//------------------------------//
// Homeworld Down PT1 
// Story: My Little Universe: Season 8 
// by EquestrianKirin 
//------------------------------//

"We're going to space. Tonight, we're going to get them back."

The hours ticked on rather slowly though from those words. Steven, Fulgurite, and Pinkie may be cured of their poison (enough so they didn't look like they watched drama TV for hours straight), but with the clock ticking for Connie's wedding and with Twilight still locked away they couldn't standby any longer. It was do or die time, and they all were NOT dying anytime soon. They can't give up on Connie or Twilight, not now.
And their main place of handling this was over by the Barn House, given how it was closer to the special Portal over the Sky Arena, and the fact it had more material to work with. Much of this included getting their weapon upgrades together, and doing some last minute checking up just to be sure they didn't get anymore surprises. However, as with everything, there usually was at least one person who had some complaints. In this case, Yellow Diamond, who at the point was in a tiff with Garnet, her accompanied by a few of the others while the rest got things handled.

"You can't keep the Diamond Authority stuck here! We're going to get our kingdom back, and that is final!"

"No you're not!" shouted Garnet, "It'll be best for everyone if you all stay here on Earth, we all agreed."

"Look we know you want to save Homeworld, we all do, but I don't think it's a good idea for everyone to go in right now," said Steven, trying not to be too harsh with it. Yellow Diamond though was fuming. The strongest of Gems being kept behind thanks to a ram did not suit her well at all.

"This is because Grogar bested us that one time isn't it? You don't think I can handle it anymore, so you're keeping me away," Yellow accused.  Garnet tried to not just lose it, being stressed enough already, but luckily there was one green Gem who got her back on this (mostly because he wanted her to shut up)

"We're keeping you here because you're literally a walking skyscraper! You're standing over thirty feet tall," Emerald said, floating on one of his hexagons.

"And what's your point?" Yellow questioned. Garnet helped Steven up next, even letting him stand on her head so he had a platform to speak to Yellow Diamond.

"Our point is, is that we need to be sneaky about this. Grogar's going to attack everyone on the spot if he sees any of the Diamonds, and we need all the time we can get, okay? Besides, if he takes any more Diamonds, what're the rest of us supposed to do?" Steven explained. Yellow Diamond felt herself cringe up a bit, but eventually the point was made across. Yellow Diamond sighed.

"Fine. But watch it, ok?" Yellow finally decided. She did NOT want to relive the troubled times of the Gem War and losing another Diamond, no matter what the case may be. Steven was set down by Garnet.

"Good job with those words, Steven," Garnet said, smiling to him. Steven nodded.

"Thanks. At least they can be safe while we get them out," Steven concluded. They all had a similar idea when it came to the Diamond Authority and Grogar, so there was no arguments there. Steven and Garnet started going off towards the barn after that discussion, where there was still some practice with projectiles flying into the air with Peridot and cans (something they've done quite a lot since training started). Amethyst knocked four out of the sky with a few well-aimed whips, Pearl shot down three in a row with her spear, even Starlight and Rarity got some shooting down nicely with some magic blasts.

"Everyone's looking ready to fight," Steven said happily.

"At the rate we're going, all of us will be able to fight. Grogar doesn't know what's coming," Garnet agreed. Normally Steven would be a bit apprehensive about just going in and fighting, but that feeling was pushed aside out of sheer determination.

"Watch out Grogar, the Harmony Gems are gonna wreck your day," Steven said with a grin. Garnet could see how determined he was with that statement, and the goal in mind, and who could blame him? Grogar had been giving him a very bad time ever since he took over, it was only human that Steven would be mad at him for it to the point of wanting to get even. Still though …

"... By the way, Steven. Your eye."

"Oh, uh, what about it?" Steven asked, knowing what she meant. Ever since his depression removal, it still left a bit more of a mark than Grogar's "scar" did, giving him a sort of gray right eye, making vision a bit blurry. 

"You sure you don't want to go and heal it."

"Garnet I'll be fine, it's just one eye, and I got a better one right here. I'll fix it when we finished beating that ram to the Homeworld throne," Steven promised, pointing to his seeing eye. Just as they were about to go on a little further, in from the sky came some more of their group in form of Lapis, and Fluttershy.

"Ok, Garnet, we told the Maheswarans like you said," said Lapis Lazuli. However, she did noticed another missing from their group.

"And where's dad? And Pink Pearl?" Steven asked.

"Them? They're just going to stay with the Maheswarans until we get back," said Fluttershy, "Greg said it might be better for them."

"Good man," Garnet said. None of them were going to really be there to do so anyway, so this was a plus on their end. "Anything else?"

A quick yet odd question.

"Huh? Any - OH wait, yeah! Where's Peridot and Rhodonite, they'd want to hear this," Lapis asked.

"Rhodonite's with Bismuth trying to get some armor for herself, and Peridot's standing right over there," Steven stated, pointing to Peridot as she got more cans and tossed them into the air, just for a multi-charged hit to be made by Flint's rapid-fire pistols. She looked more of distracting herself rather than actually keeping track of how many she was tossing up, so she didn't even notice them coming in at first.

"Oh dear, she still looks a bit frazzled," Fluttershy said.

"I got it," Garnet said, one hand turning into her gauntlet glove. At first they thought she was gonna just rush in and pick her up, but instead she aimed the gauntlet glove to the sky, and made her glove into a rocket, blasting the remaining cans out of the sky.

"HEY! What'd you do that for, we're clearly making good progress here!" Peridot said, frustrated as she went right up to them.

"There you go," Garnet simply said. A bit more blunt of an approach, but at least they got her attention. As Rarity, Flint, Pearl, and Starlight caught up with the others, Lapis wasted no time in getting her message across to her, almost flying off herself to reach Peridot.

"Peridot, great! Guess who we saw coming up from the next hill?" Lapis said with an eager smile.

"I don't know, but it'll have to wait, we're very busy and this is distracting our progression," Peridot said matter-of-factly, impatiently tapping her foot on the ground as she crossed her arms.

"Peridot, you don't need to be rude just because you're worried," Steven stated firmly, but Peridot was already up a wall about what happened.

"Worried? ME?! Oh why would I be worried?! It's not like my own Star Quartz that I helped make into existence had just ran off on us, over onto Homeworld where some shatterer GOAT CLOD is waiting for anyone to waltz right over, just to ask if they got some random cure for your sad ailment. I mean, NO WAY I CAN BE FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW, RIGHT?!"

"...…. O.K," Steven simply said, humbled a little. "Maybe you should take a little break."

"I need a break? What about you with your one eye and cut, soldier boy?!" Peridot shouted. Steven suddenly fell quiet on that reminder, and while it took Peridot a bit, she suddenly realized what she just said.

"I-I'm sorry Steven, I didn't mean to -"

"No. No. You're stressed over what's going on and don't know what to do about it. I've already been there, Peridot, and it's not fun. Let's try to relax ok?" Steven reassured her. Peridot took a breath.

"I'm just worried what'll happen to her. …"

…

"Happen to who? Is someone else sick?"

"No, I'm talk -"
Good time to arrive. That voice was too good to Peridot's ears, especially when she bolted around and saw what Lapis was trying to tell her about. Coming in from across the field was the very Gem in question: Star Quartz, with Padparadscha for company. And to their relief, both of them looked alright. A bit ruffled maybe, but alive all the same.

"Y-You're really here. …"

"Hi mom," said Star Quartz. Peridot needed to take a minute to comprehend if this was real or not, but after figuring it out she immediately got over and hugged Star Quartz tightly.

"You crazy clod, don't you EVER run off on me like that again!" she said meekly, but making her point clear to her.

"Sure," Star simply said.

"Hello everyone," Padparadscha said.

"Hi Padparadscha, good to see you're back," said Steven, "So what happened over there?"

"...…. Oh my! We were right inside the palace with Grogar himself. Everyone, I got exciting news! I did my very first far Future Vision, isn't that amazing?" Padparadscha beamed, very happy that it was actually successful.

"You saw the future," restated Rarity, a bit surprised herself. Padparadscha eventually nodded with a big smile on her face.

"I know, it's so exciting. I never saw a vision that far before! … But …" Padparadscha's excited turned south a bit quickly as she remembered what the vision even showed. It wasn't exactly pretty, and suddenly she wasn't sure if she wanted to share it or not.

"Buuut what?" Starlight asked. Padparadscha took a bit to react, though she went and tugged on Star Quartz's dress for her to answer instead. She didn't need to tell her for Star to kinda get the point.

"Oh, you want me to tell them? Ok. … Well, she saw something with Grogar in it. A lot of fire, and a Dragon, in some placed called Pestyhorn, and someone named Fawn. It just kinda … happened," Star Quartz explained.

"Well that's clear as mud. Got any idea what that means, guys?" Emerald asked. Garnet began to think a bit more on what Padparadscha had said, looking off with her own kind of Future vision for anything that might be close to what she said. Eventually though, she just took a breath.

"Hmm … I don't see any futures that sound like that," Garnet admitted, although it might've dulled down Padparadscha's spirit, "It sounds like a very off-the-wall possibility."

"So you can't see that in the future. … Maybe that vision's from the past?" Starlight said after thinking a little bit. If the future didn't say anything, it only made sense, but Garnet wasn't sure about that.

"I've never heard of Future Vision going in that direction," Garnet said.

"...…. I hope it doesn't happen again. … Or will happen, but not more than once," Padparadscha admitted. She didn't like to have Future vision if THAT kind of futures is what she will be seeing. They all can see Padparadscha's discomfort with that vision, whatever it exactly was, but Garnet kneeled down and got a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't be scared. We all can change the flow of time however we want it to. Even if it's in the future, we'll make sure it's alright by the end of it. Promise," Garnet said. Padparadscha, while it took a bit, did eventually feel a little bit more relaxed.

