Brittle Deformation

Chapters

Splitting Headache
Thorn in my side
The Mad Tea Party
Numb
Fraternal Twins
The Sum and the Equation

Splitting Headache

I dreamed I was fighting again...

How could I tell it was a dream?

Well, the place was all weird. There were floating platforms of water that continued to fall over the edge but never run out of the liquid. There were pink fuzzy clouds in the sky that fizzled and flicked like a computer glitch. And there was her...

I called it that because it felt feminine. But I could never tell what it was. It was just there... A presence. One that was always in my dreams but never a part I could control.

She had been appearing a lot in my sleep this past month. Each time showing up after I had exhausted myself from an intense magic training session with Twilight. She had said it was normal to have strange dreams after using up a lot of mana. The body was simply pooling extra reserves from the core and mixed in with sleep because the brain was still functioning.

But her had never felt like a part of my dreams. She never appeared randomly. Always after I was drained of mana.

At first she had been a fleeting thing, always on the edge of my consciousness, teasing at me as I caught a glimpse of her indistinguishable form before vanishing. Now she stayed for longer and longer times.

She would always observe. Just stay still and watch as I mulled about in my sleep.

Yet if I focused hard enough on her, she vanished.

Whenever I dreamed about her I was always fighting.

I could never tell what either, which had been frustrating after Twilight hadn't understood that I was 'just fighting'.

It was always pressing down on me, pushing harder and harder until I couldn't take the pain anymore and would wake up in a cold sweat.

The first few times I had screamed and woke up both Twilight and Spike as they ran to check on me. Since then I hadn't screamed anymore, but the bags under my eyes told another story.

I still lost precious rest to these dreams. And with them coming more and more frequently I was barely able to hide how tired I was in front of Twilight.

Tonight she had almost figured it out when training me. She had stopped and asked if I was feeling well, which I had lied and told her yes.

Good thing she wasn't the element of Honesty or I'd be in trouble. I didn't want her to worry about me! They were just dreams and that was that!

Tonight was no different with her. She was there watching me as always.

Something shifted out of the corner of my eyes as the floor suddenly gave underneath me and I fell.

I felt the force pressing down on me once again, and I braced to push it back with all my might, but this time I saw something...

The thing. That which was pushing me down was actually her.

I was in too much shock to fight back for the moment as she took the advantage and hit me hard.

It stung, but I held back and fought.

Her seemed stronger this time around... Which confused me. What had changed? I had always had this dream the same way.

Her suddenly pushed down on my rib cage as I felt it crack under the press-

"AGH!" I put my hand over my mouth before I fully screamed.

I was awake now...

The dream was over...

Sighing, I shifted back under the covers as I tired not to think too much about what had just happened.

Something must've folded the wrong way as I laid back because I found myself wincing in pain as my gem screamed in agony.

Shouldn't have moved so quick after I used all that mana... I chided myself as I got comfortable again and fell back asleep.
__________________________

"Are you feeling okay, Crystal?" Spike asked as I blinked awake and found myself face first in my bowl of cereal. Ugh, great...

I turned to where the little drake was eating his morning gemstones, Emeralds in the morning for a healthy balance of nutrients, and combed my soggy hair back.

"Yea, just not woke up yet." I sighed as I went back to eating and shoved more grapes down my throat.

How Spike could manage to eat rocks I'll never know... Just glad he never thought about- *Shivers* Nevermind...

"Are you sure you're ok? You look a little pale..." He frowned worried, as I just waved him off.

Any louder and he'd alert Twilight, who was in the next room studying, and I'd never hear the end of it...

"I think it's just the lighting, or perhaps the milk on my face..." I said as I touched a clammy hand to my cheek. It felt cold to the touch as I shivered slightly, but it could just be the milk... Right?

I wasn't sick... Couldn't be. Gems don't-

"Guys! Princess Celestia is coming to Ponyville today!" Twilight poked her head into the kitchen. "Don't forget to clean up!" She chided as Spike just groaned and flopped his head on the table, "Yes, Twilight! We got that the first twenty times you told us!" He said.

"Oh uh, right..." She folded her ears embarrassed, before looking over to me. "I know the Princesses see you as their equal Crystal, but please don't forget this is an important meeting." She rubbed her hoof.

I nodded, "Right. Don't worry, I'll get the milk off me." I joked as that got a reaction out of her and she giggled.

"Make sure you do~!" She hollered, before going back to her studies.

Spike groaned as he picked up his half eaten bowl of gems and carried it in his arms, "I'm just gonna finish these upstairs." He grumbled, as I knew that was code for I'm going to hide out from Twilight, don't tell her where I am, as I nodded back. "Kay." I called, as I finished my breakfast and went to the downstairs 'public' bathroom to clean myself up.

True to what Spike had said, my skin was a tone paler than I remembered.

"Oh, it's just me." I thought as I combed back my hair. I didn't really need too, but it was soothing even if I could just shapeshift it perfect. "I'll just tone down the skin a bit, and no one will-"

I stopped myself after I had used my magic to darken my skin, and froze in disbelief. "I-It's still the same??" I blinked confused, as I tried again, only to achieve the same results. "Hmm... Maybe it's just this form." I noted, as I quickly shifted into my earth pony form and looked much better. "There." I smirked triumphantly as I paced around a bit and used a cloth to wipe off any dirt and grit that had accumulated. Being a gem tended to attract stuff like that. Then I smiled in the mirror before leaving the bathroom.

Twilight was already waiting it seemed, as she was currently fussing over Spike. "Twilight stop! I can comb my own scales!" The drake persisted, as Twilight kept trying to pat down one scale that refused to stay put. She stopped once she saw me, giving time for Spike to put enough distance between him and the mare's hoof.

"You're going as a pony?" Twilight asked confused.

I shrugged as I walked up to grab my saddlebags off the coat rack, "Yeah. I haven't done it in awhile so I wanted to." I lied, Twilight must not know the reason. "Plus, I don't think Celestia has seen me in my earth pony form, so it will be interesting." I added to smooth out the lie.

Twilight looked at me unsure before she rubbed her chin, "I suppose..." She hummed before grabbing her own things. She opened her mouth to say something else, but shook her head and dismissed it.

"Come on, let's go before the others get worried." She stated, as Spike hopped onto Twilight's back and we walked out the library.

"Wait. We're going to what?!" I exclaimed suddenly, as a few of my friends bent their ears back and winced at the tone my voice had pitched itself too. Sometimes when I was shocked it would do that high nasally voice crack thing... Not sure why...

Twilight, being the calmer of the group, stepped in for me. " With all due respect, Princess Celestia, how could you bring Discord here?!" She shouts, before realizing who's she's talking to and shrinks back to clear her throat, "Your majesty." She quickly puts in for respect.

Celestia seems unfazed by Twilight's outburst and simply nods, "I'm fully aware that the last time Discord was here, he created serious havoc." She repeats, silently hinting at us that she wasn't stupid. But just a little politer than flat out saying it. Regality and all.

Discord. She brought a ruler of Chaos, trapped in stone mind you, to Ponyville.

She might as well have handed us an active grenade and said it wasn't dangerous.

To get to the point, I was upset. Very much.

Twilight had told me all about the destruction this little booger had caused. Upside down houses, flipped personalities, all the power of a genie with none of the reigns attached to them.

He was the Trojan virus to a computer. If he didn't agree with something, all he had to do was go f*** you and snap his fingers and it would obey.

That kind of power was dangerous. It couldn't be contained. Maybe put off, but it was like a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode again in your face.

And you know what they say, Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I had no idea why Celestia thought bringing him here was a good idea.

Sure, Twilight and her friends had some sort of Elements of Harmony that had defeated him last time, but would that hold true again?

There answer was maybe.

And I didn't like those kind of odds.

In the midst of my musings, I realized Rainbow had been quite busy voicing her concerns, while everyone else was agreeing.

The cards were stacking up against Celestia but she seemed unfazed. Perhaps she had an ace in the deck???

I watched as she nodded like she agreed before laying down her trump card, "Yes, I understand. But I have use for Discord's magic if it can be reformed to serve good instead of evil. This is why I've brought Discord here, because I believe that you are the ponies who can help him do just that." She said.

I just blinked. She was... Gambling with this?!

"This will never work! This is a disaster! How will we ever control him?! We're doomed!" Spike seemed to mimic my thoughts as he waved his claws around frantically.

Celestia was having none of this. "Need I remind you that you are the ponies who turned him back into stone like this in the first place?" She deadpanned.

Inwardly I groaned. I just thought of that lady!!! I had like, a whole internal debate as to why this wasn't a failsafe! FAUUUUUSSSSSSSSST!

While inwardly I was screaming, I had only slightly twitched an eyebrow on the outside. I might've been angry, but it wasn't going to help if I had a shouting match right now.

Though I suppose if I survive and this doesn't blow up in our faces, I could rub it in her face with a well place I told you so~!. Yeah, that would work...

By now Celestia had brought out a chest and opened it to reveal the elements of harmony.

