With the echoing call of the vulture, the open expanses of the Equestrian Badlands welcomed the morning. Even in the cool months of winter, the plains were left with dry grass and sandy landscape. Not a drop of water within miles, unless frost counted that is. The lone chickenhawk flew off for some morning rabbits with the rising sun. No better time for a small animal to go out than in dawn, though the bird itself found one extra visitor traveling along the open, dry plains.
And much of them came in through a portal key-enhanced door. Curious, but wary, the vulture kept its distance as the newcomers came through, starting with Applejack. The orange mare took a good look around the place, seeing nothing much except for the desert shrubs and of course the perched bird not too far off.

And out came Ruby, jumping through the portal, and landing on her feet. The outfit the red Gem had had that of a standard cowboy: a cowskull gold belt, ten-gallon hat, reddish bandana, cowboy coots and all. The Gem was SO READY for the wild, wild west of Equestria, and with the crack of the whip in her glare, she marched right on out like a true cowboy: legs spread and ready to draw at any moment. She'd heard of ol' Appaloosa before, and of course Canter Creek, but if Ruby was gonna get down in the true wild west, she wanted all of it with no cushioning. The Badlands were just the ticket, and Ruby approved it all when she checked the world around her.
And as with any outings of this nature, she didn't come alone: Pinkie Pie came too, alongside Lapis and Steven. Two ponies, three Gems, and one great land of western potential - just as Ruby wanted. Looking off to the badlands, Lapis pulled off the "$5.00" tag from Ruby's outfit (Fillydelphia's costume shop had A LOT of outfits when they bought the box), and when Ruby took a moment to fully take in the true level of western landscape, she pulled out the Daring Do comic from her hat, taking note of the cowboy pony within it.

"Ah. The open range. Least you understand me, ol' bell," Ruby said, both reading off the comic and throwing in her own kind of "western accent". The picture here showed the cowgirl pony with her "steed" in the form of a dairy, brown-splotched cow. A different twist on it, but that was still a point not met just yet.

"Steed, eh? Hmm …" Ruby tried to figure out what would work. They surely didn't have any cows to work with, but soon her gaze slowly turned to Pinkie and Applejack …

"Don't even think about it, Ruby," AJ said, deadpan and up front. A Equestrian pony never liked being treated like an "Earth" pony, so that idea was off the table.

"Whelp, looks like this rider's riding with no ride … walking, that is," Ruby said, keeping the serious cowgirl tone to it all. Even the vulture perched nearby on some dead tree found this tone as stupid as it was funny, but none of them wanted to dull her down yet.
So "walking" is exactly what they did from there. Much of the land all around them had three words to describe it: arid, open, and unforgiving. They did call this place the Badlands for a reason, and everywhere they looked it was exactly that. Ruby felt though that this was just the place, and took lead of the pack with vigor.

"So this is the Badlands. What happened to all of the snow? Did the Pegesi miss this place?" Lapis asked, flying around a little bit much like Rainbow Dash would.

"Nope, the weather ponies don't go over here. It's not on their flight path, and there's a lot of scary things you can find here," Pinkie explained, matter-of-factly as she hopped along like the rabbits that roam these plains. They weren't too focused on the scary stuff though (in a bad way, that is), and they took a look over to Ruby, keeping her walk and looking around the world she brought herself to. Without ol' bell, she was just by herself.

"Yep. I sure reckon I do," Ruby replied. It was then Ruby stopped and looked up into the sky, seeing that same vulture flying around nearby, circling them as vultures tend to do. A carnivore in its own right, with all the patience of time itself for a meal to fall. Ruby, keeping the cowgirl look, whipped out her "trusty iron" - it was just her pointed finger - and aimed it directly at the bird. The vulture looked a little puzzled, but it did stop circling, and landed by another tree. She blew the non-existent smoke from her trusty finger, and began walking again.

"Not to be a yellowbelly about this, but we don't even have a map. I think we're just gonna get ourselves lost," Steven pointed out.

