A Princess’s New Playmate: A MLP/Steven Universe Crossover

by Lord Shadow Eclipse

Chapter 2: Your New Best Friend

Author's Note:

I sincerely hope that y'all enjoyed that first chapter. And if you did, you'll really enjoy this new chapter. If you have a favorite "Steven Universe" character, leave a comment about them and I may consider putting them in this story. My little gift to y'all.

It was a bright and sunny day in the sweet little town of Ponyville. The birds were singing, the townsfolk were milling about their day-to-day work, and Princess Twilight Sparkle was taking a solitary walk around the edge of the Whitetail Woods.

"It feels good to get some time just for yourself. Yes, I love all my friends to death, but sometimes you just need to take some time alone and not have to worry about anything, at all.", the Princess thought.

Between her duties as a Princess and her spending time with her friends, solitary moments with just her thoughts were few and far between. And what little moments of solitude she could get were not to be wasted by any means. It took a lot of convincing to get Spike to let her go out for something as mundane as walk in the woods. Spike was insistent that he go with her as an escort. She didn't want any Guards or protective dragons going with her, so she bribed the young dragon with a quartz crystal. The dragon happily accepted the bribe with a wide grin. She reassured him that she was going for a walk in the forest. Not the Everfree Forest, no, but certainly a forest.

She hopped over a fallen tree when she happened upon the base of a smooth cliff wall going fifteen feet above her head. The rock was quite smooth and noticeably weathered. The cliff itself seemed to stretch on as far as the eye can see, like a protective city wall. Twilight chuckled to herself.

"Oh, Maud would probably take an interest in the stone of this cliff."

She was just about to leave when she heard a strange sound coming from the wall of the cliff. Like a combination of rock crumbling and something powering up. As she listened to the sound, she noticed that the grass and bushes around one particular spot were withering away and dying.

"But why are they dying around that one spot?", she wondered.

But before she could come up with some theory as why this was occurring, a glowing shape started to take form in the spot she was looking at. It started out small, something in the shape of a heart. Then the heart seemed to grow a new form around it. This new form was, given her experiences in the human world, humanoid in shape. It had a bipedal body structure, with arms and legs and a human-like head. The head grew what looked to be either ears or pigtails in the shape of hearts.

Suddenly, the figure burst out of the cliff wall, leaving behind an impression of her form! This strange being opened her eyes and looked dazed for a moment until her eyes met Twilight's own shocked ones. Now that she had a good look at this being, Twilight thought that she was looking at one of those old rubber-hose cartoons that human Pinkie liked to watch: it had large eyes with black irises, a simple body plan, and it didn't seem to have bones, with the arms and legs looking like they were rubber hoses. There was also a perfectly-cut pink gemstone in the shape of a heart on its chest. This new being also appeared to be female.

They stared at each other for a good few minutes until the being gave Twilight a large, warm smile.

"Hiya! Who are you?", the figure asked, snapping the shocked Alicorn out of her trance.

"M-m-my name's T-t-twilight S-sparkle. Who are you?", Twilight stammered.

This strange creature simply gave a curt bow. "Why, I'm your brand-spanking new BEST FRIEND!"

Twilight didn't know what to make of this until the figure started singing.

"This will be fun!
Aren't you the lucky one?
My cut is perfect and I'm pink, as well. I'll bring you endless entertainment!
I'm your new friend, Spinel!"

The being called "Spinel" then stretched out her arms and coiled them around the Alicorn like a couple of snakes. Spinel pulled Twilight to her in a big full-body hug! Twilight was a little scared at first, but she realized that this strange being meant her no harm. Plus, Spinel was quite warm.

Twilight snapped out of her comfort-induced stupor and started racking her brain about what exactly Spinel was. She obviously wasn't a creature that she was familiar with in Equestria. In fact, she doubted that even Fluttershy knew what Spinel was. Spinel seemed harmless enough, so she decided to ask her "new best friend" some questions. Now that Twilight thought about about it, she could've discovered whole new species! She couldn't pass up an opportunity to contribute to Equestria's knowledge. She gently pushed herself off of Spinel and faced her. Spinel was smiling and giggling like a little girl.

"I'm sorry, but since you're my 'new best friend', would you mind answering some questions for me?" Twilight asked. Spinel gave Twilight a hopeful look.

"Are we playing Twenty Questions? I love that game!" Spinel asked, jumping up and down like Pinkie.

"Wow, she's just as energetic as Pinkie Pie. And she seems to love games, too.", Twilight thought. "Yes, we are playing Twenty Questions. I'll ask a question, and you try to answer them to the best of your ability."

Spinel looked quite confused. "Are you sure that you're talking about Twenty Questions? I thought Twenty Questions worked like this: you make one player ask up to twenty questions about a clue that you give them."