Everyone seemed excited to see them, like a dear old friend being reunited to them, but all I did was raise an eyebrow.

This was it??

True they had their shine to them, and the gemstones on the regalia were exquisite, I was honestly expecting something more... Destructive??? Certainly not jewelry.

"Now where is Fluttershy? I believe she may know best how to begin reforming Discord." Celestia asked confused, as Rainbow just groaned...

"Okay, ponies, guess it's time to get started. Let's just hope this releasing spell works." Twilight frowned nervously, as everyone else had either their elements on or were battle ready.

I leaned back a bit, my gem glowing if I needed to summon my weapon or human form. If Discord was as bad as Twilight and the others had mentioned, then he might just bamboozle us the first few seconds he's free and make a run for it.

This was why I was watching from a few yards away...

"Everypony ready?" Twilight asked, as they replied affirmative.

Twilight didn't need any other words to begin.

She lit up her horn and began to concentrate.

Suddenly the others holding the elements began to glow and they pulsed and began to lift up into the air.

The amount of magic was intense! I could feel it radiating in waves towards my body from just the simple output, as it began to form a sort of rainbow band around the mares. As soon as it attached fully the rainbow band expanded and spun around them like a hyperactive tornado.

It spun faster and faster around them and discord, and then everything was still. Absolutely still.

Ok yes, I just wanted to reference the Magic Tree House series.

In reality the rainbow tornado wrapped around the statue and begun to crack open the casing as I saw something moving and screaming from underneath.

It didn't last long before the screaming turned into a rather loud yawn as the rainbow quietly vanished, like it had never even existed, and the six mares floated gently back down on the ground.

"Oh! Ooh! Ooooh! Well, it's about time somepony got me out of that prison block. What a relief!" A voice spoke, one oddly similar to John de Lancie, in such a playful manner with a sinister tone that it gave me shivers.

I turned my face only to bump right into one Dragonequus named Discord.

Author's Note

Welcome to feeling hell. Enjoy your stay.
Tips are appreciated but not enforced.

Thorn in my side

"What do you think you're doing?!" Twilight said surprised, as we all watched Discord wary.

He wasn't supposed to be moving about. We needed him to understand he was under house arrest. Er... Well I don't think he has a house, but close enough!

Discord seemed to be ignorant of the threat before him, as he just continued mulling about. "Nnnnnnnnngh– Why, stretching, of course. When you're a creature of chaos, stone bodysuits aren't your typical go-to fashion choice." He smirked as he snapped his fingers and a bunny to his right suddenly turned into a hulk-like rabbit.

The rabbit roared angrily as it's new form pumped adrenaline into its system.

This is the power a being of Chaos holds?? I narrowed my eyes as I watched Discord much closer.

"Make that bunny cute again now!" Pinkie gasped as she hopped right in front of Discord's line of vision.

Discord chuckled as he bent over to rub the rabbit's chin. "Oh? Why he's adorable the way he is!" He chuckled sinisterly, before the bunny leaned over and bit him, earning a wince from Discord, and a smirk from me.

Crystal: 1, Celestia: 0, and Discord: 0.

Discord frowned and blew a raspberry, before he turned his sights on us. "You know what else is adorable?" He started, as he walked forwards dangerously, making us all lean back defensively.

"You ponies truly believe that you can reform me, and that you're putting your faith in this one here to make it happen. Makes me wanna pinch your little horsey cheeks..." He smirked as he leaned over to Fluttershy, donned an old fashioned granny blouse, (complete with makeup), and actually pinched Fluttershy's cheeks.

She winced as she rubbed the sore spot, and I just growled.

I was about to step in when Twilight beat me to it. "Wait. How'd you know about that?!" She blinked surprised as Discord frowned and crossed him arms.

"Being turned to stone doesn't keep me from hearing every word Celestia says. Although I admit it makes rolling my eyes a challenge." He said, demonstrating by actually rolling his eyes around his head. *Shivers*

Twilight snorted, "Well, unless you want us to turn you back to stone, you'll zap those animals back the way they were, pronto!" She countered, as she lit her horn ready.

Discord smirked, "Oh, you wouldn't dare turn me back to stone and risk disappointing your precious princess." He quipped at Twilight, causing her to falter her spell casting for a moment.

Crystal: 1, Celestia: 0, Discord: 1.

"Try us, "Dip-cord"!" Rainbow countered as she zipped in his face.

"You think you can treat poor defenseless animals like that and get away with it?!" Fluttershy added. She too walking up to Discord and frowning.

"You go, Fluttershy!" Me and Rainbow blurted out at the same time, before looking at each other and snorting humorously at the odd coincidence.

Fluttershy beamed, as she seemed slightly taller, much more secure in her form, after the compliment.

"You'd best watch your step, buster, or I'll give you... the Stare!" She said bravely, as she began to stare him down.

Discord snorted. "The Stare? Oh no, please, not that! Anything but your disapproving eyeballs!" He mocked in Fluttershy's face.

Fluttershy frowned as she began to stare at him really hard, to which Discord actually froze for half a moment, afraid.

I watched confused as Discord began begging Fluttershy to relent, before a small chuckle escaped and he laughed even more.

"Oh Fluttershy! You're so hilarious!" He hooted, as Fluttershy's bravo seemed to falter, her stare breaking and her mood falling.

I'd had enough. "Hey! Don't think this is a parole for good behavior!" I growled as my anger drove me forwards, totally apathetic to the fact that a god slaying monster was hovering in front of me. "The moment you start doing something screwy-" I narrowed my eyes, locking them with Discord's own as they seemed to be smirking; taunting me, as if daring for me to do something. "-it's back to stone for you." I said with ice in my veins, before the anger fissiled out enough for my rational side to realize what I had just done.

Discord saw it too.

"Oh how adorable! You six brought along a sentry! Cute~!" He sung, as he reached out with a claw and pinched my cheek, tugging it beyond what physics deemed possible, yet it snapped back normally. Twilight stepped forwards defensively and pawed a hoof in the dirt, as Discord backed off.

"Though I suppose you are right." He chuckled, though I couldn't tell if it was out of nervousness or mirth, as he snapped his fingers and the woodland creatures he 'discordified' turned back to normal.

"Well, it looks like I know where I'll be crashing while I'm being "reformed"... With you, Fluttershy." Discord chuckled as he hovered over to the yellow mare and hugged her tight, like she was his best friend in the whole world.
I narrowed my eyes.

This guy was up to something. I didn't like him. Couldn't be trusted one bit. Heck, I would trust the Grinch over him!

I felt a reassuring hoof on my shoulder, as I turned and found Twilight shaking her head back at me. Right, I think I was scowling. Not to mention letting anger drive me forwards, which is probably what he wanted anyways.

"Come on, let's go help Fluttershy with Discord and her cottage." Twilight suggested, as I sighed and relaxed the tension in my shoulders a bit before we followed the rest of the group to Fluttershy's home.

"You big liar!" Rainbow Dash yelled at Discord as he lounged on the sofa.

"Now, look who's a liar. Anyone can plainly see that I'm not big at all." Discord tutted, as he shrunk several feet and ticked off Rainbow even further.

I groaned as I ground my teeth and tried not to scream.

Things had not been going well. As soon as Discord walked through Fluttershy's door, he continued to push everyone's buttons. It was like he saw us a living arcade machines that begged to be played with.

He's set fire to Pinkie's mane, caused a random wind storm to appear and douse the flame, messed up our manes, and gave me a migraine.

All in the twenty minutes we had sped walked to the cottage.

Currently he was testing Rainbow's limits.

He grew back to normal size after he was done taunting, and in the process tipped over a nearby lamp.

Fluttershy tried to catch it before it fell, but was too late as it crashed into the floor. She gasped horrified as Discord realized he'd made a mistake. "Oops!" He said in fake shock, as he snapped his fingers and the lamp pieces went flying back together. "There, good as new!" He said approvingly, as he revealed the unbroken lamp to have had some... Slight modifications.

Okay, actually he just turned it into a mini Discord holding a light bulb. Oddly impressive on the creativity end.

Crystal: 1, Celestia: 0, Discord: 2.

Dang, I needed to get my act together...

"I can't watch..." Applejack frowned, as he hid her face behind her stetson and walked out.

"Um, we'll be outside if you need anything." Rainbow fumed, as she decided it was best to leave too before she blew a gasket.

I followed with as Spike opted to climb on my back and follow me outside.

Twilight stayed a bit longer to talk with Fluttershy, but I had already tuned it out. I didn't care what Discord did next. Anything more and I would've exploded. It was hard to hold back my anger.

Yet, I managed.

Once outside, the rest of us agreed that the moment Discord did any tiny little thing he was gone.

I had to concur. Discord was trouble. Celestia may not have seen it, but I could feel it in my bones.

"In case the elements fail, or Discord does something sneaky, I'm going to look up a few counterspells so we'll be ready." Twilight said as she came outside and closed the door.

