A Princess’s New Playmate: A MLP/Steven Universe Crossoverby Lord Shadow EclipseChaptersChapter 1: A New StartChapter 2: Your New Best FriendChapter 3: PeridotChapter 4: Defending Your Best FriendChapter 5: Meeting Twi's "Other Friends"Chapter 1: A New StartA girl named Jessica was putting the final touches on her Spinel cosplay. She was applying the tear streaks to her face to give herself the tragic villain look. She put down her applicator and looked at herself in the tall mirror that hung from her bedroom door. Her costume was perfect. Jessica dyed her hair the same color as her "Steven Universe" character and tied her hair into Spinel's twin pigtails. She even made her pigtails spiky to give herself that unhinged look. She painted her face, arms, and legs pink. Jessica was able to stitch her own Spinel costume by hand. "I have to remember to thank Grandma for teaching me how to sew", Jessica thought to herself. She was even able to get Spinel's shoes and gloves down-pat. As for Spinel's Gem, she simply made a paper version which she then glued to her chest. Jessica had wanted Spinel's Rejuvenator so she got a long stick and made the blade out of cardboard. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she was absolutely delighted to see herself as her favorite Gem. There was just something about Spinel that she loved more than the other Gems on the show. Was it her quirky, Harley Quinn-like personality, her tragic past that made her a more sympathetic villain, her jester-like appearance, her rubber-hose style of movement and fighting? Jessica decided to go with a simple "all-of-the-above" and leave it at that. One thing she loved about her cosplay is that she looked just as skinny as Spinel. Jessica was known at school for being quite skinny. She wasn't as buxom as some of the other girls, but she was content with herself, so she didn't care one bit. Jessica then left with her fake Rejuvenator and sat on the couch, waiting for her friend Amy to pick her up. Amy was Jessica's best friend and wanted to accompany her to the Comic-Con they all got prepared for. Amy wanted to hop on Jessica's "Steven Universe" train and wanted to cosplay as her favorite Gem, since they were both fans of the show. Amy was going to go as Peridot, the small and geeky one of the bunch. Jessica had actually noticed how similar Amy was to Peridot in terms of their personalities. Both Amy and Peridot were quite smart and didn't really like other people touching their stuff. Amy even had Peridot's habit of calling people "clods". They both don't pick up on social cues very well and tended to be loners, unless they were hanging out with people that they trust. Both were also quite short, with Amy only coming up to Jessica's chest. Jessica looked up what "clod" meant and apparently, not only doe the word actually exist, but it means "a lump of earth or clay". Jessica guessed that the word would be quite an insult to Gemkind. Eventually, there was a knock on Jessica's door. Jessica opened the door and was greeted by a familiar-looking green Gem. They both smiled and gave each other a hug. "Wow, Amy! You look great! I see you pit in about as much effort into your costume as I did.", Jessica said after getting a good look at the Peridot lookalike before her. The fake Peridot smiled. "You look amazing as Spinel. Your hair actually looks better in that style. It would definitely make stand out at school.", Amy said. "No. I'm not interested in popularity. Besides, most of the popular kids are clods, anyway, right?", Jessica asked with a smile. "True. Compared to us and our good grades, those clods would be lucky to even work for us, someday.", Amy said with no small amount of pride. Amy then did the Diamond salute. "For the Gem Empire!". Jessica repeated the salute. "For the Gem Empire!". The two fake Gems then went to Amy's car and drove to Comic Con. To say that Comic Con was impressive would be an understatement. The place was pack with all kinds of booths, showing off whatever cool merch the vendors were selling. There were comics, DVD's, manga, figurines, and cosplay props being sold at every one of these booths. Jessica and Amy were very impressed with all the different costumes people were wearing. People came to this dressed up as their favorite cartoon or anime characters. Sure, some came that weren't dressed up, but that was fine. Jessica and Amy were genuinely surprised at how many people came dressed up as "Steven Universe" characters. They saw Steven, Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, Ruby, Sapphire, one