"Apples forever~ Apples together~ We're family but so much more~"
With a trot in her step, Applejack went on through the farm fields a plenty, maintaining the farmlands of its crops like any good farmer. Typically she would be checking her own sort crops of apples, but this farm wasn't her own. She was actually at the barn house, and they actually got to mending the fields. A fun pastime as it turned out for the Gems to do since they got enough time on their hands. Sure, it may be the Off-Colors barn, but it was Lapis Lazuli and Peridot who really took a liking to this fun little game of harvesting (and it wasn't the Gem kind either). Lapis Lazuli was finding it more relaxing than she thought: two barrels of water and some well-placed garden hoses and she got herself a easy-access watering system. All she had to worry about was where the great avenger was gonna find his sword within the chapters of her book. Peridot's Portal key was kept by her for safekeeping.
"You know, Lazuli, it's more fun to get more physical with farmin," Applejack said as she walked over to her with some corn.
"I'm good. You're right AJ, this is a good way to pass the time," Lapis said, not even looking up from her book. Applejack looked to the hoses, and saw half of the corn field already watered with her "work". Lapis herself didn't have to worry too much about the plants, considering she didn't need to eat at all, so it didn't bother her too much.
"Just don't go on putting all them crops in a lake, K?" Applejack joked. Lapis chuckled.
"Sure thing." Applejack nodded and trotted off on her way. Lapis Lazuli began to feel a little playful, and with a flick of her finger, the water in one of the hoses shot through one of its punctured holes, AJ suddenly getting a soaked flank. AJ spun around, just finding Lapis Lazuli looking at her book with innocence. AJ knew when Lapis was in one of her playful moods, and Applejack decided to play one of her own, and stepped on one of the hoses.
"EEK!" one wet Lapis Lazuli, ala spraying hose. Lapis shook off some water, and got the water off her book before any of the words could seep out. All she saw was AJ's smug grin, and both shared a laugh. They had more times to just be themselves since their Jungle Moon trip, so times like this were given more chance.
"Hey AJ!"
Further away, Peridot was doing her own little bit of fun on the farm. In this case, she had -
"I'm on a tractor!"
Yeah, that. A fully operational tractor, and moving pretty fast as well. Nothing really familiar to the Earth Pony, but heck, human tech was human tech. Peridot had no exact direction, she was just thrilled to have a tractor at all, zooming about on it like a automatic racecar. AJ jumped aside as Peridot zoomed by her, laughing all the while.
"Make way for the great and lovable Peridot!" Peridot announced, feeling full power as she rode off in her tractor. … and then it ran out of gas on her.
"HEY!"
"Still learning about how machines work," sighed Lapis, as she reclined and went back to her book. You'd think she would've gotten the concept of fuel down pact by now. She tried to get the machine to start up again, but it just wouldn't go on for her. Her brief enjoyment of going full throttle was dashed in no time at all. Applejack began to walk over to her, the machine now silent as a sleeping lamb. Peridot's growls and kicks didn't get it restarted.
"Y'all should try to use your own devices instead of this one," Applejack suggested.
"This is my device, Applejack! Come on, work you stupid -" Peridot was cut off when the Tractor did suddenly spring to life. And as it was aiming right at them, well …
"RUNAWAY TRACTOR!" Peridot yelled, screaming as she was running away from her own creation. Lapis glanced up at the situation, AJ and Peri running helter skelter away from one angry T. Lapis Lazuli focused some water, and got it right on the Tractor, the sudden downpour of water making the tractor screech to a halt, the fire no longer burning well enough for it to keep going. AJ and Peridot stopped after a bit, grateful that was over.
"Maybe I should've looked it up beyond from the paper projection screens," Peridot suggested. AJ didn't even respond to that, catching her breath. She took her hat off and fanned herself with it, but as she was, she didn't realize what was going on with her just yet. …
As with Rarity and Twilight before, her Cutie Mark actually started to flash up! AJ began to take notice after a short bit.
"What the? What in tarnation?" AJ wondered. Peridot saw this before with the Unicorn and Alicorn. Was the Cutie Map calling her again?
"Rarity and Twilight had gone through this. I think you're being called somewhere," Peridot concluded. AJ looked to Peridot, but as Peridot didn't realize it, her own Cutie Mark was also starting to flash to get their attention!
"Think we both need to head off somewhere," AJ concluded. Peridot glanced to her Cutie Mark and saw the same thing, freaking out. Where could they both be called to?
Lapis was ready to continue her own brand of adventure, but just before she could even begin, she began to hear a sort of tapping off next to her. Turning her gaze to one of the water barrels, it turned out to be Peridot's key, tapping against the barrel all on its own. Once upon a time that would be a bit freaky to see happen, but not only did they go through WAY more freaky events since getting those keys, but ever since getting back, this was kinda the key's forte to say it was time to go to Equestria. Sorta like someone calling them on a cellphone.
"Peridot, your key's ringing!" Lapis called.
"Again?" groaned Peridot. Well, she'll have to get Applejack later. If she didn't answer it, she would probably get tapped on to no end, so the green dorito Gem walked right over to her bouncing key. This had happened several times already, but today the key seemed a little bit more frantic than normal. It hopped in place like a bouncy ball, getting their attention strong and proud.
"Alright, alright! Let's get this over with," Peridot groaned, grabbing the key midair. However, the key didn't really had anywhere to actually aim at this time, no wall to hit or anything like that. Not saying it wouldn't work on the ground itself, but that wasn't recommended. Peridot tossed the key ahead, and it got into the ground, opening up the portal door like it would normally do. Once it did open up though, the key bounced out of the key hole, and right to the others, bouncing and hitting itself at Applejack, as if to get her moving.
"Alright, don't get your uh … key in a knot. I'm going," Applejack said. The key's response was Peridot's cheery laughing. Lapis glanced on back to the others as they were heading to the door in question. Her eyes then looked over to the garden that, at this point had more than enough water. Whelp, her job was done.
"Heck with it, I'll go along. Could be fun," Lapis figured, closing her book and beginning to follow them along. Applejack and Peridot looked to Lapis, but seeing the Portal Key appearing like it was insisting her to come along didn't have them question it too much. Seeing AJ's Cutie Mark act up, then Peridot's Cutie Mark, and now that the key was going nuts had to have some connection.
