"What are we gonna do with them?" one of them questioned in a long sigh. A smaller figure went up to her side.

"Maybe it's not so bad," one suggested, "I mean, the threats had been more one-sided … right?"

"For now," another replied, her voice in an echo. "I warned them personally, and yet they still felt necessary to get together again. Now they brought trouble down on all our heads."

"Hush now," the third figure said, both of them silenced as she looked on. Such happy faces, in spite of what had transpired over the last few months of cold, but more it thought about it, the more the smaller one had a point. The Mane six weren't as involved in it as they used to be, though it may sounded good on the surface, the figure knew there was still more to it than just six ponies.

"One of you be a dear and get a meeting planned for spring time. I'm sure some of them would be adapted to the situation in future," the third suggested. The second figure was first to react, and began to move off to do just that. The smaller one was about to go, but the third figure stopped him.

"Eh, not you. I want you to gather them to join us when the meeting's close. Think you can do that for me?"

"Them, mam? You sure?" the smaller one asked nervously, seeing them party the night away.

"It's fine," she replied with a smile, "They deserve to know some more about what would be on the horizon."

The third figure looked down the cliff to the beach house, seeing that the lights were left on inside. Raising her hand, a simple movement gently turned the lights off from within.

And on the announcement once again, the pink party Pinkie Pie gave her party cannon a good launch, confetti and streamers launching into the air. Who could blame her for being excited though? Parties for Pinkie Pie were as common as the grass underneath her own hooves, but this "five-year anniversary" was no ordinary potluck. This party was for the very day that Equestria first had met with Earth, and the first time the Mane Six had met with a group of beings known as the Crystal Gems; Gems protecting Earth from galactic and, in recent years, extradimensional and magical threats. Their efforts were plenty successful when looking at both Equestria and Earth.

Of course there was a time when they faced a Changeling Queen, Tindalos, and one Pony of Shadows ... but you probably already know that story.

The celebration today was taking place off from Earth, and into the hoof stomping grounds of Ponyville (the first place the Crystal Gems had seen in Equestria, might I add), and Pinkie Pie went all out on making this event one to remember. A full party in Ponyville was always something to remember. Many a pony, and Gem were having their own fun with the anniversary, either chatting with eachother, or playing some of the games set up. Incredible to think then that a few months ago, they all were so torn up, it was a shock they'd still be together. As they say though, the past is past, and now there was fun to be had.

Within this celebration, some of the Elements of Harmony and Crystal Gems were taking this time to relax a little bit by a booth of one of Ponyville's eateries, having some pineapple juice. Though relaxing might not be too correct for one, as she was so excited at the time it was hard to stay still. And no, it wasn't Pinkie. And all because of a postcard she received from one of the biggest ponies of legend.

Dear Harmony Gems;

It is difficult to express how grateful I am to you for reminding me the power of friendship. You would think after more than a thousand years, there would be nothing left to learn. And yet, even a pony as old as I can continue to be surprised by how much there is to know. I hope you find these postcards enjoyable, and I look forward to seeing you all again, though I can't say when my journey will be complete. Your friend, Starswirl.

"It must be gratifying to have your idol writing to you about the friendship lessons he's learning," noted Rarity to Twilight. Steven Universe, who just read off the letter to them all, gave back the postcard to Twilight.

"I'm not sure I'll ever get tired of them," Twilight sighed happily, "I mean, how often is it that the same pony you've admired for years would write to you on what they had learned?"

"I'm happy he's having a fun time in Equestria," Steven said, "Being trapped for over a thousand years in Limbo gave this world a lot of time to change. It'll keep him busy for a long time."

"Here's to hoping he can come by here again," Twilight said, personally begging on Celestia's name for that to happen. She'd love nothing more than to see Starswirl the Bearded come by Ponyville for a visit in his travels.

"Me too. But, maybe not with a huge shadow entity this time," Steven said humbly. They shared a chuckle on that, though really it would be plenty preferred. They didn't want any repeat incidents from last winter to show up for this spring.

"OH! That reminds me. Stygian gave me a gift just yesterday, and he wanted me to give it to you," Steven remembered. Steven brought out an object from his pocket, and pulled out what appeared to be a portal key. He didn't need to go too far, and in fact, when he got it working, it opened just a small hole in the table for Steven to put his arm through. Like looking through some luggage, he eventually found the object he was looking for, and pulled it out a book with Stygian on front, with his "evil shadow" right behind him. You could probably guess the subject matter.

"Me and My Shadow, the third hit novel by former villain Stygian! I'm impressed! He's really thriving! Give Stygian my thanks," Twilight said, beaming on seeing the book. Drama novels were always something enjoyable for the Alicorn, and seeing this from a true former villain, there was no doubt it was a pretty spot-on book. She'll add it to her collection once she gets home, though at this point Steven found another sudden surprise as someone began going through the crowd to look for him, wearing a red dress and sun hat. She was joined by a few of his other friends (A Lapis Lazuli Gem, and hovering Fluttershy Pegasus).

"Lapis! Fluttershy! Connie!" called Steven Universe. He got up, and went over to them as Rarity and Twilight checked out the new book they got.

"Thanks. May I offer you a refreshment?" Steven then asked, presenting an extra drink of pineapple juice for Connie.

"Oh Steven. How Genteel," Connie replied with a smile, before both made a toast, clinking glasses.

"Hug attack!" Happy to see them both, Lapis Lazuli got another hug in there, this hug actually bringing both Steven and Connie off the ground since Lapis was already flying. All three laughing during this, and not a single bit of juice spilt either.

"Same to you, fun buddy," Steven said, playfully fluffing her hair.
If anyone should be happy during this time, it would be these three. After all, not only was this event for Lapis first joining said Crystal Gems, making her the first new member since the Gem War, but also the "birthday" of Steven and Connie's fusion Stevonnie. It was quite a rare treat for two such big events to happen on the same day, but history and luck can be funny like that. And the three were not complaining about it, of course - a recruitment and fusion celebration in the span of one single day.
After setting them down, they all took a moment to check out the rest of the area, seeing everyone else playing around. With this being where plenty of the games were, they were either chatting it up with eachother, or playing some of the games set up. In one of these games, some of their brawnier members they saw were playing a game of strength to hit the bell. an Earth Pony, Applejack, got a good kick in it and hit the bell pretty easily. Her pal though, Bismuth, turned her hand into a hammer, and slammed it down enough to knock the bell right off!

"I got it!" Fluttershy called, flying up high, and quickly catching the bell before it could land on anyone around. Connie and Steven couldn't help but laugh.

"Me too. … So. Shall we?" Connie replied, bringing out her hand. Steven knew exactly where this was going. If this day was going to be for Stevonnie, why not bring her to the party? They both embraced, and smiled to eachother before they began to spin. Lapis kept her distance to not interrupt them, and soon after a good light and flash, there stood Stevonnie. Their fusion of Gem and human, grateful to be back in the swing of things again. Lapis would go up to her, but someone else was seeing this and wasted no time to meet with her.

"Stevonnie!" said another voice. Connie stepped back and smiled, as another Gem came over and lifted him up to her. Gem Fusion Garnet could be recognized from anywhere, and they all knew who it was the moment she stepped in.

"Hey Garnet," Stevonnie said, still giggling a little. Another fusion very happy to be here after everything, back and better than ever. Hard to forget the big reward after their three-way fight, evident by both rings on each of her hands: one copper, one silver, both exchanged on Ruby and Sapphire's love.

"Great to see you again," they both said, chuckling in unison. Who could blame them, really? Weeks of seclusion from eachother, leading to so much trouble, and soul-searching, and now they were back together once more. Stevonnie and Garnet looked to the rings.

"What a wonderful idea," she sighed, "Human Beings found a way to make this moment last forever. I don't need Future vision to know I'll always remember this."

"I'm glad," Stevonnie sighed. Both Garnet, Lapis, and Stevonnie, looked on back to the crowd once again. Both fusions took note of a few of them, such as a Peridot showing off her metal telekinesis skills to some of the ponies by playing some symbols mid air. The Gems chatted with numerous ponies around town: Pearl talking with Dr. Hooves, Mr. Greenhooves exchanging flowers with Jade and Star Quartz, Amethyst winning a twister game (for the tenth time today), and even Bismuth with a unicorn named Trixie and Starlight, both handling one of their magic shows together (Bismuth being the volunteer) as she suddenly stood there with a flower bouquet in her arms after a cape and "abra kadabra". Bismuth looked around to try and find where it came from as Starlight and Trixie bowed to the crowd. It was enough to actually make Stevonnie shed a few tears.