of the Diamonds, Lapis Lazuli, even one dressed up as Jasper. "It's a good thing that we're not the only Gems here. I would have been really embarrassed if we were.", Jessica said with a sigh of relief. "Yeah. We probably would've looked like real clods. So I'm happy that more people enjoy 'Steven Universe' as much as we do.", Amy replied. After a bit of wandering, Amy spoke up. "I have to go use the bathroom. Can you just hang around the nearby booths until I come back?" "Sure thing. I'll wait by the booths by the restroom. Don't fall in when you get there!", Jessica said, joking about Amy's height. Amy gave her a dry look. "Ha. That was so funny, I forgot what laughing was.", Amy said sarcastically. Amy left for the restroom. Jessica was waiting by the booths when she noticed one booth, in particular. It didn't have a sign advertising what they were selling. Speaking of what they were selling, it seemed to be random cosplay props of all kinds. There were weapons, fake artifacts, masks, even fake animal ears and tails. The merch was also not neatly categorized; instead it seemed to just lay in a random pile on the table. As for the vendor, he was a bit odd-looking: the vendor had a long black coat, a black hat, and Coke-bottle glasses that perfectly hid his eyes. The vendor also possessed a wide grin that was somehow beckoning her to come closer. Jessica went up to the vendor to see what exactly he was selling. She didn't see anything that stood out to her until she passed a small case he had placed on the table in front of her. The case was filled with various gemstones. Jessica thought that they were fake gems at first, but somehow they looked like real gems. Jessica's eyes fell on one gem that stood out to her more than the others: a pink spinel cut into the shape of a heart. The same shape as the character Spinel's Gem! Jessica looked to the mysterious vendor. "How did you get a gem like that?", Jessica asked with keen interest. The vendor looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a sly grin. "First of all, most people call me 'The Merchant'. Secondly, are you interested? I can give you a decent price for it.", the Merchant offered. Jessica seemed to consider the potential cost of a real gem. "I think that this gem may be an entire solar system outside my price range.". "Don't worry, dear. In fact, since your Spinel costume is so well-made, I'll give you the spinel gem for only fifty bucks!", the Merchant haggled. Jessica's eyes were as wide as moons. "How can this Merchant sell a gem like this for so cheap? Shut up! Don't question it! This will be way better than this paper one. I better take advantage of this offer.", Jessica thought. She looked at the Merchant's glasses and spoke with a clear voice. "I'll take it.". Jessica reached into her pocket and pulled out the fifty bucks needed to pay for the possibly-real spinel. She handed it to the Merchant who took it with an all-too-wide grin. "Thank you so much, dear.", the Merchant said after handing Jessica the gem. As Jessica was walking away, she heard the Merchant whisper, "Have a nice new life in your new home world!". Jessica wasn't sure what he meant, but decided to ignore it. Suddenly, the gem started to give off a blinding light. The light made Jessica fall to the floor and hit her head. As she was losing consciousness, she started to feel her body changing. It started to feel like she wasn't solid mass, anymore. There was a pulling motion, too, like her body was moving somewhere on its own. What was even more bizarre was the feeling that she was losing her memories along with her body. Everything in her mind was slipping away until there was nothing. After that, there was nothing but darkness. Author's Note I love "Steven Universe"! This show is amazing. Don't ask me who my favorite character is, though, because it's a toss between Spinel and Peridot. I plan to include more Gems in this story as it goes along. Chapter 2: Your New Best FriendAuthor'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. Chapter 2: Your New Best Friend 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! Chapter 3: PeridotSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 4: Defending Your Best FriendAuthor's Note Here's a new chapter for y'all to enjoy! By the way, just to give y'all some clues about future chapters, this is taking place before the Main Six meet Starlight Glimmer and her authoritarian village. And I'm going to have the Gems' bodies produce heat based on the fact that their bodies are