"Sounds like a good plan Twi'. Let us know if ya need some help." Applejack smiled as we waved goodbye and made out departures.

My nose started to tickle...

"Huh. That's weird. The spell I had in mind isn't in here. Spike, where are the other books I asked you to pull?" Twilight frowned confused as Spike came running over with more books stacked in his claws.

We had been rummaging through the library for the good half of the hour, who knew there were so many books in here? It seemed and looked impossible. Hmm... Maybe Twilight used a spell...

Anyways, we had been combing through the more advanced spell books for anything relating to changing, or in this case reforming, a being's mind/opinion.

Twilight had early on discarded the physical spells on changing a mind, that wasn't what we were going for and some of the illustrations were very horrifying...

"T-Chooo!" I sneezed as snot hit the book. Ugh.

I grimaced as I wiped the snot off my muzzle. Right, then there were my... Allergies to contend with.

"You ok Crystal?" Twilight poked her head up from reading as she asked concerned.

I flinched as I sniffed the wet mucus back up my nose. "Yeah, fine. Just got some dust tickling me." I lied as I sat down the book and went to grab another one.

I could feel Twilight staring. "Hey if the dust is aggravating you, why don't you- gwhuh?!" Twilight paused as she stared as book in her magical grip.

"What?! What is it?!" I turned around panicky as Spike rushed over as well.

"The books!" She whined, "Everywhere I thought I would find the spell, is missing!" She frowned.

"What the heck?" I rubbed my chin with a hoof as Twilight grumbled. "Discord..." She hissed as I realized that was indeed the kind of handiwork he'd do.

"I'm going to check on Fluttershy." Twilight closed the book as she grabbed her saddlebags. Me and Spike opted to join her, but she waved it off.

"Come on Twilight, let us help!" Spike cried upset as Twilight shook her head. "No, I'm afraid that will only make things worse if more than one pony shows up." She grimaced, "Besides. I'm just going to double check some things. Not engage." She looked over to me, silently telling me I would probably overreact if I insisted I came. I lowered my ears a bit at that. She was right, but it stung...

"I'll be back within the hour. Keep the library going like you'd normally do!" She waved as she closed the door behind her with her aura and left us to silence.

"Right..." I sighed. Be safe... I silently worried.

Spike looked over at me as I sniffed again and he crossed his arms.

"So... Gonna tell Twilight that you're sick yet?" He jabbed as I groaned defeated.

The Mad Tea Party

It wasn't until later on in the evening did Twilight get back.
Spike and me had mulled about doing our usual chores, Spike sorted the books and I cleaned the place, before we found ourselves out of things to do...
"Does Twilight keep any board games around?" I had suggested, mostly to keep the young drake from whining. Spike tilted his head confused and shrugged, "Bored-games?" He tried to repeat, "No, I don't think so. Other than her own personal collection of books, everything else we own is stored downstairs." Spike mentioned as I thought up a better idea.
"Well, do you happen to have any spare parchment and ink?" I offered, as Spike nodded. "Yea, but why?" He asked confused.
"I have a game we can play using the items, and I think you'll find it to be fun." I smiled as Spike perked up. "A new kind of game?! I'll go get the stuff right away!" He cheered as he sped upstairs determined.
In the meantime I shifted back to my human form to be more comfortable.
I immediately regretted it, as I felt my cold clammy skin and snot daring to run down my face. I felt a wave of fatigue hit me, and I dared not try to shift back until I had a little more energy to spare.
I guess shifting form eats up more mana than I thought.

Spike wouldn't mind though. He knew I hadn't been feeling good, and he wasn't going to tattle. (Such a good drake he is.)
Besides, I needed hands to play the game I had suggested to Spike. Surely we would be done before Twilight came back, and it would give me the break I needed so I could continue to shift back and forth between my forms.
"Hey I got the items Crystal! And I- Woah!" Spike hollered once he saw my face. "Uh, you look really-"
I dared him to finish that sentence with a glare.
He coughed and shook his head as he sat down the items on a table. "-Erm, great? Yea that was what I was going for...!" He chuckled nervously as I sighed. Nevermind that.

"So what game are we playing?" Spike quickly changed the subject as I turned my attention back to the quill and paper.
I picked up the quill and begun to make four quick strokes across the page, forming a loose square shape in the middle. "It's called Tic-Tac-Toe." I stated, as I made three more copies of the shape and explained the rules to him.
Spike listened attentively without interrupting. "So if the goal is to get three in a row, then why isn't the game called that?" He asked confused.
I shrugged, "I don't know. I never bothered to question. That's just its name everyone back home uses." I explained as I went first and put an 'O' down the middle.

I won the first two rounds mostly because Spike was new to this game and had no idea what kind of strategies were going through my head...

I was in the middle of drawing out the next set of lines when I felt fatigue hit me like a sledgehammer, and decided that it wouldn't hurt anything to close my eyes for half a moment...

Spike was saying something, but it went in one ear and out the other as I nodded tired. "D-don... -ry, I'll g..........." I recall saying before I climbed aboard the snooze train...

A gentle hoof was shaking me awake.
"Crystal? I'm back." Twilight's voice spoke as I stirred awake.
Snot was everywhere.
I had fallen asleep at the table, but somedrake must've brought me a pillow to rest my head on because it was now covered in both my dry and wet mucus.
It was disgusting, but considering how lightheaded I felt I didn't whine.

What had I been doing? Oh right, the game.
I sat up to find Twilight looking at me concerned, as I eyed the sheet of paper we had used to play. I'm upstairs if you need me. ~Spike The drake had scribbled on a blank section of paper.
How thoughtful of him.

"You ok? You look pale." Twilight asked concerned, as I snapped back to the present.
"Just allergies..." I muttered through my congested nose as Twilight didn't look like she was buying it.
"You sure you're alright? Fluttershy asked us to join her and Discord for dinner, but if you're not feeling well-"
"No, no I'm fine! It just looks worse than it is! Trust me, I'm fine." I reassured Twilight as she just shook her head and dropped it. There was no way I was letting her near that thing without me around to protect them.
"Ok then." She leaned over and eyed Spike's note too. "I'll go see if I can find Spike and tell him to get ready." She explained out loud as she began to walk up the stairs.
"Dinner's in two hours at Fluttershy's!" Twilight hollered, before she opened the door to her bedroom and quietly closed it behind her.

As soon as she shut the door I grimaced.
I actually didn't feel any rested after the nap. In truth, I felt horrible...
I would have to tell Twilight soon. Otherwise she'd flip and be mad at me for not confessing sooner. Still, I rubbed the leftover snot from my nose as I got up, it was likely just a gem cold or something... Nothing I couldn't handle.
I got up slowly and went to the bathroom to clean off the snot. If I can just hold it together enough for supper with Discord, then I could rest properly...

"Oh, our pony guests! We're so delighted that you've come. Please, do come in." Discord bowed as he spoke and opened the door for us.
"See what a beautiful job he did helping? Discord set the entire table himself. I'm so proud." Fluttershy whispered to Twilight as we walked in. Frankly setting a table was child's play. I still wasn't impressed.

"May I take your... hats, ladies?" Discord cleared his throat as he suddenly materialized his head from one of the coat hangers.
His eyes were set on the elements each of my friends were wearing. (For insurance purposes Twilight had made sure everyone still had them on to avoid Discord from doing anything sneaky.)
I pushed his eager hands away, "Keep your grubby hands off Discord." I growled as I made my gem glow in warning, "You may be on parole, but we're watching." I hissed as Discord backed off.
He had this sort of amused look on his face; the kind that didn't seem fazed at all.
Briefly I wiped away a stray band of mucus running out my nose as I looked away annoyed. He wasn't fooling anyone...

"Hang on to your elements, girls. It's gonna be a bumpy night." Twilight spoke in a hushed manner as Discord politely seated us around Fluttershy's dinner table and brought out the food.
"Bon appetite~!" Discord bowed again as everyone tried, and I use the term loosely, to eat their food like there wasn't an elephant in the room.
Since gems didn't need to eat, I just picked at my food; feeling rather repulsed and sickened suddenly...

" *ahem* As you all know, Princess Celestia hoped we'd help Discord use his magic for good instead of evil." Fluttershy spoke shyly as we ate.
SPLAT!
Pinkie Pie proceeded to smear her face in the mash potatoes, earning a wth? confused look from me.
Fluttershy was surprised too, "Um. Did you need some gravy Pinkie Pie?" She asked, smoothly transitioning from surprise to modesty, so not to embarrass the party pony. Well, anymore than she had already...
You'd think after all this time she'd learn some manners, especially since she is Ponyville's party planner, but Que sera, sera...