"No problem, we got our magic tickets to pop right back. OH, reminds me -" Pinkie quickly opened up a portal with her own key and rushed right through it, just to pop back seconds later with a "picnic batch" of fresh cupcakes. "Who wants country-style cupcakes?!"

"I never needed charity. Besides, I already am lost. That's why I came out here … to find myself," Ruby replied.

"... That's straight out of that comic, isn't it?" Lapis questioned. Applejack just shrugged as they continued on, now having a more enticing treat for any creature to try and snag. A better enticement for the vultures, which by now there was at least four to five now watching from the tree.
Their walk continued on with a bit less excitement, as much of the world around didn't really come up as anything as such. Nothing but the shrubs, rocks, and vultures really. In their walk though, they did find a good cluster of shrubs put together, something the vultures were a little wary of and didn't try to go near. They didn't look to be like a single shrub, but more like a whole bunch of them put into one pile.

"This is what I mean," said Ruby, "What's inside this pile of brush? I dunno. Sapphire ain't here to predict for me. Now's the chance to find out fer myself!"

"Oh Ponyfeathers!" Applejack gasped, galloping right to the bush, knocking a lot of the brush out of the way. "Ruby?!"
Ruby found herself staring down what easily looked like a endless pit, too dark to see the bottom. Ruby only avoided falling in completely from a small cliff edge along the wall of the dropoff, which she was keeping VERY close to.

"... WHOA! I had no idea this pit was here!" Ruby called. Lapis had the honor of flying in and getting Ruby out of there, the drop just too deep for any typical Gem to just climb out of.

"I almost fell down there … and … it was all my choice! YEE-HAW! INDEPENDENCE!" Ruby raced off in hype mode all over again. Some did smile, but this was a bit troubling to say the least. Steven felt some cold sweat on his face from seeing this, as e tried this once before, and it didn't really go too well for him. What kind of trouble would Ruby end up getting herself into? Lapis landed over by Steven.

"Sorry, it's just I've done this before and it didn't work well for me," Steven said, recalling his first (and as of now only) solo Gem mission. All that trouble with the mountain lion, corrupted Gem, and landscape itself was just reasons for Steven to worry over Ruby's own safety.

"Well, no offense, Steven. But, you're half-human, she's not. Maybe it might be … easier for her?" Lapis did not want to sound bias or anything, but Steven understood what was what. He'd seen Ruby fight before many times, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad for her.

"No, it's cool. Come on, partner," Steven simply said with a smile, throwing his own western accent for that last bit. Ruby continued running on ahead of them like an excited child, the group keeping up with her during her thrill. The vultures were aside watching the whole thing, one of which flew off away.

So after Ruby's first brush with her doom, they continued on exploring the vastness of the Badlands. Kinda hard to really say where exactly they were going all too much, but with their portal keys to get them off back home, it really wasn't going to be that much trouble. Despite that though, Applejack, Lapis, and Steven kept a bit of a better eye out around the place. None of them had ever truly been in the Badlands before, but as one read up on it while Twilight had her golden oak library, and one through pure gossip alone in family ties, it was no surprise that nopony would go out here. No plants to be had (not plentiful anyway), and what they could find didn't look all that friendly at all. Flying above their heads, the vultures were well kept in keeping up with them too. Even if they could only eat three of the five, it was still better than zero, and good enough for them to keep up.

In their travels, they found themselves a small watering hole to take a pitstop at. It wasn't anything like the Ponyville pond, only about three feet at the deepest, but it was still clear as crystal, and cool to the tongue as they stopped for their picnic. Or least, it ended up being that way when Pinkie brought out a typical red and white checkered blanket, and began passing around the treats to everyone. The vultures of course kept close, finding a perch on a rock formation nearby. A bummer they were actually eating said cupcakes though, so the easy answer was out.

"W-Wow," Lapis said after taking a bite of the cupcake. "Oh, cupcake, where have you been?"
It'd been WAY too long since she last had a bite of one of these.

"I was going to save them for a "welcome back from your depressing separation" party, but I'll make another batch for that too," Pinkie said, before popping a cupcake into her mouth like a piece of candy, which most likely was in one of the cupcakes anyway. After chewing her sweet, she glanced over to Ruby.

