn that was leading out from the alley to the main road...

Fleur! As if she would have been waiting for Rarity. There was no way to get around her, though the seamstress didn't mean to do so.

"Mrs. Fleur." she greeted her, her voice filled with nervousness as she was in a great hurry. Fleur looked serious, a face that the ivory unicorn haven't seen before. She looked like a completely different person with that expression, just putting oil on the seamstress' fiery nerves.

"Rarity." she told her in a deep tone "Take care of Agate for me, please."

"Sure thing, I'll make sure-"

"No! Take actual care of her!" Fleur ordered "It's a feeling she haven't received but from me and maybe the guards alone. If she leaves Canterlot and can't receive it from anypony..." she explained, letting the other mare figure out the rest as she moved out from the way to let go of her.

"I see." Rarity replied, shocked and frozen in her place for a split-second "I will, Celestia be my witness." she promised, then rushed past the diva.

It was all clear now, Agate found nopony to trust and believe in but Fleur, nopony who could understand her but Fleur. And to make up for this empty space, she drinks with the only ponies she can with and she made friends herself. That's why she was calling her tools by names. She might not need the friendship of others, but deep inside, Agate was a lonely, lonely mare. As Rarity deduced this in her mind, a new emotion surfaced up towards the armorsmith inside her. An emotion she couldn't get out of her heart until they saw each other once again: Pity.

The three mares hiked up to the train, Rarity leading the way to an empty cabin with green and beige interior. Agate and Rarity took place in the comfortable seats, facing towards each other. Their eyes met for a second, then parted ways, then they met again, but disconnected. At the end both of them choose to stare out the window, observing a couple waving joyfully to someone in a different cabin. Sweetie didn't care much, she decided to just observe the happenings.

The whistle screamed in its high pitch, and a second later, the train began its journey towards Ponyville. Silence. Neither of them started a conversation for long, long seconds, even though their eyes were flirting like two young lovers. Not until from the mountain scenery, a little village was seen down in the valley. Agate's ultimate goal... a goal that needed a gigantic sacrifice.

"A lady, huh?" Agate asked "Why would you want me to be one of them?" she continued, trying to squeeze some answers from Rarity.

The ivory one faded into complete silence for seconds, before she made her reply.

"Because I'm scared."

Another long period of quiet later Agate asked once again, though rather in a form of an echo "Scared..."

"Yes... scared. I'm scared that your hatred towards Canterlot along with your informal manners might cost both of us too much." Rarity told her, avoiding eye-contact with the other unicorn.

After long silence and gazing outside the window, Agate decided to ask one final question: "Will you help me?"

For a brief second, Rarity's pulse stopped. The way Agate just asked that, the way those words left her mouth, that determination, that passion... yet that fear in her voice. It reminded her a teddy-carrying filly afraid of heights, who tried to cross a bridge on the top of Equestria... but couldn't face it alone.

"With everything I can." Rarity nodded with a sweet smile, however her eyes told that she wasn't finished with that sentence. '...I just hope it's going to be enough.'

A little bit of more silence, as the two smiling ponies gazed over the little village once again. Now that the serious business was over, the general mood around them became much less tense, and more happy. It was time to relax and enjoy the ride from that point, everything was back on the right track from now.

"Anything particular I should know about Ponyville's folks?" she asked in curiosity.

A soft chuckle left Rarity at the question, as something in topic struck her mind like lightning "They're pretty paranoid."

"Paranoid?" Agate asked raising one of her eyebrows in curiosity.

"Oh, I was actually just thinking about it somehow, that was that one incident with Zecora, a zebra inhabitant, they considered her evil and spread rumors that were obviously unknown until the entire town began fearing her. The oil on the fire was though that she- Ah!" she gasped, as everything turned pitch black in the middle of her sentence.

"Nah, it's just the cave. So she was what? A demon or something?" Agate calmed her fellow, her ears pricked up as she wanted to hear more.

"So, as I said what made it worse that she was living in the Everfree Forest, would you kindly stop tapping my back?" she asked in her annoyance.

"It was not me, the ghosts of the cave are calling you." the armorsmith replied, only to have her cover blown by the light of the sun, as the machine left the cavern, revealing her hoof on Rarity's shoulder.

"Agate, please..." Rarity told her in a gentle manner, as she took Agate's right hoof and slowly took it off herself. She felt as if it was her turn now, and took her opportunity "So, tell me where are these disagreements with Fancy Pants come from?".

