Harmony Gems

by Nova Arc

Berries and Battles

Author's Note:

Took longer than expected, but it's finally been updated! Sorry. Been working on some other fics and got sidetracked for a bit. Hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am. Anywho, enjoy!

“Woohoo!” Dawn ran through the bushy path with the Gems walking slowly behind him. As far as he could remember, they had told him that this was the site of one of the greatest battles fought between Homeworld and the Crystal Gems. More importantly, it was a battle that was lead by none other than the legendary Rose Quartz!

“Dawn?” Pyrite called out. “Any particular reason we didn't just take the strawberries in the bushes closer to the warp pad?”

“Yeah,” Tourmaline agreed. “Did you have some special one in mind hidden somewhere?”

“You'll see,” Dawn said cryptically. They followed a bit longer, but suddenly, Dawn stopped in front of a bush. “I present to you…” He pulled back the bush, revealing his prize. “... The Mega Strawberry!” The juicy, bright red fruit was massive, at least 11 feet tall and 5 feet wide. It was sitting in what appeared to be a small crater created by its own weight!

“Whoa,” Tourmaline gawked.

“That is a very large fruit,” said Obsidian.

“Yup,” Dawn said, hugging the strawberry. “And I love it!”

“When did you find this?”

“Oh, remember when we came here a few weeks ago to check on the pyramid temple thingie? Well, I got bored staying outside, walked around, and just found it sitting here. Although,” he moved back and looked at the fruit again. “It's much bigger than last time.”

Pyrite walked up the the giant fruit. “Alrighty then.” She planted both hands under the fruit and lifted it, obviously struggling a bit, but managed to hoist it over her head.

“Wait, how is the warp pad going to teleport that?” asked Obsidian.

“I'm pretty sure it's not that wide,” said Pyrite. “Okay, let's head back.” Making their way back to the warp pap, Dawn occasionally stopped to pick up some slightly smaller, but still larger than normal, strawberries from the bushes. By the time they reached the warp pad, his bag wouldn't close and seemed fit to rip at any moment.

Once they warped back into the temple, Dawn wasted no time dropping his backpack on the counter and running outside. As Pyrite followed, she soon realized the problem and put down the strawberry; the door was too small. “We really didn't think this one through, huh?”

“Nope,” Tourmaline said.

“What now? We can't wash this thing in here!”

“Why not?” Tourmaline asked. He went outside for a moment, then returned holding Dawn, who in turn was holding the hose.

“Tourmaline, I don't think-” Pyrite didn't get a chance to finish before getting hit by the splash of the water hitting the strawberry.

Obsidian backed away towards the temple door and opened it. “I'm not involved.”

---

Twilight had gone through nearly all the books in her castle’s library, but could find anything in the books about a race of “sentient Gems” anywhere in history. She had read everything from the Crystal Empire to Griffinstone history, but got no closer to the answers to the many questions bouncing around in her head.

“Relax, Twilight,” said Spike. “I'm sure they don't mean any harm.”

“Spike, we've only know about them for a week and we've already had a golem, a nightmare-creating, life force-consuming mist, and a smoke monster that was trying to teleport to who-knows-where in Equestria!”

“Well it's not as if Equestria is completely empty of any kind of threat. I mean, we've faced Nightmare Moon, Discord, Changelings, King Sombra, Tirek; it's not like their the cause for all the dangerous people we've met.”

“Maybe. But they're still tied to the unknown threats we've faced, again, in only a week!”

“Wasn't it just over a week between the Changeling attack and Sombra’s return?”

“Two and a half. And that's not the point!” Twilight placed the book she was holding back onto the shelf. “They're too secretive. They're hiding something.”

“What are they supposed to say? ‘Oh hi. We're aliens from outer space. Can we live here with you even though we're fighting things that would probably give you nightmares?’”

Twilight thought for a moment. “Well, when you put it that way… But the least they could do is give us a heads up on what living with them comes with.”

“And would you still let them live right next door?”

As Twilight thought about that, she heard the door open. “Ya in here, Sugarcube?” called a familiar voice.

“I'll be right there, Applejack,” Twilight said, making her way to the throne room. “What's up?” she asked once she saw her friend.

“Well, it's about these... Gems,” Applejack started.

“Don't worry, AJ. I'm working on getting some answers.”

“Well, have ya tried askin’ Princess Celestia?”

“Not yet. What's this about?”

“Well, Twi, Ah don't mean ta tell ya how ta do yer job, but ain't you goin’ about this the wrong way?”

“How so?”

“Well, yer the Princess of Friendship, right?”

“Right…” Twilight wasn't quite sure where this was going.