"Uh … ponies first?" Peridot suggested. None of them could see where they would end up, so they could end up thousands of feet off the ground far as they were concerned. None of them could see beyond the portal from their position so who's to say? Still, the key insisted to go through the portal, hitting itself against Peridot to get her moving, and rather roughly too. Peridot tried to make the key stop, but one slip of the foot and she tumbled into it. AJ grabbed her, but was no better off and fell herself. Lapis Lazuli knew what was coming, so she opened her water wings and dove down into the portal. Once that was done, the key hopped on inside, winking, before the door closed up. They were off on their way to wherever they were to go.
~~~~~~
"So, how's Pink handling Equestria?"
Meanwhile, in Beach City, Steven and Emerald decided to hang out for the day. Word of Pink Diamond's had gotten to Emerald later than the others, but all the same he was still intrigued with the idea that a revived Diamond was placed in a world of ponies. Who better to ask than Steven?
"She's handling it alright. She's thinking Equestria's all her own toy though, especially Lars … and Pinkie."
"Let me guess: because they're pink," Emerald assumed. Steven just nodded, as they continued down the boardwalk towards the Big Donut.
"She keeps calling them her trophies," Steven humbly admitted. Emerald admittedly wasn't too surprised, considering both Lars and Pinkie were as pink as Pink Diamond.
"Eh, she'll come around … eventually. Hey, how's Bill doin? Heard he's working for the Big Donut nowadays," Emerald asked, changing the subject.
"He's been great: he even got some option in naming some of the donuts. They're named after him, but he's feeling a lot better."
"After himself?" Emerald dryly questioned.
"Yeah: Classic Deweys, fried Dewey Rolls," Steven named off, counting on his fingers. At this point they were about at the front door and going on inside.
"Geesh, can't he name one thing not after himself?" Emerald joked.
"Actually yeah: the Pink Lars! I named it myself," Steven told him. It's really just a pink donut with sprinkles on it, but heart was still put into the name. Emerald just shrugged it off and they began to head up to the front counter. Normally Sadie Miller would be up front at the ready, but today there was someone else standing there.
"Hello! Welcome to the Big Donut."
"Wait … that voice -" Emerald and Steven were stopped cold by who was up at front counter that afternoon. Garnet! She was up in uniform much like any employee of the Big Donut would, but seeing this just looked … foreign.
"Wait. Garnet?"
"In a minute, you two. You'll have to wait your turn," Garnet said. She was already on another customer, and with his order already in place, she quickly got to work. She opened the bag in one motion, threw about five donuts into it, and sealed it tight with a second motion, giving it to the customer. One click on the register and it was done, and it was their turn.
"Welcome to the Big Donut. Tell me how I may serve you," Garnet stated. But both of them were drawing a blank here.
"You're working here now? But I thought you were a director back in Ponyville," Emerald reminded, as confused as ever.
"Yes. And now I'm working here," Garnet simply said. Emerald and Steven glanced to eachother.
"I … don't understand," Steven stated. Garnet seemingly was ready for this, and already was pouring coffee into a paper cup … just to splash it on the front counter. Emerald and Steven blocked it just in case the hot stuff would go onto them, but Garnet had other ideas in mind.
"My Future Vision allows me to see down the rivers of possibility," Garnet explained as she pointed to one of the so-called "rivers" displayed in the coffee, "granting me insight as to where out actions could possibly move towards. But that doesn't mean I can predict everything." Garnet paused and pointed to a isolated pool off outside of the rest of the spill and added "What I'm interested in is these pools of improvability so distinct and so isolated that I can't detect them. When we act in unnatural ways, we create new, unforeseen paths to these pools of improbability."
"... So in other words, you're trying new stuff just to see what happens," Steven concluded. Garnet paused but smiled and gave them a thumbs up.
"I didn't foresee you understanding that," Garnet stated.
"So, we gonna clean this up? Don't know if Sadie or Lars would like a dirty counter on their shift," Emerald said.
"That's what we would normally do. Let's see what happens when we don't," Garnet stated. Emerald and Steven shrugged and took a look at the spill. At first, nothing really seemed to happen, but after a little bit, some of the coffee began to slip off of the counter, and a singular drip came off the edge and landed onto the floor. A new pool.
"We are now in a new level of improbability. My Future Vision. Is useless here," Garnet stated. Emerald and Steven had never seen her like this before. Sure, she worked as a director already, but they jotted it up as some good Future Vision at work, not just being random.
"I'm scared … but intrigued," Steven stated, summing up their feelings on it. This was what Garnet wanted to hear.
"That's the spirit! Let's get even more intriguing!" Garnet insisted. She flipped over the counter after that, psyched and ready to go. Suddenly, with "I quit!" escaping Garnet's mouth, she tensed her muscles and with a pop, the uniform completely popped off in shreds!
"Come you two!" Garnet insisted, rushing on out the door. The customers were about as confused as anyone would be.
"Well, we're acting like Pinkie for the day. Ok then, let's see," Emerald shrugged, pulling off some of the shreds from his face, as he and Steven followed her outside. This was … different. But heck, it was something they wanted to explore a little bit, so as he said, let's see what'll happen now. Leaving the customers in there dumbfounded, Garnet, Emerald, and Steven were now just outside the Big Donut.
"So, what do we do now?" Emerald asked. Garnet thought for a little bit.
"Instead of serving food … let's order some," Garnet suggested.
"Like what?" Steven asked.
"Let's do … pizza!" Garnet decided.
"Now you're talking my language!" Steven said, immediately pulling out his phone and dialing them up. It didn't take too much time until they got Kiki Pizza on the other end of the line.
"Fish Stew Pizza," Kiki chimed.
"Hello, I'd like to order a pizza -"
"Ten pizzas!" Garnet suddenly insisted. If they were trying to get weird, then that would probably do it, but Steven decided to jump in further.
"No, twenty pizzas! Toppings? … Surprise me!" Steven insisted.
"Now you're getting it," Garnet said with a thumbs up. Emerald expected this order out of Amethyst, but they were going weird today, so what could he suspect?
"Let me take a crack at it," Emerald suggested. Steven nodded and gave him the phone.