"It's pretty simple, let me tell you." the mustard coated leaned closer "Fancy is someone with too much power and too little brains, it's impossible to fulfill his endless hunger for fancy stuff, even though he doesn't realize it. Out of all canterlotians I've met, he's the worst. Let's not even talk about him, I'm glad I got rid of him for now." Agate waved her hoof to avoid the topic she hated so much. It was time for Ponyville now, time to relax and forget all the stress she gathered up, and Rarity could understand that well enough.

It seemed as the two could get along well, but their relationship was dancing on the edge of a blade. One bad decision, and who knows what might happen.

Another series of seconds passed in complete silence, even longer than the ones before. Agate set a yawn free moaning "Gah, that's so boring! I wish I'd have brought a game or something.". Her body extended along the beige seat as she laid down in boredom.

Rarity just sat there, even though the boredom reached her as well, she didn't allow it to take control, she was a lady after all. However something odd caught her attention from the side.

"Sweetie Belle!" she screamed, as her heart jumped in fright. Her sister disappeared. How could this happen (again)?

"Guess she just went to the toilet or something, chill out." Agate replied maybe a bit too calmly even.

"You've seen her and didn't even think of telling me?!" Rarity screamed, jumping off the seat and running towards the cabin next to theirs. She wasn't there... The stress gave the seamstress shivers as she ran to the next cabin, seeing a door being closed on the other side by a white hoof. There was light in the end of the tunnel, after all.

"Sweetie! Sweetie Belle!!" she shouted, rushing to the door and slamming it open with a burst of her magic. The hoof closing the entrance of the next wagon was there again, but it couldn't escape this time, for sure.

"Not so fast missy!" Rarity screamed, grabbing the limb as the door opened. However, the next moment was an utter shock to her, for the hoof's host was not her sister. In fact, it wasn't a filly even, but a mare with a blue mane she wore in a bob cut.

"C-can I help you?" she asked in fright. Rarity let go of her leg in an instant, as her face filled up with the red color of embarrassment.

"Excuse me, I'm terribly sorry, I was just looking for my sister and I didn't really think ahead." she apologized, melding her sentence into a question. "Please, have you seen her, she's short, white coat and curly, light purple mane."

The stranger shook her head, for Rarity's shame. All hope seemed to be lost, but she still gazed over the mare to see if the rest of the cabin hides her, with no success. The mare put her hoof on the shoulders of the seamstress.

"I'll make sure to tell you if I notice her."

"Coco!" A voice shouted up from a seat behind. The mare, imbued with fear turned back and ran to the nearest little box separated from the narrow corridor. "What are you doing? I told you not to chit-chat with strangers, 'mkay?"

Rarity didn't pay attention anymore, her angst turned into sadness that began burning her heart like acid. She felt she is the most horrible, irresponsible sister in Equestria. She turned back and began walking back to their carriage, step by step. Her eyes were staring at carpet that moved backwards as she traveled, until a white obstacle made her stop for a second.

"Something's wrong sis?" it said, knocking Rarity back to reality.

"Sweetie!" she shouted.

"You ran off the wrong way, Rares. I found her looking at the map-thing in the other cabin." Agate explained, turning to the filly "Should have told her, though, ponyvillians tend to overreact certain things." she chuckled. This little poking, however, flew past Rarity as she was glad to be reunited with her sister, who they shared a warm hug with before heading back.

"Don't you dare doing this again!" She told the girl the way back, as Agate lead the way. That, until in a sudden moment, she stopped by a window, whereas the others were to sit back on their places.

The grassy scenery that passed by so fast began slowing down.

"Wait, we're stopping?" she asked. The train was slowing down, indeed, even though no signs of a town nearby was seen. Something was wrong for sure, and Rarity could just guess what could have caused this. However, she could do nothing about it, just watch it happening. It took just a couple seconds, and the machine stopped.

Steps were heard from the other wagons, getting louder and louder as it got closer rapidly.

"Shhh! It's Fury Nancy." hushed Agate the other unicorns, as she jumped back to her seat before the door smashed open, hitting the wood on its side. A grey-black mare in a checkered hat and a uniform charged in the room, stomping her way through the cabin. Her face searing hot from the anger, as she passed by the poker-faced Agate and Rarity. For first, the seamstress wanted to ask for a reason for the train's sudden stop, but seeing that face of wrath, not to mention those soul-piercing red eyes, she passed it. As Fury smashed the door behind her, Agate finally could let that huge grin grow on her face, as she wagged her eyebrows up and down.

