"Amethyst! how many times do I have to tell you to stop dumping your garbage on the floor?!"
Another typical day over in the Beach House, and Pearl was pretty ticked off to come back home, only to find that Amethyst had just finished her eating. Unfortunately Amethyst had already left, so Pearl's snap was basically aimed at no one. In fact, no one else was in the Beach House except for Pearl. Amethyst left her with plenty of wrappers from snacks she gobbled up. Judging by the remote control for Steven's Gamecube left on his bed, it probably was from a gaming session. Pearl went ahead, and grabbed the bits of trash, some of which had bite marks in them. Pearl was surprised the bags hadn't been completely eaten. It was honestly becoming a bit annoying. As Pearl continued to pick up the garbage, Garnet soon came on inside, only to see Pearl grumbling a little to herself.
"Stressed, Pearl?" Garnet asked.
"You'd think that Amethyst would clean up after herself," Pearl grumbled. Garnet stayed monotone, but she knew same as anybody that Pearl had been a little bit stressed as of late. Pearl continued picking up Amethyst's trash, as Garnet decided to walk on outside, not pushing the point any further. Once she was out on the front porch, Garnet began to think it over a little bit more. How long has it been since Pearl had some time to relax as of late? A combined five minutes, at most? This wasn't exactly a healthy thing, even for a being that doesn't need to sleep. Garnet then got an idea floating in her head, and stepped out onto the beach. She didn't stop until she was sure that Pearl might not notice her, and waited a minute or two.
"Coming in from the rock wall this time, Discord?"
Suddenly, two familiar eyes opened up from the nearby rocky wall. Soon, the Draconequus opened a wooden door, and Discord walked in, closing the door with his tail, as the door disappeared.
"You know, it was more fun when you didn't predict it," Discord said, only having Garnet giggle a little bit.
"Call it a habit. Discord? You wouldn't happen to know anywhere that -"
"Pearl and Jasper can have a fun time? And I assume a place away from here for some unique experience too," Discord replied. Garnet smiled.
"Now look who's predicting," Garnet replied. Jasper had even less time to relax than Pearl, and the fusion figured that it would be a better idea if Jasper had some time to relax too before she could beat down the Temple in stress relief.
Discord couldn't help but laugh, suddenly appearing on Garnet's square Afro, smaller, and laying down on his back like her head was a hammock. Suddenly, Discord had a post card in his Talon, and showed it to Garnet. The picture showed what looked like the funnest place on Earth, or rather in Equestria judging by the number of Pony-related references in the buildings. Garnet only needed a little bit before she got to her conclusion ...
.......
"I told you no!" Jasper groaned. Pearl actually had to agree with Jasper on that. It didn't take very long until Garnet got both Jasper and Pearl outside of the Beach House. Garnet took the liberty of packing their things - it's the basic principal that counts - and Garnet even had her portal key at the ready, ready to get that next portal to open up. The two Gems in question were not up for this sort of thing at all, and being told by Garnet on where they were going didn't help any. Garnet just had to show them the postcard, and Jasper and Pearl both got the idea on where Garnet wanted them to go. However, unlike perhaps the other Gems, Garnet didn't sugarcoat anything, or slip any lies to them.
"Jasper, Pearl, you two had been overworking yourselves lately. Even Gems deserve some time to relax every now and then," Garnet said, arms crossed, but still had a smile on her face.
"I'm a Quartz Gem - they don't take time to relax!" Jasper retorted.
"Well then, Jasper, there's always a first time for everything," Garnet stated.
"But, Las Pegasus, Garnet? Never heard of it, but I don't know," Pearl said, looking at the postcard. She never been to Las Pegasus before, but judging by the postcard and the details, it sounded like nothing short of a teenage spring break party on a city-sized scale.
"Where better than the funnest place in Equestria? Better than Empire City, I bet," Garnet considered. While she might have a point there, the two didn't seem up for it. One didn't felt like a break was needed for her, and one just didn't find the place exactly fit for her. Still, Garnet, in both her minds, come to agree that it would be better for them in the long run. Just some time for them to go off, and it'll be alright for the both of them. If they'll go, that is.
