//------------------------------// // Once in a Blue Moon // Story: My Little Universe: Season 4 // by EquestrianKirin //------------------------------// "I don't understand. That's EVERY book in the royal library, and NOTHING explaining that Thunderbird in Beach City," Twilight said in defeat. And indeed, it was. All morning, Twilight had tried going through every single book through all sorts of places. Celestia allowed Twilight access to her personal library, and even then, with all the books looked over at least once through her many piles, Alicorn Twilight simply had run out of ideas at this point; Her own library had nothing, the old castle library had nothing, not even the history books of Beach city's library gave her nothing to go on. You'd think in a world of magic and talking colorful horses, one would find something about some lightning bird. Twilight slammed her face into the last open book in front of her in defeat, tired, worn out, and just plain disappointed. As she just sat there for a minute, the doors to the Canterlot library opened up, and Celestia, followed by Luna, went on in to check on Twilight. "Twilight? Is everything okay?" Celestia asked, as her magic moved the book away from Twilight. "Nothing. just nothing." "What's nothing?" Asked Luna, as Celestia started putting all her books back on the shelves. "This Thunderbird. I've looked and studied through about every single book in Equestria, and not a single one even mentions of such a creature. It doesn't make any sense." "There, there, Twilight. It's okay if you don't always understand. If I recall, one of your friendship reports even said "there are wonderful things in this world you just can't explain, but that doesn't necessarily make them any less true"," Celestia said, as she continued putting books away. It was a very long time ago since she wrote THAT entry, but, she still remembered it pretty well. "I know, and I'm not saying it's not real, but this is outside of Equestria: in Steven's universe. I've been with him time and again, and nothing ever before came up like that animal did. How could something like that just appear like that without any reports from Human, or Gem?" Twilight pointed out. Celestia just finished up her shelving, and she then went over to her student, as Twilight stood up. "You know, there are somethings even in Equestria not always known. It's no surprise that Steven's Earth would house the same things. How about you go home and get some rest? You've gone through enough research." "You sure?" Twilight asked. She didn't feel ready to just stop everything right there, but the princesses didn't want to see Twilight exhaust herself this way, and nodded in assurance. Tired, Twilight gave a yawn. "Well. Maybe I could at least use a nap. Thank you," Twilight admitted. With that regard, Twilight went off out of the library, and began to head back home to Ponyville. Celestia and Luna wondered a little bit about this "Thunderbird" of hers, as they were aware of all sorts of creatures over thousands of moons, but this didn't sound too familiar to them. At least, not from where Twilight was claiming, anyway. Luna thought it over for just a little bit more, and then she got an idea. "Sister? Would you like to visit Earth again?" Luna asked. "You thought of that too? I wish I could, but the royal summit is just a hour away, and you know I can't miss that," Celestia reminded. "Oh yeah. I'll try to find another time then," Luna decided, beginning to go off herself. "Take care," Celestia replied, just before Luna opened up her wings, and flew out through a window. While she didn't want to push the subject herself, Twilight wasn't the only one who wanted to figure out this unique event out. ~~~~~~ Pre-dawn in Beach City. People were off and asleep in their homes, yet one little Gem dog, Blue, was just getting off outside after some pawing at the beach door. The night was clear, though icy snow still covered the ground along the sandy beaches under Blue's paws. Trotting along the shores, Blue did basically what any dog would do: bring his nose down and explore the beach. Winter brings a bit of lack luster when it comes to smells, so anything worth sniffing out will end up right on his radar. Any dog with his wife range of roaming space is bound to find something in the air for him to sniff out. Even in the cold, the white and blue pooch didn't get bothered too much by the snow under paw. As he neared the Beach City Boardwalk, the area was clear of any real activity aside from winter seagulls asleep in their nests. The street lights were still on, though the sun was rising up into the sky for a new day to arrive. It was still too early for anyone to actually be awake unless they were early birds like Blue here. The bright side: no cars to bug him. Blue kept his walk along the boardwalk with a sharp sense of smell leading him on his way. As far as scents go, Blue had plenty down pact over his stay in Beach City: the seawater from the east, a good smell of sea birds along the docks, a whiff of gemstones scattered about here and there, and varying scents of food and different humans all over. It's good to get the lay of the land if you're a dog. Tonight, many of the scents were mainly the same, if not dulled slightly thanks to the slushy snow around the buildings and Boardwalk due to spread out road salt, but that didn't bother him. In fact, Blue stopped a number of times at these salt patches to see what scents they sucked up. He took another moment to investigate a nearby Beach City fries garbage can for some interesting goodies. Blue got his head in, seeing a number of different fries, pretzels, and other things people thrown away. Him being a dog, he never understood why people would throw this sort of grommet food away. It's going in the same place anyway. Reaching in, Blue just managed to grab a half-eaten pretzel, and went off a few feet before dropping it. He was just about to eat his little prize when - *KAW!* Blue's ears shot up on seeing a pesky crow nearby, standing on the garbage can. It wasn't any seagull, but still as annoying as one. The crow was eyeing his own prize, and Blue didn't want to give it up so soon. Getting up, Blue eyed the crow, but the bird didn't fly off. Seagulls were troubling, but crows are a bit more clever than seagoing birds. The second Blue decided to rush at it, the crow suddenly flew forward in a quick beat of the wing, snatched the catch in its beak, and flew up to the rooftops where Blue can't get it. Not only were crows clever, but they're gutsy as well. Blue looked up to the crow, and watched as it pecked and nibbled at his prize. He was annoyed, naturally, but there was more stuff in the garbage can to take out and search, so he allowed to crow to slide on this one. Blue trotted right on back to the garbage can as the crow enjoyed its own breakfast. As it was, the crow took a extra glance over to the Beach City pier. Up on the roof, there's a good view of the coast for the bird. It could see a good view of it for sure, but as it was, something seemed to be up with some other birds