"Oh boy, oh boy, who knows what's in here?! Such artifacts from across the ages!"

On one morning for one pony, the day just got a bit brighter. Sunburst had been going about for a while since his last visit to the human world, and now back to his own home, he found a very nice barrel full of knickknacks and trinkets from good old Ponyville. Getting ancient objects mailed was always a great thing to have, and the eager unicorn wasted no time in getting the stuff up and out of the barrel. His eyes gleamed when he saw just what he could find in this barrel.

"Wow, I hit the motherload! The reading, the re-reading! *GASP* is that the Houyhnhnm's Guide to Magical Arcana?! I may have read this already, but oh, this is my lucky day!"

As giddy as a filly in a candy store, Sunburst was, especially when pulling out the book in question. He couldn't wait to get reading that book, but during his eagerness, his eyes looked further down into the barrel, and he began to check something else near the bottom. He was never a type to pass up any book ever, and he found an especially old book, the covers looking like stones, with a magical symbol on it. Being the eager wizard he was, he just couldn't resist.

"Alright, book, show me your secrets," Sunburst said, and soon he began to read it.

Dear Princess Celestia:

It had been a while since I've been giving you these, but I've heard word of the conflict back in Fillydelphia. I heard of how the Dragons, despite being so panned for being dragons by the police, stood up and helped save them from a burning building. Hearing this, I concluded that true friendship should not be limited just for species itself.

Starlight Glimmer's message was to point, though given how she wasn't even in Equestria for the moment, she had to wait it out until she would go back. Starlight, Pink Diamond, and Trixie took some time to return to Earth (in particular, the barn - main open place there was), and Trixie was handling some magic spells as Starlight wrote said letter. Not much of an audience was there aside from Pink Diamond, visiting Jade, and sulking Peridot stuck inside the barn, still in her box. She grown well enough to at least look outside the barn at the magic show Trixie was presenting.

"Ladies and Gentleman, the Great and Powerful Trixie will finish her performance for today with the legendary performance: The shooting stars of Mt Aris!" Trixie announced. This one was a pretty high-skilled move to accomplish, but not nearly as dangerous as other tricks in the past. Pink Diamond, Peridot, and Jade watched on as Trixie's horn began to glow. What came up next was a mix of "shooting stars" and a expanse of space swirling around above her head. Trixie focused as much as she could, letting the stars spin and circle above her head like a smooth serpent. Pink diamond was simply amazed on the sight she was seeing, and Jade herself was impressed, but Peridot was indifferent to the lightshow. The sky above Trixie's head spun and rotated at high speed until Trixie made a single beam right at the center, making it explode in a beautiful display of sparkles and stars, concluding the performance. Jade and Pink gave their applause, but Peridot didn't do too much. In fact, all she did do was flip the box around, and hid underneath said box.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't "practice" her acts. She "perfects" them," Trixie corrected, her hoof tossing her mane back for some dramatic flair.

"Oh, like how she "perfected" the art of royally screwing up her teleporting spell," Pink Diamond said smugly. Trixie flustered up.

"Even the mighty have their off-days," she replied meekly, pulling her hat over her eyes. She wouldn't be so full of herself if Jade and Peridot weren't nearby to hear them. Starlight just finished up her message by this point, and rolled up the scroll good and tight.

"Oh, I got this. Beach City's gonna have the best show they'll ever see! With some magic from the best assistant ever," Trixie said, hoof around Starlight. Trixie's act was pretty good, and Starlight can easily make it ten times better for the presentation. Trixie hoped it wouldn't be as risky as the Phoenix act she did for the diamonds, though she doubted sparkles would be life-threatening. Trixie, Starlight, and Pink Diamond began to go off, but as they were, they did take a glance over to the grumbling box in the center of the barn.

"Well, everyone of her friends did go away. …" Jade said. Pink rolled her eyes.

"So? I'm over it, and I'm supposed to be Pink Diamond! Why can't she get over it?" Pink asked, not considering her feelings all that much. She's still trying.

"Well, yeah, she's a Peridot, and I'm a - … Quartz. … stars, it's gonna be a while til I get used to it," Pink sighed. she may not mind now that she wasn't Diamond by cut, but being a quartz Gem still need something to get used to.

"Not literally," Starlight said, "Look, we're just gonna have to give her some more time. Amethyst and Steven already tried talking to her, and she just fell back here, so only time will tell."

"Well time better tell her soon, or she's gonna be stuck there. Come on, we got a presentation to perform," Trixie said, trotting off ahead to begin. Pink and Starlight followed her after one more look, but only one remained present, that being Jade. Seeing Peridot in such a slump like this was quite a rough sight to see, and once the trio was gone, and her all alone with the gem in a box, Jade decided to go over to her.

"Hmm. Well, I'll just talk to this lone box, then," Jade replied, sitting down next to the box. Peridot didn't even bother to stop her, only Jade's voice telling her what was up.

"Fine. Small, but fine," Peridot replied. Jade nodded and simply sat there. Peridot stayed huddled inside her box, the interior dark, and her not seeing too much outside of the cardboard surface and the wooden floor. Jade sighed.

"Peridot. … Can you come out, please? You shouldn't just lock yourself away like this."

"Come out to what? Everyone's gone, everyone else is too busy, and everyone else else would rather do their own thing! Just let me know when everything's back," Peridot griped, before dropping the box back over her head.

"But, you don't really think they'd want you doing this, would you? At least come outside," Jade said, lifting a corner of the box. Peridot grumbled again, but rather than actually getting out, she stood up, walked outside, and dropped down onto the grass, still inside her box. Well, she was outside … sort of.

"Jade, the team's completely gone overall. Honestly, I don't even know why you're here," Peridot admitted.

"Peridot, it's you and your friends who saved Flint's life from Tirek, and since then you gave us a home where no one else would. I've been living here, and I'm able to thanks to you, the least I can do is stay and support everyone how I can … even if I'm just dead weight."

"O-Oh, nothing," Jade said with a flustered face. "... They'll think better of it and be back."

There was some silence between Jade and Peridot, the dorito green Gem not forcing the seagreen Gem away, and letting her just sit there and keep her company. As they were sitting there, Peridot began to hear some sort of noise come towards the barn, but Peridot didn't exactly react all much, thinking it could either be the Off-Colors or Pink's crew coming back for whatever reason, she honestly didn't care anymore.

And what was the shush even for? she wasn't even planning on yelling. Peridot then found that someone actually grabbed her box, and lifted it up, revealing Peridot to the light outside in the winter snow. Peridot squinted from the light at first, but slowly her eyes began to adjust and then show her what was actually there.

