Daring Do was talking to her friend Ponetta Stone about their latest awesome adventure when suddenly Scarcity burst through the door.
“Girls, I have found simply the most marvelous diamond for my latest line of jewelry!” Scarcity’s eyes got wider and she droned on about lame things like earrings and bracelets. Ponetta looked slightly annoyed at having been interrupted on instructing Daring on proper use of a rope, (meaning NOT awesomely swinging across a pit), but Daring was glad to be able to start another adventure.
Interrupting Scarcity’s monologue, Dash Daring asked, “So where is this giant diamond?”
Looking kind of offended, like high-society ponies usually do when you interrupt them, Scarcity lectured Daring on the rudeness of interrupting. Then she said, “We’re looking for the Dragon’s Eye diamond, which is in the mountains conveniently located just outside town.”
Ponetta looked up from the paperwork she had been doing. “The Dragon’s Eye diamond?” she asked. “Isn’t that the one the size of a full-grown dragon’s eye?”
Twilight stopped reading. “Aren’t you going to put even a little bit more effort into naming the priceless artifacts that Daring is collecting?”
Dash thought for a moment. “Nope!” she declared cheerfully. “It doesn’t matter what she’s collecting, just as long as the way she gets it is awesome!”
Sighing, Twilight pointed back to the manuscript. “But there is nothing else written about the events leading up to reaching the mountains. You literally wrote ‘Blah, blah, boring stuff’ to fill in the time gap!”
Dash slumped in the space she was sitting. “That part is boring, though! Everyone knows that the actual temple part is the best part of any Daring Do story.”
Twilight glanced back at the manuscript. “Well, at least the temple part makes more sense. I like how you made it into a temple for worshipping the giant diamond, until people realized that diamonds don’t actually possess god-like powers. And as for the holes in the temple’s rotting floor, did you include that to show how the temple decayed without regular upkeep over the centuries?”
“Yeah, of course!” Dash lied. Actually, having to jump over pitfalls in the temple’s floor just sounded like a good trap for Daring and friends to overcome. She would have included lava underneath, but then she realized that made no sense.
Smiling, Twilight flipped to the next page. It was blank. Her smile faded as she said, “Um, Dash? I don’t think this is a long enough story. There’s no epilogue or anything. It’s just exposition, ‘blah, blah, boring’,” she shot Dash a look, “and then they go through the temple. There isn’t even a proper ending. You could have included something about Scarcity’s jewelry, like it being a present to her special somepony.”
“Bleh,” Dash said, making a face. She wasn’t really one for romance storylines. It was so clichéd.
“Oh, come on Dash, almost every fan fiction has shipping in it. You could even be a bit…risqué if you want,” she added with a blush.
“Okay, so more story, and more romance. Got it,” Dash said, grabbing a quill and ink. She hastily scribbled, After retrieving the diamond, Scarcity was so excited that she kissed Butterscotch. While everyone was distracted, a dragon, who was entranced by the diamond’s size, snatched the gem for himself, flying off to a cave that was two days of walking from where they stood. Looking up at Twilight, she asked, “Is that good?” Twilight nodded. She got up and said, “I’ll add more later. See ya, Twi.”
“Wait! Before you go, I want to show you a new spell I’ve been working on. It allows normal paper to make whatever’s written on it into reality!” Her excited face turned into a frown as she looked at the pile of papers on her desk. “I had the ones I already cast a spell upon in a separate pile a few days ago. Actually I wanted to show you it when you were here last time, but your graceless entrance mixed up the piles.”
“Heh. Sorry, Twi.” Dash sheepishly grinned, running a hoof through her mane as she apologized.
“It’s okay, Dash. Just let me know if you see those magic papers. I’m concerned that they may have fallen out the window. That could be a major problem if they fall into the wrong hooves.”
“Okay, Twi,” Dash said, opening the library’s door. As she took her first step through the doorway, she nearly collided with Rarity.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have some marvelous news! Spike and I have just found a large gem!”
“That’s wonderful, Rarity! Where is it?” Twilight asked.
Rarity shifted her hooves. “Er, well, that’s the problem, you see. I need help finding it. I know it’s in a rock field on the outskirts of town. I need help finding it.”
“That’s okay,” Dash said, still standing near the door. “I’ll get the rest of the girls. We’ll find the giant gem, and it’ll be awesome!”
