//------------------------------//
// Suicide Squad 
// Story: My Little Universe: Season 8 
// by EquestrianKirin 
//------------------------------//

*Beep**beep**beep**be -* *click*

"Boy … that was a dream."
That was the first thought Steven had upon finally getting himself back together, and getting himself back to snuff from what he considered to be quite a night. Well, at least the beach house did not look as crazy as it could be (or how Steven might've thought would've happen, given the kind of "dream" he had). Either way, it was done now, and Steven gave a yawn and began heading off from the bed for his normal morning routine. He did feel a bit down though, going downstairs step by step as if today just wasn't up yet. He yawned once more, walking from there and right over to the bathroom. Nothing weird so far, but of course the kid did not take the moment to check the mirror yet.

"Well Steven, don't worry too much about it. Ok, so you threw yourself all the way onto Homeworld, but nothing was here to do anything to you."

… He REALLY shouldn't have said that. Because then he wiped his face and got a good look at the mirror.

"... GRRRAAAYYY!"

And indeed he was. His whole body from head to toe was grey. His hair, his eyes, his gemstone, his clothes even were completely grey, devoid of any pigmentation what-so-ever. Whatever N Kelly did to him, he was not liking it at all.

"Not again, why does this keep happening to me?! First Grogar and his scar, now this?" Steven shouted. But then the mere mention of Grogar suddenly made him realize what actually happened back there. Which only frustrated him more.

"GROGAR! You did this, I know you did! Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Steven groaned, hand to forehead. It didn't help that ALL of the suspicious signs were there yet he did nothing to stop it at all, or even MENTION any of his worries to anyone either! Despite his anger, Steven took a breath.

"Ok, ok Steven, calm down. M-Maybe it's not as bad as you think. I mean, you're gray now, but nothing else happened right? I feel fine. Nothing's broken anywhere. … Maybe I need to re dye my clothes thought."

Then the sound of the Warp Pad went off outside the bathroom.

"Morning Ste-man! Up for another training round?"

"Yes Steven, we're all waiting for you."

Amethyst and Peridot. He knew those voices anywhere. At first he felt freaked out, cold sweat coming off of his forehead, but he quickly shook it off.

"OH NO, not again. Just get this over with, you can figure out how to fix it later," Steven told himself. He already had to hide his frustrations before under a headband, he was not gonna just hide himself from everyone this time. So, with that thought in mind, he went on and opened the door. Forget showering, he needed to get this over with.

"Oh Ste - WHOA! … Steven?" Amethyst got the reaction basically to a tee, exactly how Steven would've figured. Also it turned out she wasn't alone; along with Peridot there was Star Quartz and Applejack.

"Ok, ok, don't freak out everyone, please. I'm still me, I'm just gray Steven for the day ok?" Steven reassured. … But that was when something else didn't seem to feel right. The others went over to him as he walked forward a bit, them all checking him out.

"What happened to him?! did anyone mess with him last night?" Peridot asked.

"Don't look at us, last we saw him he was fast asleep. Steven come on, what happened to ya?" Amethyst asked.

"I don't know, but BOY there's a lot to tell you. Let's see: I was dreaming, or I thought I was -"

"Steven, say something!" shouted Peridot.

"Huh? Guys I am saying something, I'm saying a lot of - … wait a minute. They can't hear me?"

As the others were trying to comprehend it themselves, Steven started to step back. Or at least , he thought he was. Each step though brought him not towards the bathroom, but towards what looked to be darkness. That was all Steven could see outside of some white floor, eerily similar to a particular court room he knew before. As he kept walking back, the view he was seeing turned from normal view, to that of binocular vision-shaped windows. Seeing this, he finally concluded what happened to him.

"What the … I'm trapped? … IN MY OWN HEAD?!"

And just outside of his own head, out of view of everyone else, the husk he was stuck in was simply silent. Quiet, and dull-looking. Steven was a prisoner inside his own mind, and he tried hardest to get himself out, rushing to the "windows" to get the others' attention.

"Well something happened to him, why would he be all … gray?"

"What's wrong with being gray?" Star Quartz asked. Peridot suddenly shuttered.

"Uh n-nothing. But Steven isn't naturally gray," Peridot made clear. Good save on her part, but Steven was still stuck trying to get to them from his dome of a head, standing edge with what he could only conclude to be his own eyes.

"No, guys, I'm trapped inside my own head! N Kelly messed with me in my sleep, you have to help get me out of here!" Steven shouted, loud as he could. Unfortunately, it wasn't getting him anywhere, as they all were just looking on like he was some animal in a zoo or something. Applejack went over to gray Steven.

"Relax everypony, it isn't nothing we can't handle. Right kiddo?" Applejack reassured, giving him a nudge, just for gray Steven to say … well, nothing. A blink was the most they got.