"...… Ok. ……. Oh! I think I got another vision: I predict that Rhodonite will take the form of an armored Earth Beetle!"

"Earth Beetle?" Steven wondered.

"Hey-O, we're back!"

Slightly ahead of the others, but it works. The group turned and soon came in Amethyst and Rhodonite returning to the Barn. Amethyst was simply fine, casually strolling along, but it was Rhodonite herself who got everyone's attention. Flint may have had a bit of an armored suit before his transformation, but Rhodonite went all out on it here: thick and dense silver knight's armor from head to toe, shoulders, back of hands, and knees spiked in case someone tried grabbing her, and with a strong looking helmet that fused a knight's helm and a Viking's horned hat.

"Rhodonite?" Pearl asked, completely taken aback as the fusion lifted up the head blocking to show her smiling face.

"There, I'm all ready to go!" Rhodonite reassured, though her movements look a bit stiff in places.

"How the heck'd you get that together?" Emerald questioned.

"I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wanna thank Bismuth for this: she got it all together in just a few minutes. Nothing's gonna get into me now," Rhodonite said. She may look ready, but they can all agree that Rhodonite might not be suited well for the job.

"Uh you sure you want to come like that? You look like you can barely move," pointed out Steven.

"Of course I do! I'm not gonna get shattered over there," Rhodonite insisted.

"We're not going there just to fight, Rhodonite. If you are coming, you can't go like that," Garnet made clear.

"W-What?! But I'll be defenseless!" Rhodonite insisted. Looked like a more blunt point needed to be in order. Rhodonite simply stood there as Flint walked over to her, and all he did was simply give her a little push. … Which knocked her over on her back. Rhodonite suddenly found out exactly how heavy she was with this Earth Beetle look.

"...…. I'll stick with what I got."

Only then did Flint help her back up, and out of all that heavy armor. They made their point, and Rhodonite just had to go as she was. Steven got that noted, but he was glad she was taking this threat seriously as everybody else was doing. They needed all the help they could get here.

"Maybe we can keep that around," Steven suggested, "You never know. It can be good for a quick shield."

"Think so?"

"Yeah. Say Grogar tries shooting at us, and then -" Steven grabs the shield and throws it over himself, making him covered up in the stuff, "- instant magic block!"
The idea sounded silly, but Flint actually started working his gears. He eventually nodded, and Garnet went over to him.

"I'll get Bismuth to set it up," Garnet decided, getting the armor off of Steven and lifting it over her shoulders.

All of these preparations were all fine and good: training here and suiting up there, but despite all of this there still seemed to be something nagging in the back of Lapis's mind, as she watched Garnet begin to walk away with the armor. Lapis looked around at the others for a few seconds, but then her eyes saw Steven Universe. Typically he was a nice sight, and in some strange way his enthusiastic behavior to this was making her calmer a bit, but there was still the image staying with her. That image of Steven's angry face, with that cut along his head, coming out of Celestial Lake.

And him WANTING to hurt Nichrome in their interrogation not too long ago didn't suit too well with her either. Since when did Steven want to suddenly make someone hurt for some information anyway? Sure he got poisoned and kept prisoner in his own head, but still.

she tapped Flint on the shoulder.

"Uh, Flint? Over here?" Lapis asked quietly. It was a bit strange for Lapis to ask him for some aid, hardly ever happening, but Flint did turn to her and eventually followed her a bit further away as the others decided to join in on some training.

"Something up, Lapis?" Flint asked. Lapis glanced over to Steven before answering him.

"... I … think something's happening to Steven," Lapis said. Flint was of course skeptical.

"Something happening? In what way? You've already removed the poison from him, and he looks better more or less," Flint pointed out. As if to prove his point, Steven was doing some fighting practice with Peridot's cans, kicking or punching. He did look healthy overall, but seeing how forcefully he was hitting was making Lapis a bit uneasy.

"I know, it's just … I've been seeing him acting more roughly. You know, like Jasper normally does. He wanted to threaten Nichrome, and even before that, he attacked a Corrupted Gem and didn't stop until after she was poofed. Flint, I've never seen him act that way before."

Flint sighed.

"And we've never dealt with anyone like Grogar before," Flint pointed out, "He's been a bit more courageous than other villains we've faced. Even White Diamond at least kept to her space station."

"That shouldn't matter that much. We both know Steven's been through so much already: every villain, every danger, he even lost his home twice, but he still didn't show any resentment or change to any of that. But all of a sudden, he's taking fighting more and more seriously."

"Hmm … what're you getting at, Lazuli?" Flint asked, thinking on it a bit more. Lapis and Flint then heard a bit of a crash, as Steven got a kick into a can, but a bit closer to the barn. It was strong enough to actually crack the wood. They were laughing about it, but suddenly Flint was seeing more of Lapis's point.

"See?"

"You're right on that regard," Flint said. "And how long has this went on for?"

"If I have to guess … since Steven was found out by Grogar after the first few days of training," Lapis replied. Flint thought about it a bit more, but then he turned to Lapis Lazuli.

"So tell me what you're worried about exactly. Is it him becoming too strong? Reckless? Brutal?"

"Yes," Lapis simply said. Flint wasn't sure exactly what Lapis was asking him to do, but he did get some advice together for the water Gem.

"Well here, you're one of his closest friends right? You've been with him for years now, so if you're concerned about this, you're gonna have to say so. Or at the least make sure to bring him back in case he does end up losing it, ok?" Flint said, giving Lapis a pat on the shoulders. It seemed simple enough, but this also meant that she would not trust Steven to handle things. However, this autumn did show a bit more trouble with Steven, more than she could remember …

"Right. Well, we still need a game plan, so we're gonna get everyone together by the Temple. You do what you want, but meet us there at some point ok?" Flint said, before starting to go off a bit. Lapis was left standing there for a bit more, but when she looked back … well, Steven looked back too. The two shared gazes for a moment or two, before Steven was brought back to the training.

Lapis couldn't wait.

"Steven?"

A good time to talk to him now, as the others were ready to go and get the meeting going on their end. Steven and Lapis were alone, so now's a good of time as any.

"Oh, hey Lapis. So what were you talking to Flint about?" Steven asked. Not even ten seconds and already she got some rough questions.

"Oh, nevermind that," Lapis insisted, "It's not too important."

for a moment or so, Steven and Lapis had a bit of a quiet moment. Lapis found herself becoming humbled by Steven a bit more thanks to his one eye look. Eventually, Lapis shook it off and decided to just go for it.

"Sooo … how's your eye?" Lapis asked, needing to break the ice with something. Steven had been asked that question since properly coming back, and he just got his hand over said blind eye.

"I'm fine, it's just an eye. I mean, it could be worse, it always can," Steven insisted.

"I guess. But are you sure you don't want to just stop by the fountain for a minute? Or just heal yourself with your spit or something?"

"I would but I don't have time for that: Grogar's out there and he's gonna marry Connie any day now, and I can't wait. The more I wait, the more he's gonna hurt everyone, I can't let him go anymore," Steven made clear. This was just proving the point even more in a weird way. Enough to make Lapis walk over to him at a more brisk pace.

"But how can you go back to Homeworld with just one eye? Steven, you can't see as good as before."

"Losing an eye doesn't mean I can't fight. Soldier Steven's going all the way, and he's taking that king down!" Steven exclaimed, throwing some punches and kicks into the mix to further prove his point, one of which almost got Lapis by mistake (but he didn't notice unfortunately). She had to say SOMETHING.

"W-Well maybe "Soldier Steven" should ... think a bit more, and fight a bit less?"

"Lapis I've been thinking, I've been thinking a whole lot. Really."

"Oh. You had. Good," Lapis said, breathing a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, exactly what it was didn't match up.

"Yeah. It's like this: Connie's in Homeworld in the Supreme Kindergarten, and Grogar's keeping her in there as his bride and he's gonna marry her by, well, I dunno. I've been working out a plan of attack to get rid of him, and I've been thinking maybe if we use the -"

"That isn't what I meant!" Lapis cut in. Steven almost jumped when she made that exclamation to him, but Lapis Lazuli felt that it would be needed to get through to him somehow.

"Steven, are you hearing yourself? "Get rid of him"? "Plan of Attack"?! Steven, this isn't you!"

"What do you mean, of course it is," Steven insisted, not getting it right away.

"No it's not: The Steven I know would try to negotiate, make peace, and try using words! He wouldn't just run in just to try to attack everyone! … Steven. You're not yourself."

There was again another bit of silence. As Lapis waited for him to answer, she thought she saw a look that said he was considering what she meant. However, then she got a more stern look.

"Lapis, I am myself, a different myself - I'm not making those mistakes anymore!" Steven shouted.

"M-Mistakes?" Lapis gasped.

"Lapis, I know I'm different, I'm trying to be different. I can't be a kid anymore, you know it and I know it too. The Steven you knew has been making mistakes that keeps hurting people, and keeps getting beaten up because he won't fight."

"You know that isn't true."

"O Really Lapis? Ok let's go over the list: I refused to join Grogar or fight him the first time, THAT got over half of the royal court corrupted AND Connie corrupted. I didn't fight him the second time that one night, THAT got a Gem stolen from the Temple and him nearly killing me! I didn't suspect Nichrome of anything wrong because he was being nice and I gave him a doubt, THAT got me poisoned and I almost died from that and lost my eye too! Go on, tell me I'm wrong!"
Lapis tried to think of something to say at first, but her mind was more on the Deja Vu of this situation. SHE said those exact same words way back in the day. It was role-reversal now.

"OK so you've been having bad luck, that doesn't make you a bad person."