"Hello? Yeah, I'm apart of the order. Add an order of - no. Fifteen orders of your pizza sticks! hold the pizza sauce!"
"Nice," Garnet said with a smile. Emerald felt like he was doing a prank call on them, and just as enjoyable.
"Delivery? I guess deliver it to the temple -" Emerald quickly stopped himself. "NO. that's just what they would think," Emerald concluded. He didn't say this over the phone, but they got the idea by now.
"Go weirder," Garnet suggested. Steven wanted to try this time, so Emerald gave it to him.
"Deliver it to the ocean - no, no, to Kansas! No, to the moon!"
"I don't think that's within our delivery radius," Kiki stated.
"Remember: Improbable, not impossible," Garnet reminded. Steven and Emerald tried to think of somewhere they wouldn't expect them to deliver, and soon both of them got the same idea. Emerald levitated the cellphone Emerald counted down from three. Then two. Then one. And …
"Deliver it to Fish Stew Pizza!" they both said in unison.
"So … this is for pick-up?" Kiki asked.
And this was just the start of the day.
~~~~~~
Meanwhile, as they were doing their own bit of Pool Hopping, another area of another world was in the middle of their own lives. The landscape throughout the most part looked very arid and dry, not much of plant life evident anywhere. Dunes spread about throughout the area, and not much could be said for any creature wandering these dunes. Still, up in the air, a lone green bird was flying along minding it's own business southward. Flying through the desert underneath the hot sun was no problem for this little birdie, and it was making sweet time as well. As it kept going, it started to reach towards a isolated town, one not too familiar to any pony folk, or Gem folk for that matter. As the bird was flying off along, it didn't get about fifty feet into town until -
*CAAWW!*
In a quick snatch, the bird's leg was suddenly lasso'd by a rope from the town below. The bird tried flying away, but in a quick yank the bird fell down to earth. Next thing it knew, it ended up landing inside a cage, which was quickly locked up from above it. It squawked and shrieked, trying to get out, but it wasn't going anywhere as its captors looked to it with greedy grins.
"Don't you worry, we'll let you out," one of them said.
"Yeah … to the highest bidder!" said the others. both of them shared a laugh before putting the bird over by their stand.
It wasn't the first bird to be stuck in such a place, multiple species of birds also locked up in small cages. The town they were stuck in was no simple ponyville-esque town, but looked rather worn out and rugged all over the place. Buildings were wooden and well out of date, built within desert rock. And many of the birds at first were a bit quiet, but soon as they began to hear an unfamiliar sound of a portal, they began freaking out and squawking up a storm.
Applejack, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli finally hit ground. AJ and Peridot landed kinda roughly, but Lapis landed fairly calmly and without trouble. The portal closed up behind them, so they were in the right place … maybe. The flashing did stop, so wherever the Cutie Map wanted them to go to, they were there. But where was here? Applejack got her hat back onto her head, and took a good look around. None of this looked very familiar to her, or any of the others.
"So, is this another pony town?" Lapis asked.
"Beats me. Come on," Applejack said, starting to walk on out cautiously. Something about the place just didn't suit very well for her, but she heard of what the Cutie Map was all about prior to this, so if the Cutie Map wanted her in this place, then something must be up. They just got to figure out what that thing even was.
"Hey you. you with the hat. You sellin?" a voice hissed from one of the stands. Applejack held her hoof on her hat just in case someone would try anything fancy to them. Last thing they want was some grubby resident to rob em blind. As they continued going through the place though, they began to notice something a bit … odd.
"... These are ponies. Right?" Peridot asked.
"Don't think so," Lapis answered. And indeed, much of the residents didn't really look like they were truly anything pony, or anything really from Equestria for that matter. sure, they've met their fair share of odd things, but this place was stocked full of them. Many of the creatures they kept seeing appeared like other animals: a porcupine here, a lizard there, a snapping turtle somewhere else, and many other examples. They even saw some sharks amongst the crowds, but they all weren't just that, but anthropomorphic too. It was like a bunch of humans hybridized with other animals, and they all were as shady and unpleasing as the town itself. Be it reptilian, fish, or whatever, they were roaming around town more than most. As they continued going along -
"Dang it!" a snapping turtle resident got into some trouble. He tried getting some barrels up onto a wagon, but as he got the last one on, his whole load rolling off onto the ground.
"Here, let me help you with that," Lapis insisted, flying over to the barrels. They had water in them as it turned out so some water tricks got them floating right back into the wagon. Pretty easy, and normally helpful.
"HEY! No magic around my merchandise!"
but this was no normal town, and the trio bolted off before they could get into anymore trouble. These clearly weren't your standard helping folk.
"Alright, everypony. Try to blend in, and be careful who you talk to. Somethin tells me these folk aren't gonna be letting us off easy," AJ advised.
"Don't worry," Peridot said, even giving a salute to her about it.
*poke**poke*
Spoke too soon. Just before they could continue, Peridot's key suddenly went off again, jumping out into the open! Peridot scrambled to get grip of her own Portal Key, but something was pulling her key away from her, strong enough to make her actually skid on the ground! If the residents didn't take notice of these colorful characters, they sure have now. Or at least the fancy key that suddenly gone alive on them. Peridot groaned and yelled in her attempts, but her Portal key slipped out of her grasp, and began rolling off down the road.
"You clod, GET BACK HERE!" Peridot demanded, chasing after her own key. Since when do keys try to run away?! AJ and Lapis had no choice but to follow her through the town, racing passed numerous strange residents and cutting many corners as the key was seemingly moved along. Some folks did try to get it, but the key proved far too fast to get caught by any of them. At one point, the key seemingly got cornered by a lizard resident, but it quickly hopped over his head, just for Peridot and Applejack to barrel right into him, the three stumbling to the ground! Not a good introduction for any creature, no matter who or what you are. Lapis flew above them and she could see where the key was even going, though seeing where it ended up wasn't comforting.
The pony and two Gems found it going through a large crowd gathered around what seemingly looked like a pile of junk. The crowds were a bit thick, and Peridot and Applejack had to squeeze themselves through in order to actually see what was going on. Turned out, the key ended up an auctioneer's pile, and the one in charge of this auction didn't even realize that he had a new trinket to his many items. Or even if he did, he didn't care much for it. It was an extra item in this auction after all and he looked willing to continue this game of his.