"Then, why do we need these?" Jasper questioned, lifting up a suitcase.
"You'll see," Garnet simply replied. Considering she had the future vision on her, it might have some sort of involvement somewhere down the road. Pearl and Jasper both glanced to eachother, but before they could talk any further, the three suddenly heard a loud whistle from farther away. The three looked, and it turned out to be another Gem. In particular, Flint. Pearl and Jasper wondered if Flint was gonna talk some sense into her, and maybe get out of this somehow. Flint had a gemstone in his hand, not bubbled, but still gathered from another Gem beast mission he was tasked to.
"Here's your Gem, Garnet," Flint stated, giving Garnet the gemstone. Garnet nodded, and bubbled the Gemstone, as Flint noticed the cases by Pearl and Jasper. Flint was a little curious, as Garnet sent the Gemstone off with a tap of the finger.
"What's all this now? Going somewhere?" Flint asked.
"I'm having these two go off for some vacation time in Las Pegasus for a few days," Garnet answered, showing Flint the postcard. Flint looked the place over for a little bit, Pearl and Jasper waiting for Flint to just start going off on Garnet again. He did that with Stevonnie, he went off when he saw Smoky, he went off when Jade left with Steven and Lapis for the Coelacanth, so they were expecting him to just go right off -
"Alright, have fun."
Wait, what? Pearl and Jasper were left kinda quiet, and Garnet felt happy he was flexible enough. Jasper and Pearl glanced to eachother again, before Jasper spoke.
"... You're taking this well," Jasper noted. Flint looked back.
"It's a vacation, what's wrong with that? Let me know how it goes," Flint replied, walking back to the Beach House. Well, so much for that. Garnet went over to the rock wall of the Temple, and got her key working after getting her mind focusing on where the portal was supposed to go. Jasper and Pearl both looked to the portal that opened up, realizing that they don't have any escape goats to get out of this.
"Ready to go?" Garnet asked.
"Well ... maybe it won't be as bad as we think ... right?"
(one scene change later)
"... This isn't as bad as we thought," Jasper sighed. As they stood at the entrance, a number of happy, excited Ponies rushed past them. Pearl and Jasper looked on in discomfort.
"Right. It's worse!"
~~~~~~
So there they were, two Gems in the middle of probably the craziest commercial ever. They hadn't moved ten feet from the entrance, and they already could see a ton of things amongst the place. Of course, since they were in Equestria, they kept seeing a ton of places not out of place in an amusement part, from a pink India castle, to a building that looked like a white and purple Pegasus. A number of rainbows connected the buildings, and one of these looked like some sort of water slide, or roller coaster. Ponies were practically everywhere doing practically everything Las Pegasus had to offer. Jasper and Pearl stood out like a pair of sore thumbs in this crowd. For starters, they towered over many of these ponies, and the fact they weren't even ponies at all contributed to it. Speaking of which, the ponies didn't take very long to notice and recognize two members of the Crystal Gems, and throughout their walk, Jasper and Pearl were kinda stuck with a following posse of curious ponies of all three main races. The idea of being treated like celebrities in such an already vivid place, again, didn't help the two out.
"You wouldn't happen to have the portal key back, would you?" Pearl asked.
"I thought you had it," retorted Jasper.
"If I did, I wouldn't ask you," retorted Pearl back. Well, so much for a quick turn back. Pearl just sighed.
"Let's try to find somewhere to stay at, then," sighed Pearl. Honestly what else can they do? They don't exactly know where Ponyville is from here, and once more, without their own keys for a quick exit, they might as well at least try to get used to this place for a little bit while they were here.