"I guess seeing everyone all together's got me a bit worked up," Stevonnie admitted. Again, who could blame her after everything that happened?

"Hey, Stevonnie!" Lapis then called. Stevonnie and Garnet turned around, and it turned out that Lapis had gotten something together with Pinkie Pie for this very occasion - a gift. Pinkie-Pie style.
And for this Pinkie Pie gift, the pink mare was inside the party cannon, which Lapis was eager to pull the trigger for. Pinkie Pie flew right out of the cannon, confetti and streamers and all. She rolled head over heels before landing on her hooves in a kneeling stance, front hooves holding a sort of box, wrapped up in sparkling paper with a picture of both star and diamond on top of it.

"For you, my buddy," Pinkie said, sounding regal and formal. Stevonnie saw the note attached to it, and gave it a look over.

We wish we could make it, but here's a gift from me to you, in honor of your latest world-rescue.
Yellow BLUE Diamond

"Try and guess who changed the name last second," Pinkie chuckled, nudging Stevonnie. Oh Yellow, still prideful as ever. Well, either way, Stevonnie proceeded to open up the present given to her, and the object turned out to be a Homeworld item. A sort of trademark from Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond, if you will. It at first looked like a sort of snowglobe, but the flurried "snow" inside was actually stardust, and it looked just as beautiful. There was a small button on the object, and when Stevonnie clicked it, the swirl of stardust formed the shape of the universe itself, perfectly spinning inside the object. Stevonnie's eyes sparkled at the object.

"Our own universe in a globe!" Stevonnie gasped. It was enough of amazement to see a world globe, or any other snowglobe. She'd like to see anyone try and top a universe globe.

"Thanks. Hey Garnet, mind holding onto this? I don't wanna break it while bobbing for apples," Stevonnie asked. Garnet smiled.

"Knew I could count on you. So Lapis … last one to Sugarcube Corner's Manticore bait!" and just like that, Stevonnie rushed right off to Sugarcube Corner before Lapis could even start.

"HEY! Wanna play around?!" She laughed, before flying off to catch up to Stevonnie. Pinkie, just for the heck of it, joined them in racing to Sugarcube Corner. The celebration was just what they needed to bring the happiness and joy back from such a hard winter. As they say, spring was a time of new beginnings, and for Garnet this was more than apparent. Garnet looked to the universe globe in front of her, and could only smile.

Despite so much going on in Ponyville, that didn't mean there was always going to be time for everyone to be there. Fluttershy being one of those ponies. Yeah, she arrived with Lapis and Connie, and she still wanted to join her friends, but she did promise herself to take care of her animals still, and that kind of responsibility doesn't wait for anypony. All she really had to do is keep the food in check for today though, as she had to leave fairly early for the party (Pinkie Pie's party plans don't wait for anyone either). And for the moment, her cottage was pretty quiet, with a few of her animal friends nearby happy to see Fluttershy come back to see them. A few ferrets came out first to see her.

"Hello everyone. Sorry for being gone so quick, I'll feed you in just a second," Fluttershy promised. And soon she flew on inside her cottage to get the pet food. Ferrets like them would usually get fish, and she was sure to get some on hoof, and fish bought from the market and not fished out of the river (best she could do). It took some look, but she did get the food from the fridge.

"Ah! There it is," Fluttershy said, bringing out the cut tuna. She had a heart for fish same as every other animal, but animals do eat fish and she just had to accept that. However, she had one other little visitor today the second she closed the door, his smiling face hiding just behind the view of the fridge, making Fluttershy jump.

"Oh! Discord! What a surprise," Fluttershy said. Ah, Discord, the reality-bending Draconequus that's as loved as he is a bother by many a figure, but enough of a joy to be around. Discord was glad to see his favorite little Pegasus as well.

"Surprise! And how's my sweet little Flutters doing these days? Oh, do hope you're ready, because I made sure to bring extra sugar for our little tea time," Discord said, showing some cubes of sugar floating in his talon. Fluttershy was glad to see him, sure, but the Pegasus was already trotting outside of the door towards her ferret friends waiting for her. Discord felt a little bugged, and slithered off outside to see her.

"Did you hear me, Fluttershy? It is our tea time today, isn't it?" Discord asked, now having a teacup with him. Fluttershy finished feeding the ferrets before looking to the Draconequus.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, we're celebrating Stevonnie's birthday and Lapis's anniversary today. I tried to write a letter to you, but it started too fast, I didn't have time to make one," Fluttershy said. Discord knew well of this Birth-iversary, but he didn't expect it to block off their weekly tea-time together.

"Discord, don't be like that," Fluttershy said, "I never was going to forget about our weekly tea time, I just got a little caught up. I promise, I'll find time later today to have our tea time together."

"Oh, you," Discord chuckled, giving Fluttershy a noogie to the head. He just can't be mad at someone like Fluttershy for more than two minutes. Fluttershy was glad he wasn't too upset by this.

"Thanks for understanding. Maybe we can have our tea time during the party?" Fluttershy offered. Discord thought about it.

"Thanks. If you're going to stay around here, you think you can watch over the chickens for me? Applejack brought them to me, and they've been getting … a little antsy," Fluttershy said … as the chickens were fast asleep nearby. The only activity they were doing was grooming their feathers. Discord didn't see the "antsy", but he nodded anyway. Fluttershy smiled, and flew off back towards Ponyville.

AND he summoned a hammock soon as Fluttershy was out of sight. Discord threw himself onto said hammock, gave a good stretch, just as he began to go off to sleep. The warm spring sun and the final touch of chilly wind made a perfect cool time for a nap on his new hammock. With Fluttershy off back to the Birth-iversary, this left Discord alone with the exception of a few of the animals in Fluttershy's care, and of course the chickens. Discord knew Fluttershy had plenty of different animals around her little daycare center of her cottage, so when he started to hear the sound of larger wings, he didn't even flinch.

"Discord. … DISCORD!" a voice snapped. Discord wasn't too startled by the yelling, but what did startle him enough to tumble out of the hammock was WHO was saying it. Peeking passed the hammock, he saw both figures standing there: the spirit of the world yet to come, and what looked like some sort of messenger heron or crane alongside her.

"OH. For a second, I thought you were some Tantabus messing in my nightmares," Discord joked, his talon pulling out a tantabus-like creature from his ear and flicking it aside. The spirit was not in the mood for any games (one reason why she didn't enjoy Discord).

"Discord, we are to have a discussion, and we insist you actually attend this time," the spirit informed. Discord got himself back into his hammock though, yawning.

"Oh, sure! I'd have to check my schedule first, and I'm quite a busy bee," Discord said, summoning a VERY long list of "essentials" he had to do, while wearing a set of reading glasses. They took a moment to let him look over the list itself, but the spirit was not having any of it, grabbing the list and seeing it herself, just to find nothing on it except for the fancy word in question.

"No, he's just up in that tree," the messenger said, pointing a wing up to a nearby spruce tree, where Discord tried to hide the best he could do. Some reason it wasn't as extravagant as it would normally be (he wasn't even altering his body). The spirit, being stronger, grabbed the tree, and the tree began to disappear until Discord fell out of it like a piece of fallen fruit. The tree reappeared a few feet away.

"Seriously, I could barely keep myself awake the last time we had a meeting like this," Discord complained, him laying on the ground like an exhausted snake, forcing the spirit to pick him up.

"Discord, this is important, for it's your involvement that started this in the first place," the spirit noted.

"OH NO, not that again! How was I supposed to know the Plunder Seeds would just spontaneously appear in another world?"

Was a comment even needed for how wrong that sounded? The spirit simply raised that ever-accusing eyebrow.

"Indeed. The mistress insisted it herself that you specifically were to come, for you know more of both Earth and Equestria over the prior years than most," the spirit explained. Discord actually perked up.

"Why else would we be here?" questioned the spirit. Discord suddenly disappeared for a moment, and suddenly returned in a business chair, what looked to be an office desk as well, as he clicked a intercom button.

"Mary, hold my meeting with Luna and KK. That's what I call Celestia, how cute," Discord said. The spirit swatted the intercom away from him.

"Alright, fine, fine. So, where's the meeting this time? You know, I've been seeing plenty of hotspots to visit," Discord said. The spirit sighed, taking a minute to actually get out a proper answer for him.

A full party for both Lapis's anniversary, and Stevonnie's birthday was quite the big shindig. Plenty of party games, some good cooking thanks to the cakes, and a good present giving to the two. They were tired, but happy, and soon they were off heading back home. The Gems were off back home easy, and Lapis Lazuli and Stevonnie got the portal key to get them back home. Just months ago, Steven would be off over to Greg's van to go off to sleep, but thanks to magic and the Crystal Heart, Steven's home was back in shape, and good as gold when both fusion and Gem returned back. And for Stevonnie, she unfused the moment she stepped back, Connie and Steven all smiles.

