"And with this completion, I'm happy to announce the newest residence of Beach City. Mister, misses, welcome to your new home," Ruby announced. With the declaration made, and with the completion of their new home made from the sand at their feet, Diopside made the honor of placing mister and misses crab over on top of the building. It was a pretty cute sight, seeing two of the crustaceans on their sand castle.
Activity in the temple had grown slightly more lax since some of the Gems had returned from their extra trip to the Convocation of the Creatures. That didn't mean there was nothing to do around the temple, as there always seemed to be something to do for at least one of the Gems. In this case, Diopside and Ruby both were just finishing up some sand house renovation for some of the crabs in the area to pass the time. While they were doing that, Fulgurite was off nearby the mailbox, looking like something important was supposed to be coming around, her foot tapping on the ground with her arms crossed.
"Hey Fulgurite, come check out the new real-estate me and Ruby did," Diopside said, waving to her as she and Ruby came over. However it was pretty clear that Fulgurite was a little pre-occupied, even briefly bolting off to the end of the beach to check for something, just to bolt right on back and wait by the mailbox.
"Still nothing. Hey, one of you mind taking my shift?" Fulgurite sighed, her finger tapping on the mailbox as if it would just pop up there. Ruby and Diopside looked off down the beach, but they didn't see anything or anyone that would interest Fulgurite.
"Shift? You waiting for something, Fulgurite?" Ruby asked.
"It's not me," Fulgurite said, leaning on the mailbox, "It's Emerald. That Gem's got me stuck on guard duty for Jamie while he's off handling "manga shopping"."
"And how long has that been?" Diopside asked.
"Since this morning," Fulgurite replied. she stopped for a moment to go down the beach, just to rush back again after at least ten seconds, the skidding stop getting sand on Ruby. Ruby got the sand off of her.
"But what's he bringing that's so important he needs a guard?" Ruby asked, peeking into the mailbox for anything inside, only to find nothing but the metal used to make the thing.
"That's what I like to know," Fulgurite replied. What she also would like to know is what was taking Emerald so long. Whatever was so important had better come by soon, because Fulgurite was not a Gem to wait around for anything, at least for long. Diopside took a look down the beach again, her Gem eye making focus down the long stretch of beach for any signs of Jamie. It took the highest amount of focus her Gem eye could do, but with that high focus, Diopside could make out a vaguely familiar shape far down the beach.
"Good news, Jamie's just up the beach. Just passing the Big Donut," Diopside replied.
"Finally!" Fulgurite said, bolting off once again to reach Jamie before he could go away. Or before anyone could drag her into another watch, whichever. The bolt was quick enough to kick up a dustcloud of sand. This time it was a bit longer for Fulgurite to come back around, but instead of getting the package, she just brought Jamie, carrying him above her head. Jamie was still holding onto his hat.
"Morning, Jamie pal, how're ya doing? Got something for us?"
"Actually yeah. Can you put me down first?" Jamie asked, a bit humbled from such a speed Fulgurite just got him through. With her speed, he might as well have teleported there. After being placed down, Jamie got himself wiped off and he began to look through the mailbag of his. And what did he have for them after Fulgurite waited for? …
One comic. One single comic for Emerald's favorite manga series, in peek condition inside. Fulgurite just stared at the comic for a bit in disbelief.
"Wait, you serious? One?" Fulgurite asked.
"Yeah, that's the order. Need you to sign this please," Jamie said, presenting the signature for them. Fulgurite signed it with her hair, her eyes still looking to the comic she was made to waited hours for. As she was doing this, they then hear someone start to come out of the Beach House. Speak of the devil, it just so happened to be Emerald coming out after his day of shopping.
"Awesome, it's here!" Emerald beamed, heading right over to them to see the comic. "My special edition release of Sinful Servant, volume 57! Finally you're mine!"
"Glad you like it, Emerald. Everyone and their brother's trying to get their hands on that edition," Jamie said, though he only knew this from the news he picked up after dropping off that same comic to Sadie earlier that day.
"Yeah no kidding. Hey Fulgurite, thanks for holding down the fort for me while I was away, this would've been wrecked if it was left on the beach. Ok, you're relieved of duty, see ya later," Emerald said, heading his way back to the Beach House … Fulgurite hitting her head on the mailbox.
"He made me wait all day just for one comic so it wouldn't get wrecked in the sand? He could've fit that thing inside the mailbox!" Fulgurite said.
"Ok, it's fine, at least it's over now. It couldn't have been that bad," Diopside said to comfort her. Fulgurite was a bit fuming on this dumb task that Emerald said was SO important.
"I know, but that green punk was all "Fulgurite, watch this for me and keep your eyes peeled, my life depends on it!" or something. Depends on what?! So his favorite comic doesn't get a few particles in it?"
Diopside and Ruby weren't as familiar about comics as Emerald, but they did see where Fulgurite was coming from. Plus the comic was sealed in a plastic case anyway, so nothing would even end up going into it regardless.
"Uh, I'll uh just be going," Jamie said humbly, seeing Fulgurite going into a fit.
"Alright Jamie, see you later," Diopside said. But just before they could just go, someone else then came out of the Beach House. This time though it was a better face, this time being Pinkie Pie with their end of a Diamond Communicator projector screen in hoof.
"Yo guys, when you're done playing real-estate come here! I finally got a signal!"
Well that was a pretty good bit of news. So, Diopside, Fulgurite, and Ruby were inside the Beach House. with some of the clean-happy Gems such as Pearl away, the state of the Beach House wasn't as up to shape as before, but not a complete pig sty either, with some bits scattered here and there of snacks. Well that didn't matter all too much, so as Emerald was chilling on Steven's bed and reading the latest chapter on Sinful Servant, the others (which was also joined by Rarity and Amethyst as it turned out) got to the couch and opened up the projector screen. It took a bit, but they did manage to get their connection through.
"Testing, testing, you guys there?" said a good, and familiar voice.
"Yo, Ste-man! We hear ya loud and clear," said Amethyst. Good to see his face again after a couple of days.
"YES! Guys, I got to them," Steven replied. The others started to come in now, the screen seeing plenty of their faces come in now. Soon, Sapphire, Lapis, and Peridot were there on screen.
