1x1 w/Athens

[Seall]

Rarity, unsurprisingly, has been working tremendously hard on her latest — and certainly most fabulous — fashion project. However, a travesty has occurred! Just as Rarity was going to finish up the final touches on her outfits, she noticed that she had run out of some of her most prized possessions — gems. These gems were as important to her as those imprinted on her flank. Luckily, Applejack and Pylon are here to save the day!

(This is just setting the current scene; we can definitely do more scenes later on! And, feel free to add characters!)

My starter:

Pylon sat alone in their room. This was the case most of the time; after being out and about all day, they often enjoyed unwinding by themself. Nothing usually interrupted this routine; it’s not like they had many friends, and their older sister, Rainy, always spent time either dashing through the skies or hanging out with her crush. Resting their head upon their hooves, they flicked the electronic page of their tablet with one wing and turned to their laptop to make notes.

Click, clack…

The repetitive noise was therapeutic. It was the perfect background sound for being in their own headspace.

(I was thinking: what if Rarity asked Rainy to help when she was flying over, but then Rainy sent Pylon to help instead? I’m just trying to think of a way to get Pylon out of the house and to help Rarity).

[Athens]

Knock, Knock, Knock

Rarity checked her watch before realizing she wore no such implement. Then, she checked the sky. It was still had that morning peachy teal, which should have been a reassurance for the pony, but morning felt so close to dusk that day! Not only did she severely underestimate the number of emeralds she needed, but she also put off procuring any smoky quartz until that day. She huffed and threw her head up in thought. Decisions were made and I cannot change any of that! All I can do is search diligently and swiftly and hope I don't fall behind schedule. Plus, with Pylon helping to share the load, this should be an even easier task for the white mare. She might've gone to other ponies first when it came to such a task, but they were the only pony she knew who would be home with 100% accuracy and she had no time to track down better candidates around town.

[Seall]

Applejack pulled a heavy load of apples behind her. Thankfully, the wheels on the cart took the edge off the chore. Usually, she wouldn't mind running errands for her family at Sweet Apple Acres. However, this time, Big Mac was just being lazy. A sigh escaped from her as she continued to carry the fruit back to the farm, her eyes fixed on the path ahead of her.

In the distance, she noticed a familiar-looking pony. A purple extravagant mane, white coat and a pointy horn to tie it all together. 'That's Rarity, alright.' Applejack thought to herself. Edging closer to the unicorn, she greeted her with her southern country accent, "Why, howdy Rarity! What are you doing looking as lost as a flock of sheep in a pigs' pen?"

[Athens]

Rarity snorted at the lack of reply. She knew Pylon was in there and she knew her knocks were firm enough to be heard. She decided that landing another round of knocks would be the best course of action, but before she could even raise her hoof to do so, she heard,

"Why, howdy Rarity! What are you doing looking as lost as a flock of sheep in a pigs' pen?"

"Oh, Applejack!" she said, smoothing her mane with her hoof instead. "I was just about to solicit Pylon for some help carrying gemstones," she explained, injecting with her own sigh before continuing with, "but it appears they might be ignoring me, hmph."

"And to think I picked out a saddle bag that matched their mane and everything." she whined, her horn glowing as she removed the blue saddlebag in question from her own pink saddlebag. She didn't expect Applejack to be very impressed with the bag's construction, but, she supposed, showing this to her would be Rarity's way of mildly venting about the situation.

[Seall]

With one ear to their door, Pylon sighed as they heard Rarity’s saddened and disappointed voice. They couldn’t stand to let other ponies down. Slowly, the pegasus opened the door and tried their best to put on a warm smile. ‘I hope this is convincing?’ they thought.