The two Gems had managed to get themselves off the busy streets of Las Pegasus, and find a hotel for them to stay at until they're allowed back home after their "few days". The hotel itself looked pretty nice, albeit a bit fancy at the front desk. As before, Jasper and Pearl stuck out from the ponies inside, but lucky for them they didn't try to follow them like the paparazzi. After a quick talk, and consideration, the two did end up getting their room. The room looked alright overall, and looked pretty basic for one as well, but much of it was smaller than usual, especially to Jasper. such a large Gem in a room made with small ponies in mind just didn't mix well. Pearl wasn't as bad off, but it still showed with her as well, especially concerning the bed. Not that the two needed the beds anyway, since Gems don't need to sleep. Pearl settled her suitcase down on the foot of the bed, as Jasper sat down on the floor nearby, which for her was still taller than the beds.
"Okay. Very rough around here, but we might as well make the best of it," Pearl said, opening up her suitcase to see what was in it. Jasper was simply not up for being in such a place, but she could only groan, watching Pearl unpack. As for what Garnet put inside the suitcase, she packed it as if the two were humans rather than Gems. In Pearl's suitcase were some extra "vacation" clothes, some books for Pearl to read, and a picture of Rose for the side of the bed - something to make Pearl more comfortable. Nothing much there that didn't seem like anything Pearl wouldn't bring along. Jasper, not having anything else to do, opened her own suitcase to see what was what. Jasper pretty much got the same stuff, but no books and instead were some dumbbells which Jasper was sure wouldn't be much use for her. Jasper could tell, all things considered, that this was going to be a very boring time for her.
"Want to walk back?" Jasper asked, bemused as ever.
"Where's Ponyville from here, Jasper?" Pearl asked, though it was more of setting a point rather than a legit question. Jasper groaned.
~~~~~~
After thing had been settled down, and settled in, Pearl was the first to head on outside and see what Las Pegasus had to offer. This place was pretty lively, more so for her own tastes, but as far as she could see it was less like an actual ponified Vegas, and more like an amusement park. At least she can say that nothing too dangerous will happen to her and Jasper here. The ponies still kept seeing her, and spoke to one another about her, but Pearl ignored them and continued off on her way for a while more. She could see ponies doing all sorts of things, from riding on rollercoasters, to playing arcade games within some of the arcade play areas.
"These ponies are even more creative in wasting their time than humans are," thought Pearl, looking around the place. She couldn't think of any place where it's soul purpose is to have this kind of fun. As she went along ...
*DING*
"CONGRATULATIONS!"
Pearl halted on hearing that odd, robotic voice. Looking off further ahead, she saw another object set up. Basically, it was a machine to test one's strength, but instead of using any sort of hammer, they instead were using their back hooves to do the job. Once more, they were just hitting a target rather than those seesaw attachments one would normally see to launch the weight up.. The pony lucky to get it high enough was beaming with pride on her accomplishment. Pearl hadn't seen one of these before, and decided to go and have a look at it. Pearl watched the other two ponies give it a try, though they didn't get the ringer like the first one did. It wasn't until after they left when Pearl walked over.
"What do we have here?" Pearl wondered. With her hands casually behind her back, she looked it over for a little bit more before getting a simple idea on how it works. She might as well give it one try, anyway.
"Well, let's see now ..." Pearl began to get the true idea, and got herself into position like a pony would. She got down on her hands and knees, back turned away from the machine, and she got her back foot slammed into the target. While a pony would be more suited for this, Pearl's kick did a decent job but it wasn't something she was used to. It wasn't enough to make it all the way to the top, but still pretty high up there.
"GOOD JOB!" The machine congratulated, as Pearl got up to her feet, seeing just how high she got. Turned out, even with her kick, she only got half way up. How'd an animal twice as small as her pack more power than her? And besides that ...
The significance of that was ...?
"Eh, thanks ..." sighed Pearl, walking off again. After just a little bit ...
*DING*
"CONGRATULATIONS!"
Pearl, surprised, turned around only to see another pony, this one even smaller, give it a shot, and got the ringer! This was a smaller unicorn pony, hopping in place with a big smile on his face from what he did. Now Pearl felt a bit embarrassed, her face a shade of blue. This was a Gem who can crush a hand and block a punch easily, and she can't get her strength enough to beat the ringer on this machine? No way! Annoyed, Pearl went right back over, and tried again with the blasted machine. Pearl tried again, using both legs this time. She got her feet on the target, but her body kinda got off balance, and the kick was a bit weak. Looking back after picking herself off the ground, the results were even weaker than before.