As for the one in charge of the game of bets, he didn't look anymore pony than a bird would to a turtle. Compared to much of the residence, he looked a bit more formal, in a blackish-red tux and top hat to boot. He looked no bigger than a pony, probably at Cadance height at most. In fact, if one were to compare him to any animal, a rat would be a fine thing. A Naked Mole Rat. Liver spots were on his face, and a set of orange goggles were over his eyes, a mud-eating grin on his face as he was looking to the big crowds around him.
"Come over everyone, there's plenty for everybody. Place your bets!" he called. The crowd went on to make said bets on the objects. One of these objects presented by his side looked like a bowl of sorts, but Applejack, Lapis, and Peridot weren't too interested in that. Instead, they were more interested in trying to find that key in the pile. It took a bit but they did end up seeing it, but that was not the only thing they saw.
Portal Keys. ALL of their keys.
"HEY! That's our keys!" gasped Lapis. They all were bundled together on a key chain, and Peridot's key laid down dormant with the rest of the set. They KNEW the keys when they saw them, but how the hay did they get here?! That wasn't all though, as all the keys were laying on an old, ancient-looking shovel.
"But, wait. They were confiscated by White Diamond, weren't they? How'd he get em?" Peridot asked.
"Who cares, come on!" Lapis said, and before anyone could stop her, she flew right up to them. Before she could get them, the mole rat quickly saw her trying to snatch them away, and threw his cane at her, landing right at her head. It was enough to make Lapis Lazuli land on the ground in front of the Naked Mole Rat.
"WHOA there, missy, don't try stealing from Verko scot free," the mole rat said. Applejack and Peridot went over to her, helping her up to her feet.
"Listen here, varmint, those keys belong to us. So, if you'd kindly hand em over," Applejack stated, hoof out at the ready. However, the mole rat wasn't willing to oblige, and in fact looked more interested in Peridot, in particular her gemstone.
"What a mighty fine stone you got there. I'll give you those keys in a trade, what do ya say?"
"EXCUSE ME?!" Peridot snapped, quickly backing up. Trade her own gemstone?! As if! She even covered her gemstone with her hands just to be sure. Lapis Lazuli was equally as shocked, if not insulted.
"Sorry to ruin your fun, but she's not for sale -"
"How much for the stone on your back?!" a creature called. Lapis felt a sting in her own back on that question, and she spun around, staring daggers at the crowd.
"I'M NOT FOR SALE!" Lapis yelled. First Peridot, now her? The mole rat looked more interested when he saw the shining Lapis stone, and putting two and two together, he got to the conclusion on where her water wings came from. Applejack could see that they were gonna end up into trouble at the rate this was going, especially how quick they were willing to ask for their price tags.
"We don't want any trouble, just give us the keys and we'll go," Applejack insisted.
"No dice: you want somethin, you gotta give somethin. It's how barter works, don't you know," he snickered. AJ looked ready to kick his buck teeth out of his grinning maw, but now was not a good time for it.
"I know how it works, but you flat out stole our keys! Look at em, they got our faces on em and everything," AJ pointed out. The mole rat took a look at the keys in question, and turned out she was right. He did find Applejack's key out of the bunch.
"Famous are we? This is interesting. … NEW BETS everyone! Who wants these shining stars?"
SERIOUSLY?! Now what're they supposed to do? Bad enough they were asked as trinkets, but now they were on the spot as this rat's trinkets! The crowd went nuts with their bets on the three, moving in closer towards them. The mole rat was sure pleased with the money being shown to him, but these three weren't going to stick around for the next buyer. Opening her water wings, Lapis Lazuli grabbed Peridot and Applejack, and took off immediately.
This town wasn't gonna be easy.
~~~~~~
Back in Beach City, Garnet, Emerald, and Steven had just gotten their orders from Fish Stew Pizza. Twenty pizzas and fifteen pizza sticks all being carried by the trio in their own way.
"So we got the order. So what's next?" Emerald asked.
"What do you normally do with pizza?" Garnet then asked. It really didn't take much time for the two to figure out the answer.
"Eat it!" Steven answered.
"Right. So, instead of that. Let's do this," Garnet said. she then gave a whistle to someone walking across the street from their position.
"Here! Have a pizza!" she called, before taking one of the pizza boxes and tossed it over to him like a frisbee. The person fell over on being hit, but he wasn't complaining about free pizza.
"Thank you!" he called.
So for the next hour or two it was pizza deliveries. Emerald, Steven, and Garnet continued their own delivery service throughout town. They stopped at numerous spots in Beach City, surprising different people with different orders of pizza. With twenty pizzas and fifteen pizza sticks there was a lot to give around, and it was one of those random things that they were having a good time with. They stopped at the Millers, the Deweys, so on so on, and they all were pretty happy with getting a free surprise order. It was like surprising someone on Harmony Day or Hearth's Warming with a surprise present or card. They even stopped and gave a pizza to some seagulls, as odd as that may be. Pretty soon, their huge order was down to one more box and bag.
"One more delivery," Garnet concluded.
"Yeah, Vidalia should be close. Let's give it to her," Steven suggested.
"That would be nice. she must be upset with her son taken by those Homeworld Gems," Garnet stated. Ok, now it was confusing.
"The stars are you talking about: Homeworld like us - more or less - and no human was taken. Besides, he's right there," Emerald explained. The three turned around and there was Onion with a bag of … stuff. Who knows what he got at this point, before he quickly hopped a fence away from there. Garnet sighed roughly.
"Sorry. Must be thinking of a different timeline," Garnet sighed.
"Oh. Well, she should be right around here uh … there!" Steven concluded, pointing to the Onion house. Not many was there as of now, so Garnet took the honor of walking up to the door, knocking on it good and loud, but not enough to break the door.
"Mother Onion! Open up!" Garnet called.
"In the garage!" called a voice. So, they went on towards the garage in question, which at the moment with the frontal doors open, but covered in a sheet. They didn't stop them though, and Garnet kicked it right open, followed by a somersault, and getting into a pose.
"Get excited for pizza!" Garnet stated. Emerald hopped in next, in a karate kick before landing on Garnet's head, holding the bag of pizza sticks.
"We got pizza sticks and we're not afraid to use em!" Emerald yelled.
