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The Healing Crystal

Along the beach, Steven was especially excited, as he continued to guide Connie along the shores towards the Temple. Steven had already gone over up and down about his latest, solo mission adventure to her, and now had another surprise for her as he continued. Just yesterday, he had gone through his very first solo mission, with mixed results in a broad statement; a little longer, some troublesome animals, and the meeting with Quetzalcoatl as well. Steven had kept the feather, and gone over every detail with Connie about it before the traveling. As for the other surprise, he still promised Amethyst that they'll show everyone their fusion, Smoky Quartz, and he wanted Connie to see her as well, thinking she would like to see Smoky. Still, there's the matter of getting her there, and getting the others just as well. The Mane Six had already seen Smoky Quartz, along with a few of the other Gems too, but Steven still wanted to get the other Gems to see her. The ponies weren't there, and some of the Gems were a bit busy, but Steven was hoping Amethyst wasn't too busy so he could do it with her. Steven would never break a promise if he could help it. After a bit, Connie and Steven got themselves over by the main steps in no time at all. In the Beach House was Amethyst, Garnet, Emerald, Lapis, Pearl, Fulgurite, Jasper, Flint, Jade, and Star Quartz. Amongst them, Amethyst was the most excited out of all of them.

"Okay, Steven. you got Connie, what is it you wanna tell us?" Jasper asked. Steven and Amethyst looked to eachother with confidence. The two were ready as ever.

"So you know how we went over to the Draconian Empire where we met with Porath," Steven said.

"And you also know that he got his flank beaten down, and removed from his throne for Kyra," Amethyst added.

"But do you all know who beat Porath?" Steven and Amethyst asked in unison. The others were a little confused about it.

"Uh ... You two?" Pearl said.

"The Mane Six," answered Flint. That was a little disappointing.

"It didn't land," Amethyst said.

"Pick it back up, pick it back up," Steven insisted quietly. Amethyst cleared her throat, as Connie sat down on the couch next to Star and Lapis.

"We have someone we like you to meet," Amethyst then said. The Gems looked to eachother for a second before Pearl spoke again.

"Alright, let's see this mysterious stranger."

That was all they needed to hear. With a full audience around, Amethyst and Steven were ready to begin. They would normally need a dance of sorts, but, all these two did was grip hands, and that was all it took. Pretty soon ...

"Hey! I'm Smoky Quartz. nice to meet ya."

The reactions were immediate, and Smoky Quartz could see that in everyone. The overall reaction they had gotten was simply shock. Even Garnet was shocked, removing her shades to show her three eyes, all as shocked as the others. Smoky was happy for it, and the reactions varied for speechless expressions, to surprised gasps. Even Garnet looked completely lost on words. Some like Emerald and Fulgurite were smiling while the others were just shocked.

"Don't bother putting your socks back on, cuz I'm about to knock em off again," Smoky Quartz said, taking out the whip and shield and making the signature Yo-Yo weapon. Garnet joined Emerald and Fulgurite on the smiles, with Lapis and Connie as well, as Pearl sounded like her mind just crashed and needed a reboot or something similar (and she pulled up her sock).

"I'm liking her already," Emerald commented. Garnet was starting to go in complete fangirl mode (first time ever), and began to squee in excitement to see this, shaking Lapis a bit as she did so. Smoky swung around the Yo-Yo in circles casually before speaking again.

"Now you all can see how I beat Porath. This trick I like to call 'Walk the Dog'!" Smoky Quartz said, starting to show off her Yo-Yo to them. The 'Walk the Dog' move ended up zooming the Yo-Yo past the others, and hitting the back wall. None of them worried about it at first except for Pearl.

"This one I call "Jock the Dog"!" Smoky Quartz added, summoning a second Yo-Yo, and showing off some more, slamming into the table, and hitting the TV. Pearl began to worry, as the others were impressed. Flint however was getting a bit troubled by the whole thing.