"Wow, Pinkie's parties always tire me out. Never knew a game of musical chairs could be that exhausting," Connie said.

"OR that we had to look all over Ponyville just to find a surprise guest in Cadance and Shining," added Steven.

"I still think twister was the best game," said Lapis, taking a seat over by the couch and getting some rest.

"You only say that because Gems can shapeshift. Amethyst won that game at least twenty five times," Connie reminded. She could still remember pointing this out to Amethyst, and the main response being "no one said I can't". Why stop a winning streak thanks to basic logic? Lapis glanced over towards Steven, and finding that Garnet did drop off the gift they've been given, the universe globe now in Steven's hands as he checked it out for himself.

"Wow. I can see the entire universe in here," Steven said. Turned out, he can also tap about in it to check out all sorts of things.

"Steven, you gonna say goodbye to your fusion buddy?" Connie asked, going over to him. Steven took off his notice from the universe globe for a brief moment. It was a bit hard to, that he had literally the universe in front of him and he had to ignore it for a moment.

"Oh, sorry. You have to go so soon? We just got back home, and I wanna check out this a little bit more," Steven said, bringing the globe to her and showing the zoomed up solar system of theirs.

"I'd love to, but mom's expecting me home soon, and it's getting late. We can show it tomorrow, okay?" Connie promised. Steven was bummed out, but he would LOVE to show off their new toy to everyone in town. Good thing Lapis Lazuli was there too, who already knew where this was even going with a spread of her wings.

"Feel up for an air lift?" Lapis offered. PERFECT. Connie went on towards the door with Lapis Lazuli.

"Bye Steven," Connie replied. Steven looked out his window, as Connie was lifted off by Lapis, the flying Gem having fun with Connie, and both sharing a good laugh as they went off towards home. Steven was left alone for the night again, Steven placing the amazing "snowglobe" of his over by the bed, making sure it didn't cover up his family photo with the Crystal Gems and Mane Six. The faint glow from the universe globe wasn't enough to keep Steven awake, more like a night light then much else, but Steven got a good view of his friends in the picture. Even so, the gift was a slight reminder to him as well, as his hand was placed on his gemstone. Eh, he can probably figure this out down the line. For now, it was time to sleep. There was a lot of showing off to do tomorrow with his little trinket.

Many a person, pony, or Gem would be relaxing off somewhere, but that didn't mean no one was up and about for the night. But for one notable Unicorn, the night time was a time to work out his own magic and study. He too had a very long day, according to the postcard he left for the "Harmony Gems", and even so he still had time to work things out in his own bit of time and getting the magical spells in check as he looked to a cauldron. He'd not done any of this since, well, since he first met with the Pony of Shadows. and BOY did he have a LOT to catch up on in his magic, mostly for all the new magic showing up all over the place.

"The world has changed so much since I've last seen it. The Tree of Harmony had done well," he sighed. So many areas once made up of darkness now cheerful and bright. So many new ponies, perspectives, and other things he had never seen before. He did feel a little bit down though thinking on it, not really on the Tree of Harmony, but more on the Elements of Harmony. The remints of the tree, and now they were left from their world to defeat the Pony of Shadows. He could only wish he could've learned a little more about the Elements of Harmony themselves before having them completely gone like that.

"Now then," he said, keeping some more focus on the spells, "Darastrix mentioned some weather control by a giant bird. How intriguing. What kind of magic could that creature have for its body not coming close to the role?" It was a long time ago since that happened, years in fact, but not many really took time to put some questioning on the creature. Or for that matter, the other world. He sat down by his desk, checking in on the reports as of late, though he himself was slightly unaware of something going on with his nearby cauldron. Bubbling slightly more than expected. The pony heard the activity going on, and turned back with interest, as more smoke started to come about from it. … Then came a pair of eyes glowing a seagreen color. This would raise alarm if the pony didn't have any idea what those eyes belonged to.

"Starswirl the Bearded. It's a pleasure to hear from you once again," the voice said from behind the smoke. The voice was not threatening. In fact, it sounded more like a calm mother than anything, and Starswirl would know that voice more than anything else.

"Ah, yes. How long was it? Easily over a thousand years, I'm sure," Starswirl said. The Mistress giggled a little.

"See someone's changed a bit. I can still remembered when you were more wondering how my magic worked."

"True, and I still do. Though in recent days, I'm seeing the world a bit more openly this time. Me and the rest of the Pillars of Equestria," Starswirl said.

"Very good of you to think so. I'm sorry if I'm coming in on a bad time, I know you can be so focused when it comes to magic like all good sorcerers."

"No, it's alright. The magical discoveries are as vast as the land itself. But I'm sure a small talk won't make them all go," Starswirl said. The voice behind the smoke though sighed a little bit.

"Actually … that's why I want to contact you, Starswirl. We're to have a meeting at Canterlot Castle tomorrow morning about that very thing. And I'd like you to come just as well."

"Yes. After all, Starswirl, you've done more magical experience than any creature I've witnessed apart of this world. Besides … you've been a witnessed to the same event."

"... It's coming back, then. … Thank you, mistress, for telling me. I'll be present, but one thing I want to inquire. If this is to be in Canterlot, does this mean you're … showing yourself? To those outside of your circle?" Starswirl asked.

"It would be best for those in this world to know, Starswirl. I've done so long before. And they deserve it after all they've done. Besides, the worlds must be prepared in their state for the event," the mistress said. Starswirl knew exactly what she was talking about, as he looked out from his quarters to the moon outside. The moon which he knew was in control by the magic of an Alicorn, rather than its own ability.

As with any other day, the morning sun was bringing up to the sky thanks to Celestia's own magic, bringing forth a new day for Equestria, and to Canterlot itself. Tired from yesterday, Twilight Sparkle was worn out by the time the sun came up to her old room. She took a bit to actually get around with the sun trying to wake her up, but eventually the Alicorn did give in and woke up with a yawn. One would think she would be tired from the party yesterday, but as a particular "Me And My Shadow" book fell off the bed, the actual reason for the bookworm's lack of sleep was a bit more apparent. Twilight looked down to the book, levitating it off the ground as she got to her hooves.

"What a story," Twilight said. She'd be more excited if she didn't just wake up. "Who knew Stygian was so good at literature? I really gotta give him a thank-you card when I get the chance."
With that in mind Twilight brought the book back up to her bookshelf, fitting perfectly in her "drama" section. Something like that would be the perfect spot for such a book. But now actually awake, Twilight went off to freshen up and get herself ready for the day, finding a comb and beginning to brush her mane to get the knots and "bed head" out of it.

"Morning, Twilight," said another voice. Twilight looked over, and saw Spike off nearby, who was also tired from the big celebration. He still had on a party hat from yesterday, and still have a slight taste of Pinkie's cake on his tongue.

"Not that I'm aware of," Spike shrugged. Then again, he fell asleep pretty quickly after coming back from the celebration, pulling off the party hat. Soon, Twilight got her mane and tail better kept and better maintained. Twilight gave a stretch, her wings spreading out.

"She's probably still with Trixie. Ok, ready to make our day list, Spike?" Twilight asked. Spike got a bit more aware this time, and soon went over to the drawer of quills and paper. He knew the place like the back of his claws, and it took less than a minute to gather them up.

"Okay. First matter: check the books and make sure they all are perfectly alphabetical," Twilight began.

"I know, but I just got a brand new book! That means re-categorizing," Twilight replied, sounding very excited about it. Twilight already began to go through the books, some levitating off of the shelves when -

"Can you get that, Spike?" Twilight asked. Spike knew well that the Alicorn was not going to be off from this anytime soon, so Spike just left her to it for now. It would give Twilight a chance to get this all handled, and the work not as much on his shoulders as it would normally be. The dragon took little time to move down towards the front door, still hearing the knocking. So early in the morning too, who would be up to see them so soon?

And there stood a crane. It looked to be a Japanese crane. … It wasn't a giant crane, or a special crane. Just some crowned crane standing at the door, dressed like a messenger pigeon. Spike was puzzled a bit, looking around for any pony, Gem, Human, or whatever that could've sent this bird. but, nothing really. Spike didn't know who sent this bird to the tower, nor what the message was all about. Was it actually the crane that knocked on the door?

"Um … can I help you?" asked Spike. The crane looked passed Spike, as if it didn't see Spike present in front of it.