"Aahh! Wait. Steven?" Who they saw inside was a bit freaked out, hiding behind what looked like a painting of sorts. In fact, the whole garage looked less like a garage and more like an art studio, with a lonely stool sitting in the center of the room under some dramatic lights aimed at it, and an empty canvas with nothing on it. The figure was a middle-aged women, her hair in a short thick bob that closely resembled the vegetable in question. Her outfit mainly was a mint green dress with rolled up sleeves, white T-shirt, slate-blue, rolled up overalls and red slippers. She sure was freaked on seeing Emerald and Garnet pop up, but she did calm down on seeing Steven.
"What're you trying to do? Scared me to death?" Vidalia asked.
"Sorry. We're just trying to give you pizza in the most unlikely way possible. Wanna slice?" Steven offered, as Garnet opened up a pepperoni pizza in presentation. Emerald also presented the pizza sticks in a similar fashion, and it all sure looked good.
"Sure, I could use a break. I've been trying to paint this still life of a stool, but I just don't feel inspired," Vidalia explained, looking to the stool in question. Yeah, while the lighting made it fancy, it didn't give much to offer in honesty. Nothing to inspire, nothing to give, just sitting there. In idea to being random, Garnet knew what to do: she closed the pizza box, gave it to Steven, and moved over to the stool. She then got into a more dramatic pose.
"Paint me like one of your Amethysts," Garnet stated. Steven felt excited too and jumped in with his own pose.
"Paint me too!"
"Oh. so you wanna be my muse, eh?" Vidalia said with a smirk. Emerald, shrugging, sat aside with the pizza sticks and started to nibble on them, sitting by the opening in the curtains.
"If it's not too much trouble. I promise we'll be very inspiring," Steven promised, striking a secondary pose alongside Garnet. Vidalia started to take a better look at them both, her fingers positioned like a lens on a camera, and used in a similar kind of way.
"Hmm … yes, this can work! Strike a pose," Vidalia said, getting her canvas ready. By the time she looked again, suddenly Garnet and Steven were in another pose, with Steven standing on one foot, on Garnet's hand as if he's being presented as a bird or a trophy.
"It's struck," Garnet said.
"Ok great! now don't move," Vidalia said, as she began to get to work.
…….
Oh, the wait.
"Eh, Garnet? You know, when you suggested that we try doing things completely random, was a good idea when you mentioned it to us an hour ago. But now …" Emerald was not enjoying the wait, Steven and Garnet still in pose as Vidalia continued her work. Painting surely took a lot longer than Emerald realized, and he already ate up his pizza sticks well long ago.
"Your call on what we do, Emerald," Garnet simply said. If only he knew that at the start of this charade.
"Wish you said that earlier," Emerald sighed, as he began to think a little bit. They gave pizza to everyone in town already, threw the pizza girl for a loop, and now posing for Vidalia's picture. What else could they do that they wouldn't normally do? Steven was getting a little tired himself from his flying bird position, sweat going down his face as he tried to keep still. Emerald thought it over a bit, but eventually he began to get an idea on a little something improbable. Once he got that down right, he whispered it to Garnet's ear.
Next thing they knew, Garnet rushed outside, Steven on her head holding on.
"Sorry Vidalia, maybe next time!" called Steven.
"Wait, what about my essence?!" Vidalia called back, but the trio was already off and out of sight. Whatever Emerald suggested, they were more than willing to try it.
~~~~~~
"I can't believe this place! Our keys get stolen by some giant … thing! and now everything wants to add us to their collection! What kind of twisted cloddy place is this?!"
Applejack, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli weren't doing as well. They got out of sight from many of the creatures in town, sure, but as it stood, they couldn't just go off wandering around town without many a creature trying to get them to give up their own stones for the sake of buying and bargain.
"Alright, everyone, calm down. We just gotta be a bit more careful, that's all," Applejack advised, trying to stay calm about things.
"But how're we supposed to get those keys back? That Verko or whoever won't give them up," Lapis stated.
"Lazuli! Surely you can just freeze him to the wall or something, right?" Peridot suggested.
"And become criminals of this creature town? Not a very good idea, thank you," Lapis said. The last thing she wanted was to find their faces on more wanted posters outside of White Diamond's wanted ads.
"Nobody's gonna get sold, I promise. Here, y'all just wait here, I'm gonna try to get us somethin to blend in," Applejack decided. Simple enough.
"Blend in you say?" hissed a sudden voice. Applejack jumped back, and soon they all found themselves in the company of a anthropomorphic chameleon. He sure looked shady for his character, even dressed up in a long trench coat, his face covered in the collar, and a hat on his head. They could tell he was a chameleon due to his curled tail and green scales.
"I can get you some uniforms, no trouble. … for a price, of course," the chameleon said. Why not? Peridot almost instinctively covered her gemstone in case the chameleon was trying to get something out of that. No way was she going to end up in someone else's collection, not if she could help it. But what could they give him? They don't have any money on them when coming here.
"Um … can you take an I.O.U?"
"That's not how it works. Here in Klugetown, you pay up front or don't bother … but then again, I feel sorry for you, being treated like property like that," the chameleon said.
"Klugetown. Is that where we are?"
"Guess you're new on the block. But anyway, I got just the outfits for ya. You wanna blend in don't you?" the chameleon asked. Lapis, Peridot, and Applejack glanced to one another for a minute.
…….
"These outfits don't suit me," Lapis groaned.
The chameleon did have some outfits for them like he promised, but AJ, Peridot, and Lapis sure didn't feel too comfortable in these get-ups of theirs. It was mainly rags, old clothes, and things of the nature to keep their identity more ambiguous from the crowd. Lapis and Peridot had a look much like one of those celebrity "public" outfits to hide their faces, and AJ was dressed similarly.
"Just deal with it, Lazuli. At least the town's off our backs," Peridot said, though she was not enjoying this anymore than she was. They still had some keys to gather up, and they need to get it all handled one way or another. Lucky for them, the town didn't look too focused on them this time, at least not as accessories. On the bright side, at least they now know where they ended up, but Applejack, Lapis, and Peridot still weren't sure where Klugetown even was. The trio went on down the same street from earlier to where Verko would be, but today it wasn't gonna be their day: Verko was gone! Gone with their magic keys and shovel.