"Hello everyone. Hey Ruby~" said Sapphire. Ruby blushed. It had been too long since Ruby seen Sapphire's beautiful face.
"Hey! Hey Amethyst, you there? Hey Amethyst!" Peridot said, full of glee, and trying to get the full attention so she could talk to Amethyst.
"We see ya, P. So, friendship soldier, how's the big mission going? What news from the front?" Diopside asked, sounding serious but really she was just joking around. Steven followed suit, stepping back and giving a soldier's salute.
"Mission going swimmingly, mam," Steven replied.
"Wait, really?" Ruby asked.
"Um … ok, we did have a bumpy start, but it's going a lot better now. White hasn't missed a single lesson, but …"
"But …?"
"She's thinking this is all just one of Pink Diamond's games. I think it'll be a bit more time until she actually thinks this is lessons," Steven replied, though he still sounded hopeful.
"No one said it's gonna be easy, sport, just keep at it," Fulgurite said.
"I'm keeping at it, trust me. I'm not giving up on White Diamond just yet," Steven reassured, giving them a wink.
"That's our boy. You show White Diamond you mean business," Amethyst said. At this point Peridot got hold of the projector screen and got the attention focused on her next.
"Amethyst, finally! Listen, I got the biggest news this side of the galaxy!"
"What's that?"
"During our travels around the galaxy, we've took some time to stop on the planet Farid, and … and …" Peridot could barely contain her excitement, "Amethyst. I found my family!"
"Shut up!" Amethyst gasped.
"I'm serious! All six hundred and seventy five of them in one location, and they're ALL from my entire cut too. and in my experience, I even discovered a recipe from my younger sister I think you'll like," Peridot explained, presenting a written out list of ingredients for the Metallixer. As Peridot had hoped, Amethyst found this very interesting, and appetizing.
"Metallixer?"
"Sounds yummy and healthy at the same time," Pinkie Pie said.
"It's a type of drink they've created on Farid, and according to them it's very good," Lapis said.
"Oh sweet. Hang on, let me write it -"
"Already got it Amethyst," Pinkie Pie said, presenting a written down list of the Metallixer for her already. Leave it to the speedster to get this written down in just five seconds.
"According to them, Lapis?" asked Rarity. Lapis kinda clammed up on the question, but Peridot decided to go on and say it.
"Apparently only Peridots find it tasteful. Other Gems seemingly don't think so … which makes little sense, it tastes pretty good," Peridot said. Well, to each it's own.
"Well, I beg to differ. Come on, Pinkie, let's make this happen," Amethyst said, getting up with the pink mare to try and make this Metallixer happen, the others checking in with them.
"Any other planets you went to guys?" Diopside asked.
"Well, aside from Farid, we did stop in Heiligdom but that was about it so far. Think we got one more planet to stop by before we start heading back," Lapis replied.
"PLEASE. You have no idea how it's been over here," said Fulgurite.
"What do you mean? Is something wrong?" Lapis asked.
"I'll give you one guess who's been hogging the communicator the last week, hoping you'll call for a ride home," said Diopside. They didn't even need to answer in order to figure out who that was actually about.
"Oh geesh. Well, tell the policeman we'll be getting home within the next week," Lapis said.
"Will do," replied Rarity.
"So aside from that, what have you been up to?"
"Oh we've been keeping ourselves busy: went to this Convocation of Creatures not too long ago, killed it at Funland Arcade, and wasted several hours of my life because someone didn't want their comic wrecked on the beach," Fulgurite summed up.
"It's called a MANGA, and get mad all you want, I can't get this again for another three months," Emerald retorted.
"That thing could've fit in the mailbox!" Fulgurite said.
"And get a permanent bent in the spine, I don't think so," Emerald said.
"Still a fan of Sinful Servant, huh?" Steven asked.
"How could I NOT be? I've been waiting for this pre-order for weeks, I'm not getting some half-fancy'd comic book covered in dirt," emerald replied, presenting the peak-conditioned manga.
"It's called a MANGA," said Fulgurite smugly.
"... Shut up," Emerald replied, blushing as he went back to reading. Peridot couldn't help herself chuckling.
"So I'd assume the others aren't with you," Sapphire correctly concluded.
"Flint, Jade, and Jasper had really been dealing damage in missions lately though I guess that's to keep them distracted. And the ponies had been working plenty to making Ponyville good again," Diopside explained.
"You should see Ponyville now, Steven. It's almost like it was always there, and we even improved Ponyville since you left," Rarity explained.
"Congratulations," said Sapphire, "Looking forward to seeing all of you again."
"You too. K, we better get going before Flint comes back and takes our turn," said Diopside.
Well, with that said, and with one goodbye from both sides the connection was cut. And just in time too: just as the connection was cut off, the Warp Pad from the Beach House activated once again. Just as Diopside had suspected, there stood Flint, Jasper, and Jade back from their latest mission. Judging from their appearance though, their latest mission wasn't what they would call an easy little stroll, each of them looking like they've went through a bit of a scuffle.
"Oh my," Rarity said.
"What's up," Fulgurite said, seeing them come in.
"Well, we made it home alive, that's the important thing," Jasper simply said, pulling out what appeared to be a decent sized crystal from her hair. Tired, Jasper took a seat on the couch, the others moving aside give her some room.
"What was the Gem this time? Quartz? Agate? Or was it even a corrupted Gem?" Ruby asked.
"It started as a Corrupted Gem, but turned out our runaway corruption was in the same place as this … lord, I don't even know. Some giant, rock shooting mammoth thing," Flint said, still trying to comprehend what that even was about.
"And it took away the corrupted Gem from us too," added Jade. All day trying to find their corrupted Gem, just to have it get taken away, was NOT sitting very well for Flint and Jasper.
"Oh? It wasn't another Corrupted Gem? Dear, that's the seventh time I think," Rarity said after thinking. With the passing of the Everstorm that occurred sometime ago, these encounters with mystical creatures had become a bit more common than most. This would be fine if it was in Equestria, but Earth just didn't seem like the place for that sort of thing. And THEN they looked over to Emerald.
"Emerald!" Flint snapped, his voice making Emerald almost jump off of the second floor. The green Gem got the comic book off of his head before looking to Flint.
