An autumn overcast day. Weather in Delmarva was steadily going on a colder path, and as the weather was indeed fall, the colors of the season were as strong as they could ever be. It may not be too noticeable over in Beach City itself, but further off, Garnet was taking some time to actually relax a bit over all her random antics. It had been quite a time for her: jumping from one profession to another, getting herself into situations she'd never caught herself in prior, and who knows what else. She even visited another universe in this time, visiting Hoppy and Hopper, but even with that, it's nice to relax.
She found herself by a similar apple tree. With it being later in the year, the tree was barring its fruits and the lovely colors of orange, red, and brown. Much like the trees of the Celestial Lake. It wasn't all shiny and sunlight, but at least Garnet had some time for herself. It gave her time to reflect on things. The cool wind brushing against her skin, the sound of the breeze in the leaves of the trees, not to mention a small snack of an apple plucked right out of the tree. The only company she had was both beings that made her up, but in that regard, it was good enough for her. She may be quiet, but in her head, Sapphire and Ruby were in a bit of conversation. Though, they were reaching the end of it here.

Garnet gave a long sigh, and brought her hands to her head. With so much time jumping around the place, it actually gave her little time to actually see into the future. Working with so many other things (movie props, donuts, pizza, camping trips, and recently Café water glasses), she finally can figure out what kind of vision she could see on ahead. Her eyes were close, and all she could see was the screens of her mind eye. It took a bit before something came about, but she didn't really see … well, anything. At least, not right away. But eventually something was heard loud and clear, and something did begin to show ...

The best elements within us can spread light and virtue, and I know ponies who represent them all – strength, bravery, healing, beauty, hope, and sorcery. Myself and these Pillars of Equestria were gathered together by another to maintain and share the light of these powerful ideals. But we soon came to believe the pony who brought us together only wanted that power for himself. Cast out and alone, this power-mad pony turned to darkness to satisfy his thirst. Transformed into a Pony of Shadows, he returned for revenge – to extinguish the Pillars' light and rob the world of hope. To stop him, the Pillars and I must make a grave sacrifice. But we shall leave behind a seed in hopes that one day it will grow into a force to stand against the darkness for all time. We must now face the fiend with the only plan we have. I only hope it will be enough. …

Garnet shot back to life with that little speech, jumping to her feet as if just waking up from a dream. Not often did she get visions like that, but she got herself back together after a bit. not even when just sitting down can she calm down. However, the more she thought of the possible idea, the more it … didn't make any sense. Who were half of those ponies anyway? And what's more, where can it exactly fit into any of the timelines she was thinking of?

"Not again. … What's the matter with me?" A question Garnet wished she didn't have to keep asking herself so much. This vision didn't look anything typical for her, and more like something out of a storybook presentation over much else.

What could be the problem now? Of all things? Well, a problem's a problem, and she had to fix it … whatever it was. She only hoped it wasn't anything too bad.

---(one hour earlier)---

Starlight, Trixie, and Pink were handling some more time for themselves. Trixie was having a hoot with learning these spells, and with her transformation spell down pact, it was on to the next thing. The trio had been hanging out quite a bit together, though most of it was just hanging around Ponyville or doing some magic practice, and now it was the latter.

"Well, every self-respecting magician has a disappearing act, so maybe we could start with that?" Trixie decided. Starlight though felt a little bit unsure about that one.

"OOOO, you mean like that "camouflage" spell? That'd be sweet," Pink Diamond said, imagining how high of an advantage one could use such a thing for.

"Nothing just disappears, so that's technically a teleportation spell, and those are pretty hard. Maybe we should start with something smaller," Starlight suggested. Trixie though was not up for anything simple since she turned a ton of items into teacups.

"No-no-no-no. The Great and Powerful Trixie either goes big, or not at all! Just tell me how you do it," Trixie said, confident as she'll ever be.

"I'm liking the attitude," Pink Diamond commented. Trixie smiled to her, as Starlight tried to think.

"Well, I've always found magic is tied to my emotions. Whatever I'm feeling fuels whatever I'm doing, and the stronger I'm feeling, the stronger the magic."

"Right. Like when you were so upset that cutie marks took away your friend, your magic was strong enough to enslave an entire village," Pink Diamond said, bringing up what she thought was a good example. Starlight felt s shiver on the rather bad memory of her older days as dictator.

"Hey, I'm complimenting you," Pink Diamond insisted. She didn't see any problem in finding a easy way to keep one's followers in line, but Starlight felt otherwise no doubt.

"Not a chance," Starlight immediately answered, deadpan almost. So much for that. Anyway, back to Trixie.

"Well, I'm totally up for it! If there's anypony who can teach me a disappearing spell -"

"Whatever. We can do this 'cause we are amazing!" Trixie said, with a wink and a nudge. Starlight smiled.

"Well, I suppose we can give it a whirl. Now we just need something to teleport," Starlight said. The three weren't too far from town, but didn't have very much to practice on. Before Starlight and Trixie could think of something, Pink Diamond got a little something worthwhile to do. And one that was eerily peculiar.

"I got it!" Pink Diamond said, before bolting off passed the two unicorns, a gust of wind behind her launch.

"She sure moves fast," noted Starlight. Just moments later, Pink Diamond got back, and skidded to a stop, having the object in question: A glass window.

"It's not as entertaining, but alright. Teach away, mini-Twilight," Trixie said. Starlight groaned a little on the remark, and as Pink Diamond sat down not too far away, Trixie and Starlight took a look to the window presented, which was propped up on a stick so it wasn't just laying on the ground.

"Okay. What you want to do is concentrate on the object that you want to teleport..."

"Challenge accepted," Trixie said, eyes locked onto the window. It seemed a bit easy enough, but then -

"Wait, not yet!" Starlight insisted, but it was too late. Trixie, confident at an all-time high, made the teleportation zap directly onto the window. Now, what should've happened was that it would at least teleport the mirror away, but instead of that, off the glass surface, the spell bounced off and aimed directly at the three! You could probably guess where this was going.

Whelp. Trixie did it. Picking themselves off the ground, Pink Diamond, Starlight Glimmer, and Trixie Lulamoon were no longer anywhere near Ponyville. At least, not by the looks of things. From a small area outside of Ponyville, they were now off in what looked like a forest of sorts, thick like the Everfree Forest, though with it so thick and the odd shapes of many of the trees, one couldn't be too sure. When Trixie realized what happened, she was stoked!