"Oh clod, he's gone! How're we supposed to find him now?" Peridot griped.
"He's gotta be somewhere in this town, we only left him for a few."
"Thank you, one and all, for your attendance, and we guarantee that your time here will not be spent in vain!"
"Who's that?" wondered Lapis. The voices were a bit vague, but Applejack did perk up a little bit on said noise and voice. Applejack, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli followed the sounds to another crowd off nearby, equally as interested, and equally as thick as before. They tried to see over this crowd, but they really couldn't get much of a view on the situation. That was until one of the larger buyers moved aside, showing what they were so interested in.
Up on a set-up stage looked like some sort of odd machine in the midst of two businessmen. The machine itself looked like one of those carnival stands one would set up, wheels and all, and the front picture looked like an apple with a piece cut out of it. As for the two businessmen, they saw the first set of ponies since arriving in Klugetown, a set of pale yellow, tall ponies, unicorns to be exact. They had on similar outfits, namely a blue and white-striped short, black bowtie and barber hat. One of the unicorns has a mustache, whereas the other had white stripes in his mane, but apart from that they were exact copies of eachother. Applejack knew who these jokers were a mile away.
"Flim and Flam. Double ponyfeathers!" AJ groaned.
"Who's Flim and Flam?" Peridot asked.
"Those two con-artists up there. What're they up to this time?" AJ wondered, going closer to investigate.
"Welcome, one and all, to the demonstration of a lifetime!" said Flim.
"A demonstration of a better life!" added Flam.
"A demonstration of a better time! And if we haven't captured your interest just yet, by the time we've finished, an unfortunate phenomenon practically guarantees that we will!" Flim reassured. But they all were pretty hooked already, so Flim and Flam got their attention in no time at all. In a whistle, another pony then moved on up. This pony in particular appeared pretty crippled and in crutches, slowly moving up onto the stage. Flam got the machine nearby to start up, and through a small nozzle up on front of the machine, a bottle was filled up of a green substance. The pony steadied himself a little bit, and Flam presented this substance to the pony, who which began to drink it.
The reaction started off kinda slow, but slowly the pony started to feel more and more powerful in his frontal legs. The crutches holding him up were moved and fell off of him, and to the group's surprise, this pony was on all fours again. The crippled had been cured of his ailment! And just to prove this pony was all better, he even began to jump up and dance a bit, showing just how cured he was. The whole crowd gasped on sight of this, and Flim and Flam could tell they got the crowd hooked.
"That's right, every creature! Flim and Flam's Curative Tonic can cure even the worst of ailments! Broken arms? Gill-scratch? You name it, our curative tonic can cure it," Flam explained.
"I'll give you two stonebucks for it!"
"I'll give you ten!"
"I need that tonic!"
These sort of demands were met with money up in the air for Flim and Flam to happily take. Applejack saw more than enough, and moved away from the crowd to join Peridot and Lapis Lazuli.
"A Curative Tonic?" Lapis wondered.
"Sounds like nothing but red herring. Those two brothers will sell grass to a cow," AJ accused.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean those brothers tried to run me and my family outta town before. And now here they are sellin some "Cure-All" Tonic to every creature else. Bad enough we got our keys being sold by some pack rat, now we got those two snakes-in-the-grass too," Applejack explained. She wasn't gonna trust those two unicorns any farther than she could throw them, though if she could she could buck them off outta town. Klugetown seemingly was buying this tonic for all its worth, much to AJ's dismay. Peridot began to work the gears in her head on this curative tonic, but then she began to get an idea in her head.
"I got it! Lapis, Applejack, I got a Peri-Plan."
"Not another one of your Peri-Plans," AJ sighed.
"No, no, hear me out! We can use that Curative Tonic on Verko," Peridot concluded, already going off towards Flim and Flam. However, Applejack grabbed Peridot by her coat and pulled her back to the group.
"How's curing him gonna help us any?"
"It's subtext, Lazuli. Allow me to explain …"
~~~~~~
Garnet, Emerald, and Steven went off from Beach City, and back off to the Barn House. Emerald's idea was being put into motion, and Garnet was working surprisingly fast on it, whatever it was. Steven, who had no exact knowledge on how to do this idea, stood aside with starry eyes as Emerald and Garnet were going to work on this idea. It sure was exciting whatever it is, and as he was standing there in silent amazement, the Off-Colors were actually coming over. This was their barn after all.
"Hi Steven. Is everything going - huh?" Tiger's Eye was cut off when she looked into the barn, seeing this same sort of work being done inside.
"What're they doing in there? Is this another project?" Rhodonite asked.
"Robots," Steven simply said.
"Pardon me?"
"They're building robots. Giant robots. I see a race: a giant, robo-race! With prizes! GIANT. ROBO-PRIZES!" Steven said, super-excited for the project to finish. The Off-Colors weren't too sure about this, nor knew what he was talking about.
"Like a test?" wondered right Rutile.
"A competition?" added left Rutile.
"What's this "robot"?" asked Rhodonite.
"They're like those robonoids on Homeworld, only bigger, and you can ride them!" Steven explained, suddenly going all robot-mode and intimidating the noises and movements a robot would make. Before they could ask anything further, the sounds suddenly stopped altogether. The group stood aside from the door, and good thing too as something suddenly bolted out of there. It zoomed to a stop off not to far away on wheel-legs, getting into a sort of ballerina position. It has a small plane as the body that was painted to resemble Pearl's skin and hair color, with a star sticker on the face of the ship and a traffic cone that mimics Pearl's nose where the propeller once was. It had long appendages that serve as arms with circular, three-fingered hands. the landing legs were extended to serve as longer legs with movable knees, and the 'feet' are composed of larger wheels. The cockpit is exposed, leaving only the windshield. Its shown to have a coo-coo clock near the back of the bot as well.
As for who made this robotic marvel, turned out Garnet was in the driver's seat, feeling pretty good about it herself. But she wasn't the only robot out on the field today.
"Behold everyone! The ultimate robot!" Emerald announced, presenting his own robotic marvel to everyone. This one was a large green mech, vaguely crablike with three shades of green, stout in stature. It had green boots on its small legs that resemble Peridot's, and the arms slightly longer with pincers for hands. A bipyramid summed up the body shape, with two gray cones jutting out the back of the model, and two tires used as arm joints.