"YOU CAN DO BETTER!"
"Quiet," groaned Pearl. Least Jasper wasn't with her to mock her or something. Heck with it; Pearl got herself on her knees, facing it this time, and went one-punch-Gem on the thing. One punch, and she got the full score in one second.
"CONGRATULATIONS!"
"Thought so," stated Pearl, before walking off on her way to see what else she could do.
.......
As for Jasper, the feeling on the place was pretty much the same as Pearl was; flat out boredom. The most exciting, and dynamic place in Equestria, and Jasper had about as much fun here as she had with the Galloping Gala (A.K.A. not very much). Sure, there's a lot of stuff to do, but Jasper just wasn't a Gem for this sort of thing. Why couldn't Garnet place Amethyst, Steven, or Fulgurite in this sort of place? This seemed more for their speed rather than for her. The large orange Gem continued walking along, at this point hoping to perhaps find some monster to show up and fight, but that just didn't seem to happen as she tried to find something to do.
"Why am I here again? Garnet must've done this for some reason, but to think on sending me to this ... this place. This must be some joke," Jasper thought, feeling angry at Garnet for sending her and Pearl down here in the first place. Garnet had brought her for a loop before, intentional or not, so what exactly was the trick here? That was why Jasper didn't decide to completely run out of Las Pegasus yet - she was waiting for that moment to come around, whatever and whenever that is. In the meantime though, what was she gonna do until that happens?
Jasper saw all sorts of things going on around her, but none of them that she was interested in. Jasper would rather be back, training herself to stay as the ultimate quartz than hang around this place. The orange Gem looked around some more, but eventually just sat down over by one of the buildings. As she was sitting there, she kept on seeing all sorts of ponies go back and forth, having their own fun doing who knows what. It honestly seemed to be a bit of a bore fest, but at least it beats seeing the entire town completely down, otherwise she'd have to get herself out no matter who says what before depression would set in. Oh, what to do, what to do ...
After a bit, Jasper then turned her head to the building she stopped at; a movie cinema. She honestly hadn't exactly been in one of these before, and while there is one over in Beach City, she had no interest to go in it for multiple reasons. Normally, it wouldn't catch her interest here, but one poster did catch her eye. This one looked like a sci-fi sort of movie, but looking closer, the details had a unique match-up. It showed a unicorn at the center, shooting what looked like a laser from her horn at what looked like a giant golem of sorts. In the background, there was a sort of crystal castle. Not exactly like the Crystal Empire, but still rather close. Next to the pony was a larger pony, a bit more ominous, lingering on in the background.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Jasper took a moment to read over what movie this was, and the title read "Stone Heart", and the main quote read off as "A hero not wanted, but needed.". Not the best campaign for a movie, but many ponies were going in to get their view of the movie, so it was doing its job anyway.
"When did they make this?" Jasper wondered. A better question would be though; exactly HOW did they get their information in regards to this movie? It wouldn't be any interest to Jasper if it didn't resemble the dangers she and her team had gone through with the Osicone. Their feat was a bit more popular than they had thought if the pony world would spent time and effort making a movie about it. Either way, the orange Gem was a little bit intrigued about the movie, something she never thought she would be. And, since she had nothing else to do ...
"Not like I have anything better to do."
With that decision, Jasper sighed, and then went on inside to see what this movie was about ...
~~~~~~
Despite their boredom, nighttime came around fairly fast to them, which was a good thing. Perhaps Celestia was doing them a favor? But anyway, Pearl got herself back to her hotel room first, feeling a little intrigued with Las Pegasus at best. Honestly, the crowds of ponies and very active sort of games they had in store was something she could have a bit less of. After all, she had plenty of that from the other Gems and the Mane Six anyway back home. Pearl settled down on her assigned bed, the Rose Quartz picture next to her, and looking through one of the books, when she heard Jasper come back. Like Pearl, Jasper wasn't too amused with the place all things considered.