squawking and circling a particular area. It looked a lot more interesting than just some piece of bread, far as the crow was concern. Blue didn't notice the flock just yet, mainly because he was preoccupied at the moment with his garbage can. Could be the crow either wanted to show Blue, or it was by accident, but then the pretzel the crow had ended up landing on Blue's back, getting his attention. After a few more calls, the crow took off, and flew over towards the general direction. Blue looked up to see the commotion, and decided to go and investigate himself. The area along the pier was a lot more active thanks to the many birds now gathered up. Blue had seen the docks plenty of times, but not in this sort of way. On a typical day, there would be some fisherman and a few seagulls gathered up, but this morning, the birds were a bit more active this time, and a ton more than normal. It wasn't the first time this might happen, especially when a fisherman would come home with a large catch, but no fisherman were here this time, and even so, no big catch would just come up this soon in the day. The crow landed down at one of the wooden walkways, following the bird's eyes down to what they were seeing. The very sight of what was really going on made the crow shriek in shock, almost taking off again. Blue caught up with the crow, wondering what was up, when he too looked down into the water. Fish. Lots. of fish. It was like looking into the largest can of sardines just under deck, although the fish species appeared to be such, the slight stopping Blue cold. Hundreds, on hundreds, on HUNDREDS of fish laid dormant in the water below, so thick around the dock that Blue couldn't see the water, or the bottom of the shallow water. This would explain why the seagulls were acting up so early, as many of them were snatching their share in the goods, plucking a fish out of the water like a robin would pluck out worms. Blue, ears tucked back, and tail in between his legs, was simply shocked at the sight of it all. While the crow was a bit surprised on this odd event unlike the seagulls, the opportunistic bird took his chance, and plucked a sardine from the fish group. Blue wasn't sure, but he swore he could see some even wriggling within the dead fish pile! The obvious question to this: HOW? Blue and the crow looked out and they could easily see that they weren't trapped within the pier. If anything, they'd want to stay away from the pier, it being a fishing dock and all, so what was this about? It'll soon be late enough for people within the city to wake up, but Blue needed some more people aware of this. Some Gem, and Pony people. ~~~~~~ The winter day was a sight to behold over at the barn house. The fields, despite it being colder, did get hit with a very slight warm spell that made the snow more solid. With soft snow falling down in small clusters, it made it perfect packing snow. With some chill time, some of the Ponies came over to visit the Gems for some snow fun. Here, Rarity, Steven, and Connie were enjoying some snow sculpting, and the two were busily at work with making their little snow sculpture. Nearby, Peridot and Ruby were actually modeling for them, with Ruby balancing Peridot in the palm of her hand, and Peridot on one foot, and holding a star in her hand. It's a cute, and fun idea for a winter day. "And ... Just. about ... done!" Rarity announced. On the word, Peridot simply jumped off of Ruby's hand, seeing the mirror sculpture of them both. Ruby and Peridot looked it over bit by bit, Peridot scratching her chin and Ruby walking around it. "Come on, let's get a picture!" Steven said. Nearby, sitting on a seat, was a small camera they were going to use, curtesy of Rarity. Steven and Connie stood together over by their creation. However, while they were at the snow sculpture, Peridot had the camera, and she didn't know much about it. She did had a list of instructions though for how one of these earth cameras worked. "Okay, you aim. get the right adjustment, and ..." "Uh, Peridot? you have it -" Steven was a little too late to warn her. One click, and Peridot was suddenly flashed in the face. Her eyes kinda bugged out thanks to the flash, and she was stuck blinded for a tiny bit, dropping the camera, and trying to regain herself. Ruby, having more experience on Earth and what not, got the camera turned around, and took the picture. A good photo finish, though Peridot needed to get her own eyes together. "You okay, Peridot?" Connie asked. "Ack! They should put a warning label on this vision capture machines!" "You mean cameras?" "Whatever! Oh, my vision spheres," groaned Peridot, rubbing her eyes from under her visors. It honestly was no simple toy if it had that kind of sudden flash on it. Still, even with that crazy flash, the picture in the end did come out rather nicely after it was developed. "Well darling, it is a nice little photo op.," commented Rarity, as she looked at the picture in question. As they were going on with the picture, Connie suddenly felt her phone vibrate. Connie was quick to answer her phone. "Hello? Oh, hey Fluttershy - Ok, ok, slow down! Deep breaths, deep breaths ... Aha ... Wha? You sure? ... Ok, got it. Be right there." At this point, Peridot got her eyes properly adjusted and back to normal, as Connie got their attention. "I think we got a problem." ~~~~~~ Down at the pier, things had become more apparent for the dead fish at the dock. Many people from Beach City were now up, and a number of them were out at the docks at this point. In the daylight it was far easier to see the full extent of this fish slaughter scene. The pile itself was packed over around the pier, being washed up underneath the walkways, reaching out up to forty feet from shore. Seagulls were still in abundance, and by the time Connie, Steven, Peridot, Ruby, and Rarity arrived, so was a few of the other Gems and ponies. For an exact list on who was there, there was Sadie, Onion and his father, Greg, Buck, Jenny, Sour Cream, Amethyst, Fulgurite, Bismuth, Sapphire, Blue and his crow, Twilight, and Fluttershy. "Hey dad, what's going on?" Steven called, as they hurried over to see the situation. "It kinda speaks for itself," said Greg, and indeed it did. Kinda hard to ignore literal tons of sardines filling up the pier of all places. Fluttershy they noted was a bit shell shocked, her hooves tugging and stroking her mane in a worried sort of manor. "What in the world?" Rarity gasped, covering her mouth with her hooves upon seeing the fish. "Is this a seasonal event on Earth, or is it a more numerous thing?" Peridot questioned. "You kidding me, right?" Jenny commented. "What, it's a honest question," retorted Peridot. "No, it's not, Peridot. It's the first time something like this happened around here," Greg said, as Onion and Blue leaned in to see the fish, Blue sniffed close to the fish. Greg looked over to Onion's dad. "Yellowtail, you think you can take one of your fishing nets and pull the fish out?" Greg asked. Yellowtail spoke to Greg, but rather than normal words, all that came out was a series of