//------------------------------// // Sardonyx Tonight // Story: My Little Universe: Season 4 // by EquestrianKirin //------------------------------// "Welcome to the show, everypony!" "So, how do you wanna do this? Three leaf clover first, or the Eiffel tower?" "Let's do the "Around the World" before "Three Leaf Clover". Flows better that way." "Sounds good to me. Now, just gotta wait for Bismuth to get here." Today was a special day for Amethyst and Steven both. Bismuth had been round for a while now, and the two were trying to prepare their next little introduction for the rainbow Gem to see. She'd seen plenty of the Gems and Ponies at this point, for sure, but there was one that Amethyst and Steven recently had in mind to show the new Crystal Gem. Besides, it's been a while since she came out. That, and Bismuth met Stevonnie already a while back. The two were inside Amethyst's room to discuss this, although they were supposed to meet up with Bismuth in the Beach House. As they were finishing up their act, the door suddenly opened up to Amethyst's room, the Gem showing up being Garnet. "Hello, you two," Garnet said, as she went in. Amethyst and Steven went over to her. "Hey Garnet. Did you see Bismuth?" Amethyst asked, excitedly. "She's just showing up now," Garnet said, thumb pointing behind her as the door could be heard opening up. That was all they needed to know, as they went right past Garnet, the Gem smiling all the while. For Bismuth, she had just arrived into the Beach House, when Amethyst and Steven went right up to her. "Okay, you two. You said you had a special guest to show me, so where's she at?" Bismuth asked, looking around. However, she didn't see any other guests show up just yet. "You're looking at her," Amethyst said with a wink. Bismuth didn't get it right away, slightly confused. she knew Steven and Amethyst already. "HA HA, alright good one. Seriously though." Amethyst cleared her throat, and brought her hand out to Steven in a more lady-like manor. "Shall we?" She asked. Steven just nodded. Bismuth stood there, and was just putting two and two together when Amethyst and Steven locked hands. Seconds after they did, the bright light was easy to understand what they actually meant, as the two then begun to fuse up! In no time at all, good ol Smoky Quartz was standing right there, size now just about the same to Bismuth (if not, just an inch taller). "Heyo, B! Name's Smoky Quartz," she introduced. Bismuth suddenly laughed in realization. "Well DANG, girl, look at you! You two look pretty good together," Bismuth complimented. "Eh, I get around. Now, hope your eyes are hungry. Feast 'em on this," Smoky said, bringing out her signature Yo-Yo weapon to show to Bismuth. Bismuth looked especially impressed with the weapon, as Smoky rallied it up around her finger tips on all three hands. "You are just full of surprises, Smoky. Never seen a Yo-Yo as a weapon before," Bismuth commented, as Smoky swung around the Yo-Yo in her "around the world" act for her. "I know, I'm full of them apparently," Smoky said, though more humbly than before. Bismuth though was still deep in enthusiasm. "Then how about we go outside and see them, eh? Come on, you and me, let's do this!" "Hold up, it's a little soon isn't it?" Smoky asked, smiling. Amethyst and Steven by themselves didn't stand much of a chance against Bismuth, and Smoky was accepting the fact that maybe she can't handle her. Bismuth though had other ideas, a hand around her shoulder. "Come on Smoky. I see a brave, powerful warrior in there - " Bismuth gave a friendly poke to Smoky's rather large stomach, "- All we gotta do, is get her out." After Bismuth encouragement, Smoky simply shrugged, and followed Bismuth on outside to test out her skills. Garnet took a short moment to think over the situation just after the two left the Beach House. It didn't take her very long to see a little something going to happen, no matter who did what, and she went off herself to get her own little surprise ready for it. ....... "Alright, soldier, show me what you got!" Bismuth called, soon after they went on outside. Smoky Quartz stood there comfortably, and casually, with her hands behind her head, though one still held the Yo-Yo string, as she just moved it up and down, unsure how to approach. "Well, ok then, comin at cha!" Smoky said, winding up her Yo-Yo, and swinging it at her. Course, Bismuth ended up dodging it fairly easily. Smoky brought the Yo-Yo around, but Bismuth dodged that too. Smoky tried a number of tricks to get her, and while admittedly some did hit the mark, it wasn't enough to take this tough Gem down. Bismuth found it good practice, but Smoky was getting just a little