"But it DOES mean I have to change," Steven made clear. "I've tried talking to him, and not only is it not working, but he's just using it against me and making everything worse. I can't use words anymore, Lapis, I have to defeat him. Connie's training it fight and defeat him, why can't I?!"
Lapis could just hear the pain in his voice, but not as much pain as one would expect with this record of his, but that last tidbit got some surprise out of her.

"Wait, Connie's training?"

"Yeah, and she's getting ripped! She will want to fight to get out, and if she's going to fight so will I. What's wrong about fighting for what you care about?"

"I never said that, but -"

"Then what's the problem?" Steven asked, "They deserve it anyway: they keep hurting everyone, took over Homeworld, going to take over Canterlot at some point, cut me and made me lose my eye -"

"You lost your own eye, Steven, don't you get it?!"
Lapis quickly covered her mouth when she said that, but Steven heard every word of it, getting angry with her.

"N-No, no Steven, I didn't mean it like that, that came out wrong, I-I just meant that -"

"Lapis, Grogar's not changing me. And I'm not going to lose myself in the fight, I promise. You trust me. Right?" Steven made clear, sounding sincere enough. Their conversation didn't feel like it was leading to any results though, and the images still were going through Lapis's head. She simply took a deep breath, hand to chest.

"... Yeah. I do."

"Okay. Come on, we better catch up with the others," Steven said, getting a head start off towards the Temple. Lapis Lazuli smiled, but she still felt that this might not be solved so easily.


~~~~~~


Steven and Lapis Lazuli eventually made their return off back to the Temple. It was a good thing Flint given her the time to talk to Steven, otherwise they both would have to get the verbal hit from him. Still, they were there now, and a lot of the others were in company this time, mostly with the main fleet with the Elements of Harmony all there, and from what they were talking about, trying to work out some plan of action.
Brought up on a screen thanks to the Yellow Pearl, Blue Pearl, and CG Pearl, they got a layout of the whole map of Diamond City, with some specialized places of interest being mapped out by Flint and Star Quartz, all marked in red. The areas included the Throne Room, Nichrome's border patrol route, the Head Mark station, Supreme Kindergarten, and Pink Diamond's room.

"There you guys are," said Amethyst.

"Yeah we're back. Wanna catch us up?" Steven asked. Lapis simply stood over nearby Blue Diamond.

"Ok, so far we found out there's this plant snitch in Pink's room that knows everything, and he's kinda ticked off at Star and Pad for coming in and ditching him."

"Hello Steven, Lapis," Padparadscha said eventually.

"And the plan?" Lapis asked.

"Eh take a seat, we're still working on it," Amethyst sighed.

And boy was it, as some strategy was trying to be done with Bismuth pointing around the map right now.

"K, how's this: me and J will get ourselves up on the left borders and start riling up those clods into fighting us, and while we keep em good and occupied the rest of you will go in from the opposite borders and -"

"Slip in and fetch the prisoners and race out with everyone on our tails. He would put himself at the other end to make sure there's no surprises and shoot us all down on the spot," Garnet said gravely. Bismuth looked a bit frustrated.

"Come on, again? There's got to be ONE PLAN today that can work!"

"Why not use the Supreme Kindergarten as a tunnel then? You've gotten out with the Off-Colors in your escape with it, and avoided much of White's hybrid patrols," pointed out Blue Diamond. Garnet, also frustrated, shook her head.

"He's got guards set up around every entrance to the Kindergarten since Flint, Pearl, Peridot, and Emerald escaped last time. We'd all be found out within minutes."

"Well then, Garnet, any NON-FAILING ideas? All you've been doing is telling us what we can't do!" asked Jasper.

"I wish I could think of something! … But with Sumu as his messenger, he'd learn any plan we have before we even do it. … Never thought I'd start hating plants."

"There's a first time for everything, G, I don't feel fancy with a peeping flower either," commented Fulgurite.

"Well there has to be a time when Sumu isn't watching us. How's that thing able to know all this anyway?" Yellow Diamond asked.

"Oh, other plants talk to her. They like to gossip about everything they see," Star answered. Yellow Diamond rolled her eyes. The tidbit of info was a mixed bag: sure it helped, but they didn't have a clue where she was so it wasn't gonna do them much good.

"Is there a way to make the plants be quiet then?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"You did NOT just ask that question," said Jasper.

"Hey, plants are everywhere, how do you make a plant stop chatting about everything you know?!"

"Quit talking like that, you're gonna make everyone paranoid," Starlight said, "I mean, it's bad enough Grogar has a spy in the first place."

This sort of talk continued going on for a minute more, all of which was getting about nowhere. If Star Quartz was right about Sumu, than who was to say they weren't being watched by the plant already? Hidden off somewhere and lending a grapevine to the conversation just to report it back to Grogar and give him an edge (like he didn't have enough of them). But as they kept talking, there was one idea that began to circulate within a particular purple Gem's mind.

"Why bother with a plan?"

"Huh?" asked Starlight.

"Real: over half of our plans barely work anyway, so, let's just charge in and get going already!"

"... Amethyst, that's a terrible idea," Garnet bluntly stated.

"Future vision says no good?"

"I don't have to look," Garnet stated. Grogar knew all these plans, charging in was NOT gonna accomplish anything except for target practice for the ram.

"Well get something before he starts throwing out more wanted posters! "Grogar needs YOU!" He's got more thingies than a huge ant colony in those teeny tiny anthills," Pinkie said, working off of what they've been talking about.

And a lightbulb went off.

"I think I got it. And Garnet, I'm sure this is our best bet," Flint suddenly said, standing up front.

"Don't tell me: we all sit aside while you just go in and take care of it yourself, jumping in at some random point," remarked Amethyst.

"Nope, all of us. We each go around the entire perimeter of Diamond City, each member covering at least a good ten miles a piece around the borders. We'll put our fleetest to the north, and strongest to the south closest to the Diamond Palace. Odds are one of us will get close enough to the prison hold there. THAT'S our main target."

"... WHAT KIND OF PLAN IS THAT?!" exclaimed Bismuth, Steven, and Jasper.

"We can't do that, you're basically asking for us to turn ourselves in!" adding Starlight.

"Look it how you'd like, but I say it'll work. Heck, the Diamond Authority can even join in on this one, they can be set up by the southern borders with our fighters."

"You're right. It's brilliant," Yellow said. Good plan or not, at least she was involved in taking her world back.

"No it's not! Garnet tell him -"

"Excellent, Flint," Garnet said, giving a thumbs up for support. … For some reason.

"Are … are you okay? You get hit in the head?" Emerald asked. But it almost seemed like the two didn't even notice the criticisms being thrown at them.

"In fact, we can just head on in now if we wanted to. Doubt Grogar can get us all at once," Flint stated.

"Hmm, yeah I'd think so."

"Garnet, Flint, are you guys listening? We can't go in like that! Grogar wants us to do that," Steven insisted, almost freaking out. However, Garnet then turned to everyone else and …

"Get ready everyone! We're going to Homeworld!"

And Flint and Garnet started going off on their way back to the Warp Pad with their uh … plan.

"... Maybe Grogar won't expect it?" Steven shrugged.

…….

It only took them a few minutes before they all gathered up around the Warp Pad in question, but there was more than enough doubt for them to share with Garnet and Flint. Going right off of planet Earth in a single warp-stream, Homeworld soon saw the entire group there all over again, stepping off of said Warp Pad onto homeworld territory. Garnet and Flint stood at front and waited for everyone to make their way back.

"Ok then uh … everyone just spread out around the border, I guess, we'll uh … meet up later," Starlight said. However, before any of them could go, Garnet and Flint nodded to one another and got themselves blocking their path.

"Not so fast. We're safe now."

"Safe? No one found us yet, Garnet, and this plan didn't even start. What's the problem?" Steven asked.

"Nothing. It's just we're not doing that plan."

"... huh?"

Garnet then turned to Flint.

"Alright, Flint, tell them what the actual plan is."

Actual plan?


~~~~~~


"Ok, this plan makes WAAAY more sense," Amethyst stated.
It was a good thing that the first plan did not come to fruition after all. With everyone else off away from the city, Flint and Amethyst were closing in on one of the city's borders. It'd normally be suicide on Flint's part given his previous imprisonment, yet this wasn't simply "walk right up and invite themselves in". No, they're too smart for that, and so were Flint and Amethyst. Both of the Gems kept going off on their own trail until they reached just a few blocks passed the city limit.

"You know Amethyst, you didn't have to come with me if you didn't want to," Flint remarked.

"Connie and Twilight's stuck in there, I ain't gonna keep back. That, and they've hurt Steven way too much. Homegirl's gonna be your backup," Amethyst said. Flint felt himself grit his teeth, but Flint had to be sensible.

"I suppose so, but this is a rescue mission, not a free-for-all. … Not yet. Just look the part, and let's go."

Amethyst nodded, and they both moved out into the open. However, they were not going in as their human-like Gem selves. Actually, they both took on the forms of the second-most common race alongside humans: a pair of Ponies. Flint had his pony form since being in the Crystal Empire: the same dark-furred pony from way back when. As for Amethyst, she took on form of a Unicorn instead of a Crystal Pony, keeping the similar colors she had before of course but was still given a bit of a extra streak of Pink in her mane with some help from the others.
The two "ponies" ventured right out into the open, seeing that the normally busy streets of Homeworld had become a bit more vacant. Both ponies looked around a bit, but neither seen anyone anywhere.

Up to a point.

"You there! Stay where you are!"

Caught, as expected. However, it wasn't Nichrome finding him this time, nor was it Bray or Budgerite as Flint and Amethyst were hoping for. Instead, the patrols coming towards them appear a bit more alien than Earth or Equestrian, with these two looking in vague like a pair of monkeys, only armored up. A pair of Storm Creatures had found them. Amethyst and Flint did keep themselves still as the two began to make their way towards them.