"You bet!" Pink cheered as Fluttershy reached over to grab the gravy bowl when Discord popped up.
"Please, allow me." He said with a thick British accent as he snapped his fingers and the gravy bowl sprung to life, running straight over to pinkie.
"Oh, what a cute little gravy boat you are! Yes you are! Yes you are!" Pinkie chuckled as she petted the thing.
I just shook my head and went back to looking at my food.
Rainbow leaned over to Applejack and muttered something rude probably, as I toyed with the fork in my hand and noticed something odd on my right arm.
A small piece of my skin, if you can really compare it to that, was a discolored sort of pale grey almost... It wasn't even hardly the size of a needle's eye, but it stuck out and was curled upwards like it was peeling...
It also itched terribly...
I couldn't help but scratch, which only made the piece bigger as it peeled.
Eww....

"He did that on purpose!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she stomped on top of the table, distracting me from scratching.
Discord shrugged, "Oh, well, I don't know about that. Mistakes happen. Oh look, everypony! Dancing candles~!" Discord said as he snapped his fingers and the candles on the table came to life, dancing around and humming a familiar tune.
"I'm not falling for that! Discord's just trying to distract us from–" Suddenly the candles started attacking Dash as she screamed in shock.

"There's something fishy going on." Twilight narrowed her eyes as she suddenly was squirted in the face by a fish shaped tureen. Yes, a tureen. I swear I don't write this in...
The place suddenly turned into one giant food fight as the candles attacked and the silverware defended. The fish shaped tureen was in the middle, going about squirting ponies as it pleased.
I'd had about enough of the whole thing when the stupid sucker came towards me.

Now I'm usually a fairly patient and passive person when it comes to chaotic situations. Usually I just sit still and calmly access the situation before doing anything action oriented; but between the cold, the chaos, and the loud noise making my head pound, I'd had it.
Like a frog catching a fly, I snatched the tureen before it could react to my movement and proceeded to shatter it in my hands. The shards fell to floor but didn't cut me since I was technically hard as a rock at the moment.

This seemed to quiet everyone as the witnessed me murder the ceramic fish in cold blood.
Rainbow took this opportunity to speak openly. "Fluttershy! Can't you see what he's doing? He's playing innocent with you so you'll never agree to use the Elements of Harmony against him!" She spoke painfully as the excitement of the other utensils died down to a halt and the mood dropped a few degrees.
Rainbow, expecting Fluttershy to finally listen to us, looked at her best friend with a plea in her eyes.
Fluttershy was not swayed though...

"You know what I see? I see that Discord's far from perfect, but I also see none of you giving him a chance!" She said sternly as the rest of us looked away and Rainbow Dash groaned.
"What's gotten into you?! Why do you keep cutting him so much slack?" She whispered, taken back by her friend's words.
Fluttershy looked at Rainbow before she leaned over to give Discord a hug "Because that's what friends do." She stated simply, supporting Discord with a pity pat.

"We're friends?" Discord blinked confused, as Fluttershy simply smiled. What kind of sitcom is this?!
"Why, of course! I can't remember my house ever being this lively before you came along." Fluttershy proclaimed as she did a little spin in mid-flight.
"Oh... Well, I've... never really had a friend before." Discord said shocked, as the rest of us simply watched the scene unfold.
I couldn't speak for the others, but frankly I felt like I was being pranked.
Discord making friends?! Pah! I can't believe this nonsense! He has to be tricking her....
I narrowed my eyes as I kept a sharp eye out.

Fluttershy's bunny decided it was high time to make an appearance at this point, chitchatting away about something as the ponies; humoring the thing, played a guessing game with him.
"Apple!"
"Applejack!"
"Wait no... Apple Cider??"
"Oh Oh! Sweet Apple Acres!" Rarity guessed right as the bunny chirped and jumped up an down frantically before running out the door.
"Sweet Apple Acres is a floodin'?! Sorry gang, but I got to go!" Applejack burst into a sudden gallop as she ran out the front door. (And cue Lassie!)

"Ooh Dear! That sounds like trouble! Shall we?" Discord floated over to the front door that was now open as he motioned for everyone to follow.
I rolled my eyes annoyed as we decided to leave as well... If sweet Apple Acres was flooding, Applejack would need all the help she could get.

"I've never seen the floodin' this bad! They've built dams 'round here before, but never like this! What's goin' on?" Applejack huffed as she ran around the dry areas of the land, trying to sandbag the place.
Of course I pitched in as well, no use in just standing around, despite my throbbing head.
"Umph! There's that wall! Where to next AJ?" I huffed as beads of sweat dripped off me and Applejack pulled out another row a sandbags.
"Over thar!" AJ grunted as she pointed behind the barn where the water was beginning to pool and I nodded.

"You see Discord's behind all this, right?" Rainbow Dash shouted above the noise of the beavers building dams and the water rushing.
My head throbbed at every syllable Rainbow Dash spoke, but I refused to give in to pain as I hoisted another sand bag up and moved it into place.
"Oh, of course I do! Do you all think I'm a silly, gullible fool?" Fluttershy said aggravated, as I turned to listen in on the conversation.
"I've just been trying to gain his friendship any way I can, so he'd come to trust and listen to me!" She said upset as she landed and I instantly felt bad for even doubting her...
I should've known, and trusted my friend better...

Speak of the devil, Discord chose this time to show up water skiing as he waved.

"Hey there, Fluttershy, you want a turn? The water's great!" He smirked as Fluttershy muttered something I couldn't hear and then flew over to discord.
"As you can see, there's a big mess down here at Sweet Apple Acres." Fluttershy hinted, as Discord's eyes seemed to flicker in acknowledgement at her comment, but his face remained stoic. "Oh, yes. Awful business, that. Mm." He turned away so as to avert his gaze.
Fluttershy flew in front of him, frowning. "It is awful. This is Applejack's home, and it's being destroyed by innocent creatures who would never be acting this way if it weren't for your reckless behavior. You need to fix this." She said as Discord looked slightly surprised.

By now I had stopped piling sand bags with the others altogether as I watched the scene unfold.
What would Discord choose to do? He can't get away because we'd just find him and turn him to stone, he seemed to realize this too, but appeared unafraid. In fact his smirk got wider as I saw his eyes grin.
"Oh yes, very well, I will fix it. I only ask one thing in return." He said as his voice got all melancholy. He was up to something.
Finding my wits, I waltzed over to where the others were, (they too had stopped working to come watch the scene), and readied my weapon if need be.
"Yes?" Fluttershy asked curious and confused as Discord's grin grew wider.
"I ask that you never use your Element of Harmony against me. As a sign of our friendship." As he spoke you could practically hear a pin drop at the sudden silence.

He was asking her to, never use the one thing that could stop him??? No, that was too far! He wouldn't dare! She wouldn't dare!
"Enough of this!" I said upset, as I summoned my weapon from my gem and pointed at him. He looked at me in mock fear. "Oh noes! I'm doomed!" He chuckled, as he simply flicked my spear in my hand, causing it to wiggle, before the intense vibrations made it to poof into sparkles.
I blinked confused as Discord crossed his arms, "Please. You're much too weak to go against me, Guardian." He spat as I reared back insulted. Whuh??

Fluttershy looked from us to Discord and then back. The tension was so thick as we awaited Fluttershy's response. We held our breaths as she hovered in thought.
The choice was ultimately hers, and despite the cold I had, nothing I did would help her decide....
She swallowed as she looked at Discord and then undid her charm. " I will never use my Element of Harmony against you." She stated simply, as she threw it to Spike as we all just blinked and gasped in surprise.

"Excellent!" He cheered as he snapped his fingers and the water suddenly turned to ice?!

Author's Note

Finally got around to editing this. :) Thanks for being so patient with me! :D

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Author's Note

Ok, first I know this chapter was long overdue. :P

I had a lot of things going on, and a lot of plot points I needed to cover in this; so that's why it took so long.

I seriously lost count how many times I wrote and then rewrote this thing, only to scrap it and start all over. :/

Luckily I did have an outline, but man, did it take a long time to figure out how I wanted to end it. XP

I actually wrote a lot more content to this, but when I read it over I realized that most of it was irrelevant to the point I wanted to make. :U
The plus side is that my hiatus provided me the time to properly strengthen my world and word building so now it sounds much less like a teenager wrote this, and more like a sophisticated adult did (which is what I am ^w^').

I leave you guys with a semi-cliffhanger.
I know you've all been on the edge of your seats to see what was up with Discord, (Oops you thought I meant Crystal didn't you? ;3), so I left you some info, but really it only brings up more questions.

Such is the nature of cliffhangers... ;P

Anyways, I won't bore you any longer. I know you've all been eagerly awaiting so, enjoy~! :D

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"There, much better! I do prefer ice skating to water skiing! Don't you?" Discord hummed as a pair of ice skates appered on his legs and he spun around on the frozen lake.

By now anything that had been submerged under the water before it froze was beginning to buckle and creak. Piles of wood attempted to splinter over the sudden temperature change, while the barn started to shake and groan. Applejack's face contorted in panic as she immediately dropped the sandbag she had been holding and ran onto the ice to save the family barn. "Mah farm!" She screamed frantic.

...

She got about half way before her grip slipped and she went whizzing the other direction; much to the amuzement of a certain draconequus...

"Discord! That's not fixing it! Why, I oughta-..." Fluttershy was beginning to fume, as the smirk on Discord's face reached an ultimate high.