gibberish. "Oh. Yeah, it would get caught in the docks," Greg said. "Shooting down your own idea, Greg?" Fulgurite asked. "Eh, no," Greg replied. Fulgurite looked confused, yet Amethyst nudged Fulgurite. "Got an answer for me?" "Yellowtail's just got his own intelligible chit chat. I call it "Onion talk"," Amethyst said. Sapphire peered over the edge of the dock to the fish under her, alongside Blue, as Ruby went over to her. "Any ideas, babe?" Ruby asked. "It won't take very long," Sapphire concluded. "But how did it even happen? They may not be Equestrian fish, but ANY fish wouldn't drive themselves to do this," Twilight noted. "I'm not entirely sure. I saw this as a possibility, but I'd never guess fate will take this path," Sapphire replied. The crow gave a sudden squawk, as one fish actually breached the water, hitting Blue in the muzzle. Blue stumbled back, laying on his back as the sardine flopped about on the dock. The crow grabbed it, and tossed it into deeper water. "Wait. You saw this happening? How?" Sadie asked. "I have the ability to see into the future." "Why didn't you warn anybody then?" "It's just a possibility I see. The chances of this are extremely low," Sapphire explained. "Better than your dog howling its head off all morning," Sour Cream said. "That was you making that racket?" Steven realized, looking at Blue. All he got was a simple bark from Blue. More gibberish blabbered on from Yellowtail's mouth, the tone more irritated and upset. "No need to fret, Yellowtail. Twilight, if you wouldn't mind lending over some of your magic," Sapphire said. "Say no more," Twilight said. She knew where this was going, and she went right over to the edge of the dock. It was a basic spell she can handle well, and her horn began to glow. A purple aura spread out from under the dock, around the fish, and everybody else stayed off the dock. While the weight was hard to do, she just managed to lift up the hundreds of fish upward in the air. She gathered the fish into a sort of giant ball, and she started to shake up the ball so any live fish could get out and swim away. Amongst the hundreds, about fifty live fish got out and swam off, while the rest of the fish were loaded up onto a nearby fish steamer (where else can she put it?). Yellowtail wouldn't have to go fishing for a while. After that was taken care of, the glowing ceased, and Twilight gave a sigh of relief as she walked back inland. Some of the crowd applauded her as she went in, but Buck looked out to the sea at the other fish ... "Alright then. The fish are taken care of, and we handled some fishing while we're at it," Twilight said. "Poor things," said Fluttershy. "Don't count it out yet," Buck suddenly said, pointing out to the waters. Everyone on the boardwalk just watched, as the fifty living fish suddenly high-tailed it right back to the shallow waters! These fish had a ton more room, but they weren't leaving the pier. Now the situation was a little bit suspicious. Blue hopped into the water to try and spook the fish back out to the sea, but it wasn't working. The sardines only swam in circles like they were in a tank. "They came back?" Connie wondered. It did seem so, and looking down below, the fish tried to keep themselves as far inland as possible while still being in the frigid water. Something was indeed wrong here, and Sapphire herself was seeing a number of things that could happen from this. "Something's keeping them here," Sapphire concluded. "Something? What sort of something?" Ruby asked. Sapphire didn't specify the issue here, but it was clear that something's about to happen. She gave her future vision a sort of quick check, just to be sure. Different sorts of futures came around to Sapphire's mind, though unlike her fusion with Garnet, these seemed a bit more absolute than varied - from mundane to completely obscure. Sapphire kept calm, though she was quick to pick a more obvious choice. In this case, it was pretty much mundane, and nothing too odd happening after that. "Not sure. But it'll be alright," Sapphire said, as Onion looked down to the fish again, this time bringing out a fishing hook from one of the boats, seeing if he could catch one of them. However ... "You sure about that?" Amethyst questioned. "I am." "Then what do you make of that?" The purple Gem aimed a finger up towards where the sun is, but this time something began to show. Only now did any of them notice something else up in the sky, moving up towards the sun. None of them noticed this odd thing beforehand, mainly because it actually had a mirror texture to it, reflecting off the sky to avoid detection. As it moved to the sun, a odd shadow began to get casted over Beach City, coming in from the south and heading up north. Those standing at the pier went off inside apart from Blue and his crow. The shadow came in fairly fast, and didn't stop until the object covered up the sun. For a brief moment, the city was left in the dark, but then that same object had either activated or opened up, because light did eventually came in. However, the light was not just a typical light, and instead the light was a blue aura. Everything around, no matter the color, had a tint of blue on them now! Everyone, regardless of them being there or not, was quick to notice the blue light now covering up the entire Beach City area, and well beyond that. No one seemed to be hurt or suffering any odd affects from the light, but they were still puzzled all the same. Blue and his crow just stood there for a moment or two, contemplating what happened and if they should be scared of this or not. As for the people and Gems, it took them a bit to get themselves outside as well, their bodies all having a tint of blue hue in the new light. "WHOA. Wicked light show," Sour Cream noted, looking around himself. Outta the crowd, only Sapphire seemed to be anywhere normal in color. Speaking of, the Gem was just left in her own state of worry. The chances of the fish coming to shore in such a way was a rare thing, yes, but then for THIS to happen? She was stopped in her tracks. She was speechless ... She was frozen. "Whoa! Ok, I got you," Sadie said, quickly grabbing Sapphire, and pulling her up. Her troubles ended up making a bunch of ice turn up around her, and she would've stayed frozen if Sadie hadn't pulled her out of it. Her skin felt very cold in Sadie's grip, Sapphire having a sort of gritted frown on her face - a sign of deep distress. "Sapphire?" Ruby asked, troubled herself. Sapphire didn't answer at first, but she eventually gave a sigh, and turned to the crowd. "No need to worry everyone. Just go about your day. The Crystal Gems will sort this out," Sapphire advised. Some weren't too sure, but Ruby will believe whatever Sapphire would say, and was all down for it. "Alright, Let's do it," Ruby said. Sapphire saw she was ready to grab her hand, bringing her in for a fusion dance, but before Ruby could start, Sapphire backed up. "That won't be needed, Ruby. It'll be alright. How about you introduce Rubidot to everyone, instead?" Sapphire said. Ruby was a little taken aback by this, mainly