"I reckon," Ruby replied, drinking from the pool with her hand like any cowgirl would. Nothing in the comic said anything about cupcakes anyway. During this, another Vulture came back into the flock, making the others squawk and flutter a little bit. Steven went off to check in on Ruby from here.

"Maybe for you, but Ruby Rider doesn't need help from anybody," Ruby made clear, wiping some stray water from her face. This was mostly to keep up with her persona of "lonesome tough gal" much like Daring Do and the cowgirl in the story of hers. In fact, that same line was straight from the comic's earlier pages. Ruby made one jump right across the small pool, landing on a tall rock, and looked out to the landscape ahead. All untamed wilderness, and it was all waiting for her.

Though, it would seem that the danger was trying to find her. The vibrations were enough to knock Ruby off her rock, the vibrations getting louder and rougher. Eventually, the rumbling did stop, but they found themselves in … quite a pickle.

"Hey. Who said you can drink here?" asked a dry, rough voice. When Ruby looked up, she found her view met with the snout of a thirsty, and aggressive creature. A good snort from said animal got ruby jumping to her feet, just to find an entire herd of this creature now surrounding everyone! A herd of rhino. And one of them looked too happy to see them. The one talking to Ruby had a sort of scruffy, orange hair on his head, and actually had an ear missing, and a notable cut going along his snout.

"Oh … uh, howdy partner," Applejack said, moving over to Ruby. The rhino was unmoved.

"... Howdy," the Rhino said, unamused. "Now, I'll ask again. Who said you can drink here?" his kept his tone slow and forceful so each word can go into them. The vultures nearby began to find some amusement in their dilemma, watching in anticipation.

"That's what I thought. Now. I'm giving you all until the count of three to get out of here. This is our water," the Rhino made his point clear, marching closer to them until they were edge to the water. Ruby started to bring out her "cowgirl" self again.

"I don't think you know who you're dealing with," said Ruby, "I reckon you should move on before things get ugly."
Now if this were in the comic, it would drive the bandits off, but these Rhinos were NOT leaving. In fact, the leader marched even closer, pushing Ruby back with his mighty thick horn.

"Tough talk from a half-pint like you," the Rhino growled. Ruby suddenly didn't feel so confident in herself.

"I can take them, Steven," Ruby whispered back, tipping her hat. Re-gathering herself, she looked daggers in the Rhino's eyes, but the Rhino was NOT intimidated at all.

"You lookin to start something? Unicorn?" Ruby warned, her hand lighting a fire in her palm. Now THIS should be enough to drive any animal off, but this Rhino still didn't budge, instead glancing at the others in his posse.

"Did that gremlin just call me a Unicorn?" he asked. All the other Rhinos gave a warning bellow, and as for the leader, he simply gave an inhale and -

A big, thick loogie. Right on her hand, the fire disappearing in a puff of smoke. Ruby suddenly was losing all her confidence now, the Rhino giving one last snort of warning.

"Say that again. And I'll be watching those buzzards pick your bones in the drying sun."
Even for someone who technically didn't have any bones, Ruby saw that the comic tactic just wasn't working for these guys. The rhinos began to move in on the water, getting their drink, but some of the rhinos also forced the others aside and dined on the cupcakes Pinkie brought in, barely leaving a crumb.

"And what're you gonna do about it, cotton head?" one of the rhinos snorted, licking some of the icing off of his snout before tossing much of the stash to the other rhinos, including the boss. With some drinking and some eating, the remainder made sure to get the others moving. No one wants to fight with a herd of angry rhinos.

"Fine. We were going anyway," Ruby said, making it like they were going to do that, before going off on her way. The boss Rhino gave a good loud bellow to them before he too went off to get his own drink.