"And this is one's "Dog walking's just my day job, until I get that callback"!" Smoky Quartz said, summoning a third Yo-Yo, and working with it as well. Finally, both Pearl and Flint decided at once that Smoky shouldn't keep blasting around the Yo-Yos everywhere. Pearl grabbed one, and Flint grabbed two, giving Smoky Quartz a break from the showing off. Flint didn't know what to say, but from what they said, they done this before and got out of it just fine.

"Amethyst. Steven. You two alright as this?"

"Oh, not again Flint," Jasper said.

"Hey, fusing with two humans is one thing, but now it's a full Gem and a Gem hybrid!"

Before things could get out of hand, Smoky popped up in between them, and gave Flint a noogie to the head. However, Flint found that Smoky was quite the heavy Gem, especially when she was leaning against his back.

"Hey, hey, come on Flint. It's cool," Smoky said with a big grin.

"Get off me," Flint wheezed. Smoky got off of Flint to give him a minute. Smoky couldn't help but chuckle a little bit.

"Wow, Smoky! Got anymore tricks to show us?" Lapis asked.

"Step on outside and I'll show ya," Smoky said, already heading off outside. But as they were, the feather, which Steven had placed over on the table before fusing, started to look a little bit off. Steven had left it there for a bit, and the appearance began to wither away a little bit. The colors were duller, and some bits of the tip started to come off of it in the form of dust ...

~~~~~~

For the next number of hours, the others happily watched Smoky Quartz go at it with a number of her moves, almost all of them involving her Yo-Yo. It was a pretty decent demonstration of what Smoky could do, from various Yo-Yo tricks, to techniques in her mobility despite her large size. Many were impressed with Smoky for the most part, and Smoky was glad for it, though no one seemed to notice anything starting to go wrong with anyone. As the day went on, even while after the fusion showing off, something began to slowly occur with the Gems. It wasn't noticeable throughout the day, but the others seemed to be a little bit slower. Not in a literal sense, but something just felt slightly wrong the longer they went down. When sunset came around, the Gems were starting to feel more off, but still nothing too serious to take enough notice. Amethyst and Steven were just fine, but the others still weren't as up to speed ...

Then came the next morning.

Steven woke up nice and easy, as it would usually happen on any given day. He stretched his arms out, gave a good yawn, and got right up. Nothing seemed wrong, but there wasn't anyone else in the Beach House. None of the Gems were present, which didn't bother Steven too much at first. As he continued his morning routine though, there was still not any sort of activity being heard by the others. Once he got dressed, he finally heard the back door open up, and in came Blue. The Gem dog immediately went right up to Steven, but he didn't look happy as usual, but instead he looked worried; ears tucked back, and whimpering. Something that Steven hadn't seen Blue do in a while.

"Morning Blue. What's the matter?" Steven asked. Blue looked over Steven a little bit, and started to pull him back to the back door. Steven got himself moving after a bit, and Blue rushed through the door, Steven following close behind.

Where Blue brought him to was actually one of the Gem's rooms. This one was a light orange, the ground flattened down. The walls looked to be made of desert rock, and light was able to be seen from the opening leading to a waterfall. Steven guessed this room was higher up. With a number of items mostly used for practice in fighting, Steven could easily guess this to be Jasper's room. What got Steven's attention first though was who was in the room; the rest of the Crystal Gems. Peridot, Amethyst, Jasper, and Diopside, were the only other Gems on their feet, but everyone else inside was down on the ground, laying down and not looking too good. Steven, surprised, went right over.

"Guys!"