made of magic light that's been solidified. And light equals heat. Besides, I think it could provide good opportunities for some fluff moments in this story. Chapter 4: Defending Your Best Friend Twilight and Spinel had a rather... interesting time walking through the Whitetail Woods. Spinel would either be giggling or trying to get Twilight to play "I Spy" while they walked. Twilight tried to pay with Spinel to keep her happy, but she couldn't find anything in the forest for Spinel to try to guess that would be different. She tried to get Spinel to see if she could spot a blue jay that had rested on a fallen log by the path, but the bird flew away before Spinel could see it. Finally, it was Spinel's turn. "I spy with my little eye something... some walking pile of sticks!", Spinel challenged. Twilight just looked confused. "What do you mean 'walking pile of sticks'?" Before Spinel could respond, there was a canine growling from the bushes in front of the duo. Out of the bushes came not one, but six Timberwolves! All of them were growling with fierce animal hunger. This didn't make any sense! Timberwolves were only supposed to inhabit the Everfree Forest. Not the Whitetail Woods. Twilight was terrified while Spinel just looked at them with bright eyes. "Awww! Puppies! You wanna play with them, Twi?", Spinel asked with all the innocence of a child. Twilight could only look at Spinel with stunned eyes. "NO! No you cannot play with them! They're Timberwolves! They want to eat us!" Spinel suddenly looked downtrodden. She didn't mean to make her best friend mad. The dear Gem put her gloved hands behind her back and looked down at her feet. When she next spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset. Spinels aren't supposed to make their besties upset.", Spinel said, looking up at Twilight with the biggest puppy-dog eyes she had ever seen. Twilight's anger immediately disappeared. "How can anyone stay mad at a creature this adorable?", Twilight thought. Twilight quickly remembered the situation they were in and kept an eye on the pack of Timberwolves who had encircled them, by this point. "Look, I'm not mad. But this is a dire situation we're in right now. See, these creatures want to harm us. I can try to fight them off, but they might eat us if we don't do something now.", Twilight explained to the pink Gem without taking her eyes off the Timberwolves. Spinel's face changed from that of sadness to, surprisingly, anger. That look was very unlike the Gem, who by this point had looked so happy and gentle. In fact, they hadn't even known each other for very long and Twilight pegged Spinel for being similar to Pinkie in terms of their shared personality traits. But then again, Twi had seen Pinkie get angry before and it wasn't pretty. In fact, Spinel's angry look was even more terrifying than Pinkie's. Her brows were furrowed, her jaw clenched, her hair became frizzled, and her eyes changed colors. Instead of the cartoonish black irises Spinel was born with, they suddenly changed to a glowing bright magenta color. Next, Spinel's gloved hands started to glow a soft pink and changed into pink boxing gloves! She stepped in front of Twi and took a fighting stance. "No one's going to hurt my best friend! NO ONE!", Spinel shouted with such ferocity that even the beasts in front of them looked scared. But this was short-lived as one Timberwolf launched itself at Spinel. The monster clamped its jaws around her left arm. Twilight cried out in alarm, but was silenced by the fact that Spinel didn't cry out in pain. In fact, it looked like Spinel couldn't feel the bite at all. Spinel just stood there, glaring at her beastly opponent. Spinel then lifted her right arm and swung her boxing gloved fist at the attacking Timberwolf. The beast's head shattered into splinters and the rest of its body fell apart at her feet. Twilight was shocked by this display of power Spinel possessed. The rest of the pack, seeing one of their own being taken down by this weird pink creature, decided to ignore Twilight and all attack Spinel at once. The Gem effortlessly punched one of the wolves 40 feet into a nearby tree, shattering its body. She grabbed two of the wolves in her hands and choke-slammed them into the ground. The last one opted to run after seeing its packmates get destroyed. But before it could get too far, two rubber arms wrapped around its body and pulled it back to the strange pink creature. Spinel just smiled and sadistically glared into its eyes for a good while until she used her boxing gloves to