"Do you know her, by any chance?" Rarity asked.

"No, but I call her Fury Nancy, because she is always furious." Agate replied with a chuckle. "Come, let's see what's happening." she added, standing up and strolling towards the door the staff member just left through, Rarity and Sweetie Belle following her.

The little room next to their cabin was much smaller, with a door leading outside, as well as another one leading to the other cabin. Agate leaped down the train with a hop, while the other mare simply walked down in her own pace. The other travelers waited outside as well by then, yet the reason was still unknown, until the motorpony called for attention.

"Attention everypony! Attention please! It seems that the engine broke down, which means we have to take the way to the next town by hooves."

Everyone froze solid for a second, before the stallion continued "The closest town is Dodge Junction, it is only half an hour away from here."

"Thirty minutes?" questioned back Rarity as her eye twitched. "Also, Dodge Junction?" she continued. So much walking with all these luggages and in this dirty land was certainly the last thing she wanted to do,not to mention that towards the dusty old town she never fancied.

"Guess he meant thirty minutes by train, or-"

"What?!" screamed Rarity, covering her mouth right after in embarrassment. That much time by train meant forever by hooves, for her at least "Agate, that's bad even for a joke." she replied.

Agate took a look at the sun that was already settling, calculating absolute nonsense in her head. "If we get going now, we can get there before sundown."

Rarity rolled her eyes and with a puffed up tone she gaited past the other unicorn "Then we shouldn't waste our time, should we?" she asked, leading the way along the train to get their luggage. As her horn charged up, she let the inspector open up the lower storage of the machine, where the luggages were held. Since theirs were put in last, it was easy to take them out. Rarity taking her white-blue, well-adorned custom one that had her cutie mark on it, then Agate her three old-looking brown ones. However neither of them chose to carry them by their hooves or mouth, but with their magic. There was no time to waste, and there was no other option, they had to leave the train behind.

"This is so exciting!" said Sweetie, who seemed to be quite happy about this little adventure, unlike Rarity, who couldn't help but respond in a negative way.

"Much more of a burden if you ask me." she moaned with a deep inhale as the unicorns set their way along the railroad.

"You tired? I can carry that for you." Agate responded, seeing her friend stopping to take a little break. Rarity's pretty bag let go of its blue aura as it became surrounded by a purple one. Even though Agate took over her item by force, without asking any confirmation whatsoever, the ivory coated still felt a bit grateful for the gesture.

"Why thank you. Very kind of you." she told her. It was pretty impressive seeing Agate carry four full luggage as they were mere feathers.

"That's quite an exceptional strength of magic you got." Rarity complimented.

"Cool, huh? Since the stuff I work with are heavy I can lift much heavier stuff than others." the mustard colored mare replied, as she wiped a little sweat from her forehead. Her vocabulary - or the lack of thereof - was irking Rarity, but she could stand it... for now.

The grass became more of a rare sight the more they were walking, eventually turning the scenery to a desert.

"Uh, dirt." the ivory coated said with foaming disgust. She hated it, she hated dirt and germs more than anything, except maybe spiders.

"It doesn't bite or anything, I'm sure you'll survive." Agate replied in a low pitch, much of the annoyance of Rarity.

'Ooh, now you're asking for it, missy.' she whispered in herself. Things began to heat up around them, both mentally and literally, as the savanna became warmer and warmer. However, in a distance the goal was already seen, a small, western-like town.

It looked so close yet it was so far. The sand and the heat seemed to be more and more unbearable as they arrived, making the strolling more of a difficulty.

"Welcome to Dodge Junction!" shouted Agate, rearing up as the road wouldn't even have touched her energy, even though she was sweating very much. The feeling of hard wood of the train station somehow felt so fine after the soft sand. Agate discharged some energy of her horn, to drop off her luggage, but she messed it up. Two brown and a white pack hit the floor hard while another brown stayed inside her grasp.

"Oops..." she said as noticed her mistake. Rarity screamed, making her way to her once beautiful package as a juggernaut. She picked it up wiping the dust off its wonderful, white texture when she noticed it. A scratch! A scratch on the blue plastic diamond in the middle! Disaster! There is no way it can show its true glory again.