Peridot needed a minute to understand who she was seeing. Bismuth. Lapis. Diopside. Jasper. They all had found eachother on the way here, and were now in front of them. They did say they'll come back around (though taking longer than expected). Peridot stayed quiet, blinking a few times to make sure this wasn't some trick. But nope, they were there. They were back …

She couldn't help it. Next thing they knew, Peridot rushed over, and threw herself right at them, Lapis Lazuli being the target for the oncoming, tight hug. Her tears were full of joy to finally see at least a good majority of the group come back. Jade went over with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Jade, long time no see. See someone's been missing us," Diopside said, looking over to crying Peridot.

"Glad to see you all too. And won't the others be surprised to see you again," Jade replied. Bismuth playfully fluffed Jade's hair, her own way of greeting.

"Don't worry, we're not going anywhere. Where's everyone else, anyway?" Jasper asked. Jade thought about it for a little bit.

"Well, Sapphire's back at the Temple … I think Amethyst and Steven are finishing up some more Gem missions, and … Twilight's been busy with the Cutie Map," Jade explained, working off what recent events she learned about. Peridot was going to be a bit before she too would calm down.

"Well let's get em all back together. I dunno about you, but I could go for a full group outing," Bismuth said. That did sound good on the surface, but that was when Jade kinda of gone quiet.

"Well, dang. Here, let's hook up with the others and we'll see where they ended up, K? Flint'll be happy to see is," Lapis said. Jade became completely silent by the mention of his name. sure, the others went off because of the whole Pink Diamond thing, but Flint …

"Ok, what happened?" Jasper asked. She knew the look all too well, she'd seen it enough times. Jade had to say something.

"I-I'll explain when we get everyone together. Come on, they can't be far away," Jade said, going off on her way. She wasn't afraid to tell them, but if she was going to tell them, she might as well get the others together first.

Starlight, Trixie, and Pink meanwhile were heading on their way in a simple walk towards Beach City. Without a Warp Pad directly to the temple, walking back was their main way to get to Beach City from the Barnhouse, as much as they'd prefer the former. Lucky for them though, Pink Diamond gave Trixie a ride on her shoulders (better than her attempting to teleport), and Starlight trotted alongside.

"It's not that far away. you gonna gripe the entire trip?" Pink asked, not enjoying it much herself.

"OH, easy for you to say, you could probably run around the world and not break a sweat," Trixie retorted.

"... Eh, probably," Pink shrugged. Pink Diamond could probably do that if she wanted to, but she wasn't in the mood to waste her time running in circles around the planet.

"Yeah. Hey, I wanted to ask you both something about that actually," Pink said, stopping for a little moment. Pink diamond placed Trixie down beside Starlight.

"As you two know, Blue Diamond's going to come by, eventually. And I'm planning to go home with her so … You two wanna come back with me?!" Pink's excitement took over on the last part, with a hopeful smile and stars in her eyes.
Starlight and Trixie didn't know what to say, completely flabbergasted by the question. One side had never even seen Homeworld before, and the other had some rougher experience with it in her history regarding White herself.

"Do you. Want to. Come with me back to Homeworld?" Pink Diamond repeated, her tone hoping they would accept her offer.

"Ehhhh … I don't think that's such a good idea. My last experience with homeworld wasn't all that great," Starlight admitted.

"Come on, it'll be great! Trixie, you've put on an amazing show for them in Ponyville, you can show them off back on Homeworld. "The Great and Powerful galactic Unicorn of the stars!" Pink Diamond said, hands out as if presenting the stage for them. Starlight wasn't gonna be the easy hit, but this persuasion did get Trixie herself interested a bit. That title sure sounded fancy on her.

"So you'll do it?!" Pink asked, down to her level with a big smile on her face. Trixie smugly grinned.

"I can work out a Homeworld show. The Great and Powerful Trixie's going beyond the stars!" Trixie announced, shooting some sparks from her horn. Starlight still wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but as her sparks were flying around them, one other new element was going to have to put this suggestion on hold for a while.

One of the sparks landed off behind a snow-covered shrub, and right on some sort of creature, the animal yipping and yelping from the sudden hit. Was Blue going nearby and got hit by mistake, or was it something else in that shrubbery? Starlight galloped over and took a look first, though it was Trixie looking over that said it first.

Laying in the snow, a oddly familiar face in the form of Sniper the Tindalos now presented himself in sight of the trio standing there. Trixie and Pink Diamond kept their distance, though Starlight was a little bit unsure when she saw him, the otherworldly canine rubbing his head where the sparkle landed apparently. Sniper got himself back together, seeing Starlight had found him.

"Oh. Hi," Sniper said, getting up, and meeting the three up front. Trixie looked ready to scream, but Starlight quickly got a forcefield around her head to block off the sound, just in case.

"Uh, h-hi. Are the others with you?" Starlight asked, getting that out of the way first.

"No, it's just me today," Sniper replied, before glancing to Trixie and asking "Oi. Is that your friend unicorn I saw in the town?"

"Well, yeah. This is Trixie, and Pink Diamond. Guys, this is Sniper," Starlight introduced. Pink Diamond was a bit reluctant to meet up with him, given how other Tindalos almost killed them before, as Trixie was still panicking in her forcefield.

"Suppose so. We had a brief chat before," Sniper replied, glancing to Starlight Glimmer. At this point Trixie stopped screaming, just staring in fear at the predator. Sniper moved over towards Trixie, Starlight alongside.

"Don't worry Trixie, he's a friendly Tindalos. Ok?" Starlight reassured. Trixie nodded her head, but she didn't remove the scared expression as the forcefield was removed. Sniper and Trixie just looked to eachother for a bit, Trixie unsure what to say, as Sniper tried to think a bit.

"Some of my folks said a unicorn teleported my dad away to this place. That you?" Sniper asked. Trixie didn't know if she should answer, in case she might set the Tindalos off.

"I may not be a magic user myself, but, you teleported my dad WAY far off from the forest in just one shot. I'd call that good tricks," Sniper said. A turn of events, but the egotistical Trixie felt a bit more comfortable around him. nothing like some ego-stroking to get on somepony's good side.

"Oh, I found them. I'm just back out here to find some food. Looks like there's not much now though," Sniper sighed, looking around at the snow-covered fields.

"Winter's usually like that. Everything's either moved on or sleeping," Starlight said, summing up both migration and hibernation for Sniper. It made sense too, as the only main food source during winter would probably be fish from the sea or some rats in town, if not scraps from garbage. Pink Diamond sat down by the Tindalos, getting a bit curious.

"Are you a Tindalos, Sniper? You act a lot friendlier than the actual things we've met."

"Tindalos aren't mindless killers, you know," Sniper said, feeling insulted a little, "They've just gotten very hungry, that's all. Hunger's stronger than anything else."

"I don't know, I'm pretty strong," Pink said. Sniper should've suspected this out of an inorganic creature, but he didn't know better on Gems as Pink did for hunger. Sniper suddenly raised his ears, picking up the faint sounds of something scurrying off somewhere nearby.

"Hold that thought," Sniper quietly replied, before he began to move off away for a brief moment, going from walking to crawling in a few short steps. He stopped at about ten feet from some unseen target.