"That's my name, Flint."
"Emerald, where have you been? I told you to come with us on this mission, but here you are reading your comics again," Flint said. Emerald placed the comic back inside the plastic.
"First off - MANGA. Second, it's not that big of a deal. You still got your Corrupted Gem, didn't you?"
"That doesn't remotely relate to what I just asked."
"Ok, ok, I was out shopping. So sue me," Emerald said, getting back up. Without showing much care over this mission, he started coming downstairs with comic in hand, about to head out the door.
"You know, we don't tell you to come with us on these missions because we want your company, you actually had to come with us," Jasper made clear. Emerald didn't seem too bothered though.
"Okay, MOM, geesh. Anyone got the time?" Emerald asked. However, none of them actually had to answer that question, as Emerald looked over towards the clock. … and suddenly, Emerald was up in arms, getting as much of his shopping stuff together.
"Crap, that late already! Ok, we'll catch on this later."
"No, we're not done - EMERALD!"
Too late. Before any of them could grab him, Emerald was already taking off on his way to … well, who knows at this point? Emerald made his quick getaway with one of his hexagons, and by the time they got outside he was already flying off a good thirty feet off the ground, flying off out of sight. Flint felt the rim of the doorframe crack under his gripping fingers.
"Ok, this is getting ridiculous!" Flint said, releasing the doorframe and starting to pace back and forth in the Beach House, "What's that Gem got to do that's so important anyway?"
"I'm gonna guess: probably a big sale in "manga" off in Bayburgh or something," Fulgurite scoffed, not feeling any better about it than Flint was.
"Now, now, you can't blame him for having other uh … priorities," Rarity noted, though the tone in her voice did suggest she was only trying to avoid conflict, but still saw too well what they meant.
"Don't you start that: Emerald's barely done anything since being in this group, and he's ALWAYS gone doing his own thing instead of actually helping us out," Flint pointed out. He may not have as accurate a memory as Lapis, but after some thinking, the point was still there. Rarity cleared her throat.
"Well, be that as it may, I'm sure he's had other obligations than just us Harmony Gems. it's better than him actually fighting us, right?" Rarity said. Flint just groaned.
"Sorry for being speciesist, but I swear, you ponies can be too forgiving sometimes," Flint said. Rarity didn't want this turned into a species-ist argument, so she decided to leave it at that with the exception of a raised eyebrow. The comment was mostly said out of frustration anyway.
Before this conversation could continue, they all then heard the door open up again. This time though, the door didn't open to outside, but the signature sign of a Portal Key being used told them it was to Equestria.
And what's the issue this time?
…….
"Ok, she had a rounded head … about as tall as me, a little taller with her spiked hair, and a beak for a mouth and … yeah."
After a quick explanation from Starlight Glimmer, she and Spike got the description down pretty solidly for the others to try and work with. Fulgurite, Ruby, Rarity, and Amethyst got their drawn out description down as Flint, Pinkie, Twilight, and Jasper observed. Was it a perfect drawing of Budgerite? Well … it really depended on the drawing itself, and who drew it out. First up was Amethyst's drawing, which was literally just some poorly drawn … thing, that kinda looked like a bird.
"I was trying to get a feeling," Amethyst replied.
Well, that wasn't really gonna do them very good. Next one was Ruby, who was in a similar boat, but looked mostly like a fire with a bird head on it, arms and legs. A good sum up, but still a bit poor.
"I think I did too much on the hair," Ruby admitted sheepishly.
Rarity was next, and given how she was a passionate one for design, spent a little too much time working on the design to have it that accurate to the real thing.
"Honestly, I have a hard time handling circles in art," Rarity admitted. A bit hard to believe, but being a fashion designer and being an artist were two different crafts.
Fulgurite's drawing looked a bit hasty though, much of the lines looking like they've been done like slices, cutting to and frow until they got the shape. Hardly much of anything.
"I think it came out a bit well," Fulgurite said. Starlight sighed.
"Well anyway, I think Ruby got it closest," Starlight concluded. not as good, but best they were gonna get on short notice. Still, while this was all fine and dandy, Flint was beginning to get a bit impatient with this development, starting to go to the door.
"We're wasting time. Clearly this Gem's sent by White Diamond, and if she's here she's looking for us," Flint concluded. He wasn't much for coming to quick conclusions, but Budgerite gave little other options for the overall answer.
"Hang on a minute, how do you know?" Jasper questioned. Flint turned back to her.
"Because this "Budgerite" or whoever she is, isn't any normal Gem. I can tell just by that description she's some hybrid Gem, half bird according to the … beak," Flint explained, seeing the closest picture again.
"How do you know that, detective Gem?" Pinkie asked.
"Pinkie. How many Gems do you know with a beak for a mouth?"
"... Ah. Gotcha," Pinkie replied, seeing the picture again. For the heck of it, Pinkie pulled a marker from her mane, took a piece of paper, and quickly drew out a surprisingly accurate model of Budgerite.
"Well, she's got the prize," Spike said, taking the picture.
"Well, maybe she's from White Diamond, but she's not working with her. She's working for someone named Grogar," Starlight explained. The name surely didn't sound too familiar.
"Grogar?" asked Jasper.
"I don't know, some very angry, very strong ram. And I mean strong, like he just toppled the royal guard in just half a minute," Starlight shrugged. She had never heard of the ram before the encounter, so it really didn't help out the situation all too much.
"Can't be that strong," remarked Jasper.
"Twilight, you have any information about Grogar or no?" Flint asked, "You worked with the princesses, so if anyone should know it's you."
"None of the other princesses ever told me anything about Grogar. I didn't read him anywhere either," Twilight replied. Well that wasn't encouraging. Flint groaned.
"Oh boy, I think you triggered him," Fulgurite said. Flint was not amused.
"She didn't trigger me, Fulgurite," Flint retorted, "It was only a matter of time before someone would try and go for Canterlot since Celestia -" quickly Pinkie jumped in and covered Twilight's ears from hearing the ending of that sentence, but the Alicorn still felt the same cold shiver run through her spine.
"Flint! Language! There're traumatized ears here," Pinkie Pie warned.