"But we can't "handle" if we don't even know what happened," Peridot pointed out.

"Maybe he's just sad. Humans change color when they get sad, don't they?" Star then asked.

"What're you talking about?" Amethyst asked. She NEVER heard of any human turning completely gray just because of sadness unless it was on TV. However, Star Quartz's proof didn't come from TV, but rather from a little something she had left in the beach house within one of Steven's cabinets. Eventually, in this case, it turned out to be a children's book, with her skimming through the pages until she found a familiar looking grey man sitting in a world of color.

"See? Mr. Gray's all sad and miserable just like Steven is, and he's in a big colorful world too," Star pointed out, pointing to the man in question.

"That isn't how depression works," Steven commented, but of course nobody heard him. Lucky for him, he got a sort of parrot to talk that again.

"Ehh, don't think that's how it works, sugarcube," Applejack said.

"It's not?"

"Star, that's just a story," Peridot said, grabbing the book, "How's THAT gonna tell us how to cure Steven? And this human doesn't even look like him."

"He's gray. Isn't he?" Star asked, confused. Sure they both were gray, but that didn't seem to matter much in this case. Steven just sighed (his husk actually reacting this time), but eventually the orange pony in the room actually got something.

"Hold up now," AJ said, "Here, let's get back to Canterlot for a minute, maybe they got something that can get him back to normal."

"What makes you think that?" Amethyst asked.

"Connect the dots for a minute: Steven said he was gonna check out Canterlot and help get those varmints that helped worn out Twilight yesterday, and now look at em. C'mon, let's get to it," Applejack said, getting Steven to start moving.

"Please be right," Steven said, though his husk didn't utter a word as they simply walked along. They began to go over towards the Warp Pad.

"Stay where you are, we'll be right back," AJ said, though Steven didn't look ready to go.

"Can't we catch a break? First Grogar's learning everything about us, and now this. MAN, soon as we end him, I think I can use a vacation," Amethyst said as she pulled out her portal key for a quick access jump to Equestria.

"Think we all can use one," agreed Applejack. Star Quartz meanwhile was beginning to think a little bit on her own accord after that comment.