for Sapphire refusing to fuse up for Garnet. Then again, Rubidot hadn't shown up in a LONG time. However, Buck, with his open mind, was beginning to sense something else going on with the situation. However, Peridot did blush up on hearing the idea. "Wha?" "It's okay, Peridot. I'll go and search the peak myself," Sapphire said. Before anyone could protest, Sapphire rushed off on her way to investigate the situation. Guess they couldn't really argue with her on that decision. Onion, Blue, and Buck took a sec to watch her go. "Rubidot. Another fusion?" Rarity asked. Ruby and Peridot took a glance to eachother before Peridot cleared her throat. "An accidental fusion, admittedly. But, that's not the main issue here: let's go and have a look around," Peridot quickly said. The Gems did go off to do just that, along with the ponies as well, though Steven stuck around with the others. Blue went over to Steven, a little confused on this odd light, and what might actually happen around here. Guess they're going to check things out today. ~~~~~~ Steven, Connie, and Amethyst went off on their own way, checking around the areas in town for some sort of clue to this odd blue light and what that was all about. The trio checked out over at the big donut first, though it was probably because Amethyst just wanted a bite to eat mainly. The light didn't seem to alter much inside the place, mainly because of the regular lights inside. In the building, Lars was standing inside, chilling at the counter, earphones in and working on a crossword to pass the time. Sadie didn't seem anywhere around yet, or she could be over in the back and out of sight. "YO, carb me up with some donuts," Amethyst said, as she and her friends came in. Lars didn't seem to hear them at first, and Amethyst was quick to notice. She got her arm out to alter it into a claw, but when she did that, she got a good look at her own arm. Turned out (and same thing could be said for Connie and Steven), they were still blue! "What the? I'm still blue? I can't go home like this!" Connie realized. She promised her parents to keep out of trouble, but how would they react to see her completely blue?! Funny enough, that scream got Lars's attention, and he looked up to the three blue people showing up in the Big Donut. "Oh, hey. New body paint?" Lars said. "No, did you even look outside? It's blue everywhere out there," Amethyst replied, thumb aimed to outside. Apparently Lars hadn't noticed anything, since he was a bit preoccupied with his own little work on crosswords. "What the? Oh no, not another freaky day!" groaned Lars. He wasn't much of a fan of this magic stuff, and it's been a long time since a freaky day happened. To him, that was a good thing. All the same, Lars just got to his work. "Ok, what do you want?" Lars asked. "Gimme all your jelly-filled donuts," Amethyst said with greedy lips. Lars, annoyed with the order, just got the whole tray out to give to her. Easier on his part, and easier on Amethyst. Here came the even odder part. So, the light turned things blue, and those that end up blue are stuck blue. But, when Amethyst grabbed the tray, her hand just needed to touch Lars's hand for the other piece to reveal itself. Lars's skin began to turn blue! In no time at all, Lars turned as blue as they were, skin, hair and all. "What the - HEY!" "Uh oh." "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I don't know what happened," Connie said. "I don't care how it happened, FIX IT! Now I'm a freak too!" Lars demanded. Of course none of them knew how. One extra thing was that nothing that was alive seemed to be turning blue, including the tray of donuts Amethyst had. "What's that supposed to mean?" Amethyst questioned. "Not now, Amethyst. Come on, let's keeping looking," Connie suggested. Amethyst gave a short glare towards Lars, before she left with the others. Lars laid his head down on the counter. "And it was going so well, too.," Lars groaned, beginning to feel oddly chilly ... ~~~~~~ Up over at the lighthouse, Peridot, Twilight, Fulgurite, and Ruby were just arriving to see if they can figure things out from here. Any light, or spell, or whatever, would get a pretty good aim from up here. As with many places at this point, the lighthouse was mainly a hint of blue, but the light inside the lighthouse was on, and removing the extra blue light from the inside, so the light from outside might've not affected it. "Okay, so, just be calm, everypony, and we'll be just fine." "You sure we have to talk to this weirdo? He assaulted Spike last time we met this guy," Fulgurite asked. "And we gave him a good talking to after that, I'm sure he'll be a bit more reasonable this time," Twilight said, as she knocked on the door. "You nearly blasted him to the moon with your magic beam." "Like I said, maybe a bit more reasonable." No one messes with her baby dragon and gets away scot free. The four waited outside a bit more, awaiting for the regular visitor to the lighthouse to come down. After a bit, they began to hear someone come down, but he didn't open up the door straight away. They began to hear some sort of extra noise, like a zipper or something, and only then did the door open up. There stood Ronaldo, but in a radioactive jump suit ... "... I don't even wanna know," Ruby commented. "Stay away! You'll spread the virus in here!" Ronaldo demanded, voice slightly muffled from the suit. So that's what he put together from this? "Virus - what? Oh, nevermind. Ronaldo, had you noticed anything odd before the blue light? anything at all?" Twilight asked. If they weren't allowed inside, they could at least ask him. Ruby and Fulgurite were hoping that they wouldn't end up having to listen to Ronaldo's more crazy ideas today, but Peridot and Twilight were more into the sort of thing. Ronaldo though wanted to test a little something first. "Maybe. How do I know you're not trying to trick me just so I get turned into one of you zombies?!" "... Zombies? Seriously? Ronaldo, zombies don't talk, nor do they knock on the door politely, and wait for you to answer," Twilight explained. "Hm ... Point taken. But, before you come in -" Ronaldo suddenly closed the door, and they could hear him going upstairs. After a minute or two, Ronaldo came back down, but with a unaffected mug. "- place your hoof on this." Their only reasonable guess here was that it was to be sure this sort of thing wasn't contact-spread on anything they touch. To calm Ronaldo's nerves, Twilight placed her hoof firmly on the mug, just for nothing to happen to it. Ronaldo didn't want to take off his suit, but he did quickly get them in fast, and closing the door before anymore of the blue light could come in. "Oh great," Ruby groaned. Ronaldo brought them right up to his main base of operations, right at the top of the tower. The place was about the same as it has been: all sorts of conspiracies and other junk around Ronaldo was trying to study and crack. Ruby had a minor memory of the place from a long time ago as Garnet, but the others weren't as deep in with any memory of the place. They go on and looked around the