“So shouldn't your priority be tryin’ to become friends with ‘em?”

Twilight though for a while. She was surprised to hear Applejack say this, but she also knew she was right. “Well, if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. They don't talk to anyone, they apparently don't want anyone in their business…”

“But they seem ta care when someone is in danger. Ah mean, those two we met in the the forest didn't need ta help us. They could've gone off on their own and left us in there. And, no offense Sugarcube, but ya did kinda bring two possibly dangerous items into the castle.”

“For research,” Twilight said, defensively. Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I should've told them we found the stones close to the town. But do you have any suggestions on befriending a group of aliens who obviously want nothing to do with us?”

“Maybe. Gimme a while to work out the details.”

“I guess I'll try thinking of something too,” Twilight sighed.

“That's the spirit!”

---

“SPLAT!” Tourmaline yelled that anytime he smashed a chunk of strawberry with his hammer. Obsidian had successful slashed the strawberry into more manageable slices, but they were still pretty big and wouldn't fit into the blender. So, instead, they covered the entire room with plastic wrap and Tourmaline went to work. “Okay. That's it for this quarter.” He shook the smashed strawberry off himself and stepped out of the kitchen. Pyrite grabbed one corner and walked around, grabbing each off the other corners until she held them all and tied them up into a bag.

“Three down, one to go,” she said. She dropped the bag by the counter, next to the other two bags of squashed fruit. Sitting at the counter was Dawn, who was organizing bowls for his soon-to-be masterpieces.

“Now, we need ice cream,” he said as he walked over to the fridge. He gawked in surprise. “NO ICE CREAM?!” He looked around the fridge. Then he froze. “Tourmaline? Did you eat all the ice cream again?”

“What? No! Yeesh, why am I always the first one called when something goes missing or runs out here?” All the while he spoke, he had a tub of chocolate ice cream in one hand, a spoon in the other. Dawn stared in disbelief. Tourmaline looked down at his hand. “Um… This was here when I got here…” Dawn still stared. “This is my personal ice cream I bought.” Staring continues. “Okay this isn't ice cream… It's frozen milk…” More staring. “Fine! It's frozen yogurt!” Staring intensifies. “Look, I have this medical condition-” Before he could go on, Pyrite bonked him on the head with her fist. “Ow! Okay! I'm sorry! But it's been in there for the past three days and no one was eating it! How was I supposed to know that we were still gonna use it?!”

Pyrite groaned. “Tour, I told you yesterday that we were making ice cream sundaes with Dawn today.”

“... I thought we were using a different ice cream,” he said innocently.

“Ugh.”

“Hey, don't worry about it,” said Dawn. “I can run into town and get some.”

“You sure? Because I'm sure I could get Tour to give up the rest,” Pyrite said, punching her hand. Tourmaline looked at her with fear.

“Nah. It's okay,” he said, as he picked up his bag and skateboard and walked out.

Pyrite looked back at Tourmaline, who was scooping more ice cream into his mouth, with a sinister smile. Tourmaline stopped when he noticed. “Hey, wait, what are you-”

“He said, ‘It's okay,’ meaning I just don't have to. He didn't say I shouldn't.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Mhm.” Knuckles crack.

---

Lucky for Dawn, he didn't need a push start. The temple was built on a hill, so the slope did most of the work. He arrived in Ponyville in just over five minutes and headed straight for the one place he was sure would have ice cream.

He opened the door and stepped in. Once the bell rang, a voice came from the kitchen saying, “Ooooh! Customers!” From the kitchen burst a fairly tall girl of about 16 or so wearing a blue tank top, pink shorts, and pink boots. Her hair was pink and resembled cotton candy and her eyes were a bright cerulean. She gasped on seeing the boy. “Dawn?!”

“Hi, Pinkie.”

The girl ran over and caught him in her famous bear hugs. “It's good to see you again!”

“You… too…” Dawn gasped as he struggled for air. Once she let him go, he gasped for air as his deprived lungs screamed out to him.

“So, what can I do ya for?”

“Well, I need ice scream for an ice cream sundae and-”

“Say no more!” In a blur, Pinkie zipped into the kitchen. There was a crash, followed by the sound of breaking plates, falling shelves, running water, a moo, a cluck, a meow, and the ping of a oven that just finished baking a cake. Pinkie walked out holding what appeared to be two large buckets. “Lucky day! Applejack just dropped off this week's milk supply this morning!”

“Cool. Thanks!” Dawn took the buckets and waved goodbye as he left.

---

In an unknown location, somewhere in the Everfree Forest, a familiar mist was floating through what appeared to be a lab. “Ugh. Of all the times to be stuck on this miserable rock!” Nox paused. She looked at a holographic monitor on the wall. There was a timer on it.