Eventually she went to the Warp Pad.


~~~~~~


Two. Four. Six laps around, and the group under Jasper's training course had been holding up their own for some time. Jasper got training started fairly quickly, and for today it was less "life-threatening" in the form of running around a circuit Jasper set up herself. Emerald, the Rutile Twins, and Rhodonite were having a bit of trouble, getting worn out through Jasper's obstacle course.

"Give me your best! Show me what you all got!" Jasper shouted.

"Come on, you got it! Plow through it!" Bismuth encouraged from the sidelines. The obstacle course wasn't exactly anything too crazy: a round hundred meter course with hurdles, and swings with hammers on the end. It was something she was insisted on (and instructed to do), namely to tone down the level of training ever since the corrupted Gem fights she did before. Rhodonite actually was handling this pretty well, as it involved less fighting and more running away, but the Rutile Twins and emerald were a little bit left behind in this one.

Rhodonite made it while the other two tumbled over eachother.

"That's your best?" Jasper asked.

"For a pair of half-dead Gems, yes," Emerald said, tired. He and the twins manage to get themselves up off the ground, the Rutiles helping Emerald get up after a bit.

"I thought we're waiting for the others anyway," right Rutile said.

"I wonder where they went," added left Rutile.

"I don't know but they better show up. I'm not running a daycare here," Jasper said, impatient and trying to think of where they've gone to. All she knew was that Amethyst and Peridot had gone off to fetch Steven and that was as far as she knew.

"You could try and pretend to not kill us, you know, we might like you a bit better," Emerald said.

"I'm trying to train everyone, not win a popularity contest," Jasper stated.

"No fear then."

"HEY TROOPS, UP HERE!"

Luckily before Emerald can get his gem clobbered, they all heard a distant sound high up in the sky. They knew that voice better than anyone, and looking up they all soon spotted Rainbow Dash flying in from the clouds. However, there was someone else she was holding onto as she came in, her frontal hooves carrying her like that of straps as she simply dangled there in the air. Coming closer, they all saw that it was a pony coming in. A gray pony, from hoof to tail.

"Hey R-Dash, good to have you join us," said Bismuth, "Who'd you bring?"

"Yeah, about that. We got a little problem," Rainbow Dash said. Then the pony lifted her head.

"And what's the problem? We can fit in somepony else in our troops," Bismuth offered. "What's your name anyway?"

"... That's Pinkie Pie," Rainbow stated.

"... Wha - PINKIE? OUR Pinkie?" Emerald asked.

Rainbow Dash placed Pinkie Pie down on the ground, which she proceeded to just drag her front hoof along the dirt, as if THAT was more interesting than everything else in the world.

"I found her just poking around in the dirt," Rainbow Dash said, "This is NOT how our Pinkie is!"

"But what the heck happened? A-And is it contagious?" Rhodonite asked, stepping away from Pinkie. Whatever this was, it didn't look like something she wanted to catch.

"Depression isn't contagious: it's your body's response to sadness and misery," Pinkie suddenly stated. Hardly ANY bombastic at all in her tone. Everyone who heard Pinkie Pie sound like some bored teacher got goosebumps from this complete 180.

"That's creepy," Jasper stated.

"It's not just her."

And in caught up two other figures. Coming up and catching up with Rainbow Dash was Garnet, now holding Fulgurite in her arm. Garnet didn't need to explain much as she stood there, as Fulgurite's rather limp body and gray skin already spoke everything for itself.

"Fulgurite too! It is contagious!"

"They're not contagious," Garnet made clear, placing Fulgurite down by Pinkie Pie. Both of them were tired looking, Fulgurite looking as if she was too weak to even budge.

"Yeesh, what happened to these two. Had too much cider to drink or something? They both look kinda wasted," Emerald asked, going over to Fulgurite as he tried to wake her up.

"No: Gems don't drink. And it's not cider season. This is something different," Garnet stated.

"Hello, anyone driving this ship?" Bismuth asked, waving her big hand in front of Fulgurite's face. However, Fulgurite only yawned, and that was it. Not even poking her in the head got much coming out of her. It did get her standing, but that was about it.

"She's gray all over. … Oh no, y-you don't think White Diamond did something to them," Rhodonite said in worry.

"I've made sure she didn't," Garnet firmly stated, "She was with Yellow, Blue, and Pink the whole night checking the constellations. Besides, they wouldn't be looking so limp."

"Garnet, I'm not dead, shut it," Fulgurite sighed, though she didn't sound enthused at all.

"So you can talk," Garnet commented. Fulgurite didn't utter a single word the whole carry over, but before they could talk more about it, Jasper actually grabbed her and brought her to the course.

"Bout time you showed up. OK, we got training today in this course, so start going!"

"The hay, Jasper?" Rainbow said.

"Being depressed doesn't make you physically weaker. She can handle this," Jasper stated.

Unfortunately, there was a bit more to this. Fulgurite didn't even bother running, simply walking along in a sort of daze until she found herself at the first hurdle. … She simply stood there, staring at the thing for a good ten seconds before she lifted her leg to try and go over. All THAT did was get her foot caught, and she just fell onto the ground like a brick.

"I beg to differ," Emerald said, before the Rutile Twins got her to her feet.

"You don't need to beg to differentiate," Pinkie stated, bored as ever.

"You okay?" the twins asked. Fulgurite huffed, not even bothering getting the dirt off of her face.

"Yeeea, but heck with it. Training blows anyway. What's the point of it?" Fulgurite grumbled, as she was brought back to the others.

"Ok, THIS is weird: Pinkie being technical, Fulgurite being slow, what kind of mirror game is this?" Bismuth wondered. Fulgurite and Pinkie just sat down beside eachother, and actually started to doze off as they were talking.

"Whatever it is, it happened while they were at Canterlot yesterday," Garnet concluded.

"How'd you know that? Did you see a future vision before when this happened, or did you see a different past?" right Rutile asked, astonished. Garnet simply walked over to them, and pulled something out from her hair: a small card.

"Cinnamon Chai stopped for a chat while I had cake," Garnet said. Well not AS epic, but heck it was something.

"Oh." both Rutiles said, looking at the card.