"Hunting I think," Starlight quietly replied. Though, honestly Starlight wasn't so sure as she was watching him. There didn't seem to be any target anywhere to trigger an actual hunt, but then again she was a pony. And ponies don't naturally hunt things, unlike Sniper. For the Tindalos, he readied himself to pounce, much like a cat or fox, and all of a sudden he made a good five foot leap, and shoved his snout into the snow! Pink found this a little bit silly, if not stupid, until they suddenly heard a faint squeak. Soon, they found Sniper pulling out his catch, gripped in his mouth. It was only a mouse, but, this was both impressive and a little bit scary. First catch he got in a while. … That didn't make it any easier to watch.

"Morbid, much?" Trixie said. It didn't help that Sniper proceeded to swallow the mouse in one gulp.

"That can hold me off for a while, sure," Sniper replied. "So, how's the world going for you?"

"We're actually going to make a performance down in Beach City," Pink replied, pointing to the direction towards town.

"Yeah. The Great and Powerful Trixie is going to be making a big show, and after that we're going off to Homeworld for a presentation there," Pink explained, referring to her second unicorn. Sniper tilted his head like a confused dog.

"Yep. Come on, Pink, let's get this show started," Trixie said, her and Pink starting to go off towards town, leaving Starlight and Sniper alone.

"Mended I guess. Pride's hurt most. He won't stop talking about it," Sniper replied, walking on ahead a little bit, knowing what she was referring to with the question.

"Think that fight left him a bit stubborn about it, and he's been wanting to even the score for a while, you know?"

"Oh yeah," Starlight said, remembering her own experience. "... Wait, why didn't he come back? How long has it been already, he would've come by."

"Family comes first, and he's been all over the place handling that, especially with the winter months. Besides, you've seen any of the others around here?" Sniper stated. A fair point: no reason to charge in on the attack when no one's around for it.

"Ok. Well, I don't know when they'll be back, so you might not want to stay around here too long," Starlight advised.

"I'll see what I can find first before I set off. You go off on your way, think your friends are waiting," Sniper replied. Well, she didn't have a clue if anyone else was around, so she left him to it. Maybe she and Sniper could chat later. As she was going away though, she began to think about the very same lesson she had just written down in that scroll of hers, and thought over Sniper himself. He didn't seem to be as bad as other Tindalos, and with the risk, it … didn't seem fair on him.

"Well, I'm going to be honest, it might be uh … safer, if you're with me," Starlight admitted. A lone tindalos out in this area was just asking for trouble. And Sniper eventually had to agree with her on that one, especially with risk of Gems and humans wanting his head.

"Well, alright but I still got hunting to do. That, and I'll have to go if it becomes a nuisance to the others."

"Well, in that case, I'll meet with you later," Sniper decided, before he went back on his way. Hunting wasn't gonna wait for any creature, no matter who they might be. Starlight was ready to head off, but then she found one final surprise as a portal opened up not too far away. Surprises all over the place.

"Ok, that's happening. Who is it this time?" Starlight wondered. She didn't have to wait for long, as the pony stumbled out: Sunburst. Twilight's portal was doing wonders for him, and saved him plenty of time getting to Starlight Glimmer. And he still had book in levitation, and he was not wasting a single second.

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," finished Sunburst. "That's the last entry. It may be Starswirl's final words before he vanished!"

This news sure was surprisingly towards Celestia and Luna. He, the Elements of Harmony, and some of the Crystal Gems too arrived the moment they got word about such a discovery. Sunburst wasn't wasting any time to actually get back to the others in Canterlot the second he got himself a hold of this book of his. Starswirl the Bearded, the most iconic unicorn in Equestrian legend and history, and the very book that actually belonged to him now made known to everyone else. Celestia levitated the book.

"I've always wondered what happened to Starswirl! This is quite a discovery Sunburst," Celestia said.

"Well, actually, I found it inside an antique shop back in Ponyville. What a stroke of luck!" Sunburst replied. Sunburst felt good about it, and it was Twilight who spoke next.

"You mean you can confirm that this genuinely belonged to Starswirl the Bearded?" Twilight asked in excitement, almost ready to fly off.

"Indeed, and looking at this, he disappeared soon after his encounter with the Pony of Shadows," Luna confirmed. This did come across as a bit unnerving for Rainbow and AJ.

"Along with those other figures too? Rockhoof, Mistmane, Somnambula, Flash Magnus, AND Meadowbrook? And they ALL just disappeared too?" Applejack added.

"Duh! Weren't you listening?" Pinkie said, nudging the orange pony. The idea that so many "legends" were left real in the end was quite a big thing to swallow, more or less. Then again, the Tindalos happened.

"Well obviously they defeated the villain, since Equestria's still full of light and hope," Rarity noted. Admittedly with all the trouble lately, that was a bit debatable.

"But how?" Starlight wondered. Celestia and Luna took a closer look at the book in question, but the more they try to work with it, the harder it seemed to be able to be handled. Even the princesses didn't get all the languages.

"Hmm, my old ponish is a bit rusty. But I have no doubt that the answers could be hidden somewhere in this book. If you could find out what happened to our old teacher, we'd be most grateful," Celestia said, levitating the book back to them. Twilight Sparkle was more than eager to catch it before it could hit the ground.

"You kept talking about Starswirl the Bearded as this amazing sorceress, but I didn't think he'd be the one to teach Celestia and Luna. He sounds like quite the unicorn," said Amethyst.

"He was," Luna agreed, "But we were too young to understand the dangers he faced before he disappeared."

"Wait, so how old is this pony? No offense, but I dunno if an OLD pony would be the … best idea," admitted Amethyst.

"Well don't you worry bout a thing, Twilight's got a whole cluster of helpers right here. We'll get that sorted out in no time," Steven said.

Their mission was clear: with Starswirl's memoirs in their possession now, and with members still missing, they had the new goal in mind. Find out what happened to Starswirl the Bearded, and the rest of the Pillars of Equestria.

Back at the temple (or what she could access that is), Sapphire kept herself quiet and alone, eye closed, and no one else around to bother her. It was the only main thing she could really do for the moment to actually get herself calmed down without her dearest Ruby, wherever she may be, but it seemed that the more she tried to get her mind off of something, the more she would just end up only thinking about that. Her Future Visions didn't help her out too much, many of them muffled and scattered and not consistent with eachother at all. Even if Ruby wasn't so spontaneous, it probably wouldn't help her out much anyway.

"UGH! I can't do this!" Sapphire finally groaned in defeat. Winter outside was pale in comparison to the icy interior of the shallow cave, which at this point was very icy. It was enough to give her a headache.

"It's no use. White Diamond and Pink Diamond - OH, I can't think straight. A-And Ruby? Who knows where you are right now, or if you'll ever come back? Temple, please be active again," Sapphire monologued, going over to the temple door. If there was still power left in the temple, then it would wake up to Sapphire's stone to somewhere within its confines, but placing her gemstone on the door did little to nothing.