I was boiling despite the cold. How could someone do something so cruel to someone so nice?! It was a rhetorical question of course, I had seen plenty of cruelty in my life before. This wasn't new, yet...
Something about it seemed to push me off further since I was involved in it.

By now Fluttershy was storming off the ice, no doubt to head home, as Discord chuckled.
"Hey! Where are you going? What's wrong, pal?" Discord asked in a singsong voice as I growled, and attempted to summon my weapon to beat some sense into him; when something jerked deep inside my magic reserves.

My gem was for some strange reason, denying my request. It was like a punch to the face.
Sick, weak, useless... It was like my entire body just got dumped in ice.

Fluttershy was saying something to Discord once more, but to me sounded like the conversation was underwater.
No, no! There has to be a mistake! I can't not summon my weapon! Not when I needed it!
I begun to hyperventialte, as I tried again and again to summon it.

There were a few bits of sparks that showered out my gem, but nothing more.
I couldn't even sense my weapon now.

Discord was looming over Fluttershy, taunting her as I stared on sadly and rubbed my snotty nose.
She was angry with him, she took the skates and screamed as she threw them on the ground and Discord laughed maniacally.

What was the use anymore? I was nothing without my powers. I should've attacked Discord earlier when I still had some of them.
Now...

I stared at my hand as Discord continued babbling away; now I was a pitiful excuse of a gem and a friend...
The feeling pierced deep into my core as I felt my bravado shrink.
I simply watched as Discord appeared shocked about something... What? Did he run out of whitty remarks?

Suddenly he appeared to be cowed... His ears flattened as he muttered something before floating over to where a buried apple tree was and snapped his fingers.

It was like liquid gold had been poured upon the place.
The ice, instantly gone! The beavers were back to normal, and any damaged property had been put back as good as new.

"I'm sorry everyone..." He really looked sad. " I liked it better my way, but... I guess when you have friends, you can't always have things exactly your way all the time, eh?" He chuckled nervously.

Well, whatever had just happened, I think hit home. Fluttershy must've screamed her kindness into his core or whatevs. I just smiled warmly, glad that that whole fiasco was behind us. Without my help... I cringed sadly, but carried on.
Deciding it was best to at least humor him, I walked towards him tired, as I extended a hand towards his clawed one.

"Well, I guess we can forgive you..." I chuckled in between a sore cough. Twilight looked at me with a glare, but I continued on. "As long as you don't mind having more friends." I smirked, as I felt another cough and let it out this time.

"Uh Crystal? You alright there?" Rainbow Dash asked worriedly, as I waved her off. I was too busy looking at Discord with a warm smile. Warm...
That's right, he needed to... He need to... He had to know it...
It? What was it again?

"Woah! Take it easy there pardner!" Someone said as a hand/hoof caught my mid section...
"T's fine... AJ-j-j.... I just wwannnn, thank D here fer-, fer... erm..." Something...
My eyes were tired. I just really wanted to close them, but I had to speak...

"Is she looking paler than usual?" An odd voice spoke.
Who was it? I don't know. Maybe it was the Tv... Yeah. Tvvvv...

"Crystal?"
...
"Crystal?!"
..........

"Cr-!!"

Something cool was pressed to my head as I suddenly awoke to pain.
Fire burned in my veins as I snapped my eyes open in shock and let out a muffled cry. My voice didn't allow for much more, as I felt like the wind had been taken right out of my throat.

"Easy Crystal. You're back at the library now.." A familiar voice spoke.
Confused, I turned my head and tried to focus my blurry vision on the purple blob in front of me.

"Twilight?" My voice sounded raw and overused, and it burned as well.
A familiar smile spread across the blurry face as I heard sniffling. "How are you?" She asked suddenly.
"Burning up." I grimaced as another bout of pain went through my system, making me tense and grit my teeth as Twilight had to help me stay still while the tremors passed. Oh, this was not good...

"Is she going to be alright?" A smaller, scared sounding, voice asked from further across the room.
"Spike." I coughed as I felt my throat betray me while Twilight tenderly put the cool rag she had been using on my forehead. I shivered slightly when the cloth touched my gem, but was too weak to properly protest.

"Save your energy Crystal. You don't have much." She said with a hint of worry in her voice as I heard Spike scamper over towards me.
"M'sorry I didn't tell you earlier that I was sick." I wheezed as I felt more mucus running down my throat.

"Nothing that can be done about that now." Twilight laughed pitifully, "But this is more than just a common bug." She said. Despite my eyes threatening to go cross, I could almost picture the worry written over her face.

I tiredly turned my head and tried to focus on Twilight. "What?" I asked confused. There was a bit of nervous scuffling, before I heard her exhale; tired.

"When you passed out, I immediately did a scan spell on you to make sure it wasn't mana exhaustion." She explained as I raised an eyebrow. "It's not.." She swallowed, "Crystal your aura... It's fading." She choked as you could practically hear the pin drop.

"So... I'm dying?" I asked stupidly as Twilight held back a sob.
"Yes and no..." She said in between what might be blurry tears. Spike came over and gently petted the mare as she struggled to maintain composure. "The scan revealed another aura. A slowly dominating one. It's what's making you so sick; it's trying to possess you, or most likely just the body, and I'm so sorry I didn't detect it earlier I could've fixed this!!!." She wailed, before collapsing and starting to sob.

My heart shattered into a million pieces as I heard her cry.
I just laid there for a moment, processing everything.
I was going to die. My second life had given way to a short, heroic, failure. I had failed to protect the one thing I cared about the most.
The people I loved...

My resolve hardened just then.
"Twilight come here." I said as I spent energy I didn't have to move an arm over towards her. She silently complied, as I gave her a sideways hug while she let out a few strangled sobs.

I just played with her mane as I let her cry. "It's ok... Everything will be alright." I cooed, chuckling slightly as I thought of something.
"I'm glad you found out so I wasn't just thinking it exhaustion or something." I admitted as Twilight nodded, and buried herself deeper into my hug. "Oh, Twilight don't cry, please..." I begged as this only made her to sob harder.

I sighed, "Twilight. Look at me." I said as I let go and helped pull her face up to mine, the cool cloth long forgotten as it fell to the floor in an undignified manner. "You're the smartest mare I know. You'll either figure this out-"

"I can't! I can't! There's not anything for possession this far along!" She shook her head rapidly.
"Or..." I said in a soothing manner, "Everything will be fine." I reassured, as another sharper pain jabbed my side and I screamed a bit. Spike jumped back surprised, as he scampered away and Twilight helped hold me still again.

"Twilight." I wheezed after the pain was over. It wouldn't be too much longer. I could feel a death rattle taking over my throat. "I wanted to thank you for being such a great friend..."

"Crystal no...!"
"Shh! It's ok. Just let me speak. Then I'll rest; I promise." I said as my strength failed me briefly and I flopped down in the bed, arms shaking from the exertion. "I just wanted to say how glad I am to have you as a friend." I admitted, "even if..." I coughed, it hurt like hell, "Even if it was only for a short while, I'm happy." I said as I got more comfortable.
Twilight looked at me sadly, like i'd just shot a puppy or something... I couldn't die in peace with me looking at that sad face of hers.

"Promise me something." I whispered hoarsely, my voice but a mere whisper.
"Y-yes?" Twilight asked confused in between choked sniffles. There wasn't much time left, I could already feel my strength threatening to leave me. I stubbornly held on though.

"Promise me you'll continue being a good friend to everyone." I smiled as Twilight laughed sadly.
"I promise." She nodded as I felt much better.

"Good." I nodded tired, "I'm going to nap some. If you don't mind can you please let everyone know what's happening?" I said sadly, "I... want to at least give them that." I admitted.

"I-... I will..." Twilight nodded solemnly, as I went into that good night...

"Finally!" A voice said rather huffy as my eyes shot open surprised. Was this the afterlife?
No, I was back in that place again.
The strange water columns appeared even more distorted, and the clouds looked like nothing more than grainy pixels. Yet, the floor was still solid enough.

Groaning, I got up from where I was laying at; my bones popping as I hissed painfully.
I felt something sharp poke me, and after letting out a brief yelp of pain, I looked up to find that I was facing the end of a very sharp spear.

Gasping in shock, I backed up, only to realize the spear moved with me.
"You have a lot to answer for." A voice behind the spear said as my vision swam back into focus.

It was Her. I could see her face clearly now. A carbon copy of my current form, but her face appeared angry as she thrust her spear towards my midsection area again.

I yelped and backed away slightly, before she growled annoyed.

"Do you know how long it's taken me to break though each and every one of your barriers?!" Her snapped, as I just stared frozen, not sure what she was going on about.

"Uh..." Was the only intelligible thing that came out my throat, as Her paid no mind and swung her spear closer, nearly nicking me in the arm had I to move out of the way.

"A year!" She cried, swinging the spear at me, as I jumped up and rolled out of the way; causing her to slice through a single standing pillar.