From there, it was mainly exploration through the Badlands. With the Rhinos satisfied for the time being, they at least didn't run into anymore trouble as such, though it did remind Ruby to at least watch her mouth around creatures like that, persona or no. A bit odd to find a herd of Rhino just wandering the Badlands, but there were far stranger and deadlier things to find in Equestria, so they didn't question it too much in their wandering around. They had their own fun throughout the day though, don't get them wrong: Ruby fended off a small rattlesnake amongst the badlands, easily spooked off with a draw of her finger much like the Vultures. The cowgirl even ended up getting a steed after all, as during a pitstop Pinkie agreed to give her a ride (albeit a wilder one). These were but a few of the things that Ruby Rider ended up doing, either basing it off of the comic she read, or just by chance. Surely the cowgirl pony in the comic didn't ride along a flying water Gem to help others across a ravine … though she didn't read that far into the comic yet.

The hours ticked on by, and eventually, almost before they realized it, Celestia's sun settled down across the horizon, and Luna's moon began to be raised into the sky ever so steadily. The dawn of the night had now fully engulfed the badlands. Well, one advantage of being a fire Gem is that making a campfire was no effort at all, and Ruby made a log burn a blaze just by holding it in her hand. She got a fire going in just under a minute, and lucky for them too good ol' Pinkie Pie got them some marshmallows for the fire instead. It was something. As some were nibbling on those, Ruby was actually doing another little pastime: tuning a guitar brought to her by AJ's farm. Authentic as it was a nice tune.

"This is more like it. A nice warm fire out in the countryside, and some delicious marshmallows for a good snack," Steven said, roasting his.

"It isn't a campfire without marshmallows, that'd be weird," Pinkie agreed, popping it into her mouth after it was roasted good.

"Darn tootin'! All day, facing Rhinos, fending off a deadly snake, doing what I wanna do, without thinking about what - well, you-know-who would've wanted. For the first time … I'm feeling like a free Gem," Ruby explained, taking one marshmallow and eating it up without missing a tune on her guitar.

That sure sounds like a song cue.

This ol' Ruby Rider …
Is Ruby ridin' alone.
she's a sturdy …
solitary stone.

The music rang out in the air all around them, and Ruby's friends began to get into it. Heck, even the Vultures, who were on a tree nearby, started to nod to the beat of the song. It was kinda hard not to at least get into the beat. Ruby got up, and began to pace around with the song.

This ol' Ruby Rider …
Not a fusion no more.
Now the dirt, and the dust, and the danger is my new home!

At this point, Ruby made a backflip onto a tall rock by the fire, continuing the song as if the rock was her own stage.

I used to think I would always be by your side
But lately you've been (Lapis+Applejack+Steven: oooooooo)
Rather cold. (Vultures: aaaahhhhh)
One look in your eye, can make an honest Gem cry
but Ruby Rider don't need no one to hold!

Ruby took a seat on the rock, whistling the tune as everyone (and everything apparently). Seeing this though, Steven actually started to calm down. He'd been worried sick most of the day, but up to this point, his fear of Ruby getting into trouble had slowly faded off away.

"Wow. She's really getting into this," Steven said.

"I'll say. I just taught her how to play that ten minutes ago," AJ replied.

"No, not that, I mean the whole "cowgirl alone" thing. She looks really … happy."

And indeed she did. most of the time they would see her she was either stressed out, or in a sparring match with Peridot during training. Here, she was at pure bliss with herself, pure joy.

This ol' Ruby Rider …
Is Ruby ridin' alone.
she's a sturdy …
solitary stone.

Yee-haw.

The night, at least for the next few hours, remained pretty much undisturbed. Luna's moonbeams gently stretched across the badlands, much of the group now asleep. The only exceptions to this rule was Lapis Lazuli and Ruby, mainly because the two didn't need any sleep to begin with. Steven, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were well asleep, passed out on the ground by the remains of the fire. Ruby stayed up on her rock, and Lapis stayed over by the others, looking up at Luna's sky. All those sparkling stars, twinkling and shining in the night like the Diamonds she once devoted her existence to. She reached out towards them, but then saw that her one hand was free of any gemstone. A bit odd for her, since much of the time she would see -

And she made a mental slap for reminding herself of her again. She was a LONE rider, why was her mind drifting back that way again? Well, there was one thing she could do, and she hopped off of her rock to do it without waking the others up before looking to the comic again. It took her skimming through a few pages until she found the cowgirl pony marching off away from Daring Do into the night.

