"Oh, buck up Rarity, you can figure this sort of thing out."
Over in her boutique, fashionista unicorn Rarity was in quite a rough spot. Up in her room, and trying to figure out what to use, Rarity went through outfit after outfit, trying out the best options to do but so far she couldn't seem to figure out any exact outfit or style to actually get right. Many of her outfits would normally do the job but this was a bit important. Rarity stood still over at the mirror, outfits levitated to her by her magic. Rarity went through several outfits by this point, still not able to actually figure anything out amongst it all. Unfortunately, 'no trouble' was a complete lie, and Rarity just groaned and tossed the last outfit aside over to a pile of outfits. Judging by the tall outfit stack, it had been a good while. As she was doing such, Sweetie Belle came in, tired and apparently woken up from her sister's racket.
"Rarity, what're you doing?" Sweetie asked, yawning during her question. However, her tired eyes shot open when Rarity was in her face.
"What am I doing? Sweetie Belle, tomorrow I'm expected to go off to Homeworld, and I HAVE to figure out a better impression," Rarity explained, going through some more clothes to figure something out. It did sound urgent, even if Sweetie Belle had never visited Homeworld. In her look, Rarity tossed a dress over Sweetie's head, which to her looked pretty good already.
"Why not this one? It looked great over at the summer sun celebration," Sweetie suggested, showing Rarity the dress. Rarity's eyes examined the dress for a moment, but then she looked at the time she had, looking out the window at the late day.
"Thank you, Sweetie Belle," Rarity decided. Sweetie considered it a victory for her, and probably good enough for both sisters to go to sleep. Rarity got it all set up and good to go on a mannequin not too far away. Rarity altered it with her magic a little bit to make it look good for her scheduled visit, the dress looking perfect at the end.
"Now can we go to sleep?" Sweetie asked after another yawn escaped her mouth. Rarity didn't mean to wake Sweetie Belle up.
"Oh, of course. Have a good night, sister," Rarity said, as Sweetie Belle went off back to bed. Rarity took one more look to the outfit, and satisfied with the selection, she turned off the lights and went off to bed herself. She put on a sleep mask, tucked herself in, and with reassurance of tomorrow went right off to sleep.
*hisssss*
(next morning)
The whole night felt like the best sleep Rarity had, and such a good thing for her too. Hearing the morning birds chirping outside, Rarity gave a good yawn and got herself up. She gave a good stretch in bed, got the covers off of her and got out of bed after taking off her sleep mask.
"Ah, what a wonderful night. My mane sure feels light this morning ... Oh, no matter, it'll just make it easier," Rarity said to herself, as she got onto her outfit. She trotted over to the full length mirror, and got the outfit on with her eyes closed. But once she opened her eyes. ...
The scream heard from round Ponyville.
.......
Off out of Ponyville, and over by the Warp Pad, the rest of the ponies were waiting to head off. Most of the Mane six were there, Spike too, but Rarity for some reason wasn't anywhere around. Not exactly something Rarity would normally would do. They all had somewhere to be, and Rarity not showing up was not only weird, but a bit concerning at the same time.
"Come on, where is she? She couldn't be late," Rainbow groaned.
"We'll give her one more minute," Twilight decided.
"OK, EVERYPONY, I'M HERE!"
And not a moment too soon. Not a moment after Twilight said there, Rarity made it to the scene, tired but glad to be there. Well, sorta. Everypony there took one look at Rarity and found something was not right, the unicorn almost completely covered in a black cloak, covering up a whole lot of her with the exception of her face. Yeah, not the usual outfit Rarity would wear. Rarity looked frazzled, a little winded, but she was okay aside from that apparently.
"Uh ... Rarity? Is everything okay?" asked Fluttershy.
"Oh, uh this? I just thought of going uh ... incognito. You know, I mean how long has it been since we last seen Homeworld? All that unwanted attention," Rarity said, trying to pull it off as such. However, none of the group really bought that idea for a second. It was Pinkie Pie who popped up in front of her and swung off the hood so they could see what was going on.