"A whole year I've been trapped in here! Never knowing what was going on save for the fact of my astute concept of time!" She screamed, letting me have it as she monologued and I dodged her attacks to the best of my ability.

Okay wow, Her had a lot to say...
I wisely backed up even further to gain distance.

"Um, no offense. I'm not really sure what you mean by 'trapped'." I clarified, pointing my finger towards her. "You've been the one attacking me, not the other way around!" The remark was rewarded with another close call by her spear.

"Liar! I am well aware of who this gem belongs to..." She raised her arms up, preparing to strike. "Me!" She cried as the spear managed to grab my leg and tear, as I cried out.

My shouting seemed to snap Her out of her rage, as she froze in mid gasp and stared at my leg horrified. "I-I'm... I'm sorry." she choked, dropping the weapon as she fell on her knees towards me.

"I didn't mean-..." She screamed too this time, clutching her side as she hunched over and her form glitched out.
"N-not yet.." She gasped, her form solidifying. " I can't reform yet." She wheezed as she sat back up determined.

Meanwhile I was still nursing my hurting leg. It wasn't really painful like in real life; rather it felt like a chuck of me had been forcefully torn out, a part of my personality tossed to the wind. I couldn't remember what the part looked like.

Her came over to lean next to me and gently examined my leg. "I got you deep." She hissed, as I shied away from her, visibly upset.

"What the heck?! You can't just suddenly come up to someone after you tried to slice the crap out of them!" I cried, as she flinched.
"I-I suppose not." She muttered, hugging her own knees as she stopped examining my wound.

That's when something clicked,
Be it the position her form was in, or the way her vocal tones matched her scrunched up face, it suddenly all made sense.

"Pearl?!?" I cried, shocked at this discovery.

Fraternal Twins

A thousand thoughts raced through my mind at this discovery.
Pearl?! As in THE Pearl?! I couldn't believe it.
Was it possible she'd been in here the entire time?!

Pearl blinked at me confused. "Yes?" She asked like it was a prompt.
I shook my head. "No, no. You're Pearl!" I waved my hands about as she looked confused. "You're a member of the Crystal Gems! Terrifying renegade Pearl! Pearl who worked with Rose Quartz? That Pearl!" I explained.
Pearl looked at me like a gaping fish. "I am." She replied, "But how do you know this?" she asked.
Before I could open my mouth, the ground started to shake around us, making me panic.

"Hold on!" Pearl shouted as she grabbed my arm to keep me from sliding on the now slanted ground. The tremors stopped briefly, leaving a bigger mess of pixels and glitches than before.
I paid little mind to it.
"Thank you." I breathed, "You saved me."

Pearl shrugged, "It was the right thing to do." She explained.

We sat in silence for a little bit after that, the unstable world around us becoming more and more distorted, but never bothering to stretch past walking distance. To be honest, I didn't quite know what to say to her. This was Pearl, a superior being who was nearly immortal, and-
"S*** I hijacked your gem." I blurted out not thinking.

Pearl whipped her head around to look at me.
"I believe we've already established this, thief." Her voice still held malice whenever she said that, but it also felt like she was hesitating for some reason...

I frowned, "I am not a thief." I clarified. "I am as much an unwilling prisoner as you are." By now Pearl had stood up, her hands shaking with rage.

"I want to believe you." She said her voice warbling unsteady, "But it takes a lot of ingenuity to change the magical properties of a gem. Especially when it comes to possession." She spat that last word out like a plague.

I shook my head, "Believe me this was not my idea. I-"

"Then who's was it, huh?! Your diamond?" She hissed, her pointy nose in front of my own.

I shrank away in fear as I realized she was holding back from killing me. Oh my God she's still going to kill me if I don't do something... I realized.
"I-I don't have a diamond!" I squeaked out.
Pearl laughed, "Really? And just who would a pearl be without their master?" She taunted, and something painful twisted in my heart while the world made a screeching noise. She ignored it, "That's what your lot always told me. That and more. So which is it?" She withdrew her spear again, "Are you a lost pearl, or a spy?" She held her spear above my throat.

"Stop!" I cried scared, "I'm not a Pearl!" I yelled, "I'm a-!" I screamed as my form flickered violently and the world shook around us angrily once more.

Pearl's eyes widened in realization as she let go of her spear and put her form over mine to protect me from the falling cloud debris.
I huffed, clenching my teeth as my form phased and flickered in and out of existence for a bit before I stabilized and the pain ebbed away.
I breathed heavily, my strength sapped now.

"Okay, tell me who you are then." She breathed, her face ever so close to mine as for the first time I saw true fear written on it.
I nodded quietly, still tired and shaken up, as Pearl moved a bit to adjust so we could sit next to each other, but she didn't let go.
To be honest, we both were too afraid to let go...

"M-My name is Crystal." I quickly explained as the mindscape seemed to be deteriorating even faster now. "I used to be a human until I found your gem, and long story short I touched it and woke up in your body-er form." I huffed, trying my hardest not focus on the ever deteriorating place. Pearl said nothing as I continued. "I've spent the last year and a half? I think, helping the Princesses and my friends against danger. There's corrupted gems, other monsters, and demigods running amok, and we're the only ones with the power to do something." I looked at her determined.
"Please understand if I had known you were inside here I would've tried my hardest to get you out." Pearl opened her mouth to retort but I quickly interrupted, "I mean it to." My gaze held firm against hers, "Ever since I wound up in Equestria I have tried my hardest to continue to protect everyone, even at the cost of my power, or rather yours I suppose." Pearl's gaze softened, as the ground around us started to peel at the edges, revealing a large black chasm below.

"I-I made a promise." I blurted, in fear that if I didn't say what I had to it'd be too late. "I promised everyone that I would help. That I would be there to protect them from danger, even though I had wanted nothing more than to go home." Tears were streaming down my eyes as my form was acting up again. "I promised I would be there for Twilight!" I yelled aloud, unafraid.

A hush fell upon the place, prompting me to open my tear-streaked eyes and look up.
"I couldn't ask for a more noble goal." Pearl spoke as she held her hand towards me in a sign of peace.
The world had stopped deteriorating. My form had restabilized and I could hear the faint sound of waves lapping on the shoreline.
"What?" I said confused, as Pearl helped me up and we looked around.

We were in Beach City, or what I guess could be a close enough mock-up of it. We were on a boat dock near the ginormous temple and to my right was the Big Donut and It's a wash! buildings. To say I was confused was an understatement, I was dumbfounded.
Pearl then turned to me, "Don't ask me why all this is here, I don't know. But my gem is no longer trying to actively throw you out of it." She sighed, looking very tired.

I chuckled dryly, "Well that's good I guess." I admitted, as I leaned over the dock and sat kicking the water with my feet as Pearl joined me.
The mindscape had even conjured a little sun too, which was just fixing to set over the horizon at the moment.
Things were silent for a bit before Pearl spoke up. "I'm... Sorry for not trusting you." She admitted, turning to look away from me as she did. "Ever since I regained consciousness I've been trying to regain control over my gem. That's all I ever thought about." She looked up at the sky distant, as the first star of the night came out. She shook her head, "To be honest, I thought maybe one of the Diamonds had managed to get the jump on me and attempt to reprogram myself with well, you..." She laughed, "I actually thought maybe you were another version of me programmed to be loyal, but now I see that's not the case." She stood up, holding her hand out again.

"I suppose I should make up for the misunderstanding. Follow me." She said as I looked up at her confused.
"Where to?" I asked as Pearl just shook her head and smiled.

"Somewhere sacred in my memories." She replied as we started to walk away from the dock.

The world began to change as we moved, going from a tranquil evening out on the beach to loud roaring explosions as the confusion showed on my face while the scenery changed.

I realized we were on a battlefield of sorts, the knot in my stomach twisting tighter as I had a pretty good idea what Pearl had in mind to show me. Gems of all sizes, fusions even, began to materialize in front of my face as the roaring of battle continued while we walked. I noticed Pearl didn't seem to flinch as enemy and friend alike fell to their knees and were crushed. She ignored all as we continued to walk ahead.

"This is where it all started, five thousand years ago..." Pearl said calmly as the roaring of battle dimmed and another figure formed in front of us. "This is where you and Rose Quartz met?" I asked, turning my head towards Pearl as a pseudo-Rose fought another gem twice her size.
Pearl shook her head, "No, we met much earlier on; though I suspect you probably are aware of that." She sighed, making me feel sad, "This is where the war for Earth took a turn in favor of the Crystal Gems, and by extension mine and Rose's relationship." She pointed to where the Rose had cut down the giant fusion and promptly bubbled the gemstones. A younger version of Pearl ran up to greet her, the two conversing in an unknown language to my ears.

Pearl chuckled sadly, "When we won that battle I told myself that I would stay by Rose's side until the end, not matter what it cost me." She looked away from me for a second as if lost in thought over something... "It wasn't what she wanted but anything that made me happy she wanted to give me. That's just how she was; kind and caring." The scenery had changed now to the younger Pearl and Rose on top of some floating chunks of rocks, their hushed whispers unknown to our ears.