Twilight was expecting that. "Yes, that's the normal game. But we're playing a new one. I ask you questions, and you try to answer.

That seemed to be enough to satisfy Spinel, due to the big smile she threw Twilight's way.

"Okay! Let's do it! Let's play!", Spinel said, getting really excited.

Twilight conjured a quill and some paper and cleared her throat. "First question: what species are you?"

"I'm a Gem, Twily!", Spinel replied, giving Twilight a nickname already.

"Gem? Like these?", Twilight asked while showing Spinel a topaz. Spinel simply chuckled.

"No, not like those. I'm a Gem, a race of sentient gemstones. We're gems given life, basically."

Twilight wasn't sure what to make of that response. Sure, there are magical creatures in Equestria that were bizarre to say the least, but this was the first time she ever heard of a sentient gemstone. That would explain the gem in her chest, though. Twilight decided to press onward.

"What's with you forming out of the ground?", Twilight asked, pointing a hoof to the Spinel-shaped hole.

"That's how Gems are born: we're given the bio-energy of the surrounding soil to begin life. We're also born with adult-level knowledge from the get-go.".

Twilight used the quill to put at Spinel's gem.

"Is the gem in your chest significant?"

"The gem is me. My entire being.", Spinel replied.

"Then, what's with your body?"

"To serve my purpose and because my physical body is a representation of who I am as an individual."

Twilight looked confused. "So, you're actually the gem and your body is who you are as a being? And what do you mean 'to serve your purpose.'"

Spinel gave a very happy smile. "To answer your first question, yes. And to answer your second question, to make the life of my brand-new best friend happy and bright. To put a smile on their face. To be the bestest friend on this planet. That is what all Spinels are made for."

"All Spinels? Are there more of you out there?", Twilight asked.

"Yep. Spinels are given as luxury items to the high-ranking Gems of the Gem Empire. The Gem Empire is great. It's filled with lots of great Gems, all led by the Diamonds.", Spinel said while giving the Diamond salute.

Twilight was even more confused. "'Gem Empire'? 'Diamonds'? 'Luxury items'? Could you explain a bit?"

"Well, the work that the high-ranking Gems do is hard. They all do great work for the Empire, but they need something to take the mental load off. That's were us Spinels come in: we are basically the jesters for the Gem elite. Each Gem within the Empire is made for a unique purpose. The Empire is ruled by the Great Diamond Authority. Their words are law for our kind. The Diamonds are the most perfect beings in the universe, and are the only ones fit to rule the Gem Empire. The Gem Empire itself is made up of thousands of different planets.", Spinel explained.

Twilight diligently wrote down every single word the jester-like Gem was saying. She took stock of what she was saying, too. If Gems had an empire that spanned thousands of different planets, they must quite advanced and powerful.

"I need to tell the other Princesses about this as soon as possible. But Spinel obviously doesn't have malicious intentions. Still, I should introduce her to my friends. I know Pinkie and Rarity are going to love her.", Twilight thought.

"Hey, Spinel?"

"Yeeeeees, bestie?", Spinel asked, wrapping an arm around Twilight's neck.

"How would you like to come back with me to Ponyville and meet my other friends?", Twilight offered. Spinel's smile only got bigger.

"Really?! I get to make new friends and playmates?! Yes! Yes, let's go!"

Spinel then held Twilight's wing as they walked out of the forest.

---

After the Pony and Gem left the area, something appeared in the cliff wall next to Spinel's hole. It was a small green light. The light seemed to move and take on a new appearance. This new form the light took was that of a small, humanoid figure with a triangle-shaped head. The rock in front of the light crumbled to the ground revealing a short green Gem. This new Gem opened her eyes and instinctively did the Diamond salute.

" Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG, reporting for duty!", the green Gem Peridot exclaimed, ready to do her duty for the Gem Empire!

Comments

[Theresa]

Personally the one thing in the Steven universe show that I didn't get was why they wanted so many planets in the first place. They don't eat or sleep or need to make clothes so outside the life the other planets have nothing to offer and considering gems live for thousands of years the work force has no need to increase.

[Lord Shadow Eclipse]

That’s a good question. Based on what I’ve gathered from the show is that the one true ruler of the Gem Empire, White Diamond, is a perfectionist, right? She sees herself and her “perfect empire” as the definition of perfection. She sees all these non-Gem-controlled planets as imperfect, and wants to spread her view of perfection to the rest of the universe. And building an intergalactic empire requires workers and soldiers. Hence, the Gem Empire expanding to colonize other planets. I hope this helps.

[Pr1deM0rn1ngstar]

" Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG, reporting for duty!", the green Gem Peridot exclaimed, ready to do her duty for the Gem Empire!

Oh great unreformed peridot