4:06:42:23...22...21...

“Grrrr! I can't wait that long! They'll be looking for me!” She looked around the lab, using the console to access capsules from the ground. The capsules held weapons, gadgets, golems and… “Oh?” Nox stopped at one capsule which held a shiny reddish-brown gem with a gold line down the middle and grinned. “Hello.”

---

“I'm back! Huh?” Dawn entered the house and was greeted by the sight of Pyrite sitting on Tourmaline eating the tub of ice cream.

Pyrite stopped with the spoon still in her mouth. “Oh… Dawn,” she said swallowing the last spoonful. “Did you get the ice cream?”

“Mhm.” He dropped the buckets in the fridge and was about to go up to his room when a rumble nearly caused him to fall off the stairs. “Whoa! W-What was that?!”

“Maybe an earthquake?” Tourmaline suggested, stretching after Pyrite got off of him.

“Not likely,” Pyrite said.

At that moment, Obsidian warped into the temple. “We've got a problem.”

“Oh gee, ya think?”

Another rumble followed and Pyrite and Tourmaline ran over to the warp pad. Dawn ran after them. “Hey,” he cried, “Wait for me!” He jumped onto the pad just as they warped out.

---

“What in tarnation?!” Applejack looked around for the source of the rumbling. She looked up and saw Twilight and Rainbow Dash flying over to her. “What was that?”

“I don't know,” said Twilight. “But it's coming from the Everfree Forest.”

“Ten Bits says it's those ‘Gems’ again,” said Rainbow Dash.

Applejack sighed. “Ah don't wanna jump ta conclusions but… I'm with Dash on this one.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Twilight said, before they headed for the source of the rumbling.

---

The Gems warped into the Everfree, swords, hammer, and gauntlets at the ready. “Stay sharp, Gems,” Pyrite said, scouting the area for signs of the disturbance.

“Whatever it is, it must be big” said Tourmaline.

“Look.” Obsidian pointed to a set of paw prints… Large paw prints.

“Whoa!” Dawn hopped off the warp pad and ran over to one of the prints. “It's almost as big as my bag!” He laid his shoulder bag over the print; it was a little over half the size of the creature's paw! “Is it another Gem monster?”

“Possibly,” said Pyrite. “It's close.” They looked around, covering all their angles. Suddenly, from out of the bushes burst a fairly large creature. It had a lion’s head and body with a goat head and back legs, and a snake for a tail.

“Chimera!” Obsidian said as he got into a fighting stance. But the chimera did not try to fight. In fact, it ran away, whining in fear. Even Obsidian was confused. “Um… What?”

“That was amazing,” Dawn said, looking star struck at Obsidian.

“As much as I'd like to take the credit for that, I don't think it was afraid of me.” They all hear a growling sound coming from the shrubs the chimera ran into. The Gems raised their weapons, preparing to face whatever jumped at them. Sadly, they weren't prepared enough as Pyrite was tackled by a massive dark orange blur. The Gems looked behind them and saw Pyrite underneath what looked like a… giant tiger. It was at least 8 feet tall with six legs: four in front, two at the back. It had thick red and black stripes and a long tail with a large, black spiked ball on the end. Pyrite was holding its head, trying to keep it from chomping on her head.

“Hey!” Pyrite yelled from under the tiger. “Feel free… To get in on this… Any... Time!”

“Nah,” Tourmaline said, leaning on his hammer. “You got this.”

“TOUR!”

“Alright, alright. Hang on.” Tourmaline strolled over to the monster and, with one mighty swing, knocked it off Pyrite and through several feet of forest. “What was that?”

“I'll give you two guesses,” Pyrite said, dusting herself off.

“Was it… Tiger Eye?” Dawn joked.

“Hehe. Nice,” said Tourmaline, fist-bumping Dawn.

“Actually, yes,” said Pyrite. Tourmaline and Dawn froze. “Yeah, metaphors are a common occurrence with corrupt Gems.” They suddenly heard a roar and the monster came running back. Now they could see the monstrous fangs and the gemstone that took a spot in the middle of its head… but there were no eyes.

“Can it… see us?” Dawn asked, waving his hand. His question was answered when the creature turned to face him.

“Yep,” Pyrite said as she cracked her knuckles and summoned her gauntlets. The Tiger Eye pounced at Pyrite, but was knocked back by a spray of magma from Obsidian. As the magma hardened, Pyrite threw Tourmaline into the air. He came down, swinging, but missed when Tiger broke free and jumped up to meet him in midair. But Tourmaline managed to get in a swing and sent the monster flying off.