"K, you ready to do this?" Amethyst quietly asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Flint replied, "Now remember: we're just a pair of hybrid ponies looking to join Tambalon. A pair of easy going ponies, who're not going to cause … any … problems."
And he said "problems" as his front hooves dug into the dirt.

"We can cause some trouble when we get settled, that cool?" Amethyst said, understanding his frustration.

"... Know what? Sure."

By the time that was settled down, the two guard managed to get themselves caught up to them. They wouldn't be as tall or as imposing of either Gem wasn't in pony form.

"Come with us without a fuss," one of the Storm Creatures said.

"Hmm .. how about "nah". We're not budging until we see the king," Amethyst said, even sitting down. So much for waiting to cause trouble. The Storm creatures paused and looked to one another for a moment.

"No one can just "see" the king. Out of bounds. Unless you got a death wish, that is," one of the Storm Creatures stated firmly. Flint looked over to Amethyst briefly, but rather than correct her decided to roll with it.

"What about a pair of hybrids looking to join?" Flint questioned. The two Storm Creatures found this news interesting, considering that they did appear more as such thanks to the gemstones on them. Both creatures walked off a few steps, quietly discussing this to themselves for a brief time before turning back to them.

"That case, you two better move it. Grogar's getting impatient," one of the Storm Creatures said. Both troops started to go off on their way with Amethyst and Flint starting to go along with them. It was probably the best they were gonna get.

"Ok, Amethyst, remember how to do this?" Flint asked. Amethyst waved a hoof, raspberry escaping her muzzle.

"You kidding me? With how much we've gone through, how hard can this be?"

…

They found out soon enough.
Next thing both "pony hybrids" knew, they were brought directly to Grogar himself, right smack in the throne room! No extra captain seeing them directly, though they were still present along with the Commanders, all giving each of the hybrids a look over. Grogar especially made sure to keep a better eye on these two, given his latest encounter with two other Gems he thought would be easy.

"You just had to ask, did you?" Flint quietly remarked.

"It's a force of habit, sorry," Amethyst quietly remarked back. She didn't need a reminder now. The ram looked down to both of these hybrids for a moment or two, looking over the details from their heads to their hooves. They both waited for him to speak, but instead he looked over to one of the captains.

"Captain Storm, go in," Grogar instructed. The Storm King through didn't seem that interested, and after picking his ear of some spare wax, flicked it off and looked to Commander Tempest.

"You deaf, pony? Get in there," Storm King said, literally pushing the unicorn forward. Grogar huffed, but so long as this was done in some way. Tempest didn't say a word about it here, and she went over to see the ponies over. Flint sat down in her company as Amethyst (playing her role a little) stood behind him. … As stupid as she felt.

"Aren't we seeing Grogar?" Flint questioned. Tempest wasn't amused.

"King Grogar is only here to observe right now so we won't get any surprises. Who're you two?" Tempest questioned. Fare enough, considering their last two escapades with Homeworld. Flint sighed, probably wanting to kill himself for this.

"My name is Azlet, and this is Amy," Flint said, glancing to Amethyst, "We're both wanderers, and looking for a king who'd appreciate our talents. And a way home."

"Wanderers eh? … Just where did you two come from? The Crystal Empire, perhaps?" Tempest asked.

"That's our hometown," said Amethyst, "but we didn't really stick around for very long. We were kinda … taken away."

"White Diamond found us to be quite interesting, so she had us tested. We got out though when she stopped on Homeworld a couple of years ago, and had been stuck wandering around since," Flint finished. A bit of silence drifted in the air for the "court" to take in what they said, though they did hear Grogar's hooves scrape the ground a little bit, but said nothing.

"And you two've just been wandering around Homeworld," restated Tempest. "You look pretty healthy for doing it for that long."

"Like we got anything better to do," Amethyst said, "none of the Warp Pads worked, if we just wandered into town Homeworld would've been all over us, not to mention they got those Robo-things shattering every non-Gem and Off-color Gem out every hole!"
A bit bold speaking but Flint nudged Amethyst to keep her on the down low.

"Excuse her. It's just been frustrating these past years on our own, you know how it is."

"Right. So how'd you find out about us then?" Tempest questioned. This was more of a test than curiosity question, mostly since Grogar was a bit of a new thing, and given that Azlet and Amy had been away from Diamond city for a long while, news like this wouldn't just pop up to them. Luckily, despite that, Flint got a good idea going.

"By accident actually. There was some fleeing … was it Emeralds they said they were? Agates?"

Amethyst shrugged, legitimately just going with the flow at this point.

"... Well anyway, they mentioned about some "monster" that tore the Diamonds down in just one hit. It wasn't until just yesterday we heard that it was Grogar who did it."
They weren't sure if any of them were actually buying it or not, Grogar's expression not exactly moved all that much. If anything, he was just waiting for this to finish so he could continue prepping himself up for the wedding coming up, hoof tapping the throne in a steady pace.

"Yes. And?"

"And we're hoping that you'd recruit us into Tambalon. It would be nice to see something that isn't made up of rocks for once," Flint stated. And to further the point he made sure NOT to correct himself in presence of Budgerite or whatever Harvested Gems were nearby, leaving them a little insulted. Tempest shadow though didn't look like a pony that could fall for a story THAT easily, and actually shook her head, having a seat herself.

"Quite a story, Azlet, but I don't buy it. All Gems were secured into Diamond City since the lord Grogar took over, and if there were any other Gems who'd escaped we would know," Tempest made clear.

"No no no," Flint silently thought, starting to wonder if they were gonna be found out or not. Amethyst had to improvise.

"Hey hey hey, we know our four gems when we see em! Two were small stocky and green, one looked like some toothpick with a Pinocchio nose, and one looked like he just got himself flambéed," Amethyst quickly stated. They knew four different Gems who sounded eerily similar to that. Tempest started to cast doubts on her theory.

"Hmm … Interesting."

"Good call," Flint whispered to Amethyst. But they weren't free just yet as Tempest moved in closer.

"... Which direction were you two coming from?" Tempest then inquired.

"The southwest, mam, passed the dried seabeds and over the stardust ridge. Took us an extra day though. You know how it is climbing mountains."

"Hmm … As for these "talents" of yours," stated Tempest, as she started to circle them a bit, seeing them over herself, "Just what is it you're known for? I don't see any Cutie Marks on either of you, and you look a bit … troublesome."

"W-Well … our Cutie Marks were removed. White Diamond had a unicorn for sometime, and she knew how to remove Cutie Marks permanently, so …" Flint trailed off, but they knew where he was going with it anyway.

"Betrayed by your own kind. I know the feeling," noted Tempest, "... Yet, although being gone for years on a planet without food or water, you both look pretty healthy."

"That's the Gem genes talking," Amethyst said, flicking the gemstone on her chest, "White's big plan is mixing up one thing with another, and whelp, we got Gem DNA stuck in us. Haven't tasted anything besides dirt in months."
Tempest looked closer to the gemstones in question, seeing her own reflection within each. Neither looked like they were just accessories. She began to especially take note of Flint himself.

"... And you Azlet. You look fairly large for a pony. Strong. Can you fight?" Tempest asked.

"What, me? Oh no, no, I don't fight, I uh, never had the instincts for it," said Flint, "Back in the Crystal Empire I was a … was a uh ……. t-teacher."

Tempest took a long breath …

*WHACK* Flint felt his upper body swing to the right as Tempest struck him with the back of her hoof, good and hard to leave a mark on his face. It wasn't meant to be that hard of a hit (for Tempest's standards), yet Amethyst saw Flint was struggling to keep together thanks to that sideswipe.

"Hold together, hold together," she whispered urgently. Flint got his willpower together thanks to Amethyst's encouragement. With a slight grunt, he straightened back up, looking Tempest right in the face, as the unicorn looked deep into his eyes, trying to read his soul it would appear. …

"...…. A lot of instincts for being a teacher. …"

"LORD GROGAR!"

Just before this could go any further, the entire room was suddenly met with an unexpected guest, rushing in from the front door and looking a bit worn out upon arriving on the scene. He looked worn out, namely from his experience just yesterday with a particular green Gem and the team that's been causing them trouble.
Nichrome.

"Nichrome? Can't you see we're in the middle of something?" Grogar scolded.

"Keep that Gem out of sight," Amethyst quietly instructed Flint. He saw them both, they can't afford their cover blown now.

"Yeah yeah, listen: I got good news and bad news, which do you want first?" Nichrome asked, trying to catch his breath.

"Whichever will make this go quicker," Grogar growled. Nichrome gulped, so he just went on with it.

"K, good news: the Harmony Gems are no more my lord. All of them are keeled over, as I've expected and as you wanted," Nichrome revealed, looking confident in his answer. Flint and Amethyst glanced at him like he was just crazy: why was he lying to Grogar like this they may never know, but not too important. Grogar raised an eyebrow at this, but given the situation he decided to just drop it.

"And the bad news?"

"Eh … well, it's some of the platoon, sir: I come back here and seven sergeants had gone missing. Again."

"Seven? That's twelve in just a week - didn't anyone get a look at this?"

"That's what I'm upping the guards for. I'm increasing security as much as I can along the borders in case we get other surprises," Nichrome said, before actually leaving on his own accord to go and do that. There was a bit of a pause within the room by that point, but this did get some gear rolling in the ram's head, as with the unicorn too. Enough to reach a decision.

"Commander Tempest. Instruct Azlet and Amy in the ways of Tambalon. Get them trained up to fill in for the missing sergeants, will you?" Grogar said.