"I don't need no nightlight to get back. I can find my way home in the dark," Ruby said, though mostly this was to herself as she began to march off on her way. The situation was kind of a double-edged sword: one hand she could see for miles in the dry landscape. On the other than, she could be seen for miles in the dry landscape. Day time in the badlands was a bit of a rough time enough, but now with the nighttime skies instead of daytime skies, vision was not at best. The dead trees and their shadows was messing around with Ruby's own eyes and imagination. She would see a branching shadow for example, and would think something completely different was just close by.

Ruby spun around, fists ready for an attack, but felt more at ease when it was just Lapis Lazuli and Steven landing nearby. Guess her attempt to go it alone didn't go unnoticed.

"Yeah, it's us. So, where's "Ruby Rider" going?" Steven asked, walking over to her.

"Just passin through," Ruby replied. She took a few steps, but then Lapis actually nudged Steven. There was a bit more needed to be said, and it was Steven who wanted to say it.

"... Hey, Ruby? … You know, I got really scared, when you said you didn't want to fuse with Sapphire anymore. I thought I was gonna lose someone I cared about … but after today, seeing you having so much fun "buckerooing". It really suits you. Sorry for trying to push you back into being Garnet."

OH STARS WHY?! Ruby felt a sting in those words, even if Steven didn't mean to. Garnet: a fusion of love and perfection, and the idea that … that …

"Well," sighed Lapis, "We're going to head back in the morning. Do you want to come back with us, or would you rather stay here?"
Ruby honestly didn't consider that much just yet. She didn't have any portal key herself, and she honestly didn't know where the Badlands exactly was in Equestria. These were but minor concerns though.

"I'm gonna hang out here! Earth's fun and all, but Equestria's got the true danger and thrill I need," Ruby concluded.

"Well, I'm not going to deny you of your calling, Ruby," Steven replied, giving Ruby a goodbye hug. Ruby began to head off for a little bit more, but before she could go too far …

"... Eeehhh … since we're not gunna see eachother fer a while … wanna go out fer one last hurrah?" Ruby asked. It was a question Ruby tried to make natural and casual. Ruby just wasn't as used to being completely on her own yet, so, what was the harm for a midnight stroll? Steven looked to Lapis Lazuli with hopeful eyes, and Lapis just couldn't refuse.

"I'll tell Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Have fun, beach buddy," Lapis said, playfully fluffing Steven's hair before flying away to rejoin AJ and Pinkie. Well, it was just Steven and Ruby now, and the whole world off to who knows where? Whelp, Steven wasn't so tired, and Ruby was ready to take on the land, so both started to go right off into the wild, all the while the Vultures nearby taking some very big intrigue in this.

And their answer came in the form of some rustling. Ruby and Steven both stopped on hearing that noise, and looked on ahead to see … some creature. It looked like some quadruped, but what kind exactly was a bit hard to make out. Even with the full moon out and no clouds, it still looked a bit obscure. Just as the two had their curiosity peaked, the creature turned and rushed away.

"Too easy. After that mystery thing! Yee-haw!" Ruby decided, already rushing off after the mystery creature. Heck, it was something to do in this place, and Ruby was dead set on getting into some adventure. As the two went off after that, neither had noticed the snickering Vultures nearby.

The mad dash lasted a good ten minutes at most, non-stop running after this mysterious animal that seemingly kept just far enough ahead to keep from sight, but not too far to lose them. Ruby was stoked on this little game of catch, determined to get a good view of this animal as Steven was just trying to catch up with her. It was a bit of a short notice idea, but there was no stopping Ruby. They were so focused on chasing after this thing, they didn't take much time to notice the change in landscape, going from the open plains to more rock outcrops and hillsides, not too uncommon to that of a kindergarten.