"K, so you just found them like this?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah, that's what we're saying. Sorry for the wait on T-day by the way," Rainbow Dash said.

"Don't worry over it, we get ya right J?" Bismuth said, giving her a playful punch. Jasper sighed. She had so much of the course built out for everyone, but clearly they weren't gonna be focusing on training today.

"Hope so. But no matter what the case is … Steven better not be infected," said Garnet. Steven seemed to be the prime target here. Grogar attacked him, scared him into silence, and with seeing Fulgurite and Pinkie like this, it all just was too coincidental.

"That is very specific," Pinkie stated.

"Jasper, where're the others?" Garnet then asked.

"I've sent Peridot, AJ, and Amethyst to fetch Steven for us, wherever they went," Jasper replied. Garnet barely needed much time to go and figure this part out, as she then got out a portal key of her own.

"You know, they're all just holding onto those things, aren't you gonna lose them?" Rhodonite asked.

"We'd rather know where they are at all times," Emerald shrugged.

"Give me three seconds," Garnet said. She found a spot nearby on the ground for the portal to open up for her, and using that key they got it opened up in no time at all. This was something she simply had to go and check, and check right away. Soon as that door opened, Garnet didn't waste anytime in going inside, finding the other end of it leading straight back to the Beach House.

No one was there. Not even Steven. Why would he be?

"Steven!"

…….

The time it took her to reach her destination barely was much at all, but it wasn't anywhere near Canterlot or Equestria for that matter. Instead, the Warp Pad lead her from the beach house to the countryside, by the barnhouse. It was the closest place where she could go directly, but that didn't seem to bother her as she started strolling around towards said barn. Not many were at the barn today, though that didn't stop Star Quartz to at least try and see if anybody was home, going over to the door and knocking on it.

"...…. Coming!"

Only one person inside the barn today. At least it seemed to be as someone went on and opened the door. Looking down, there was one of the Off-Colors standing there. In this case, Padparadscha. At first no one said anything, but eventually Padparadscha's mind caught up with her.

"Oh stars! Hello Star, nice to see you," Padparadscha said, happy as ever.

"Hello. You know where the Warp Pad is?" Star Quartz asked.

"...…. Which one? The one back home?"

Star Quartz nodded, and Padparadscha eventually walked out and pointed away from the barn.

"You go down the road a little bit, go passed that fence and that tree, and you'll see it," Padparadscha answered. Star Quartz looked back, but seeing the footprints of her own though, that was where she came from.

"Huh. I didn't know that one can reach Homeworld."

A pause, and then Padparadscha got confused.

"Oh! You meant Homeworld? Not just the Temple?" Padparadscha asked. Star Quartz turned to her and nodded.

"Yeah. The one back home," Star said. Now getting the idea Padparadscha eventually corrected herself.

"I think it's the one just outside of town. Why?"

"Well, I want to go to Homeworld," Star simply answered.

"...…. But Grogar's controlling Homeworld!" Padparadscha gasped, scared.

"I know that," Star Quartz said, "that's why I want to go there. … Is anyone else home?"

Padparadscha shook her head eventually, "I had a vision they would all leave to help our sick friends. It sounds awful!"

Meaning - they just left, and according to "sick friends" that meant that Steven wasn't the only one who was sick today.

"Friends? You mean it's not just Steven?" Star asked. Padparadscha, delayed, gasped on hearing that name.

"Steven is sick too? Oh no, that's terrible, just like Pinkie and Fulgurite are going to be," Padparadscha said, troubled. Really that meant they were already sick, but Star Quartz was getting a full picture now: Fulgurite, Pinkie Pie, and Steven sitting there like leftover dolls, all gray as ever. And since this was Padparadscha telling Star this, that means the others might've known about Fulgurite and Pinkie already.

"Are they gray too?" Star asked.

"...…. yes. Yes, they are, how'd you know?"

"Steven's sick and gray too. And maybe Grogar might know how to fix them," Star figured. It only made sense as far as she knew, but as she was starting to turn and think, Padparadscha started to catch up with her.

"You can't go to Grogar, he'll hurt you!"

"But he should know. He knows everything else there is about us, doesn't he?" Star asked. "Maybe he can tell us that too."

"……. You think so?" Padparadscha asked. Star shrugged.

"Steven, Pinkie, and Fulgurite are sick. They know why. I'll just ask them," Star simply said.

It seemed straightforward enough for either of them to understand, but this was Grogar's Army they were talking about. The same army that took over Homeworld in the first place, so why would they just "tell them" anything? Still, as far as Star Quartz was concerned, it couldn't hurt that much to at least try. Padparadscha thought about it, but by the time she got back to Star she was already walking away.

"You can't go by yourself!" Padparadscha insisted, going as quick as a Sapphire could normally to catch up with Star Quartz. Star only stopped when Padparadscha grabbed her dress.

"Oh. Well, you can come with me. If you'd like," Star Quartz offered. Not exactly the answer that Padparadscha was expecting.

"...…. I uh … you think I could?"

"Sure. It'll be nice," Star said. But Padparadscha was still uneasy. She may have not met with Grogar herself just yet, as with the other Off-Colors, but given what she knew so far this ram did not sound too friendly at all. Padparadscha took a glance back to the barn.

"...…. Maybe we should tell them we're leaving? Rhodonite will be so scared."

"Ok," Star said. Padparadscha simply stood there as Star Quartz bolted back to the barnhouse, going right on inside. Padparadscha herself didn't even react until after she came back out, only needed the short half a minute to handle the situation.

"Okay, ready."

"...…. Ok. But … are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Not really. All we can do is try: ask them a few things. And then we go."

Star made it sound so simple and easy, and for Padparadscha it didn't sound all that bad in the broad scheme of things. Star Quartz began to walk off towards the Warp Pad once again. But this time, after a bit, Padparadscha started to follow Star Quartz close behind.

They just had to wait and see if this will all work out or not. And hopefully the others could find the note Star left for them.