"Steven! Thank goodness you're here. Here, give them your healing spit or whatever," Peridot insisted.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know, come on! Get your spit on the gem!" Peridot said, pushing him over to Pearl first. Steven looked down to Pearl, who looked duller in color. Her hair, eyes, and even clothes seemed duller than usual, almost like when she was discorded. One key difference though was that the Pearl was starting to leak a tiny bit, not dissimilar to a runny nose (which Pearl seemed to have too). Steven licked his hand, getting plenty of good spit, and getting it on the gemstone. However, something got onto Steven's hand instead; a sort of gooey paint-like substance that stuck to his hand rather fast. The spit did get on the gemstone, which felt more like a water balloon, but Steven had to get rid of the goo afterwards. The gemstone itself was still intact, thank the stars, but the spit didn't seem to do all that much.

"Pearl, what's going on? Are you okay?" Steven asked urgently. Pearl got herself sitting up, and looking to him with tired eyes.

"Hey Steven. *sniff* I-I don't know what happened *sniff*. I felt fine yesterday and now - ah ... AH ... ACHOO!" Pearl's sneeze at the end got some of the goop on Steven as well, though the affects didn't come at him so quickly. Maybe it was for him being only part Gem. The goop matched the color of her gemstone, which didn't seem to help him or her. Peridot kept her distance though, even jumping back to avoid any splash-backs. Whatever was affecting these Gems was about as bad as a deep cold, but for Gems instead of humans, and whoever wasn't affected made sure to keep back to not get sick themselves as best they could.

"Did you catch a cold?" Steven asked.

"It's not a cold," Garnet answered, who had both her hands up. After looking, all the other Gems made sure their Gemstone wasn't in contact with the ground, probably so the gemstones wouldn't smear on the floor.

"Then what is it?"

"I'm *sniff* not sure. Our Gems are becoming weak, and started to liquefy *sniff*. We need a cure," Garnet said, sounding a little weak in tone, which was scary coming from Garnet. Steven went to try his spit again, but instead of using his hand, he spat right on Garnet's gemstones. Consider it concentrate. However, and unfortunately, the spit just slid off and didn't seem to work. Why wasn't it working? Steven was on a roll with how many Gems and Ponies were healed every time he used the spit, but now it just wasn't working. It should've had some effect by now.

"I'm trying, but it's not working," Steven said, getting more worried. Steven tried to get some good spit going, but his second attempt wasn't doing so good, as if something was covering the Gemstone. That, and his mouth was getting drier the more times he tried, so eventually he had to stop. Amethyst, Diopside, and Peridot all were having some doubts at this point, with Peridot getting worried upon seeing the lack of success.

"Steven," Garnet said, getting him to come over. Garnet thought it over a bit, but she figured it might be better for it in the long run. Steven stopped in front of her, as Garnet managed to get herself up without pushing her Gemstones on the ground under her, and planting a small kiss on Steven's forehead. The vision she gave him was clean, and quick, but Steven did manage to see one particular item; another gemstone. It didn't look like any normal gemstone though as he'd seen on the Gems, but it was perfectly diamond shaped, if not a bit narrower than regular, and it was pure white too. Location though was unsure, as Steven could only see that before Garnet laid back down.

"Does that help?" Garnet asked. Steven nodded to her, and went over to the others who were left standing. Jasper, who wasn't laying down, had her back laying on the wall, but she seemed alright anyway.

"Come on everyone, let's go find that cure!"

"Wait, wait, wait, where are we going? What about the Gems?!" Peridot pointed out.

"You can watch over them with Diopside, Peridot. Can you do that?" Steven asked. Diopside was alright with it, giving a salute to her fellow Gem. Peridot agreed, and Amethyst was with Steven on this one. Jasper then took a moment to turn to them both before they got out the door.

"Aren't I coming?" Jasper asked, expectations a little high up. Amethyst and Steven glanced to eachother for a second.

"Eh, sure Jasper. Come on, let's go," Amethyst said. Steven might as well let her, for she didn't appear any worse than the others ...

~~~~~~

Outside at the Beach, Steven kept trying to think over what kind of Crystal he'd seen. Amethyst and Jasper both waited just outside, trying to figure out what to do. Steven kept his eyes closed, and hands on the side of his head, and kept pacing around the place, back and forth trying to figure it out. If this crystal was some sort of cure that Garnet mentioned, then where should they look, or what is it for that matter?