bit annoyed as time went on. "Come on, you got this," Bismuth said, in the moment. "Shut up," Smoky quietly commented, but Bismuth didn't hear her, of course. Smoky rallied up her Yo-Yo for another little hit, but she looked less happy and more determined for a decent hit on Bismuth. Smoky was just about to get her next toss of the Yo-Yo ready, but just before she could, suddenly she felt the string become much lighter, as she swung her arm forward, only to find her Yo-Yo string had been cut in the middle of it! Smoky turned around, just to find the one responsible, using her Yo-Yo in a casual sort of manor, the string around his talon finger. Looks like Discord wanted to come and play. "Morning, Smoky Quartz, Bismuth. How's it been?" Discord asked. "Who're you?" Bismuth asked. Suddenly, Discord apparently crushed the Yo-Yo, and it suddenly turned into a small identification card. "My card," Discord said, showing the card to Bismuth. Smoky was a little embarrassed that the draconequus showed up the way he did, as Bismuth looked at the small card. The picture of discord on the card suddenly came alive as it pulled himself out of the picture, a tiny Discord standing on the card. Bismuth, much like anyone else with plenty of common sense, was a little surprised seeing the draconequus do his little tricks. "Yeah. Bismuth, this is Discord. Haven't seen you in a while," Bismuth said. Discord grew back to normal size after stepping off his card. After that though, his paw reached at the top of the screen, and pulled down a list of the previous episodes. "I know right? I haven't been in any proper roll in this series since season two. So disappointing," Discord said, marking up the episodes in Season Two where he showed up. Smoky and Bismuth didn't had a clue what he was talking about, as he rolled back up the list and making it disappear. "WHOA, how're you doing that? Equestria magics?" "You can say I got my own little world at my Talon tips," Discord stated, even holding a tiny world in the palm of his talon. This Draconequus was glad to be back in the spotlight after so long. "Dang!" "Heh, yep, that's Discord. So, D, what're you up to?" Smoky asked. Discord suddenly reappeared from behind her, only his head and lion paw visible. "Oh, just thought after all your little fusion trips jumping from one to the other, I'd stop by and check in. Fun being our little fusion?" "Eh, it's okay. Cool having a third arm," Smoky said, pointing to it. "Oy, Discord, mind stepping aside? Less you wanna train with us," Bismuth said. Discord flew right up to her, coiling around her like a snake. "Tempting, but I'm more of a observer than brawler. I barely got muscle in these fancy limbs, look," Discord said. He tried to show muscle in his Talon arm, but the muscle looped down instead of up, like a limp noodle. Guess he was just driving the point home. Bismuth couldn't help but chuckle. "K, noodle," Bismuth joked, as Discord uncoiled, standing upright. The quick move though did get something to fall out of his pocket, and landing on Smoky's head. It was actually a small notifier card, kinda like a small slip of paper as reminder, and it read off a particular show Discord wanted to catch. Discord snatched it though before they could properly read it. However, that did give Discord an idea. "Say, how about a little trip with your fellow Draconequus?" "Trip? Trip where?" Smoky questioned. "And ruin the surprise that fast? What's the fun in that?" Discord said. With a little old fashion magician magic, his two hands clapped together, and out came a cane when the hands separated. Discord grabbed the cane, and hooked through an area nearby, and the fabric of space opened up like the curtains on a stage. Discord was just about to go on inside when - "Good morning, Beach City!" Suddenly another Gem came out from these same curtains, and was soon right in Discord's face. The Gem was unmistakable, and one that Discord didn't even intend to show up. Or at least, not the way she did anyway. The Gem was glad to see everyone all the same. "Sardonyx!" Smoky said in surprise. "Long time no see. Sorry for the wait, haven't been ... Quite myself lately," Sardonyx said, with a good laugh. Discord backed up, as Sardonyx wiped away the curtains in question. "And what's our little Gem fusion up to?" Sardonyx asked. "Bismuth's having me train a bit with her, right Bismuth?" Smoky asked. "That's right. Trying to see what she can do," Bismuth stated, playfully fluffing Smoky's hair like she usually does. Smoky smiled sheepishly, but Sardonyx had her own idea in mind for her. "Are we now? How about we try it in my own little hotspot? Here we go," Sardonyx said, slipping through those