//------------------------------// // Fusion Confusion // Story: My Little Universe: Season 2 // by EquestrianKirin //------------------------------// Ever since the announcement, the production had gotten pretty busy on their big goal for Homeworld. While the hype for such a trip was a bit mixed more or less, many of the Gems and ponies helped with a helping hand (or helping hoof for that matter). Jasper still wasn't back just yet, so, strength was a bit limited on that part. Course, Garnet was indeed aware of the number of stuff that can easily get in the way (extra missions, other events, etc.), but that didn't deter her. After all, the vision didn't give any clue on when this special event will occur. Also, many other things needed to be planned out for the trip ahead, and if things are to go smoothly for the future, they needed to get things all set. For the exact construction of the ship, a good group was put together; Pearl, Fulgurite, Peridot, and Twilight. Others helped them out when they need it, but, it was them who made the progress. Plus they had some strong know-how on the construction anyway. They chose by the barn to do the project because it was open, not many people were around, and they had a lot of material around the area to use. Nearby on a chalkboard they found, Pearl redrew a part of the main blueprint, basing it on the main print Garnet showed everybody. Twilight and Fulgurite were looking over the drawn out print, Pearl busy in the barn working on one part of the ship. Peridot however was nowhere to be seen. "Okay, anything we're missing for the engine?" Twilight asked. "Don't think so. Might need to check on the major components when we're done though," Fulgurite replied. Soon, Pearl stepped out of the barn for the moment, a bit stained from working with the metal but fine. "Had any of you seen Peridot? She was supposed to be back an hour ago," Pearl said, wiping her forehead. "Meh, I dunno. She's probably busy fiddling with her screen or something," Fulgurite said. "She's supposed to be helping us; I'm sure she wants to go to Homeworld same as anybody. Can one of you find her?" Pearl asked. Twilight decided to take it, and flew off to look for Peridot. For the moment, Fulgurite and Pearl were alone, looking over the plan together. As they were, Fulgurite began to think. "Hey Pearl? What're your thoughts on this big trip anyway? You haven't said much bout it to Garnet," Fulgurite brought up. Pearl took a bit before she decided to answer. "Well, it sure is a surprise. But, whatever Garnet saw, I'm sure it must be for a good cause. And ..." Pearl trailed off in her mind about it, looking off like she was daydreaming. "And what? Don't leave me hanging here." "And ... Well, it's been over 5,000 years since I last heard of Homeworld. I wonder how much has changed? ..." Pearl thought for a little bit on that, yet Fulgurite leaned against the chalkboard. "Then talk to Peridot bout that one; she's been at Homeworld recently, right?" "I don't think she's willing to talk about that with me. She doesn't listen to me anyway." Unfortunately for Pearl, that was true. Peridot, since being teamed up with Pearl, didn't remotely bother with her in anything she tried to tell her. Either Peridot would ignore her or just take the idea. Soon, Pearl switched the subject. "And what about you?" "Me? Oh, well Homeworld did lock me up in that darn geode so, I dunno if they remember me or what." "I see. I guess if you're worried -" "I ain't worried; I'm psyched! Come on, let's keep at it!" Fulgurite said, changing the mood very quickly. The Gem went into the barn, as Pearl joined her inside. The engine Pearl was working with looked like a jet engine, though it looked only half-finished. Wires, bolts, and various pieces weren't in place. It seemed it might be some more time before this would be finished, and with Twilight and Peridot gone, the two were stuck in continuing. "Man, how much is left of this thing?" Fulgurite wondered in annoyance. "If we both work together, and keep everything on task, we should get it done by the end of the day," Pearl replied, looking over the opened area of the engine. Fulgurite thought over the 'work together' part, and then got an idea. A bit of a gutsy one, but an idea really. Pearl looked to Fulgurite only to see a big smile on her face. "So, wanna work together?" Fulgurite asked. Pearl just said they were doing that, but she could tell that Fulgurite meant a more literal sense. Pearl was going to straight up protest, but, then she got to thinking on what'll happen. She was careful and precise, Fulgurite was fast and quick thinking... ... Sometime later, Steven and Rainbow Dash had come around to the barn with a few items requested