~~~~~~


"ONE STEP!"

Just as it had been for a while, the prisoners of Tambalon were left with very little freedom to go off of. Or rather in this case, even less: some of the more rebellious prisoners even forced along specific steps. Their movements were monitored down to the micro details, and in this mark they were barely even given room to speak, or even budge without given the order to. And of course, Twilight Sparkle was amongst them, keeping in line with some of the normally higher-ranking Emeralds and Agates. Sticking out like a sore hoof. The alicorn hadn't been given any better treatment by the others at all, her mane a complete mess and her tail looking more like a worn out rag.
For the moment, this group was being kept under watch by the largest and strongest of Grogar's forces, just in case one would try and slip up here. This case it was one of Storm's specialized guards, under surveillance by Commander Tempest, and Captain Nichrome. Tempest specifically was keeping an eye on Twilight, given what she witnessed earlier with Nichrome. And as they've observed, one of the Storm Creatures looked over towards a particular One-Eyed Emerald.

"You there, clean yourself up," he instructed.

"Heh. Why? It's not like I'm getting ready for anything," she hissed, fangs barred. That response just got her struck by the Storm Creature's staff, making sure it was dangerously close to her gem eye so she wouldn't be so "rebellious".

"No backtalk. Now clean up!" the guard demanded again. Emerald didn't know exactly how to clean herself up, but she did stop and try to at least handle her hair anyway. So degrading, being ordered around by some organic slop. Nichrome and Tempest saw this, and one of them started thinking.

"They're being careful not to cause too much trouble, don't you think?" Nichrome noted.

"Maybe they've accepted their place in Tambalon," Tempest figured. Nichrome though wasn't too sure about that.

"That doesn't happen until you've crushed their spirit," Nichrome stated.

"... And you'd know," sighed Tempest. Nichrome was a prisoner to the Diamond Authority himself after all, unlike her. The alien looked back to the group before them, the group stopping briefly on command of the storm creatures.

"Their eyes go dull. Their limbs start to sag. There's no spring in their step. That is how you know."

And just as he mentioned that, Twilight looked up to them both. Nichrome REALLY hated this Alicorn since their last chat, and just like before she was giving him a sort of look a fighter would have over a thief. Nichrome hissed.

"You see that, Tempest?" Nichrome asked sternly, pointing to the Alicorn as she turned away.

"See what?" Tempest asked, not too amused.

"That look she just made at us. We've tortured her, torn her from head to tail, and still there's no fear in her eyes. … Let me see if I can change that."
And Nichrome began to move in closer to the group, his focus directly on Twilight in question. The Alicorn kinda figured a simple look like that would tick someone off somewhere, and Nichrome wasn't any of it seemingly. All Twilight did was simply stand there.

"Sparkle! You're a step ahead of your mark!" Nichrome shouted, good and forceful. Twilight didn't say a word to him, not even looking his way, as she simply stepped back to her proper place. Nichrome didn't feel satisfied.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Nichrome shrieked. His voice was enough to humble the Storm creatures, but Twilight didn't listen. Nichrome began to grow angry with her. Bad enough she refused to work for him beforehand, now she wouldn't even acknowledge him standing there. Snarling, Nichrome raised his hoof, turning it into a dagger. This immediately began to raise an alarm in Tempest's head, and she was just about ready to bolt in, her horn sparking, when -

"Captain!"

Call it timing, but Nichrome soon heard the sound of King Grogar just over his own shoulders. The storm guards bowed when they heard his voice off a ways from the mark, and Nichrome groaned. He simply turned around, and sure enough there was King Grogar coming over to them, him joined by Budgerite and Bray close behind as always. Tempest found this interesting, but simply stayed where she was as Grogar approached him.

"Where have you been?" Grogar questioned.

"Me? I've just got back, sir, I -"

"That's not what I asked, Nichrome. You've been gone from your patrol all day yesterday. Why?" Grogar questioned. Nichrome paused and glanced over to Twilight for a brief moment before giving a devilish smirk. If there was a time to get this started, it is now.

"Well, I was gonna wait for your "big day" as a present, but since you insist, I am pleased to announce that you're going to have one less troublemaker before long."

"And that means …"

"Let's just say the Harmony Gems' days are numbered," Nichrome cooed, snickering afterwards in his signature tone. Grogar was a bit curious as to what Nichrome actually did.

"Oh? They've kicked the bucket now? and by just one alien?" Bray asked.

"I thought their defeat was gonna be more dramatic and crazy than that," Budgerite said.