similar curtains. Despite her size, she managed to get herself in with little trouble, although some pushing by her own arms was required. Discord, seeing where this was going, slipped in between the curtains himself, as Sardonyx's hand poked out. "Come on, don't be shy," Sardonyx insisted. Bismuth and Smoky both decided to at least give it a try, and soon the two went right on inside, the curtains disappearing just after they went in. ~~~~~~ Bismuth and Smoky were suddenly finding themselves, for a lack of a better word, lost. The room they ended up in was completely black, and they couldn't see anything in front of them. The two stayed close for a bit, trying not to lose eachother in the dark, until Smoky suddenly ended up touching something in front of her. It felt like a chair, or some sort of couch or something. It took her a little bit, but Smoky and Bismuth did eventually find what they figured were their seats when ... "AND welcome to Sardonyx Tonight!" The announcement by the similar voice, a odd crowd applause from apparently nowhere, and a sudden change in light got them both to jump, leaving them confused on the situation. The two suddenly found themselves in a completely different setting. The two were sitting in guest chairs, and there was a large desk over next to them, with a décor mug with "I E C" on it. Behind them was a large picture of what appeared to be a large city, like Manehatten. The floor was wooden, and alongside this new stage were sets of red curtains. Above them, the sign reading "Sardonyx Tonight" was read off on a neon lit sign, colors matching it's namesake. Speaking of which, Sardonyx suddenly appeared over in front of them, back to them and smiling to the camera with a microphone being held in one of her four hands. Nearby, they could see a number of Discords, in a number of spots: one as a cameraman, one above the stage, and one (possibly the main one) dressed up as an extra host seemingly. The outfit Discord had on was mainly a blue suit, and red tie to accompany it. Nothing too over the top as would normally be expected from the Draconequus. "Thank you, thank you, you're all too kind! On tonight's show we have a couple special guests here on set. I'm so excited, I could just shatter!" Sardonyz said, suddenly tossing her microphone away. There was a glass crash and some cat meow in the distance, as she went and sat down. "Let's give a warm applause to Bismuth and Smoky, ladies and gentleman," Sardonyx said. The crowd applause again for them both, yet Bismuth and Smoky just looked to eachother in some confusion. "Eh, what's going on?" Bismuth asked. "Brought you both to my room, of course," Sardonyx said. "You have a room too?" Smoky asked. "It exists, so long as I exist," Sardonyx said, giving them both a wink. One hand grabbed her mug as Sardonyx continued talking. Discord sat down beside Sardonyx. "So, staring with Smoky. Tell us everything there is about you. Let's not skip out on the juicy bits," Sardonyx insisted. Bismuth was ready to listen to what the fusion had in store for them. The fusion took a bit to really think things over, trying to remember. It was quite a bit ago since she first came out. Since they were on some TV show apparently, she tried to get her words out right. "Alright, let's see now ... Well, I like to take trips to Equestria. In fact, it's there where I sorta - pow - became me. And then - pow - beat Porath," Smoky said. Might as well start from the beginning, if anywhere. This information was fairly new for Bismuth as well, the Gem not even being there when it actually happened. Discord laughed at the news, and hovered down to Smoky and Bismuth. "Oh, that Porath. Always going about in his little ego, stompin' about and boasting up. Obviously that didn't work out for him though, isn't that right, Sard?" Discord said, the last bit nudging Sardonyx. "Oh, indeed. That Draconian should be put back in the Kindergarten, am I right?" Sardonyx joked. A Gem joke, sure, but the crowd still laughed along with her. Even Bismuth did laugh a little as well. "He was surely ticked off when I showed up. But in the end, you could say I grounded him," Smoky joked, another laugh from the crowd going off. "Easy crowd. Where'd they come from, anyway?" "Oh, I just made them. Now, Smoky, I think what we really want to know is who are you?" Discord asked, tossing the gal a microphone for some better volume, Smoky catching it in her third arm. "Yeah, let's hear it. what is "Smoky Quartz" eh?" Bismuth said, encouraging her. Smoky went on through her mind a bit on some of the things she had done before. Between her first appearance and now, she mainly showed up for the Uktena fight when the Gems