"OH CELESTIA! The Great and Powerful Trixie just got even MORE powerful! Which I thought wasn't even possible!" Trixie beamed, close to prancing she was so happy.

"Eh, yeah, great but … where did you teleport us to?" Starlight asked, looking around at the landscape.

"The Everfree Forest I think, but, who cares? I did it! My first actual teleportation spell! Now, let's pop right on back and -"

"I'LL DO IT!" Starlight quickly said, stopping the trigger-happy Unicorn before they could be teleported anywhere else. She wasn't gonna have a repeat of the teacup spell on something like this.

"First of all, no you're not. Second, this is your first time doing this! Maybe we should just let me teleport us back before we end up who knows where else."

"Oh, fine," Trixie groaned. But, Starlight had a point, and they didn't need to be in anymore -

Trouble. … Oh clod. The voice surely didn't sound familiar to any of them, and all three looked around a little bit to try and find the source. Pink Diamond, being taller, had a better sight over much of the bushes than the other two did, so she could see that something was coming their way. And they were not alone either.

"Oh! HEY, I see you over there!" Pink Diamond called. All that did though was make whatever was over there rushed forward, quickly going around them so they wouldn't get away so easily.

"Uh, Starlight?" Trixie shuttered, hearing the notable sounds of growling and snarling. They were hidden off in the shadows.

"Don't worry, they won't dare attack a member of the Diamond Authority," Pink Diamond reassured them, though they all look ready to jump at them any second.
And then they started to come out. Not exactly the same ones, but the same type of wolf as the ones that confronted Celestia herself back at the lake. They've went off from said lake as said by Celestia, to find some other parts of the "new world", and apparently they hit gold when finding a trio of delicacies out in the middle of nowhere.

"Oh! You can talk, great! Listen, uh, we didn't mean to just pop up here. Just practicing some magic," Starlight said humbly, trying not to cause anymore trouble. However, these hungry hounds weren't convinced. Pink Diamond stepped up to plate next.

"I am the luminous, and almighty Pink Diamond! Member of the Diamond Authority, and I'll have you all reported if you attack any of my subjects! I command you to stay back!" Pink stated, strong as what the other Diamonds would do to their people.

"Subjects?" Trixie spat, looking quizzically at Pink. However, the hounds ended up going into hysterics, laughing like hyenas at her "authority" over them. Pink felt like an idiot.

"I know but it's my process," Pink Diamond stated quietly, before the hounds started to advance onto them rather quickly, the largest one almost biting her gemstone! These animals were more than hungry, and they got their food right in front of them.

"AH! Ok, ok, Teleportation spell GO!" Trixie shouted, trying to get it to work. But saying the spell and actually doing it, are two different things, and it didn't work.

"Teleportation spell GO!" Trixie repeated. Still nothing. A snarl echoed from one of the hounds again, as the whole pack moved in closer, but then she saw the eyes of the largest one.

"AH! TELEPORT ALREADY!" The largest one moved in right up to them, and in a panic, Trixie actually zapped the lead wolf. A small yelp later, and then came the sudden flash which admittedly surprised everyone there: the lead wolf was teleported away! The rest of the pack quickly were humbled by the attack, and quickly scattered, disappearing within the undergrowth.

"Trixie? What were you thinking of before you made that spell happen?" Starlight asked nervously. Trixie took a moment to think.

"Wherever that thing went was the last place you thought of, that's how the teleportation spell works. So, what were you thinking?" Starlight asked. Well, made sense, since Trixie was thinking of trees when doing the first spell as he saw them in the window's reflection. Trixie took a moment to think.

"Well, the wolf's eyes did remind me of Sapphires, how they're so blue and all. And it looked kinda magical, so …"

"Y-You don't mean the Crystal Gems … do you?" Starlight asked meekly. Trixie took another moment.

~~~~~~

"Steven!" gasped Jasper. Back down at the beach, there was quite a danger indeed. Jasper, hearing the cries good and loud, rushed on outside from the Temple. With time came problems, and with Jasper the only one on guard at said temple, it was a bit troubling to hear, and then see, Steven rushing up the beach as fast as he could, seemingly in a panic as he bolted in. Jasper was armed up, as Steven jumped up at her, climbing up into her arms.

"What's wrong?" Jasper asked, urgent and ready for whatever would come their way.

… huh?
Looking up along the beach, she did end up seeing Steven's adversaries, but they … well, she was prepared for many an attack, except for this one: a group of differently-colored Steven's were rushing up the beach, and catching up fairly quickly. There was a purple one with a single eyelash, a orange one running around like a dog, a blue one apparently flying in the air, and a yellow one with some notable cleat boots. The only one who wasn't Steven was Connie, and all of these "Stevens" ran around Jasper in circles, the tall Quartz trying to avoid falling to the ground with Steven keeping distance from these look-alikes running around her.

"Tag, you're it!" Steven suddenly said, poking Jasper in the Gem nose. Well, the fear was gone, but she was still puzzled.

"Steven tag! Steven tagged you, now you have to turn into Steven," said Amethyst.

"We just made it up. Now come on, Jay, Steven-fy!" Lapis said, hovering nearby Jasper's head. Well, they did have more time to relax supposedly, so she might as well play along, as she placed the little nugget that was Steven down on the ground.

"Maybe later. I'm trying to talk to Garnet, but she's nowhere in the temple. Any of you seen her?"

"Who knows anymore?" Tiger's Eye said, scratching her ear, "She's been here, there, and everywhere since we got back from that Jungle Moon."

"I know. See you later," Jasper simply said, before going along the beach towards town. Well, so much for a Jasper!Steven for their little game of Steven tag.

"So. Guess we're out of players … get ready for Steven Tag," said Amethyst, her eyes set on Tiger's Eye. With everyone done, they changed back, with the exception of Steven himself (obvious reasons), and Amethyst for being it. Still, the speedy Gem already made a bolt for it

"Onward!" Fulgurite shouted, rushing off to join the Calvary, along with the others. However, with this running, they went in the same direction as Jasper, and Tiger's Eye ended up actually jumping up on top of Jasper to avoid capture!

"HEY! Get off!" Jasper demanded, but not only did it get Tiger's Eye caught by Amethyst, but by extension Jasper as well.

"Gotcha," Amethyst said smugly. Tiger's Eye just groaned, and turned into her version of Steven. A bit quick, but they still wanted Jasper to play along with it. Now, she would just go on, but it looked like she wasn't gonna just get out of it anytime soon. So with a sigh and a smile, she began to change her body too, into a more reddish-orange version of Steven.

Jasper was more than ready though, so before Amethyst could jump her, Jasper grabbed her by her shirt and swung her up high. All Jasper had to do was jump up, and slap her in the back to slam her into the ground hard! Hard enough to make a crater on the beach.

And not a moment too soon. Up the beach, Garnet had managed to get herself back to the group, landing down from above as if she herself came from the sky. She wasn't deterred by all the other stevens, but seeing her did make Amethyst, Jasper, and Tiger's Eye change back as the others looped around back to her.

"HEY Garnet! What's going on today? Fishing with Yellowtail? Painting classes with Vidalia? Oh, OH, how about some racing with yours truly?" Fulgurite said, trying to take a wild stab at what she wanted now. It could be anything at this point. Garnet stayed calm, and got to the point of the matter.