"Why're we doing this?!" Steven yelled, not getting much response from Ruby. The creature eventually ducked out of sight all of a sudden, and Ruby was just about to reach it when -

"Aahh!" Ruby suddenly jumped back. It was just so sudden, and so quick, but it felt like her hand was suddenly glitched and warped, as if she just touched the sharp end of a Destabilizer! It was the instinctual fear of getting killed on the spot that finally made Ruby stop altogether, and they finally checked over what they ended up in.
Steven and Ruby were on a cliffside, looking out to another, more barren area of the Badlands. not a single tree, shrub, even root was left around the place, and in the center of the valley, looked to be some sort of formation. It looked like Blue Diamond's palace, or the Crystal Empire palace if it was burnt to a crisp. A single tower, even more dead than the trees they've been seeing, and they both could hear a very faint humming. It was vaguely similar to Steven's static TV.

"Oh my stars," Ruby gasped. she wanted adventure, and this SURELY looked to be it. Steven tried jogging his memory, he could've sworn there was something about this he had seen before in one of Twilight's books, but he just couldn't quite put the finger on it.

Ruby still wanted to check it out though, but she felt more wary. she reached out with her free hand again, and as before she felt a strong glitch on her finger. This was a specific boundary set for this effect. Right passed the very cliff edge they were standing on, she would start to glitch out. Steven checked himself, and while his body didn't glitch exactly, he still found that his hand had those similar-looking yellow veins in it, again, similar to that of the Gem destabilizers, or those prison fences Homeworld would use to house criminal Gems.

"This is weird. Are we by a homeworld base?" Steven said. He could never get used to such effects.

Visitors. Ruby and Steven looked around the night landscape, and soon began to see something come over to them. These creatures weren't anything like they've seen before in a specifics sense: a set of strange, pony-like creatures coming from the same direction as the formation. They looked like ponies, but they were more insect than equine: holed legs, fangs in their mouths, bug-like wings and eyes, and blackish skin. Both of these figures flew right over to them to investigate, ruby standing in between Steven and the creatures.

"Palace? What palace?" Steven asked. One of them pointed his hoof to the formation.

"Right over there. We've hadn't had visitors in years, so good you could come by. The queen would love to meet you," he insisted. They did seem like a very friendly lot, but Ruby tipped her hat.

"Sure! You're one of the Crystal Gems, right? We've heard A LOT about you. Please at least come in and say hello." and for some extra measure, both creatures gave a sort of "puppy eye" expression with a curved lip. Ruby and Steven looked to one another.

"OH, that's just the forcefield. Here, we gotcha," the creature cut in. And suddenly, both creatures began to glow their horns and aim a magic beam at her, suddenly turning her from red to green. It was very quick and out of nowhere, and before she and Steven could react properly, she was lifted off the ground, and flown off near the boundary line. When brought through though, she didn't glitch out this time, the magic keeping her from doing so.

"Well, that's fixed," Steven shrugged, before being lifted off the ground himself.

Well, the two were going places all of a sudden. Steven and Ruby flew on through the area, and while Steven basically turned striped from being in the area, he stayed together and quickly grown used to the odd feeling. The two didn't even let them walk, generous enough to fly with them holding onto their hooves. They couldn't be too bad if they were this generous though, so they didn't fight it. Still the main question remained: who, or what, were these guys? And for that matter, why were such nice creatures out in the Badlands?

"Uh, we're going pretty high. Think you can bring us down, pilot?" Steven asked, seeing that they were at least three stories high at this point. However, it was at this point when the creatures just stopped listening, and instead of dropping them, they flew straight into one of the holes of the "palace". Only when brought in did the two begin to feel their hooves start to slip.

"Uh, w-wait, too high! Too high, captain! HEY!" Steven's words were met with deaf ears, and both creatures released them! Ruby and Steven screamed as they fell, their yelps echoing throughout the palace. Both braced for impact with the ground, but … it didn't come? Re-looking, they were suddenly floating. Suspended in mid air, just inches from the ground. Ok, that happened. Ruby and Steven were placed upright by this magic aura, but were still dropped.