by the working Gems. These stuff had included a number of extra parts and different types of fuel for the engine (seeing which one will run the best). Soon after showing up, Rainbow helped open the barn door, the stuff blocking her view in front of her. Steven placed his down inside, along with Rainbow. "Hey, we got the stuff, anything else you -" Steven's words were cut short when he and Rainbow saw what had happened. Pearl and Fulgurite both weren't there working on the engine, but that didn't mean nobody was working. Handling various parts at once, and at pretty good speed, was a taller Gem. This gem was a few feet taller than Jasper, though she was about the same body structure as Garnet, and skin color looking like a human (like Steven or Sadie for instance). The clothing seemed to resemble a sort of ninja; the pants and shirt connecting in an orange, skin hugging suit with a yellow belt connecting both. Her white hair was long, yet smooth, and in a beed ponytail reaching down just past her hips. Her hands (all four of them) were gloved, with only the fingers exposed. She had heard them both come in and turned to face them. She had an opening on her suit, like an partially opened jacket, with a sort of netting connecting from the neck down to her torso within that opening. She had two sets of eyes with a similar orange color. The gemstone on her forehead looked like Pearl's, though with a tannish color instead of the cream white color. Fulgurite's knee gems were also where they normally are, but they were in the same shape as Pearl's Gem rather than the lightning bolts. Steven gasped with astonishment at the fusion, and Rainbow was left mouth agape. "WHOA! Who's in there?" Steven asked, extremely surprised. The fusion looked down to them both, her hair working out some extra kinks in the engine. She seemed a bit surprised to see them so soon, not expecting anybody back already. "Steven-san, Rainbow-chan! Check me OUT! how do I look?" she said, showing off her form to them both. "Awesome!" Steven beamed, as Rainbow flew around to get a full view of the fusion. As for the fusion herself, the boasting and excitement was mostly Fulgurite talking, Pearl keeping to controlling the hair and focusing on the task. It wasn't easy with all the posing the body was doing. As this was going on, Twilight had come back with Peridot to see the fusion there instead of Pearl and Fulgurite. "What the hay?" Twilight said, showing their presence to the fusion. Peridot did not expect this in the slightest, as the fusion looked to them both. Peridot immediately gave a scan of her before she did anything to them. The fusion stopped for the moment on her work to go to her. "Cool, Peri-chan, you're back! Like my new form?" She asked. According to the scan, the type of Gem came out as Sandstone. Must be what Pearl and Fulgurite ended up as in their fusion. Soon, another visitor showed up; Garnet! "How's it going?" Garnet asked. She wasn't too surprised on seeing Sandstone there instead of Pearl and Fulgurite, but was happy they can stay in a fusion like this, and seeing them happy by the looks of it. Sandstone happily presented the forward progress on the engine. Garnet smiled. "That looks great. Let's take a break," Garnet decided. The others agreed, but Peridot had some confusion towards Garnet on this. Happy, Sandstone went off to show off what she can do, as Garnet relaxed on a hay bale. Peridot groaned. "Okay, I'm at my limit," Peridot stated annoyed. "Afternoon, Peridot." "Listen fusion; I can see if you're using your fusion for a functional purpose. But you? You're not using your enhance strength and power to do anything!" "I'm doing something," Garnet stated calmly. Peridot crossed her arms. "And what's that?" "Cloud watching." Peridot simply huffed. "You can do that alone." "Don't want to." Peridot didn't get it; she had seen Ruby and Sapphire already, but since then the two hadn't split up from Garnet. Why? Peridot could scan for an answer, and actually got ready to do that. However, before she could, Garnet reached out and moved her screen away, chuckling a little bit. "If you really want to understand fusion, I can help you," Garnet said, getting back up. Peridot moved her screen away for a minute, a bit confused. "What do you mean?" Garnet smirked, and mover her shades so her bottom eyes locked to hers. "Let's fuse." "OH MY STARS!" Peridot nearly stumbled over her own enhancers on that kind of response. First she gets the idea for Homeworld, now she wanted to fuse with her?! Peridot got up, trying to relax a bit. "Okay, you're not ready, I understand. Another time then," Garnet said, hands up. Seeing both gemstones on her hands just reminded Peridot she was talking to a