"Why her?!" Storm suddenly said, "That's king's work, I can whip those guys in shape, and she's just some worn out PONY!"

"Didn't you just make her do your work just now? Captain Storm?" Grogar questioned.

"Yeah, so? It's not good for my image for my lackey to do this kind of -"

"AND WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?!" Grogar roared, getting right in Storm's face, to the point that the creature fell onto his back.

"Ok, ok, ok, sorry for getting chatty, whoops on me. You're in charge, big man, no doubting here," Storm said. Only then did Grogar back up, and then gave the signal for everyone else to go with a wave of his hoof. The solution was made so why would they stay around. He took another glance towards Flint and Amethyst briefly.

"You two came at a good time. Don't try and spoil it."

"Yes. Sir," said Flint.


~~~~~~


So from their place over in the throne room, Flint and Amethyst were soon following Tempest around the whole area of the palace. Everywhere they went, Flint and Amethyst saw exactly the kind of changes that Grogar had done, some newer and some the "same" since Flint was last there. They saw the marks, release areas, and patrols sure, but as Tempest trotted along they also noticed that some areas were under more high alert than before.
For example, Flint remembered some of the marks being put under some guard, the Gem head mark he was in having at least a single guard on watch. Now the guards been put up to five, watching the Gems like vultures. The Gems weren't even allowed to step anywhere close to the guards unless they wanted to get hit back into line (which one Eyeball Ruby did try, just to get swatted back).
Another example of this came up closer to the palace: Tempest brought the two newcomers towards the castle through the officer's entrance - it was really an oversized cut within the building foundation - and two stern, almost monstrous guards stood there. Tempest went through just fine, but they were quick to jump Flint and Amethyst, knocking them both to the ground.

"Hey, get off you lug!" Amethyst shouted. But Tempest turned back.

"OI. They're with me," Tempest stated. Both guards glanced to Tempest Shadow briefly. She may not be a captain of Tambalon, but Commander was high enough ranking for the guards to listen, and they both got off of them. Amethyst growled a bit at them, giving a sort of "I-got-my-eye-on-you" gesture with her hoof before moving along.

"You got some nice "friends" Tempest," Amethyst scoffed.

"Grogar's got everybody on high alert," explained Tempest, "Gems kept coming and going, and without order and control there's no point. We're not taking chances, not this close to the big day."

"Big day?" Flint asked.

"Let's just say the King will be having a Queen before long," Tempest stated. Tempest acted like it was no big deal, but Flint and Amethyst felt a shiver run through their backs again.

"Not on our watch, creep," though Amethyst. Flint nudged her, silently reminding her to watch it. Good as it would be for them to just get this done, they can't raise suspicion just yet.

"And who's the new queen exactly? We've not seem many potentials since we arrived," Flint inquired. Tempest glanced to them. Tempest though didn't exactly answer them, not feeling a need to do so. If they were staying, they'd find out soon enough anyway.

"... Can you at least tell us WHEN this is happening?" Flint asked. Now that Tempest can answer.

"Full Moon high."

Left with little bit of answers there, Flint and Amethyst were then brought towards one of the upper levels of the palace, which they've turned into the chambers for commanders, officers, and captains specifically. Tempest stopped briefly by the door to one of the empty rooms.

"I've got a patrol to supervise in a minute. Have a look around on your own for a bit," Tempest said.

"Yeah sure, thanks," Flint said. Amethyst and Flint just began heading into the room, but Tempest had one more thing to say.

"And Amy? Azlet? Don't try to leave the kingdom. You may be aboard, but you're still on probation."

"Probation? When'd he say that?" Amethyst asked.

"He doesn't have to," Tempest simply said. So, with that said, Tempest moved off on her own way, closing the door behind Flint and Amethyst as they were settled into their cabin. Flint wasn't so sure though with Tempest, so rather than relax he went over and placed his ear on the door, listening to the faint sounds of Tempest Shadow's footsteps trotting away.

Once she did go far enough out of range, the two suddenly shifted back into normal forms.

"Finally! I couldn't hold together for another minute," Amethyst said, worn out a bit as sweat poured from her head, wiping it away with her arm. Flint was a bit worn out too, taking a minute to catch his breath, sitting on the floor.

"Me neither," Flint sighed.

"Ok, so now we're in. What the plan now chief, we go to phase 2?" Amethyst asked, ready to get a move on. Flint wiped some of his own sweat from his forehead. He forgotten how hard it was to shapeshift and stay that way for this long.

"Got it, but … didn't that go a little too smoothly to you?" Flint wondered. Amethyst groaned.

"Man, now's not the time for your psycho-reading," Amethyst said, wanting to get moving, "Tempest is letting us go around, so let's go around and see where they are. Can't find them just sitting here."

Well that settled it for him.

"Alright, sorry. But let's watch it: I think they're already getting suspicious."

"Got it, detective. They won't even know we're here," Amethyst said smugly. Flint would comment, but they got bigger problems to worry about right now so they had to get on their way. Flint took one glance out the door, looking down one hallway and down the other to make sure they were alone. They were in the clear, but they didn't go out yet.

"Okay, we're good. So Amethyst, how do you want to do this? Shift back into ponies or something else?"

"Something else, please. That may make it easier, but I might strain something if I keep it up any longer," Amethyst stated, stretching a little bit as if it was getting a knot in her back. Flint would disagree if he wasn't so worn out himself.

"Hmm … okay, then you need to stay close to me."

"Don't worry, I'm not leaving your side at all in here," Amethyst promised … just for Flint to pull her very close to him, to the point when she was an inch away.

"Oh. Literally."

"Just stay there and be quiet," Flint said. Amethyst then realized what Flint meant as he then pulled out his secondary weapon of choice: his camouflage cloak. And good thing for them both it was just big enough to cover them both completely.

"Do we have to stand this close together?" Amethyst asked.

"Sorry, it's the biggest cloak I can manage," Flint said, "Now let's go."

"Right behind you," Amethyst replied. not that she had much choice anyway. Closing the door shut right behind them, quietly as they could, both Flint and Amethyst then went off on their way down the hall, making sure not to make too much noise. On the surface to anyone else, it looked like it was just a small breeze going by that closed the door, and their footsteps just some patrols in the distance.

…….

Flint and Amethyst's own walkabout the area did show to be easier than expected after half an hour. With most guards on patrol for the Harmony Gems anywhere around, that left little over by the actual palace to handle some of the work. The two checked room after room for some clues, but it didn't leave them with very much at all except for the reminder that they were alone in there and nothing else. Flint may be in a serious tone for this, but Amethyst was actually feeling more casual now as all they've been doing is walking around. That, and given they didn't have to crouch down or anything fancy, they could walk casually.

"I wondered how this cloak thing of yours worked," Amethyst said at one point, "So you can see everyone else while wearing this?"

"It wouldn't be too good if I couldn't," Flint replied, "As long as you don't speak or touch anyone nearby, they wouldn't know I'm around."

"Huh. I thought it was more like battle armor or maybe some skin covering like those octopus do," Amethyst figured. Flint shook his head as they checked another room.

"No, you're thinking of the newer models. My camouflage cloak is more of a prototype. Like me."

Seemed simple enough, and there was a gap in this conversation as they kept looking through a few more rooms. Still, Amethyst did go into some thinking since Flint said those last two words. Sure it wasn't a good time for it, but it still lingered in her head. And she did see him at a lower point before …

"Hey, uh … Flint?"

"Yes, Amethyst?"

Amethyst did feel a little bit indecisive on how to say it though.

"Er … well I've been meaning to ask you something. I know it's … not the best time, and we know how you LOVE staying with schedules, and all that but … well …"

Flint just made it easier for her.

"Come on, now. If you want to ask me something, go right ahead. I'm listening," Flint stated, giving Amethyst the same greenlight Tempest did for them both to go in the first place. Amethyst was a bit quiet at first, but eventually she decided to go for it. She looked up to Flint and …

"What was it like working for White Diamond?"

… Well, Amethyst was right, it didn't have much to do with this. Flint and Amethyst both stopped together in a part of the empty hallway.

"... Come again?"

"You said it yourself. You were a prototype made by her, so you had to have worked for her at some point. So ... how was it? Was it hard?"
For a moment, Flint didn't seem to answer at first, something Amethyst kinda figured. This was a mission to get Connie and Twilight out of here not to get a quiz going. Besides, she already told him not to psycho-read anyway.

"... Very hard. And, if I am to be honest, I'd prefer Jasper's training over what she had us do," Flint admitted, "I'm guessing Pearl never told you that either huh?"

"Eh, no. What'd she make you do?" Amethyst asked. Flint brought out his counting fingers and thinking cap.

"Well let's see now, it's been a while Well there was this one exercise that involved me running around a battlefield with all of her pearls hunting us down for five hours straight. There's also this practice with mimicry when we had to copy exactly how White Diamond did it, otherwise we get destabilized. And I think there's this other one when White had to test our will by using only half of her mind power on us so we had to fight our will and our opponents at the same time, but I kinda have blurry memories of that one."

Amethyst was shell-shocked to say the least. and here she thought Jasper's training was tough. Jasper may have made them go though trial after trial, but Flint's training made all that sound like a walk in the park.

"No offense, Flint, but dang. No wonder you were so stern all the time," Amethyst said, feeling herself cringe at such ideas. And these were only a few examples too, which made it even scarier.

"Well when you get stuck in a room for five hours trying to dodge Pearls out for shards, you kinda end up not caring about anything or anyone else," Flint shrugged, "... You know, you're really lucky you never had to deal with Homeworld at all Amethyst. Before your friends made their truce with them, I mean."

"Ah everybody and their mother tells me that. But sometimes I did wonder how Amethysts really operate here. I'm made an Amethyst, but I was never made into an Amethyst. Know what I'm saying?" Amethyst explained. Flint could get some idea where she was coming from, but something still went through his head.

"Well, at least you found your "Famethyst" group. You did learn a bit from them."

"Yeah yeah, sure. But let's just face it. You and me are just a couple of misfits: we're not made to be normal Gems, and really, I don't think I'll ever truly get what Homeworld Amethysts do. … Well, you know, as much as actual Homeworld Amethysts," Amethyst stated. Flint smirked to her, hand on her head.

"I don't see a problem with it if you don't. I barely know much about my own kind, but it never bothered me that much."

"Yeah well you didn't have time to let it bother you that much," Amethyst remarked. She then gave Flint a playful punch and added "Besides, being ourselves? That's what makes us awesome."

"Alright alright. Now come on, Connie and Twilight have to be here somewhere," Flint said. It took only five steps for one more statement to come out.

"... So … you asked because you were bored?"

"And the great detective strikes again," Amethyst chuckled. Well it did ease the tension Flint had with the situation, so that was a plus. Feeling more relaxed, but still focused, both Gems continued on. Twilight and Connie weren't gonna be rescued by them just chatting away the moment.

…

"Crafty."