"What an interesting concept," Padparadscha stated. Emerald felt good with it, but he began to compared his robot to that of Garnet's.
"Hey."
"Mine's taller, I win," Garnet joked. But this was an interesting idea to try out. They may have built stuff before, but they didn't try this idea before, and Garnet in her randomness was pretty intrigued with this one. Steven readied to go off and join them in this contest of theirs, as both Emerald and Garnet sized eachother up. Emerald's main idea was a robot match up, his larger, more robust robot he felt more suitable for a brawl than the nimble light robot Garnet had. That, and Emerald could control every little twinge of this robot's being with his telekinesis. Garnet had her own methods to work the thing, but she will at least try to work this out best she could.
"Ring that bell, Steven!" Emerald called. Steven got a bell from the barn, and gave it a good ring, loud and clear. Emerald snickered and got his robot charging forward at full speed. Garnet's more nimble robot however leaped right above Emerald's head. Garnet knocked Emerald off his feet with a well placed robo-kick to the back, making his robot fall to the ground quick. Emerald got himself up and turned to the other robot just in time to grab the robot by the foot. NOW Garnet was at his mercy, and he began to swing her around, hitting her onto the ground a good six times. It was a bit disorientating for Garnet, and her robot arms grabbed the ground, yanking her foot out of the grip of Emerald. Garnet then started to rush around Emerald, rushing in a circle faster and faster until it almost looked like a blur! Emerald couldn't comprehend and couldn't concentrate, giving Garnet enough of an opening to hit the robot in the legs, ripping it off with ease! Emerald lost balance, feeling more arms get cut off, and soon it was just the body remaining. No arms or legs to keep him up, and Garnet slowed down into another pose.
"Garnet wins."
"Ok, ok, you win," Emerald groaned, his eyes still spinning from trying to keep up with the robot. Garnet parked her robot off nearby the barn house, it retracting its legs and arms and resting its body down easy, before Garnet hopped out.
"Well, that was exhilarating," Garnet said. Emerald got himself out of his own robot.
"So what do you wanna do now?" asked Steven.
"Eh, your call Steven," Garnet simply said. So Steven began to think on what to do next. What can they do they won't normally do? The robot fight was a nice one, although they've built things like this before. The Off-colors nearby looked a little bit taken aback by Garnet's decision though.
"Let's go see what Jasper's up to!"
"Good idea," Garnet said with a thumbs up. Steven, Emerald, and Garnet then began to go off on their way.
"... K, is anyone else questioning Garnet's decision-making?" Tiger's Eye asked.
~~~~~~
Klugetown was all the rage now. With Flim and Flam's curative tonic now in good sale, everyone everywhere got their fair share of the stuff. Unfortunately, it can't be said the same for Applejack, Lapis Lazuli, and Peridot, who had to step aside until the crowds had calmed down. Which was a long time. Klugetown sure had a lot of customers to work through, and the trio kept themselves down and away from sight until Flim and Flam FINALLY had some space. Peridot's Peri-Plan needed that curative tonic, at least one, in order to actually get this to work out as she wanted. Both unicorns were off in the back of the stage, working out how much money they've managed to gather up together. Both brothers were continuing to go through their own little bit of con artistry, as the trio peeked in from the back.
"You sure about this?" Applejack questioned.
"Just get ready to grab the tonic while I distract them," Peridot instructed. It was not the best idea they could've come up with, but if they were to get their keys from Verko, then they need to get their tonic. A trade's a trade, and they need to get this to work. Soon, in their respected disguises, Peridot and Lapis Lazuli moved in, and Applejack kept her distance. Honesty was her best policy, and combined with the fact that they met her before might end up complicating things.
"Excuse me, unicorns. My friend and I have heard about your curative tonic," Peridot began, throwing on a good accent of Britain to be sure they wouldn't exactly get her mixed up and found out. Flim and Flam glanced to eachother, and found this a good opportunity. They did look a bit snazzy and rich for their look, so perhaps some bits and stonebucks from them would be plenty.
"You two interested in our miracle cure? Lucky for you, we got just the ticket to take any sickness you have gone in seconds," Flam said.
"And for two lovely ladies like you, we'll give it to ya for half price," Flim added in with a wink to Lapis. Lapis leaned down towards Peridot and whispered into her ear.
"My friend insists on another test run of your product. Just to make sure this isn't some scam at production here," Peridot suggested. Looked like they got a smart one here, so both unicorns got on the charm. As they were talking, Applejack had slipped on just passed the stage, and close to the curative tonic. Fake or not, Verko would try to trade big for a cure for anything. Flim however used his magic to move the bottle out of her reach. Guess she'll have to wait until they were done.
"We were hoping you'd ask," said the brothers. As if they were expecting the demonstration again, they began to hear somepony start to come up to the back, and towards the Flim Flam brothers. Turned out another pony had come up, this time with a back leg looking broken. Talk about convenient.
"And what timing too. how can we help you good sir?"
"I-I hope I wasn't too late, but I'm hoping to have some of your curative tonic. My back leg's been broken for days," he groaned, barely able to move his back leg. The brothers were more than happy to oblige, and the bottle was levitated over to him.
"This one's on the house," said Flam, allowing the pony to take a slip of the curative tonic. Lapis and Peridot stayed quiet and watched the results, and it took a little bit, but the leg began to grow less stiff. The brothers helped him out of the cast, and soon the pony began to find himself more mobile, the leg seemingly cured. How peculiar, and particularly suspicious of the two. Flim placed the fairly full bottle back on a nearby counter, just close enough for AJ to grab it with her teeth and pull it out of sight.
"How're you feelin, friend? Better than ever?" Flam asked. The pony smiled wide and started bucking in joy.
"I feel fantastic!" he beamed.
"Well, would you look at that, another satisfied customer. I'm sure that puts your doubts to rest, don't it?" Flim said with a nudge and a wink. Unbeknownst to Flim and Flam, AJ slipped out of sight, Peridot and Lapis seeing their cue to go. Lapis whispered to Peridot again.
"We'll have to consort with our people, and we'll get right back to you," Peridot stated, as she and Lapis began to head on out. They were going to take the exit passed the curtains when -
"HEEERE'S VERKO!"