were all sick, and when she showed them her tricks after Steven's trip. but as far as casual time went aside from that, there actually wasn't very much. "Well, between Porath, and now, I've been around for , say ... one day? So, I'm not sure ... OH!, but I can do this!" Smoky said, soon bringing back her signature Yo-Yo to show to the audience. She went out in front of the stage, and began to show off her planned act. Bismuth stood up and moved aside to give her some space as Smoky did some of her tricks. She originally planned it to show just Bismuth, but this worked just as well. She did "Around the World", "Three Leaf Clover", and a few "Walk the Dog" tricks like she showed the Gems the first time. The audience applauded her as she was doing so, along with Bismuth. "Oh, yes, your Yo-Yo - seen it, heard it, loved it - but what other tricks to your game do you have?" Sardonyx insisted. "Well, I'm not a deck of cards, you know," Smoky joked modestly, as she sat back down. However, something else did struck her mind. Casual, but, it was something else, anyway. "I can lick my elbow. I got three of them now," Smoky said, even bringing her elbow up and trying to lick it herself. Bismuth found it decent, yet Sardonyx seemed to had other ideas more in mind. Discord snapped his lion paw fingers before going on. "And we'll be right on back after a word from our sponsors," Discord said, the lights suddenly going dim. "Huh? What's up?" Bismuth wondered. "Smoky, may I have a little bitty chat with you for just a moment?" Sardonyx asked. Smoky wondered exactly what Sardonyx really had in mind, but before she could ask, Discord got his magic to work. In one teleportation flash, they all were suddenly off in a backstage dressing room, complete with a lit up window, and a costume rack. As they were there, Sardonyx blushed up Smoky's cheek with a blusher. "Now, Smoky, it's a nice performance with your Yo-Yo, but we all would like to know the Yo-you," Sardonyx explained, in the nicest way she could. "Well, I dunno. Like I said, I'm not a deck of cards, Sardonyx," Smoky said. "Oh, don't be so modest: you're a fusion, for corn sake! Surely you got just an extra little bit for the readers out there to see," Discord said, driving the point home by pulling a colorful macaw parrot feathers outta her ear before making it disappear. "Come on guys, I can do good Yo-Yo tricks, that's good isn't it?" "We're not saying it's bad at all, but there's tons more potential for you," Sardonyx said. "AND Bismuth. Smoky's got a few more episodes worth of screen time over her this season. Bet viewers want to see more of her bag of tricks, surely," added Discord. Again with the confusing talk, but Discord seemed to get the idea anyway. Bismuth was more than willing, and Smoky seemed to be up for it a bit too, though not as much. "Alright, let's get back to it." On the word, the Draconequus got them all back on stage, and the lights were quickly back on, and the applause were back up and playing again. "And we're back ladies and gentleman! And we got a few new segments for you all tonight. Smoky, Bismuth, if you would kindly follow me," Sardonyx said, a finger gesturing them to follow. Discord flew off out of frame, as Bismuth and Smoky followed Sardonyx off to the left. As they were, Sardonyx started snapping her fingers as signal for the lights to turn on. Bismuth and Smoky then saw what looked like one of those hammer games to test someone's strength. There was a Gem in place at the top, but not a Gem exactly recognized by Bismuth. The number of faces on the strength score bar were easily recognized in this order: Lars, Flint, Rainbow Dash, Amethyst, Garnet, Bismuth, Carnelian, and that purple Gem fusion at the very top. "Welcome to ..." Sardonyx announced. "You like that, little man?" The machine said, finishing up what Sardonyx was going to say. "Oh, she's got the right idea," Sardonyx said, giggling. Discord conjured up a set of fancy hammers for both of them to use, but while it was a nice gesture, Bismuth tossed hers aside back to the Draconequus. "I got this," Bismuth said, her hand turning into her own hammer. Smoky Quartz allowed the confident Gem to go first, as Bismuth stepped right up to the machine. It didn't take very long for Bismuth to figure out how the machine worked, and then the Gem swung her hammer arm downward as strong as she could. As it was probably expected, the meter went straight up until it reached her own picture. Not too bad for the rainbow Gem, but for the machine ... "Is that all you got?" Bismuth wanted to give it another swing, but Discord gently escorted out of the way, as his tail gave smoky her hammer for her try. Mustn't be too