"Down here," Spike said, waving his claw up so the bird could see him. The crowned crane was a bit more one-track minded though, it didn't come to deliver this message to the little Dragon, so it stepped over him and began walking around inside, much to Spike's annoyance. He tried getting to the bird, but the crowned crane was already right in Twilight's main lobby when he caught up to the bird. And by the time they got there, Twilight had half of the books out of the shelves again, ready to handle this section of books for re-categorizing. The Alicorn didn't even notice the bird and dragon at first, but the bird didn't hesitate to go right up to the Alicorn. At first, the bird didn't do much of anything, waiting patiently for Twilight to see it … for less than a minute, before -

"Ow! Spike, you know better than -" Twilight stopped when seeing the crane there. Now finally getting her attention properly, the crane got the message untied on its neck, and gave it to Twilight. Before dropping it though, he bowed to her, wings in position to mirror a gentleman's bow. Once it unrolled the message for Twilight, the crane turned and took its leave where it came from (ignoring Spike again).

"There's a nicer way to do that," Spike grumbled, before walking up to Twilight. Twilight stopped checking her books for a brief moment to check this odd message. A message by bird was a rare sight in this world of magic, and even rarer by such a big bird (relatively speaking, that is). A message by mail would either be by mailpony or, for their case to Celestia, by some magical teleportation. Twilight took a look through the letter, reading it out in her own head.

"Spike, forget the list, get the rest of my friends, we gotta meeting at Canterlot Castle to get to!" Twilight said in alarm, the message flung into the air as Twilight quickly galloped right off outside, Spike catching the letter and seeing it himself.

The Elements of Harmony holders were at least having it easy being in the same world as Canterlot Castle. Earth was a little bit more complicated than that. And while the Elements of Harmony had gotten the early starts, the Crystal Gems still were left unchecked. And thinking they still had the day for themselves, Connie and Steven went off with the Universe Globe to show off to the others within Beach City, starting with Steven's favorite place to get a snack - the Big Donut.
When Steven and Connie both arrived inside, Lars Barriga and Sadie Miller was actually up front counter, already having a set of customers chatting the morning away with them in the form of another set of Gems (sort of), the Rutile Twins.

"It was a blast! Here, look what we got," Steven answered, Connie having the honor of showing Lars the special globe. The Rutile Twins were looking to the object with a lot of intrigue as she placed it on the countertop for them all to check out.

"Wow, not bad," said Sadie, seeing the beautiful stardust swirl and spin about inside the globe.

"Let me guess. Diamond Authority gift, right?" Lars guessed, seeing some of the "diamond" influence on it.

"How'd you know that?" Steven gasped in amazement. First guess Lars made on the object and it was on the money first shot. Lars just chuckled and shrugged, as the Rutile Twins stared off into the globe's space. She honestly couldn't help herself and clicked the starting button, turning the bunch of stardust into the universe in a globe. Connie watched it form up inside as well.

"It's a high-class antique only the elites usually get. It's rare for anyone under classed to ever even see one of these," explained right Rutile.

"And the last one ever heard was at least seven thousand years ago," explained left Rutile, "It's like a visual diorama of the universe."

As the Rutile Twins were explaining, Connie and Steven both found themselves mesmerized by the show inside the orb. It was one of those things one could stare at for hours and not get tired of it. Steven knew some bit on how it worked, even if vaguely, and he began fiddling with it to show the solar system again. Steven was just psyched with what they could see, but keen-eyed Connie was a bit more observant in the details of the transition. And she was seeing something out of the ordinary.

"Wait, Steven, go back," Connie suddenly said. Steven, while learning as he went along, eventually did go back a little bit until they saw what seemed to be a number of galaxies spread about the place. They could see their Galaxy, Homeworld's Galaxy (they could recognize the extra bright planet), and even the same galaxy Equus is. That was very impressive, but there was … something. Something big. Swirled up. Almost as if a portion of the stars was moving towards the galaxies that was both Equus and Earth.

"Strange," added left Rutile. The strange mass didn't look like any real form of object, spacecraft, or even cloud. The best thing to compare it to was spilt motor oil, and even then it was still a bit far off.

"What is that? A Supernova?" Connie wondered. But the properties of this sure looked different from a standard Supernova: a lot more spread out, and "mobile" than what a Supernova would usually be. At least that was with what she compared to from her studies in science class.

What timing for the messenger to arrive. Unlike in Twilight's tower, the doors of the Big Donut were see-through, and they saw immediately the figure waiting patiently outside in the form of a red-capped crane, again with a message tied around its neck. And unlike Equestria, this was an even bigger surprise for anyone on Earth (Red-Capped cranes never are found in North America, let alone Delmarva). Curious, Sadie answered the door for the bird, and once the door was open, the crane went right on inside, going directly towards Steven Universe himself. Not as much trouble this time, and they already got their attention on it.

Exactly as with the crowned crane with the Alicorn, the red-capped crane untied the message with its beak, bowed in presence to Steven, and placed the message down at Steven's feet. Message delivered. The crane turned and walked right on out, flying away the second it stepped out of the building. When an odd bird leaves a letter to your door and bows like a servant to you, you just know.

"I suddenly sense a big adventure coming up," Steven commented, before picking up the letter, and opening it right up. They all looked passed Steven's shoulders to read the same message left by the odd bird. It was the same message left to Twilight Sparkle, and it was a fairly simple one.

"Dear Harmony Gems. We have some very important matters to discuss for this morning. I know it's short notice, but I assume you're used to this by now. Just arrive within the throne room of Canterlot Castle, and we'll all be with you shortly. Take care. The Mistress. … And who's the mistress?"

Except for Celestia, Cadance, and Luna themselves. You'd think they would be the first to be given the heads-up since they were not only the rulers of Equestria, but the fact this meeting was in their house, but when all of the Elements of Harmony, Off-Colors, and Crystal Gems on their way, the sisters got the message fairly late. and even then, it was Starswirl the Bearded who had gave them both the message instead of some messenger's crane. Twilight may have been the first to arrive, but there was still everyone else.

"You three will find out in due time," Starswirl the Bearded said. "I'm honestly surprised you didn't get this message before everypony else."

"We might have been a bit too distracted," Luna admitted. With Celestia raising the sun for the morning, and Luna just waking up from a night of dream curing and dream hunting, time to read a note was hardly any. Starswirl the Bearded stroked his beard in his usual manor.

"Well, it won't be for too long. Just be ready for a pretty crowded room in just a few minutes," Starswirl advised.

He wasn't lying. Not too long after the announcement properly explained, the first one that began to arrive was actually the Gems of the group, coming in from a few notable opening from a number of portal keys. The first one was with Steven, Connie, Lars, Sadie, and the Rutile Twins. The second one was mainly the rest of the Crystal Gems coming through (with mega-Perma-fusion Fluorite carrying a few naturally). The third one was basically the rest of the Mane Six, including Starlight Glimmer and Spike. All of them were under impression this was Celestia's meeting, and Starswirl was on the ball about one thing. The room got filled up pretty quickly. Good thing her throne room was large enough for an army force to stand inside, otherwise there would be more problems than it was worth.

"Morning Celestia. We all got the message of yours, though I have to ask what the "mistress" title is for?" questioned a Flint Gem from the crowd, heading to her first with the message in his hand.

"Wait, this didn't come from you? Then why're we gathered in Canterlot?" Applejack had to ask.

"We'll all figure it out when the front door opens … though we better move," Garnet advised.

AND then the door opened to the front. The signature sign of the white light of a portal signified someone was making the portal key path open up again. However, with all of the key holders already there, no one else could be making the door open up like this. As Garnet had said, something started to go through the portal, and everyone had to move away from the path so whoever was arriving could have enough room.
Good thing they did too: the first guest to come in zoomed right through the portal in fast flight, shooting out like a speeding train, and flying upward so to not hit the princesses standing there. He opened up his wings wide, gently landing off nearby, the feathered serpent settling down over closer to Steven, Peridot, and Amethyst.

Of course, he was not the only one arriving, as more figures started to venture through the same portal: the two messenger cranes for a start flew through the portal, and landed in unison over by the door. The next figure to come in was the Luna-like spirit stepping through. Unlike Q though, she didn't feel too comfortable being there, looking at the large crowd all around her. She simply nodded to the princesses present, before moving over next to Q. Luna and the spirit shared some glances, making some silent notes on eachother.