One word: shocking. Her mane, which was once primped and put to perfection was left in nothing but sheds and strands! Her purple mane had been severely tampered with, patches of purple mane left in uneven cuts, and wherever the mane was missing was left in purple spots and nothing else. Clearly a horrid change in her mane. And when everyone saw this, a cringe was almost impossible not to show, Pinkie the most dramatic and jumping back in shock. Rarity knew it was bad, but really?
"Goodness everypony, you could at least pretend it's not that bad," Rarity groaned, her hoof pushing the longest strand of mane.
"Kinda hard to," Spike commented.
"Oh, I can't go to Homeworld like this! What in Equestria even happened to me?" Rarity mourned. Applejack went over to her.
"Alright, don't get your tail in a knot. I gotcha," AJ said. she moved some of the hair to the center, and she tossed her own hat over her head, trying to hide her mane. However, it just didn't seem to work, and some purple mane still stuck out from the bottom of it. Rarity shook off the hat in despair.
"I can't go to Homeworld in some hat, what would they think when I show up there like this?! And on the day they wanted us there too," Rarity cried. The odds this to be happening right on the spot may seem like a out of coincidence thing, but some of the Ponies didn't think so. Still, Rarity didn't feel any better from the main fact itself that was for all to see. It was then that Rarity suddenly got an idea, and threw herself at Twilight's hooves.
"Twilight, your magic! Can't you give back some semblence of my mane?!" Rarity asked. Twilight though was a bit concerned about the request.
"Rarity, uh ... I don't think that's such a good idea. Making a mane from the tip of a hat is especially tricky. Sorry," Twilight said. Rarity sobbed and laid on the ground.
"Look, we'd love to help you but this is very important. I promise we'll help you with your mane the minute we get back."
"I CAN'T GO! What do you think I've been saying?! It's not like somepony's gonna fill in for -" Suddenly, everypony got the exact same idea, and all eyes drew to the young dragon standing next to the Alicorn. Spike looked to everypony around him, and he too got the idea, but he got nervous when he did.
"Oh, maybe I should just -" Suddenly, Rarity threw herself at Spike next, tears streaming down her face.
"PLEASE, Spike! Somepony has to go, and you're the most trusting little dragon I know! PLEASE, for the love of Celestia, pleeeeease," Rarity cried. Spike had his troubles about the situation but he hated seeing Rarity sobbing and all broken up. If one pony ended up missing, and if he went maybe it could make things easier for the Mane six altogether. Maybe even the Crystal Gems too with how much they were dealing with. Soon, a confident smile beamed on his face.
"It'd be my pleasure," Spike decided, sounding brave like a knight. However, it was short-lived when Rarity suddenly had a very tight up on him. Well, Rarity was happy about it.
"OH, thank you, Spike, you're the absolute best! How can I ever repay you?"
"Not cut me in half," Spike choked.
"Deal." Rarity then released Spike and allowed him a chance to breathe. It was rare for Rarity to act like this, but Spike wasn't going to leave Rarity distraught over the whole thing. With that decided, Spike climbed up onto Twilight's back. He felt his back snap a few times from the hug, but he was okay all and all.
"I know you hadn't been in Homeworld before, Spike. It'll be okay, I promise," Twilight reassured him. For spike that was the reassurance he needed, and soon the group went over to the Warp Pad and readied to get themselves moving. Rarity felt especially grateful, but she still had her mane to sort out, and with her friends now on their way to Homeworld, she only had one other group of magical friends to possibly help sort things out for her. Soon, after the rest of the ponies teleported off to Homeworld, Rarity got onto the Warp Pad and then went right off to Steven's Earth.
And not a moment too soon, once again, as two familiar snakes slithered out as soon as they went away, snickering all the while.