"Shut it you two," Grogar huffed, getting them both to be quiet as he turned his gaze back to Nichrome, "And exactly how did you do this?"

Nichrome snickered.

"Oh you should've seen their stupid faces: I whipped up a special something and started passing it around all over Canterlot, and those suckers took to it like moths to a lightbulb. They took my treat and ran!"

"... One more time? Simpler?" Bray asked. Nichrome rolled his eyes.

"Guys: I poisoned the entire Harmony Gem group."

"Yooouuu what?" Grogar asked. Nichrome was too into his own scheme to noticed that Grogar … oddly … didn't seem too enthused. Or happy.

"YEAH I know, you should've seen them lord! My own concoction is gonna leave them all lifeless sacks by - AAHHH!" *BAM*

All of a sudden, Nichrome was rammed off of his own feet by Grogar, him slamming into one of the storm guards as this happened.

"Wait a sec, why're YOU upset?! You wanted them dead!" retorted Nichrome, just for Grogar to grab him and swing him a good ten feet.

"And I wanted to kill them, you dolt!" Grogar roared, slamming his hoof on Nichrome's head, "The highest prize is for the king only, not you! And on WHO'S authority did you use to go and do that anyway?" Grogar cut in. Nichrome no longer felt so proud of his accomplishment anymore, looking down to his feet. The ram could already tell the answer from there. Grogar then glanced to Twilight, who was just standing there.

"What're you looking at?" Grogar huffed. Twilight turned her gaze away there (only annoying Nichrome even more).

"... And to top this off: you just left them without making sure it worked?"

"... Y-Yes?" Nichrome shuttered. Grogar stepped off of him.

"Then go back out again. Make sure your method actually does its job. And do not come crawling back here unless you have one of their heads tossed at my hooves. Got it?"

"A-Absolutely," Nichrome shuttered. Grogar allowed him to get up, and to make sure he went off on his way he gave him another ram, sending Nichrome running to go back to Earth.

"I swear on my tail, aliens are harder to control."

"They are, aren't they?" Budgerite said, "I mean, Cerrosafe barely even followed the rules while he was here. He even clocked me just for pointing out where he's supposed to go. Who does that?!"

"Steady lad, don't hurt your beak. Do me a favor and check the border patrols, will you?"

"Got it, sir! Come on Bray, let's go," Budgerite said. Budgerite and Bray went off to handle that, leaving Grogar to just start moving off to the castle. Or at least, he would've but he did stop and glanced over to Twilight first. Out of many of the prisoners, she was probably the most bothersome to him. She did look to him, knowing well he can jump her at any moment and tear her to pieces, but he wasn't in the mood for a bloodbath.

"Take this mark down. Their time's cut," Grogar stated.

"We just got out here," complained an Agate, "I'm not going back in that grimy kindergarten!"