"I'm sorry Rares, I kinda mixed them up." Agate apologized, scratching the back of her head.

Rarity let out a subtle sigh as she turned towards her partner "It's okay..." She paused for a second, before lifting her head up. Sacrifices must be made and she had to carry on. "I'll check the schedule then, mind you bring us some water, it should be simple enough... even for you.". Though the words were slightly hurtful, Rarity knew that well enough. An eye for an eye after all. However it seemed to bounce off Agate, who just smirked a little and walked away to fetch some drink. A slight annoyance to the ivory one, she felt as she would have just tried to insult a brick wall.

Rarity's eyes turned to the wooden board with times written up with white paint. Only for a second, though, when a carriage pulled by four stallions drove off from her right, creating an enormous cloud of dust and forcing her eyes to close,plus to cough a little bit. Despite that, the fact the they were heading towards the exact same direction they came from was planting seeds of relief in the mare's heart.

"Yo Rares!" Agate screamed, with three wooden cups of water levitating next to her. "I got these from a pub nearby, gotta bring the cups back though." she added, giving one of them to her friend and the other one to the filly. A smile took over Rarity's face, as she heard the news, and after a small thanks she took a gulp of the water. Her smile turned into a frown, however.

"Uh, it's warm. Well, it'll keep us from dehydration at least." she noted, drinking up the rest. Agate already finished it by then, and was waiting for the other unicorns.

"'xcuse me, anything happened with the train?" a voice said from behind the ivory coated. "There's a lot of strange folk here in a sudden with bags and all that."

"Yeah, it burnt out like a cheap candle." the mustard coated said with a sly smile, as Rarity lowered her cup and gulped.

"Agate!" she whispered furiously, turning around to give a proper reply "Its engine broke down, that's all. I've seen the supply carriage leaving however, it may arrive in few minutes.".

"Oh shucks! Thank you anyway... have we met?" the other pony responded. Her mane was fancy and red as a ruby, while her coat was light olive. A cherry adorned her rump. Of course, she remembered her now, the memories struck the unicorn like lightning.

"Cherry Jubilee, correct? I was working at your cherry farm for a short time." Rarity asked her. While it wasn't the best of the memories she loved to recall, it was indeed hard to forget that time. The time when they chased their farmer friend all around the desert. And then the way home with Pinkie Pie, something she hoped would not need to repeat with Agate.

"Oh yeah, the Apple girl's friend, I got it now!" Jubilee shouted "Came back for some extra bits?" she asked with a seductive hum. Yes, she looked exactly like the kind of woman who'd take an advantage of her own charm... just like Rarity would.

"No thank you, we're on our way home." sounded Rarity's polite decline.

"Fine, dear, then how about some cherry pie? That train might take a long time to get geared up." Jubilee responded with a wink, putting extra emphasis on the "long", but she failed convince the seamstress.

"She is right, actually." Agate noted. Sweetie also seemed to approve the idea. She gazed over to the Sun that only peeked out from behind the dunes for a few seconds, waiting for her response.

"I guess we can afford a little visit then, if it doesn't mean any trouble to you." Rarity replied, though she wasn't too pleased with her decision.

"Oh, why on Earth would it be?" Cherry responded as she rolled her eyes with a little wave of her left hoof.

"Yay! Cherry pie!" screamed Sweetie Belle. Considering she never ate cherry pie before, she thought if Applejack's apple pies were awesome, then Cherry's cherry pies should be so as well.

"How is your cherry business doing, may I ask?" Rarity questioned, as she lead the way along with Ms Jubilee towards their home in the tiny, dusty town.

"Pretty good." she answered "Ponies often turn up here for some quick bits, so I always have fresh workforce." she explained with a joyful melody in her voice. "Here we are fellows, Cherry Ranch." she shouted to the ones behind them.

"Well, this was quick." Agate noted.

"Dodge Junction is a small town, everypony knows everypony here, so we all know an outsider when we see one." the earth pony giggled softly, pushing in the door of her home.

"I'm back sweetie!" she shouted, making a light golden coated mare appear from the top of the staircase. Her mane was hot pink, and she wore in quite a similar style than the cherry pony.

"Whoa, this soon? Got some problems, mom?" she asked, receiving a light shake from the lady's head, making her turn her head to the other mares "How 'bout you, here to work?" she asked again.