"Did you see the shock on that muzzle? Honestly, the ways some creatures react to the simplest of things," Cyanide giggled.
"Especially childish, I agree. Now, which do you want to follow? Homeworld, or Earth?" asked Acid. Cyanide took a moment to think, scratching her head with her tail. However, both of which sounded pretty good, she wasn't too sure.
"Let's flip to see," Cyanide decided, Acid agreeing. Acid then got a stone off the ground, and bit into one side of it to leave a mark onto it. A simple game of heads or tails to see where they would end up. Acid flicked the stone up into the air, and soon it bounced off the ground a few times, and landed on the blank side.
"Homeworld it is," both hissed.
~~~~~~
Speaking of Homeworld, the Mane six were soon at the planet in question, and heading on their way towards the Yellow Diamond city. It had been a VERY long time since either pony had even entered Homeworld, and based off what the Crystal Gems had told them with Blue Diamond, it was probably a good thing. Yet, so there wouldn't be any trouble, they had to go here once they got the message. Still, as they went on through the main streets, they couldn't help but try to think about why they would be coming here.
"Who wants to bet that it's White Diamond who's calling us here?" Rainbow asked as they neared the center of the city.
"Beats me, but White Diamond's always got something planned for anypony, so it might be her," considered Applejack.
"Regardless on who it was, it's probably best we try and -" Twilight paused when she glanced over towards Spike on her back. Spike was feeling pretty feeble at the moment, his eyes darting back and forth at the many Gems going around the city. Regardless of which type of Gem, what any looked like, or whatever, their Gemstones were making Spike feel a bit ... well, puckish. And he knew straight that it was a bad thing for him, especially in a world full of gemstones.
"Spike!" Twilight said, catching his attention. The dragon shook his head and looked more focused, but Twilight knew that something was wrong with him.
"Eh, you girls go on ahead, I'll be with you in a minute," Twilight said. The others started going off and Twilight took Spike aside, placing him down away from the others.
"Everything, ok, Spike?" Twilight asked.
"No, I'm just peachy," Spike insisted, putting on a nervous smile. Twilight knew better than that though, looking at Spike with knowing eyes. Spike's eyes kept seeing other Gems and he kept getting distracted.
"I-It's these Gems. Dragons back at home eat gemstones, and I'm a dragon. How can I control myself with these walking Gems everywhere?" Spike asked, starting to freak out. Twilight suddenly realized how much of a danger that actually was, eyes widening and a hoof to her forehead.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. Well, it's too late to go back now we're here."
"But what am I going to do? If I try to eat anyone, the Diamonds will be angry, a-and I can't explain anything, and they'll have me locked up or banished, or worse!"
Spike started to imagine the scenario playing out in his head, him sitting in some sort of chair in a restraining jacket and muzzle, sitting in front of the Diamonds as he was stuck in some heavily wired, electrified cage like a highly venomous animal. None the less, Spike was freaking out, his breath in heavy, short pants. Twilight went right over to him and placed a wing on his shoulder. The young dragon looked up to Twilight.
"I know you like snacking on gemstones, but those are Equestrian jewels, not Homeworld beings. And don't forget you promised Rarity to take her place while we're here. All you have to do is go through one meeting with the Diamonds, and you'll be right back home before you know it, ok?" Twilight reassured him. Spike climbed up onto her back again, feeling only slightly better.
"Okay, Twilight, hehehe heeeh ..." his smile with his laughing soon faded away. If he could just hold off his gem eating habits until after it's all over, then he should be home free. Still, he didn't know how many Gems would be there, nor how long it'll actually go, so that was going to be a bit of trouble for him.
What was a baby dragon to even do?
~~~~~~
"Are you feeling any better, Connie?"