fusion again. Embarrassed a bit, Peridot didn't want to stick around, and quickly flew away with her finger copter. After she left, Garnet focused on Sandstone nearby with Twilight, Rainbow, and Steven. Garnet smiled on seeing this, but then she remembered her own fusion with a particular Homeworld Gem. Garnet felt ready to talk now, and she hoped that Jasper wasn't ready to shatter her now. So, with a stretch, Garnet got up and, while some of the others were busy with Sandstone, went off. ~~~~~~ It didn't take too long of a walk, but, Garnet took her time in getting to her spot; the apple tree where she revealed her big mission to everyone. The apples were still ripe and hanging from the tree, although some leaves looked ready to fall off. Having a good look around, Garnet leaned against the tree. For the first few minutes, Garnet just chilled out, feeling the cool breeze going along her skin and watching the clouds above her gently move along. Her future vision had her prepared for this one, and so eventually, she moved out into the open. "Alright, Discord, bring her over," she said to herself. As she expected, a portal soon opened up nearby, with not only Discord, but Jasper coming through. Garnet didn't say anything, and waited for them to notice her. Soon, Jasper caught Garnet just standing there. The portal disappeared behind them, and the Draconequus, giving a wink, went off as well in a white flash. "Jasper." "Alright, fusion, you're not getting out of this. You will tell me what happened back at the kindergarten," Jasper firmly growled. However, Garnet could tell Jasper was acting less volatile at her than before. So, Garnet took off her shades, and nodded to her. "I'm sure it's been long enough. First off; what exactly troubled you with our fusion?" Garnet asked. Jasper snorted. "These new thoughts and images, that's what! Since being split from you, I can't get my decisions working straight because of them, and I kept seeing these random things in my head. And I haven't been myself because of this "conscience" thing I ended up getting thanks to you! You caused this, now get rid of it!" Jasper accused. Even if told that everyone has a conscience, Jasper still believed that Garnet at least triggered this thought-effecting state somehow, and she basically wanted Garnet to fix it. The request on gaining a conscience thanks to her though, struck Garnet as pretty silly, making her chuckle. "Well, Jasper. Welcome to Earth," Garnet said with a smile. Jasper still didn't get it, and was just getting more annoyed over it. She wanted to hit her, but the "Conscience" thing seemed to trigger her to stop, only coming out as a rough groan. "There, right there! it got me again! Why?!" Jasper snapped through gritted teeth. Garnet felt that she might as well help her out. "Tell me; do you know what a Conscience is supposed to do?" Garnet asked. Jasper, after trying to chill, tried to remember what she was told. "Something about what's good and what's bad or something like that." "Good. And ... ?" "Okay, so it told me it was wrong to hit you, so what?!" "And how do you feel?" "Annoyed, frustrated," Jasper groaned. But soon, she looked away, looking a little bit embarrassed. "... but, not regretting that choice." Garnet went over to her, a hand on her shoulder with a smile on her face. Jasper still wasn't very sure, but, at least she was getting somewhere. "Now. Tell me what you saw." ~~~~~~ Further away, Peridot, Lapis, Applejack, and Diopside were hanging out for a while away from the barn, along the beach. Garnet didn't task Lapis and Diopside to do much of anything, so, they had time to relax. Peridot wasn't with them for very long, only just arriving. Lapis was gently going along the shores, the cool water gently sweeping her feet, as Diopside was sun-bathing with a bag of chips. Peridot was fiddling with her screen still, adding in some extra detail about Garnet's sudden offer to fuse with her. There was no exact benefit for the moment to either side if they did, so, why would they do that? "How's the project going along, Peridot?" Lapis asked, walking over to her. "the construction is progressing well; engines currently being worked on," Peridot replied. Glancing at the screen, Applejack and Lapis notice something on the screen, looking like a multi-armed figure with some information around it. On the right shown Peridot, and on the left was other different Gems. Basically, Peridot was doing her own little bit of hypothesizing with the whole fusion thing. Applejack and Lapis looked it over, but only then did Peridot get rid of the screen. "Something on your mind, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "First; I'm not this sugarcube. Second; I'm fine," Peridot