~~~~~~

"This sure looks promising."
Oh, if only this was going to stay as simple as it was brought on to be. With the Crystal Gems getting one warning from Garnet, there was still more trouble taking effect just on the outskirts of town. Something was eyeing the place. Scoping. And a few whiffs in the air made the creature more willing to venture closer to the seaside settlement. Meat. And a good amount of it.

The signal HOWL to kick off the assault. He was alone, but there was more than enough food to get a good sized pack a good meal. Fearless, the large hound raced right down from the upper hill, down to the town in little time at all. A bad time for it to be rush hour for Beach City, and the large animal was quick to be spotted as it moved in. Many human who saw him had to bolt aside, the primal beast looking for any stragglers amongst this group of hairless apes. Some bolted in the buildings, some just stayed still and clinging to the wall, but regardless, this creature was out for something to eat, and it had quite a selection all around it. Practically most of the Beach City residents were all over the place here, in some way or form. It snarled, and snapped its jaws at any that was close enough, but all it could manage was some cloth in his teeth at best. Humans can be quick when they had to be. And it didn't take much time for the town to begin raising alarm.
The large animal skidded and bolted side to side, trying to get at least one of these animals, but by himself it was a lot harder to get any of them like this.

The group skidded to a stop when they saw the creature, it snarling and barking at them.

"Only one," Connie said, finding it a little relief. But she spoke too soon: Soon, another jumped out from one of the building's sharp corners, fazing right through it like an opened door.

Suddenly, twenty canines were around them! The first hound looked directly at Garnet, its eyes deep blue and almost appeared glowing. These were no ordinary hounds: four ears ending in points and two tails, with the edges of its mouth light grey and looking almost slit. These hounds were also huge, the largest one the size of a Clydesdale horse. And the lead creature felt a lot more confident with the pack behind him.

"You think you can clobber us? Come on Garnet, let's show them. ... Garnet?" Amethyst looked to the fusion, and she was frozen still at the sight of these creatures. All these details were eerily familiar. Too familiar.

"Garnet?" Steven asked. It didn't help that these creatures were slowly starting to close in on them, snarling and growling.

"T-These are Tindalos," Garnet said in a hushed tone, one of the dogs barking good and loud. The group began to back up, the pack slowly coming in on them.

"N-No. I just made them up. They were only supposed to be for that story I made. T-This isn't right! I-It's not possible, they're not supposed to exist!" Garnet shuttered. No amount of future vision, no matter what, could prepare her for any of this. These were Tindalos, and they were real. Just like how she described them, and she made that all up! The Tindalos snarled and growled, as the pack of creatures started to move in on her, Garnet frozen still.

"I-I'M SORRY!" Garnet cried, and to their horror, her body suddenly started to unfuse! It was THAT bad. This was a bad time for her to become undone, especially with such vicious creatures standing right in front of her.

"G-Garnet, no, calm down, you're coming undone!" Steven gasped, but that didn't help much as a Tindalos took its chance and rushed forward, right for the fusion! It moved lightning fast, and like a knife cutting bread, it literally split Garnet in two! Ruby and Sapphire formed up and landed off not too far away from eachother. While Ruby landed on her feet, it was Sapphire who was left laying on the ground, her body already partially frozen stiff. She was shivering, shaken, and unable to fully comprehend anything properly with what was going on.

"MOVE!" Fulgurite yelled, grabbing Sapphire and everyone quickly scattered as the pack charged through! Rather than continue forward though, much of the pack jumped into the corners of the buildings, portals for the otherworldly canines making them disappear in a split second. They were far from done though, as the same hounds just appeared out of other corners and launched at the Crystal Gems, two grabbing Jasper at the shoulders in a surprise attack. The hit caught the orange Gem completely off guard, and made her fall head over heels into the road. Steven and Connie tried to rush in to help, just to be stopped by another Tindalos jumping out of another corner, grabbing Steven by the neck and running straight into a nearby wall!

"STEVEN!" Connie gasped, just for a Tindalos to grab her too, shake her up, and throw her right at a nearby streetlight. These hounds weren't going to let up so easily, but before the one could grab her again, Jasper sprung to life and whacked the hound into the second one, sending them to the wall.
With the fight roaring off not too far away, Fulgurite and Sapphire found an area just off. Sapphire was completely still now, and they couldn't help at all if Sapphire was simply stuck like this.

"Sapphire, come on girl snap out of it," Fulgurite said urgently, trying to bring Sapphire back around. Sapphire was still frozen, but Fulgurite finally got back when she gave her a whip to the head.

"Ok, maybe you did, maybe you didn't, surely you thought of something to, oh I dunno, get rid of them?"

"Well go on then, think of something!" Fulgurite insisted. But they didn't had much time to even consider anything before a Tindalos had found them, snarling and rushing in towards them. Fulgurite quickly got Sapphire and made a mad dash away, the Tindalos's teeth narrowly missing them. They can't think on the fly like this.