place, trying to find what clue could be behind this sort of blue light. As they were looking, Peridot stopped when she glanced over to one of Ronaldo's many conspiracy studies, finding a rather familiar symbol of diamonds marked up. This picture was what Ronaldo made himself, but not in the current form Gems had been using: leaving a space for one more diamond to be placed in. A number of other schematics were made out, one of which included a picture of a jet plane with the four diamonds in full color on the tail. Red marker circled the bottom diamond symbol, and made an arrow aimed at the current symbol marked up on his drawn out current piece of work ... "So, Ronaldo. You're someone who studies all sorts of odd things, right? Have any idea what might be going on?" Fulgurite asked, snapping Peridot out of it, and having her catch up with them. Ronaldo tried to get his head wrapped around the idea. "There's many possibilities that this could be. I've managed to find something interesting before that may bring forth the origin of this blue plague, check it out!" Ronaldo explained, going through his various pictures. He did eventually find a particular picture to show them, though the picture showed one of Rose's cannons conveniently aimed up to the sun. No, it wasn't convincing, and they knew how the cannon worked. However, other pictures did end up coming out, and falling onto the floor, one of which was quick to catch Twilight's eye. Her magic levitated the picture up for her to see. This picture showed a shot of Yellow Pearl during her visit through Beach City a while back. This one showed Yellow Pearl outside Sour Cream's house, the Gem trying to get her limb enhancer back. What was interesting wasn't the overall picture, but what hid behind her. "Hey guys, come and have a look at this," Twilight said. Fulgurite, Ruby, and Peridot went over to see, and they needed a bit before they saw what Twilight was seeing. Something in the picture seemed to slip away just behind the house. The figure looked very blurred, the colors a bit hard to tell. However, Twilight could make out the unmistakable colors of dark purple, and a strand of sea green. Fulgurite, Ruby, and Peridot weren't too familiar, but Twilight found it rather eerie. She immediately brought the photo over to Ronaldo. "When did you take this?" Twilight asked, almost immediately. "That? Just over a week ago, when another sentient rock visited our world," Ronaldo said. Twilight looked at the picture again. "You mean "Gem"," Peridot corrected. Twilight got her own mind to work, and took a glance outside before nodding her head. "I think we got a lead. Come on, let's show the others," Twilight said, bringing the picture with her. "Give that back, I'm still working with it," Ronaldo said, reaching for it. Suddenly, Fulgurite stopped him when she jumped in between them both, and reaching for his head. Ronaldo was quick to back up, worried that Fulgurite would rip off his helmet to expose him of this "blue plague" going on as he puts it. "Sorry, Ronaldo, but I think it'll work better with us. You go back to your little theories, and we'll work with ours," Fulgurite said, as they left. Ronaldo lost one picture for him to work with, but at least he wasn't affected by the blue light. ~~~~~~ Meanwhile, back over at the beach, Blue was going on his own little look about. Any real clue with this odd blue light had actually gone right over his head, the pup not actually trying to find clues. Instead, Blue took the time to check out outside of Beach City, see what he could find. This blue light however was getting a bit buggy to the pup. Winter hadn't been a problem for him in terms of cold, but now he was getting a chill in his fur. Not normal for a dog like him to handle. The countryside snow was thick, and for the dog, almost to his stomach. Blue had to get his legs to better work, and hop along to keep going through the snow. As for the crow, who had perched up in a nearby tree, the snow was not a problem, and the blue light didn't affect it in coldness like Blue had it. The crow saw that Blue was having a bit of trouble in his wander about, so the bird called for him to come over towards the tree. Blue looked and saw the snow wasn't as thick, and he was quick to go over. Blue shook off some snow from his fur and paws, as the crow flew down to ground level. Blue grown to tolerate the bird for the time being. As he was sitting there, one whiff of the air began to pick up a rather odd scent in the air. Over the smell of the crow over by him, and the land around him, there was a unique scent of fur, and Crystalline stone. A odd mixture only matched by himself. Blue sniffed the air a little more until he got the general direction over towards a area of bushes. Strange, and curious to the gem dog. However, looking more closely, the snow looked a bit too much for him to just go through and see. Lucky for him, the crow was there to help him out. After a few little barks to talk to the bird, the crow took flight in the general direction. The crow flew up in the air for a bit over the area to get a better view, and the sharp-eyed bird looked down to see what was going on. The crow found a good perch in the bushes, just enough to be hidden yet still see what was what. Looking here, there actually was somepony there, and even stranger, the pony did NOT look blue shaded. She had a sort of skin tight body suit, not dissimilar to the designs worn on Homeworld Gems, down to the diamond symbol on her flank. There was a horn on her head, exposed to allow her to use her magic, and her purple and green tail flowed out behind her. She brought her hoof up to her mouth, and started speaking into it. "Star Gem reporting to diamond control, come in diamond control." "Diamond control here. Status on the earth inhabitants?" "Inactive. They're informed to keep to their own lives. They're not involved." "As hoped. Status on the Gems?" "They're investigating the current conditions of the blue light." "Affirmative. Prepare to return to base, Star Gem." "Rodger that." After hearing that, the crow flew off, and went on back to Blue. And once there, the crow squawked up on what it had just heard from this odd pony. Blue felt a bit troubled, for if this pony had something to do with, then this pony had a ton of power in her arsenal. Taking one look over back in the general direction, Blue saw the same pony beginning to gallop away through the snow. The pony didn't notice Blue at first, but she was going right to him, and it didn't take long before she jumped over Blue and the crow, and stopped to only then see them both. Blue got a good look at the hoofed worker, the pony's purple eyes locked onto his. Blue began to whimper, his ears tucked back to show submission. The pony in question didn't take Blue, nor his crow, as an actual threat, so she turned and went on her way. Blue watched her go, and when she was far enough away, he too went off on his way over back to Beach City. This was probably important for them to know about. During his own run, Blue soldiered on through the thick snow