Back at Earth, things had calmed down a little bit between Steven, Connie, and Amethyst after their last little venture in Griffinstone. At the moment in the Beach House, Steven was chatting on the phone with Connie, checking in on her current status. In the room too, some of the others: Diopside, Pearl, Amethyst, Blue and Star were basically relaxing a bit. Well, Diopside, Blue, and Amethyst were as Pearl took time to fold some clothes, something she enjoyed doing one way or another. Star Quartz was giving Pearl a hand with the laundry, following her example as best she could.
"I'm feeling great, Steven. Just a few bandages was all it needed. How's Amethyst?" Connie replied over the phone.
"Amethyst? Yeah, she's feeling better, aren't you Amethyst?" Steven asked. He looked to Amethyst, who gave a smile and a thumbs up to him. Steven added in "Yeah, she gave me the thumbs up. You want to come over?"
"I wish I could, Steven, but mom planned to give me another checkup. She's feeling worried about me again," Connie admitted.
"That's okay. After what happened with you and Amethyst, I'd be worried too. I hope we can meet up soon. You, me, and Amethyst," Steven hoped.
"Looking forward to it. See you later," Connie replied. With that, Steven hung up the phone, and placed it over by his bed.
"AH, this is much better, ain't it dude? Relaxation, chilling out with your best friends and without any -"
*BAM*
"- surprises."
Even before she could finish Amethyst ate her own words at the Beach House door swung open, Rarity standing there with her cloak still on her and covering her mane. No way was she going to go through town with such a shaggy mane job. Still, the door swinging open did startle a good amount of them, Blue jumping to his paws the second the door slammed.
"Oh, good, you're still here."
"What's up with you? You look like you saw a ghost or something," asked Amethyst. Rarity had to gather courage to just get it out.
"Well, let's just say whatever decided to practice wasn't the no#1 hairstylist," Rarity said humbly.
It was then she presented her mane to everyone there. Same as before, everyone there looked appalled and shocked, Blue even yipping and bolting to Steven's bed, as if he saw the scariest thing in his life.
"REALLY now, how hard is it to pretend it's not so bad?" Rarity asked sadly.
"Hard," admitted Amethyst.
"Is this something normal for Ponies?" asked Star Quartz.
"NO, it is not. And to think this was on the exact same day as our Diamond meeting too. Can't any of you use your own magic to bring my mane back from this baldness?" Rarity pleaded, hoping for some sort of good answer. Pearl though looked a little troubled.
"Eh ... I'm not entirely sure. making any sort of object come to pure existence from projection alone is -"
"TRICKY, I know, I don't care. Make with the tricks!" Rarity pleaded, looking ready to go crazy at any moment. None of them were willing to leave Rarity hanging in such a way, so Pearl got up and decided to give it a try. Pearl focused her energy into her Gemstone as much as she could muster, focusing a image projection right on Rarity's head. Pretty soon, Rarity found that she had a full head of hair, light blue and modeled up just like her hair was originally. At first Rarity was pleased with the result, but when she tried to stroke it, the mane glitched out like mad until it disappeared back into the current mane. So much for a simple fix of that.
"Here let me try," Diopside suggested. Time to show another little interesting power of hers: Her Gem eye started tp seep out what they first thought was more acid, but however this stuff appeared less acidic and more like gel or goo. Solidified basically. She got the gel into her hands and rubbed them together. Pretty soon, she started to work on Rarity's mane.
"Okay, let's see ... a little up here, just a bit off the top, uh ... maybe a little twist over there, and ... I think I did pretty good. Here, anyone have a mirror?"
Diopside was soon given a good hand mirror, and Rarity saw what Diopside had done. While it was a nice try, the hairdo Diopside tried on her just didn't really look like hair in anyway, and not just because of the gel itself. She was left with this hairdo-like green goo stuck on her head, only barely resembling the mane she once had. It didn't entirely help that some goo dripped off of it either. Rarity looked almost disgusted for a tiny but, but mostly troubled.
"This won't do. I need an actual mane!" Rarity cried.