insisted. As they were talking, Diopside took the moment to look out to the calm sea. The waves were going about by the wind, and the clouds above floating freely in her sight, nothing out of the ordinary ... "Well what were you checking?" Lapis asked. "Checking potential fusion possibilities for other Gems," Peridot answered, not signifying herself in particular with the fusions in question. Nearby, Diopside kept her gaze up to the clouds, but one of the clouds seemed to catch her attention. While her normal eye saw just a white cloud oversea, her Gem eye caught sight of something else ... "How many did you find out?" "None of your business, Lazuli." Diopside began to back up a bit to the others, her eyes locked to the cloud in the sky. Something just didn't seem right with that cloud. While the other clouds moved along like they should, one of them seemed moving their way. No Pegesi were moving it, so that was ruled out. Diopside went to Lapis first, poking at her shoulder rather quickly. Lapis got Diopside to stop poking at her. "What is it?" Lapis asked. Diopside pointed to the cloud moving their way. However, it wasn't the cloud itself that look off, but the shadow it showed. While the cloud didn't show any exact shape, the shadow was far more exact in shape, looking like a sort of plane or aircraft. It was far too exact to be apart of the cloud. Applejack and Peridot both glanced to the cloud as it hovered overhead. Peridot wasn't too familiar with clouds alone, never mind this one, but upon a closer look something else caught in her sight. Just shining through the cloud cover, a small visible stone seemed to poke out of the cloud. The item was a sort of Gemstone, gleaming in a dark brownish color ... But just as Peridot realized what it really was, four large orbs suddenly appeared around the stone. The group got out of the way as a loud sonic ping was blasted down at the beach. That same sonic ping removed the disguising cloud cover whatever was up there, was using. Upon removing the cloud, the creature it revealed was clearly a corrupted gem. It had a boat structure mixing a fighter jet and a hummingbird; a long sword-like beak jutting forward from its rounded, eyeless head. It had no arms or legs, but its wings had a shape to match a ray, with jet propulsion being used from its four opening to help it fly. It's entire body was dark brown in color, and had an aerodynamic body type to match a jet plane. Even with no eyes, it seemed to know Peridot, Diopside, Lapis, and Applejack were there. The wings didn't make a single beat; the jets strictly keeping it from falling on the ground. The holes were aimed downward in hover mode, but after pinpointing each location of each Gem, the four "engines" turned and it rocketed forward. It seemed that it couldn't make an exact hit, but it did make a long turn until it lined up with the shore at breakneck speed. The group could only duck, the giant, plane-sized Gem missing them by inches. After the dodge, the thing made a shot upward, made a 180 spin, and turned down to them. That time the dodge was even closer, and Applejack's hat was caught in its beak. "Hey, you thieving varmint!" Applejack yelled, realizing her hat was gone. The corrupted Gem stopped abruptly, the hat shooting off its bill. Applejack quickly caught it as it turned again to the Gems. Applejack raced in between it and the others. Diopside and Lapis kept some distance, Peridot readying her hand gun. However, rather than charge in blindly, something opened up on its forehead, like a hatch. It revealed a silver-like skin, shining off the light like it was metal. A small yellow light beamed down to them, spreading apart like it was a scanner. The wave of light went over them all fast before the scan was done. Peridot shot at the Gem, but each shot just bounced off it like a bouncy ball thrown at a wall. That seemed to trigger another aggressive response; the Gem reared back, and the four jet engines released another powerful blast of sound. The blast just missed Diopside, Lapis and Applejack, the blast focused strictly on Peridot. The sound blast was more than painful; her enhancers were also effected by the corrupting sound hit; starting to malfunction and break apart! In just a few seconds, both her feet and arm enhancers broke off of her, leaving Peridot exposed and startled. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Peridot stuttered, trying to rework the parts. It was no use; they were as good as garbage now. And at such a horrible time; the Gem began to home in ... "EEP!" Was all Peridot could sputter out, as she screamed and ran like mad for cover. Since she was smaller though, she didn't make it very far until the Gem got close to her. Luckily, Lapis zoomed in and grabbed her at the last second. Lapis flew away as fast as she could manage, but the giant was by far a quicker flier, and the U-turn quickly got it homed in on Lapis. "Hang on, Peri," Lapis said, Peridot gripping on to her for dear life as Lapis tried to loose it. When it came to flying, Lapis's turning outmatched the corrupted Gem, but its speed made up for its maneuverability. Lapis turned, bolted, and rushed every which way, but she could shake the Gem flier. As for Peridot, she now regretted on shooting the thing in the first place, and was beyond freaked out. Soon, Lapis was flying down to the water, and towards the shore. The beast gave a large flight spin in the air, and aimed at them once more. Lapis saw it, and tried to fight it with the water she had under her, but each blast of water had little effect on it. Unlike before, there was no time to dodge; the beast slammed its pointed proboscis right through both Peridot and Lapis, narrowly missing Lapis's gemstone by millimeters! Diopside too was skewered , and all three ended up poofed. Applejack wasn't targeted, and as such was avoided entirely as three Gemstones fell into the sand. It hovered for a bit at first, and Applejack rushed to the Gemstones. However, seemed it planned ahead; another opening in the body appeared on its stomach, just under its own Gemstone, and a tractor beam suddenly brought all three Gems inside before Applejack could stop it. Applejack could only watch as the monster gem released another cloud disguise, and flew away inland. "Oh, pony feathers," Applejack thought aloud. She didn't know where it was going, but if this thing was on a Gem hunt, then she could make a pretty good guess. What happened to the three, she didn't know, but she needed to warn the others before they end up captured. So, Applejack high-tailed it out of there, trying to get the others. It did not take very long before Lapis, Diopside, and Peridot all reformed again. However, with their return they realized where they ended up. They were still trapped inside the corrupted Gem; the inside of it looking like the inside of a stomach with fleshy walls. the floor underfoot was quite firm, like hardened mud. Since they were inside something with no window or anything, light was very limited. The air was brisk and dry, not much water within the place. That didn't mean there wasn't any light at all; the walls around them gave off a faint glow of what was also inside. All over the inner walls, the three Gems ended up facing a large amount of Gemstones bubbles along the walls. all the Gems were either cracked, or shattered completely. Gems of all sorts of types, different shapes and different colors, all ending their lives within the belly of this beast. The sight was mortifying, to say the least of the three living Gems inside. "Oh my stars ..." Peridot breathed out. How could she think of anything to say when they all were basically staring into a Gemstone gravesite? At least with Garnet's Gem room, the gems were still alive in their bubbles! It didn't matter in here. ~~~~~~ "Sharing memory?" Jasper asked. For sometime, Jasper had been telling Garnet about the visions she was stuck with in her own head since the fusion. Most of these other images were actually Garnet's memories leaving an imprint to Jasper. The two were laying on the ground by the tree at that point. "It happens in fusion. Guess mine got to you," Garnet stated. "So all of that stuff I saw; corrupted Gems, portal jumping, that singing thing with Discord. You did all of that?" "Yep." Jasper took a bit to consider it. It was strange; she seen a lot of crazy stuff in her visions, including before Garnet came to Equestria. Even if Garnet was a fusion, Jasper could at least credit her for getting a lot done on Earth, and in Equestria. "You know, Jasper. I didn't mean to fuse with you; it was an accident," Garnet said eventually, as she turned her head to her. "But it was fun to try out. I'd like to try it again another time." "Well, that makes one of us," Jasper said, Garnet giggling again. Still, even if unexpected, Jasper did feel different on being so tall and strong. So much strength in that fusion, so much potential with such a form... Still, she preferred herself all the same. After a bit, Garnet got back up to her feet, looking out at the hillside around them. As she was though, and as Jasper sat up, something began to come into view for much further away. Something dug up from the ground, not noticing either one of the Gems much further off, and started to roam around. Garnet may be new to the thing, but Jasper knew exactly what it was; the armadillo corrupted Gem that faced her before back on the beach. It hadn't