"Oh, uh sorry. Well, you get the point: with Twilight now in charge, many of the older enemies might think they got a far better shot."
"Well that's much better," Starlight said.
"Hey, it's true!" retorted Flint.
"Alright, quit it," Jasper said, making them quiet. "Starlight, you fought Grogar, what kind of damage is this threat this time? Give me a level of damage, one to ten."
Starlight paused and thought this over for a bit. One fight doesn't fully specify the level of damage Grogar could do, but it was all she got to work with. She thought about the fight for a bit.
"Ok, let's see. Well, he can use some pretty decent fighting magic, and he's strong enough to make mincemeat out of the guards and the front room so I'd say … four?" Starlight concluded.
"Only four?" Twilight asked in disbelief.
"Well let's be honest, the royal guard doesn't have the best track record," Starlight admitted. Twilight would try and defend, but thinking back at HOW MANY TIMES the royal guard didn't really do their job exactly, at least without the princesses' magical backup … yeah, she had a point.
"That, and they did kinda high-tailed it when I came in. Seriously, that donkey and bird looked like they were about to faint just for seeing me," added Spike.
"K, so Grogar's just some very angry magic goat with a fear of Dragons. … Yeah, you got nothing to worry about," Jasper concluded. Compared to the other deadlier threats they've faced before, Grogar didn't sound like all that much to them.
"You sure? I-I mean, what if he decides to come back for another shot? What if we can't beat him? what if he actually takes over?!" Twilight asked, worried. She had left for only a few days, only to find this report waiting for her. Luckily, Twilight got some sense into her when Fulgurite made a zap to her head with a poke of her hair.
"Thanks, Fulgurite," Amethyst said, before turning to Twilight.
"Twilight, chill out. Think about it: we faced King Sombra, that Osicone, White Diamond twice now, and that CRAZY three-way brawl with Chrysalis, those Tindalos and Pony of Shadows! I mean, compared to that Grogar's just some sort of superhero's villain off of TV."
"She does have a point, dear," agreed Rarity, "And didn't you say the guards didn't find any trace of him since that attack? If he's that scared of Spike, he's probably long gone by now."
Twilight needed a bit to calm down before she could answer properly.
"Yeah, you're probably right. … Sorry, I'm just under some more pressure lately. I mean, at least before we -" Twilight paused to get the cold shiver out before continuing. "... had four princesses."
"We get it Twilight, but don't end up as a paranoid wreck over it alright? If it makes you feel better, Flint will keep watch over things," Jasper said.
"Wait, what? What the heck, Jasper?"
"Weren't you gonna go there anyway?" Jasper questioned. Well, that was a stalemate, and Flint came up to nothing.
"Good point. Alright, if it makes things better, I'll check around for you Twilight," Flint promised. This did give Twilight some more security, a sigh of relief escaping her muzzle as she started to relax. Flint got himself ready for the trek ahead, as Twilight opened the portal to go back to Canterlot with him.
"Twilight, hold on, where're you going?"
"Back to Canterlot," Twilight replied.
"Already? Twilight, you've been working a bit too hard with your task. Maybe you should give it a break," advised Rarity.
"Well, I'm sure I would, but if my schedule allowed me some time off to join my friends in some casual time, or perhaps go off on a vacation with everyone, which would be super amazing now, I'm sure it would've said so." They could obviously tell Twilight was putting a bit more obligation on this task of hers than what was good for her, but before any of them could say anything else, Twilight went back through the portal with Flint.
"Flint, help that Alicorn," Jasper sighed.
"So Flint's gone. Guess we're gonna deal with Emerald?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah … soon as we figure out where he went."
"Eh, that won't be hard," Amethyst said, as she pulled out her Portal Key. ...
~~~~~~
With the others off his back, Emerald continued his flight at a brisk pace, passed the borders of Beach City and over to the countryside. In the direction of his flight though, being more inland than by the shore, his destination wasn't exactly over to Bayburgh as Fulgurite had figured. His fly through the autumn air left him feeling a little cold, but nothing a Gem like him couldn't handle.
As for where he had in mind this time, his target began to come closer to view the further he came into the countryside: the Barnhouse. Not a typical spot for him to stop at, but as apart of his "schedule", it was one of those rare occasions. And good timing too as the residents of said barnhouse were just outside. Down by the door, Rhodonite, Padparadscha, and the Rutile twins were passing their time with some cloud watching when Emerald came into view.
"Look!" said right Rutile.
"There he is!" added left Rutile. They got up as Emerald landed off nearby as the others got up themselves to see him.
"Hey there guys, your delivery's here," said Emerald.
"Oh look, it's Emerald!" said Padparadscha. Timing late as usual, but no one was complaining too much. Emerald went over to them with the shopping he did, and it turned out much of said shopping was really just some more comics and manga of sorts.
"Okay, let's see. One for you Rhodonite, one for you two twins, and … here's yours P," Emerald said, passing them around. Each of them had their own type of manga enjoyment, as it turned out. Still, there were a few still left in his bags.
"Hey, where's the rest? Tiger's Eye? Fluorite? Lars?"
"Fluorite said to just leave them in the barn. She, Tiger's Eye and Lars decided to go out for a bit," explained left Rutile.
"Well alright, but hope these don't soil up in there. Some of these comics get dirty pretty easily," Emerald said, remembering his own experience as he took the rest towards the barn door. As he did so, he saw Rhodonite looking pretty intently into her own comic book, hers involving what appeared to be a female steampunk soldier, saluting off to the horizon as a flag of her country waved behind her (at least it seemed to be by the cover of it).
"I wish I was half as brave as you, Phlorance. Did you say this is based off an actual story, Emerald?" Rhodonite asked, as she was checking out the pages.
"Eh, beats me. That one the guy said was based on a true story, but I dunno. Looks kinda … sketchy in places," Emerald replied, as he pointed out the "rocket boots" Phlorance was using in one of the pages, taking combat to a robot-like drone.
"I don't know how she does it: just rushing in like that, not thinking about what those drones could do to her. I mean, isn't she worried about that at all?"
"That's apart of her character: she's someone who acts more than she thinks. Look, she's literally ramming that drone with her head."
"But that sounds so reckless," Rhodonite said, feeling a bit unnerved. Being brave and being stupid were two different things.