"We can't make a mane out of nothing, Rarity. I don't know, but that sounds disastrous even for an alicorn to do," said Pearl.
"MORE DISASTROUS THAN THIS?!" Rarity made her point by slamming the goo off her head, her horrid mane shooting back out into the limelight.
She had a lot to do if it meant to get her mane back.
.......
The efforts to restore Rarity's grand mane had been ... well, bothersome. Since their first attempts, the results had not gone anywhere. Their efforts took them from the house and to the lighthouse. They'd try the barn, but they couldn't use that too much anyway until Lapis decides to come out, so anything useful inside the barn was out of the question. Not that there was anything good at the Lighthouse, but it was out of town anyway. Amethyst took some of her time to get through some stuff in her room and bring some wigs for Rarity to try out, but according to the pile nearby, most of them didn't really seem to fit all too well.
"Come on already, there's got to be one wig you'll take," amethyst groaned, giving Rarity one more to try. Rarity levitated it and got it over her mane remains. At first, the wig looked fairly decent on her, but unfortunately this mane, being old and ragged itself, just didn't seem to suit too well with that. She tried to stay cheerful but when a spider then crawled out of it -
"AAHHH!" Off that wig went. It looked good, but she wasn't gonna wear a wig with spiders in it.
"Oh, it's no use. This horrid presence will not go away anytime soon," Rarity said, laying down with ears tucked back in defeat. A bit of a problem indeed, and this unicorn just couldn't figure anything out with what to do. Diopside finally had enough with seeing Rarity so stressed over this.
"Rarity, listen, having a beautiful mane is a wonderful thing, but it's not the only thing," Diopside made clear. Rarity looked up to Diopside.
"But this -"
"Is nothing. Rarity, you're talking to a Gem who has been corrupted for thousands of years, you really think that someone like me: a monstrous centipeedle, is going to turn you away because your mane's slightly wrong?" Rarity realized that she was right: here she was crying over her mane and here was a Gem who's whole being was altered for centuries on end. Who's she to start complaining?
"That, and did you forget how much you've done already? The mare who helped save Equestria dozens of times, the mare who helped many of us feel beautiful with her touch, the mare who cut off her own tail for a sea serpent for stars' sake! Your mane had nothing to do with that ... we're all your friends, Rarity, mane or no mane." Diopside finished her little speech with a hug to the unicorn. Rarity looked to the others and they all agreed on that, nodding their heads. Rarity started to see the flaw in her mistake.
"My Celestia, you're right. Where was my head? Thinking my whole life's been stopped by some silly mane issue! It's not going to change the real me," Rarity realized, her hoof pushing a part of her mane again. Before this could continue on any further, they then started to hear someone coming over to them: Flint and Jade.
"There you are! We've been looking for you," Flint said. It was here though that both of them noticed Rarity's ... troubling situation. Rarity expected them to cringe or something, but they didn't even pay that much mind.
"Wait ... you're not bothered at all?"
"If you wanted that, don't get your hopes up," said Flint.
"See? told you so," Diopside whispered. That did make Rarity feel better, but Flint and Jade had some more pressing matters in mind.
"So what's up you two? Any luck in that snake hunt?" asked Amethyst.
"Actually, I think so," Jade said.
"Garnet got us over to Rarity's boutique after you ponies left town for that Diamond meeting, and look what we found up in Rarity's bedroom," Flint added in. Jade then pulled something out of her pocket, and then pulled out something that made them gasp in surprise. In Jade's hand, it turned out being a scale. And with a movement of her wrist, it made out two distinctive scales: one lighter green over the other. Rarity levitated the scales to her own eyes to examine them, putting two and two together in her own head.
"OH, they did not," Amethyst said. Steven nodded his head, agreeing with the common answer, as Rarity started to feel a flame inside of her grow. Her eyes narrowed, and her teeth grinded together.
"... Permission to go after them? ..."