“Yes,” Rarity agreed, not noticing Dash had already flown off. “It will be quite wonderful! I could make an entire line of dresses with a diamond motif. Perhaps I could add a few accessories, like hats, or scarves. Oh, could you imagine?” She continued to rant and rave. Twilight nodded politely, but her mind was still focused on worrying about her missing paper.
A short while later, Dash returned, with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack in tow. Together, the six headed north, to the rock field.
“It must be here somewhere!” Rarity was beginning to despair after the gem had not shown itself after a half-hour of searching.
“I don’t get it either, Rarity,” Twilight said, her horn glowing with the same gem-finding spell. “The only possible source of the feedback is Tom.”
The large boulder sat in the middle of the field. After Discord was defeated, Rarity had taken Tom to this field, far from her everyday life. After she had exhausted all of her usual sources of gems, Rarity had decided this particular morning to reluctantly return to the field where she had placed the boulder.
That’s impossible! Tom being a diamond was merely an imagining, a flight of fancy, a reverie…”
“Yes, we get it,” an irritated Dash said. “It wasn’t real.”
“Or was it?” Twilight mused. Spike put his head up against the rock, tapping it with his balled-up paw to check. He shrugged. The rock was too thick to tell. “We never tried to break Tom apart, after all.” She turned to Rarity. “You don’t mind if we give that a try, do you?”
Rarity looked at the boulder. “Goodness, no! That thing besmirches my very reputation as the reminder of my temporary insanity.” She sniffed disdainfully. “I shall be glad to see it go.”
With that, Twilight began using her magic to find some exploitable crack in the rock to split it open from. She found one that was a little over a hoof in length and somewhat deep.
“Get back, everypony. I’m going to try to split this with magic, and it might send pieces everywhere.” She turned to Rarity. “Could you ready a protective barrier?”
Applejack stepped forward. “Now I’m not one to toot my own horn here, Twilight, but that there’s a good-sized crack. I reckon I could split this boulder in half with three kicks.”
“Applejack,” Twilight reasoned. “Don’t you think that might do more harm to you than to the boulder?”
“Yes, Applejack,” Fluttershy added. “That’s a hard boulder. We don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Psh, AJ’s got this! She can kick trees right out of the ground. I don’t think any big mean rock could stand in her way!” countered Pinkie Pie.
Twilight sighed and reluctantly let Applejack approach the rock. AJ was stubborn enough on her own, but Pinkie Pie’s encouragement would likely temper her persistence. She readied a bone-repair spell just in case.
Applejack lifted one of her back legs and kicked. One. The rock gave a small crack, but only a few hairline fissures spread from the weak point.
“Wow.” Dash deadpanned. Applejack shot her rival a glare, then lifted her leg again.
She gave the rock another kick, annoyance giving her a small boost. Two. The hairline ran all the way down one side of the boulder, and the crack widened into a hole.
The others stood gaping in awe, except for Pinkie Pie. “Go AJ! Show that mean boulder who’s boss!”
Applejack smirked. She gave the rock one more kick. Three. The hairline fracture split all the way across the boulder, and the hole widened. The rock, however, was still in one piece. Spike frowned and walked up to the boulder. He gave it a cautious tap where Applejack had kicked it, and the rock began to pull apart along the fissure. A normal rock wouldn’t have split open, but this rock was heavy enough to where gravity and momentum fully separated the halves, revealing a diamond the size of a filly.
The six all cheered, while Spike stood, looking transfixed at the diamond. He felt kind of…funny.
“Way to go AJ!”
“Oh, yes, good job Applejack!”
“That was awesome!”
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” Rarity squealed as she grabbed Applejack in a hug. She kissed her on the cheek. Both of them blushed, and Rarity backed away, embarrassed.
“Ahem. Well. Perhaps I got…er, carried away there.”
Applejack straightened her hat. “Yep. I reckon just a hug would do fine next time.”
Spike grew a bit taller as he looked at the diamond. “Must…have…” he said, grabbing the oversized gem. It would make for an excellent present for Rarity. But first, he had to make sure it got ‘lost.’ The greed-grown dragon scampered off.
“This calls for a party!” Pinkie Pie yelled. Everypony agreed.
“Let’s go, Spike,” Twilight called as the group headed back. “Spike?” He was nowhere to be found. She ran back to the group. “Girls, Spike’s missing!”