"It is!" agreed Emerald, "That's the whole point. Just ask Fulgurite or Rainbow Dash, you'll figure it out."
Phlorance did seem to act like those two whenever in battle. As Rhodonite made some mental note of that connection, and what she could possibly do with herself, Emerald continued on and went over to the barn doors. He grabbed the side of the door, but as he opened it be began seeing the telltale signs of some sort of bright light inside. A light and nothing else. Emerald closed the barn door shut, only to have a set of larger hands pry the barn door open, and for Jasper to look through.
"We weren't finished, Emerald," Jasper growled. Emerald jumped back and almost stumbled over his own feet, the other Off-Colors quickly seeing the tall muscle mom come out of her portal. Jasper propped the portal open, leaning on the rim of it, as she looked down to the annoying gremlin.
"Seriously, there needs to be a warning about those portal doors," Emerald said, hand on his chest as if his "heart" skipped a beat.
"I predict Jasper would visit the barn," Padparadscha said nearby, but they all looked a little nervous when Jasper picked up Emerald by the head.
"Now you listen here. You've been in this group for years, but I've yet to see you lift a finger to do anything for us," Jasper stated firmly.
"Come on, it's one mission, no big deal!" retorted Emerald, just for Jasper to drop him to the ground on his head.
"That isn't the point!" Jasper made clear, as Emerald got himself back up, rubbing his head.
"Wait, what'd he do?" Rhodonite asked.
"Oh, hey there. Emerald was supposed to come with us for a mission, but he didn't even show up. Again," Jasper explained, glaring to Emerald.
"Cheese puff, chill," said Emerald, "I may not be up for missions as much as the next cut, but I've made my contribution to the team and you know it!"
"Actually, I don't know. Mind telling me what that is?" Jasper asked, arms crossed and waiting for him to answer. Emerald readied to do just that, but suddenly he found nothing coming out of his mouth to protect him from the Gem. He tried to think about this, but his eyes glanced over to the comics nearby.
"H-Here, check it! I had to rush from the Beach House to here to drop these off to these guys! Look, see?" Emerald said, picking up one of the comics in question.
"So for the last couple of years, you've been nothing but a delivery rock," Jasper restated. Geesh that sounded bad on paper, and Emerald saw Jasper needed something a bit more substantial than that to get this by. Emerald tried to think of something else, but it wasn't fast enough before he heard Jasper's hand meet her face.
"Ok Emerald, I'll just spell it out: We all put in our own effort for this team, one way or another, and if you want to stay here you need to start pulling your own weight. Being with us doesn't just mean free room and board, ok?" Jasper made clear. Emerald quickly turned to his only back up.
"Come on guys, help me out here: Am I really the kind of jerk who just finds a room somewhere and doesn't do anything to help anyone else out? Well?"
"... Is … that a trick question?" Rhodonite asked.
"Thanks Rhodonite. I knew I could count on you," Emerald said bemused. Then the sense of Jasper's gaze came back to mind. Jasper went over to Emerald again, turning him around.
"Emerald. Mission. Now."
"Fine. What do I have to do sergeant Cheese Puff?" Emerald asked. After clocking him for calling her "cheese puff" again, and after he regained himself, Jasper got the item in question and tossed it too Emerald. It mainly was a written list of objectives.
"Here's the location. According to Starlight, some villagers are getting testy over some Timberwolves over there. She said something about the guards supposing to give that to Twilight, but she needs a break so you handle it."
"Wait, you're giving me Twilight's work?" Emerald questioned.
"WILL YOU PLEASE JUST GO?!" Jasper roared, looking ready to kill the bugger.
~~~~~~
"Geesh. Sorry for asking a question. …"
Jasper got him in the right direction when it came to where he had to go, as much as Emerald really wasn't wanting to go, but next thing Emerald knew he was off in Equestria for the sake of Twilight's mission. Or least, Emerald was convinced it was Twilight's mission, and still was thinking that as he kept walking along. He at least had time to make out a written list for his objective today, but ONLY after some long talk with the "cheese puff" to even make it work.
The road Emerald was dropped off at was a bit barren by Equestria standards, with open plains and smaller trees sprouting around him in scattered places. Though, as it stands, this was what much of Equestria was looking like since the Everstorm's passing, and thanks to the numerous Parasprites of course.
"Ok, let's see what we got here," Emerald told himself, checking the instructions, "Hmm. Alright: go to White Tail Woods, dispel rumors of Timberwolves to locals, if Timberwolves are discovered, drive them away. … And WHY can't Twilight do this?"
A flash of Jasper's angry face came across his mind.
"Oh. Right. "You're not pulling your weight"," Emerald said, his voice in a sort of mocking tone, "Seriously, Sargent Cheese Puff and Knight Sir Coal NEED to get a grip. … By the way, where even IS the White Tail Woods? Or ANY woods?"
Emerald stopped briefly to check where he was. Nothing in the area even looked like any forest, let alone any White Tail Woods. Emerald was getting a little bit bugged, but at least he brought something to pass the time.
"Whelp, good thing I got this babe," Emerald commented, before levitating out a pair of headphones, and an iPhone. Putting on the headphones, and clicking his favorite tunes and it wasn't long until he was strolling down the road again, his steps going with the beat. Eyes closed during this, he was getting more into his music than what he really had to do. Or what was going on around him.
All of his dancing about, listening to his own little world of music left him a little more vulnerable than most, especially since his "beat-boxing" could be heard amongst the scattered trees and foliage. One would think in such a place it would be a bit harder to find such animals like a Timberwolf. But as Emerald went on, a few wolf-like spruce started to take notice of this lone traveler along the path. There were only three of them, a standard number for a Timberwolf pack in a place such as this, but these weren't exactly ordinary Timberwolves. A lot smaller actually, for one thing, almost like they were pups to a normal Timberwolf or something.
The three Timberwolves watched Emerald go by in his odd way, eventually coming out. It wasn't until Emerald bumped into something that he actually remembered what he was doing, seeing the Timberwolves come out.
"AH! … Uh, hey," Emerald said. It didn't take long until he actually realized what was there. These were Timberwolves sure, but these Timberwolves were kinda small, about the same size he was.