~~~~~~


The outskirts of Homeworld were still on lockdown when it came to the rest of the team. Much of Grogar's guards may be out on the outside border patrols, but they kept just far enough away to avoid detection for the most part. Time continued ticking on Homeworld though, and sunset was starting to go into full swing. It won't be much longer until darkness would come around for nightfall. The whole group found a similar looking ditch to keep as their "main spot" for the wait, with Garnet sitting up on a nearby rock and casually watching Homeworld from afar. Take it as a lookout if you will. Garnet continued sitting there a bit more until Diopside came up to her.

"Ok, Garnet, it's my turn," Diopside said. Now with the word, Garnet nodded and simply jumped off of her post, Diopside taking her place as she got back to the rest.

"No sign of them yet?" asked Starlight.

"Not a thing. Then again, we never agreed it would be a quick mission. Let's give them more time, and we'll see by nightfall," Garnet decided.

"They've been in there all day. I hope they're okay in there," Jade said.

"You hope they're okay? What about us?" Pink Diamond asked, "It's getting dark, we're in the open, and there's some crazy alien army all over this place looking for us. And you got them looking all over the borders too."

"Wait, how'd she do that?" Emerald asked.

"I didn't. Sumu did," Garnet said, adjusting her shades briefly.

"Wait, what?! When did she show up there?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Garnet took a seat and started explaining.

"Star said the plants speak to her, and if she's with Grogar that goes right to him. So, it only makes sense for her to listen in while we were talking about our plan of attack back at the Temple," Garnet said. Only for her to add after a pause "And yes, I'm telling you all now, because if I told you then, Grogar would know about it right away."

"Why do we even ask you anything anymore?" Fulgurite wondered.

Fare enough. Still, not everyone in this group were simply keeping still. Lapis started to hear some steps off not too far away and, much to her worry, only saw that it was Steven himself making the extra noise. He was stuck pacing, back and forth, waiting for SOME word from Flint and Amethyst inside the palace. 

"He's gonna crack," commented Fulgurite.

"Would somebody please talk to him? He's starting to freak me out," Peridot added, not familiar at all with THIS side of Steven.

"I already tried," said Lapis, "he's just worried about Connie that's all … I hope."

"You hope?" Starlight questioned.

"He's been on edge more than usual lately …"

"I can hear you guys," Steven stated, sounding … irritated? It sure seemed strange, but even if it was off for him it wasn't anything new to be irritated. It just felt a bit off slightly due to the situation (and the missing eye of course). Eventually Steven did stop pacing around a bit, but his mind was still a mess the longer he waited. Even if his face didn't show it too much. But they all knew him more than well enough, and Garnet went to his side.

"Garnet, no, please. I've got worrying to do," Steven said gravely.

"You weren't worried before we got here," Garnet pointed out, "The plan's not suiting you, is it?"

It was impossible to get by any emotional clues to this fusion. "... Yes."

"I know it was a last second decision Steven, and we all know that you want to save Connie. But for this to work, they're the ones that have to do it We have to stay here."

"I'm sorry, but is that the answer?" Steven stated, "We can go right in there, all of us together, and we can get them out. We've done it before, why can't we now?"

"Because the danger we're facing now can wipe us all out literally in seconds. That, and I think we both know he wants us to do that so it'll be easier for him," Garnet explained, trying to rationalize things a bit more. Steven was growing impatient, but didn't say anything at first. That silence gave an illusion that they got through to him enough, but as Garnet walked back to the rest …

"... Maybe you can't …"

"Excuse me?" Garnet asked. Steven looked to them.

"Maybe you can't, but I can! Grogar's spell works on Gems remember? I'm only half-Gem, it won't work on me!" and suddenly Steven tried to get moving! However, it didn't take long until the others got a hold of him, Applejack grabbing hold of his shirt with her teeth and pulling him back a bit just enough to get him off his feet.

"You cannot go in there by yourself!" Applejack yelled.

"I can't stay here either! I'm sick and tired of sitting out of the way and doing nothing!" Steven tried going again, but this time Fluttershy flew in his way.

"But Grogar will kill you!" insisted Fluttershy in a pleading voice.

"AND Connie, AND Twilight, and everybody else he's keeping with him!" he tried one more time, THIS time being pulled back by a stronger magic from Starlight, pulling him right back onto the ground and onto his back.

"Steven, stop it, you're losing your head!" Starlight insisted.

"I! DON'T! CARE! I'M GOING NOW!"

"STEVEN -"

"SSSHHH! Guys, quiet," Diopside quietly called, "A patrol's coming!"
The yelling quickly stopped and to make sure nothing else happened, Steven was held close by Garnet. Frustrated or not, they can't be found out now. Diopside herself had to bolt for it back to the ditch, and the Diamonds (three of them anyway) had to duck down to avoid being seen. Embarrassing, but it beats dying. A few of them did peek out from the edge of the ditch, only to find a said patrol coming on out to see them.
As for who it was …

"I told you nothing was over here, Bray, geesh!" Budgerite said.

"I swear I'm about 40% sure this time that I heard someone over here!" said Bray his ears up and turning like ears on a rabbit. Budgerite hopped up on Bray's donkey head to get a better bird view, but she wasn't seeing anything anywhere. Everyone nearby kept quiet.

"... Nope. I'm about 60% sure you need your wax cleaned out."

"Celestia-dangit," Bray grumbled, sitting down as Budgerite fell off his head and onto her own head. "GEMS, WHERE THE HAY ARE YA, I'M TIRED AND HUNGRY AND WANNA GO HOME!"

Of course nobody tried responding to that yelling. The mule and hybrid took a moment to take a breather on their walkabout, Garnet looking to Steven and bringing her finger to her lips. Not a word.

"Bray don't go yelling your dummy head off, they're not gonna jump out and say hello THAT way," Budgerite grumbled as she picked herself up. Bray gave a good *he-haw* of dismay.

"They just had to jump now. And I was working so hard on the best cake ever for the wedding: it's SO HARD to make the frosting on a bluegrass blueberry cake just right."

"It's true," Pinkie quietly commented as she watched the two with some of the others. Budgerite sat down by Bray.

"It's not like that thing's going anywhere, and you know how Grogar is with orders. Rules with an iron hoof!" Budgerite said, fist clenching.

"Eeyup. … when's this gonna happen anyway? King didn't say."

"He said it ten times to everybody, remember?"

"HEY, you can't blame my stupidity this time B, I was busy making cake!" Bray retorted.

"... Oh yeah," Budgerite sighed. The half bird Gem hopped back on Bray's head, this time looking up to the sky at Homeworld's setting star for a moment, hand over her eyes for shades.

"So?"

"Hmm … okay, chief said it's gonna be during "full moon high" - whatever that means - so we'll go for one more look around the border and then head back to the kitchen before the sun sets," Budgerite concluded. Bray though huffed, his ear "tapping" her side.

"Full moon high means midnight tonight. Even I'm not THAT dumb," Bray said. This just got Budgerite to get off his head, her stepping on his muzzle like a stair. Annoying yes.

"Come on Bray, keep up a little bit," Budgerite said, "Grogar's gonna be ticked more than usual if you keep on lagging behind like a Earth laptop."

"Oh boo hoo, mock me all ya want, but you got blueberries lined up in a row for three hours straight. And if that Storm sees those -" Bray gave a large lick of his hooves as if they had yummy juice on them to make his point. Immediately Budgerite looked a bit more nervous now. A shake went through her body.

"If that greedy monkey eats just one of my berries, I'll peck his eyes out," Budgerite proposed. 

That was enough to get both Bray and Budgerite going from there, Bray galloping off down the path with Budgerite trailing off behind. Both unaware that their conversation was overheard completely by the others nearby. They all heard when the wedding was going to happen.
Especially Steven …

"S-Steven," Starlight muttered, "don't freak out. S-Stay calm - stay - STEVEN NO -"

Steven had it. And he couldn't wait anymore. In complete desperation, Steven summoned out his shield and next thing that happened, Garnet suddenly was on the ground. That brief moment of freedom was all Steven needed, and suddenly he was up and running right out of the ditch, making a beeline away from there and towards Diamond City.

"STEVEN!"

He was already gone. Or at least gone in a sense none of them could stop him, already a good fifty meters in full on sprint. For Steven, his mind was completely frazzled, and this information and all was just too much.

"It's all my fault this even happened. I'm the one that has to fix this! Don't worry Connie, Twilight, I'm coming, hold on a bit longer. Stay alive!"

