//------------------------------//
// Surprises 
// Story: The first reader pony 
// by Booker Longlegs 
//------------------------------//

	Rarity sighed. It had been a slow day in her jewel hunt. She needed more amethysts for Sapphire Shores’ latest design, and while she hadn’t expected to find exactly what she was looking for, she should have found something by now. “At this point, I’d take anything,” she muttered, “At least then, I could improvise!” She kept at it, but she just wasn’t having any luck. Right before giving up, though, she sensed a large cold spot under her. “At last!” she exclaimed, “Oh, and what luck! I seem to have found a large deposit!” Digging down, careful not to get dirt on her, she began hoping for amethysts. Don’t expect too much, now, Rarity, she chided herself, It was lucky enough to even find this. At last, she hit the deposit. Grinning like a maniac, she began to clean it out. She stopped after a few seconds, however, as she saw exactly what she’d found. She pursed her lips, and said, “This could be a problem.”



The bell above the door rang. Rarity blew her mane out of eyes, grudgingly stopping her work to deal with this customer, probably one of the regulars. “Welcome to Carousal Boutique,” she began, but pulled up short when she saw who it was. “Why, Booker! I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Booker raised an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”
“W-well,” Rarity stammered, “You don’t seem like the type of pony who appreciates the finer points of fashion.”
Booker smirked. “And you’re right, yet here I am.”
“Yes. So, what can I do for you?” Rarity asked.
“I’m not here for me,” Booker said. Glaring behind him, he said, “Come out, you.” A young, pink unicorn came into view from behind him. “This is my sister,” Booker said in response to Rarity’s puzzled look.
“What’s your name?” Rarity asked the pink unicorn.
Booker’s sister stiffened. “Call me whatever you want,” she muttered.
“Well, I want to call you by your name, darling.” Rarity said, perplexed.
Booker’s sister just set her jaw, and shook her head. Booker jumped in, saying, “Her name is Pink Rain.”
“Booker!” Pink cried, a look of betrayal on her face. Booker silenced her with a glare.
“Need I remind you why we’re here?” Pink hung her head. Rarity cleared her throat.
“Well, I certainly need a reminder,” she said, “Why are you here?”
“Pink needs a new dress,” Booker said, “Apparently, it’s an absolutely brilliant idea to mix paints while wearing formal clothing”
“How long are you going to hold this over me?” Pink said in an undertone.
“I don’t know,” Addressing Rarity, Booker asked, “How much does a formal dress cost?”
“Anywhere between three hundred to six hundred bits” Rarity recited.
“There’s your answer; until I think you’ve received three hundred to six hundred bits worth of suffering,” Booker said to Pink. Softening his tone a bit, he said, “Now, go pick out a new dress.”
As Pink slipped away, Rarity asked, “Would you mind terribly if I left you to it? I’m having something of a problem in the back.”
Booker frowned. “What sort of problem?”
“Oh, just something that takes quite some time,” Rarity said vaguely.
“Well, I’d be happy to help if I can.” Booker said.
Rarity was about to say no, but she hesitated when she saw his eyes. They were dull and flat, as if her accepting his offer was about as likely as aliens invading the store. Rarity felt a stab of pity; here was somepony who’d probably never been asked for anything more than the time of day. She was torn, but after a second’s deliberating she decided there wasn’t anything he could do to make it worse. “Alright,” Rarity said.
Booker looked at her in disbelief. “Really?”
Rarity nodded firmly. “Really.” Turning, she led Booker to her workroom, where her problem was clearly visible.
Booker whistled softly. “That is a very large diamond.” Sitting on a hastily cleared table was a diamond as big as a head.
“Yes. I found it the other day when I was looking for gems for my latest design,” Rarity said, “This was all I could get.”
Booker slowly nodded. “I see the problem. You can’t exactly work on a gem of this size.”
Rarity looked at him, impressed. “That’s right. Now, I’ve been trying to get it down to a more manageable size, but diamond is very difficult to work with.”
Again, Booker nodded. “Diamond is the hardest substance in Equestria.”
Glumly, Rarity agreed. “Indeed. So, do you think you can help with this?” She was expecting an immediate no, so she was surprised when he kept staring thoughtfully at the diamond.
“I’ve got an idea that might work,” Booker said after a time, “Do you have anything to measure angles and distances?” Numbly, Rarity levitated the instruments to him. He grabbed them, and began taking measurements of the diamond.
“What are you doing?” Rarity asked curiously.
Without stopping, Booker replied, “Have you ever wondered why gemstones chip?”
Rarity was nonplussed. “Not…really. What does that have to do with the price of butter?”
“I’m getting there,” Booker said, still measuring, “Now, the reason gemstones chip is because they have a crystalline molecular structure. In other words, the pieces making it up are clumped together evenly. This means that there are lines crisscrossing the gem where there aren’t as many pieces. They’re known as cleavage planes, and if you hit it hard enough in the right place, the gem will split right along the plane.” Booker stopped measuring, placing his hoof on one particular place. He grabbed a marker. “If I did my math right, and I always do my math right,” he added with a grin, “there should be one such place right here.” He drew a mark on the diamond.
Rarity looked a bit skeptical. “Darling, I hate to be rude, but this all seems a bit far-fetched.”
Booker shrugged. “One way to find out.” He picked up a hammer, lined up alongside other gem working tools, and then he swung as hard as he could at the mark he’d drawn. There was a loud CRACK and a chunk of the diamond chipped off. Rarity was rendered speechless. Booker gave a wide smile. “Perfect. The way this diamond is shaped, it has radial symmetry. So,” he brought out the measuring tape again, “there should be more cleavage planes here, here, and here.” He marked three points, forming a circle. With three more CRACKs, three more pieces fell off. Collecting them, Booker held them out to Rarity, tipping an invisible hat. “Here you are, four diamonds ready to be re-purposed.”
Rarity finally found her voice. “T-thank you, darling. You may well have saved my career.”
“What do you mean by that?” Booker asked.
“Well,” Rarity said, “let’s just say this particular client has a large amount of influence. If I ever mess up for her, I’m ruined. Now, is there any way I can thank you?”
Booker grinned. “Well, I can think of one way.” He nodded back to the front of the store, and Rarity remembered that his sister was out there.
Rarity smiled. “I see what you’re getting at.” Rarity led the way back to the front. Pink was sitting there, holding one of the less expensive (but still fabulous) dresses. “That won’t do at all.” Rarity said, taking the dress back and replacing it with one of her finer designs. Pink’s eyes bulged at the price.
“I-I don’t think we can afford this.” Pink said.
“Pish-posh,” Rarity said, “This is a gift.”
“A gift?” Pink said, puzzled, “I don’t think something like this can be considered a gift.”
“Well, your brother did me a great service,” Rarity proclaimed, “He saved me hours of hard work, and may well have saved my career. This is the least I could do.” Still a bit confused, Pink looked at Booker, who’d been standing quietly to one side.
“What did you do?” Pink asked him.
“A bit of obscure science,” Booker said, “Hey, since the dress was free, guess what? Your punishment’s over!”
Pink let out a little cheer, and the two of them left the shop. Rarity looked after them for a moment before turning back to her workroom. She still had to implement the diamonds into her design, after all.