"... Wait. These can't be the Timberwolves. PLEASE tell me this isn't just it," Emerald said to himself. These Timberwolves didn't even look all that scary either, the Timberwolves acting more like skittish coyotes at best. On one hand, this was feeling like a bit of a rip off and a wonder why Twilight would be called anyway … but then again, he didn't want to do this anyway.
"Well, Cheese Puff never said what a Timberwolf even looked like. Heck, I can handle this," Emerald decided, bringing out one of his hexagon weapons to handled these creatures. He held the hexagon like a disk, or how Steven would with his shield. … And immediately the Timberwolves scattered. That didn't mean he didn't throw it at them though, one being shattered into a bunch of spruce wood as the others ran far out of sight.
And that's it.
"... ALRIGHT, we go home!" Emerald concluded, proud at a job well done as he turned around and started to make his way back in the same direction. The two remaining Timberwolves looked back to Emerald, and despite seeing one of their own get shattered like that they came back out, getting some of the twigs, branches, and leaves from the third. Emerald didn't really notice, busy checking some of his videos and online stuff.
"Okay, that's that. Alright, so got that rendezvous with Bull's Eye Books n' Vids, better get there before the best sales go down the toilet … boy, my views are going down. Well, been a while since I gave the audience something to chew on besides that Brittle Bear Bakery vid. Soon as I get back -" *arf!* "... huh?"
Turning back, he found that all three of them were now back, still following him and almost unfazed by the first attack.
"Ok, what the hay? I just clobbered you to firewood! … and didn't your jaw have a lower half to it?" Emerald's questions were answered pretty quickly, as some of the remaining pieces of wood nearby started glowing greenish, and levitated back to the correct spot on the Timberwolf.
"... Regeneration powers. … Whelp, second verse same as the first," Emerald figured. He then turned to the Timberwolves and got out his hexagon again. But this time, the Timberwolves were just a little bit faster than before, and before he could throw his hexagon, one of the Timberwolves jumped at him and snagged the most valuable item on him before bolting away.
"MY IPHONE! Give that back, all of my tunes are on that thing!" Emerald demanded, but of course the Timberwolf didn't comply. Emerald tried chasing after the animal, but as with any thief with a prize the Timberwolf was racing away from the path and into the wilderness. As much as Emerald tried running after the Timberwolf, it was just running a little bit faster.
"You know what, clod it," Emerald decided, throwing his hexagon right at the Timberwolf again. This time it didn't completely shatter the thing, but it did knock off its legs so it'll stop moving. The iPhone was tossed in the air, and ended up tumbling and bouncing off a bit, landing into a nearby patch of bushes. Emerald raced over to get his iPhone from the bushes.
"There you are! Please don't be damaged, please don't be damaged." Emerald made a quick check on his screen and buttons on the iPhone, but lucky for him, it wasn't really damaged all that much. The worst it got was that it smelt like Timber breath, but that was about it. Emerald sighed, and turned to the already reformed Timberwolf.
"Watch it, Wolfe, or I'll make you into firewood!" Emerald snapped. The mention of fire did cower the Timberwolves, but not enough to make them leave. Emerald was just glad his iPhone wasn't too wrecked by the stumble, SOMEHOW not cracked from it getting bounced around like that.
"OK, that happened," Emerald figured, "now where the stars is White Tail Woods from here? Dang, maybe I shouldn't have ticked off Jasper like that, at least then she'll drop me off at the right place first. But where even is it? And more importantly … why do I keep talking to myself?"
Emerald gave a few light slaps to his temple before walking off on his way. The Timberwolves glanced to one another before they started trailing behind him again. Emerald knew they were there, but what good would fighting them do if they were just gonna build themselves back together again? Emerald did stop though anyway, but not because of the Timberwolves behind him. …
*ahhh ah ah ahhh ah*
"Huh? Sapphire?"
No. no Sapphire was off in space, that couldn't be her. Emerald glanced back to the Timberwolves, and they weren't singing either. Well when hearing any suspicious, and strange noise coming from somewhere one hadn't been in before, the only logical thing to do is -
"Alright, let's see what's up now."
… Anything but that. Emerald had nothing better to do, so he strolled on and followed the noise. The distant sound of the song became slightly more prominent as he went through the foliage. His wandering through the Equestrian wilderness eventually lead him far off away from the road, and over towards an actually thicker area of forest. His walk only stopped once he began hearing some more voices.
"Coming through! Here, let me just roll into your DMs real quick."
Peeking through the next bush, as it was discovered by Emerald and the Timberwolves, the area coming up looked a bit like a scrapyard in progress. And this scrapyard wasn't alone either: Budgerite was on top of what looked like a giant gear and rolled it along like a circus performer would do, as her companion Bray was pulling a statue along as best a donkey could. Stubby was nearby helping Bray out, but his help was hardly any.
"Hold on, isn't that the same mutt that tried to steal Steven?" Emerald thought watching this. None of the three even noticed Emerald or the Timberwolves nearby, and eventually after dropping off some more things, the trio went off to presumably get some more things. With the area clear, Emerald took a moment to check out what was going on here, and suddenly something clicked.
"RNG Diamonds, thank you. Let's give the cast something to chew on," Emerald decided, getting his phone out and at the ready. What chance would this come by again before those three move all of this stuff? Soon as he clicked record, he got things settled.
*click*
"What's up everybody and everypony, Emerald here," he said, his voice a little quieter. "Now, this is an on-site, and unprecedented urban exploration: I was going through … somewhere in Equestria, I was kinda dropped off here by one of my friends earlier today, #SargCheesePuff in case you're wondering who. And look what I found."
Emerald stopped to levitate his phone just above the bushline so the camera could capture the scrapyard nearby. The video also captured the strange singing. The Timberwolves didn't have a clue what he was talking to.
"So, I have NO IDEA what this is all about. And all you can hear, there's this … singing, going on somewhere in this place? I dunno what it is, I dunno where it is but we're gonna find out. Alright, the others are gone, let's do this dance."
And dance he did: as he made one more look through the bushes before he started to go off into the scrapyard. He went right into it without fear, but kept his caution up just in case someone would come back around and catch him. The Timberwolves, curious, ventured out with him too seeing it was safer. Some were caught in sight of the camera, so Emerald went to explain them too.