greedy. Smoky saw what Bismuth did, and she followed up the same way. When she hit it though, Smoky didn't get up to Bismuth's level, but just under Garnet. "Ha ha! nice try!" the machine mocked. Smoky felt more troubled again, and gave it one more swing, this time with a spin. The strength level went up to Bismuth's level. "You. Ain't. Nothing!" "Oh, something's not hitting right," noted Sardonyx. But, the fusion was not ready to give up on her fellow fusion just yet. "Perhaps your strong in a different way. We'll find out in just a moment, folks. Play us to stage right, Discord pal," Sardonyx said, as they began moving on. Discord moved the screen over to the right, following the others to another part of the stage (a hand literally grabbing the screen and moving it along like a hand camera). The next area was soon lit up, and this time it showed a shooting gallery. It showed what seemed to be some fake, albeit destroyed buildings, with a number of pop-ups as targets, yet they look like ponies a bit. Though these ponies were grey, with a bright green splotches. There was a picture of a white unicorn, with a black and red mane and tail, messed up in a manor to Rainbow Dash, though she had a set of revolvers by her sides, up and ready to shoot at something apparently. The title of this one is called "Ghoul Shooter" - simple enough. "This segment, I like to call: Blackjack Shooter," announced Sardonyx. Discord stood beside her, and Sardonyx leaned over to him. "Technically, the writer didn't include her in this fanfiction yet, do we still have to credit?" Asked Sardonyx, in a whisper. Discord simply nodded for his answer. "Yes? Alright, fair enough." Bummer for Sardonyx, but, what can you do? To make things interesting, Discord not only gave them fake revolvers to use, but also added a little score board nearby. Looks like this will end up being more of a competition this time "Well ... It's not much like a Yo-Yo," noted Smoky, but she might as well give it a try anyway. For Sardonyx, Bismuth, and Discord's sake. "See this is a two-on-two challenge segment. So, Smoky, ready to go?" Bismuth said, gun at the ready. "As I'll ever be. Count us down," Smoky said, readying her gun. A small clock suddenly appeared over in the corner of the screen, Bismuth and Smoky ready to start their little game of Blackjack Shooter. Soon as the alarm went off, their game quickly began. The timer for the game only read off for just thirty seconds, and the machine quickly started up, with the fake pony ghouls popping in and out for them to shoot at. Both Bismuth and Smoky didn't do so good at first. Although strength was decent on them both, and Bismuth can make a quick hit when she wants to as proven during her training sessions, it was still troubling for them. The main difference was how fast these ghouls pop in and out, barely giving either one of them time to aim and shoot. The thirty seconds ended fairly fast, and the score boards showed, much to their dismay, low amounts. However, Smoky actually did a little good; her twenty points compared to Bismuth's eighteen. For an average score, it was decent enough for them, and did show Smoky had some more quick reactions. "Bravo, Smoky, Bismuth!" Sardonyx said, both sets of hands clapping for them. Bismuth fluffed up Smoky's hair playfully. "Good job, kid. You surely shot down the records," Bismuth joked, a few laughs from the audience as well, as Smoky smiled and chuckled a little herself, though still modest in tone rather than confident. But still, it was a nicer detail, though Smoky didn't consider it over the top, or anything too special. "They both did good, didn't they? But we're not done yet for tonight's show: we got one more little segment in store for everybody. Right this way you two, and we can see what you have for your big event," Sardonyx insisted. "I want to see too," Smoky thought, as they went. Discord went right on over with them, smiling all the while. As they began to leave though, something off screen reached out, and wrapped something around a part of the challenge, looking like either a tentacle, or the tip of a tail, and began to pull it away fairly quickly ... "Oops," Discord said, suddenly going to the camera, and moving it over to the right again, moving it outta sight of the previous attraction. The screen shows Smoky and Bismuth ready for the last act, though Sardonyx was impatiently waiting for Discord to adjust things, her arms crossed and foot tapping. Once the camera was placed correctly, Sardonyx cleared her throat with a prominent *ahem*. "Sorry for that delay. And now, onto our next little segment I'd like to call ..." She clapped her hands, and Discord snapped his fingers. While