"So, how was your day?" Pearl asked. Jasper didn't answer as first, sitting down, and taking one of the dumbbells and using it with one arm. At least that's one thing she could do that resembled training, even if small.
"Boring," sighed Jasper.
"You too?"
"Yeah. I was looking around today, and found this entertainment center. Oh, what's it called? they're sitting inside, and observing some presentation?"
"I think that's a Movie theater," Pearl answered, though was just a guess on her part as well.
"Well anyway, they had something actually showing what happened on Homeworld, with us and the Osicone," Jasper explained. That got Pearl a little interested.
"And how'd that go?"
"I want that amount of my existence back. Nothing but a mixed up movie," Jasper groaned. Being someone who was actually there, the movie obviously wasn't really good by the sound of it. Jasper laid down on the bed, her hair spreading out on the bed, and her arms and legs laying down off the sides. Her collapse on her bed shook the room a little bit, but it didn't bug Pearl too much, still keeping her page of her book open.
"Oh. Not good? Well, sorry about that," Pearl simply said. She was glad she didn't come across the theater then, by the sound of it. Still, even if she wanted to check it out, it might be too late anyway. The two had gotten back pretty late, and the sun was already gone, the moon peeking out. The lights outside the busy place still were shining bright, so it was still quite active even at night. The two however didn't want to deal with it at the moment. If the day didn't offer very much, then night time would be quite a bust at best.
Time ticked on for a while, Jasper getting more and more bored with what was going on. Pearl at least had SOMETHING to pass the time, with her books. Pearl wasn't exactly a bookworm like Twilight or Connie, but it was something. Pearl had about five books, and she was down to the last one at this point. Jasper took the time to look out the window, and stayed that way since arriving back. By the time Pearl had finally finished, the moon was higher up in the sky, and Las Pegasus was getting a little bit quieter for ponies starting to head off home.
"UGH, this is ridiculous! This is taking forever," Jasper finally groaned, getting THAT fact off of her chest. Pearl got her books placed aside, and laid down on the bed.
"Maybe we should just go to sleep then. Dreaming's better than just doing nothing."
"Gems don't need to sleep."
"Would you rather sit up all night doing nothing?" Pearl asked, eyebrow raised. Pearl had a point there. Jasper sighed, and while it didn't seem to be something worth while, gave it a shot anyway. Pearl figured it would be the only way to get time to go faster, as she got under the covers. All Jasper did was lay down on her back. She saw Pearl close her eyes, and started to sleep a little bit, and Jasper did the same ...
As the night dragged on, Jasper was having a lot of difficulty with the sleeping concept, considering she didn't need sleep to survive. All she had been doing was closing her eyes and waiting until the sun would come around again. The longer it took though, the more troublesome it got to be. Pearl hadn't spoke a word the entire time, actually asleep unlike Jasper. Finally, the orange Quartz had just about enough. Finally, with a groan, Jasper opened her eyes, and sat up on her bed. She brought her hand to her head.
"This sleeping thing is not for me. Pearl, can we just -"
Jasper suddenly stopped on what she saw. Looking at the other bed, Pearl was fast asleep, but looking a little uncomfortable as she was. That may not seem bad itself, but her gemstone was on as she was asleep, and giving off a rather vivid projection of what Pearl was dreaming about. Call it a side effect of a head gem. Jasper could easily see, and hear the dream, and what it was showing was a rather harsh time. It showed Pearl, looking only a few thousand years old (young for a Gem). She had a sword in her hands, on her guard, and looking terrified of something, though stayed in front of what looked like Rose.
"S-Stay away from her!"
The voices sounded like they were from an old television, just clear enough to understand. The Pearl inside the vision looked to another being. This one was very dark, menacing, and looked right over to Pearl. As for the figure, it moved forward a few steps, and Pearl didn't hesitate. She raced forward, and thruster the sword through the figure, straight through the center of it. It wasn't until then though that the darkness had disappeared, and Pearl could see better on who it was.