"Permission grant - whoa!" Rarity didn't waste anytime, and before Flint could even finish, Rarity stormed off fast, Jade spinning in place she went so quickly.
"Eh ... should we stop her?" Flint asked.
"NOPE." was the overall response.
~~~~~~
With the teleportation activated, the Mane Six and spike were now from the streets of Homeworld and now inside the Diamond castle. What did the diamonds have in mind for them, they had no idea, but in the end they couldn't just ignore it either. When they got to the main palace room though, there wasn't any Diamond present. The only Gem there actually was both White, and Yellow Pearl.
"Ponies, there you are. Our glorious, wonderful Diamonds had been expecting you."
"Cool. ... where are they?" Rainbow asked. She didn't really see much of anything besides the two Pearls, so why would they be called in with the Diamonds not present.
"They'll be a moment, just go and get comfortable and ... do whatever you do," White Pearl said. Spike found himself looking directly at the Gemstones again. Spike was trying to keep himself under control, Twilight keeping close to him and bringing him off to the side in case something would happen. Twilight lifted spike up with her magic just to be sure he wouldn't get in any trouble.
"Spike, snap outta it, you'll be okay," Twilight said.
"B-But ... they smell so good," Spike said, his nose taking a few sniffs, as if he was smelling some delicious cookies. Being a dragon had its drawbacks, and being stuck in a room full of fresh, delicious looking Gems didn't help all that much at all. He didn't have anything to bring with him to calm his greedy gem-wanting belly.
"Calm down, squirt, you'll be fine. Just try to think of something else," suggested AJ. What else could Spike do?
And not a moment too soon either: as the Mane Six started to hear some other Gems come in. Pretty soon, White Diamond and Yellow Diamond both made their return, and went over to the center of the room, confronting the Mane Six. Spike had enough trouble with seeing the Gems outside, but the second he saw the Diamonds standing tall in front of him, he was simply stuck in a daze staring at their perfect Gemstones. It didn't help that White Diamond's fleet of Pearls followed them in. Yellow did not look very calm, and seemed rather stressed out over what had been going on, as White Diamond stayed her usual collected self. Spike had to keep himself hidden behind the ponies and keep his focus concentrated away from the rest of the Gems in the room.
"So. Twilight sparkle ... I notice one of your group is missing. I instructed you to bring all of your "Mane Six"," White Diamond started.
"She couldn't make it. So, she had us bring a representative," Twilight explained, the group stepping aside and showing them tiny Spike. Spike didn't even realize they moved out of the way until after a bit, and all he did was smile nervously and wave shyly at them.
"... That's her representative?" Yellow questioned, cringing slightly at seeing the troubled dragon.
"... Yep, that's me," Spike said quickly, trying to keep himself calm. He tried to focus on the diamonds themselves, though he couldn't help but feel conflicted with his dragon instinct to eat gems, and the sheer size of the Diamonds compared to him. He tried to look up to their faces, just for him to fall back on his rear, staring up at White Diamond and the gemstone on her forehead. If her wasn't troubled before he sure was now, and cold sweat went down his body staring at her. After a little bit of studying Spike, White Diamond got to the point and took a seat on Yellow Diamond's throne (not that Yellow Diamond didn't mind that, but said nothing).
"So. Has these weeks been beneficial to you?" asked White.
"Uh ... I guess? Beneficial how?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, just in events as of recent. Word has gone around that a few troublesome ... snakes, had been giving you and company a bit of a run, hmm?"
"Darn right they have!" Rainbow suddenly snapped. Yellow Pearl jumped on the yelling, but all the White Pearls remained quiet.
"I see ... and the Cluster had been taken care of. That true?"
"Right there, too. And just moments before the big bang," Applejack said. White Diamond continued on with her questions, seemingly impressed by that answer. She had heard of some of the rumors, but never really considered it fact.
"I see. ... An eventful year, I must say," White Diamond said, as one of her Pearls wrote it all down.