the first two were pretty decent enough all things considered, this next one was a show-stopper. If the first one was testing strength, and second was quick reactions, then this one was apparently testing a number of details, possibly mixing them both to one thing. The look here showed a similar look to what Bismuth would actually use in her training when demonstrating the Breaking Point to the others. They were placed about the place, yet unlike before which it was just that, there was a flag at the center of the supposed ring of fake guards. "Let me guess: we have to barrel our way through these thugs to get the flag?" Bismuth assumed. "Nothing gets passed you, does it?" Discord joked, patting her on the head. Well, if this was the last one, it does seem that it'll be simple to do. Yet, she didn't had any Breaking Point to work with this time, nor did either one of them were given any fancy weapon to fight off the guards set up for them. Oh well. Sardonyx and Discord moved off aside, and soon as the alarm went off, Smoky and Bismuth began. Both of them went right on in, and at first they both thought it'll be a bit easy. However, these guards were not as simple as the pre-mentioned models Bismuth had used. For one thing, they were made of strong platinum, and moved about a bit quicker than before as well. The first hit immediately got through to them that it wasn't going to be as easy - one whack from one of them, and Smoky was knocked right into Bismuth, knocking them both off their feet. The two jumped ahead before they could get hit again. "Tougher than I thought. Come on, we can do this," Bismuth encouraged. They got up, but the guards were a bit more relentless in their approach, suddenly splitting up Smoky and Bismuth with a good ram, leaving them apart to reach the flag. A gasp can be heard from the crowd, yet Smoky and Bismuth ignored them. "Ok, I'm taking you bad kids to school," Smoky said, summoning her Yo-Yo to confront the guards, and she began to swing it about with her various Yo-Yo tricks. As for Bismuth, the thrill of the fight was beginning to get to her a bit, and while easy to beat back the guards for her, she was too in the zone to continue on ahead. Smoky though, trying to keep her mind more on the goal, got closer and closer to the flag until she was a foot away. However, she stops to look back towards Bismuth, just to see her far behind. "Bismuth!" Smoky called, but Bismuth didn't seem to notice her, having too much fun with beating down the guards. Smoky, wanting to get Bismuth's mind more on track, swung her Yo-Yo around Bismuth, and yanked her towards her with a strong heave. Bismuth stumbled, and landed in front of Smoky, embarrassed, but alright. "Eh, got a little carried away, huh?" Bismuth admitted. "Yep," Smoky simply said, as she went over to the flag, and only then did she grab it. The second she grabbed it, the guards all stopped on the spot, and the challenge was complete, with the audience applauding them again, alongside Discord and Sardonyx. "Well done, Smoky, well done," Sardonyx praised, as Discord helped Bismuth up to her feet, taking a feather duster, and cleaning her up. "Well, Bismuth helped too," Smoky said, again her modesty coming out. "True. It was fun to see what you're all about, Smoky, Bismuth. I'm sure the viewers can have some little food for thought, eh Sardonyx?" discord said. "Sure they can. Oh, but I'm afraid we're out of time. I hope you all enjoyed our guests for tonight's appearance. Smoky, Bismuth, any last minute words before we close?" Sardonyx realized, as she brought down a microphone. Bismuth and Smoky took a look to each other, smiling, before continuing. "Yeah, it's been fun hanging out with you all tonight. Been a pleasure doing Bismuth with you," Bismuth said, winking to the crowd. "Yeah, me too. Honestly, I didn't think I'd do much, but it's sure fun to see what I can do," added Smoky. "Well said you to. And with that everyone, stay beautiful, and goodnight!" ~~~~~~ And with that, Discord snapped his fingers, and the show stopped: lights went out, cast left, and everything quiet, the screen black for many areas ... Well, almost all. One camera was accidentally left on the stage, still on, and low on battery by the looks of it. On screen, the guards still remained where they were even after the show ended. As the camera kept rolling, some of the statue dummies were starting to move on their own, being pulled away. The closest one to the screen showed that a tentacle was wrapping around the base of the dummy, as the others were pulled out of frame. As the last one was being moved off just a little bit more ... The camera turned dead. And the screen cut off ...