"Okay. Where should we look to find the cure?" Steven recapped.

"What kind of cure are we talking about here?" Jasper asked, getting a little impatient.

"Well, When Garnet kissed me, I saw this other Gem. It looked very bright, and looked like a crystal or something."

"A crystal? You mean a Crystal Gem?!" Amethyst asked, excitedly. However, Steven shook his head.

"Just a crystal I think."

"Did this "vision" Garnet gave you have any clue where it is?" Jasper questioned. Steven tried to remember what he had seen, but the image went too fast for him to gather up very much.

"No - just the Gemstone," sighed Steven. This obviously wasn't getting anywhere fast, and they needed to find some sort of clue soon before things could get any worse. Longer they wait, the more at risk the rest of the group would be. Amethyst tried to think on some sort of idea, but before they could get anything together ...

"SURPRISE!"

In a quick dash, and tackle, Steven was tumbling on the ground, and was in a surprise hug by Pinkie Pie. Steven didn't realize that Pinkie Pie was coming up for a visit today, and today may not be the best time for her to just come around. Pinkie got off of Steven, as she sat there with her tail wagging.

"Uh, Pinkie Pie? Now may not be the best time," Jasper said. Pinkie looked puzzled, her head crooked a little bit.

"Eh?"

"We're about to go on a mission to find a cure, Pinkie Pie, so you'll have to wait to play with the others -" Jasper suddenly had the pink mare pancake herself to Jasper's face, Pinkie Pie shocked on hearing that answer.

"OH NO! Don't worry, Jasper, I'll save you!" Pinkie said, giving a great inhale. Jasper's eyes widened.

"Pinkie, wait - mmph!"

Pinkie suddenly got her mouth over Jasper, and blowing a ton of air into her. Jasper comically got inflated a bit from the air blasted in her. Jasper yanked Pinkie Pie off of her, and the air got out fast, coughing from the air just blasted into her head. For a pony, she had a lot of air in her lungs. Jasper got ticked off quickly, and Amethyst quickly got Pinkie out of the way before Jasper could slam her in the dirt.

"No, no, no, no, she didn't mean it!"

"Yeah I did -" Amethyst got her to keep her muzzle shut.

"Not that kind of cure," Jasper growled through gritted teeth.

"Oh ... what cure?"

"We're trying to figure out where to look. Garnet gave me this vision, and I saw a crystal in it that I guess is the cure, but, we don't know where to look," Steven explained. Pinkie sat there thinking a bit, her head ticking like a clock. Suddenly, something seemed to click.

"GAAAAAAHH!"

Pinkie's sudden gasp, along with her jump in the air, and her mane and tail standing on end caught everyone off guard. Before they could react, Pinkie got her key out and opened a portal for a quick access. Pinkie got them together, and with her back hooves running roadrunner style, she pushed them all forward and through the portal, going from Beach City, to Twilight's library front door. Jasper, Amethyst, and Steven did kinda tumble, but they weren't hurt. Pinkie Pie got right to Twilight's front door, and knocked on it furiously until Twilight came out, a little tired since it was still the morning.

"Morning, Pinkie," Twilight yawned. She quickly became more alert when Pinkie gripped the alicorn, eyes locked against her.

"WE NEED A CURE!" Pinkie yelled, in over-the-top panic.

"... Uh ... For what?" Twilight asked, still unsure how to react.

"... I don't know," Pinkie whispered, still in panic. Twilight sighed, and looked to the other three.

"What's the matter?" Twilight asked. Jasper got Pinkie Pie away from Twilight. Pinkie was pulled away by Jasper as Steven went over to her.