Pearl looked on sadly, "In time she would fall in love with a human and conceive an offspring. Half human, half gem. His name was-"
"-Steven. I know." I blurted out as Pearl looked at me surprised, but then remembered she'd already explained that part.
"R-right. It took quite some time for me to love Steven, but eventually I loved him as much if not more than Rose Quartz herself." She explained. "Looking at him now I finally got what Rose was trying to say all these years." She smirked a bit, making me blink confused.

"And what was that?" I prompted as Pearl laughed.
"To protect all forms of life and cherish it." She smiled, as the world shook violently and we yelled afraid.

Large chunks of ground began to fizzle in and out of existence randomly, and I felt myself being yanked in all directions as Pearl tried desperately to grab one of my flailing limbs.

She was yelling something; I couldn't hear what it was because everything was muffled by the loud noise of the mindscape shaking as things glitched in and out. New buildings and spires began to fill in the holes where things disappeared in the mindscape, making an awful grating noise as they collided with the still intact ground. In a way, it reminded me of the time when Steven had fought the Sand Gem in that one episode with the ever changing castle... It was like the mindscape was having a seizure and couldn't decide what to make of it.

I began to feel hot to the touch once more like before I had arrived in the mindscape. Pearl was still calling out to me but seemed to be quickly drifting away as I felt my limbs lock up. A few seconds later the ground underneath me caved in and I began to float, my mind feeling feverish as my body felt like it was being ripped apart.

So I'm finally going to die I guess... I thought to myself as I began to break apart into small pieces, my senses anything but numb to the creeping pain as each bit broke off of me...
I let out a dry laugh that turned into a cough. Funny, I thought you didn't feel anything when you die... I thought ironically as I continued to deteriorate and Pearl was nothing more than a speck to my eyesight. My form was just a head now, but I was long past the point of caring...

"It was a good run..." I croaked, as I made my peace and closed my eyes for the last time....

The world returned to me in the form of a sharp ringing noise you get when you've just been deafened by something...
It took me a few seconds to coherently make sense of what was going on and what had just happened, but by the time I had managed to do that I was already opening my eyes.

Everything was a blur as my vision swam and I fought to bring things into focus. I felt the cool floor of a wooden room followed by muffled shouting as the ringing in my ears slowly faded. At the same time I was also rubbing my face, trying to make sense of why I wasn't dead at the current moment.
My sight snapped back into focus with a blink as the ringing was replaced with the sound of something getting smashed and that's when I heard her voice.

"What. The. BUCK.did you do with my friend?!" Twilight's voice yelled a few feet in front of me.
My jaw dropped as I saw her face contorted in rage, her fur turned white and her mane on fire. She was mad. Beyond mad. More than I'd ever seen her be... She was also holding someone familiar in her magical grip. A gem. More specifically Pearl. Which was weird because hadn't she been in the gem?, mindscape??, gemscape??? with me a few seconds ago?!?

"T-Twilight?" I found myself asking, fear and worry laced in the words as I just spoke without thought.

The unicorn turned to me, her ears swiveling over to greet me first as she recognized my voice, and then her head. Her face went from angry, to confusion, to utter pain. I didn't know why she looked so upset.
That's when I discovered why she was looking at me that way. In the process of moving a hand forward to attempt to reassure her I was fine, though I have no clue how, I froze.

My hand wasn't the pearly white I remembered it being for the past year or so...
It was an ash grey...

Author's Note

I have no excuses... :eeyup:

The Sum and the Equation

Author's Note

Long week... :U
Here's the latest chapter y'all :pinkiesmile:

The Sum and the Equation

What in Celestia's name?!?

Quickly, I moved my other hand into my vision and looked down at my feet and then my chest.
Gone was the Pearl inspired style and sash I'd been wearing. Instead, I had sneakers, a t-shirt, and a sleeveless jacket. All varying shades of grey.
Taking a closer look, my arms appeared to be sporting freckles on them, and as I moved a hand across my face I no longer felt a pointy nose, but a smooth normal one.

To top it off, the weirdest part of my new look was the small heart shaped piece of stone embedded in my chest. It had to be a gem.

"Who are you?! Another monster?" Twilight bared her teeth as she set her sights on me, allowing herself to get distracted and release Pearl.
"Twilight it's me! Crystal!" I called out, hurt showing across my face as I feared the worse.
"Prove it! What's the one thing the Crystal knows that no one else does about me?" She barked, her horn glowing in warning as I realized she was preparing to cast a spell my direction.
My mind panicked as I tried desperately to think of something I knew that she had told me and no one else... "Um... You like to pretend your Starswirl in the bathtub and one time I caught you enacting his battle against the siren's when I went to go restock the shelves." I recalled hastily, my mind working overtime as I began pulling up various memories to prove I really was Crystal.

Twilight paused for a brief minute, her mane and fur returning to purple as she seemed to be considering my words before her horn glowed once more.
"Please Twilight... I just want to sit down and not fight... I don't want to..." I couldn't even finish my pleas as I felt my heart betrayed deeply by one my dearest friends and fresh tears streaked down my face... She didn't believe me.

I fell to my knees, my heart utterly crushed in two as my vision blurred between my tear streaked face and I let out a brief sob. After everything we've been through she didn't even recognize me... It was the worst feeling of betrayal.

Something brushed against my waist rather gently, as I briefly snapped out of my despair long enough to find myself being encased in a familiar purple aura.
"Need a hug?" Twilight asked as she surrounded me in her aura and pulled me into a hug.
I gasped, "Y-yeah... It's been a long day..." I tittered, my heart leaping for joy as I realized that Twilight did actually believe me!
"Sorry for letting my emotions get the best of me." Twilight sighed, a small sob escaping her own throat as we just held each other in a tight grip for awhile. "It's okay." I cooed as we both sat still, "I'd be upset too if I thought you were dead." I chuckled as Twilight laughed a little as well. I was about to dose off content when Twilight decided to burrow her face in my hair and sigh rather loud...

Wait a minute...
Long hair? As in, I don't have pixie hair anymore?!
Praise the stars~! I hated not being able to style my hair for so long.

"Wait." Twilight suddenly lifted her head up confused, "If you're Crystal, then who's she?" She asked, her head now facing Pearl who apparently had been watching the entire scene play out and looked utterly confused.
"This is Pearl." I explained, standing up. "She was trapped inside the gem while I was controlling it." I put a hand on Pearl's arm, indicating to Twilight she was a friend. Pearl seemed to read my mind as well, as her form visibly relaxed and she unsummoned the spear she had been holding.

"Trapped inside?" Twilight tilted her head confused before activating her aura and running a quick scan on the both of us. "So you were the strange aura I was detecting!" She exclaimed surprised.
Pearl nodded, "Yes I suppose that's one way to put it, but actually it was more like a forced fusion between the two of us." She frowned, looking pained at the memory.

I nodded, "Well ya, I guess that's sorta what happened too." I explained, while still admiring my new form intrigued, "But to be honest I have no clue why that even happened..." I frowned, my head still spinning from the fact that I was FREAKING GREY NOW.

"As much as I would love to sit down and figure that out, I have more pressing issues at hand." Pearl interrupted my thoughts as she made her way towards the library door.
"Wait, you can't just leave!" Twilight demanded, "There's so many tests I need to run, as well as send Celestia your immigration papers~!" Twilight called as Pearl just shut the door behind her and the room went silent.

"Um, Twilight.." I spoke, "How long has it been since I vanished?" I asked, worried.
"Only a day really... I was about ready to send your remains-..." She paused, leaving the sentence unfinished as she shook her head and smiled fondly. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she ran over and glomped me in a tight hug again.
"I'm so glad you're back." She sighed merrily as I too wiped a tear from my face and returned the hug.
"Me too Twilight... Me too..." I cried.

Suddenly the door slammed open.

"WHY ARE THERE SO MANY EQUESTRIANS?!"

After Pearl's initial freakout, we managed to calm her down enough to explain where she was without her waving her arms about in a frantic pattern and questioning everyone's strange colorful appearance.
While Twilight explained about Equestria, I explained about gems. Pearl took this as an opportunity to explain about humans as well, which seemed to confuse Twilight...
"But why would an entire species with no mana govern the planet instead of your species of very powerful mana users?" She asked confused as I just groaned and Pearl started re-explaining about gem matriarchy and how only a few of them were actually there to help the universe instead of colonizing it.

"Basically it's a big mess and they were hurting planets when they built Kindergartens and their rulers enslaved the other species." I dumbed it down, as Pearl shot me a look as if insulted.
Twilight finished writing down what I said and nodded as she put down the quill. "But that doesn't explain how you know so much Crystal." She looked over to me, "If you were a human, a species that has no collective mana, beforehand, then how did you know how to control mana?"