And then one more person stepped through the portal, a figure NONE of them recognized with the exception of Starswirl himself. A humanoid like being, not much bigger than a normal human. Her appearance, to sum up, had a mix of Blue Diamond and Celestia. Her haired flowed behind her, many shades of purple, blue, and white flowing within it, and her eyes glowed a notable emerald green. Unlike the Spirit, she was a lot more pleased to see so many of them all together, a warm smile along her face.

"How wonderful you all could make it. I've been wanting to see all of you in person," she said warmly.

"Indeed. I'm sure some of you have met my friends as well?" the Mistress asked, looking over towards the "Harmony Gems" specifically. Steven, being witness to more than a few of them already, stepped forward.

"Um … yeah, hi. That would be me," Steven said, though he found himself feeling humble in the presence of the Mistress. He had met a few of them prior to this; Quetzalcoatl being the first one that comes to mind. It was kind of hard to forget a giant, magical, feathered serpent after all, even more so because the serpent had saved his life once before. The more recent being also was with the Spirit next to him, though it wasn't as helpful (or enjoyable) as it was with Q. The Mistress went over to him and kneeled down.

"And how'd you know his name?" Flint questioned almost immediately. The Mistress straightened up to see him.

"Oh I've heard a lot about all of you over the years, Flint," the Mistress replied, "So many amazing stories."

"And then … who might you be?" asked a fusion Rhodonite, a little suspicious but mostly nervous.

"You can just call me Mistress, most of the beings usually do. I'm also one of the godly entities of this combined universe, though I don't like to brag," she said modestly, waving her hand. They could say they'd met with such creatures and beings before, but they'd be a little incorrect. A deity is quite a different ball game to a standard mystical creature.

And out of nowhere, another player finally arrived out of nowhere, fazing through one of the castle's windows, and meeting right with the Mistress. It was rather fast, but the Mistress was lifted off the ground and wrapped in a big hug by none other than Draconequus Discord.

"Well, you actually did show up," sighed the Spirit. And here she thought Discord was throwing her a bone again. Seeing Discord this affectionate towards anyone, not to mention referring her as "momma" did raise some questions, especially towards Fluttershy as she flew up to them both.

"You know them, Discord?" Fluttershy asked. Discord landed, placing the Mistress down.

"OH RIGHT, Introductions, of course! Mistress, this is my sweet Fluttershy, isn't she just adorable?" discord introduced, playfully pinching her cheek. The Mistress looked to the Pegasus.

"Fluttershy. … Yes, you're one of the Elements of Harmony, right? The Element of Kindness. He's told me a lot about you," the Mistress said. Fluttershy blushed in her usual way, not realizing Discord had been telling a god about her, or any of them for that matter. The spirit though wanted to get this meeting underway.

"So formal. You act like it's a crime for wanting to see some friends," the Mistress said. They could clearly see the dynamics between these two. The spirit huffed.

"Well, I didn't say that," the Mistress sighed, as she walked over to the center of the room. The Spirit, Quetzalcoatl, and Discord as well, went along behind her.

"I'm so glad you all came here. There is something … peculiar, on the way to both Earth and Equus that I think must be shared with you. And I can say at least some of you have actually seen this object through your gift," the Mistress stated, the words she made sure were not missed by anyone else present. Steven, Connie, Sadie, Lars, and the Rutile Twins knew immediately what she was talking about, and in case they didn't, the Mistress spun her finger in the air to create a tiny circular portal just for the Universe Globe to fall through and land in her hand. Conveniently the globe still had its settings on to show both Galaxies in question, though of course it was a bit small to see.

"Discord, set up a projector so everyone can have a look," the Spirit instructed.

"Because connecting these worlds was your idea, because you're small and insignificant, and because I'll punish you if you don't!"

"OK, OK. … Geesh."
Discord snapped his talon, and summoned up a projection screen, an unknown source making a light to show the exact same image the Universe Globe was presenting, this time for everyone to look at. It showed both galaxies in question, along with the strange odd mass slowly moving. A bit of a interesting note that the spirit had decent control over Discord, and she never met Fluttershy before.

"Indeed," said the Mistress, "And after two days, it will arrive on both galaxies. It will cover both planets the moment it appears."

"But, w-what is it? Is it trying to take us away? Or … s-shatter us?" Rhodonite shuttered. Another gem, a Tiger's Eye, nudged Rhodonite to not start up any panic again.

"NO, of course not. … Starswirl, perhaps it would be best for you to better explain it. You did record the last occurred event after all," the Mistress insisted. Well, no surprise there. Starswirl understood the reasoning behind this, and nodded his head.

"Very well, Mistress. If you'll all accompany me to the Canterlot Library, I'll better explain everything there."

"The Canterlot Library? I've read through the books in there, I mean how could I not, but I've never read anything about this there before. Should I have?" Twilight asked, as Starswirl walked on by her.

Everyone was soon gathered within Canterlot Library's deep archives. A gathering like this would typically be made within Canterlot castle, but Starswirl the Bearded had a specific room in mind, hidden away from all eyes of the normal citizens above. Good thing too, as information like this would not be allowed to reach public eye for the longest time. But, given the circumstances more than most, Starswirl had no choice anymore. Starswirl guided them downward through the silent staircase, seemingly going downward into nothingness, but with some light given by the unicorns of the group, they could see just fine. This kind of deep chasm was leaving some of them wondering where they were actually going, but none of them bothered to ask all too much.
Regardless of the case, they soon got their answer once Starswirl reached the bottom door. These doors, old and dust-covered, hadn't been touched since … well, since the last time Starswirl had stepped hoof anywhere in Equestria. Thousands of years, and not a single hoof, hand, or otherwise had touched these handles. Starswirl didn't hesitate to open up the doors, and stepped first hoof into the room ever since he left.

And the room itself, as it turned out, was yet another piece of Equestrian lore and history. A section of the library nopony, or nobody for that matter, had common access to. And BOY did it have a lot of history to cover, with shelves lined up, all untouched and still in fairly good condition (shocking really). Much of the shelves down here were made up of holes within the cavern walls instead of being pre-made like the books above, two floors of books just begging to be looked over. Some artifacts still remained in place over thousands of years, which included a griffon shield belonging to the very first king of Griffonstone on the second floor, a pair of flags that would've waved proudly for the Draconian empire just beside the door, and a few other things. Starswirl the Bearded walked over towards the library's fireplace, which he simply made a small fire spell to rekindle the fire so everyone could have a better time seeing the place.

"Much better," Starswirl sighed, as he actually started to look around the room for the knowledge in question.

"T-This is amazing. how old are these books? These have GOT to be a thousand - no, thousands of years old! Ok, Connie, ok, breathe," Connie said to herself, fanning her face so she wouldn't collapse, extremely excited. But of course, not in the same league as Twilight Sparkle.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! So many books, all unread, ANCIENT, HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS! Just … I thought … I can't …" Twilight was so freaked out, she looked ready to faint, breathing in a wheezing tone as she saw a few of the many books, all of history she had never read up on before.

"Someone better get a fainting couch," commented Lars with a smirk. Peridot and Applejack couldn't help but chuckle in agreement.

"And you're sure you can handle looking through all this, Twilight?" Celestia then asked with a smile, though she knew what the answer would be.

"DON'T TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME!" Twilight cried, begging to look through all, if any, of these books. Never deny an egghead of an opportunity as amazing as this.

"Calm down, Twilight. Remember, we're not here just to sight-see," Jasper reminded.

"I know," Twilight said, still excited, "look at this place, there's so many! Guess we gotta read em all to -"

AND cut short. Starswirl didn't need too much time to actually find what he was looking for, hidden off nearby the fireplace. Starswirl the Bearded walked out with what looked to be some sort of chest, which he then placed on a nearby table. So much for having to look. Twilight actually looked ready to cry, whimpering a little.

"Easy, Twilight, you'll live," Garnet reassured her, before they all went over towards him. Talk about a true buzzkill.

Starswirl the Bearded proceeded to open up the chest, handling some of the old, and rusty locks on it, and eventually revealed what appeared to be a small book, marked on the cover what looked like a cloud of sorts. It had Starswirl's mark on it as well for signature, making this book one that he wrote down himself, so it would be natural that he would have the knowledge, and know where this even was.

"Eh, not to shoot you down already, but this is for weather," Rainbow pointed out, taking the book by the cover instead of the confines within the pages. Starswirl didn't even bother to answer her, and opened up the book. The book immediately looked a bit more like a study guide, only about ten pages worth, discussing the workings of this particular phenomenon.

"In a sense, you'd be right. I thought that this kind of effect wouldn't come to pass. But it seems that we're going to be experiencing a magical fallout."