"You're telling us. And what have you been up to?" asked Rainbow. If it was just going to be a catch-up day, then they might as well check in on her too.
"Me? Oh, just going around the galaxy and handling colonies, nothing too special. Though one colony did give me a bit of complaints about some of her "prisoners" busting out during your winter," White diamond explained. The ponies felt humbled.
"You don't say," said Twilight. Lucky for them, White Diamond didn't bother with that too much. However, Yellow diamond finally spoke.
"Uh, sorry White for the interruption, but can one of you check on your friend there? Or is his kind known for excessive liquid secretions like that?"
Spike was stuck drooling a pool around himself, his eyes staring off right to the Gemstones of the Diamonds. He snapped out of it and quickly shook off the dog-like slobber from his jaws.
"Nope, nope, I'm good over here!" shouted Spike, freaking out a little bit. A bad impression now would end up making them all go into trouble!
"Pearl, keep a sharper eye on him. Bring him outside," Yellow diamond instructed. Yellow Pearl understood, and she took Spike and isolated him away from the others. Spike couldn't help but feel a little bit troubled, freaked out even, as Yellow Pearl pushed him out of the room and the doors closing behind them. Spike tried to go back to Twilight, but all he got was the door slamming in his face.
"It's your own fault with your ... secretions," Yellow Pearl said, disgusted in that to begin with, as she wiped some of the saliva off of her.
"Ok, ok ... sooooo ... how long am I gonna be out here?" Spike asked.
"Until further notice," said Yellow Pearl.
Oh goodie.
Things turned into a bit of a waiting game for Spike. The poor dragon was simply stuck outside as time ticked on by, with Yellow Pearl simply standing there and watching over him like a guard. The longer he waited alone, the more troubled he was feeling, especially with a potential snack standing right next to him.
"I have to get away from here," Spike thought. His eyes darted back and forth from Yellow Pearl and to the corner of the main hall, and he slowly started to sidestep bit by bit.
"AHEM!" Yellow Pearl suddenly said, catching him going off. Spike froze up on the spot with that single remark, spinning around.
"I-I wasn't moving!" Spike insisted. Yellow Pearl was in no mood for any of Spike's games.
"Oh please, I saw you sneaking away."
"Oh, uh well ... I just need to use the bathroom real quick." Spike was running out of ideas, and that seemed like the perfect excuse.
"... What's a bathroom?" Yellow Pearl questioned.
No. No it's not a good reason. Not good enough to get the dragon a pass and to leave. ...
*hisssss*
The troubles were not over here. Spike and Yellow Pearl looked around outside for the source of the noise, and eventually Spike looked too the corner and saw something peeking out from the corner. Yellow Pearl began to move to the door, just for one of these figures to suddenly pop up in her way. Spike and Yellow Pearl were the next targets for Acid and Cyanide to play around with.
"Dear, oh dear. Having a bit of trouble, Spike?" asked Acid. Spike stepped back and went behind Yellow Pearl.
"Who're you two? My Diamond didn't call you to come here," Yellow Pearl questioned.
"We don't need an invitation. We're all friends here," hissed Cyanide.
"I seriously doubt that," Yellow Pearl commented. Acid slithered around Yellow Pearl, and spooked Spike out into the open.
"Goodness, Spikey-Wikey, you surely do have trouble keeping it together, aren't you?" asked Acid.
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about," Spike insisted, but his nervousness made this all too easy.
"We both know well what I'm talking about: your need for Gems. Right?" Cyanide asked.
"What are you talking about?" Yellow Pearl asked, not amused at all. Spike was getting even more freaked out, and if Acid and Cyanide were going to spill this can of beans, then it could cost everything. Both snakes looked more than ready to say the details when ...
"YYYOOOOU!!"
Oh no. Looking off down the same hallway again, there stood what appeared to be the angriest unicorn on the face of Homeworld. Rarity stood there in a pant, as if she ran all the at there, and she still had her cloak covering her mane and tail. And LORD did she looked ticked off. Acid and Cyanide planned for many a caper, but not this one.
