//------------------------------// // Sardonyx, Welcome to the Show! // Story: My Little Universe: Season 2 // by EquestrianKirin //------------------------------// "Gooooood evening, everybody!" Thing still were going along in a slower, more sturdy pace with the Galactic Ray. Inside the ship, Fulgurite and Pearl were working out the more technical array of the ship's controls. Can't work a ship without a control to work with. At the moment, progress seemed to be going well, as Pearl added in the final bit of the main control screen. To a Homeworld ship, this was a standard for any ship, and the Galactic Ray was no different. "And it is done," Pearl announced. "Sweet! Let test this baby out," Fulgurite decided, ready to begin. It was a bit quick, and before Pearl could stop her, Fulgurite got her hands on the screen. Pearl and Fulgurite waited for something to happen. A light began to flow from the screen to Fulgurite ... *ZAP!* "WHOA!" Fried; the screen controllers weren't wired up properly, and ended up just zapping Fulgurite like crazy. Fulgurite quickly bolted off to get the energy out of her system, leaving Pearl in the dust. Guess it was square one on this. Just outside, some of the others were there and waiting for the result on the test drive. Yet, Fulgurite rushed out past them in a energy-filled sprint. Pearl came out afterward, looking frustrated. The short-circuited controllers were seen from outside, as was the flashing and slight smoke. "What happened?" Twilight asked. "Malfunction in the screen controller. Completely fried up." "You can't be serious! We were so close!" Amethyst gripped. This was a bit of a problem for the group to deal with, and they were so close to finishing up the final bits of the ship! They didn't need this. However, soon, another question suddenly got to mind as Pearl looked around the crowd. "Wasn't Steven supposed to be here?" Before they could actually get themselves an answer, a particular portal soon appeared nearby. Rather than the door special key portal, a more rounded portal appeared close by. Seconds later, Steven and Pinkie rode Lion right on through, landing right by them. By the looks on Steven and Pinkie's faces, they both had something very exciting for them. After Lion skidded to a stop, Pinkie hopped off of Lion, hopping in place with a poster in her mouth. It showed a pony on a stage, throwing the curtains aside in a dramatic fashion. "Look look look look look look!" "I am, I am!" Twilight said, levitating the poster to her so she could read it. "Talent contest for the gifted," Twilight read off. "It's in Ponyville now! Can we see it, PLEASE?!" Steven said with a big grin, hands together. "Steven, we have to finish this," Peridot said nearby, arms crossed. However, when they looked, Steven and Pinkie joined forces together with a double, super effective puppy dog eye stare! Peridot just stared at the two, not sure how to react to the begging eyes ... "... Are you trying to hypnotize me? What're you doing?" Peridot asked, feeling uncomfortable with the staring. "Now, Steven, we're practically complete with the Galactic Ray, so I don't think stopping it to ... Watch ..." Pearl trailed off with the stares aimed at her that time. Soon, looking back at the trouble, Garnet came to her decision. "We'll let Fulgurite finish here. It's been a while since we visited Equestria," Garnet decided. "WOO!!" Well, that seemed rather quick on deciding, but the ship didn't had too much left on it anyway. In fact, at that point programming it to work was the only main thing left to do, and if they let Fulgurite work on it while they're away, they could get a lot done. Heck, they could be ready by the time they get back, who knows? Anyway, Pinkie and Steven both were ready to head off, and since Lion was a bit tired from the portal jump he made, Steven did the standard key portal for Equestria instead. Besides, Fulgurite can handle anymore electrical backfire anyway. ~~~~~~ Ponyville was getting to be a bit busy with the event. Over inside the Ponyville town hall, a big stage was set up for the talent show to take place; including a large red curtain streamed along to separate the front stage from the backstage working audience. It would be a bit before the contest itself could start, so not many ponies were there for the show to start. There was ponies working the event were still cleaning up and setting up the event (putting seating in place, helping the participants, etc.) by the time Steven and company had arrived (in this case the company were the ponies, Garnet, Peridot, Star, Lapis, Pearl and Amethyst), some of the participants had arrived and we're getting their gimmicks together, some of which were handling it from outside the town hall. When it came to the acts themselves, they varied from verbal acts, physical abilities, to natural magical works. Whatever