Well, here's the last chapter, this story was a lot of fun. Though this epilogue thing gave me a bit of trouble.
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"Garnet, I don't think I can feel my legs. How about you?"
"Not really."
The pair of crystal gems were as exhausted as entities made of solidified light could be. Once they defused, they'd had just enough energy to warp themselves home and not much else. Amethyst had attempted to drag herself hand-over-hand to the sofa but gave up halfway, and Garnet hadn't bothered at all, choosing to lie stoically on the warp pad.
"Are your solo mission things always like this?" Amethyst asked, panting and eyeing the sofa with betrayal, why did it have to be so far away?
"No. Normally they aren't that easy."
"What!" Amethyst yelped, That was easy? She craned her neck to look back at the fusion, only to catch a glimpse of the grin stretched across her face. "That was a joke wasn't it?"
"Yes, and you fell for it."
"Did not."
"Yes you did."
"Whatever." Amethyst chuckled. They grinned at each other. Amethyst yawned, "I'm pooped, it's nap time." She settled herself a little more on the hardwood floor, placing her face flat against it. It was actually pretty comfy; after all, she generally fell asleep on whatever random pile of junk was closest at the time. She was just starting to drift off to the land of the sleep when Garnet's voice pulled her back.
"Amethyst."
"Whuzzat?"
"I owe you an apology."
"Uh, why?"
"My solo missions are not normally like this. I thought it would be a minor threat, but I was mistaken."
"Don't worry about it."
"But..."
"No seriously G, it's cool." Amethyst focused, and with a monumental effort, managed to roll herself onto her side, looking her leader in the shades. "We fight big monsters all the time. Rose's giant murder plant was a bit bigger than you thought it would be? Big whoop. We kicked its butt, nuthin else matters."
"…True." Garnet smiled, they lapsed into silence, Amethyst dozed off once more: letting her body go slack against the floor and her mind go numb.
She was drawn out of her slumber, yet again, by the familiar sound of the warp.
"Further more, Hele-cat is a cheap knockoff of Dog Copter and should be disregarded in all forms." Steven had appeared in the warp with Connie and was making many dramatic hand gestures.
"Uh Steven. Why are you suddenly taller than me?" Connie interrupted.
"Huh?" Steven looked down.
"Hello Steven."
"Garnet!" Steven yelped, leaping to the side. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stand on you like that, uh, why are you lying on the warp pad?"
"It's comfy."
"Okayyyy?" Steven said, looking over at Connie who shrugged.
"Sup Stee-man." Amethyst waved lazily, not bothering to lift her face off the floor.
"Oh, hey Amethyst. Um… are you guys having another slumber party or something? I mean, that other one was really fun, but you're supposed to wait until it's dark out."
"Naw, we're just chillin'. Where's P?"
"She was staying behind to clean up the arena, she said she had to set rig up something special for the next training session… which was kind of worrying, but I'm sure it'll be fine." Steven said, walking over to fridge and opening it. "Ah man. All we have is yogurt. I thought Pearl went to the grocery store yesterday…Amethyst?"
"What? I'm a growing gem, I need to eat."
"No you don't." Said Garnet.
"Well okay, it's more want than need. But still, those are kinda the same thing."
Whatever Garnet was about to say cut off by the whoosh of the warp pad. Pearl materialized in a flash of light, clutching a clipboard and muttering to herself.
"Now let's see. I'll need at least twenty more explosives for the next session. Hopefully I'll be able to find those in the town market, if not I can always rig some up from whatever we've got lying around."
"Hello Pearl."
"GAH!" Pearl shrieked, dropping the clipboard and leaping off her leader. "Garnet? You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Gems don't have hearts."
"Well, obviously I know that. It's just an expression that I've heard humans use to express surprise. What are you doing?"
"Lying down."
"Well I can see that, but I meant why are you laying on the warp pad, there are plenty of less hazardous places to lay down."
"I can't really move right now."
"Can't move?" Pearl glanced around the room. Something wasn't right here. Steven was sharing a tub of yogurt with Connie and Amethyst was lazing around on the floor. Granted, that second situation was perfectly normal, but Amethyst wasn't just resting, she looked tired. That only really happened when… "You formed Sugilite didn't you?"
"Yes."
"What!" Steven said, spewing some yogurt across the counter. "You guys formed Sugilite? And I missed it?"
"That's what happens when you're not around dude. You miss stuff." Amethyst said.
"Aw man."
"What possible reason could you have had for doing that?" Pearl asked, working her way over to the counter and sitting next to Steven. She summoned a sponge from her gem and started cleaning up the spilled yogurt.
"We were gardening." Amethyst said, grinning lazily up at the taller gem.
"Gardening?" Pearl said, her voice laden with skepticism "And you needed Sugilite for that because?"
"There were some really big weeds."
"Garnet? Can you tell me what really happened?" Pearl said, hoping to get an actual explanation.
"We found one of Rose's plants out in the Starlight Savannah, a big one, we had to use a lot of force to stop it."
Pearl blinked, "One of … Rose's war plants? You must be mistaken, she would never leave such a thing lying around."