"Nothing. … Maybe I could start thinking about a vacation home, or something. B-But should I? What if Ruby comes back and I'm not here? What if any of them come back?"

Sapphire's thoughts moved her over back towards the entrance to the cave, her going right over to the cold waters of the sea, and snow managing to stay along the banks of the beach. The clouds were a bit mixed in the sky, leaving the beach with a slight snowfall.

"Come on, Sapphire, you have to get this right. What good are you if you can't do anything?" Sapphire told herself, trying one more time to get a proper future vision to work. In her stress, the visions were still a bit scattered about the place. It was much like a lucid dream, and just as bouncy about in her head to even get a grip. She saw visions of the ponies in Equestria, humans of Beach City, even a few with Gems on Homeworld, but they were so out of context she couldn't figure out any actual connection with them. Something - ANYTHING! All of the futures seem plausible somehow, but which one was more close to the mark was the big question.

"... Oh, forget it," Sapphire finally decided, falling down onto her back, bemused by the results. no matter what future vision she could see and probably would've seen, it probably wouldn't help her out too much here at all. There was something that did go over her mind though.

"Here you go, one personal pizza," said Kiki, giving the order over to Sapphire. Amethyst always was talking about tasting something like this, so she might as well do something to try and get her mind off of things. Sapphire found herself a seat, but looking at the order and the red color of some of the toppings … well, you know.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Sapphire groaned to … no one really, head hitting the table for a moment before she grabbed a slice and took a bite of it.

"Oh, sorry. I'm alright," Sapphire replied, as more frost ended up visible on the wall. Kiki may not know Sapphire too well, but as she went over to her, she almost ended up falling onto the floor due to the ice forming underfoot. It didn't spread too much since it was already hot in there with the pizzas cooking, but still.

"It's fine, I'll scrape it up later," Kiki groaned, before finding her feet. She had to do a sort of skate maneuver to get over to Sapphire, as if the floor was the frozen lake, to get himself over to the table too.

"No, no, I'm fine Kiki, really. Everything's ok," Sapphire replied, taking another bite of one of the slices. She was going to eat another, but she ended up just … staring at it. Kiki could see a tear come down her face.

"OK, clearly you're not okay," Kiki pointed out, only then Sapphire realizing her tear. She just sighed and ate the next tater tot before speaking.

"If you say so," Kiki said. Sapphire was a bit mixed up in her head, but with so many others already up and gone, she did not want anyone else dragged into this any further, especially someone innocent like her. Before their conversation could go anywhere else, they both heard the door open up, Jenny coming on in … *slip*

"Sorry," Sapphire said again. Jenny got up to her feet, a bit dazed and surprised, but alright.

"DANG, I knew it was cold, but geesh, jack frost came by here too?" Jenny said, steadying her feet so she wouldn't fall over again. There was no ice behind the counter, so she went over there as Kiki got back to the cash register. With Sapphire sitting there, jack might as well be.

"OH, yeah I wanna tell ya, I just got the biggest tip from Mr. Universe, and I'm totally gonna by those boots now!"

"Wait, that was who that was for? I thought that was for that show pony in town."

"I know! Not just that, he was with some ponies too, and he like WAY out on Brooding hill, which is totally out of our delivery radius, helping some little friend. She must've been crying because she was like all red."

*THUD* Sapphire's turn to fall on the floor. Sapphire sprang to life seconds after falling, going straight up to both Kiki and Jenny.

"What did you say?! A-About this little friend? Where is she, I-I need to talk to her right away!"

"Whoa whoa, okay," said Jenny, "Last I heard she was off at Brooding Hill, just out of town. I just made the order, so she might still be there."

"Thank you!" Sapphire replied, before she made a lightning fast dash right off towards the door. It was very quick, almost in a blur, leaving a bit of impact behind her.

"Wait, you forgot to pay!" Kiki called. Sapphire bolted back, and threw the money onto the counter before rushing away again. That out of the way no doubt.

While Sapphire might not be there (along with Starlight and her crew and some ponies), everyone else did come together after a few hours of searching and met up all at the barn house. Though with this, Jade kept to her own promise, and told them what happened with Flint before they got back.

"Yeah, right to her face. He made that clear before he left the team. I have no idea where he could've gone off to," Jade finished.

"THAT CLOD, it was his idea to even sent everyone off looking anyway, why would he just bail on his own idea?!" Rhodonite yelled, summing up the main question on much of the mind.

"Poor nothing," Bismuth said, ""It doesn't matter cuz she's dead" WHO SAYS THAT?! If he's just going to tear off like that over just some insult, why even bother going for him?"

"I didn't run away, I was making weapons at the Forge! Pink Diamond's far bigger than just a small insult from Sapphire," Bismuth retorted. The fact he'd rather leave than stay was just selfish of him, but in some way, it wasn't the most unrelatable thing.

"Well, give him some slack. He was under a lot of pressure like the rest of us. … And we weren't any better than him," Lapis sighed, her reasons not too far off from Flint's for leaving.

"You're all better than him and you know it. Ok, Pink Diamond was Rose, at least she tried to be better. Flint just told her that nothing matters because she's dead. How distant can you even be?" Bismuth said. When she worded it like that, the point was made, but Bismuth was just upset that someone would just bail in the middle of his own idea AFTER everyone would leave.

"That's terrible, I don't care who says what," Rhodonite agreed. "And worse: now we're missing several Gems including one leader, and he won't even listen to the other one!"

"I don't think he ever followed Pink Diamond or Rose, he never was -" Steven was cut short.

"I'm not talking about ROSE, I'm talking about YOU," Rhodonite corrected. she never found him taking any of Steven's instructions even once from the stories she was told and through the time she was here.

"And where's Garnet?" Rhodonite asked. There was a pause, but while it was skeptical for Steven to think of himself as the leader of the Crystal Gems, they technically didn't have one with Garnet gone, and Flint was missing too, so there was that.

"Alright, everyone, look. We're all back, and we're all tense over this, but let's try to get back to base ok?" Bismuth suggested.

"Sure. I got enough of my anger out from the Beta Kindergarten anyway," Jasper agreed, her fists still feeling the hits from her punching the daylights out of the rocks.

"Good to see you're back, by the way. I haven't seen Peridot so happy in a while," Amethyst said, looking over to Peridot, who was still all smiles for having some of her friends back.

"Yeah, sorry for worrying ya, Peridot," Lapis said to Peridot. Though, Peridot had a sort of glow on her now.

"You're all back. I'm all happy now," Peridot simply said, which they believed summed up her situation best. Bismuth lifted up Peridot, and got her on her shoulder.

"Then why don't we go and have some fun in town? I wanna see what's been going on while I was busy, what do ya say?" Bismuth offered.