completely crush its head into the ground! The Timberwolf's head shattered into pieces. With the threat to her bestie's life eliminated, she changed back into her regular appearance. "Don't worry, buddy! You're safe now.", Spinel said, wrapping Twilight into a snake-arm full-body hug. Twilight was too shocked to even think to speak. She had just seen Spinel not only defend her from a pack of attacking Timberwolves, but effortlessly dispatched them with a ruthlessness she had never seen before. And that physical change! Twilight had guessed that that form was suitable for fighting off opponents. But still, the way Spinel took down that last Timberwolf was pretty frightening. The Gem looked like she could kill anything without remorse. Twilight made a note not to get on Spinel's bad side. Once Twi made herself lucid again, she willed herself to speak. "Hey, Spinel. Thank you so much for saving me.", Twilight said. She then noticed that Spinel was shaking and could feel her shoulder getting wet. "Is she... crying?" She was! Spinel was actually crying! "Well, her 'new best friend' was about to get eaten.". Twilight then heard Spinel's distressed voice. "I'm so happy that I didn't lose you, Twi! If something happened to my best friend, I'd be all alone! I don't want to be left all alone!", Spinel said between sobs. Twilight nuzzled Spinel's cheek. "It's okay, Spinel. I'm never going to leave you alone.", Twilight said. Spinel looked at her with teary, yet hopeful eyes. "You promise? You're never going to leave me or abandon me?". "I solemnly promise that I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, will never abandon my new best friend: Spinel.", Twilight promised the crying Gem. Spinel put her head back on Twilight's shoulder and was rocking back and forth with Twilight coiled in her rubber arms. Twilight had taken this time to notice that Spinel was actually quite warm, almost enough to make her fall asleep. But before she could, she had to get out of Spinel's embrace. "Hey, Spinel, we should really get going if you want to meet my other friends.", Twilight suggested. Spinel just shook her head. "A little bit longer?", Spinel asked. Twilight just smiled and sighed. "Okay, we can stay like this for a little while longer." And with that, Twilight succumbed to Spinel's body heat and finally fell asleep. Chapter 5: Meeting Twi's "Other Friends"Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 1: A New StartA girl named Jessica was putting the final touches on her Spinel cosplay. She was applying the tear streaks to her face to give herself the tragic villain look. She put down her applicator and looked at herself in the tall mirror that hung from her bedroom door. Her costume was perfect. Jessica dyed her hair the same color as her "Steven Universe" character and tied her hair into Spinel's twin pigtails. She even made her pigtails spiky to give herself that unhinged look. She painted her face, arms, and legs pink. Jessica was able to stitch her own Spinel costume by hand. "I have to remember to thank Grandma for teaching me how to sew", Jessica thought to herself. She was even able to get Spinel's shoes and gloves down-pat. As for Spinel's Gem, she simply made a paper version which she then glued to her chest. Jessica had wanted Spinel's Rejuvenator so she got a long stick and made the blade out of cardboard. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she was absolutely delighted to see herself as her favorite Gem. There was just something about Spinel that she loved more than the other Gems on the show. Was it her quirky, Harley Quinn-like personality, her tragic past that made her a more sympathetic villain, her jester-like appearance, her rubber-hose style of movement and fighting? Jessica decided to go with a simple "all-of-the-above" and leave it at that. One thing she loved about her cosplay is that she looked just as skinny as Spinel. Jessica was known at school for being quite skinny. She wasn't as buxom as some of the other girls, but she was content with herself, so she didn't care one bit. Jessica then left with her fake Rejuvenator and sat on the couch, waiting for her friend Amy to pick her up. Amy was Jessica's best friend and wanted to accompany her to the Comic-Con they all got prepared for. Amy wanted to hop on Jessica's "Steven Universe" train and wanted to cosplay as her favorite Gem, since they were both fans of the show. Amy was going to go as Peridot, the small and geeky one of the bunch. Jessica had actually noticed how similar Amy was to Peridot in