The whole town of Beach City was under siege by this point. The hounds were going around practically everywhere, with the corners of the buildings giving the hounds easy access to everywhere, constantly cutting off paths for the evacuating humans and tearing everything apart down to the roots. Nanefua's plans for safety areas were completely useless against these things as they kept cutting them off, and constantly keeping em in town. The Crystal Gems were surely trying their best with these hounds, but the hounds were more interested in the humans than some talking rocks.
The humans fought, sure, but these fast-runners were much larger and stronger than any simple wolf. In the crowd trying to get away, a Tindalos grabbed hold of the weaker adults, starting with Vidalia. Vidalia slammed her fist into the snout of the animal with little success as it sank its teeth into her arm. Yellowtail rushed for his wife, but a second Tindalos jumped him, and both Tindalos actually threw Vidalia and Yellowtail at each other, knocking them out so they could be easier to handle.

"Get off them!" shouted Sour Cream, blindly running towards his parents. The Tindalos gave Sour Cream what he wanted and threw the weakened Vidalia right at him, Sour Cream strong enough to catch her without falling over. Both hounds didn't release the larger Yellowtail, and the first one took off into town with him. Onion, enraged, charged off after the creature. No way was he going to watch his dad getting eaten, not by these things. However, the largest Tindalos, the pack leader presumably, stepped up to bat and stopped little Onion in his tracks, almost killing him on the spot with a downward bow, jaws wide open. Onion had never felt so angry at anything in his life, and his gaze said it all. But while any normal creature would turn tail by such a demonic gaze, the leader aimed his fangs at Onion, Onion meanwhile only being saved by Buck, who pulled him out of the way.

"Leave the onion child alone," Buck demanded. The only response the Tindalos gave was a roar to the face.

"Yellowtail!" Vidalia yelled, but the Tindalos had already made their shortcut and slipped through a crack in a building. Sadie rushed in and grabbed hold of the Tindalos by the tail, pulling back hard, but she was just as easily pulled through when the Tindalos yanked her through, much to the horror of everyone watching.

"No you don't!" Lars grabbed Sadie by her legs, and pulled back hard, just for the Tindalos to give them both a back kick, sending them flying back. To the eyes of everyone there, Yellowtail was gone, but with other Tindalos closing in, there was no time to comprehend anything. Except for Onion, who charged in rage off into town.

"We'll be fine, just go!" Lars yelled. The group were forced to go when a Tindalos lunged down from the rooftop, splitting up the party of humans, most of the adults forced out of town. They had no choice, and were forced to run as those that remained rushed on back into Beach City. It was supposed to get after Onion, but they were soon running for their lives instead when the Tindalos targeted them. No Tindalos was going to take any prisoners.

Lars and Sadie both got themselves back into the midst of the attack, and the Gems were still holding strong against these horrifying beasts of burden. They saw hounds fly in the air from throws and hits, but brushing them off like it was nothing, and Gems getting knocked around from being slammed by the hounds teeth and claws. Onion frantically tried to look around for his dad amongst this fight, but he didn't see him anywhere. The same Tindalos was eventually spotted, hidden off in an alleyway with Yellowtail locked in her jaws. Yellowtail shouted for some help, in deep pain, and Onion was more than willing to answer it. But the Tindalos saw him first.
Onion wasn't going to be denied, not with his father on the ground like that. Onion rushed right towards him, fast as he could, but the father was already getting his neck bitten into. And that's when Onion went berserk: he jumped directly on the Tindalos and bit down on its face, teeth on the eye! That was just enough to make the Tindalos screech and rear back, Sadie and Lars pulling Yellowtail out of the way before Onion got thrown off. It just had a meal, and now they won't let it get near him. But it found another target and rushed for it instead. He had his shield up in defense just in time, him seeing the others for one moment, just for a second Tindalos to jump from behind and grab him by the head.

"STEVEN!" almost blindly, Lars and Sadie rushed in right towards the Tindalos, and this time none of the hounds had time to stop them, Lars making the first hit right in the wolf's eye. It was strong enough to make it let go, and Sadie grabbed the injured Steven to quickly drag him away to a safer distance, bringing him into a building before any Tindalos could get them. Yellowtail was put inside the same place too.

"What're you guys doing here?" Steven asked. Steven was lucky that the only thing that did cut in that bite was his cheek - he could've lost his right eye otherwise.

"Trying to get you! Well, and Onion," Lars said, Onion standing not too far away. His rage was still high up, but after seeing the carnage, even he had to get himself together to keep Steven out of danger. A short bit later, and in entered Amethyst, Peridot, and Connie after throwing another Tindalos passed the front window of the shop. Connie made sure to lock up the door tight so they could get a breather, Connie herself looking kinda beat up with cuts and scratches all over her.

"We tried to get away, but we were cut off," said Sadie, still trying to catch her breath from the run here. Steven could see just how much damage those hounds did to her, and despite his own injuries, went over to help her out.

"You ok, Connie?" Steven asked urgently, getting his healing spit ready to help her out. She may be part Gem now, but she was still human like him, and as such she still needed healing.

"Just a few bites," Connie sighed, tired, as Steven got his healing spit to work, starting with a cut in her leg. The healing quickly began, and a few shines showed on Connie's body, the cuts fading away like they never were there at all.

"What's with these things? Not even the dogs from the pound were this hot-headed," Lars said, taking a breather as the battle continued outside. They all even felt the building shake as Jasper was swung at another building not far away.

And suddenly a CRASH right next to them, as a weakened light pole fell down in front of the building, making the glass crack. This wasn't something they were familiar with, nor something they would know about to begin with. It was this noise then did another Tindalos saw them inside, and rushed forward, only to be stopped by the glass itself. Thank the stars that this one ended up distracted afterwards after seeing Lapis swoop in and whack it with a water bomb, soaking it. They took a look outside, seeing the others of the team, except for one.

"I don't know what happened, she suddenly came undone and split apart! She looked panicked," Steven said, as he healed up Connie completely. THAT was especially shocking to hear.

"HEY, she can panic, she's a living being like you guys! … kind of," Amethyst said. With all of this danger and chaos going on all over the place, it was then, when the sound died down slightly, that they soon heard the most unlikely noise.

Meow? A meow? Of ALL things they could've just bumped into, they would end up running into this. They looked off to the back, and what do you think they found crawling out from the back corner of the register?