the talent show's got coming for it, it was going to be pretty big none the less. "OOOOHHHH, This is so exciting!" Pinkie beamed, hopping in place as they looked around. "Not very interesting, if you ask me," Peridot commented, not too interested in what was going on. Still, for the time being anyway, it was something different anyway. As some were heading in to get their seats, some of the group (Garnet, Pearl, Pinkie and Steven), caught sight of something further away. Farther off, the four began to notice somepony's magical talents at work with some interesting visuals being put at play. After some tracking of it, the source of the magic visuals came from one unicorn in the middle of practice. She had pure blue fur with a very light blue mane and tail, both of which were smoothed out. Her outfit consisted of a long cape that flowed behind her, along with a large wizard hat, both of which were purple with star marks lined on them. Her skills mostly had a similarity to fireworks, or mystical pyrotechnics, but that was the overall idea of it. The unicorn didn't notice them just yet, focusing most of her work on the talents she was performing, looking pretty proud of herself. "Cool!" Steven said. Only then did the unicorn turn and saw her crowd behind her. Amongst them, she only recognized Pinkie Pie, as the three others looked completely new to her. "Trixie!" Pinkie said, jumping over and about to tackle her in a hug, but the unicorn's quick thinking stopped her in mid air, her aura levitating her. "I guess the public can't wait for me," Trixie said, as she placed Pinkie down on the ground. "You know her, Pinkie?" Garnet asked. Before Trixie can stop her ... "Yeah, she came into Ponyville showing off her magic, she showed up Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack before Ponyville had an ursa minor come to town, and Twilight saved Ponyville, and she came back later with a evil amulet that made her super mean, and she made my mouth go bye-bye, and Twilight saved the day, and they both worked together afterwards, and did super duper magic tricks for Celestia!" Pinkie's rambling was pretty fast, though didn't show any real anger towards Trixie, despite apparently removing her mouth. "... Wha?" Pearl said, about as confused at Steven was. Pinkie inhaled, but Trixie conjured up a sock, and shoved it in her mouth before she could explain Trixie's involvement again. She didn't need to be reminded again of her problems in the past, but her attention quickly came around to the Gems. "Apart of the contest, Trixie?" Garnet asked. "Of course! My magic will win for sure, no question," Trixie said, a bit of ego being shown on her part. If this was anything like those griffins back at the Rainbow Falls, then it might not go very well for them. "Well, we Gems have some magic too," Pearl stated. "So I've heard. Of course, your magic is weak compared to my magic," Trixie boasted, a hoof to her chest with a smirk on her face. Now it was getting annoying with her. "And how would you know? Had you seen any Gem magic before?" Garnet asked, arms crossed. Still, Trixie brushed her hair aside, feeling confident with herself about her own magic. Being a unicorn meant she was naturally born with the stuff, and to her that made her naturally better than the Gems. Before Trixie could answer though, another pony soon came out and looked to her. She was well aware of the gems at that point, so, seeing them wasn't too much of a shock to her. "Excuse me, the talent show will be starting in a few minutes," she reminded. Trixie nodded, and began to go. "Well, Gems, I'd be happy to test my skills to you after I win. Now, if you excuse me, I have to get ready," Trixie said with a grin, before heading in to join the others. The mention of 'testing the skills' got Pinkie and Steven thinking a bit. Suddenly, they both smiled very big, and looked to the other Gems. Garnet and Pearl glanced to each other before Pearl answered. "Eh, I don't think we want to get involved that deeply in this." "Come on please?! Everypony can see how awesome you really are!" Steven insisted. "Yeah, you can do so many super duper fun things! You can fuse, grow, shrink, stretch, fight big monsters, make sweet music -" Pinkie inhaled deeply "fly, control water, beat down rocks, all sorts of awesome stuff!" While most of the other stuff was just blabbering on Pinkie's part, Pearl seemed suddenly interested on the fuse part. She didn't consider that part of this deal, and if they did enter ... Suddenly, an equally big smile appeared on her face, stars in her eyes. Garnet looked over to Pearl, sharing the same reaction as Steven and Pinkie. All Garnet did was smirked for her answer. ~~~~~~ After that was fully decided, the talent contest was going to begin. The Gems and ponies had gotten their seats around the front, just a row or two back from front