terms of their personalities. Both Amy and Peridot were quite smart and didn't really like other people touching their stuff. Amy even had Peridot's habit of calling people "clods". They both don't pick up on social cues very well and tended to be loners, unless they were hanging out with people that they trust. Both were also quite short, with Amy only coming up to Jessica's chest. Jessica looked up what "clod" meant and apparently, not only doe the word actually exist, but it means "a lump of earth or clay". Jessica guessed that the word would be quite an insult to Gemkind. Eventually, there was a knock on Jessica's door. Jessica opened the door and was greeted by a familiar-looking green Gem. They both smiled and gave each other a hug. "Wow, Amy! You look great! I see you pit in about as much effort into your costume as I did.", Jessica said after getting a good look at the Peridot lookalike before her. The fake Peridot smiled. "You look amazing as Spinel. Your hair actually looks better in that style. It would definitely make stand out at school.", Amy said. "No. I'm not interested in popularity. Besides, most of the popular kids are clods, anyway, right?", Jessica asked with a smile. "True. Compared to us and our good grades, those clods would be lucky to even work for us, someday.", Amy said with no small amount of pride. Amy then did the Diamond salute. "For the Gem Empire!". Jessica repeated the salute. "For the Gem Empire!". The two fake Gems then went to Amy's car and drove to Comic Con. To say that Comic Con was impressive would be an understatement. The place was pack with all kinds of booths, showing off whatever cool merch the vendors were selling. There were comics, DVD's, manga, figurines, and cosplay props being sold at every one of these booths. Jessica and Amy were very impressed with all the different costumes people were wearing. People came to this dressed up as their favorite cartoon or anime characters. Sure, some came that weren't dressed up, but that was fine. Jessica and Amy were genuinely surprised at how many people came dressed up as "Steven Universe" characters. They saw Steven, Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, Ruby, Sapphire, one of the Diamonds, Lapis Lazuli, even one dressed up as Jasper. "It's a good thing that we're not the only Gems here. I would have been really embarrassed if we were.", Jessica said with a sigh of relief. "Yeah. We probably would've looked like real clods. So I'm happy that more people enjoy 'Steven Universe' as much as we do.", Amy replied. After a bit of wandering, Amy spoke up. "I have to go use the bathroom. Can you just hang around the nearby booths until I come back?" "Sure thing. I'll wait by the booths by the restroom. Don't fall in when you get there!", Jessica said, joking about Amy's height. Amy gave her a dry look. "Ha. That was so funny, I forgot what laughing was.", Amy said sarcastically. Amy left for the restroom. Jessica was waiting by the booths when she noticed one booth, in particular. It didn't have a sign advertising what they were selling. Speaking of what they were selling, it seemed to be random cosplay props of all kinds. There were weapons, fake artifacts, masks, even fake animal ears and tails. The merch was also not neatly categorized; instead it seemed to just lay in a random pile on the table. As for the vendor, he was a bit odd-looking: the vendor had a long black coat, a black hat, and Coke-bottle glasses that perfectly hid his eyes. The vendor also possessed a wide grin that was somehow beckoning her to come closer. Jessica went up to the vendor to see what exactly he was selling. She didn't see anything that stood out to her until she passed a small case he had placed on the table in front of her. The case was filled with various gemstones. Jessica thought that they were fake gems at first, but somehow they looked like real gems. Jessica's eyes fell on one gem that stood out to her more than the others: a pink spinel cut into the shape of a heart. The same shape as the character Spinel's Gem! Jessica looked to the mysterious vendor. "How did you get a gem like that?", Jessica asked with keen interest. The vendor looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a sly grin. "First of all, most people call me 'The Merchant'. Secondly, are you interested? I can give you a decent price for it.", the Merchant offered. Jessica seemed to consider the potential cost of a real gem. "I think that this gem may be an entire solar system outside my price range.". "Don't worry, dear. In