seen them just yet, and focused instead on browsing the grass and scrubs of the hillside. As it was though, and in sight of Jasper and Garnet, one of the clouds in the sky moved strangely close to the corrupted Gem down below. The armadillo Gem seemed to sense something there, looking at the same cloud, and actually began to run towards Jasper and Garnet. However, it did not make it too far, as something from the sky struck the creature's head. The sound was very loud, even if Jasper and Garnet were farther away. The armadillo stumbled in its step, and something much larger appeared out of the clouds, and stabbed it right in its head, forcing it to poof! It was then that Garnet and Jasper saw the Jet Gem monster hovering overhead. They could barely see the tractor beam, and not even notice the Gemstone being levitated up. Inside the creature, Diopside, Peridot and Lapis were greeted with the remains of the armadillo's Gemstone, currently cracked and placed inside. That got the three even more worried, wondering what's to become of them. "Get me outta here!" Peridot said, trying to punch her way out. But the walls didn't even budge around her, and the Gem monster barely even noticed Peridot's tiny fists hitting it's inner walls. Lapis got Peridot to stop, but the situation was getting a bit hard to work with. Diopside and Lapis both already tried their power anyway, and that didn't work, no matter what they did. "Get ready," Garnet warned, getting out her weaponry. As she figured, and possibly as Jasper figured, the creature moved over to them fast, and waited in hover mode. The front hatch opened, and another yellow scan was made of the two. Seconds after, it got itself in position, its four engines ready for another sound blast. Garnet dodged, but the concentrated sound hit a blocking Jasper head on. The forces the sound had made was beyond anything Jasper could think, and she thought she would go deaf over it. It was just strong enough to push her against the apple tree, which surprisingly didn't get affected much apart from a lot of blown off leaves and some fruit. Still inside, the repositioning of the body from horizontal to vertical was hard for Diopside, Peridot and Lapis to adjust to, the three continuing to stumble about inside. The thing going in their favor was none of the walls were hard, so risk of cracking any Gemstone was very small. The Gem monster, after adjusting for flight, began to fly off and make its U-turn back to them. Jasper and Garnet charged at the beast, Garnet jumping in the air for a sky hit. The attacking Gem suddenly went into a spiral; one wing hitting Jasper into the dirt while the other sending Garnet flying in the air. The beast targeted Garnet in the air as she fell, making flying turns around her like a circling bird, until it's bill was aligned with Garnet! Garnet looked to her oncoming skewer, but before she could get hit, something knocked her out of harm's way! Garnet landed on the ground, only then seeing who saved her; Rainbow Dash! Thank Celestia and the stars above, Applejack got to the others before the beast got her. Pearl and Fulgurite though weren't fused anymore when Applejack got them. "Late for this party?" Rainbow said, helping Garnet up to her feet. With the oncoming brigade, the Gem beast didn't spent time with a scanner, and immediately charged right in full speed. The others barely dodged the jet-sized beast, and the beast made a U-turn again, shaking up the Gems inside. "Incoming!" Amethyst yelled, but the beast was pretty fast, and not everyone caught up. The Gem monster rushed in a side turn, and whacked Twilight with its large wing, sending her flying off far. "Twilight!" Fulgurite gasped, rushing at her lightning speed to catch her before she hit the ground. Fulgurite skidded to a halt, but the Gem monster did not. Fulgurite and Twilight braced for the impact of the beak, but the beast suddenly started to slow down, hitting the breaks hard and opening the front hatch. The two felt the wind, but weren't moved from their spot. Something did touch them, but the 'hit' became a simple nudge. One can only imagine the shock Twilight and Fulgurite felt when they saw the razor sharp skewer. Time seemed to have stopped for that moment, and it really did look like someone hit pause. The sudden stop made Diopside, Lapis, and Peridot tumble head over heels to the front, Peridot slamming on the very end of it, pancaking herself on the frame. Fulgurite and Twilight could actually see Peridot peeling off the frame, before the Gem Monster scanned them both. Peridot tried her best to tell them what to do, but while they can see through the frame, they couldn't hear her, as the hatch closed. Fulgurite took the moment to