"What're you talking about?" Amethyst asked, already a bit lost. Starswirl turned the page to show what looked to be a few creatures before: some casting spells with wands while others released it with beams of energy.

"All beings within any realm, world, of universe, has an amount of magic within them in some shape of form, and when one of these beings has tapped into their magical potential, they soon become capable of sorcery. When one uses magic in such ways, remints of that energy remain behind, having unforeseen effects on local populations, and can result in new creatures appearing within their realm of existence if left unchecked."

"So when we use magic, some of it floats around for a while," confirmed Applejack. Starswirl nodded.

"New creatures? We've been using magic on Earth! You saying that remints left there can alter the animals there too?" Flint asked.

"Animals, plants, whatever it may be," confirmed Starswirl. "It sounds like you had your fare share of creatures?"

"Yep!" Pinkie said, suddenly having a list in her hooves, "There's Time Jumper, a Thunderbird, Remorhaz, a Light Creature, Grootslang, A magic tree from Homeworld, and a jaguar with a horn and tails."

Starswirl the Bearded took a minute to think about this, stroking his beard with his hoof.

"Hmm, yes. The magic of this world has been changing and effecting the other world since it's connection, subconsciously or directly," concluded Starswirl. So. All those creatures they've seen in Steven's world were actually because of Equestria's magic left behind there. The Thunderbird, Grootslang, Remorhaz, all of those wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for Twilight being found at Rose's fountain. The very idea of it felt a bit heavy for some, and intriguing to others. Even with this explanation said, it wasn't exactly clearing everything.

"Well we know where those creatures came from, but what does that have to do with this "thing" in space?" Sadie asked. Starswirl then turned the page in the book, this time showing a sort of cloud above the magic users, and streams of magic being pulled to it not long after the magic users left.

"Magic left behind ascends into the air, and gathers into a mass of magic energy. While some of it does effect the native area, most of it remains gathered, invisible to most and harmless. But overtime, a huge amount of it is left unchecked gathers together into what is known as "The Everstorm"."

"An Everstorm is a concentration of magical energy," explained Quetzalcoatl, "Once all that magic is gathered, it is capable of completely draining any, and ALL magic from the worlds it is near. And, as both Earth and Equus are connected thanks to Discord releasing the Plundervines into Rose's Fountain, the Everstorm will effect both realms at once."
No magic. With a lot of Equestria's workings being involved with magic in some sort of way, that was a very scary thought, especially towards Luna and Celestia, who were left wide-eyed in absolute shock.

"No magic? N-No, we have to prevent this!" Luna concluded, but the spirit looked disapprovingly at them.

"There is nothing to be done that could ever stop an Everstorm from forming. All one must do is wait it out," the Spirit confirmed.

"You don't understand," Celestia retorted, "All of Equestria is reliant on magic: the weather cycles, the land, the very days! Me and my sister HAVE to move the sun and moon everyday, we can't risk that being stopped! We have to stop it!"

"That is not your call to make!" said the spirit, her voice threatening to crumble the very cavern they were in. "This is not a sentient being, for it is a universal representation of the rainclouds you move everyday. The fact this world is so reliant on magic to the point of no longer being functional without it is your own fault. And if this is so, then you'll pay the price for trying to control all fabric of your lives."
The message was cold, yet full of truth. Humans may have their own idea of changing the world around them, but at least if they stopped their world can continue on without them. Equus was a completely different story, and the idea there won't even be a tomorrow without their magic was a disaster waiting to happen. They already saw what danger there was when the plundervines attacked Ponyville on the day the connection began in the first place, sun and moon side-by-side in the sky.

"So … all magic is gonna be gone when it gets here. Don't worry Celestia, we'll be there to protect you," Jasper promised. It was then came a sigh from Quetzalcoatl.

"I'm sorry to say this," said Quetzalcoatl, gravely, "When we say all magic will be gone, we mean ALL of it. Unfortunately, that means all of you Gems will NOT be able to stay here during the Everstorm."

"Nothing bad: you'll be reverted back to just a gemstone. I know it's confusing, but apparently your abilities are just like the magic found in Equestria. Or at the least, the same concept that the Everstorm can take," Quetzalcoatl said.

"No, no, you're confused," Peridot said, "A gem's body is made up of a massed hologram, it's nothing much like magic."

"I don't know … Tirek was able to drain us still, magic or no. I guess it is the same as magic?" Lapis admitted, though she wished it wasn't true. She didn't want to completely be removed from the area because of this Everstorm, but if there really was no way to stop this thing from coming around, then what could they do? It was then another question came up, involving another problem concerning one pink human.

"They'll die, what do you think? It was your magic that brought them back to life, and if that becomes negated, so will they," answered the spirit matter-of-factly. So, not only will the Crystal Gems (or any Gem for that matter), no longer be in commission to help, but Lars and Lion will just die?! Lars was probably the most shocked by this, if not Sadie.

"N-NO WAY! you can't just let him die, he has more stories to tell!" Steven retorted.

"Stop acting like I have control over any of this, it's your fault like the ponies and their world!"

"WHOA, HOLD ON, don't blame them, they didn't know like you did," Discord said. The spirit then loomed over above him, making him feel very small.

"It was your fault this happened in the first place, Discord," she bellowed, "We wouldn't even need to get involved if you hadn't released those plundervines into Rose's Fountain. It would've made the arrival of the Everstorm far less likely."

"Uh, hey … this isn't permanent, is it?" Lars asked meekly. Starswirl decided to answer this time.

"No, of course not. After the first week or two of the arrival, all magic will be alive again. The Gems will be reformed, and you will be revived. … Though …"

"No catch. In a way," said Starswirl. "It's hard to describe in full, but the last time this happened, it gave birth to other entities made of complete magic. If I recall correctly, it wasn't too long after the Everstorm that Rockhoof had come across the Ursa Major, I believe."

"He would have," said Quetzalcoatl, "The Everstorm has made numerous entities through the millennium, most of which are beings of great power. Ursa Major is just one example of what the Everstorm could create."

"Hold on. Ursa Major. The gigantic cosmic bear? THAT was made in the Everstorm?!" Starlight asked.
Trixie had gone on about her previous days when she bragged about beating the Ursa Major, which brought some unicorns to bring something similar to town, and while Starlight had never seen one herself, imagining that the giant blue bear that attacked Ponyville being an Ursa Minor. … Well, a kaiju-sized bear was terrifying to say the least. Even more so with it coming from the same storm coming by, so who knows what could come around now?

"This Everstorm has made far more than just the Ursa Major," Starswirl said, remembering his own experience, "A shadowy creature called the Umbra had also ventured into our world in a passing of the Everstorm. It's its influence that had taken hold of Stygian over 1,000 years ago."

"Sombra, Nightmare Moon, and the Pony of Shadows. Huh, no wonder that year's been crazy," Spike noted. Also explained the big theme with plenty of shadowy figures during that time as well, if he could recall right: Sombra the shadow pony, Stygian's dark magic, and of course the alter-ego of Luna all had a similar Umbra theme to it after all. Won't even be hard to think dark magic originated from that storm, but that might be pushing it.

"This isn't fair!" shouted Rainbow, "We can't lose ALL our power! I already lost mine, I'm not losing it again!"

"Rainbow, calm down, not EVERY ability is going to disappear," reminded Quetzalcoatl. "You'll still be able to fly, fairly fast with those wings of yours. Just don't expect to be moving clouds, or make sonic rainbooms anytime soon."

"Afraid not," the spirit replied. "All magic will be drained, and any that SOMEHOW would make it that would be used against it, will only add to the Everstorm's build. It's like throwing water balloons into a lake. You could either return to Homeworld and wait until it passes, or … well, find somewhere where your gemstones won't be damaged."

"I understand … well Gems, we all just need somewhere hidden away until we can reform again," conclude Garnet.

"As much as I hate to admit it, she's right. If that Everstorm can drain our energy completely, we'd be useless regardless," agreed Flint, grudgingly. It was sad that all of the Crystal Gems can't be present to help in any of this (at least not at the start), but in that regard, at least they will return eventually as with any other time. Then again, a lot could happen in a few days, so they need to keep that in mind.

"And I … what am I suppose to do?" Lars asked, still humbled by the fact his life would have a timer now.

"Avoid rotting, I suppose," the spirit bluntly stated. It was hard to figure out a solution to that, so they had to keep Lars out of the way for a while, at best. Keeping his body from decomposing was … a challenge. What other word was there for it?

"There has to be a way to keep Lars alive, we can't even wait for one day!" Connie retorted.

"You'll have to wait a week or two before the fallout phase is complete," Starswirl said. "I'm sorry to say."