"Ow. Still hurts, but less," Steven said, as he and Ruby got a good look around the place. for a start, the area was crawling with numerous other members of this same species, all looking pretty much the same with some very faint distinct features for some. It was like the Equestrian version of a Gem type. One figure in particular, sitting on a throne of crocked, holed rock, was uniquely different from the rest of the hive. In a broad sense, she looked much like an insect version of an alicorn. She stood tall, Celestia's height, holes within her legs and wings. Her horn, crocked and bent like the branches of her kingdom. Her mane, smooth and silk like that of seaweed, and similar in color. Her eyes silted like a reptile, and just as cold-blooded. Her body rail-thin, to the point when she was practically a skeleton with skin.

"What do we have here?" she asked, her grin showing such sharp teeth, they could cut open her own muzzle, "More guests?"

"Just passing by, mam," Ruby said. The ruler just chuckled, before she fluttered towards them. Her wings didn't flap like those of the Pegasus they knew, but instead that of a dragonfly.

"Just passing by my kingdom? Big mistake," the queen hissed. All of her subjects, which surrounded them by this point, all snickered and hissed at them. The idea they'd be such a friendly and generous group was lost the second they showed this nature.

"To take my revenge of course!" she bellowed, right in their faces. That enough make Ruby and Steven fall back as she explained, "My kingdom was banished out to this horrid place by that precious, pretty Twilight and that lovey-dovey marriage. I had a buffet, and they just blasted all of us away from that perfect day. Twilight had her fun, keeping all that love to herself. But now, it's time we have our share. And when I have all of them, Equestria will be ours!"

"That didn't take much," Ruby whispered to Steven. They barely asked anything, and yet she was telling them her life story. The queen went over towards her throne again.

"... And now look who decided to visit? Two Crystal Gems: one having such an identity crisis, and the other can't decide if she wants to be alone."

"What's your first clue? The Rhinos, or the Vultures that followed you all day?" the queen mocked. just on cue, those same vultures flew in from the roof of the dark chamber, and once they landed, each vulture suddenly had a green flame around them, changing back into the same creatures that crawled all over the palace. This was … scary.

"Eh. I-I just remembered, we really have to get going, I have to help my dad clean Onion's scooter in the morning," Steven said, backing up.

"Y-Yeah, and I have to, uh, water my cat. So -" Ruby was cut off when the animals all hissed at them from behind, one nearly biting them. just leaving was out of the question.

"Oh please, I've spent weeks getting you all together, and all this handled, and I already lost one, I'm not losing you two," the queen said devilishly, as three of her subjects jumped them from behind. Ruby tried to raise her temperature, trying to burn them off her back, but nothing happened. Steven tried to get his shield up too, but again nothing happened.

"It's not working! Shield up! Shield up!" Steven said, trying over and over again. This just got the queen laughing.

"You're so naïve. No magic can work in my presence except for Changeling magic. So no shapeshifting, weapon summoning, or shield blasting in my throne room, okay?" she cooed. Well this was a danger.

"Shall I remove the Gem seal, my queen?" asked one of the Changelings. The queen shook her head.

"Not this time, I can't have fun with just a gemstone laying on the ground like the others. Just lock her up with that grub, and we'll get our invasion underway," she instructed.

"Invasion?! … Wait, grub?" Steven asked. But then the changelings tried forcing them on their way, but Ruby wasn't ready to go off yet.

"Hmm? OH YES, thanks for the reminder," the queen said. With a whistle, two particular Changelings walked out. One of them had the most unique look outside the queen: a purple back with a red thrill and tail, with purple eyes. The second looked the same as any other changeling but with a paler back and "greener" eyes.

"Yes, my lord," said Pharynx, giving a soldier's salute. Thorax just nodded. both Changelings knew what to do, and soon, ruby and Steven saw both of them change, and alter into an exact duplicate of themselves! Two Rubies and two Stevens in the same place. Suddenly it made more sense on what they were doing, and for that matter how they got so much information in the first place. The queen cringed on the appearance of them both.

"You could wait until you leave. but "Ruby", "Steven", you two better get back. Your friends should be missing you," the queen said, deliberately emphasizing their names for the changelings. Pharynx (as Steven), and Thorax (as Ruby), went right off on their way. Ruby and Steven could only watch as they left, and the other Changelings forced them away into the prisoner chambers.

My Little Universe: Season 7

by EquestrianKirin

Rogue Ruby