rush Twilight back to the rest, the jet Gem taking a bit to do a hovering turn. "Alright, I'm shattering that thing," Jasper decided, ready to rush at it, but Fulgurite got in her way. "Hold it, you can't!" "Why not?!" "Peridot's inside that thing, that's why!" Fulgurite answered, pointing at the thing. "You kidding me?!" "We got to get them out," Garnet stated, as the beast got itself ready to charge again. However, Amethyst already had an idea. "On it!" Amethyst announced, getting out her whip. Before the beast could charge, Amethyst got her whip wrapped around the bill, and pulled down. Applejack helped her keep it still. The idea was to keep it still so they could get them out, but the beast wasn't going to let them so easily, trying to fly backwards. More people tried to help keep it down, Garnet rushing over to its stomach and getting ready to open it up. Sensing Garnet under it, it did something else; one set of engines on one wing stayed down in hover, but the other wing had its engines aimed upward. Pearl saw what was coming first, and let go of the whip just as it started spinning in mid air. Garnet jumped back before getting hit, and the whip was jerked out of their grip. Amethyst however ended up in a 360-spin for a good seven seconds. Lapis, Diopside, and Peridot were tossed about inside like dolls in a drier until the beast abruptly straightened out. Amethyst still spun around the bill, holding onto the whip, until she landed right on it, face-to-face with the jet beast. Inside the beast, the three Gems were pretty much doing terrible inside the thing. So far they could barely keep themselves on their feet, let along help in the fight. Even if they couldn't see, they know that their friends were in trouble out there. "Come on, there has to be someway out," Lapis said, looking around. "This is beyond comprehension; even that fusion's having trouble! How're we going to get out of this alive?!?" Peridot wailed. As if loosing her enhancers wasn't bad enough, here she was trapped in the belly of the corrupted Gem... For Lapis though, that word. Fusion. It began working out an idea in her head. So far, they alone can't get themselves out, but there was one thing they hadn't tried yet. "Fusion." "Wait, what?" Diopside asked. "We'll use fusion! We can get out of here with it, and help fight!" "WHAT?! Are you crazy?!" "Do you have a better idea? Our friends are getting hurt out there, they need our help. We can't just sit in here and do nothing," Lapis said, trying to get them to accept it. Both of them looked to each other; Lapis was right about that. Peridot, at least, was for sure that the others were out there doing something to help them, seeing them herself. Lapis went over to her. "Peridot?" Lapis asked, a hand out in front of her ... Outside, the beast hovered with a steady ease, everyone else ready to fight whenever the beast will strike. With the basic attack strategy all figured out, the group had got the main idea on what to do against it. The Gem Monster started to shift again, getting ready for another sound blast. Before they could do anything, Garnet had decided upon Jasper for an idea of hers. "How about we put the odds in our favor?" Garnet offered, a hand to Jasper. It wasn't the best time for anything like this, but Jasper saw the situation at hand; one of their own was inside, and it might not be too long before something could do them in. Eventually, the situation demanded it. Jasper took her hand. The beast went horizontal, the Gems inside it stumbling again, and launched another set of sound blasts at it. The blasts made everyone scatter, but gave Jasper and Garnet enough time to do what they needed. The others noticed themselves what Garnet and Jasper were going to do, and soon, the two started to glow in their synchronized dance. The beast suddenly sensed a major disturbance, and readjusted itself, becoming vertical and turning again in hover mode. However, it soon ended up face to face with a colossus fusion! Compared to the floating Gem beast, the fusion had it beat in size. The Gem monster tried to gain some height, but the fusion gripped it hard to keep it still. The jet Gem tried to move, but no matter what direction the engines made, it got nowhere. Inside the beast, it gave the Gems in it the chance to act themselves. "WOHOO, YOU GOT THIS!" Amethyst cheered, psyched on seeing the fusion again. Steven was hyped too, yet most of them hadn't seen this fusion before. The beast took the second to open the front hatch, but as it scanned, the inside of the head seemed brighter than usual - something the fusion could easily see. The huge fusion smirked, as the Gem monster started to behave a little differently; flying a little awkwardly