row. They left a few seats open for Pearl, Garnet, Steven and Pinkie. The mane six and crystal gems were seated and waiting for the show to begin, along with other ponies of Ponyville who had shown up as well. However, before things could get underway, Steven and Pinkie got right into their seats, Steven right next to Lapis and Amethyst while Pinkie sat down by Fluttershy. However, Garnet and Pearl didn't seem to show up. "Where's Garnet and Pearl?" Lapis asked. "You'll see! It's a surprise," Steven said with a wink. The others weren't sure, but before it could continue, another pony came upon the stage. She had tannish fur accompanied with a wavy mane and tail of white. She had on a pair of glasses, and a turtle neck with a green fluff at front. Her cutie mark seemed to be a scroll wrapped in blue ribbon. As she got to the center of the stage, the pony cleared her throat. "Ladies and gentlecolts! Welcome to the Talent Contest of the gifted. We hope you all enjoy these ponies and their special talents they have for you all," she said. For the next couple of minutes, the same pony continued on with the event, and different sorts of ponies came forward with different acts of their own. The group sat down through about five different sorts of performances, each one with something different to offer. The Gems were enjoying it quite a bit, yet Star and Peridot's reaction were mostly confusion, and For Peridot one can add boredom. One performance actually involved a trio of clown ponies, doing a good job at making the audience laugh as clowns should. Peridot still was rather confused on the whole thing, as the clowns pretty much acted like idiots. "What is this sort of entertainment?" Peridot asked, pretty confused. Amethyst, who was still laughing, gave Peridot a friendly nudge. "It's clowns, Peri, what more do you need to know?" Amethyst asked, still laughing. As they looked, one of the clowns tripped over a dropped bananas while holding a banana cream pie (we know where this is going). With a clumsy step, the clown pony slipped head over heels on the banana, the pie flying into the air. The pie, as if on a determined course, landed directly on Peridot, slamming her face! Her head was covered in banana filling, whipped cream and pie crust. Amethyst couldn't help herself in her laughing, as the pie tin fell off of Peridot's face, and on her lap. Her eyes popped open, showing an annoyed expression. Star looked over to Peridot. "... Are you okay? ..." Star asked. "Not. A word. About this," Peridot stated, as Amethyst scooped up some of the pie with her hand and ate it up. Pinkie suddenly popped up, and licked off the rest in a cartoonic single swoop. "Yummy!" "Eww." As gross as that was, at least Peridot didn't had to clean up the pie off her by herself. As the clowns finished up their act (and after the crowd had calmed down), the pony went to her list. "And now for our next performance. A visitor to Ponyville in her own acts of magic ability, let's all give a warm welcome to Trixie Lulamoon!" She announced. The Gems were waiting for her, but the Mane Six were left slightly flabbergasted. Trixie? The same unicorn who came back the last two times to cause trouble for them? "she doesn't mean the Trixie, does she?" Rainbow whispered. "I think she does," Rarity whispered back. Pinkie shushed them both as the unicorn in question went on stage with her dramatic firework display to kick things off. Trixie Lulamoon had made her appearance. The entrance was impressive, to say the least, but Trixie had other acts in mind for her performance. "Thank you, thank you. Prepare to be astonished!" Trixie announced, as she got her horn glowing. The crowd wasn't sure what the unicorn was planning to do, awaiting for the act. After a while, Something began to shoot out from the unicorn's horn; a sort of magic ball in the shape of a star. Tons more followed, as they twinkled up inside the town hall like an interior star chart. Everypony/everybody looked right up to the sky, as Trixie then added an extra tid bit to her array of "stars". With some focus, Trixie then launch a white small beam into the air, and it started to bounce around the stars. The light began to connect the dots into the shape of what appeared to be a sort of large dragon. Soon after it looked done, the dragon began to fly around inside the town hall under Trixie's command, leaving behind stardust which sparkled down on everyone. The dragon looped around above Trixie for a bit, before it turned into a rounded ball, which exploded into a display of shooting stars (none of which did damage). The act was rather decently done, and wasn't the longest act ever, but the crowd gave their applause, as Trixie bowed, cape spread. "Looks like somepony practiced," Rainbow commented. "Yea. Yeah she did," replied Twilight. The announcer congratulated Trixie on a fine performance, as