"Perfect, let's go!" Lapis Lazuli said. That idea sounded pretty good all and all. Much of them decided to go and do that, but during this chat though, they had one other person coming by looking for them. Or rather, a pony, her flying high in the sky and seeing Steven, AJ, and Amethyst down below, the others a bit farther away. The pony, Rainbow Dash, landed on down by them.

"Howdy Rainbow, what's your hurry? you in a race again?" Applejack asked, noting how quick Rainbow Dash even was in landing.

It was a bit of an order for Jenny to deliver, but she knew what she was talking about. Sapphire wasted no time in getting from Beach City, WAY off towards Brooding Hill. she knew the hill like the back of her own hand, and she knew exactly where it is from the boardwalk. She wasted no time at all getting right along the path, and soon she began to near the peak, only slowing down once she was on the edge of the foliage, just out of sight for the most part. She went right on out there to confront Ruby … or, she would've if not for what she saw next.
Looking out to the edge of Brooding Hill, it turned out, things weren't as bad as Sapphire thought it would be. Greg was there with his van, and he was joined by Pinkie and Fluttershy. And there was Ruby. Sitting along by the cliffside, enjoying some slices of the party special, customized a bit by some of the ponies so no meat was on it but they weren't complaining. But that was what Sapphire was most caught off by: they weren't complaining. She heard some conversation, sure, but nothing malicious or distraught, or anything. In fact, party Pinkie Pie was making an event out of it, and Ruby had a party hat on, enjoying a slice of pizza. Some balloons were strung from the van door, and confetti was scattered in the snow.

And also, she wasn't the only one arriving a little late to this party, as she then saw Steven, Applejack, and Amethyst, after some gem mission hunting, come on by after figuring out where she might've ended up. It took a while of course. Sapphire stayed hidden away and remained as a bystander to this, not sure if going up now would even be a good idea or not.

"Oh. You ok?" Steven asked. This was the love of his life after all, and this quartz turning out to be a diamond would be a bit of a crazy hit, but Greg didn't feel too crazy.

"Well, I fell in love with Rose Quartz, and she fell in love with Mr. Universe. She never told me she was Pink Diamond, but then again, I never told her I was Gregory DeMayo," Greg explained. It was not as big as Rose, but the idea was all the same, so why would he freak out over something he also did himself?

"Uh, thank. You … Wait, really? You sure?" Steven asked, taking a slice of pizza. As he was distracted, Amethyst helped herself to Steven's slice, waiting to hear what Ruby had to say, as did Sapphire nearby. They were all ears.

"Well, yeah. Sapphire was a bit harsh about it, but … she's right. We stayed together because Pink Diamond told us we were … "the answer". It's my first time thinking about it. Thinking about me."

"Ever since I emerged, the first thing I did was get crammed together with a bunch of other rubies. but then after I left Homeworld, I was with Sapphire all the time. And lately, whenever Sapphire isn't with me, I'd be with Peridot. I'm always checking in with someone. …"

"W-Well, is that why you ran away? I'm sorry but, you sounded so … well, angry before. you know, about P -" Steven suddenly had his mouth shut by Pinkie Pie.

"Don't say that word! That's what started this all!" Pinkie quietly warned. Ruby had explained the idea behind her frustrations to them already, but now Ruby pulled Pinkie off of Steven gently.

"Yeah. I know I got mad at Pearl, but … the more I think about it, I think I was upset more about what Rose did, over what Pearl did. All I did was attack the messenger, and … kinda made everyone leave. … I'm sorry."
Ruby did feel guilty for starting this fire, but she had such an innocent looking face on her, it was impossible to stay mad at her. Steven felt flustered seeing such innocence, and smiled.

"It's ok, Ruby, it was probably best Pearl told you all anyway," Steven replied.

"... Yeah, about that. she didn't say it exactly. she didn't say … anything," Ruby said humbly, playing with her fingers as she looked down to her feet, much like a guilty child would in manor.

"Sapphire and I stayed behind on Mask Island not long after she reformed, and that night, we kinda overheard the whole story. After Sapphire left, I kinda spilt the news with everyone."

"OOOHHH. Yep, that makes more sense," Amethyst replied, gulping the remains of her pizza.

"Yeah, we talked it out. I'm fine now," Ruby replied, before walking over to what remained of another pizza box off nearby on the hood of the van. It also had a few notable comics on it, some of which Rainbow let them borrow from the "Daring Do" issues, others from the comic shop in Bayburgh. Ruby picked up both pizza and comic as she continued explaining.

"Besides. Now that I'm just me, I can go wherever the wind takes me! Here I am eating pizza, reading comics, I don't know if Sapphire wants to do any of this stuff - I don't have to know!" Ruby beamed, before she made a backflip right onto the roof of the van. Sapphire could feel some sting as Ruby wasn't caring much for Sapphire's thoughts about things at the moment, but then again, Ruby looked a lot happier now, lot more than was Sapphire feared she wouldn't be.

"How'd you two find her, by the way?" Amethyst asked the other two ponies. Fluttershy blushed a little bit, rubbing her front leg.

"We just used these!" Pinkie cut in, showing them … the Portal Keys. … Oh lord, they were dumb: Amethyst actually hit her head on the van because of how stupid she felt.

"We could've fixed this WAY faster," Steven realized. But, there were still some matters to get to, and Ruby (who didn't hear them), looked out to the open skies with newfound pride.

"The rest of my life could be like this! I don't have to be Garnet or Rubidot! I could be on my own!"

"WHAAAAAT?! But, but, you all love eachother! I-I love eating flour and sugar separately, but I still want cake! Sapphire wouldn't want -"

"I don't care what Sapphire wants!" Ruby cut in, "I see my own future now. And it's nothin but Ruby!"

And Steven's future is nothing but panic by the look on his face. What was the Crystal Gems going to do without Garnet?! It was already troubling with the random Garnet before, but with them completely apart now, how was that going to make things better?

"Cupcake, scardy?" Pinkie asked, presenting a cupcake to Steven. Not even Pinkie's special cupcakes were enough to break him of his worried funk. Amethyst was more chillax with Ruby going off on her own like this, but she didn't need Steven freaked out all over again, so a word would be good.

"Easy dude, it'll be fine. Heck, maybe this is for the better," Amethyst said, hand around Steven's shoulders.

"But guys, what if they never form Garnet again? We gotta get them back together!"

"S-Steven, no!" Fluttershy said, getting his attention with the surprisingly Fluttershy-volume of yelling.

"Steven that's not our call to make," Greg finally made clear, Flutters nodding in agreement, "Ruby's got to want that for herself. If that isn't what she wants, it's not what Garnet wants, right?"

"Hmm … I guess so. B-But everyone else is still gone somewhere," Steven said, looking off to the distance and thinking about everything. As far as he knew, the only true Crystal Gems left now were Sapphire, Amethyst, Peridot, Jade, and himself. Far smaller than before, and even if they were going to come back soon thanks to Fluorite's message, who knows when that'll be? … he wondered if this was how Flint felt most of the time.