"B-b-b-baby kitten!" Steven squeaked. They couldn't believe it. The tiny little kitten walked out from her hiding place, a bit timid of the fight outside, but not too timid to avoid these humans coming in. She looked fairly young, small body with white fur and cobbled spots of dark grey and orange - typical pattern for a calico cat. And despite being so young, this little cat had only one eye, the right eye cut in a single slit. A Tindalos could've got to her already, but as the cut didn't look recent, perhaps not.

"And we almost left you behind," said Connie, the kitten at first happy to see them. However, as a shadow started to loom over the shop, the kitten quickly backed up. A Tindalos had found them, and he was the leading member of the pack. The largest one. And he was not letting any of them get away, snarling. The group slowly started to back up, but the Tindalos moved off out of sight from the window. Rather than just change in to alert the other Gems outside, the pack leader slipped in through the corner of the building, right by the door, slowly stalking as he filled in. Soon, the beast was in between them. And their way out. Onion, completely enraged and protecting his dad, charged forward, but all the Tindalos had to do was swat him away like a fly, him crashing into the wall much to their horror.

"Course I can. I just don't talk with my food," the Tindalos snarled, moving ever closer as he barred his teeth.

"Law of the wild, cub. It's the law I live by. And it's never fair." The pack leader had them all at the wall, and the only thing that was holding the Tindalos back was which one he should eat first. Connie held the kitten close, which to their surprise was actually hissing at the giant dog. A canine the size of a Clydesdale, and this kitten was attempting to threaten it. The Tindalos though snarled good and loud, his jaws big enough to swallow the kitten whole if he wanted to. But why waste time eating a kitten when there was plenty more meat right in front of him? Still, with death standing inches away from them, they were scrambling to think of a way to get themselves out of this mess. Steven then felt his hand touch another, and turning, he saw it was Amethyst's hand … and that's when it clicked for both of them.
The Tindalos was ready to jump in, but however, everyone was suddenly caught off guard by a sudden flash. Since the Tindalos was teleported there already, he quickly jumped back in case of a beam shot at him, but instead it was the signature sign of a signature fusion, finally coming around to play after WAY TOO LONG.

The Tindalos roared at the sudden, larger animal, but Smoky Quartz grabbed the wolf, with her double-arm locked into its mouth like a rod, not allowing the wolf to close his mouth. With a smug grin on her face, she lurched forward, knocking the Tindalos off his paws, before she got enough room to summon her Yo-Yo. One slam of that Yo-Yo sent the pack leader flying to across the street, exploding out of the glass windows, and into another building!
Naturally, this caught the attention of everyone else, including the rest of the pack, as Smoky stepped out into the playing field.

"Aww, what's wrong, pooch? Kicked out of your own doghouse?" Smoky joked, much to the Tindalos's anger, and now pain. Despite being thrown right at a wall, the pack leader shook off the dust and howled good and loud. Smoky was the biggest target, and with a human scent on her, it was easily a week's worth of a meal.

And clobber was just what this fusion had in mind. Readying her Yo-Yo in the midst of snarls and barks. Everyone had to get out of the way, either ducking down or flying high, but the Tindalos didn't get the warning (as she hoped), and soon she began to spin fast like a spinning top. The pack rushed her, but the rapid spinning made her untouchable, knocking hounds off at high speed, and high in the air. The Tindalos stopped charging after eight hounds, many of them left just barking at her. The pack leader could see how much trouble this actually was being in the grand scheme of things, but they've come this far, and he wasn't leaving without something - ANYTHING. But at this point there wasn't anything to grab that would be the least amount of trouble. Even a sentient predator knows that the easiest kill is the weakest one, and if the risk outweighed the reward, well, what's the point?

And Smoky Quartz just made the bar a little too high after her attack. The lack leader growled, but no meal was worth getting his skeleton crushed.

The leader roared. That was all the pack needed to hear, and just like that, everything stopped. No more fighting, no more hunting, and the pack members turned tail and ran for it, some limping away a bit. Only one of the Tindalos was hesitant to leave, growling at the now impossible odds presented before him. No matter how hungry though, it knew it was NOT a good idea to rush in. One glance back, and it rushed away to join the others.
The whole town was left in devastation. sure, it wasn't as bad as some events prior to this, but still showed just how much could be done so fast. When everything had calmed down, Amethyst and Steven came back. …

And NOW did another, more familiar door portal opened up nearby. Finally finding somepony with a key, Twilight got Starlight and Trixie right into town. Too little too late though, but they didn't realize that yet.

"GEMS! Gems, are they here?! Please tell me you didn't -" Starlight's rambling quickly stopped when they heard another pole slowly fall to the ground, cutting her short.

"A little late. The pack of Tindalos just left," Jasper said. And the evidence showed up everywhere with all the debris and what not. However, while this was a bit of trouble, nobody appeared to be hurt too much, and as for Trixie … well …

"Wait, you met them too?" Steven gasped. Trixie though got a little too caught up in the moment, suddenly all giddy much to their confusion. And then …

"HA! Teleportation between worlds! The Great and Powerful Trixie's beyond the best! And you doubted me," Trixie said smugly, nudging Starlight.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU BROUGHT THOSE MONSTERS INTO TOWN?!" Jasper had her anger spikes before, but this was a bit high, and Trixie's ego was shot down extremely fast.

"Uh … It was an accident?" Trixie said. Jasper was ready to clobber her for putting the town in danger, but she let out only a rough sigh, holding herself back. Onion had no such problem, finding a pan and whacking her in the head with it. He got a good three hits until Fulgurite grabbed it from him … just to hit her one more time.

"Yeah, we're fine. Most of the people got out of town," Connie said. Seeing Lars, Sadie, Onion, and Yellowtail nearby, they were very lucky they didn't get into too much of a fight themselves.

"Thank Celestia for that. Sorry, Starlight just told me what happened," Twilight said.

"... What about Garnet? Where is she?"
Peridot's question wasn't met with an answer. Where was Garnet? With the fight over, Ruby and Sapphire would've met together by now, and even then she would at least come out to check on everything, but she nor her counterparts weren't anywhere here. Considering their fight with the Tindalos, that was not a good thing to note. They needed to figure out where she went off to.