Oh clod. Their Peri-Plan did not involve Verko showing up! Peridot and Lapis stumbled back on the sight of him, the naked mole rat snickering as he walked up to them and the Flim Flam brothers. Word of curative tonic reached this rodent's ears, and he wanted to check it out apparently. Flim and Flam didn't expect him either.
"Well, if it isn't the Flim Flam brothers! Got some curative tonic I see," Verko sneered.
"Oh! Indeed, you care for a demonstration? We guarantee our curative tonic will handle any ailment you may have," Flam said with a wink. Verko just laughed.
"I'd sooner buy off a butterfly than some bottle of snake oil! You can't fool this rat," Verko accused. Flim and Flam were taken aback by this accusation. But before they could say much of anything, Verko went right up to the cured pony, and tore off his disguise! The exact same pony from earlier! Applejack was peering in, and she couldn't of called it any better, but how was the Peri-Plan gonna work without their curative tonic? Flim and Flam were against the wall now that someone found em out, but it was just a few people, so they tried to be calm about it.
"Well, well, well, that's quite an accusation," Flam started.
"But let's say that it's true..." Flim said.
"Hypothetically..." Flam said.
"Theoretically..." added Flim.
Flam; "As I understand, your townsfolk had been in a bit of a rough."
Flim; "The biggest business town once upon a time."
Flam; "But hasn't got enough bits to get a proper medical miracle."
"Until today, that's right," Lapis agreed, as if she had lived in the town herself. Verko wasn't seemingly buying it, standing by the curtains with a grin on his face.
Flim; "Well, then even if our tonic were nothing more than a mixture of apple juice and beet leaves..."
Flam; "Hypothetically..."
Flim; "Theoretically..."
Flam; "The fact is that your townsies are happier now than before they tried it."
Flim; "So, the question is..."
Flam; "Do you really want to be the rat who takes all that happiness away?"
Verko could give less about it, and to prove how much he didn't bother of it, he used his cane to hook the curtains, and pulled them open wide. Just to show a group of townsfolk that heard … well, everything. Well, now what?
"Apple juice and beet leaves? GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!" one of them yelled, which probably summed up the situation best. Lapis, Peridot, and Applejack had to kinda bolt for it as Flim and Flam found themselves in front of an angry crowd. Verko waited for what these sly ponies had to say this time. …
"... Next town?" asked Flim.
"Next town," replied Flam. With some quick packing up and fast magic, the two con artists were quickly galloping out as fast as they could, with the townsfolk chasing after them. Sometimes the universe just gives you a freebee. AJ, Lapis, and Peridot got themselves out to a safer distance, but now with this exposed, their own curative tonic was useless. Applejack threw the now useless tonic aside.
"So much for your Peri-Plan," Lapis sighed.
"It could've worked!" Peridot insisted. But the writing was on the wall, this plan had failed … much like many of her other Peri-Plans.
"Well now what do we do? We got nothing to give that greedy rat to get our keys back," Applejack groaned.
"Yeah, all he was interested in was our gemstones," groaned Peridot. …
"Then let's give it to him."
"WHA?!"
…….
Verko was busily counting out his money once he got back to his office. A whole day of bets and bargains sure did wonders for him, having more than enough cash for a limo if he so wanted to buy one. He made sure these were legitimate by the ol' bite-down trick, and they all were legitimate stone dollars and bits.
"Ah, what a town of suckers. They'd buy anything if it wasn't nailed down," Verko said with a smug grin, looking to one of the golden coins he got. The reflection he saw in them was more than enough to make him feel like a good bargainer. nothing else said good business like a lot of bling for his pocket, and he kicked back and relaxed with his loot. As he readied to gloat some more, he then began to hear someone knock on his door, catching his attention.
"A late buyer," he thought.
"Come in!" and with that invitation, the door opened up, and in entered Applejack, no longer in disguise. If this plan were to work than she probably wouldn't need it anyway. She'll REALLY have to pull off her deception in order for this to work, which was not her forte at all. Still, so long as Verko didn't get too suspicious over her, than she could possibly get through this alright. Verko got a bit interested once he saw Applejack come in.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't my little pony from the auction! Come here to take up my offer?" Verko asked. Well, Applejack didn't need to bother much in explanation and just decided to roll with it. She took off her hat, and revealed on her head two gemstones for him to have. The Peridot and Lapis Lazuli gemstone! Verko was sure pleased.
"Sorry for the confusion, but yep. Here they are. Two gemstones, just like you asked. Yep, that's what they are, heh." Again, not her forte, as she smiled nervously. Verko took a moment to check these stones, especially after hearing that to be sure these weren't just painted rocks. He held up the Peridot stone to a nearby lightbulb, and saw that it was slightly see-through, the green shade of light on his face. He then did a bite test on the stone as well, which made Applejack nervous, but lucky for her (and the stones) the bite didn't leave any marks. Verko snickered.
"Very nice. Very nice. You said you wanted those keys?"
"You do still got them, don't you?" Applejack asked. Verko opened up a drawer at his counter, and pulled out all the keys, including Peridot's key, all there and ready for the trade. Applejack was ready to take them when another thought crossed her mind. In such a town, she can't be too sure. She took a closer look at them, making sure that these were all the keys in question. Her eyes looked to the AJ key, and her own key winked at her.
Yep, these were their keys.
"Thank you kindly," AJ said, getting the keys by the keychain, and she began to walk on out. Verko found it a bit of a big trade off: two gemstones for a bunch of house keys, but heck it was business. Applejack went on out, and moved away about ten feet or so. She got the keys, sure, but she wasn't ready to just rush out of Klugetown yet. In fact, she leaned against a nearby wall, and began to check her hooves while whistling a tune.
Three. Two. One.
*FLASH*
"Fear the rocks!"
"What the - hey! How'd you get in here?!"
Applejack could hear the racket going on inside Verko's office, all sorts of banging and crashing before Lapis Lazuli and Peridot got out from the window. Lapis quickly took flight, and AJ did the honors of getting the door opened for them through her own key. One portal door getaway complete, and all three bolted right through before the portal closed up on Verko, who ended up slamming head long into the wall.
Lazuli-Plan complete. And won't the others be surprised.