"Oh yeah, that. Look, don't think about that, they'll all be back together at some point. But dude, we can't force Ruby to be with Sapphire, that's no better than Rose making they should be together. Ruby has a say in this, right?"

"... I guess you're right. If she wants to be with her, then it's her choice, not mine. … OK, if this is how it's gotta be, I'll support Ruby in her quest for emotional growth."

"There you go, Steve-O," Amethyst said, fluffing Steven's hair. Feeling a little better, both Steven and Amethyst went on back to Ruby, who was unable to stay still as she hopped on top of the van.

"So, red wolf, what're you gonna do now? Just gonna stay out here?" Amethyst asked.

"I'll wanna live free: out in the wilderness, facing danger at every turn, not needin nothing, nobody, or nopony to get me by. Just like this guy!" Ruby said, getting a picture out to show to them. Who she actually showed was, actually a bit of a surprise to much of them.

"Yeah! He's always out on his own, taking on the world head on, doing his own thing without anyone telling him what to do. You saw how cool he was before, fighting against even White Diamond, and he did so much all by himself. That's what I wanna do!"

"I didn't realize you admired him, Ruby. You never said this before, and I thought you didn't like him," Fluttershy said.

"Well, at first I did, but I realized after Flint puts his mind to something, he becomes the most determined, self-reliant Gem I've ever seen! He takes charge of it all: Investigating that Diamond case, working to take on the cluster, leading everyone when we went on the Space Station for the first time. THAT'S a Gem I wanna be - relying on myself, and taking charge of my life!"

"You got a point there, Ruby. Hey, maybe if we run into him we can get a few pointers for ya," Amethyst said. If she could run into him after one day, then maybe Ruby can to. Though, she didn't have the heart to tell her he left the team yet, her being so happy and all.

"Well, then maybe you can be your own thing. Something like this?" asked Fluttershy, this time showing a cover of what looked like a cowgirl pony alongside Daring Do in one of the comic issues. Ruby hopped down and took a better look at the cowgirl pony, skimming along through some of the pages in question. Her eyes sparkled.

"That's. Even. Better! The open plains, the deep canyons, that's where I wanna go!" Ruby said in excitement. And naturally, one pony had the perfect thing come into her head, the cowgirl mare tilting her hat to Ruby.

"Well if it's country life you want, I know just the place. Tomorrow morning, I'll get ya there in two shakes of a lamb's tail."

"THANK YOU!" Ruby beamed, and was as giddy as Pinkie Pie on her own birthday, the pink mare sharing her enthusiasm.

Not too far away, Sapphire kept herself a bit quiet about this, hearing everything word for word. Suddenly, she too began to realize that this … might be good for her. To be off on her own with some independence. She still would need to apologize eventually, but for now, she decided to turn and quietly move off away. She can't make Ruby do anything like fusion without her approval on it, and if she wanted to be a cowgirl, then so be it. Steven's words echoed in her head.

OK, if this is how it's gotta be, I'll support Ruby in her quest for emotional growth.

"Alright, I know you said you had something for me, but is this really what I need to do?"

Sniper began to wonder why he even came back. Hunting went a bit slow, but he had enough time to meet up with Starlight, Trixie, and Pink Diamond later on to check out their performance. Unfortunately, Starlight's "grand idea" was a bit less natural … meaning, coloring his fur. No animal enjoyed being painted.

"We're almost done, Sniper," Starlight promised, getting the finishing touches on him. By the time she was done, he didn't look a thing like a Tindalos, and looked instead like that of a fox. His two tails was put in a cloth wrapping for a single tail, and each of his two ears was covered by some fake ears for just one set instead of two, with some slight magic to make his eyes a common brown instead of the glowing blue.

"You sure this is such a good idea now? When that crowd finds out what I really am -"

"They won't find out, don't worry. Here, why don't you go and find a seat, the show's gonna start in just a few minutes," Starlight reassured. Sniper glanced off back out to the crowd, which by now there was already quite a bit. Sniper kept himself a good distance though, sitting off just out of main range, and keeping from the crowds. Some humans did see him, but they didn't worry too much about some fox walking about (they've seen weirder things). Still, even with him now further away, there still was one extra matter that he didn't exactly count on, especially when he looked up to the sky for a moment and saw someone flying along his way. It was a vague sight, but he did see Lapis Lazuli start to fly nearby. She didn't seem to notice him yet, so he just stayed calm and looked on to the show. By the time he found his spot for a good view, eventually the show began with a large puff of smoke, Trixie standing full stage for the crowd.

"Come one, come all, welcome to The Humble and Penitent Trixie's Universal Apology Tour," Trixie announced. The "Equestrian" part of the name wouldn't work here, but unlike the ponies before, no one was questioning the name this time. Trixie did clean up the town from the Tindalos attack, but she still felt some resistance from some members of the crowd, so she hoped this would be a fair trade.

And one mighty roar echoed across the land to announce its presence to them all. The creature had a vague resemblance to Lion in species, but with the scorpion tail, bat wings, and sharp horns on his head, this beast was no simple cub. Wasn't easy getting one of those things, but Pink Diamond had it covered, considering she was holding onto the chain from backstage just in case the animal got a little too frisky. It was enough to make them a bit nervous, some gasping.

"Save your gasps, for when I defy the jaws of death, and reappear before your very eyes within this black box," Trixie said, pointing to said box on the same stage. The act seemed pretty straightforward, though Trixie had one other extra trick up her sleeves, and a cannon was actually put in place off behind the crowd, aimed directly for the Manticore! Trixie got off stage and trotted directly over to the cannon.

"What is she even doing?" Sniper wondered. Trixie, much to his curiosity and their surprise, got right into the cannon, and it began to move itself off into place. The mare got off her hat, got on a helmet, and then she lit the fuse! Sniper began to put two and two together and started to worry over her, his claws digging into the ground as he got more tense. She wasn't actually thinking on doing that, was she?
And then came the initial shot. Trixie flew right off into the air, right over the crowd, and closing her eyes was going directly for the opened jaws of the Manticore! Trixie herself was gone in a flash, disappearing within the jaws of the monstrous beast! The gulp, and following burp from the animal made the act especially convincing, a little too convincing. At first there was some silence amongst the crowd, waiting for something to happen. Sniper himself couldn't believe what he was seeing, staring wide eyed and in horror at this act. But then they heard a small flash somewhere, and then the box was opened to reveal -

"Behold! The Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie announced, looking completely fine. A very impressive display, but seeing this happen did make Sniper a little bit concerned, if not flabbergasted, as he watched not only the show but the reactions.

"What was that?" he thought, "You don't throw yourself into a predator's mouth for a thrill. First creature I've seen with a constant death wish if they find that a laugh. … Grant it, she did teleport my father to this realm outside of the first one. Guess her magic kept her out of trouble, but what's all the excitement about?"