"K, in case you're gonna ask comment section, those are just some friendly Timberwolves - most original name ever. I know. And they kept following me since showing up, so they're just gonna do what Timberwolves do and I'm just gonna let em do it." Not the best joke ever, but that was what ended up happening. So as the Timberwolves were checking out the other stuff, Emerald kept looking around for the singing He kept his iPhone levitated as he searched around some more, though while the camera could see it, Emerald failed to notice anything odd about the items he was looking through. He could've sworn something was different, but when he fully looked, nothing looked out of the ordinary.
"Well, so far no luck, I'm still finding nothing that could be making music -" and suddenly something off in the distance caught his eye. something moving amongst the scrap got Emerald quiet. Hearing distant voices again, Emerald started to freak out, and immediately raced to find some cover amongst the scrap metal. However, the Timberwolves didn't really hide away, still looking over the landscape. For the camera, Emerald didn't exactly showed what happened though it did hear the Timberwolves rush off for cover as something moved in. Emerald slowly brought the iPhone up so it could see the situation, but there didn't appear to be any Timberwolves there anymore …
"OK, no idea what just happened, but it looks like our Timberwolves went on home so it's just gonna be you and me. It might be a while," Emerald said, before coming out of his hiding place. Recording stopped for a brief moment (he didn't want an hour long video of nothing), and Emerald continued to look around.
"Seriously, where're you?" Emerald wondered. So much scrap to look through and he couldn't find much of anything to work with. Emerald kept hearing this strange sympathy over and over again, but he couldn't really find it yet. He kept the iPhone levitated as he started rummaging through another bit of scrap, but with him distracted, the world continued to work its way towards him. All the camera caught was a simple shadow starting to loom in behind Emerald, before something whacked it aside.
"Huh? Hey, watch the - ACK!" Emerald wasn't even given a second before the advisor for this scrapyard jumped him, and got him on the ground. His head was pressed down into the ground by a sharpened trotter, giving Emerald a bit of a harder time to actually see who it was that found him.
"Hey, lay off dude! If you wanted me gone just say so!" Emerald said, but this thing didn't care about what he had to say. Looking just passed the hoof, thinking it to be a ram or deer according to the hoof. However, this hoof was instead attached to a much less-fancy creature: a domesticated, thousand pounder, Landrace boar! But no ordinary boar, as this giant of a hog had a twisted grin on its muzzle, and its hooves were sharpened at the tips like cleavers. In its muzzle, Emerald saw a small hint of a splinter from what used to be a Timberwolf, the hog proceeding to crack with its teeth, and giving a sort of wheezing snicker. Emerald tried kicking the pig off of him, but this hefty hog was heavier than he appeared, and all of his kicks weren't met with much luck.
"HOG! Can't breathe! Get off me!" Emerald demanded. However, the hog didn't budge. It only took the strength of a hundred quartz soldiers in Emerald's tiny arms to pull himself out of the hog's hooves, feeling his shirt get torn up though.
Now on his feet he got a better look at this pig. The size of this hog was simply huge, easily rivaling the size of a bear, and there were some rather odd-looking black scars dotted along its body. Its ears were flopped over its eyes, working a bit like Sapphire's hair over her eye (weird, I know). Emerald quickly got his iPhone.
"K, guys, time to split!" Emerald said to his audience, as he began to make a run for it as the crazed hog was rushing after him with such a horrid squealing, a mixture of a bellowing horse and a screeching pig. For such a hefty animal it moved pretty quick on its four hooves, keeping close to Emerald's tail the whole time.
"Crap, crap, crap LAY OFF PIG!" Emerald shouted, only to nearly get his face bit off in the open mouth of the boar. While he didn't get bitten, he did get rammed and he was launched into one of the scrap piles, his iPhone being launched in the air until landing nearby. The boar snickered again, seeing Emerald's head stuck in the scrap heap. The pig yanked Emerald out and soon the large pig was on top of him again, this time both front hooves holding him down. That same twisted grin was across its muzzle, and continuing its snickers, gave Emerald the sloppiest lick a pig could give.
"... EEEEWWWW," Emerald grimaced, feeling the huge lick-filled loogie all over his face. He tried shaking off the saliva, just to be pressed down by the pig's snout. Then the attention came to the iPhone, the boar moving to check that out as Emerald had to think about how much cleaning product would fix the smell and saliva. The iPhone's screen soon saw the face of this boar, the animal taking it in its mouth.
"Don't you. Don't you do it!" Emerald warned, "That's got a lot of money attached to it, I need it for my career!"
So the pig dropped it … and spat a big fat one right on the screen.
"You. Devil," Emerald said, only THEN getting his iPhone back. It wasn't damaged exactly, the saliva only on the screen, but it wasn't any less disgusting. Emerald held it by the tips of his fingers, the pig laughing at his misfortunes. Emerald then brought out his hexagon.
"That does it porky, anyone interested in some porkchops?" Emerald asked, ready to beat up this pig … only to get the weirdest response from this pig today: beyond just yes, the pig's tongue licked his muzzle in such a sloppy manner, the pig willing to chow down on some porkchops!
"... Wait. Really?" Emerald asked. The pig nodded eagerly, hoping for a meaty treat like a dog to a biscuit.
"O … K … this is getting awkward. I'm just gonna go now, you have fun … being you," Emerald decided. Instead of running, he got his hexagon and flew off instead before the pig could do anything else to him. The pig just snickered again before strolling on back into the scrap yard. Emerald landed off nearby, just far enough so the pig wouldn't find him.
"That was something that happened. Back to business! … soon as I clean this screen, just a second," Emerald said, getting his shirt to wipe off some of the saliva off of the screen so the folks could see him better.
*ahhh ah ahh ah ahhh ah, ah ah, ah ah, ahhh*
"There's that noise again. And it's sounding pretty close this time," Emerald said to himself, investigating the place just a tiny bit further. He wasn't leaving until he found the source of the singing, if it was the last thing he'll do. He had a reputation to keep! Emerald kept the iPhone levitated as he kept trying to check around a bit more, keeping his eye out not only for the singing source, but for that creepy pig. His eyes looked up and down until -
*ahhh ah ahh ah ahhh ah, ah ah, ah ah, ahhh*
"BINGO!"
