//------------------------------// // Pony's First Corrupted Gem // Story: Universe and Sparkle // by King Xeno //------------------------------// "Don't let it burrow again!" Pearl shouted, narrowly avoiding the large claw of the monstrous creature, as it swiped at her. The monster itself was a large chameleon like lizard, with eyes that rotated, the ability to change its color to match its surroundings, and finally the basic shape and look, but it was something far from a simple animal. Standing at least twenty feet tall, with claws three feet long each, a tongue that ended with a poisonous stinger, and annoying tendency to dig tunnels through the sand. It began to use the large claws that it possessed to dig into the soft sand of the beach, quickly making a tunnel for it to hid in. Garnet rushed forward and grabbed onto its tail, trying to dig her feet into the soft ground in order to prevent it from escaping. "You got this Garnet!" Amethyst shouted, using her whip to grab its front right leg, but this only succeeded in slowing the creature, despite the attempts made by both Gems it let out a loud roar and with a forceful shake it snapped the whip that restrained its movements, and cracked its tail like a whip, launching Garnet a few feet away. It scrambled down into the tunnel, and the sand bean to collapse behind it, while Pearl assisted Garnet back onto her feet. Amethyst began rushing to join them, while her whip disappeared in a purple glow, but the ground beneath their feet began to rumble. "That can't be goo..." Amethyst began, but the creature leaped out from under her, scooping the purple Gem into its mouth, before closing it, swallowing her whole. "Amethyst!" Pearl and Garnet yelled, before they realized what needed to be done, this creature was far too strong to be defeated by conventional means, but perhaps a different approach would be the key... Steven gently tapped the communication device, waiting for the Gems to call, it had been almost an hour since they had said they would, an he was growing worried. This was obvious to anyone in the room, which Connie and the Mane Six were, and they too felt worried about the Gems, mostly because of the roar they had heard last night. "I'm sure they're fine, just... Just wrapped up with something." Connie said, trying her best to cheer her friend up. "Yeah... Yeah, you're right! I'm sure they're just out on an important mission." Steven said with a smile, and he had no idea just how right he was. Before him the small crystal began to glow and float into the air, before activating and revealing a strange scene. The communication device itself had been placed on the railing outside of Steven's room, allowing a full view of the beach and ocean, along with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. The device had activated just in time to see Amethyst get eaten by the large monster, which made them gasp in shock and fear, hoping that Pearl and Garnet would be able to help their friend. Garnet and Pearl were hoping this would work, it seemed the creature like to catch them off guard, hiding under the sand, sensing for when they put away their weapons, then striking with deadly accuracy and precision. They had a plan figured out, Garnet stood on one of the many large sections of stone that lined the Temple, holding a large red rock, that she had broken from the many surrounding them. Pearl stood down on the sand and took in a sharp breath, before her weapon disappeared in an extremely light blue glow. Then there was the same rumbling that had been there before, and the large lizard like monster broke through the surface of the sand, grabbing Pearl in its mouth, preparing to swallow her like it had Amethyst, but before it got the chance to, the large red rock hit the side of its head, causing the beast to drop Pearl, and fall over onto the sand. It groaned in obvious pain, and went to get up, but Garnet jumped at the beast, delivering a quick blow to directly to its spine, which made it let out a loud bellow of pain and agony, before it disappeared in a cloud of white smoke with an audible poof. A dark green gem fell onto the sand along with a slimy and wet Amethyst. "Gah! It smelled so bad in there!" Amethyst shouted, shaking some of the goo off her hand. "We got it... Right? It didn't just spit me up and burrow again?" Amethyst asked, and Garnet shook her head, the gem was floating above her hand, trapped within a red bubble. "We got it." Garnet replied, sending the bubble to the Burning Room. It hadn't taken long for them to notice that the communication device had activated, and that Steven, Connie, and the Mane Six had witnessed almost everything that just took place. "Guys, that was awesome!" Steven shouted once the Gems had moved close enough to the device to hear him. "I mean, thew way you beat that monster with a big rock! Pure coolness!" Steven continued, which made the Gems give smiles, just seeing Steven happy tended to do that. "Was that what I think it was...?" Twilight asked, and the Gems turned to face her. "Was it a Corrupted Gem?" She asked, and Pearl nodded in response. "Yes... It was... Some of these Gems were our allies... Others were our worst foes... It doesn't matter what they are... Or were... We're going to help them." Pearl added, and looked to Steven. "Anything cool happen there lately?" Amethyst asked, and Steven shook his head. "Not really, we've just been hanging out... Twilight says she might take us into town soon!" Steven said, and this seemed to make Pearl nervous. "Uh... Is that a good idea? They won't try to hurt Steven, will they?" Pearl asked, and Twilight quickly shook her head. "Of course not! I mean, they might be a little frightened, but other than that there shouldn't be any problems." Twilight reassured, and Pearl relaxed. "Well, it's starting to get to that time again. We'll speak again tomorrow Steven." Garnet said, and the communication device shut down, leaving them standing there. "So... Do you guys know who that Gem was? Or is it like some big mystery?" Rainbow Dash asked and Steven shrugged. "I'm not really sure, so I'm going to say we don't know who it is." Steven replied, before they began to prepare for bed.