Her voice had that rough, countryside accent, spiced with sass. It was matching her wicked, but inviting look that Agate noticed soon enough. She was walking down those stairs as she was showing off herself on the streets, elegantly, but not too much like a lady.

"Nah, just got invited while the train gets its repairs, poor thing broke down on the way from Canterlot." Agate replied, trying to take on the awesome, rough tone and this country style she liked more and more every second.

"Dinner's ready girls!" a voice shouted from the room from their right.

"Yes, mum!" the girl roared back on the top of her lungs, turning back to the other two "We gon' discuss it at the table, today's dinner is cherry pie... again."

"Please, lead the way." Rarity asked in her polite manner. The girls walked over to the kitchen, a beautiful, yet simple one of wood and red paint flowing elegantly across it.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself, how rude of me." The pink maned pony said in a surprised tone. "Name's Cherry Milleny." she added, raising her hoof as a start of a co-operative gesture.

"I'm Agate." the mustard coated greeted, shaking her hoof with a powerful grab, that Milleny didn't leave without response. Ooh, it was on now, the battle began. Both their faces grew a wicked grin as they tried to constrain their limbs until somepony gave in. But, it didn't last too long, three gentle shakes and it ended in a draw.

"I'm Rarity." extended her right the ivory one. Their shake was a gentle autumn breeze, as Rarity's limb had a soft, but still noticeable grasp over Milleny's hoof.

"I'm Sweetie Belle!" the smallest one shouted, wanting her turn badly, making the earth pony smile and let go of Rarity's hoof to make a light contact with the filly's.

Jubilee already brought a few more red pillows by then, as well as the beautiful dinner that was steaming on the table, hot and delicious.

"Good appetite, everypony." she said, as the others sat down, thanking her all at once. Rarity and Agate took their knives, and took a slice for themselves and Sweetie, while the earth ponies decided to be the last ones.

"So, where y'all from?" the younger Cherry asked.

Agate took the entire slice she stabbed onto her fork away from her mouth to reply. "I'm from Canterlot." she said with ease, then devoured the whole part she took.

Rarity swallowed the piece that was in her mouth and answered "I came from Ponyville." she replied with a calm voice.

Milleny was completely in shock. "Well, hit me with an ice cream cone and call me a unicorn, you looked exactly the opposite."

"Yes, it is quite ironic if you ask me." the ivory coated chuckled.

"Wait, wait, wait." Agate told in a sudden moment, as she realized something "So if this is a ranch, then you grow the cherries, right?"

"We sure do, honey." giggled back Jubilee with a lighthearted smile.

"Cool! A farm in the middle of a desert, that's so awesome." the mustard one said completely overran by excitement, that got even more intense when Milleny replied.

"Hey, we can head out 'n buck some trees if you wanna see it yourself."

"Yes! Yes, please."

The enthusiasm of Agate caught Rarity off guard. Though, now that she thought about it, Agate was from Canterlot, where one doesn't even think about doing such manual work. There are hardly any trees even. The little cherry gazed over to her mother, who gave firm nod with a gentle smile as an approval, making the young one turn back to the mustard mare.

"This way, city gal." Milleny stood up, leading the girl out to the field, while the others ate their dinner.

The cherry trees were blooming wonderfully in the little oasis they grew in, all having beautiful fruits adorning them in golden, emerald and ruby colors.

"Wooow." Agate said in awe "You can't see this in the concrete jungle. It's beautiful. There are even yellow and green ones." Agate always thought of the cherries as red, for the only ones she saw in the capital's market were red.

"Never seen those kind? Pick yourself a few if you wanna try."

Agate gasped in delight and sprinted to the nearest golden cherry tree, rearing up on her hinds to reach for the fruits. They were too high for her however, requiring the unicorn to stretch her body as much out as she could. She always wanted to try this, but there were no trees whatsoever up in where she lived, other than those in the parks, of course.

"Well, that was glorious." Rarity complimented, after cleaning her mouth with the napkin on her right. "Thank you very much."

"You're ever so welcome." chuckled back Mrs. Jubilee "Come, let's see what the others are up to."

As they strolled into the garden, however, Rarity had to face possibly one of the weirdest sight she ever seen.

'What in Celestia's name is that pony doing?' she thought, standing there completely baffled. Why would an unicorn out of all species want to take something out of reach with her hoof. The mustard coated however still didn't give up, she tried to jump for it, but caught nothing but air, or only slapped a few leaves gently. Rarity wrote her down as an idiot, plain and simple.