"Something happened to the rest of the Gems back home, and we're trying to find some sort of crystal to heal them. Do you know anything about that?" Steven asked. Twilight pondered for a moment.

~~~~~~

Pretty soon, they were inside the library, and Twilight was looking through the books in her library. The concept sounded familiar to her, being a mare to read through practically every book in her library at least over ten times each, one of the books had to had something. Jasper rested her back to the wall, as Steven and Pinkie helped in looking around, although the two weren't too sure which book they should be looking for. Amethyst and Jasper waited at the door impatiently, seeing numerous books being levitated and moved around as Twilight Sparkle kept looking. Twilight had looked through about fifteen different books, each one not being anything familiar.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! I know it's here somewhere," Twilight said to herself. Pinkie kept grabbing books, and tossing them behind her, one of which landed by Steven. The book was green, with a few leaves on the front, reading it off as supernatural remedies. Might as well give it a look. Twilight stopped, and saw Steven looking at the book, skimming through the number of pages in regards to a number of remedies. He found a number of remedies, one example for the Poison Joke, but eventually he found a particular page that seems to be just what they need.

"I think I found it!" Steven announced, everybody and everypony all ears. The exact page he had found was that of the same crystal that he had originally seen thanks to Garnet's vision. The crystal matched the appearance perfectly; a thin diamond shape with shining light around it. Twilight levitated the book so she could check it.

"That was you saw, Steven?" Amethyst asked.

"I think so. Let's see."

Twilight cleared his throat, and began to look it over.

"It's called 'The Healing Crystal'."

"What an original title," commented Amethyst sarcastically, as Twilight continued.

"It's a very rare, and very valuable Gemstone, said to be located on the very edge of Equestria within the Smoky Mountains. Only one has been known to exist. Said to be able to cure any disease known to ponykind. Said to be in possession of a beast called the Uktena. Collection of item is highly dangerous."

"I'm sold, let's go," Amethyst said, ready to head off.

"Wait, what about that Uktena?" Twilight said.

"What about it? Twilight, we've pummeled plenty of beasts already, and this is no different. We'll be back before you know it," Amethyst said.

"Do you even know where the Smoky Mountains are?"

"Eh .... Oh," Amethyst said, stopping herself. They really didn't know where the Smoky Mountains were, and they didn't had much time to waste in just running around and looking.

~~~~~~

The Smoky Mountains are quite far from here. You have to head over west, following the railroad tracks. There isn't a station along the mountains, so, you'll have to walk. Find the first mountain range with grey clouds circling the peaks. It's the only mountain range with grey smoke all year round.

With the information that they needed, and the location all set, Jasper, Amethyst, and Steven were off on their way to get their Healing Crystal. Since the train wasn't an option, despite the railroad tracks heading west to the Smoky Mountains, they decided a different approach. Rather than go on foot, they took to the air in an Amethyst helicopter. Amethyst hollowed her body so Jasper and Steven had somewhere to sit, and the front was all her face so she could see where they were going. Steven sat safely in his seat, though Jasper sat down on the rim of the chopper. This made a weight trouble for Amethyst, but that would happen no matter where she sat anyway, so she had to make do.

"How much further Amethyst?" Jasper said at one point.

"It's gonna be a while, Jay," Amethyst replied. Jasper was hoping this'll get handled soon, as Steven watched the trees go by from below and the clouds above. At one point, Steven looked over back to Jasper, who had her back to him. It was hard to tell at first, but Steven began to notice something with her ...

Something was dripping out of her.

"Huh?" Steven walked over to her for a closer look, and it turned out, the Amber drops were coming from ...

"J-Jasper! Your gem!"

Jasper quickly got her hand over Steven's mouth before Amethyst could fully catch what Steven said.

"What's going on back there?" Amethyst asked.

"Nothing, keep going!" Jasper demanded. Amethyst did, as Jasper leaned over to Steven, Steven now easily able to see that there was some paint-like liquid coming out of Jasper's gem, but not by much. Jasper herself looked to him firmly like it didn't matter.