"And look who decided to join us, at last," Acid hissed, a little giggle escaping her. But Rarity wasn't in the mood for any games with these snakes.
"You two think this is funny?!" Rarity roared. Both snakes jump back.
"Dramatic, aren't we? Just because your mane's a little messed up."
"... Messed up. ... DOES THIS LOOK MESSED UP TO YOU?!" Rarity roared, removing the cloak to reveal her horrid mane. She didn't mind the mane after Diopside explained things to her, but that didn't mean she wasn't mad at Acid and Cyanide for their little joke. Both snakes backed up slowly, and Yellow Pearl cringed at the horrid sight of her mane. To make matters worse ...
"What is the noise? We're in the middle of our get-together."
The doors opened up wide, and soon Acid and Cyanide were in sight of not just the Mane Six, but also both Diamonds! Any fancy trick now wouldn't do them any good, and they all saw them well enough too.
"These two hooligans trespassed into your castle!" Yellow Pearl reported. No that didn't help the snakes out very well. White Diamond and Yellow diamond stared them both down, the snakes more humbled than they ever were.
"... Are these those snakes you all were mentioning?" White asked.
"You bet they are!!" Rainbow shouted. Acid and Cyanide had to cut this trip short, but Yellow Diamond was quick to grab them, gripping both snakes tight so they wouldn't get away. They had been caught and slithered out, but they weren't getting away this time. Yellow Diamond had the culprits, and she looked almost as angry as Rarity was.
"You got some nerve coming back here. ... Now you're going to tell me. ... Where. Is. Blue. Diamond?" Each word was a stab on their confidence, both snakes withdrawing and almost trembling. Like Gilda's roar times three. However, both snakes snapped out of it.
"Now, we could tell you. But what would really be the point? After all, with how much time she had -"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Yellow roared. And to make sure she meant business, she brought up her other hand and suddenly it began to charge up. Acid and Cyanide were suddenly zapped with lightning, both snakes screeching and fidgeting from the electricity. The attack made everyone cringe, with the exception of White Diamond herself. Acid and Cyanide went stiff like sticks after that, falling over onto Yellow Diamond's palm. This Diamond was in no mood to mess around.
"Let's try this again: WHERE IS BLUE DIAMOND? No tricks, no fancy lies, now tell me!" Yellow demanded. After getting themselves almost killed like that, both snakes were smart enough to know when enough was enough. They gave them enough trouble anyway, plus they were basically found out.
"Ok, ok, We'll tell ya. You wanna find your Diamond, go to the Wonder Hole," Acid instructed.
"... Don't joke with me."
"We're serious this time! It's Grootslang's cave: an elephant graveyard and Gem jackpot site in the middle of the African Desert," explained Acid.
"Go to the Warp Pad site in the desert and head south until you find the first river, then follow it opposite of the flow to the cave. you'll know when you see the hundreds of elephant bones by the entrance. It's like his calling card," Cyanide added. White Diamond looked them both in the eye just to be sure if they were telling the truth or not, but these singed snakes weren't going to risk another strike ala lightning bolt hand. White stayed quiet and eventually turned to the Mane Six.
"You heard them. Better fetch her," White Diamond instructed.
"What if this is another trick?" Rainbow growled.
"They just got zapped by hundreds of volts from Yellow Diamond, I'm sure they wouldn't want another hit. Have we any alternative anyway?" White Diamond asked. As usual, White had her points, and what better one did they have anyway? Finally with a place, the Mane Six turned and rushed off. The snakes were getting ready to go off, but White Diamond wasn't having that and grabbed them herself.
"White, can I deal with them, please? They took Blue away from us," Yellow asked. White stayed calm and looked them over.
"... I got an idea."
Both snakes couldn't help but gulp. What did White have in mind for them?