again, taking the exact same path he took to get here to make things easier on himself. The crow stuck around with him, actually riding on his back. Even if the cold didn't affect it as much, it still was chilly for the bird to take flight again. Just as well, Blue wasn't enjoying this cold any better. The sooner he can get this done, the sooner he can get home to a nice warm fire. ~~~~~~ "Wait ... Is that? Starlight?" Rarity gasped in shock. After getting the picture from Ronaldo, Twilight and her company went down to Dewey Park to meet up with some of the others. Twilight was quick to show the picture over to Fluttershy and Rarity, who were quick to recognize the signature colors of the unicorn that nearly brainwashed them. The others didn't had too much of a clue, but if it meant a lead to this little mishap, then so be it. "You think she's actually behind this problem?" Amethyst asked, pointing to the blue light covering the sun. "Right now, it's the only lead we have. And she might be able to handle this kind of magic. She took away our cutie marks after all," Twilight said. "She WHAT?!" Peridot gasped, hands over her own cutie mark. Last thing she wanted taken was her special gift. "I thought we agreed to not mention that little event again, Twilight," Rarity said. She had a horrible time without her Cutie Mark, especially when she couldn't figure out what was good and what was bad in design. "No we didn't," commented Fluttershy. "Regardless, we gotta find this Starlight pony and see if she can reverse this ... Wish I knew where she was," Connie concluded. And right on time: Blue barked up a storm as he charged in fast. No way, no how, is Blue going to keep his discovery under wraps. Blue didn't stop running until he was at about five feet from them, skidding to a stop. His crow friend was quick to join him, landing over by the Gem dog. Fluttershy went over to him first, as Blue began to bark his message to Fluttershy. Being a pony to communicate with animals, understanding Blue was no problem for her. Blue barked up where the location was, and the crow squawked what it seem and heard from the pony. "Well, what'd they say?" Steven asked. "O-Oh my. I-I think they found Starlight," Fluttershy revealed, obviously worried. "What?! She's here? Where?" Twilight gasped. The group now up in arms, and Blue quickly got the overall location down pact, and telling the message through Fluttershy. After that, Blue was quick to go off back in the direction he came from. Blue told his crow to stay behind this time, not wanting him hurt like Steven wouldn't want anyone in Beach City hurting. "Come on, maybe we can catch her," Twilight said urgently, taking off into the air to follow Blue. If they can catch Starlight Glimmer, maybe they can get her to reverse whatever hex that is casted up on the sun here. Before anyone else could go off, someone else began to come over to them. "Oh hey. What's up Buck?" Fulgurite asked. "Glad I found you. Any of you seen Sapphire?" Buck asked. Now that it was mentioned, they didn't seem to actually know where she was. "She went off to the peak, remember? She told everyone back at the pier," Peridot reminded. Buck didn't seem convinced though. "You sure she went there for that?" "What do you mean? She wouldn't lie to us," Ruby said. Buck took off his shades to show a concern look in his eyes. "Ruby. You and Sapphire are very close, to have Garnet together for so long. But I think Sapphire knows something that we don't. She wouldn't just insist to stay unfused like that, even if it's not needed to deal with this blue light. She also suggested a possible other half for you before she left, Ruby." The tones had shifted. Buck had a very proper point there. They looked around to eachother a bit, all keeping that in mind. "You don't think she ..." "She did it for your sake, Ruby," concluded Buck. That was enough to convince them of the situation. "Split up: Twilight, you take a group to go after Starlight, I'll go for Sapphire," Ruby urgently instructed. They needed to get their game on now before anything could go wrong, and thanks to Buck, Sapphire's getting her help, no matter if she wants it or not. Soon it was decided: Amethyst, Connie, Steven, Blue, and Twilight went after Starlight. And Ruby, Peridot, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Fulgurite are going after Sapphire. As the groups went off, Buck got back on his shades. Let's see if it works. ~~~~~~ It didn't take too long until Blue got them over to the main spot where he last saw Starlight Glimmer. Apart from some extra tracks, there wasn't much else changed in the spot, but Starlight was moving off last time he saw her, so who knows where she had ended up by now. One good thing about it though was that she left a bit of good tracks leading off away from the scene, so they had that to work with anyway. Twilight flew up into the bitter cold air to see, but she didn't seem to catch anypony around anywhere. Amethyst too changed into a bird and flew up to see. Wherever Blue saw Starlight, she was gone now. "See anything up there?" "Not a thing. If she was here, she's gone now. Still, we got to find where she went," Twilight sighed, as she and Amethyst landed down by them. Steven began to feel a little unfair to just jump on somepony that so happened to be here. "Wait a minute. Twilight? You sure it was Starlight who actually did this?" Steven asked, trying to be fair about the situation at hand. "Maybe she did, or maybe not. But why would she be here? And during this blue light, no less? Sounds a bit suspicious." "But, doesn't that sound a bit unfair? We don't know if Starlight did it or not," Steven pointed out. "We're not concluding that she did this, but the least we can do is ask. Come on, Steven, she can't go too far," Twilight encouraged. Blue seemed to agree, as he was already following the trail left behind by her. The scent was a bit hard to come by, but the tracks were clear enough where it wasn't much of a problem. Steven hadn't met Starlight before, but they might as well at least get her help in this if Twilight thinks so. Blue was a little bit ahead at this point, his nose to the snow under him (call it habit), and following the trail. Suddenly though, Blue stopped, both ears up and at attention. He took a few sniffs to the ground again, but this time his ears tucked back in worry. "What is it boy? Find something?" Steven asked. Instead, Blue suddenly bolted behind the group, trying to get them to move away from the location. Blue was sending that something was very wrong here, and he wasn't having everyone else in the line of fire to find out what that is. Blue even went to pulling on Steven's coat, but they didn't get the idea straight away. Blue didn't mind humans, but it's this that he just can't stand. "Blue, what's wrong?" Steven asked. Blue howled, and ducked down with his front paws covering his head. Obviously there isn't enough time to get through to them. Twilight turned to go back to the trail, but when she did turn, she took a good look at the land ahead ... Something's moving. "Uh, guys?" "What?" Twilight