"Steven, don't worry about me. It's just a minor trouble, I'm fine," Jasper cleared up, removing her hand from his mouth. Steven Thought for a moment, and then licked his hand for a try at healing her. Steven got a good amount of spit on his hand, and brought it over to Jasper's gemstone. However, the Gem knocked Steven's hand away.

"Come on, Jasper," Steven said.

"I said. I'm fine," Jasper repeated. Steven wanted to help, but Jasper wasn't going to show herself being weak in front of him, not now. Before they could go into this any further, Amethyst looked on ahead and began to notice the sky ahead starting to dim a bit into grey.

"I think we're getting close to the Smoky Mountains," Amethyst announced.

And surely she was right. Jasper and Steven looked out from both sides of the helicopter, and they all began to see the signs of an upcoming mountainside. The peaks were covered in cold snow, but there was still clouds of smoke hovering around near the tops of the peaks. It wasn't exactly clear as to where the smoke was coming from, or how long the smoke had been hovering around the peaks, but there was no mistaking this spot compared to the other areas around it. Amethyst, already in flight, was not going to waste anytime with landing, and as such began to fly straight for the mountains. At first, finding a spot to land wasn't very easy. After all, they were dealing with a rocky mountainside, with no visible path, or real flat surface to show that somepony had went through, or established anything. One could argue that the mountains of Canterlot were similar, but Canterlot was built on the side of the mountain, and there wasn't anything sign of that here. Jasper and Steven looked around the mountain for some sort of cave, or pathway that'll get them to the Healing Crystal, but as with anywhere to land, not much luck in that either. They've mainly had been finding just rock walls, with no evidence of tunnels or caves. That seemed a bit odd to see in a mountain anywhere, never mind the Smoky Mountains. How can there not even be one? It was about twenty minutes of patrolling through smoked air when they finally got somewhere.

"Over there!"

"I see it, Stevie my man!"

As they hoped, they soon found a lone cave. This one was kinda small, but there wasn't any outside platform to land, so Amethyst had to squeeze her helicopter body into the cave, just enough for Steven and Jasper to have enough ground to get out. Once the two finally did, Amethyst changed back, tired but grateful. She didn't want to carry possibly the heaviest Crystal Gem in their group any longer than she had to. As for the tunnel though, it got dark very quick, and it was narrow enough as it was at the entrance, and looked to shrink further in. For Jasper, that was a big problem, but Amethyst and Steven didn't find it too much trouble.

"Okay, let's go find that Crystal," Steven said enthusiastically. Amethyst and Jasper followed him in, both in agreement. Sooner they find that Healing Crystal, the better. The trio continued on into the tunnel for a bit of ways, the tunnel circular as if dug out recently. Amethyst and Steven were walking through the tunnel just fine, but Jasper had to resort to crawling on her hands and knees. Jasper had to be more careful; with her gem now as hard as gelatin, and about as fragile as a water balloon, Jasper couldn't risk anything coming in and taking a bite out of it. At least the crawling kept her face downward, so whatever drips slipped out were left unnoticed on the ground. It was getting harder and harder to see as they kept moving forward, each step leaving its own echo behind them.

"This tunnel goes in deep. Just watch where you - WHOA!"

Would've known he'd fall down the tunnel. In one false step, Steven suddenly slipped as the tunnel took a deep sudden nose dive! Amethyst tried to grab him, but couldn't get him. In fact, she ended up sliding down herself, and Jasper had no choice but to follow. The trio of Gems slipped, tumbled, and rolled head over heels down the steep tunnel for a long twenty seconds. Steven landed at the end first, followed by Amethyst.

"Ouch," groaned Steven.

Then the two heard Jasper ...