"Well we were fighting something." Amethyst said, rolling onto her side and staring up at Pearl. "It was a plant and had a lot of pink on it, pretty sure that was Rose's style."
"But she wouldn't be so careless."
"Why not? We're always picking up random junk that other gems have left lying around. I got like, seven piles of the stuff in my room."
"But not Rose, she wouldn't do such a thing."
"Uh, guys." Steven interrupted. "What are you talking about? My mom's plants? Is this like her flower moss or my watermelon Stevens?"
"More like your watermelon Stevens, but about twenty times worse." Said Garnet. "And Pearl?"
"Yes Garnet?"
"It was one of Rose's, that's not in question. I don't know how it got there, but it's taken care of, there's no point worrying about it anymore."
"But…fine."
"Great!" Steven exclaimed. "Now, Steven needs to know all the details of what happened, because this is something he needs to hear about."
As Amethyst started to regale Steven and Connie with all the interesting parts of the adventure, Pearl stepped over to garnet and crouched down. "Garnet?" she whispered.
"Yes?"
"Did you know that Rose was involved in this before you set out on this mission of yours?"
Garnet closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't need future vision to see where this was going. "Yes."
"And you chose to inform Amethyst, but not me." It wasn't a question.
"Pearl, I brought Amethyst because she asked to come."
"But you didn't think to bring me?" Pearl's voice was mostly level, but Garnet could hear a slight tremble in it.
"You were busy with Steven and Connie."
"That doesn't mean you I shouldn't have been informed!"
"And if I had, what would you have done?"
"Well, I…" Pearl trailed off.
"Dropped everything to rush to whatever it was? As long as it has even the mildest connection to Rose?"
Pearl didn't reply. She just stared at the floor in silence.
"I chose not to tell you because you were working with Steven, and that is more important than chasing Rose's memory." Garnet said, her tone gentle.
"I…understand." Pearl replied quietly, her eyes glued to the floor.
"Nonetheless, you had a right to know. If I ever sense anything like this again, you will be the first to hear of it."
"Thank you Garnet." Pearl smiled.
Garnet nodded and closed her eyes.
It had been a busy day, and it was time to sleep.
The purple giant had left quite a swathe of destruction in her wake: scorched earth, craters, shattered trees, and torn up remains of beast that smelled of flowers were everywhere.
These parts of the grasslands were almost deserted, the birds and insects having fled from the fight. But there was still one creature there, prowling around the wreckage.
Lion sniffed the ground once more, lazily sifting through the myriad of scents, searching for the scent of his mistress's power.
He had come to these grasslands on the behalf of one who existed no longer. He had been drawn to this place by something that had been left behind by the Lady of the Pink Mane. He had always known when she needed something of him, even when she was not around to tell him.
He needed no message, he simply knew.
And so, Lion had come to the savannah, searching through the swaying grass for the scent of his Lady's power, until he had encountered the two companions of his Lady: the wild purple one and the one with the square mane. They too had been searching for what his Lady had left behind.
He had guided them to the construct, and was glad that he had found them. Blessed though he was by the Lady, he could not have defeated the creature by himself. Lion had watched them fight against it, ready to help if he was needed.
But he wasn't, his Lady's companions were strong, and had crushed the construct. Then they had departed, leaving him behind. Which was just as well, for he had to make sure the job was finished. His Lady's creations were resilient; the core had been crushed by the giant one's wrath, but Lion's body still tingled with the need of his mistress, urging him to find it.
Lion sniffed the ground once more, and froze, his nose flooding with the scent of his mistress's energy. It was faint, but he could feel it, beneath the ground. He pawed at the spot, and roared, blasting away the dirt and grass.
In the crater, wriggling sluggishly in the sudden sunlight was a root, all which remained of the Lady's construct.
Lion padded down to it, as his shadow passed over it, the root tried to burrow into the ground. Lion stopped it with his paw, flicking it into the air and catching it in his mouth. His fangs ripped it to shreds and he swallowed it.
As though someone had flicked a switch, the feeling of his mistress's need vanished. Leaving him calm and unhurried.
Lion yawned. There was nothing else needed of him. For now anyway, meaning there was only one thing to do.
Lion laid himself down within the crater, letting the warm light of the sun send him off into a wonderful doze.
And all around him, the wind blew. Rustling the crystal grass and filling the savannah with a musical chiming, as slowly the birds and insects returned, returning their song to the melody of the grasslands.
Fin.
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Author's note: well, that bring this story to a close, I'm glad I was able to finish it. and thank you to anyone who read this far.
I tend to be my own worst critic, so I'm not sure if I like how I wrapped this story up. But if you could leave a review to let me know how I did on the whole, I would love that.
Also, about the question I asked earlier about Garnet:
In Reformed, when she used her rocket glove thing, her gems were visible on the stumps of her arms, so she wasn't separated from them. I think that if someone were to cut off her hand she would at least diffuse, being separated from one of her sources of power. I'm not sure if Ruby or Sapphire would go poof, because the way Gems bodies work are weird and seem to get weirder every episode.