Sniper got up after a bit, and he began to move off away a little bit. The show was a thrill, but not something he'd be more intimate on if he could help it. What was entertaining about such a common thing anyway? Well, regardless, he had seen the show as Starlight wanted, and with it now done he could get back to business. Though, his involvement with Beach City wasn't done yet.

Sniper stopped, and looked up to the sky, seeing patrolling Lapis Lazuli had found him. And she was ready to confront him, landing down not too far from the disguised Tindalos. And she for one, was NOT happy to see him, even if he looked not far off from any normal fox.

"Oh. Hi there," Sniper said, trying to be a little bit more formal, but Lapis wasn't having any of it.

"You think you can just walk back in here after what you did?" she questioned, eyeing down the Tindalos. Sniper thought the disguise was decent, but the animal didn't need to keep up an act if he didn't have to.

"Apologize? I fought for hours against your pack, they tore apart this town in their rampage, and they nearly killed dozens of those here, including my close friends. You have to go."

And suddenly, a huge hit from Lapis Lazuli sent Sniper off down the road, the hit blinding fast, and enough to loosen some of the "disguises", with the two tails and four ears now exposed and not painted either. Sniper may have not seen the attack himself, but if it was as vicious as she was saying, he could see her reluctance towards him. If not a bit forward in said approach. No matter - he was exposed to whoever heard, and he even ended up cut from Lapis's own water wings. The Tindalos knew he was not welcome here.

"What's going on?" Starlight called, rushing over just to find Sniper on the ground with Lapis Lazuli on top of him.

"Lapis, no, stop! He's a friend!" Starlight yelled. she had to make the point quick before Lapis Lazuli could hurt him. Sniper went on instinct, and whacked Lapis in the face with his paw, just enough to sting her, his claws getting into her cheek. The claws stung her, and Sniper bolted off out of her grip, and he could only make a run for it before anyone else could rush him.

"Sniper, wait a minute!" Starlight called. But Sniper didn't slow down, and fazed into a corner before she could get over to him. Her attempt to make a friend out of him had been scuffled.

"Starlight, you alright? Good thing I got that Tindalos, or who knows what'll happen," Lapis said, trying to comfort Starlight. Though, all of this happened a little fast, so it took Starlight Glimmer a bit to comprehend everything, before Trixie and Pink Diamond arrived to see her.

"You clod! That was a friend of ours! Starlight invited him to our show!" Pink cut in, cutting Lapis short of her own words. Lapis froze up on such a forceful word, and Pink got a good look to Lapis's face, namely, her cheek.

"Here, those three marks," Pink pointed out. All of this was going quick, and Starlight only now took notice of the cut on Lapis's face, which Pink Diamond placed her fingers on. A small movement on her cheek, and Pink Diamond found something stuck to her two fingers for her, Starlight, and Trixie to see.

And just like that, "Lapis Lazuli" was gone, flying right off into the air and high-tailing it out of there! This was ALL going very fast, and it took a minute to realize what actually happen. This attack on Sniper was something else's plan to screw them over.

With his wound still stinging him, Sniper got himself from one portal to another, but instead of appearing at home, he ended up off within the world of Equestria. In this case, he ended up finding himself nearby the Ponyville pond, outside of the main town. It wasn't the best spot to rest, but at the very least it was somewhere isolated for him to get his act together. Resting by the shore of the frozen pond, he began to groom himself a little bit, licking the cut he got from Lapis. Good thing he got his hunting over with first, because he probably wouldn't do so well until the cut would heal up. The cut itself wasn't too bad, thank goodness, though it still felt a little painful in the cold snow underneath him. Though, it took about half an hour for him to better settle down, the cold snow acting like a dulling agent to the wound too.
For Starlight, her finding him took a while to get to, her having to find one of the key holders first before getting back to Equestria, and then trying to find where he would end up after that, which itself took a good hour to do. By the time she did find him by the pond, Sniper was actually taking a nap in the snow with all the paint off of him, though his ear flicking did say he knew someone was coming.

"Good, you're around. Listen, I'm sorry about what just happened," Starlight said, "I didn't think somebody would catch you so fast."

"Isn't your fault, Starlight. I knew things would be risky anyway, so don't worry about it," Sniper replied, licking his cut a few more times. Starlight sat down beside him.

"Good friend. Huh. Starlight, I'm a Tindalos, you're a unicorn. You and me being friends is like a heron being friends with a fish - it just wouldn't work out at the end of the day. What hope is there for that to happen?" Sniper explained, before he began to walk away from Starlight and down the shoreline of the lake. Starlight trotted over in his way.

"Wait, there has to be some. Yeah, I'm a unicorn and you're a Tindalos, so what? I know some ponies who're friends with all sorts of species, so -"

"Yeah, Dragons! They're known to eat ponies, but my friend practically raised a baby from birth, and is good terms with the Dragon lord. I'm sure they'll be friends with you."

"Well, maybe, but one of your friends already attacked me, didn't she?" Sniper asked. Starlight looked away, front hooves tapping together.

"I'll explain later, Trixie and Pink Diamond are trying to get her right now. More to the point, if you can come back with me we can try again. No disguises, no games, just up front and making things clear. I know you're not like the others," Starlight reassured. Sniper still wasn't sure about this, all things considered, though that last part …

"Joking, joking," Sniper said, "I know there's a "natural tiff" between a carnivore and herbivore. It's just how things happen. … But, if you're so insistent, I guess I could come by. Might make it less dangerous for me hunting around here if I'm on better terms with them."

"Good … because, I had to tell them about you to get back here, and they've agreed to meet you back at the barn."

"If you meet them, that is. Some of them had left to meet with Twilight, but you can try to talk to those still there. …"

"Your pack has become a bit infamous too," Jasper reminded. Sniper knew that it was getting a bit edgy now, and with much of the group torn apart already, it was just a bit too risky to just accept straight away. Sniper and Starlight knew this too.

"Ok: your pack's probably gonna try another hunting trip around here again. Starlight said you mentioned that. Suppose your father attacked Starlight …"

"Sniper has to face that, let's get it out of the way," Jasper retorted, which was harshly true. Starlight was going to say something, but Sniper stepped up before she could. Friendship lessons were fun and good, but they won't be able to account for death if it would come that far.

"Mam … I've thought about this. If it were to come down to an all out scrap between your world, and mine. I wouldn't fight against you … but, not for you either," Sniper said. It was a odd answer to give, all things considered, but no matter how Sniper looked at it, his pack was still his family, and he will not kill any of them anymore than he would kill Starlight, or any of the others present.

"... Yeah. Honest. Ok," Jasper confirmed. Sniper didn't look like a liar to her, and the Tindalos did promise he wouldn't lie a word in before they started talking.

"You tell me. But he didn't get involved in the actual attack, so … Ok, it checks out," Jasper confirmed. As far as Starlight was concerned, it was the best she was going to get with the group here.