simply motioned towards the moving snow in front of them. It was rather far off, but moving in fast! And, before they could say or do anything else ... *BAM* In a flash, something huge exploded out of the ground below in a flurry of ice and snow. The group ended up buried, popping their heads out of the snow to see what the heck even happened. Enter the opposition. The group were in sight of something unreal. Twenty feet long from tip to tip in, and completely armored in brittle scales, a giant predator had found them. Its scales were mainly blue, though the back was burning red hot. The others could even feel the heat from where they were, although five feet away in snow. It had dozens on dozens of insect like legs, each leg ending in a two toes foot with dagger claws. A set of skin wings spread open like a cobra's hood down the creature's neck. Its head stared them down through a set of large, bug eyes, with a mouth made up of three bony cutters on the bottom jaw, dagger-like teeth at the top, and a set of scissor pincers. It didn't look affected by the blue light, and even if it was, the heat it was producing made it no different anyway. The monster reared back, and gave a spine-chilling, otherworldly roar down at them. This was just so random to show up, and the others didn't know how to react at first. "Didn't see that coming," Amethyst commented. They all snapped out of it when the large monster suddenly struck at them, its head darting down like a snake. They scrambled out of the way just in time, yet the impact split the group up; Blue and Twilight to the left; Amethyst, Connie, and Steven to the right. Being out in the open, there wasn't much room for any cover, as the monster targeted the humans amongst the group. This beast was angry, and relentless. "Dude, incoming!" Amethyst said, getting her whip out fast, and wrapping the end around them to pull them away, just before the beast could swallow them both in another lunge. Amethyst tried to whip the creature back, but her whips just bounced off the creature's hard scales like it was nothing. Twilight quickly took to the air and got her magic to try and fight the beast off with some magic beams. Better distraction, but about as much damage as Amethyst's whips. This gave the trio time to get some cover behind the nearby bushes, as Twilight kept the monster busy. Blue was quick to join them behind the bushes as well. As Twilight kept trying to get some damage, one shot actually got on the beast's underbelly. Turned out the underbelly was soft, and the magic beam got a slight cut in ... It was bleeding. "What is that thing?" Connie asked. "Beats me. It's not a Gem, that's for sure," Amethyst replied. Since when do Gems actually bleed? They all knew Twilight couldn't fight the thing by herself, and the monster was getting more upset. Steven needed a plan, but Amethyst got her own idea. "Steven, why don't we introduce our extra friend to that monster?" Amethyst offered. With her hand extended, Steven knew right away what she meant by that. Steven decided to try, and with a quick grab, they both quickly fused up. Looks like Smoky is coming out to play. Connie stepped back, surprised they would jump to this to handle the problem so quickly. The monster found them, and gave another roar. "Alright, bug boy, you messed with the wrong girl," Smoky said, getting out her Yo-Yo to fight it. While ready to fight, the creature stopped mid lunge on seeing Smoky. It could smell human meat, but with a mix of rock, so it was a little unsure. As for Connie, there was no problem. This small distraction though got Smoky in the fighting zone to protect Connie, the Yo-Yo slamming into the beast's face. The hit stung the beast, and its anger quickly transferred over to Smoky. "K, Connie, stay back and leave this worm to me," Smoky advised. Before Connie could stop her, Smoky rushed right in to help Twilight. The giant worm itself raised its wings out wide, flapping them down to rear back for a longer strike, this time targeting Smoky. "Nice for you, but I already got me a big fan," Smoky joked. Smoky got up her Yo-Yo into a strong spin. With the beast's wings spread open, the wind created from the Yo-Yo was quick to lift the creature higher than normal, just enough to bring it off balance, and toppling onto its back. The beast bellowed on the sudden fall, as Smoky smirked with triumph. Twilight flew over to her, but the beast was far from out, spinning back onto its many legs. Its eyes locked over to Connie and Blue nearby. "Oh no you don't!" Smoky yelled, her Yo-Yo wrapping around the body. However, something started to happen to the Yo-Yo weapon. The back of this creature was so hot, that Smoky's Yo-Yo actually melted! Not to mention the string was quick to catch on fire. Smoky was quick to let go before it could burn her hand, and the beast reared back again. How hot does this thing have to be to boil a Yo-Yo that fast?! The beast struck forward, much harder, and Twilight had to get a magic shield up before anyone could get hit. She did managed to, but the force was very strong for them both, and enough to push them back hard! Twilight stayed standing, but Smoky's foot struck a rock hidden under the snow, and she was suddenly toppling head over heel. Any predator can recognize a fallen victim, and this was no different. Smoky ended up on her back, and the animal was quick to rush for her, nearly trampling Twilight in the process. Like a slithering snake, the giant insect wrapped around Smoky, and got its pincers and jaws right in front of her. Connie, Twilight, and Blue were immediately starting to panic. Connie raced out blindly to help her, but there was not enough time to help her! It sank its jaws and pincers right into Smoky Quartz's body! "SMOKY!" Twilight and Connie gasped. The moment seemed to had frozen in place: the beast around Smoky with its mouth clamped down on the Gem fusion. There wasn't any sound, and they thought that it was a one-hit kill with what kind of killer weapons the creature had on it. Smoky was frozen herself, seeing the beast wrap its jaws open, feeling the sharp pincers in her pudgy body ... "... Heh ... heeheehaHAHAHAHAHA! NO - HAHA - STOP!" Even with the apparently sharp pincers, it wasn't enough to penetrate the chubby body of this Smoky Quartz. Each time the creature shook, or gnaw, or try to get a chunk out of her, it would just jiggle her belly, and make her laugh like crazy. The beast even pushed her around in the snow, but it wasn't having much affect on her in terms of pain. Twilight, Connie, and Blue did not expect this sort of result, but they were relieved that she was alright at least. Eventually, the beast just stopped, disappointed, and giving Smoky a minute to catch her breath. The beast left a slight dent, but no puncture marks anywhere on her. A groan from the beast said that the taste wasn't good either. It moved away from the fusion, and looked over to Connie and Blue again, a hiss escaping its tired jaws. Connie didn't had anything to work with, no weapon to use, no defense against it. Twilight got in the way