fact, since your Spinel costume is so well-made, I'll give you the spinel gem for only fifty bucks!", the Merchant haggled. Jessica's eyes were as wide as moons. "How can this Merchant sell a gem like this for so cheap? Shut up! Don't question it! This will be way better than this paper one. I better take advantage of this offer.", Jessica thought. She looked at the Merchant's glasses and spoke with a clear voice. "I'll take it.". Jessica reached into her pocket and pulled out the fifty bucks needed to pay for the possibly-real spinel. She handed it to the Merchant who took it with an all-too-wide grin. "Thank you so much, dear.", the Merchant said after handing Jessica the gem. As Jessica was walking away, she heard the Merchant whisper, "Have a nice new life in your new home world!". Jessica wasn't sure what he meant, but decided to ignore it. Suddenly, the gem started to give off a blinding light. The light made Jessica fall to the floor and hit her head. As she was losing consciousness, she started to feel her body changing. It started to feel like she wasn't solid mass, anymore. There was a pulling motion, too, like her body was moving somewhere on its own. What was even more bizarre was the feeling that she was losing her memories along with her body. Everything in her mind was slipping away until there was nothing. After that, there was nothing but darkness. Author's Note I love "Steven Universe"! This show is amazing. Don't ask me who my favorite character is, though, because it's a toss between Spinel and Peridot. I plan to include more Gems in this story as it goes along.
Chapter 2: Your New Best FriendAuthor'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. Chapter 2: Your New Best Friend 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!
Chapter 4: Defending Your Best FriendAuthor's Note Here's a new chapter for y'all to enjoy! By the way, just to give y'all some clues about future chapters, this is taking place before the Main Six meet Starlight Glimmer and her authoritarian village. And I'm going to have the Gems' bodies produce heat based on the fact that their bodies are made of magic light that's been solidified. And light equals heat. Besides, I think it could provide good opportunities for some fluff moments in this story. Chapter 4: Defending Your Best Friend Twilight and Spinel had a rather... interesting time walking through the Whitetail Woods. Spinel would either be giggling or trying to get Twilight to play "I Spy" while they walked. Twilight tried to pay with Spinel to keep her happy, but she couldn't find anything in the forest for Spinel to try to guess that would be different. She tried to get Spinel to see if she could spot a blue jay that had rested on a fallen log by the path, but the bird flew away before Spinel could see it. Finally, it was Spinel's turn. "I spy with my little eye something... some walking pile of sticks!", Spinel challenged. Twilight just looked confused. "What do you mean 'walking pile of sticks'?" Before Spinel could respond, there was a canine growling from the bushes in front of the duo. Out of the bushes came not one, but six Timberwolves! All of them were growling with fierce animal hunger. This didn't make any sense! Timberwolves were only supposed to inhabit the Everfree Forest. Not the Whitetail Woods. Twilight was terrified while Spinel just looked at them with bright eyes. "Awww! Puppies! You wanna play with them, Twi?", Spinel asked with all the innocence of a child. Twilight could only look at Spinel with stunned eyes. "NO! No you cannot play with them! They're Timberwolves! They want to eat us!" Spinel suddenly looked downtrodden. She didn't mean to make her best friend mad. The dear Gem put her gloved hands behind her back and looked down at her feet. When she next spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset. Spinels aren't supposed to make their besties upset.", Spinel said, looking up at Twilight with the biggest puppy-dog eyes she had ever seen. Twilight's anger immediately disappeared. "How can anyone stay mad at a creature this adorable?", Twilight thought. Twilight quickly remembered the situation they were in and kept an eye on the pack of Timberwolves who had encircled them, by this point. "Look, I'm not mad. But this is a dire situation we're in right now. See, these creatures want to harm us. I can try to fight them off, but they might eat us if we don't do something now.", Twilight explained to the pink Gem without taking her eyes off the Timberwolves. Spinel's face changed from that of