Rose Quartz!
Pearl froze, seeing that her sword had sliced straight through Rose's gem! The face Rose had was horror and disbelief, matching with Pearl, before she poofed.
"GAH!"
Pearl suddenly bolted up, awake and looking terrified. Jasper wasn't sure about these dream concepts, but after seeing what Pearl was dreaming about, Jasper felt honestly unsure to say the best of it. Pearl just sat up, and breathed heavily - reaction to the nightmare - before she turned to see Jasper.
"What was that?" Jasper questioned. Pearl took a moment to relax before turning to her, smiling wide for some reason.
"I-It's okay! Dreams aren't real! They're just "mixed up movies"!" Pearl insisted, trying to doubt her dream. Jasper of course had her doubts.
"Was that what your projection was showing?" Jasper questioned. Pearl suddenly looked horrified, her face completely blue in her blush.
"W-What?!" Pearl gasped, covering her Gemstone. Was she really giving off projections in her sleep?! Pearl never knew that, and wondered how much Jasper actually saw.
"... H-How much did you see?"
"You were fighting against Rose," Jasper simply replied. Pearl felt sad, but she was grateful that it was all that Jasper did see in that dream. Let's just say she had a much better dream at first with Rose ... But that only made the nightmare even harder for Pearl.
"I didn't realize ..." Pearl sighed. Maybe sleeping it off wasn't such a good idea after all. Pearl got up from the bed, and walked past Jasper towards the window. Jasper didn't seem to get just how troubled Pearl actually was with this nightmare. Jasper got up soon after that.
"What's with you?" Jasper asked, not entirely sympathetic for Pearl. Pearl didn't seem to respond at first, glancing over to the picture of Rose Quartz.
"I didn't think you could see my dreams. I ... It just reminded me of someone ..." Pearl replied. Jasper assumed she was referring to Rose Quartz. Jasper took a glance over to the picture by Pearl's bed.
"Of Rose?" Jasper asked, getting up herself. Pearl sighed, and nodded, not turning to her.
"You know she's not here anymore," Jasper said. Pearl suddenly felt hurt, but didn't face her. Jasper didn't know Rose herself as much as Pearl had, and as such the idea didn't effect her as much.
"I know she's not here ... I just ... Miss her ..." Pearl said. It was something that was more than the truth, and the face Pearl had of pure dismay said it all on how deep she meant it. Jasper couldn't see how serious she was about it though, Pearl not facing Jasper in the first place.
"You still miss her? You should've gone over this by now."
"It's not so simple," Pearl stated. Jasper thought otherwise though.
"It is, just stop thinking about what happened before. It's not that big of a deal," Jasper instructed. Pearl was starting to lose patience.
"I've been with her the longest, you should know that as much as anyone else. I respected her more than any other Crystal Gem!"
"You all respect Rose, Pearl. You're just being clingy about it."
That did it.
"Excuse me?!" Pearl gasped, in disbelief on what she just heard. Now she was upset with Jasper, but being a Gem used to seeing others angry, Jasper wasn't too deterred. Pearl however was more than willing to snap. Jasper might not had used the right words though (definition of said word, or to make Pearl better).
"Garnet told me Rose had been dead for years. You won't bring her back by moping."
"What do you know?! I've known Rose better than anyone! YOU never had what WE have!" Pearl yelled. Now it was Jasper's turn to be upset.
"So what?! You think you're better than everyone else because of it?"
"NO! I fought alongside Rose Quartz since the very beginning - she never kept anything from me!"
"Who cares what she did then?! She's gone now, get over it!" Jasper demanded, her tone like any Homeworld gem would to a normal Pearl.
"You think I can just forget about such a Gem?! She cared about me when no one else would! Like you would know what THAT is anyway!"
"WHAT? I care about Gems, Pearl." Jasper growled. It was starting to get personal now.