though, bringing up a shield to protect her. The beast took a moment to rear back, hood open, but the beast began to sense something within the air. It brought its eyes to the sky, to the blue light of the sun. It was fading away. The beast began to feel a change in heat, and so, it began to retreat away under the snow to avoid the warming sun. As quickly as it came, the light started to return to normal up high in the sky. The blue light began to go away, and as such, so did the blue skin on each of the creatures infected by it. As strange as it began, it was over. Connie, Blue, and Twilight quickly went over to Smoky Quartz. Or least, the two people that made up Smoky. Tired, but giddy, Amethyst and Steven were laying in the snow, all smiles. "You two alright?" Connie asked. "Oh, yeah we're fine," Steven giggled, hands over where the beast was gnawing at earlier. Connie was very relieved on hearing that, and hugged Steven. "Oh, Steven, don't scare me like that. I'm so sorry I couldn't help," Connie said. "It's okay, really," Steven replied. Amethyst joined in on the hug as well, as Twilight came over. "Well, we didn't find Starlight. But at least the light's gone. Here, let's head on back," Twilight suggested. "But what about Starlight?" Amethyst asked. Twilight only had to aim her hoof to the mess nearby to make her point. Looking back, the footprints they were following were kinda lost in the scuffle. And even if Starlight was nearby, she would've been too far gone by now to even follow. "Oh. Right." Starlight Glimmer was an interesting concept, and by no means would they forget her, but they won't be able to find her now, thanks to the beast ruining their trail. Twilight did take one more look off away from the others, thinking on Starlight Glimmer again. She hadn't seen her since stopping her anti-cutie mark regime, and if she's running around here, now ... Twilight just sighed. She'll have to come back later on, but for now, it's time they catch up with the others to help Sapphire. The blue light was gone, and that was plenty good already. ~~~~~~ "Yes ... This is the spot." Alone, Sapphire had found the peak she promised the others she'll be in. The peak was quite a bit away from Beach City, and faced over towards the sea, and a forest just off inland behind her. The snow was a bit weaker here, and with the blue light now gone from the sky, Sapphire really had no real reason to be here anymore. The blue Gem was aware of this as well, as she was looking around to be sure that she was indeed alone. Far as she could see, and from her understanding, there wasn't any Gem, human, or pony around the area. Even with the blue light gone, it was something that kept them all busy, and away from her. For Sapphire, she took one more moment to check her Future Vision, to be sure. It didn't change much from when she last checked. What she wasn't aware of, was that Fulgurite was keeping an eye on her. Out of her group, Fulgurite arrived first, yet she kept out of sight to see what'll happen to her. Her main cover: some thick bushes nearby. Sapphire didn't seem to notice that anyone was there, and simply aimed her gaze up to the sky. "Ok, Sapphire, what're you up to?" Fulgurite wondered, as she watched Sapphire. The blue Gem took some more time to look around in the sky above her, for some reason, as if expecting something to come down. As she was doing this, the others begin to catch up. "Can't you wait for us for just a minute?" Ruby complained. "Sshh, quiet," Fulgurite said, pointing out to Sapphire. They didn't really know what she was trying to do, but they kept an eye on her anyway, trying to see what'll happen. Then they got it. "There she is!" A voice suddenly called. After just a while more, something started to appear around Sapphire, from apparently nowhere. Those hidden in the bushes didn't had any clue what was going on. Sapphire stayed completely still, and soon she was beginning to get surrounded by some other figures, apparently falling from the sky down to surround her. These figures looked like Rubies in a way, but much lighter in color. They all wore the typical Homeworld uniforms, though their diamonds were not blue, now yellow, but instead simply white. Where did these other Gems actually came from is unknown right now, yet Sapphire didn't even try to run away when they showed. Amongst them, there was another, more unique looking Gem amongst these Ruby look-alikes. This Gem had light gray skin, with a mix of light lavender. Her hair had a mix of purple, gray, and black, and it looked similar to a typical Quartz Gem in hair, though it did looked tossed to one side. Like the others, she had on a rather elite-looking Homeworld uniform, including visors over her eyes. Her gemstone was pitch black (despite the purple colors in her design), and located on her chest in a pentagon shape. "So. You came in strength." "You know I did. Are you the Crystal Gem Sapphire?" she asked. "Correct," Sapphire responded. "Right. And those other traitors of yours? Renegade Pearl, Bismuth, the Rose Quartz?" she questioned. Sapphire looked down to her feet. "No others. There's only me." "Eh? Really?" questioned the Gem, genuinely curious. Sapphire just nodded. "Yes. They all died during our five thousand years here. None of us had enough experience here to survive -" Sapphire took a moment to wipe away a tear from her face. "- until I was only left." "Oh ... Well, dang. K, squad, cuff her," she ordered. "Yes, Onyx," they said, nodding to each other, and proceeding to close in on her. Those hiding were getting more and more troubled on what was going on, as the other Gems went right on, and held her down. Ruby especially wanted to go out and save her, but Rarity actually had the nerve to use her magic to keep her quiet and back out of sight. They clearly could see Sapphire didn't want them there for a reason. "Ruby, hush. Maybe it won't be so bad, hehe," Rarity said quietly, trying her best to calm her down. "Alright, Sapphire, you're under arrest for rebellion against Homeworld, and disobeying your Diamond," the leading Gem announced. "M-Maybe it is that bad," Fluttershy squeaked. While they were scared, Ruby had a sudden realization moment. Throughout the year, Sapphire kept putting Ruby away from her, more than usual, and putting her with a different Gem to get used to. It happened during her training, it happened on Homeworld, and it happened to form Rubidot. Ruby wondered why Sapphire would keep doing that to her, after being together for so long. In particular, she put her with Peridot time and time again, a Gem she, admittedly, grew more fond over time. Now they both could see why ... "Goodbye, Ruby ..." In a fit of rage, Ruby finally broke free from Rarity's magic restraint, but by the time she did, Onyx began to fiddle with her arm, a device on it that seemed to be a teleporter of some kind. By the time Ruby was finally running, the teleportation was activated. Ruby lunged to save her, but the teleport was too fast for her, and soon, she slammed into the Earth. Onyx, Sapphire, and the squad were gone ... "SAPPHIRE!!!!!!"