"MOVE IT!" Amethyst warned, both Amethyst and Steven rushing out of the way before they could end up crushed under Jasper. Jasper made sure to cover her Gemstone with her arms to avoid it being cut open during the fall. It was still plenty dark, so the three couldn't see purely, but that didn't mean that they couldn't see anything in particular. For starters, the area was large, like a chamber, and the walls weren't really seen at first. What they did see though was a shining object in the middle of the room. It was sitting on top of a boulder, and gave off a faint glow, just enough for them to see it.

The Healing Crystal.

"I got it!" Amethyst said, pulling out her whip. She had seen plenty of movies where this scenario plays out, so she didn't hesitate to get her whip for the job instead of her hands. In one swing, the whip got around the Crystal, and it was pulled straight away. Once it got pulled out, the Crystal began to flow much brighter, as if it was triggered by something ...

"Hello, ssssstrangers."

"Who's there?!" Jasper immediately demanded. The light of the Crystal began to show them their answer.

Not only did the Crystal show the cave itself, but it also showed that the ceiling was covered in some sort of pink vine, stretching around like spaghetti on the ceiling. The skin looked pink, and spotted with red dots along its length. After a bit, the creature slithered off of the ceiling, and onto the floor. It was twice as long as any anaconda, but as thin as coil rope. The head reared up to show a gigantic, single eye, with a mouth covered in small tentacles, and a set of deer horns like those of a Kirin.

"Back off, we need this Crystal," Amethyst said. The beast didn't care for it, and slowly slithered around them.

"Sssseems you wish to ssssteal to find your cure? The Healing Crysssstal belongssss to Uktena," it hissed.

"But our friends won't get any better without it! Please, we'll return it when we're done, I promise," Steven assured. That just got another hiss from Uktena, as it raised its tentacles to show its beak, which was as sharp as a macaws.

"I ssssee. Uktena issss not pleassssed. Uktena will have to eradicate you!"

Uktena gave another loud, threatening hiss, before lunging down for a bite. Jasper was the first to retaliate, and grabbed Uktena by the throat. Amethyst and Steven tried to help, but when they rushed in, Uktena wrapped its body around them both, and its tail whacked loose some large rocks to block their exit. Jasper gave a strong squeeze on Uktena, the animal choking and loosening its grip on the other two, but focused its grip on Jasper.

"Jasper!" Amethyst and Steven yelled, as Uktena got its coils on Jasper's neck and arms. Jasper felt the grip tighten, and she tried to get the animal to let go, but without much success. Each grab, yank, twist, and pull did hurt Uktena, but it didn't stop its attack. Uktena got some more coils down on Jasper's legs. It was here that Uktena finally gave a bite to Jasper's shoulder! Jasper tried to get it to let go, but Uktena's tentacles kept a grip on her.

"I will not fall for something like you!" Jasper roared, giving a bite of her own. Uktena screeched from the bite, and quickly zoomed off her. However, the sudden slither off was like a string spinning a top - Jasper spinning and getting rope burn on her in multiple places. Uktena turned back, reared up to look her in the eye. Jasper looked to her gemstone, trying to make sure if it was alright or not ...

More liquid began to seep out of it, and much faster than before. Jasper would normally be fine, and this would be a walk in the park, but Jasper still wasn't her best. Uktena hissed again, readying for another attack. Jasper looked to the other two, who looked ready to go in and help her. Before they could, Uktena wrapped itself around Jasper from head to toe, only her head exposed!

"Get back you octo-snake!" Amethyst yelled, her whip whacked Uktena in the head. Uktena hissed, and its tail lashed at them both, knocking them off their feet! Its attention turned back to Jasper, who was still using her strength to try and get herself free. Uktena could feel her strength pull it apart, and loosening its grip. Uktena looked right to Jasper, sweat pouring on her face, her teeth grinding together. Uktena took this final chance, and sank its beak into Jasper's head! Amethyst and Steven looked, and could only watch as Jasper succumbed to that final bite, and she finally poofed. Her gemstone flew out of the way towards them, but it didn't look correct. As it bounced on the ground, it jiggled and shook, more liquid coming out, until it stopped in front of them both ...