"It would be much easier if you'd use your horn instead, don't you think?" she advised to her partner with a weirded out face.

"I know, but I'm so close, that's like admitting defeat." Agate replied as she jumped for the gold once again, with no success.

Rarity smacked her face into her hoof, then a great idea struck her mind. She proceeded towards the other side of the tree, almost snuck in terms of speed. She stretched out her hinds a little bit, transferred her body mass to her frontal limbs, and hit the tree with a powerful kick. Before even being able to let out a sound, the cherries, like golden pellets began showering the mustard coated unicorn's face. Two dizzy steps back with her front hooves above her head and she fell on her back already.

Rarity was more than satisfied by the results. Even though it was against her nature, it felt sort of good pranking Agate like that, a little payback for dropping her baggage. A sudden whistle heard from afar interrupted her line of thoughts a second later, a whistle they both recognized.

"The train!" they shouted. It was coming this way, they must have repaired it. All of them knew what that meant, the two unicorns hurried back to the others to bid a quick farewell, as missing this one was something they couldn't afford now that the sky on the west slowly sacrificed its entire territory to the east.

"Thank you so much for everything." Rarity told Jubilee as they hurried through the backyard into the kitchen.

"As I said you're always welcome." repeated herself the earth pony with a generous smile.

Agate meanwhile said goodbye to the other farmer "I like your style, we should totes hang sometime.".

"Just peak in when you have time." replied Milleny with a sassy wink as she added "Now get that train before it goes wild!"

"Sweetie Belle?" asked out Rarity her sister who appeared in that second this time, her face mucky with the cherry pie. Rarity grabbed the filly and nearest paper towel and rid her of the dirt as fast as possible.

"Wait, sis, can we bring some-"

"No!" Rarity cut in, as she levitated her sister while the two mares rushed down the street, Agate carrying the luggage.

The train was already blowing its whistle, signing that its the last chance. It seemed so far yet it was so close, yet they only realized that once they were inside. Rarity put down her sister, and after some wheezing and setting her mane, she showed her ticket to the inspector, while Agate took the luggage in. It was not the same train, however, for this was a nightly train, with its cabins being a cluster of beds. Its red curtains and wooden furniture gave it a warm and cozy feeling. Rarity took the closest on on her left, then laid down her packs so they would line up as a wall before the curtain.

"Finally, I hope there won't be any trouble now, this was way too much adventure for a day." she said, as her ivory body took place in the little bed facing just towards Agate's.

She looked outside the window, watching the crescent of the Moon rising higher and higher, until her focus targeted her own reflection, something she wasn't too pleased with. "My eyes are surrounded by wrinkles as well, so gross." she told herself, letting a yawn out as she laid down next to her sister.

"Well, good night girls." she added as she laid down. The bed was not as comfortable as hers at home, plus the fact that somepony else have surely used it just added to it, but at the moment it was her only choice. Sweetie murmured back something, while a whisper responded from her left.

"I won't sleep yet, but yeah, night Rares!"

It took Rarity a few moments to fall asleep, but then Agate called her again.

"Hey! Rares! Wake up damsel girl, we're here." she poked her friend, then helped her on her hooves as Rarity still felt sort of tired. Looking out the window the familiar scenery of Ponyville greeted her. Rarity picked up her still sleeping sister, and began to sneak out of the almost completely empty vehicle at once. The night wasn't as cold as it supposed to be in the middle of spring, but that wasn't a problem. Sweetie Belle kept snoring regardless of all this, and that kind of moved the seamstress. Even Agate admired her innocence a bit from the side. Tired from the long journey they finally arrived their home, the Carousel Boutique, that was by sheer luck just a few minutes away from the train station.

Rarity sighed "I must have a shower, who knows who else slept in those bedsheets. Agate, could you take Sweetie Belle to her bedroom? Come I'll show you the way." she whispered as she was about to turn the lights on, but changed her mind instead.

"I'm not really happy she goes to bed like that, but at most I'll take her bedsheets to the laundry tomorrow." Rarity confessed the way upwards.

They walked upstairs, where a narrow corridor with five doors awaited them, one was the living room Agate already knew, one was the fillies' room, the other three was a mystery. Rarity pointed at the one in the far right, Sweetie's bedroom. Agate snuck in, and with the help of the little light she received from opening the door, she located the bed. She gently laid the filly down and moved out, closing the door in almost complete silence.