sadness to, surprisingly, anger. That look was very unlike the Gem, who by this point had looked so happy and gentle. In fact, they hadn't even known each other for very long and Twilight pegged Spinel for being similar to Pinkie in terms of their shared personality traits. But then again, Twi had seen Pinkie get angry before and it wasn't pretty. In fact, Spinel's angry look was even more terrifying than Pinkie's. Her brows were furrowed, her jaw clenched, her hair became frizzled, and her eyes changed colors. Instead of the cartoonish black irises Spinel was born with, they suddenly changed to a glowing bright magenta color. Next, Spinel's gloved hands started to glow a soft pink and changed into pink boxing gloves! She stepped in front of Twi and took a fighting stance. "No one's going to hurt my best friend! NO ONE!", Spinel shouted with such ferocity that even the beasts in front of them looked scared. But this was short-lived as one Timberwolf launched itself at Spinel. The monster clamped its jaws around her left arm. Twilight cried out in alarm, but was silenced by the fact that Spinel didn't cry out in pain. In fact, it looked like Spinel couldn't feel the bite at all. Spinel just stood there, glaring at her beastly opponent. Spinel then lifted her right arm and swung her boxing gloved fist at the attacking Timberwolf. The beast's head shattered into splinters and the rest of its body fell apart at her feet. Twilight was shocked by this display of power Spinel possessed. The rest of the pack, seeing one of their own being taken down by this weird pink creature, decided to ignore Twilight and all attack Spinel at once. The Gem effortlessly punched one of the wolves 40 feet into a nearby tree, shattering its body. She grabbed two of the wolves in her hands and choke-slammed them into the ground. The last one opted to run after seeing its packmates get destroyed. But before it could get too far, two rubber arms wrapped around its body and pulled it back to the strange pink creature. Spinel just smiled and sadistically glared into its eyes for a good while until she used her boxing gloves to completely crush its head into the ground! The Timberwolf's head shattered into pieces. With the threat to her bestie's life eliminated, she changed back into her regular appearance. "Don't worry, buddy! You're safe now.", Spinel said, wrapping Twilight into a snake-arm full-body hug. Twilight was too shocked to even think to speak. She had just seen Spinel not only defend her from a pack of attacking Timberwolves, but effortlessly dispatched them with a ruthlessness she had never seen before. And that physical change! Twilight had guessed that that form was suitable for fighting off opponents. But still, the way Spinel took down that last Timberwolf was pretty frightening. The Gem looked like she could kill anything without remorse. Twilight made a note not to get on Spinel's bad side. Once Twi made herself lucid again, she willed herself to speak. "Hey, Spinel. Thank you so much for saving me.", Twilight said. She then noticed that Spinel was shaking and could feel her shoulder getting wet. "Is she... crying?" She was! Spinel was actually crying! "Well, her 'new best friend' was about to get eaten.". Twilight then heard Spinel's distressed voice. "I'm so happy that I didn't lose you, Twi! If something happened to my best friend, I'd be all alone! I don't want to be left all alone!", Spinel said between sobs. Twilight nuzzled Spinel's cheek. "It's okay, Spinel. I'm never going to leave you alone.", Twilight said. Spinel looked at her with teary, yet hopeful eyes. "You promise? You're never going to leave me or abandon me?". "I solemnly promise that I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, will never abandon my new best friend: Spinel.", Twilight promised the crying Gem. Spinel put her head back on Twilight's shoulder and was rocking back and forth with Twilight coiled in her rubber arms. Twilight had taken this time to notice that Spinel was actually quite warm, almost enough to make her fall asleep. But before she could, she had to get out of Spinel's embrace. "Hey, Spinel, we should really get going if you want to meet my other friends.", Twilight suggested. Spinel just shook her head. "A little bit longer?", Spinel asked. Twilight just smiled and sighed. "Okay, we can stay like this for a little while longer." And with that, Twilight succumbed to Spinel's body heat and finally fell asleep.
Chapter 5: Meeting Twi's "Other Friends"Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