"Would you rather be poofed and put in a gear then? Because there's a few clogs I'm trying to find some gemstones to fill, and you suddenly look like a good fit," Grogar growled. It was harder to intimidate these types of Gems, Grogar noticed, but this time the Agate kept quiet as the mark was escorted away downward to the prison hold. Only Tempest could see Grogar's reaction after he felt alone, which he had a look of contemplation before heading off back to the palace.


~~~~~~


"This is the work of Grogar."

That was the first statement that Jasper said the moment she saw two of the three "sick" people. They were brought over back to the Sky Arena with a decent crowd gathered there, and it was painfully clear that Nichrome's poison had gotten to them as well, Fulgurite and Pinkie simply sitting there on the floor. Pinkie Pie was simply sitting there, her hoof poking at the dirt as Fulgurite looked about ready to fall asleep at any moment.

"So you just found this random creature, and you simply took the food he gave you?" questioned Yellow Diamond.

"Well, we did suspect there might be some foul play, but after testing it didn't seem malicious at the time," Rarity made clear, but no doubt there was something malicious going on now with the two. Flint went close to Fulgurite, checking her eyes like a doctor would. Fulgurite grumbled and swatted his hand away, but that was about it.

"Yoo-hoo, anyone in there?" asked Diopside, trying to get some reaction coming out of any of them. Normally it would get something to react, especially with how close she was getting to either or them but nope. Both remained quiet and bored. This situation wasn't exactly the best either.

"So what's the verdict, doctor?" asked Pink Diamond. Flint tried to think.

"Hmm …. well, by the looks of it, they've either been cursed or hexed by … something, while they were in Canterlot by this "newcomer" you saw."

"So ... you don't have a clue then."

"Hey, I can't have every answer up front by one look," retorted Flint. Fulgurite covered her ears from the complaining as Pinkie Pie drew some simple pictures in the dirt. The ponies then were brought to attention.

"Rarity, you're a unicorn that can use magic. Do you have any ideas what "curse" or "hex" might've made them this way?" Blue Diamond asked, hoping for a good answer.

"Uh … no."

"No? But you're a unicorn, you use magic all the time," the diamond insisted, not noticing the hurt in her comment. Rarity sighed though, deciding not to point it out for the sake of the problem.

"Well that doesn't prove anything: Yes, I can easily work a thread and needle into my designs, and maybe move something precisely where it is, but that's easy. It takes a little bit more magic to do this," Rarity made clear, looking back to the two gray individuals. Fluttershy went over to them, lifting up Pinkie's head and seeing her face.

"It doesn't look like they're sick. Just … sad," Fluttershy said, as she looked at them both.

"We know they're sad, look at -"

"No, no, I mean … but I think that's all it is," Fluttershy explained, as she started walking around the two, "I mean, sure they're a different color, but I don't see any spots, or sores … or anything really."

"You blind?! THEY. ARE. GRAY," Pink said. 

"Just let me see." Fluttershy trotted over to Pinkie Pie, and then started looking over what she can figure out. Checking their foreheads for a fever, or their hearts for a good pace, basic doctor stuff. It was basically a similar idea she would try with helping some creatures back home.

"These two don't seem to be sick with anything. They sound okay, and feel okay."

"So … they're just down in the dumps? That's it?" Emerald shrugged.

"I guess so," Fluttershy shrugged. This did give some edge off of the situation, but there still was the matter of turning them back to normal.

"So got an idea on how to fix them?" asked Diopside. They tried to figure something out, looking them over and thinking.

"Hmm … well if sadness is the only problem, guess we just have to make them ... not sad?" Tiger's Eye wasn't sure how well that'll work, but it sounded like the only main option here. It couldn't be that hard to make someone happy anyway, right? Emerald though got a different idea, as he got himself a small, long piece of stone from the Sky Arena.

"So all we gotta do is make em feel something else! Easy enough," Emerald said, as he proceeded to laugh as he kept poking Fulgurite and Pinkie with the rock. Normally Fulgurite would be more than ticked off at him, and indeed some groans did start coming up from her, but Emerald's efforts weren't doing so well. If anything it just reminded everyone else how much of a pest Emerald was, as Bismuth yanked him away.

"Don't think that's gonna work at all, chief," Bismuth said, getting the rock out of his hands and tossing it clear over the Sky Arena. Clearly that wasn't going to really figure anything out here, though one Fusion was trying to figure something out in her own head.

"Let's just try it."

"I don't know if that's going to work Ruby."

"Your future vision doesn't say it can't work."

"..."

"Pearl!" Garnet suddenly called. That got Blue Pearl, CG Pearl, and Yellow Pearl looking over to her.

"No, the Yellow Pearl," Garnet corrected, pointing to her specifically. It was a bit of an odd choice, but Yellow Pearl walked over to her anyway.

"What do you need my Pearl for?" Yellow Diamond questioned, Yellow Pearl at attendance and wanting to know that same question.

"It'll only be for a minute. Now Pearl, I need you to do me a favor," Garnet stated. Yellow Pearl was curious about what kind of work she needed to do, but so long as it helped what was going on. And what did Garnet have in mind? Well that started to become apparent when she looked to her Pearl.

"Pearl, you happen to have some paper and pen?" Garnet asked. 

"Um. Yeah?" Pearl said. Shrugging, she started summoning just that: some lined paper and a pen for Garnet to use. In just a few seconds, Garnet wrote down fast something on the paper, and then gave it to Yellow Pearl, with the fusion giving only one instruction.