"She ... She was sick too?" Amethyst realized, as Steven picked up the gemstone. The two glanced at eachother, but Uktena was still on the offensive, and still hissing at them. Uktena wanted its Crystal back, and it wasn't going to let them leave with it in their hands. If it could beat Jasper, what was the chance that either one of them could stand against it? ... Then Amethyst got an idea.

"Hey Steven? Why don't we get the big girl out here?" Amethyst asked with a wink, hand out. Steven looked to Jasper's gemstone, and to Uktena, and eventually agreed. One hand grab later ...

"HEY-O! Ready to play around?" Smoky said, full of enthusiasm. Yep, smoky Quartz is back, and was ready more than most to face Uktena. The giant serpent was as ready as she was, and began its assault on her. Smoky Quartz immediately got out her Yo-Yo, and began her attack on it. Uktena dodged the first number of hits fairly easily with many of the Yo-Yo hits zooming by it. Smoky was getting a bit irritaited, and it didn't help that the animal began to wrap around her.

"Give it up, at oncccce," Uktena demanded.

"Here, let me put a new spin on it," Smoky joked. While the joke was a corn field of a joke, Smoky suddenly began to spin like a top. Since Uktena was slightly wrapped around her, Smoky just grabbed Uktena with her three arms, and began winding up fast. Uktena ended up spinning extremely fast, over and over, and over again, and it didn't help that Smoky Quartz began bouncing off the walls like she was in a pinball machine. Uktena kept getting banged on the walls until it gave up on gripping her. It was quick, and it was a lot easier than it was a few minutes ago. Uktena, dazed, bruised, and dizzy, just laid down on the ground with its one eye spinning in circles. This so-called beast wasn't going to bother them anymore.

"Alrighty, Smoky, time to get your butt outta here," Smoky said, picking up Jasper's Gemstone and the Healing Crystal on the way out. In one simple push, the rocks were moved aside, and Smoky went on her way out. Being bigger, it was a snug fit, but it wasn't much of a problem as she went off on her way. Uktena didn't bother to follow them ...

~~~~~~

It took them quite a while, but Smoky did end up coming back to the Beach House, and didn't waste anytime going straight back to Jasper's room with the cure in hand. After some tweaking with the Crystal, she did manage to figure out how it worked. In this case, the Healing Crystal was more of a charm - placing it on the Gemstone was enough to fix it. Each gem it touched made the other gemstone dry and harden back to normal, and as such, made the Crystal Gems all better again. Near the end, she placed the Crystal in Garnet's hands, and the faint glow signified the healing of both gemstones on Garnet's hands. As such, Ruby and Sapphire were saved too.

"Great job, Smoky," Garnet said, getting up to her feet, now all better. Smoky smiled, hand behind her head.

"No problem, buddy," Smoky said, casually.

"... But, where's Jasper?" Garnet asked. Smoky did heal Jasper, but that was before she got back. Smoky didn't get any sort of reaction, or interaction from the gem since she got poofed, so all Smoky could do was get the gem out of her pocket, and showed it to Garnet. Garnet looked down to Jasper in her hands, feeling that it was back to normal as well, but Jasper still wasn't ready to come out yet.

"... You did your best, Jasper," sighed Garnet. She knew from the start that Jasper wasn't better than them in terms of condition, but Jasper still had enough of the nerves to go out with them and fight Uktena, although she got poofed as a result.

"Will she be okay?" Smoky asked. Garnet looked to her for a second before looking back to the Gemstone.

"She'll be okay."

Author's Note:

Horray, finally got a new chapter up! Now, I know the Healing Crystal is straight up "Deus Ex Machina" as all hay, but I based Uktena off of the one I read up on in a book I have, and in it, it had a crystal to cure any disease. Don't hate me, hate the source I got it from