"LOOK at you! Homeworld's ultimate warrior! You've killed tons of Gems during the war who Rose would let live! Don't tell me you -"
"STOP COMPARING ME TO A DEAD GEM, YOU PEARL!" Jasper bellowed. Pearl was still upset, but looked ready to fight for her word. Jasper raised her fist, ready to smash her, as Pearl nearly drew out her spear. Eventually Jasper lowered it, and a strained groan escaped her gritted teeth. She didn't want to do any actions with unforeseen consequences, as satisfying as it would be. But, the Quartz was not going to stick around any longer.
"I don't need this. You go on and mope as much as you want," Jasper snapped, suddenly jumping outside, and landing steadily down on the night road. Pearl looked down to Jasper from the window.
"Where're you going?!" Pearl called.
"I'm going back! This place is awful anyway!" Jasper called back. Ending on that note, Jasper turned away, and went off into the night. Pearl, still upset, just turned her head in a humph, before heading back inside her hotel room ...
~~~~~~
The confrontation between Jasper and Pearl had left the two apart from each other for the rest of the night. Pearl stayed in her hotel room alone, as Jasper had pretty much disappeared from Las Pegasus. After how Jasper treated her about her feelings towards Rose though, Pearl didn't care too much on how Jasper was doing. She wasn't going to stand there and be called clingy for missing someone she cared about.
"Oh, Jasper. what does she know, anyway? Not like she even MET Rose before," Pearl griped. It had been more than nagging in her head since Jasper had left. As she laid down in her bed, she turned over to look at the same Rose Quartz picture over next to her. She took the picture for a moment, and held it in front of her, eyes locked to the picture itself. She was still upset with Jasper, but looking at Rose in the picture got her mind thinking a little bit. Her look of anger began to soften into one of misery.
"... Am I doing right? ..."
Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, something flew in from outside, and it appeared to look like a large feather of sorts. It was hard to tell of the color from the dark night, but Pearl brought it out to the moonlight so she could get a better view of it. This was no ordinary feather; fully blue, and lighter at the tip with something seemingly written on it. The message was short, and the distraught Pearl found it too coincidental to ignore ...
Go back to her.
.......
As for Jasper herself, she was doubting what reason Garnet had her come here. She had the suspicion for a while that Garnet might of pitted them together for some sort of reason, but she just couldn't see it anymore. Nor did she really care anymore anyway. Whatever reason Garnet truly had, it wasn't gonna work out as far as she was concern. It was minutes before dawn, and Jasper had traveled a bit of ways from Las Pegasus. The city itself was further behind her, and she was down in Equestria's barren roads. Well, it was more of a train track, but still. The tracks were worn out from the test of time, but still in proper shape, so it was a nice path for Jasper to take to a possible station, or water tower. As she walked along, it gave her time to reflect back on a number of things. It was the first time in quite a while that she was able to do so. Even if the overall idea was no big deal for her, this was still Rose Quartz; a Gem leading the rebellion down on Earth against Homeworld. That alone took a ton of guts, and the more she thought about it, the more she thought about herself comparing the Rose.
"... Rose ..."
Jasper slowed down to a stop on the tracks, thinking more and more on Rose and what she actually did compared to her. Jasper was a highly respected warrior for Homeworld, a true example of the potential in Quartz creation. A Quartz made perfect in every physical status as many others see. The Ultimate Quartz. Rose was a Quartz who defied her overlords, what many consider both as a traitor and a hero. A Quartz who'll show mercy towards whoever she came across, and still able to defend against an army of countless others. The Saint of Quartz ...
How can she compete with that? ...
"... Who am I trying to fool?" Jasper sighed ...
"Jasper!"
Jasper turned back, and began to notice someone coming towards her. It took a bit, and quite a bit of catching up, but a familiar Pearl did show herself after a while. Pearl kept the feather with the message hidden away, and didn't really bother to get anything else before coming out here. She found it a little difficult figuring out where Jasper went, but it was handled, and here they were by the railroad tracks, feet from eachother. Jasper didn't turn to her though.