"Great, now what? Garnet, PLEASE give us something?!" asked Rarity. Just like how the future vision scenario got crushed, Garnet was still stuck stunned from earlier on Steven striking her like that. Garnet never seen Steven do that in a VERY long time. Or had the nerve to strike her like that. Garnet did eventually get back up, holding the side of her face. But this was not the same as simply a friend Steven wanted to keep. She looked on a bit, only barely able to make out Steven's tracks.

"Alright everyone, we're moving on to plan B," Garnet announced.

"And what's that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Dunno yet. Let's go!"

"For stars sake," groaned Yellow.


~~~~~~


Flint and Amethyst stuck with this tactic for a while since that chat, and so far the tactic of just keeping out of sight was doing them pretty good. No one really was questioning where Azlet and Amy had went since Tempest left them at the officer's quarters, or even if they were they weren't doing anything about it. While that may be true, finding Connie and Twilight wasn't easy either.

"You'd think an Alicorn princess and Grogar's fiancé would be easier to find," said Amethyst, looking around a bit more. They would cover more ground if they didn't have to be so close together.

"Not really. The higher ranking, the more they want to keep them in here. Besides, if they think we're all just coming in here they wouldn't just leave up in the open."

"Unless it's a trap," Amethyst bluntly stated.

"... Unless it's a trap," Flint agreed. Why wouldn't they use their friends as bait?

"So what's the game plan when we find them? Sneak them out, or is it just another "jump in and go nuts" kinda thing?" Amethyst asked.

"You crazy, no," Flint stated, "At least we have to tell them what we're doing, and if we can get them out when we find them, then great. I highly doubt it though -"

"ONE STEP!"

The sudden shout got Amethyst and Flint jumping a bit, almost losing the cloak they both had. It may not be what they were off and looking for, but it got them curious just enough to go and see what all the noise was about. Flint though might've already got an idea.
The two took position over by a nearby wall barrier, and peeking around the corner they just managed to find that they walked right on towards the high ranking head mark. A sight Flint was too familiar with already. As they've seen before, guards were everywhere, but more so now than they were earlier with Tempest Shadow. But there was a reason there was more security out right now.

Two reasons. And they both were out in the cluster of Agates and Emeralds amongst this lot already.

"Well. There they are," Flint stated, surprised honestly.

"OK we found them. You think you can get to them?" said Amethyst, pointing them out to Flint. Flint only needed one look to see they were not doing any better than before.

"Hmm … K, I'm going in. DON'T. MOVE."

"You got it. Time to de-size," Amethyst said. Suddenly she began shapeshifting on Flint, but instead of changing into the smallest she could be: her Gemstone but with a head, arms, and legs. No one was gonna see her like this so easily. For some extra measure, she found a hole in the small bit of wall, just big enough for her to fit inside.

"How do I look?"

"It's stupid … yet somehow brilliant. Wait here, I'll be only a minute."

With Amethyst staying out of sight being so small, Flint got himself back into pony form and only then did he trot out in the open. The guards on post did not question him going around like this, thank the stars, and Flint went directly over to the nearest guard on post, being the one just in front of them. It didn't take them more than a moment's notice to see Flint starting to stroll over.

"Hey, what's up? You're eh, that newbie in the ranks aren't you?" asked the guard casually, in spite being in presence of so many struggling Gems and Alicorn. Twilight glanced up to the others, not exactly recognizing any of them at first, even with Flint's pony form giving off some clues.

"Yeah, I'm still trying to get used to the place … what's going on here?" Flint asked, as if he didn't know what was happening. Flint sat down next to the guard.

"Oh, them. It was Grogar's idea, picking it up from some planet called Aredox or something. All of the prisoners are marked up wherever their gems are, get them cracked, and put in some group. This one's the head mark," explained the guard, again acting like it's no big deal.

"And this is just one group."

"Pretty much. Right now they got their hour in the yard before we bring em' back underground. … Well, most of them anyway."

"Most? What do you mean most?" Flint asked, a little more urgent than needed to be in that regard. The guard didn't seem bothered by it, given he was a pony and as far as he was concerned, Ponies were always a little bit of spazzes. He gave Flint a nudge and a wink.

"As a guard, officer or whatever the hay, you can request any of them to your leisure, any room. Eh?"

Flint gulped, "Y-You don't mean bringing them in to -"

"NO NO, of course not! I'm talking servant wise. Ya know: hold your stuff, clean your beds, shine your shoes. Maid stuff. … Oh, except for Pearls, they get a free pass."

"So it isn't just Nichrome," Flint thought. He paused and checked out what the deal was with many of this mark, but the guard then noticed he was looking over towards Connie.

"AND that one. Nope, she's out of bounds," the guard informed. But Flint took a moment to check them all out again, starting to think on a sort of conclusion. He had to talk to them.

"They look kinda out of line. I'm gonna straighten them out for a second," Flint said, trotting in.

"Make it quick, we're not here to hold your hoof all day," the guard sighed, scratching his ear. Flint knew this move was a bit risky, especially with the crowd of Agates and Emeralds just a few feet away. Some did look his way briefly.

"What do you want?" one of the agates asked. Flint wasn't in the mood to talk with them though so he just went over to his prime target: Twilight Sparkle. She was nearby Connie too, so this worked out fairly well. He just had to pull it off first. Flint got both of their attention with a stomp of his hoof.

"You two. You're out of line. Back to the mark order with ya," Flint instructed firmly, saying it strongly so it sounded convincing. At first the two thought it was just another guard snapping at them, but they got a better look at him, especially to that gemstone of his.

"Flint!" gasped Connie.

"SSHH. Play along for a second," Flint whispered before following up with a loud, "I said, back to the line!"

"Why don't you bother somepony else?!" Twilight asked begrudgingly. Flint was taken aback by this word, and snorted.

"Snapping at a Tambalonian officer? Get your paws over here, both of you, I want some more shine to my horseshoes," Flint instructed.

"Why now?" Connie asked.

"Because it's expected. NOW," Flint stated. Even if he was just acting, Connie and Twilight both felt the danger in his voice. The two complied and began to clean up his hooves while the other guards kept busy with watching the rest. Since they didn't have towels to use, they simply used their own appendages to do it: Twilight with her hooves and Connie with her hands. Flint took a glance over one more time before leaning in towards the other two.

"How're you holding up?" Flint asked.

"I'd rather be experimented by White Diamond than deal with this," Connie admitted.

"Did you know you can actually cheese-grate feathers off? … Well, I know that now," Twilight said, showing her wing of some marks where her feathers had been dealt with. Flint cringed.

"Ouch. Ok, listen both of you: we've come to break you out of here, you and whoever else wants to."

"So basically everyone," Connie said.

"Pretty much. Everyone's waiting a mile or two from the borders, but Amethyst and I are in here right now posing as newbie officers for Tambalon. She and I are mapping everything out, but the escape has to be by tonight."

"Tonight?!"

"SSHH. YES, tonight. Be ready, and tell the others but don't have any guards overhear this or it's a bust, understand?" Flint instructed. Connie and Twilight looked to eachother briefly, and both of them nodded.

"Anything to have everything great again. I will NOT have Era 3 keep going like this, not after everything we've been through to make them our friends," Connie said.

"Well said. Good luck," Flint said. He was about to go, but Twilight still had something else to say.

"Wait, there's something else: there's this captain of Tambalon named Nichrome, and he's been trying to recruit Gems into his hooves ever since Grogar took over. I don't know how many he has, but he's already tried me, and he might even try to manipulate you into joining him too, so be careful," Twilight warned.

"Thanks for the tip," Flint said. He knew Nichrome already, but now was not the time to make any corrections. Without raising anymore suspicions from the guards, Flint sent them both back in line and Flint trotted on back towards the other guard.

"Azlet, she's out of bounds."

"I heard you the first time," Flint stated.

"Any others catch your eye?" the guard inquired. Flint paused and checked out his options, but then shook his head.

"Hmm, nah. I'm still trying to get over the fact you've basically flipped the entire hierarchy upside-down here," Flint admitted. The guard nudged him playfully again.

"That's king Grogar for ya: giving the standouts and offcolors a chance while all the commonfolk get a good kick in the flanks," the guard said. Flint was of mixed minds on this: giving the unique and less-fortunate a chance didn't sound so bad. You know, if it didn't include torturing everyone else. Flint made a mental note on it as he began to go.

"Well if you need me, I'll just check out some of the other uh … marks."

"Sure go ahead, but don't get lost will ya? The wedding's soon, you won't want to miss it," the guard said. Flint didn't answer. Flint trotted along for a bit, but quickly darted once he got back to position by Amethyst, whom still kept her tiny form. He was just about to give her the word on it when -

"Right!"

Talk about speak of the devil.

"Darn it. Incognito mode," Amethyst quickly said. and just in time since both needed their normal forms fast. They just got themselves inside Flint's camouflage cloak, disappearing, when someone else started to come in. It was only one of the higher guards, but the voice made the guard Flint was just talking to stand up at attention. And wouldn't you know it: it was Nichrome coming back from his runaround setting up security.

"Captain Nichrome, sir," said the guard. Nichrome sat down by him briefly.

"Bray and Budgerite are back. So you take your lot and fill in their patrol," Nichrome instructed. The officer nodded, and he was just about to go but nichrome pulled him back by the back of his neck.

"Anything weird happen while I was gone?"

"No, sir," the guard replied. Nichrome allowed him to go from there, and while the guards under this mark were off to handle it, Nichrome himself was joined by a few larger guards catching up with him. Interestingly, these were Tempest's storm guards he brought with him. His target for today? …