Meanwhile Rarity began to fill her bathtub with nice, hot water. Humming a sweet song while looking at the clean, steaming hot, transparent liquid filling up the beautiful white tub already began to set her mind at ease. After she was satisfied with the quantity, she took a little dip into it, then slowly her whole left hoof, right afterwards she stepped in with the other three as well. After letting her entire body become swallowed by the water limb by limb, she turned on her backside and with a relaxing sound leaving her mouth. Finally.

As soon as the stress of the day started to leave her relaxed body and mind though, the doorknob twisted.

"Hey Rares!" said Agate charging in, making the white pony jump from shock with a shriek as she tried to hide her chest behind her hooves (for no reason whatsoever). The quick move made the steaming hot water splash all over the place, including Agate's face, who also began to scream, attempting to rub off the burning feeling.

"Haven't you learned to knock before coming in?!" Rarity whispered madly, yet her voice still remaining sort of ladylike as she didn't want to wake up Sweetie Belle, if they haven't already managed to do so.

Agate, as soon as she manage to get rid of the horrible burning feeling replied "Sorry, I didn't know you're here. It was an accident."

Rarity was not impressed by the answer the least "I just told you two minutes ago, and who else could possibly take a bath in the middle of the night. Not to mention you broke in calling my name, even." she told the other one with a fierce look towards her newfound partner who just shrugged it off.

"Okay, I lied, I knew. I just wanted to ask you where the bedroom is." Agate replied like it'd be nothing.

"Second door to left. Now, if you insist..." Rarity roared, letting her body lay back in the hot tub again.

"Okay, sure. Thanks anyway." rolled the other one her eyes, leaving the bathroom.

The angered seamstress huffed as the other one closed the door. What an inconsiderate beast, and a dirty liar as well, Agate seemed as she was aiming to get the best of her, but not from this mare, for sure. Regardless, Rarity wasn't able to relax like that again as she laid back into her little bit less hotter water. Especially when she came to realization.

"Oh my... does she want to...?!" she sat up with a quick move, and like one who noticed she's late to catch the bus crawled out from the tub.

"Ah, uh, careful." she said, trying not to slip on the marvel floor as she dried her hooves in a hurry, twisting the towel around her body and rushing to her room, but it was too late...

Agate was already sleeping... on her bed. In a strange position she lied there, on the wrong axis, not even using nor the pillows or blankets. It gave her the impression as she'd just had jumped on her bed and fell asleep that instant.

Rarity's eyes twitched, both from disgust and sheer anger. Yet she wasn't able to walk up and wake her up, as Agate was the guest here after all. Instead she just left her room, walked into the living room. She laid down on her couch and with a shivering body and a bit teary eyes she asked the mightier powers "Celestia, what did I get myself into?". Rarity regretted everything now, she wanted to quit this whole contest-thing and just get back to her normal life. Agate was a curse to her, she was sure of it now, someone cursed her, but she didn't really know who to blame.

She tried to fall asleep, she tried every possible position but it was impossible for her to reach the land of the dreams. Yet, after a couple minutes later, a voice was heard from behind.

"Hey, hey! I'm waiting for you upstairs and you're nowhere, is something wrong?" it said. It was Agate.

"Wrong?! Oh, no! Nothing is wrong at all, Darling." turned back Rarity. Her face and her voice told everything, she snapped. It was a bit too much sarcastic, and didn't mask her fury properly, if at all.

Agate walked up to her one step after another "Look, about the bed thing. I'm really sorry, I planned it as a little joke in exchange of yours." she said, this time with a different, more sincere tone. It was way different than her usual, more sad and apologetic.

"I wanted to check your room out, and when I saw that awesome bed I thought we could sleep together or something. That's where the idea came from, I just didn't notice you left the room."

Rarity didn't know what to say at first, but a few moments later she replied with the simple sentence of "That's okay."

"Mind you, I'm going to take a quick bath too, okay? Then we do whatever you please." Agate replied... completely turned out from her usual self, as some strange power or a different entity would have posessed her.

"Okay, sure, go ahead." answered Rarity, still in complete shock in what happened. Maybe Agate is a little mischievous, but not evil and respects others. If only a little, but Rarity was sort of relieved by this. Maybe it didn't seem that impossible to make a lady out of this mare after all.