the blue unicorn went on backstage. Waiting there just out of sight from the audience was Garnet and Pearl, whom Trixie winked to as she went by. Still, Pearl and Garnet had their idea together. "Not bad," Garnet stated. Soon, Garnet turned to Pearl. "Pearl. Let's do it," Garnet said. Pearl was surprisingly happy with what they were going to do, almost ready to cry. "Don't cry, Pearl," Garnet stated, Pearl wiping some stray tears away from her face. It was their turn, as they both heard the announcer pony. "And now, a last minute entry for the group. Two Gems with heart and magic, let's hear it for Garnet and Pearl!" Now only Steven and Pinkie weren't surprised, and more excited than most. As for the others, they were more surprised to hear them in the contest than when Trixie showed up. Garnet and Pearl walked right out on the stage, ready to begin. As they were, the Gems seemed to get a similar idea; what are those two doing? "Synchronize!" Garnet said, the gemstones on both of her hands beginning to glow. Pearl's gemstone started to glow as well as everypony waited to see what the two had in mind. The Gems and Mane Six suddenly knew what they're doing; they're going to fuse! The only Gem who actually knew who they were transforming into was Amethyst, who didn't look as bewildered as the rest. The fusion dance Pearl and Garnet were doing was a crowd eye grabber in and of itself, but the act itself had barely even started. Soon, both Pearl and Garnet began to glow, and their fusion body started to take stronger shape. Of course, the fusion was taller, not in the same league as Carnelian, but tall enough to dwarf everyone around. Her head had a hairstyle matching Peridot, but smoothed out. The outfit was perfect for an on-stage magician, with a tuxedo with white gloves on each of her four arms. Like Carnelian though, she had four eyes with the gemstone where Garnet's third eye would normally be, though her eyes had some visors in front of them. As she appeared, an orange aura acted like her own curtain, as she moved it aside. "Goooood evening, everybody!" She announced, the orange aura turning into bright butterflies before they disappeared, already awing the audience. This fusion was ready to go with her act, and wasted no time with her forehead gem glowing, and conjuring up a magician's top hat. "Oh, what have we here?" She smiled, reaching one hand into the hat. After a little bit, she got a hold of something. Everyone thought it would be a classic bunny rabbit, but she surprised them when she ended up pulling out something entirely different; Peridot! A bit of a surprise when the Gems saw Peridot wasn't in her seat anymore. "What the?!" "Just play along sweetie," the fusion said, her hands large enough for Peridot to stand comfortably. As she readied herself, the others in their seats were still rather surprised. "Whoa, who's she?" Steven whispered. "I don't know, but I like her," Pinkie replied. The fusion placed one finger right on top of her head, and with a third hand, got a hold of Peridot and made her spin in place. She spun so fast it was a pure blur, but Peridot suddenly appeared in her other hand, the spinning object turning into a green top. Guess Peridot turned to Peri-top. Still, Peridot seemed rather dizzy from the spinning, her eyes in circles, but even she was impressed with the top coming from nowhere, even if it was Gem magic she could be using. She then got out a small handkerchief, and covered Peridot with it. When she pulled it away, Peridot was gone again! She showed that she indeed vanished by showing the handkerchief to everyone, and soon moved it back to where Peridot was seating. Only then when she pulled it away did Peridot appear back in her seat (upside down, but in her seat none the less). "... What just happened?" Was all Peridot could say. "And now, let's see who else will join the lovable Sardonyx tonight," the fusion said in glee. Well the name was figured out anyway. Sardonyx took the handkerchief, and blew into it in a way one would blow a balloon (which was what happened to the handkerchief). The new white balloon soon ended up fully inflated. With a quick motion, the one turned to two, and Sardonyx popped them both. Suddenly, Steven and Pinkie were there on her palm, again surprising the others. Pinkie and Steven were psyched to be apart of the act, hopping in place as Sardonyx readied herself. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" "Was I worth the wait, Steven?" Sardonyx asked with a wink. While both stood in one hand, the two hands with Garnet's gemstones on them hovered beside them. Suddenly, she clapped said hand, Steven and Pinkie suddenly turning into large bouncy balls with their respected faces and colors. Sardonyx started to juggle both of them for a little bit before throwing both high in the air. Lapis was a bit worried, ready to fly in, but Sardonyx already had herself a safety net she pulled from her hair, and caught both. After one bounce, they suddenly popped back to normal. "WOOO!!" Steven and Pinkie beamed after they were done. While letting Steven and Pinkie down, Sardonyx signified the end of her act with a on-stage bow. The crowd roared in applause, including the Gems, as Sardonyx glowed and split back into Garnet and Pearl, the act over. Steven and Pinkie went back to their seats, giddy as ever. Sardonyx may not have been as dazzling as Trixie, but her act was just as enjoyable to watch just the same. ~~~~~~ As the contest continued on, the ending came around quick, before anypony realized it. Everyone lined up on the stage soon after it was all done, Garnet and Pearl taller than the other contestants. Trixie was standing right by them both, feeling rather confident in herself. As far as the voting came about, some of them were a bit more obvious than others (two bits to who can guess why), as the announcer went to her results. "And winner of our Talent Contest of the gifted goes to ..." The mare took a minute to look. "Well, looks like we have a tie ladies and gentlecolts; Trixie Lulamoon, and the tag team of Garnet and Pearl!" The crowd gave their applause to both winners, while Trixie seemed mildly surprised that her grand magic came to a tie with these newcomers. Garnet and Pearl felt happy either way, not just because they did a good job in the contest, but to play out as Sardonyx again (especially Pearl). After that was announced, the mare turned to them both. "Since you both won the contest, as a last performance of the night, you two shall work on the finale together," she announced. That was a bit different, yet it only made sense for everypony there. Being in such a happy place, sharing the winner's circle made plenty of sense to do. "Let's do it," Garnet said, adjusting her shades. Pearl was ecstatic with the news, and as for Trixie, it'll give her more time to show off her magic so, she might as well try it out. The other contestants moved aside, as everypony and everybody waited for the final act. Of course, Garnet and Pearl needed to fuse into Sardonyx again before anything, so the two went right to it with their fusion dance. As they were, Trixie got her magic working to make more of the "stars" in the room. With stars as fancy ambience, Sardonyx made her comeback, and reappeared center stage. "Somepony want an encore?" Sardonyx asked with a wink. Sardonyx kneeled down, and got Trixie on the palms of her hand. As Trixie was being lifted, the stars went in a spiral above them. Sardonyx then conjured up a magician top hat again the stars ended up going right in it, as Sardonyx opened the hat, scooping them up like a net. Closing it up, Sardonyx shook up the hat before reopening it, just to have a magical bunch of stardust pour out into the air in sparkling sand. Trixie gave her one Beamer shot through the star sand, and it came out as a magnificent flying comet, sprinkling the star sand on everypony and everybody to give them a little sparkle in their fur and hair. As the comet went by, Sardonyx easily caught it, and started to juggle it for a bit before sending it high in the air A quick hit while going upward got the comet into a spiral, the dust spinning around from it. Trixie helped with some extra starlight to add to the spinning piece, until Sardonyx grabbed one end, and got it above the crowd. The grand end result was, to put it simply, the entire universe gently swirling above everypony. The sheer beauty of the sparkling presentation above them was completely amazing, and Sardonyx gently began to spin it around to add an extra effect to it. With the 'universe' up in the sky, everypony gave them both a huge round of applause, as the two had signified the end of their performance with a bow. ~~~~~~ "Good game." Garnet and Trixie met up nearby the town hall soon after the contest was over and done. It was a bit quieter, and the other Gems had already gone home so it was just her and Trixie. "You know what? Yeah, good," Trixie replied with a nod of her head. Garnet and Trixie shook hands (or rather, shook hand and hoof). It was a fair contest overall anyway. "Didn't expect such magic from ya, though id consider this good to train even more. Believe in me when I say, you won't be so lucky next time," Trixie said with a wink. Garnet could tell the future on that fact, but, she didn't want to damper anything for her, so she just smiled. "Can't wait to see it," Garnet replied. With that said and done, Trixie and Garnet both went off on their separate ways, Garnet getting out her key. The contest was fun, and gave Garnet and Pearl the chance to use Sardonyx after the longest time. Still, while the contest was fun, it was time to get their minds back in check. They had a ship to finish, and a trip to make.