on release. It got so bad, the bottom hatch it was using for the tractor beam suddenly opened up. A bright light blasted out, as two Gems ended up released. One of them was Diopside, but the second Gem was by far a different one. She was just taller than Jasper, skin a sea green. The gemstone on her forehead resembled Peridot's, but was a more bluish color than the bright green Peridot would have. Her hair, similar color to her skin but darker, spread back to three points. She also had a peculiar visor over her eyes as well, her eyes still visible through them. Her outfit consisted a mix of Lapis's and Peridot's; the chest area matching the V-shaped design from Peridot's suit, but the colors of the diamond mark matched the color of the Gem's skin. The outfit mixed sea green and dark blue within the outfit, which ended in a deep blue skirt. Her hands and feet each had a dark blue band around them. Seemed Garnet and Jasper weren't the only ones in fusion. She got upright, as the beast prepared to shoot again. A sound blast shot out, but she leaped clear out of the way, right over the Gem monster's head. Compared to the beast, the other fusion was a bit small, but had enough strength to cause some trouble for the beast. The smaller fusion looked to the larger one. "Carnelian. Prepared?" The blue fusion asked, gripping the gem monster by the head. The corrupted beast couldn't fly or move correctly because of the forces involved. Carnelian cracked one of her knuckles. "Let me have it," Carnelian replied with a grin. Pulling at its bill, the green fusion redirected the Gem monster, and made it fly towards Carnelian. The Gem monster tried to spin the other fusion off, but by the time the other Gem let go, it was whacked hard by Carnelian's fists, sending it out of control. It soon gave a harsh crash landing, tumbling along the ground until it skidded to a stop on its back. This left its own Gemstone completely exposed, but the Gem monster got the engines to get itself back in the air, already in horizontal position. The fall however left it disorientated, and it couldn't focus as easily as before. It tried to fly out of range again, but the fusions got to it first; the smaller Gem grabbing it while Carnelian held onto her legs. Carnelian gave a powerful swing, and like a ball on a chain, the Gem monster slammed into the earth hard. That hit finally finished off the beast; it poofing back into its Gemstone. With the danger finally taken care of, Both fusions smiled to each other before they began to unfuse, and returning back to normal. Jasper and Garnet got back to normal, and the other two; Lapis and Peridot, got back to normal too. The others came right over, some cheering and some congratulating on a job well done. Peridot needed a minute though out of the others, sitting down by the tree. Jasper looked over to Garnet, who gave Jasper a thumbs up, but before anyone can do anything else, Peridot glanced up in the apple tree, and saw something hanging down to her level, popping up out of nowhere! It wasn't a danger, but actually was Discord; being in the tree and watching the whole thing happen. Peridot's yelp got the others to see him. "Bravo, BRAVO friends! A wonderful show you put on, I must say! a full five star," Discord complimented, five random yellow stars popping up above their head. "Thank you, Discord. Glad you enjoyed it," Garnet said with a nod. "Oh, you already knew that, eh? Along with everything else with that vision you got?" Discord said, pinching Garnet's cheek. However, that comment did get Jasper a little confused. "Wait, what?" "Oh, you weren't here for that? You see -" "You can say, I have future vision," Garnet answered, cutting off the draconequus. Garnet didn't feel troubled with it, and was glad to fuse again. For Jasper though ... "Wait ... You knew this would happen?!" Jasper said with building anger. Garnet could've easily avoided everything, and stop everything before it happened, yet Garnet did not even bother herself. Garnet adjusted her shades with a grin. "You could say that," Garnet chuckled, walking back to towards the direction of the barn. However, Jasper wasn't done with her yet, and went right after her. "WHAT?! You little - you could've told me before it showed up!" "Why? Ruin the fun?" "What fun?! We were stuck with a corrupted Gem!" "And we beaten it with Carnelian. That was fun to do, right?" Even if the anger was one-sided, the argument continued on with the hot-headed Jasper following a smirking Garnet back to the barn. The others followed, seeing this time the anger wasn't as threatening, and more just like friends arguing amongst each other. They might as well get used to it, anyway, and soon they all began heading back.