"Steven, you and your friends try to find her. She can't have gone off too far. We'll get the other townsfolk back," Jasper instructed. Steven would go and do that anyway, so the humans went off to do just that. Twilight joined in as well, but Jasper had another little something for Trixie.

"cleaning up this place," Jasper firmly stated. Trixie froze up, seeing the area she apparently had to get.

"Because you teleported the Tindalos here, because you're obnoxious and annoying, and because I'll pummel you if you don't!"

"... And I'll get started," Trixie said meekly. It'd been a while since Jasper had been this upset, but she wasn't gonna tolerate this kind of "accident", no matter what the case may be. Hopefully this wouldn't take as long as the last time. So, the Gems left one way, the Humans and Twilight the other, and Starlight and Trixie left behind to clean up the mess.

~~~~~~

Pretty soon, it was off to the forests nearby town, closer to the Watertower as they searched for Garnet. Steven, Connie, Peridot, Twilight, Sadie, and Lars all were off and trying to find the fusion in question. They may be tired from the fight, but things could've been a lot worse, and they were hoping the worst of it didn't happen to either Ruby or Sapphire. Twilight, being the only one in the group that could fly, served as the eyes up in the air for any sign of her, as the rest took their look along the ground. She did land eventually to join them on the ground, but didn't have much luck.

"Must've took a lot to make that fusion freak out. She's always so calm," Sadie said, as she tried to find her passed some bushes.

"Garnet! They all left, you can come home!" called Steven. But nothing showed. Wherever Garnet was, she was either completely gone, or just wasn't up to talking. Both options were too odd for her, even with all she did lately.

"Again?" Connie said. And sure enough, with a rustling from the bushes, a familiar little kitten came on out. She must've slipped away when Smoky Quartz came out, and she stopped briefly to see them, one blue eye open and looking to them.

"You okay, little guy?" Steven asked. The kitten went right up to them, meowing all the while, and almost as if it was going back and forth between them and the bush, as if confused.

"Oh, you poor thing. Maybe Fluttershy can help you," Twilight said, ready to pick up the poor kitten. However, the cat then began to go off, running off into the bushes again where it came from. And it was then that they started to hear more meowing from more kittens. Was there more cats nearby?
Steven and Connie looked into the same bush the kitten came from, and there they were. The one eyed kitten wasn't the only one: four other kittens were with her. A orange striped one, a black tabby, a sleeping white kitty, and a speckled tomcat. Five kittens all alone, nothing but an empty tin can. It was both cute, yet sad, to find them all here.

"Oh, Steven, there's more of them," Connie said, saddened by the sight of the meowing kitten, the black tabby trying to find any scraps inside the can, only to find nothing.

"I know, but we can't leave these kittens. Look at them," Steven said. Peridot, Sadie, and Lars looked themselves and had a similar reaction to seeing the kittens. Well, Sadie and Peridot did, Lars tried to be a bigger man for this situation.

"Deal," Connie replied. The kittens weren't going to go anywhere anytime soon. Well, that's what they thought, but as if the one-eyed kitten knew who this Garnet was, she jumped up again, and began to move away, this time in a different direction. She stopped and meowed a little bit, making sure the others saw her, before she began to move off again. The group followed her through a patch of foliage, and -

Garnet, back together, was sitting quietly nearby the Watertower, the one-eyed kitten seemingly trying to either get them to her, or Garnet to them. Either way, the fusion did end up noticing them after a little bit, turning to them.

"Hello everyone … sorry for worrying you like that," Garnet said, as the kitten moved on back and letting them see her.

"No, no, it's okay, at least you're alright. We thought the Tindalos might've got you," Sadie said. Garnet felt a shiver run through her, but before they could ask what, the one-eyed kitten actually had Steven's pant leg in her mouth, the kitty tugging onto it to bring them back to the other cats. This wasn't just simple playing, she wanted their help.
Pretty soon, they were back by the same bush again, Garnet sitting back, as they started to check in on the cats.

"Who knows what would've happened to them if we didn't find them," said Steven, as he began handing the cats over to the others. "Everything's gonna be fine, we gotcha. … Here's the last one - no, wait." Steven then reached down for the last kitten, the one-eyed one in particular. Sadie, Lars, Twilight, and Garnet each had one cat at this point. Steven took a moment to think, and considering he had at least some idea on why Garnet was acting the way she did, he spoke first.

"Ok, I think we gotta stop being random, and figure out what we can do for these kittens. Garnet, can you use your future vision? what should we do next? … Garnet?"

"I-It's too much. Ok, can you focus on one? What's this one's future?" Twilight asked, levitating the one-eyed cat up front so Garnet could focus. Garnet had reached her breaking point.

Now it was out. Garnet couldn't keep it to herself any further, not anymore. The group around her were left a bit stunned by this answer. Sure Garnet had been thrown for a loop before, but she never admitted this. She truly didn't know.

"Garnet?" Twilight asked. Garnet was quiet as she sat there. As if her voice had finally gave the greenlight, the rain only then started to come down.

"No, not that. So much has happened. White Diamond taking the Crystal Temple. Pearl going missing on the Space Station. And now with these Tindalos. The future that was created grown so improbable, I didn't see any of it coming at all. And now I don't have any idea where this timeline's going." Garnet paused for a bit as the rain continued to come down around them. She then brought her fingers down into the dirt, starting to make out a path as if it were a tiny stream.

"Timelines always flowed in rivers, streams, all going in some sort of direction I can work with. They can take a sharp turn, sure, but if I wanted to go in one direction, I simply steered the ship down a bend in the path and it would flow in that way, with no trouble at all." Garnet explained this, her fingers making another path in the ground off from the main timeline. However, the rain made that stream overflow, branching off sporadically. "... But now we're trapped in a ripple of time, going off and flowing to who knows where. ..."
This was a bit of a odd analogy to put it in, but presentation made them all understand as Garnet looked off to Beach City and the Crystal Temple.

"This is nothing new for you, though. You couldn't have predicted ALL of those adventures we've gone through, could you? Those fusions, the mystical creatures -"

"Stop." Garnet suddenly said, hand raised up. Peridot did so, but it still didn't really make Garnet feel much better. "The future we've gone through already may have been more erratic. But it still had a sense of direction. The improbability of any Alicorn, Pegasus, Unicorn, even Earth Pony, to step out of their world and into our own was probably the most improbable event that could've happened. But even then, there was still a flow in which our timeline would follow." Garnet looked over to Peridot.

"And you. I saw so many probable futures aiming to Sapphire losing her life after her capture by White Diamond. I knew Ruby would be devastated afterwards. So while I couldn't save Sapphire from White Diamond, I thought I could at least make sure that Ruby had someone else to look to. …"
Peridot stayed quiet especially on this: her training with Ruby, her and Ruby left together at Homeworld, Sapphire isolating herself with her with Ruby. … Peridot, while flustered, got back to the situation.

"Ok, you saw those, you still can see where we're going now. … Right?" Peridot asked. Garnet looked off to the clouds above her.

"I thought it did. But none of my future visions prepared me for what happened with White Diamond. The second time, not the first time, I saw that. … It's so hard for me to exist in the first place. I want to love being alive, I want to love that there're so many possibilities … but I'm the one with this ability, so all of you look to me for answers. I have to be the guide. … I thought that if I could work this timeline into improbable futures, I could be better prepared for the next big change. I could better help everyone, better help you …" Amongst the raindrops, they actually began to note some tears coming down her face.