"Not so fast," Jasper cut in. "It's the first day. You're not gonna change us to your side that quick."

"Thank you, mam. I'll keep my side of the bargain, you can be sure of that," Sniper promised. With that all handled and confirmed, Sniper and Starlight both began to head off on their way. Starlight was so glad to keep her new friend.

With Starlight departing, the rest of the Mane Six and remaining Gems were off at another little bit of meeting place over by the Cutie Map. Twilight herself was more excited about this than anyone else there, having a number of items with her including field notes, the book itself, and a small diorama of … something. It wasn't clear what exactly, but Twilight Sparkle had the mind to better explain. Either way, whatever she found out about this she wanted as many as possible there to hear.

"I know I've finished one of Starswirl's spells before, but this one was on a whole different level! Was it an explosion of magical feedback? An evocation? A kind of incantation?! It's Starswirl, so the possibilities are endless! And once I worked out the old ponish, I went through the journal again, and it's amazing!"
Needless to say, Twilight was a bit too psyched, as Starlight Glimmer finally caught up.

"Twilight, sweetie, we understand you're excited, but that's all we understand," Rarity said.

"Only how the pillars of Equestria banished the Pony of Shadows to Limbo!" Twilight answered.

"Limbo? Isn't that one of the Humans' party rituals?" Peridot asked, scratching her head. Of course, that wasn't what Twilight meant exactly, and admittedly she hoped that it would be asked as she brought out the diorama. It really just looked like some odd placement of rocks in a circular placement. This area had a "Stonehenge" sort of look to it, and for equestria's version, Ponhenge. She used her magic to make a sort of light around the display as she continued explaining.

"They used their magic to open a portal between worlds – to limbo – and pulled the Pony of Shadows inside," Twilight explained, just before the magic made a small explosion, which in turn destroyed the display she made. Not that she minded though, she was too excited to worry about that.

"Not exactly. I mean, otherwise, you'd be running into them everytime you'd go through the warp pads … which would be super amazing," Twilight said, flying up with book in hoof.

"Probably lucky," Lapis admitted. With all their problems already, adding a Pony of Shadows in the Warpstream was not a good idea altogether, as Twilight continued explaining.

"The pillars thought the only way for them to put the Pony of shadows into Limbo was to take him there."

"Not for long," said Lapis, bringing out her Portal Key, "Just point me in the right direction, and they'll be back in no time."

"Great idea, Lapis! If they're stuck there, we can just go in, get them, and we'll be right back here," Steven said. Well, that sounded like a good plan, and a pretty easy one too. This did strike it intriguing for Sunburst.

"Sure! Give us a sec," Lapis replied. But before Lapis could actually get the job done, someone else stepped in before that could happen, stopping them with a quick bark.

Sniper. He was a little bit lacking behind when it came to coming down, though with him hearing all this talk of portals and other worlds, he just had to come down to get his two bits in. That didn't mean his presence was welcomed, the others quickly readying for an attack.

"Whoa, wait!" Starlight gasped, getting in the way, "He's my friend! Sorry for such short notice."

"Friend, Starlight? But he's a Tindalos," Rainbow Dash pointed out. A bit species-ist, but not the point.

"I'm sorry for everything that happened. I shouldn't of let that happen to all of you," Sniper said. A bit of a surprise for much of them.

"It's for the best," Sniper replied, before walking over towards Lapis Lazuli. she remembered too well the Tindalos and their attack on Beach City, so seeing Sniper come up to her didn't make her very thrilled on it at first. Then again, Sniper was just glad she didn't attack him on sight like earlier (plus she did look different from before, both appearance and scent).

"So, what's this talk about Limbo and portals?" Sniper asked. Starlight made sure to stay over by him just in case.

"We were thinking on getting Starswirl the Bearded out of Limbo through our handy dandy keys, see?" Pinkie explained, showing Sniper the Portal Key. However, and surprisingly in little time, Sniper shook his head.

"Well, you're not gonna do it that way. I've been goin through Limbo a good deal, many times. You can't just stop inside of Limbo. I tried, doesn't work. It's like trying to stay still in a rapid river," Sniper stated. Well considering what he was, and how he could just go in between worlds on his own accord through his own brand of Limbo portals, there wasn't much reason to think he didn't know what he was talking about. Lapis and Steven were disappointed, but Twilight luckily had another idea.

"Don't worry, I got a plan that we can use that doesn't need any Portal Key. We can make our own spell to get them out!"

"I don't know, opening portals between worlds didn't work out well for me. You sure it's safe?" Starlight asked.

"Oh, portal making's easy. It's what the portal goes to you gotta be sharp about," Sniper said, again speaking from experience.

"Starlight, first of all, you opened portals through time, and second you used Starswirl's spell to do it. If he'd been here, he could have stopped it," Twilight explained. Starlight recoiled a little bit on yet, ANOTHER reminder of what she used to do, but they did see Twilight's point as she finished with "Equestria and Earth will be safer with him in it. We have to save him!"

"But you'd be saving all the pillars righ? And they disappeared ages ago," Applejack pointed out.

"Gotta agree with Applejack here. We're talking THOUSANDS of years stuck in that place. You sure they're still even alive in there?" Bismuth asked, as Twilight landed over by Spike.

"That's the thing about Limbo: it's not one place, or another. It's in between, so time stands still. If we took them out, it'd be like they never left!" Twilight concluded.

"Eh, not to be a stick in the mud or whatever, but how the heck does that work?" Amethyst asked.

"Doesn't matter how it works, what matters is that he and the other pillars can come back. And I promise to make that happen!" Twilight proposed.

"If I'm right, then we need items connected to the pillars in some way … And I think this map's been doing just that!" Twilight said, bringing their attention to the Cutie Map. The others looked over the map in question.

"WHOA, hold on now! I already got Rockhoof's shovel, and Rarity's got Mistmane's flower, and YOU Starswirl's book! That's already three down," AJ realized.

"But what's left to look for? And where?" Fluttershy asked. Three was good, but that wasn't all the Pillars.

"Uh, I think the map's got us covered," said Amethyst, bringing their attention to the map again. As if the map had been listening, it began to activate itself all over again, and suddenly the Cutie Marks of Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash began to flash once again, alarming them to what the Cutie Map wanted them for. It had done a good job already with many of these ponies, and now that they finally got two and two together, time to wrap up this game of searching. The map began to show the icons, with Mistmane, Starswirl, and Rockhoof now colored green, whereas a few new marks were shown on the map: Meadowbrook's healing mask in Hayseed Swamp, Somnambula's blindfold over in southern Equestria, and Netitus over in … well somewhere, they weren't sure exactly, but it was still a spot anyway.

"Well, looks like we don't have to wonder who should get what," Twilight concluded.

My Little Universe: Season 7

by EquestrianKirin

A Change in Time