"Ok, let me see if I got this right: the Gems will be poofed, Lars and Lion will be dead, all magic will be gone, and there a chance some overpowered thing will come in and kill us," Starlight confirmed.

"That about sums it up, yes," the spirit replied. For something like the spirit, or perhaps even Quetzalcoatl or discord, this wouldn't matter too much. However, for everyone else there, these facts were just scary to think about. Just what could end up happening within the time of all this fallout and surge? Celestia took a deep breath, thinking about one possible exception to this rule.

"Spirit. You said all magic will be removed on arrival of this Everstorm, correct?"

"Hmm … then what about spells that removes magic? Will that be removed as well?" Celestia asked. This was a rather specific question, and the spirit was left a little befuddled.

"Then if you excuse me." Celestia had all the information she needed. With knowledge of the Everstorm now better understood, Celestia felt in her mind and soul that, for Equestria to have a fighting chance for what was to come, there was only one thing she had to do.

Celestia's flight back to Canterlot Castle was a pretty silent one and pretty lonely one. The citizens of Canterlot saw her fly by, both admiring her, and keeping distance as to not bother her. Though, even if they wanted to talk to her, Celestia had little time to actually say much, as with the oncoming Everstorm she had to get the world prepared for the scenario ahead, as the others were sure to start doing in the coming days. The Crystal Gems had their own planet to keep track over, and the Elements of Harmony and Pillars of Equestria had their own plans to look into on the event. But as far as threats do go, there was a lot that can be said for the possible outcomes, and with Equus, Celestia can handle that one right now.

Sighing, Celestia landed on the tallest balcony of Canterlot Castle. This balcony was usually the spot for Celestia and Luna to raise and lower both sun and moon respectively, and easily. Easy to see where the star and moon was going in their respected locations in the world. At the time, it was about twelve in daytime, the primetime for Celestia's sun to be up at its highest. If there was anytime to handle her plan of action, it had to be now. The decision itself would never be one of Celestia's accord, namely because she never really knew how to do this spell properly, and also it was a similar backup plan to the Pillars' plan with the Tree of Harmony. They did that for the absence of themselves. And without magic to control the days, Celestia simply must do the same, and she had to do it now before the Everstorm could take it all away. It would mean a lot for her to do this. After all, it was her livelihood - the reason behind not only her Cutie Mark itself, but in a way her ruling. The Princess of the Sun, after all.

Celestia aimed her horn directly to the sun above her head, the horn glowing a new type of hue. A typical hue from her would be yellow, or purple if black magic was involved, but this spell was something beyond even the Unicorns of the past. Her OWN spell - her backup plan in case she would permanently fail. She may have fallen before, but those were temporarily, and she knew she could still work the Sun and Moon even if she lost her kingdom. This was not the same case as before. THIS would take away all that made Equestria unique from Earth. ALL MAGIC.

"Here it goes," she thought. She focused ever so slightly for the aura of her magic to ever so cover the Sun above her. This spell would later, and in turn, do the same to the Moon when it would rise up. Once the yellow aura fully sealed the sun in the heavens, Celestia shot a singular beam of cosmic energy. Not magical energy, cosmic energy. A type of magic with permanent effects if ever used. And once that spell hit the Sun, something began to happen not just to the sun, but to Celestia herself.

Her mane and tail, for a start, began to slowly lose the strong coloration of rainbow, turning instead to a singular color of hot pink. Her Cutie Mark, as well, also began to ever slowly disappear from her flank. The process of this both drained and ached the princess, as the aura around the sun as well started to disappear, seeping out the magic from said object. The magic left the sun in a spiral of energy, but it didn't connect back to Celestia. No, the magic here scattered across the sky, vanishing in thin air. It wouldn't matter if it would return to her either way.

And just like that, the deed was done. Celestia, weaker than before, sat down and took her breath from all that concentration. Celestia glanced up to the sun once more, her sun still high in the sky. Hard to believe she would ever resort to this, and it was just as much of a surprise to Luna once she caught up. Celestia turned to see her dear sister. No Cutie Mark. No flowing mane. Without words, Luna just sat over by her older sister, both looking up to the sky once again.

So from there, both worlds began to get themselves ready for the oncoming Everstorm. As this was an effect hitting both Earth and Equus, both sides needed to be properly handled as best as they could manage, especially where magic was the most consistent source of power (looking at you Canterlot). While they weren't too sure on when the Everstorm would exactly arrive, both Equus and Earth actually had enough of a clue up in the sky itself. It was pretty faint for the first day, but after the second day, there was signs of something moving ever closer to their planet, looking like a cluster of sparkles, much like stars. This wouldn't be noticeable at night, but even daytime showed these, giving them a literal timer on the form of the Everstorm itself.

Starlight Glimmer was more on the edge of things though. The last thing she needed to lose was her magic, Everstorm or no. It was the most prominent part of her, and she was busily going through book after book on numerous magical enhancements to keep her magic prominently, and permanently on. Good thing Twilight had plenty of books to look through. … Too bad any and all spells to do that require magic, and magic will be gone altogether, so most of these spells were pretty much pointless.

"Yeah, I know. If this Everstorm is coming, I just want somepony to keep magic through this so we can have some sort of chance," Starlight said, skimming through yet another book with no success, accidentally almost hitting Spike with it.

"Spike, that's not true. At least, it can't be true. There's got to be a way around this," Starlight insisted, getting another book and trying to find some sort of answer to this dilemma.

"And we're just supposed to accept that?! No way! Just think how much trouble we'd be in: the Gems can't help with anything, the sun and moon will be stuck in the sky, possibly freezing or burning Equestria, and that Cluster ready to revive and tear open Earth at any moment!"

"Sure, you won't have a problem with it - You're a Dragon. Dragons don't use magic," Starlight pointed out. Which honestly wasn't wrong. The most a Dragon could do in magic was firebreath, and that was just a universal ability to all Dragons so if they lose that, they still have flying AND strength on their side. In comparison to a small pony, they still could wipe the floor with them. Heck, they can do that WITH magic!

"Ok, I get it. I'm just worried what'll happen. We can't control the world as well without magic!" Starlight said.

Spike wasn't alone in coming to see Starlight, and instead of coming in through the door like any normal thing, he just fazed through the nearest corner of the room. A gray, two-tailed canine named Sniper: one of Starlight Glimmer's more recent friends.

"Just came by for a visit. What's the trouble?" Sniper asked, seeing Starlight look a bit more troubled than usual.

"Some weird thing called an Everstorm's gonna take all the magic away," Spike said casually. And to Starlight's own trouble, Sniper didn't take the news too crazy either.

"What do you mean all?!" Starlight shouted, "Equestria's not gonna make it without magic!"
Sniper and Spike shared some glances with eachother, Spike shrugging. Some of Starlight's ideas weren't too far off, but that didn't mean they were the most likely thing. Besides, saying magic was essential for the world to function was … to put it bluntly … stupid.

"You don't understand; the sun and moon only move because of Magic. The weather patterns are moved by Pegesi magic, and so much of the farmland is cropped due to - … oh. Wait. that isn't magic. B-But my point is most of our lives revolve around magic, it'll suffer if we lose it all!"

Sniper took a short moment to look over Starlight Glimmer a bit, walking around her.

"How am I?" Starlight quizzically asked. Sniper then lifted up Starlight's hoof.

"Well first, your hooves look a bit sturdy. Run pretty fast with those I bet. And that horn of yours looks pretty strong too. A little dull maybe, but, it'll get the job handled no trouble."

"I know, believe me. I'm just saying that you look lot more to it than you think. You got your basic defense on your head to fight with, and got a good brain to think too. Am I right or am I not?" Sniper pointed out. Starlight wasn't sure how legitimate he was about this, Sniper speaking from experience from a completely different parallel universe of Equestria, or "homeland" as he would call it. Were the rules there the same as they were in Starlight's world, or no? But then again, nature's rules are pretty consistent no matter where one goes, and checking her horn herself and imagining it, maybe Sniper did have a point there. Jousting was a thing for Unicorns, after all.

"Have any of you ever went through life without magic before?" Sniper then asked. Starlight … didn't answer right away.

"Most of my talent has always been magic. I've studied on it for years, I've … hardly ever went through a day without it," Starlight replied. Sniper could already see the problem here. He only gave Starlight a sort of "you gotta be kidding" look.

"... Huh?"
Spike then actually gave the letter to Starlight Glimmer, which she snatched up and read over. It was a brief message from Celestia herself. Namely this was supposed to be given to Twilight, but Starlight was a second bet, plus Starlight was the one freaking out here.