“Yeesh. Only knew it for thirty seconds and it was already annoying,” Tourmaline said. When he landed, he was greeted by the shocked eyes of Pyrite and Obsidian. “What?”

“Did you just knock the Gem away from the area?” asked Pyrite.

“Mhm.”

“In that direction?” Obsidian asked, pointing with one hand and burying his face in the other.

“I think so. Why? Is there a… Oh…”

“Tour,” Pyrite said, “ya dun goofed! Wait… Where's Dawn?”

---

Dawn ran as fast as he could through the forest. Soon, Sweet Apple Acres came into view. There, he saw Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo carrying baskets of apples to the barn. “Guys!”

The girls looked up to see him. “Um, Dawn, not to get technical, but we're girls,” said Sweetie Belle.

“No time for that! We have to go!”

“What? Why?” asked Applebloom.

“Because… Um… There's…” Dawn wasn't sure what to say. On the one hand, he didn't want to lie to his new friends. On the other, he promised the Gems he'd keep them a secret. On the third hand, it was too late anyway. There was an earthshaking roar that nearly knocked the girls off their feet.

“What was that?!” Applebloom’s question was answered by the appearance of the Tiger Eye running towards the farm. “What is that?!”

“Get down!” Dawn pushed Applebloom out of the way just in time as the tiger pounced on them. “We have to go!” He looked back and saw the monster regain its footing and prepare to lunge.

“Wait, it doesn't even have eyes,” said Scootaloo. “Can it even see us?”

“YES IT CAN!!!” Dawn pushed them behind a stack of barrels.

“Okay, Dawn, what is going on here?” demanded Sweetie Belle.

“Um… Well…” A monstrous roar knocked the barrels away and revealed their location. The four kids turned to see the monster staring at them… kind of. “Okay. Look, maybe I haven't been… Completely honest…”

“Apparently,” said Sweetie Belle. As the Tiger charged at them, Dawn stepped up in front of the girls. “What are you doing?!”

Dawn took a deep breath. The corrupt Gem was approaching at tremendous speed and soon was right on top of them. The CMC put up the arms, hoping it would somehow reduce the impact. But the hit never came. After waiting almost five seconds, Applebloom opened her eyes. She saw Dawn with his arms out to his sides… Then she saw the big, pink bubble shield that was protecting them from the monster clawing at it. Dawn clapped his hands and the bubble popped, blowing the monster and a lot of grass back. The monster, dazed, and apparently rendered partially deaf by the loud sound shook and knocked its head against the ground, roaring in, what one would guess was, frustration. If it had eyes, it would be glaring at the children in front of it with enough rage to cause them to spontaneously combust! Another sonic roar rocketed towards them, but Dawn simply held up his hands. The ripples of the sonic attack seemed to just… hang in front of them, then fade.

The corrupt Gem made another charge, this time zigzagging its way towards its prey. Again, it didn't meet its mark, as it was interrupted by Tourmaline’s hammer slamming it into the ground. Pyrite seemingly teleported right in front of the downed creature and delivered a jaw-breaking uppercut, strengthened by the jets on the gauntlet. While in midair, a black and orange streak cut through the the sky, and the corrupt Gem. As Obsidian landed gracefully on the ground, the beast in the sky exploded with a loud *pop* and a cloud of thick white smoke. He held out his hand and caught the gemstone in an ash gray bubble.

“OH MY GOODNESS! DAWN!!!” Pyrite ran and grabbed Dawn in a bear hug, checking to see if he was okay.

“I'm fine, Pyrite,” he said.

“Dawn… Did you…”

Dawn nodded before she could finish. “It was amazing,” he said, his voice more excited now. “The monster attacked, and I put up a force field, then it attacked again, and I stopped it in midair, and then-”

“Whoa, whoa! Slow down! I'm just glad you're okay!”

“Yeah,” Tourmaline said, ruffling Dawn’s hair. “You gave us quite a scare there when you just vanished.”

“Never run off like that again,” Obsidian added after transporting the gemstone to the temple. “Or you're grounded for a century!”

Dawn laughed. The he turned and saw three astonished/amazed/possibly terrified faces.

“What…”

“The heck…”

“Just happened?”

Dawn looked to the Gems, who in turned looked at each other.

“That's what we'd like to know,” Twilight said as she, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash arrived.

Applejack took it the hardest, seeing the farm messed up, the crates of packed apples smashed, and a huge hole blown through the barn wall. “And y’all better have a darn good explanation.”

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Will Jasper (or at least someone like her) be appearing in this story?

[Nova Arc]

6736556 Perhaps. But you may have already seen someone similar.

[EquestrianKirin]

I'm liking where this is going :D