Applejack frowned as one of her closest friends expressed her dismay. “Well, if it’s any consolation, I can help!” She glanced back at her cart of apples, “I can quickly run this back to the farm and then come help ya with your gems.” As Rarity showed her the bag she made, Applejack was warmed by her friend’s generosity. And then raising her voice for Pylon to hear, she said “Gee, it’s an awful shame that Pylon won’t come-“

Cutting her off mid-sentence, the door creaked open and revealed a smaller, colourful pegasus. Pylon had a smaller build than many others, however it was probably mainly due to them being younger than the Mane Six and their sister.

“Um, hang on.” Pylon said, “I have to- um-“ they ran upstairs and turned all their running gadgets off, and then appeared downstairs again. “Yeah, I can go now. Will I need anything?” They asked quietly.

[Athens]

“I can quickly run this back to the farm and then come help ya with your gems.”

"Oh, I'd love that!" she chirped, finding herself glad that Applejack was able to take time out of her day to help. What she also loved even more was Pylon's presence, both because it confirmed her suspicions correct and because she now had two extra sets of hooves to help her out. For the particular time-sensitive orders she had in mind, she didn't think she needed so much extra horsepower, but they were plenty of projects that floated further in the future in similar need of gems. The prospect of making this one trip so productive energized her enough that she couldn't snap back to reality until she heard,

“Yeah, I can go now. Will I need anything?”

She blinked before getting back to business. "Hm, I don't think so. I have sandwiches, water, and snacks for lunch--" she turned to Applejack, "You may want to bring your own lunch, now that it's crossed my mind--" she turned back to Pylon, "Aside from that," she used her magic to place the saddlebag on Pylon and succinctly cinch the belt, "it should be smooth sailing, darling." And she started to trot towards their destination.

She looked back at Pylon to add, "I hope we aren't out for the entire day, but please let me know if there are any precious stones you would like, in order to make the trip more useful for you." She said while placing a pair of sunglasses on herself. The morning sun, while beautiful, was rather bright for her tastes.

[Seall]

Pylon snapped around as the bag was placed on their back. They had a bag just like it, “Oh, thank you. That’s really kind of you.” They said. Pylon made eye contact with Rarity for a split second before quickly glancing away.

Closing the door behind them, they briefly mentioned that they’re not the strongest pony around. “… but I definitely have the brains. I think.” They knew they were intelligent, but was aware that others might see them as being ‘full of themself’. They pushed up their glasses with one hoof as they spoke.

Applejack nodded, “No worries, Sugarcube.” Glancing at her cart once again, she stated “I have to drop these lil fruits off anyway.” Trotting away, she called behind her, “I’ll meet you two there, alright?” Soon enough, she was just a speck in the distance; she often loved to get places as quickly as possible.

Pylon looked at Rarity expectantly, as they waited for her next orders.

[Athens]

"That's really kind of you."

"Think nothing of it." she said with a warm smile. The fleeting eye contact may have perturbed a younger, somewhat more ignorant version of Rarity, but, after being friends with Fluttershy for so long, she understood that some ponies were naturally mousier than others.

"And worry not about strength, I wasn't planning to procure anything too big, but if such a beauty does catch my eye," she flicked her tail in the direction of her departing friend with a self-satisfied grin, "then we'll have Applejack."

"Let us head to the rocky fields east of town, shall we?"

((Should we timeskip or would you like for them to do some walking and talking first?))

[Seall]

(Timeskip until they’re at the rocky place)

Before joining Rarity, Pylon had done a bit of research about gems the day before. “What gem are you looking for?” They asked the purple and white unicorn, their voice not deep but not high-pitched either. Their eyes darted around the ‘quarry’, hundreds of gems reflecting light from the sun. It sort of looked like they were all inside a huge disco ball.

A few minutes passed before Applejack arrived. Two bags hung on either side of her on top of the wooden latches of the cart she was pulling along. “I certainly hope I’m not late,” glancing around, she added, “but by the looks of it; you two haven’t even started. Let’s change that.”

Trotting over to the other side of the quarry, she placed down her bags and detached the cart. “Now, Rarity, which gem was it that you wanted?”