"... Spike? Chum? Buddy? … Why didn't you tell me this earlier? I've spent days trying to do this. You saw how panicked I was," Starlight asked … disturbingly calm in tone. Nervous, Spike just stepped behind Sniper so Starlight wouldn't hurt him. Sniper, in response, picked up Spike by the tail and dropped him in front of Starlight. Spike could only laugh nervously, shrugging.

The clock was measured in just hours for the Gems. At least the ponies can still stay around when this happens, but the Gems themselves had to find a spot well away from any danger, so their gemstones would not get hurt or shattered while the fallout stage occurred. Beach City too had to get themselves emotionally prepared for this fallout, but more so over the possible "magic surge" that will happen. They're used to life without magic, but who can predict what'll happen when magic will get amped up to eleven?

"The world will be fine while we're gone. If we're not able to reform, neither will any Corrupted Gems," said Flint.

"It's not the Corrupted Gems I'm worried about," Pearl corrected. And just as she said that, in entered the very person over to the Temple, with some items in his grasp for them in a box. He came over with the ponies aiding the world, along with his dad.

"Okay, I got everything you need," Steven said, pulling out some stuff to show as he explained, "Discord made these fancy alarm clocks for when the magic returns, and for you all … a patented sleepy-time buddy."

"I think we'll pass on those," admitted Bismuth … as Lapis, Peridot, and Star Quartz actually took one. Star held a hedgehog buddy as Lapis had a cute bird. Peridot was more given one in the form of her alien plushie, but while she acted like she didn't want it, she secretly was happy to get it.

"We'll be fine. … Though if you can water Nora while we're gone, that would be great," Garnet replied. not the exact term for it, but Greg knew what she meant, holding Nora in his hands. Garnet surely hoped they would be alright, little Nora meowing to Garnet. So cute. Garnet gently rubbed Nora's head, the kitten unsure what was even going on.

"You sure everything's going to be alright? Everything handled?" asked Rhodonite.

"B-But wait … what about the - … C-Cluster?"
The Cluster. The reminder that such a Gem existed within the planet's core gave them a sort of cold vibe. They've done a lot to keep track of the Cluster, and if magic was to be gone now, then the Cluster most likely would be a prominent danger once magic would return. And none of them could stop it from forming even if they wanted to.

"The world will be fine, right Garnet? … Please say it'll be fine," said Flint.

"I've already made a plan for that. Discord agreed to take care of the Cluster the minute magic returns to both world. He can put it back in a bubble for us," Garnet said.

Nearby, someone else was joining the Gems in isolating himself from the world: Lion. Blue and Lion were side by side with eachother, Steven going up to the big cat. It was a bit strange, though a little sad too. Lion didn't look fazed at all in spite of what was coming, just looking to Steven with his usual expression. Steven had plenty of time to put two and two together with this creature, comparing his fate to that of Lars before, and he just hoped Lion will be okay.

"Oh Lion. You're … there's so much I want to ask you. If only you could talk," Steven sighed. Lion wasn't sure what all this was even about, but he did know when Steven was feeling sad about something. Purring like a cat, Lion gently nudged Steven, placing his head in Steven's arms. Steven gently hugged Lion's head, before the big cat moved away towards the Temple, along with some of the other Gems. Garnet paused for a bit though, her future vision looking off ahead into the timeline. It was a bit of a mixed bag on what could happen now. After all, with magic, how can anyone tell? But while Garnet was sure Earth would be fine overall during the Fallout, Equestria was … a pretty different ball game. Equestria was all about magic, whereas Earth was just testing the waters. Garnet then went over to him, hands on his shoulders. Taking off her shades to look Steven eye to eye.

"Steven, I need you to listen to me. We did everything we could to prepare for this, but now, you and Connie will be the only Crystal Gems during this Fallout. It'll be up to you to help Equestria however you can. Whatever happens, you need to be there to protect them. Be their voice to keep them together. Can you do that for me?"

"I promise. I won't let you down!" Steven promised, giving Garnet a goodbye hug.

"Thank you," Garnet replied. Garnet then gave Steven a small kiss on the cheek, before she stood up, and walked into the Temple. The Crystal Temple was the only spot they wouldn't be bothered or hurt. It was like going down into a shelter, as the Crystal Gems all went on inside. The last Steven saw of them was Garnet's smiling face, as the door closed shut. Just one more thing to check before setting off.

"You sure you have everything you need? You got enough food, water, where's your sword?! … I can't believe I'm asking that," asked Priyanka.

Steven and the ponies went from the Crystal Temple, and off towards the Barriga household. There was actually a bit much going on over there, as both Barriga, Miller, and Maheswaran families were meeting up for this event. While Sadie was there to "see Lars off" per say, the Maheswarans were mainly there as some medical aid for Lars (to be on the safe side), and to see Connie off into Equestria. They won't be seeing Connie for a while yet, as there wasn't going to be any connection back to Equestria until the Fallout would be over.

"They're fine, they've just went into the Temple. It'll be the safest place for them once the magic's gone," Steven replied.

"Hey, speaking of which," said Martha, "You're absolutely sure that this is temporary, right? If I lose my Laramie because of this, so help me -"

"It will, it will!" Rarity said, jumping in between them before anything regrettable could happen. "If it all goes well, Lars will come back to life when the magic comes back."

"Mom, it'll be fine."
They all looked off into the house, and soon they saw Lars standing there.

"I know, but I can hear your yelling from upstairs, I don't think I can even fall dead with that racket," Lars joked. not the best jokes, but with time ticking by he was already feeling a lot more tired than normal, looking as if he just went through an all-nighter party or something.

"Geesh, you alright Lars? You look worn out," Rainbow asked. Lars yawned good and loud.

"Yeah I am, guess it's from that magic-draining thing," Lars replied, rubbing his eye. He sure did look it in the face: baggy eyes and all.

"You better go back to bed Laramie, before you fall into the yard," advised Doug, "The last thing you need is a concussion to go with uh … dying."

"PLEASE stop saying that," Martha said, covering her ears. How many times did they have to say it?!

"Mom, don't think of this like that. Think of this as me taking a nap … for over a week," Lars replied. Somehow he felt that didn't help his folks all that much, but no matter the case they'd have to deal with this no matter what.

"Ms. Barriga, try not to panic. We will be on standby the moment he wakes up if anything were to occur. We're just a phone call away," Priyanka reassured her. Considering that her own daughter was going off to help Equestria through this crisis, she can't blame Martha for her behavior towards her son "dying" for a while. As they were making this clear to them, Sadie actually went over to Steven and Connie.

"Lars and I had a talk, and he wants me to help you any way I can. He would've gone himself, but … you know."

Lars nearby just winked to them. He wished he could go off with them and lend a hand for once. After all, he probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for them, and he hadn't gotten a proper chance to help any of them just yet. Guess he'll just have to wait a little bit longer to do that. This was the least he could do, and Sadie was just as willing to help too on his behalf.

"Thanks, you guys," Steven said. And it seemed they had a bit of a talk about it because the other parents didn't have too much trouble with this decision.

"Alright. Connie, please be careful. Come home safe," Priyanka said, as Connie shared a hug with her parents. It'll be the last time they'll see eachother for a while yet. As nice of a moment this all was, Twilight looked off to the sky, and the Everstorm was closing in fast. Not much time left, and the Alicorn pulled out her key.

"We'd better get going now. Good luck everyone," Twilight replied, opening up a portal to get them off back to Equestria. Giving their goodbyes, they all went off through the portal in question. Steven looked back once more, and gave them a thumbs up before passing through, Lars giving one back.

Up in the sky, not long after the portal closed (which was more forceful than normal by the by), the mass above their heads suddenly stretched downward, as the planetary mass had made its contact with the planet below. In one great sheet, the entire sky turned from a standard blue hue to that of a sparkling ocean, "stars" floating in the sky, and shining in glory. It was as if the stars of the night turned to day. Any cloud in the area disappeared from the force, making the sky completely clear of any obscurity. Even the birds reacted, diving straight down to the ground as the mass covered everything everywhere. This would normally mean immediate destruction of the planet on a global scale, much like what would be of the Cluster, but no one around actually got hurt from this sudden hit by the Everstorm. … Well, not exactly. Lars felt the effect almost as fast as it came, and he could find his own vision quickly shutting down, along with everything else inside him, before collapsing into Martha's arms. Not even a time for a final word, he just dropped on the spot.

"L-Laramie?" Martha humbly asked, trying to bring him around. but of course, no response from Lars. He was gone.

My Little Universe: Supernova

by EquestrianKirin

MLU: Everstorm