Twilight Sparkle. He hadn't been done with her just yet, and he wasted no time to going right up to her and Connie (much to Flint and Amethyst's troubles). Nichrome saw that she looked simply awful.

"You're a mess. Clean up will you?"

"Give me one good reason why I should."

"Because I say so. Groom yourself. NOW!"

At least when Flint gave the instructions there was an idea he was joking. Twilight sighed, and began to groom her feathers a bit, Nichrome watching in satisfaction. Connie felt humbled, but she wasn't left out of it for long.

"You too," Nichrome snapped. Connie just rolled with it and began to run her fingers through her hair as if they were a comb.With them both humbled, Nichrome went on talking.

"Well miss Sparkle. Have you thought about what I said?" Nichrome asked. It was probably good that Twilight told Connie about him first otherwise this would be harder than it was.

"You want it now?"

"Hmm, yeah. A nice crowd would be fitting," Nichrome replied. He would say that. 

"Don't worry, Twilight. Whatever you decide, we're not gonna give up," Connie quietly promised. Twilight lowered her head in Nichrome's presence. She REALLY didn't want to give him any satisfaction, but what would happen if she didn't. Her whole world was in the balance here. Her world, and those she cared so much about. … 

"... You told me, Nichrome, that you wanted me to work for you. And doing so will reassure that my friends, family, and people will have good conditions. Resources. And … happy lives. So I … I ……. I can. I can work for you. I'm willing to do anything you ask me, so long as Canterlot remains free."

"And you'll tell me everything? You'll be my ears?" Nichrome asked once more. Twilight could already feel the faces of some dozen or so Gems just a foot away start to judge her for this decision, giving up for what they see as something selfish. None of them grew up in Equestria after all. The Alicorn herself was feeling her throat strain a little bit, only answering in a small nod. Nichrome even saw one tear come down her face, the alicorn in such a submission. The deal was sealed …

...

"... Guards, remove this Alicorn. SHE'S TO BE EXECUTED BY MIDNIGHT."

"WHAT?!" gasped Connie and Twilight. Nichrome snickered his signature snickering, but none of them could understand why this change was made at all, especially after Twilight just poured her heart out like that! Flint and Amethyst couldn't believe their ears even more, but they couldn't do anything now not with so many right there. Twilight backed up.

"W-Wait, she just said she'd work for you!" Connie retorted.

"Oh, I heard her just fine. But the truth is I don't need any spies to do my work for me. I can get all the info I need on my own."

"But why did you -"

"WHY?!" Nichrome exclaimed, cutting Twilight short, "I told you: I don't enjoy killing, I enjoy breaking. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing your targets break down into teeny tiny pieces, and then casted off into the wind. And one thing, Princess … It was so. DISAPPOINTLY EASY!~"
And with Nichrome laughing himself silly, the larger guards suddenly grabbed hold of Twilight Sparkle. Panicked, Twilight tried to get her wings flapping, but she was too weak to get away. It was like a mouse trying to escape a cat's claws. And she was just as dead. They all were just left stunned as Twilight was taken away.

"I'll show you "disappointingly easy", you scum ridden -"

"Flint, cool it! Incognito, remember?" Amethyst quietly said, trying to hold him back from just bolting right in to get them. Nichrome did stop briefly, but he was too joyed to bother with it now. As for Connie Maheswaran, she'd been biding more than enough time now.

"T-Think Connie, what can you do?" Connie thought, "If you go and fight, they'll just kill her. If I do nothing … well, they'll kill her. What can I do that they won't kill her?!"

Then she thought of Grogar. …

"... Well, it's a long shot," she thought. Seconds after Twilight was taken out, she tried anyway, going to the nearest guard by the borders.

"I need to speak to the king," said Connie.

"NO." the guard bluntly, and firmly stated, pushing Connie back a bit. But Connie was not giving up here. She knew they didn't care for Twilight, so she ditched that idea right away, and tried something else.

"Look, I'm not asking. I'm the king's upcoming wife, and the ear of king Grogar."

The guard thought about that for a minute. She would be free-roaming after being the wife of the king anyway. ...

…….

The clock was ticking, and with each passing minute, and with his wedding coming closer and closer, Grogar finally got more time to get himself all prepped, primped and prepared as well as a ram could. Humming to himself a familiar Canterlot "perfect wedding" melody, the king checked himself within the mirror, seeing his horns glean and the very ends of them sharpened into dagger-like points. Not too bad at all really.

"Nice: looking ready to kill, your majesty," Grogar said to himself, his hoof getting a few cowlicks out of his head so he looked a bit more slick when the door behind him began knocking.

"Door's open," Grogar simply said, in a good enough mood for the company. And turned out it was good company, as it was Bray, Budgerite, and Stubby coming in to see him, with the half-bird Gem holding something in hand for him. Grogar was pleased that even they got prepped up for the wedding coming up. Stubby looked slick with his fur smoothed out, Bray had a sort of frontal tux on for him and Budgerite a formal dress.

"Well lads, how do I look?" Grogar asked, standing up and showing himself off a little.

"Like a million bucks and a few diamonds, lord!" Bray said. "And we brought you a surprise."

"DUN dun dadu dum dum dum DUUUM!" said Budgerite, presenting the object to Grogar. The object was, simply, a small box. But while the box may be mundane, Grogar opened it right up and was quick to find the "beauty" inside: two small wedding rings, each almost glowing in the dim light. Grogar held one of the rings with his magic, and glanced to his front hoof.

"I can make it work," Grogar figured. No wedding finger, but what would that matter anyway. Stubby looked out the nearby window, ears up and alert as if trying to find something. It didn't take much until the king noticed this.

"Stubby?"

"S-Sorry my lord, just checking for the Gems. They didn't do anything, what's keeping them?" Stubby said, getting worried all over again. Grogar just pulled him away.

"The Harmony Gems are dead, idiot; why don't you find some tea and relax a bit?"

"But Nichrome said they got rid of several sergeants," said Bray. Grogar placed his hoof on the donkey's head, fluffing his "mane".

"He said they've gone missing, he never said how or who. And besides, he's got troops round the entire kingdom, they'd have to be crazy to just charge in here," Grogar mocked, laughing for a brief moment … only to actually think about how accurate that would actually be. But he shook that idea out of his head for now: there was a wedding to be had.

"But we're not here to paranoi over some pebbles, we got a wedding to start! By the way, how's the bride coming along? Is she looking nice?" Grogar asked, going back to the mirror and actually starting to file down his horns some more, making sure they were at their best.

"She's spick and span - surprisingly - and uh, she actually wants a word with you my lord," Budgerite said. This was interesting to hear.

"A word?"

"Yes. Please."

That response didn't come from Budgerite, Bray, or Stubby. Connie herself, while having to be "persuaded" into doing it, was dressed up in a bride's dress. An off-white dress covering much of her body, a white wedding gown with a gold buckle in the center, white gloves up to her elbows, white, fuzzy hair covers on the side of her head, and a white eye-patch.

"The heck, Connie, we told you to ditch the eyepatch," Budgerite whispered, going to her side.

"Try all you want, but I have my own opinions, and I'm not going to completely please the king," Connie shrugged, feeling rebellious as she was defiant. … However, the effect wasn't what she wanted, Grogar simply staring at her for a moment or two, the file dropping to the ground. Could be from what she said, or maybe it was legit, but Grogar was really blown away with what he saw, his muzzle agape.

"Dang it, he actually likes it," Connie thought. However, Grogar quickly shook off his thinking for a moment.

"So, they said you wanted a word with me?" Grogar asked, "Couldn't it wait until after the wedding?"

"I want to make a deal with you."

A deal? Now? Grogar didn't have time for it, but without saying a word he gestured the other three to leave the room for a moment. Grogar and Connie were alone for a moment, which Connie you think would be expecting. You'd think.

"Shoot."

"Ok. You don't like me, and I don't like you, and it looks like the wedding is still gonna be happening. And I know you've been "trying" to make it better for me so I wouldn't completely object you."

"Like it would matter," Grogar put in. Connie felt her fist clench, but continued.

"Anyway. ... I will consider being your queen. And I might even say yes at the wedding when it happens. BUT. On one condition. … you have to keep Twilight alive."

Grogar stopped and thought about it.

"Hmm … hmm … and what's in it for me?"

"Then I will take your hand - er, hoof, in marriage without question. No arguments. No doubts. I'll say yes without any problems, ok?"

…

"No."
Grogar's answer was blunt and forward. No catch, or fancy way of saying it. Just one big no.

"Just "no"? I'm letting you take me, don't you want me as your bride or not?" Connie questioned. That just got Grogar chuckling, knocking the hand away.

"Of course I do, and I will get it. But you see, I'm not a ram who just makes "deals"!" Grogar stated firmly, as he started closing in on her. Connie was actually backing up, "Either you say yes at that wedding proposal tonight, and keep your friends alive. Or you live out your days as a "corruption example" to the rest of the race outside. It matters. Little. To me. Which."

And on that final word, Grogar actually pushed Connie out of the room. He would do more damage, but he didn't figure a broken up bride would do his image any better. And to reassure the conversation was over, he slammed the doors so she wouldn't go back in. This wasn't viewed alone though, as the trio Grogar sent out were still waiting over by the door. Connie stood back up and just started walking down the hall …

"What's got you upset?" asked Bray.

Which nearly got his skull punched to the moon by Connie. The coward ducked just fast enough so her fist struck the wall instead. It was so strong (to their shock and even her own) it cracked the wall!

"Sorry. I'll clean it later," Connie simply said, before turning away and walking down the hall the rest of the way. She didn't need any escort back (like they would volunteer after THAT).

"... When'd she get so strong?!" gasped Stubby. Bray and Budgerite didn't have an answer exactly, and allowed Connie to go off on her way. For Connie, this was the last shot to try and save Twilight from her fate. Of course, the punch in the wall did catch the ram's attention, who looked at the results.

The girl was getting stronger. Somehow.