"But I don't know what I'm doing, I can't stand it! I can't tell what's probable anymore! Anything could happen! Anything could happen to these cats!" Garnet cried, showing the cats in her arms, them all meowing in response. Garnet was broken. None of them could guess on what they were seeing would be true: such a level-headed, calm and caring leader broken down and almost paranoid. Garnet wasn't ready for this. She wasn't ready for anything. One of the tiny kittens started to move over towards Connie, meowing a little bit. She went down and picked up the little guy. They all took a look to eachother as Garnet simply sat there, and Twilight stepped forward.

"Just because you can't prepare for some of these things, it doesn't mean it makes you a bad person. We can't be perfect all the time," Twilight said.

"It isn't about being perfect. How am supposed to -" Garnet stopped when Peridot got her hand over her mouth.

"How's this: instead of worrying over what could happen, why don't we just pick one thing we want to happen and … do that?" Peridot asked.

"Yeah, just like how you did when we built that Galactic Ray," added Steven, "You saw that one vision and worked so hard to make it happen, I don't think I've ever seen you so determined before. So what is it you wanna happen now?" Steven added in. Garnet paused for a minute, and the only sounds they heard aside from the tapping rain, is the meowing of the kittens.

Next thing she knew, she looked up, and saw a small forcefield being made around them, enough to make the rain stop coming down on them, thanks to Twilight Sparkle. The kittens were out of the rain. What Twilight asked next simply left Garnet smiling.

Meanwhile, Starlight glimmer and Trixie were still trying to clean up the bit of mess. It was a bit of a long time, a bit harder thanks to the rain, but it was still something that had to be done by someone. Trixie wasn't enjoying it at all, but at least she had someone else helping her out as the time was going along. Starlight levitated a street light back in place as Trixie swept up some broken glass.

"Worst. Day. Ever," Trixie groaned, trying not to get too wet in the rain. She didn't have a method to make a shield to get the rain off like Starlight did nearby.

"Don't beat yourself up too much, Trixie, these things happen. And we got to pay for it one way or another," Starlight said.

"Easy for you to say: you enslave an entire town and you got to become Twilight's student because of it," Trixie said, unimpressed, as she knocked her hoof on some debris, cringing from the pain.

"And deal with a VERY, VEEERY long discussion with the princesses afterwards. And deal with the guilt," Starlight said. How could she forget the troubled talk with Celestia and Luna after she got back around. she could go over it from heart by now.

"Yeah. real horrible," Trixie groaned. That sounded like a cakewalk compared to this. Starlight trotted off a little bit to handle some more debris, putting them in one of the town's garbage cans (whichever wasn't wrecked, that is). The humans were gonna come back around soon, so they had to get most of this handled. During this, Starlight went down found an empty can off in between one of the buildings, and trotted down to get it. She could use it to get this handled.

Starlight's ear flicked, both up and at attention on the noise. A bit of a casual voice for what had just happened to the town. The Unicorn turned around and found that another Tindalos was suddenly behind her! This one looked a bit different though from the other Tindalos they've seen. He looked a bit smaller, the size of a regular Pony, no splits on his jaws, and he didn't look as intimidating as the other Tindalos before him. Starlight turned to face the Tindalos as the hound started to walk forward. Starlight began to glow her horn.

"Don't come any closer," Starlight warned. And surprisingly, the Tindalos stopped moving.

"Is this close enough?" the Tindalos asked. So the voice was from the hound then.

"Eh ... yeah, just stay there," Starlight simply said. So the Tindalos did. Strange, but Starlight wasn't gonna drop her guard just yet, especially after the fight she had just been involved with.

"I can see why," the Tindalos said, looking over the Unicorn from where he was. Starlight slowly started to calm down a little bit.

"My friends call me Sniper," the Tindalos answered. Pretty casual of him to answer like that. Sniper took a step forward, but Starlight backed up a few more steps.

"Now, don't blame me. I didn't choose my parents. Neither did you," Sniper stated. Starlight began to relax a little more, the Unicorn looking to the adolescent Tindalos, the hound looking a bit more humble.

"So you're a Tindalos, too?" Starlight asked. Sniper moved closer to her, but Starlight didn't really force him away this time.

"Feel like one. By the by, had you happen to see a Tindalos pack go by here? Sure looked like they did to me," Sniper asked, looking at what damage they've left to everything in Beach City. Both pony and dog flinched when they both heard a nearby sign fall to the ground, the sign having a few notable bite-marks, and even a tooth in it left behind.

"They've ... been and gone. Don't know where they went," Starlight admitted, though she wasn't sure if telling Sniper about what was going on was the best idea, not in the town's shape.

"We're starving!" Sniper stated, "My homeland is very low on food lately, barely a scrap anywhere. I've already spent days trying to find some sort of prey, and when I finally come back with something ... well, I don't know what happened. Some light suddenly opened up and everything was crazy trying to get to it. I don't know why." Starlight had to really ponder about this one, though she really wasn't sure how, or what, even happened. Equestria and Earth was one thing, but what world did the Tindalos come from? They weren't from Earth clearly, and Equus didn't see such creatures before either.

"Where did you come from?" Starlight asked. Admittedly the question went out faster than she could process it in her head. Sniper turned back to Starlight.

"My pack just calls it our homeland. Now that I've took a jump here, I can see why they'd be so driven. So much game to hunt here," Sniper noted.

"Game? Your pack was everywhere; they've attacked Beach City, they've nearly slaughtered my friends!" Starlight stated.

"D-DAD?!" Starlight gasped. Scary enough seeing a Tindalos again, even more so seeing the son of the pack leader. Sniper nodded.

"Yeah. He's been in charge of my pack in particular for a good while," Sniper said casually, as if it wasn't some big news, or anything new.

"Oh. … Well, if it makes you feel any better, they didn't uh … end any of them."

"You mean kill. Good, I guess," Sniper said, starting to trot on out into the street, sniffing the ground for some scent. It wasn't easy though with the rain coming down. Starlight felt a shiver run through her, though was a bit intrigued that the Tindalos was so casual about it.

"Yeah. He's a bit hard-headed, but he's still my father. And well ... I think it would've been better. For him. You know what I mean?" Sniper explained. Starlight wasn't sure what kind of creature she was talking to. Nopony had to handle life the same way this hound had if he could talk like this so casually. As if it was nothing more than an everyday thing.

"I don't know. ... Listen, I'm sorry about driving the pack off, but they would've taken out everyone else otherwise. The Gems weren't going to stand for that."

"Ah. The Harmony Gems. I've heard about that: you all swear to protect one another," Sniper stated. Well, not exactly the right namesake for it, but he got the main idea down right, so Starlight nodded as correct.

"They've been protecting Earth for thousands of years, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't stop for your sake."

"Point taken. Well in that case, there's no point in staying any longer. You know where my pack even "been and gone" to?" Sniper asked once more.

"I ... don't ... know?" Starlight shrugged. They disappeared as crazily and mysteriously as they came, so who knows where they were now? Sniper sighed, and aimed his snout to the air, sniffing a little bit.

"Well, you can't get anything standing around. Have a good day." and with that, Sniper began running towards a corner, and disappeared from within it, leaving the Unicorn alone again. Some food for thought.