I actually hadn't thought about that.... I blinked dumbly as I scratched my head searching for an answer... "Well, I'm not sure..." I admitted, "I mean like, I explained how I came from another world where Pearl's race is just a sort of 'show' that's rather popular; but as far as controlling mana I'm stumped..." I explained.

"Hmmm..." Twilight narrowed her eyes at me as I flinched. I knew that look, whatever she was thinking wasn't good.
"Can you still summon a flame like I taught you?" She asked.
" I can try," I admitted, having no idea since Pearl and I had separated our auras completely now. Would I even be capable of doing any kind magic?
Still, I somehow managed to channel an amount of mana to my finger tips and snap them. There was a brief spark, followed by the sputtering of a flame and nothing else.
I was crestfallen. The last time I had a flame as big as my palm.

Twilight seemed to take note of my downtrodden face and nudged my arm sympathetically. "Well you did manage to create a spark, which is something!" She attempted to cheer me up, "That means *gasp*! You have your own mana pool!" She jumped up and down excitedly.
I chuckled lightly, "Yeah. I guess you're right. It isn't that bad if I at least have some mana." I admitted, trying not to continue being so sad.

"Don't worry! We'll get your pool built back up to what it was in no time! I'll prepare some flashcards and-"
"Actually it might help if she had someone to help explain about gem anatomy." Pearl interrupted as me and Twilight both looked over to her surprised.

"You want to help me learn how to do magic?" I said in shock.
Pearl nodded, "As much as I need to find my way home and help Steven and the rest of the Crystal Gems with the gem monsters roaming about, from what you explained it sounds like someone needs to stay behind and help quarantine the rogue gems that made it to this dimension." She smiled, as she came over and put a hand on my shoulder supportive this time.
"You said so yourself that you wanted to help others. It's only fair that I equip you for the task." She said.

I smiled, "Thank you so much! I am so honored!" I bowed politely as she turned a light blue.
"W-well it's not a problem! I couldn't leave a fellow gem in the dark now could I?" She teased as I just laughed and Twilight sported a huge grin.
"This is going to be amazing!" She cheered, her aura already reaching out to grab more quills and paper.

That's when the library shook.

"Twiiiiiiiilliiiiiiiiggggghhhhhtttttt!!!!" Spike cried as he came running straight at us the moment we left the treehouse in shock.
To be honest, I had assumed we were having an earthquake so I had bolted out of the treehouse, soon followed by Pearl and Twilight though I don't know if they did so because of mob mentality or if they were legitimately scared.

"Spike are you okay?!" Twilight hugged the little drake as he clung fearfully to her foreleg.
There was smoke everywhere, followed by a loud sizzling sound as I noticed something was amiss.

There was a loud roar, followed by a scream and soon ponies began to scatter as I saw a few of them flee in between the smoke.
"What the heck?" I said confused, as Pearl was already summoning her spear and leaping on the rooftops.
"Hey Pearl! Where are you going?" I called right as she jumped, and Twilight and I exchanged a nervous glance when I realised she wasn't coming back.

After convincing Spike to climb on Twilight's back, we raced off in the direction that Pearl leapt while Spike continued to cry.
"It's all my fault! I'm so sorry!" He wailed, as I focused on the direction I thought Pearl might be in. There was still too much smoke to tell.
"Spike, what's your fault?" Twilight asked confused as the drake buried his face into her mane, shivering...

"I took the shiny gem out of the mana containment box to see if it was edible!" He said as we ran further into town square. He whimpered, "It looked so shiny and delicious! And then I thought it might look nice outside in the sunlight and then Scootaloo thought it was a tennis ball and grabbed it, and I went to go chase after her and-"

I skidded to a stop as something long and black shot out from the smoke and nearly hit us.
"Duck!" I yelled, as I jumped on top of Twilight and used my weight to push us down out of the way of the object.
The black thing took down a stray lampost, but luckily missed the building a few feet away from it.
I sighed relieved right before another roar interrupted my thoughts.

"Ahhh! two more!" Spike called out, as this time two long black lines shot forwards like a spring and I jumped. Twilight dodged with a swift teleport and readied her mana to strike.
Direct hit.

The roaring figure howled in pain as it lashed out with its pinchers and I ducked while Twilight rolled out of the way.
I recognized those pinchers... Though last time it was in a place that was considerably darker...
"It's the centipeedle!" I shouted as I began running around the looming beast trying to look for Pearl.

The sound of what could only be described as a laser gun going off echoed from my left as I saw something blue flash against the gem's hide and fizzle.
I winced, feeling the pain despite it not actually hitting me and I saw that Pearl was leaping from roof to roof trying to get a good aim at the gem in its eye.
I rushed over towards the roof she was currently occupying. "Anything I can do to help?" I called, as we both leapt out of the way right before the gem monster snapped at us using their jaws.

"Distract it." Pearl said as she aimed again with her spear and nicked the side of it.
Okay.... I gave her a deadpan look.
"You don't no how to summon a weapon yet but you'll be okay as long as you keep your wits about you." She dodged another incoming acid attack. "Just keep it still long enough for me to hit the weak spot!" And with that, she was off.

"Oh boy..." I sighed as I turned to face the beast and gulped. It wasn't like I had much choice at this point. I was the hero, right?
"H-hey!" I choked out a taunt at the gem, before I found my courage once more.
The beast turned to look at me, it's eye still looking for Pearl in the distance...
I couldn't let it do that. Not if Pearl wanted to get a hit in.

"Look at me! I'm the one you want!" I yelled as loud as my synthetic lungs would allow me to. "I'm gonna kick your teeth in so hard your head will be spinning for centuries!" I began to spew random threats I could think of from tv shows. The beast neared closer.

I swallowed down the breath I was holding. Where was Pearl?
"Ya that's right! Come on! Fight me big guy!" I taunted as the centipeedle curled up and prepared to-

*poof*!
A spear struck it right through the head, causing it to release its form immediately.
My knees gave out for the second time today.

Pearl landed beside me, picking up the gem with her hands. "See that wasn't so bad." She smiled as I just looked at her crazy.
"I just stared death in the face and laughed." I deadpanned as Pearl chuckled.
"More than likely you would regenerate a few moments after. Nothing to worry about." She said like it was nothing.

Something snapped inside of me. Regenerate? She wanted me to... Be cannon fodder?

"You know what? No." I pointed an accusing finger Pearl's way. This was enough to stop the gem in her tracks as she quickly bubbled the centipeedle in her mana and turned her gaze on me.
I didn't blink.
"Is there a problem?" Pearl raised an eyebrow as if she was about to scold me.
I felt burned inside. No, the scolding would be on her.

"Yes." I spat, despite my face burning up, as everything in my mind seemed to be screaming at me 'don't do it! Back up! Mayday! Mayday! You're about to put your foot in your mouth!' but my emotions overrode common sense at this point.
"You can't just put innocent lives at stake! Including mine!" I hissed, as by now Twilight and Spike had caught up to us in the smoke and were saying something I didn't hear.

Pearl seemed taken back by my show of anger, but remained quiet.
"If we're going to work as a team you have to treat me as an equal! And that includes telling me your plans and not sending me out as cannon fodder." I scowled continuing, "Just because we both helped each other out when we were stuck in the gem fighting for control, doesn't entitle you to a free pass on dictating my actions!" I was practically shouting by now. Many other ponies had begun to form a crowd around us as Pearl continued to say nothing in her defense, only stammering in shock at my outburst.

I could feel my resolve eating away with every passing second, fear and regret beginning to dominate my thoughts as I held on stubbornly to that pent-up hurt and anger. "We work as a team or not at all." I said, "I don't... I won't be treated like a pawn." I hiccuped a bit, as I found Spike hugging my leg in sympathy as Twilight made her presence known as well as Pearl seemed to unfreeze from her spot.

"I-... I suppose that wasn't the wisest choice I made." Pearl sputtered as her face flushed blue and she looked, embarrassed?
"Garnet usually handles the tactics with her premonition powers, but I assumed that I would be adequate enough to lead." Her shoulders sagged, and for the first time I saw how tired she looked. "What I mean to say is that I'm sorry for making you feel inadequate to me." She fiddled with her hands, nervous. "I-I understand if you don't want me as a mentor. I'm probably not a good choice in comparison to your unicorn friend Twilight." She appeared crestfallen now.

"Pearl-.." I was about to stop her self-depreciating speech, but she held up a hand.
"I need to think..." And with that she leapt up on one of the roofs and then took a dive down into the next alleyway, leaving the rest of us in the wake of the destruction the centipeedle had caused.

"I should go apologize to her.." I said, before Twilight placed a tender hoof on my shoulder and Spike hugged me harder.
"Let her breathe for a bit." Twilight pleaded. "She needs to think about what her friendship to you really means." She explained.
"She'll likely return before nightfall, and if she doesn't we'll go looking for her." She noted as I felt slightly better but still down.

"Come on, let's go clean up." She nudged me along as Spike opted to climb on my shoulder and piggyback, "We've got some friends who've missed you." She smiled, as for once despite myself, I let out a small grin.

It would be nice to catch up on things...