FINALLY the source of the noise. And admittedly, a very odd one at that. About as tall as an average human, this object amongst the rubble had a human-like face, the voice singing from there. However, everything underneath said head didn't look remotely human at all: a sort of hollow cage containing what looked to be a Gemstone-like disco ball, with a set of very large (comparatively speaking) green hands with dark green fingernails. Four smaller frog-like statues were around this object, each holding a small trumpet, and a round green stone on their head. The whole structure itself appeared attached to a rock pedestal that was forcefully removed from some sort of wall, according to the cracks behind the structure.
"We found it folks! And check it out, it ain't half bad this Sessile. Why would anyone throw this good piece away?" Emerald wondered, admittedly impressed by this nice piece in such a bunch of scrap. Sessile acted like she didn't hear that and just kept singing as she was supposed to.
"Alrighty everybody and everypony, we met with some creep ham of a hog, but we found out noisemaker right here. Mission accomplished! See you all in the next exploration after I get a good long bath. This is Emerald sayin: Peace!"
"...…. Mission?"
"Well yeah, I found what was -" Emerald suddenly stopped. WHO said that? Emerald turned to the only possible source, just to find Sessile looking to him with a bit of surprise.
"YOU'RE ALIVE?!" Emerald gasped, almost stumbling over some scrap metal on the realization. Sessile wasn't used to so much attention.
"S-Sorry ……. I know I'm not supposed to talk. … But …" Sessile clammed up, but the shock was already given to Emerald. This thing, which Emerald thought was just some fancy object was now a Gem-powered one - no. No, a Gem made into a machine!
"OK, ok, chill Emerald, don't woos out. So uh …"
"Sessile."
"Oh, that is your name? Huh. Well, okay so let me get this out of the way: are you a gem-powered machine, or are you a …" Emerald didn't need to finish for Sessile to better understand what he meant.
"I'm a Jade. … At least I was. … Once. …"
"Oooo … ouch," Emerald simply said. How else was he supposed to react to this? But then Sessile perked up.
"But that's not too bad. You're here to get me ……. right? I-Is that what you just said?"
"Me and my big mouth," Emerald thought. Not a single mention of any harvested Gems in this place, and he didn't plan on bringing any company back with him. But he began to work his little mind about what to do here: Timberwolves or Sessile? Timberwolves … Sessile …
Was there even a contest?
"Eh … yeah. Yeah, I'm here to fetch you. Some uh … ponies, saw you get dropped off here and they asked me to uh … come here and fetch you, bring you back to base you know?"
"I almost forgot others cared about me," Sessile admitted, "T-Thank you so much uh … Emerald? Is that your name? You said Emerald nearby, didn't you?"
"Yep, that's my name. So uh, how do I detach you from this thing, or is this a permanent fix?" Emerald asked, hopping up to Sessile's level.
"Permanent. … Sorry."
"It's not your fault, Sessile. Here, let ol' Emerald just pick you up, and we'll get going," Emerald decided, cracking his knuckles as if he was gonna lift her by brute muscle alone. Sessile did start to feel herself being moved though, and soon she was being levitated above Emerald's head. It took a bit of effort on Emerald's part to do so, as the platform Sessile was attached to was pretty much dead weight to the original Gem herself.
"A-am I too heavy?"
"Don't sweat it, I deal with heavy girls on a daily basis," Emerald replied. But just before they could go.
*SQUEEE*
"Diamond dang it, you can't be serious!"
The filthy swine was back, this time in alarm that Emerald was carrying Sessile. It seemed the hands were apart of her too, because when Sessile saw the pig, her hands went to her mouth in worry (as best they could anyway).
"O-Oh no. T-Trotter, he found us," Sessile shuttered. So the pig had a name. Emerald wasn't in a good place to tangle with the pig again. Trotter was tolerable of Emerald before, but seeing this go on didn't suit well to this freak of a pig, and the boar started to rush right for them! Emerald moved just fast enough to avoid the first charge, as the pig rammed into more scrap metal.
"Oh stars, not only is this pig a freak, now I got a label for it. Come on, Sessile we're going!" Emerald concluded, trying to make tracks as the pig was busy shaking off loose scrap. However, his speed was a bit slower thanks for lifting Sessile, and Trotter didn't take much time to catch up to the Gem, standing in front of him with a very sloppy mouth.
"Oh no, don't you lick me pig, I reek enough!" Emerald warned. The nutty pig instead spat a fat loogie on the ground right at emerald's feet. You could probably guess what that was to do.
"Ack! w-whoa - Trotter you - WHOA!" *THUD*
The pig snickered again, seeing Emerald underneath Sessile's platform. The pig pulled Emerald out from underneath her no problem, but namely just to see the dazed and bruised look on Emerald's face. Trotter placed his hoof down on Emerald's neck, the sharp edges of his hoof feeling like a pair of scissors. Sessile closed her eyes, thinking Emerald was a goner. The only Gem that cared for her since ending up like this, and he was now going to end up cut open by the crazed boar. All Emerald can see was the twisted smile from the pig, his rotten chicklets for teeth and rancid breath of rotting meat, making Emerald feel completely sick. To think that spit came out of this freak hog's mouth and THAT stretch was laced onto it. The mouth opened wide, and Trotter was ready to have some breakfast …
"Sooey! SOOOEEY!"
Blind luck. A call off by the scrapyard gatherers got Trotter's attention, the pig turning his head towards the noise. Sessile and Emerald were waiting for the reaction this time, but then the pig got another twisted smile on his muzzle … before letting Emerald go. It was an odd gesture, but Emerald didn't question it, as he sprung to his feet, levitated Sessile, and began to go off away.
"Thank you world, you're giving me a free B! I'll make up for it soon as I get back," Emerald thought, going as fast as he could with Sessile in levitational reach. Trotter simply glanced off back to Emerald and Sessile, seeing them both move off out of sight from the scrapyard. He can afford losing two targets if it meant having some more fun with them later.
Besides, one removed Harvested Gem wasn't gonna handle the entire harvested horde they got going on.