~~~~~~

Now back in town, the group had gotten themselves out of the rain as Garnet wanted, and gotten themselves over to a safer place for these kittens to stay at for the time being. Kept inside a cardboard box, they got them over in Vidalia's garage, the women happy to let them stay in the place. With everything calmed down at this point, the residents were starting to head back home, Vidalia already back with her family altogether, and Twilight got fluttershy to come over to help out the kittens for a bit. Peridot, Sadie, and Steven were keeping an eye on the kittens themselves as Connie was making the phone call, one cat sitting on a counter next to her.

"Good news everyone. The shelter has a foster program: they can pick up the kittens tomorrow," Connie announced.

"Look at you all. Anyone need to use the bathroom? Make a phone call?" Steven offered, a gentle hand reaching into the box, which one kitten started to lick. It sure was a nice thing to see, Fluttershy gently stroking a little kitten in the head. There was nothing as innocent as a cute kitten, even if one had one eye. The one-eyed cat began to get a little nervous when Peridot reached in.

"Why's this one so skittish still? We just brought her here, she shouldn't be scared," Peridot wondered. Connie sat down next to her.

"Peridot, you keep reaching for her blind side. Here, watch me," Connie said, gently reaching out her hand so the kitten could see her. The one-eyed kitty cat took a minute to sniff the hand, before she actually started to warm up, rubbing her head in Connie's hand. Connie gently rubbed the kitten's head with her finger, the cat purring all the while. Peridot slowly brought her hand out next, this time so the kitten could see. This time, the kitten meowed and licked Peridot's hand. Peridot's eyes twinkled at the accomplishment.

"Why my Future Vision's been so off. I have to change the way I think about you. You and all the other humans that live here."
It was a intriguing statement for Garnet to say, as a little kitten pawed its way out of the box, over by Garnet, who in turn rested the little creature in her lap.

"I do. However, I always saw humans worried about what we deal with: the corrupted Gems, and recently the mystical creatures. I look into the futures that show humans scared and vulnerable against these situations, and for us as the Crystal Gems to come in and handle the situation for them."
Well this sure sounded a bit prejudice of her, but Garnet was quick to continue before they could put a word in, with a smile on her face as she gently stroked the cat in her lap.
"But that's not true at all. … When we all were captured by White Diamond again, I thought for sure that it was the end for all of us. But then you came in and changed all that: Connie. Sadie. Laramie. Jamie. Even Onion and his friends. You all came together and used your own natural abilities, and force of will to save all of us. … And that's not the only factor I've neglected."

"Steven. I've been looking into probable futures where you act like a child. I keep expecting you to run from responsibility and to turn to me for help, but you don't do that anymore. The futures that lack those factors aren't probable at all. There's nothing wrong with this timeline, or my Future Vision. I just have to factor in that humans brings are as adaptable a race as any. And Steven … I also have to factor in, that you've grown up." and she ended her statement with lending the small kitten back to Steven.

"I guess I have," Steven said with a humbled chuckle. In a way, they've all grown up in some way. "But that's because I'm trying to be more like you. You always know what to do."

"Not always." … she said as she lifted her hand to catch one of the kittens, who which jumped off the nearby counter. "Ok. Most of the time."
Garnet placed the one kitten back into the box, but then her eyes went back to the one-eyed kitten again, looking up to her. Garnet smiled, and decided on one choice.

"It is now. Besides, I miss having someone cute and vulnerable to take care of. I think I'll call her "Steven"."

Good enough for their books, as Nora purred contently with Garnet gently petting her. Welcome to the team.

"What, you're adopting one?" Vidalia asked with a smile. "Too bad I couldn't get her in your portrait. Which I've finished, by the way."

And the two were more than happy to keep it. That, and their newest member to the team.

"It's as I was told. … This is getting problematic. Time Jumper. Quetzalcoatl. Mushussu. The Lost One. And now this. But they're still not all here yet. … There's no choice. I must speak to them all personally."

My Little Universe: Season 7

by EquestrianKirin

A Promise is a Promise