"Look ... I, uh ... I think I've gone too far back there, and ... I'm sorry for pushing you like that. I shouldn't have done that ..."
The message was brief and straightforward, but Jasper got to thinking again. Anyone would simply take it, and move on ... however ...
"... I'm the one who should be sorry ..."
Pearl kept quiet, as Jasper continued.
"Rose Quartz had done so much while she was around ... I respected her tactics. Her devotion. She had so many chances to give up, but she never did for those she cared about ... She's a far better Quartz than I could ever be. I never had the nerve to do what she did ..."
Pearl felt humbled by what Jasper was saying, and Jasper was humbled by what she was admitting. In the end though, that was true, and it was coming out of an otherwise prideful Gem. Jasper turned around, but rather than a face of pride, boredom, or anger, it showed a surprisingly good amount of humbleness.
"She may not had meant too much for me during the war. But she means the world to you. It's not my place to tell you different ..." Jasper stated. Pearl was amazed by this change in thought, but being told of how much Rose did mean to her was still something that she was sad about. Jasper could see this, and cleared her throat.
"Still ... It isn't healthy for you to continue being sad about Rose. I may not have word it right back there, but Rose wouldn't want to see you like this. The best you can do is move on, and continue with your own life. It's fine to remember Rose, but not with misery. Okay Pearl? ..."
There was a long silence. Pearl had a slight thought on if this was her Jasper or not, but she knew only one true Jasper apart of their team. Pearl and Jasper just looked to eachother, eyes locked, as a tear gently went down Pearl's face. Jasper kept a straight face, but still showed that she was true in her words. Pearl looked to the ground, still having tears how up on her face, when Jasper walked closer to her, kneeling down a bit. Suddenly, Pearl went up to Jasper, and the two ended up in a hug. Jasper kept her strength under control, and didn't hurt Pearl as she and Pearl hugged it out.
"... I miss her ..." Pearl said.
"There, there ... It'll be alright," Jasper responded. This was the first true time that Jasper had become this humble around anyone, and the first one being a Pearl no less. Still, Jasper began to feel better, alongside Pearl. She felt good, as a small smile showed on her face ...
... Then a flash came up ...
"Huh?"
Pearl's misery turned to curiosity when she opened her eyes to see something flash from behind her. Jasper herself barely noticed the flash as well, and Pearl and Jasper released eachother. Jasper tried looking around for a minute or two, but Pearl found out what happened a lot faster than Jasper did, and was simply left speechless.
"Oh my stars ..."
"What? what happened?" Jasper asked.
"Jasper ... You ... You have ..."
"Have what? What's wrong?!" Jasper asked again, more urgent. Did something bad happen to her just then? The time the two had been talking gave the sun enough time to rise up enough to see. Very slightly, the rays of the sun shined a reflection off of Pearl's Gemstone, showing Jasper her face ...
Something had appeared under her right cheek. Shown on her face was what appeared to be a sort of shield, spherical and big enough to cover the base of her cheek. The shield's base was colored dark orange, with the rims a lighter peach. At the center of the shield looked like a diamond, but instead of the typical Yellow Diamond like her outfit, this one was instead pink ...
Jasper's Cutie Mark!
"Wait ... Is that a ..."
"A Cutie Mark," Pearl gasped. Jasper couldn't believe her eyes as she was seeing it from the reflection. Her hand touched the mark, not feeling her skin disturbed in any way by the new mark. As far as the two knew, a Cutie Mark was strictly a Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth Pony symbol. How can a Gem get a Cutie Mark?! Jasper had her fair share of surprises, but this one takes the cake. Rather than freak out, or blame anyone for it, Jasper took a deep breath, and relaxed. The two were still out on the railroad tracks, and now it was morning in Equestria once again ...
"Jasper? I'm not going to stop you if you still want to head back now, if that's what you really want to do," Pearl said, humbled still. However, Rather than going away, Jasper smiled.
"Let's go back. We can give Las Pegasus another chance before we head back."
Pearl just smiled with her. And with that, the two headed on back together.
Boy, won't they have a surprise for the others back home.