"Read this."

"... And what is this? A counter spell?"

"Something like that," Garnet stated. Yellow Pearl looked skeptical but went and checked the words anyway. And the message read as followed:

Я - Желтая Соляная Птица и добро пожаловать в кикбут, это Гонки! Готовь свои окурки к острым ощущениям, и, возможно, много огня, чтобы сжечь брови. Удачи в этом кластере.

"I can't read this," Yellow Pearl quietly said, not able to make heads or tails of it. Gem writing was far easier for her to understand than any of this. Garnet then began whispering a little something of her own to help Yellow Pearl "work the spell". She looked more skeptical about it afterwards though.

"Hmm … well, if that's how it works. It's good I've been seeing some studies in your library for this task," Yellow Pearl decided, looking it over some more.

"Let's hear it. Good and proud," Garnet encouraged.

Yellow Pearl cleared her throat, and …

"Capital backwards R, dash, Snowflake, E, carrot, little capital T, A, little backwards R, Big C, O, carrot, little backwards R, uh … S-Staple I think, little T, backwards N, U with a squiggly at the end, a, backwards N, carrot again, O, GIGANTIC six, PO -" some of the Gems were starting to laugh at this reading, but Yellow Pearl ignored them and continued. "- small staple, O, small snowflake, A - er is that backwards A or, no wait it's normal A - carrot, o, little B, A, little T, six with a defect, B, K, backwards N, K, GIANT Six again, Y, T, curvy backwards E, To, F with a line missing, OHKEN! -" Some loud laughs slipped out as she kept reading, even the diamonds struggling not to laugh themselves, Fulgurite and Pinkie looking more and more interested in this. "- Missing F, Oto, big B, defective six, C, Bon, OK, Y, P, little K, backwards N, K all by itself - What kind of spell is this?- O, C, T, P, defect six, I'm, uh O, W with a squiggle, Y, another squiggle W, E, H, backwards N and R, little M, backwards N, Bo 3 Mo, Snowflake HO -" Slowly, Fulgurite and Pinkie's mouths started to quiver. … "- M, H, O, lower case rigid R, two Os, another lower case R, H, BACKWARDS R this time, … upside down H or backwards 4, To, GIANT six, Bl, C, snowflake, E, 4, B, GIANT six, Po, B, backwards N, GIANT Y, Carrot, A, 4, backwards N, B, E-TOM -"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" It was a long shot, but it finally worked! All of a sudden, broke by Yellow Pearl's translator, Fulgurite and Pinkie suddenly were laughing themselves silly. The dull colors they had actually started to fade away a bit, finally returning to their old colors.

"OH STARS what was that?!" laughed Fulgurite, "Oh - OOOHHH KEN - HAHAHA!!"

"The spell worked?! B-But I wasn't finished yet," Yellow Pearl asked in surprise, amazed that the magic spell worked out so quickly before it could even finish. But then the CG Pearl peered passed Yellow Pearl's shoulder, getting a cringe when she checked what was written.

"... That's not a spell."

"... Huh?" Yellow Pearl glanced to Garnet, her simply standing there with a smile.

"It still worked though," Garnet said. 

"I'll never understand Equestrian Magic," groaned Yellow Diamond.

"It's probably for the best," Blue Diamond admitted. Magic was never a cup of tea worth studying anyway.
As Yellow Pearl tried to not just scream from that embarrassing display, Garnet and a few others moved over to Pinkie and Fulgurite, who were calming down from their laughing fit. Pinkie Pie even got her puffy hair back.

"Man, leave it to Yellow Pearl," Fulgurite sighed, wiping away a tear from her laughing.

"You two feeling better?" asked Rarity.

"Yeah, sure, why wouldn't we be silly?" Pinkie asked. For the sake of it all, they might as well not push it any further. They were just glad they were back to normal.

Good timing too: just a moment after Fulgurite and Pinkie had been cured of this depressing funk, they all then heard a sort of noise coming from the Warp Pad off by the gate leading to the Sky Arena. Looking up to the arch, Applejack, Amethyst, and Peridot made their return to the group, Peridot actually riding on top of Applejack, the pony skidding to a stop. and almost knocking Peridot off of her doing so.

"There y'all are! We've been lookin all over fer ya," Applejack said. "We got ourselves more problems!"

"Already taken care of it, gang, cool your jets; Fulgurite and Pinkie are good as new," reassured Diopside said, going to the two.

"Wait, what happened to - oh who cares, that's not the problem here, don't start shooting questions now," Amethyst made clear.

"I have one …?" inquired White.

"Yes it's Steven-related," sighed Peridot.

"Oh for the love a - what happened now? I swear if Grogar got hold of our boy again," Bismuth groaned, worried and frustrated. If it wasn't one problem it's always another.

"I don't know, maybe? We went to check him this morning just like Jasper said, but we found him all gray and VERY gloomy. No, Jay, we didn't run off to dodge your training today, we were trying to find some counter spell thing or whatever for him," Amethyst said, getting another question out of the way before Jasper could bring it up. Garnet though could feel herself starting to fume up from that answer. Bad enough she didn't find Steven in the Beach House, now knowing for sure he was like this made things even worse!

"Amethyst. IS. HE. WITH. YOU?" Garnet asked.

"... I'm tempted to say yes, but then I'd be lying."

Garnet stomped her foot on the ground. That alone almost making the entire Sky Arena crack open!

"OOOHHH, G-mom's mad now," Emerald gulped.

"Oh my," Blue gasped.

"What's up? He's just back at the Beach House, ain't he?" Amethyst asked.

"I checked there, he is gone!" Garnet said.

"WHAT?! DANG IT not him too," Amethyst said in frustration. That single word "too" did not go unnoticed by the group. Amethyst quickly realized what she just said, and slapped herself in the forehead.

"Dang it, wasn't supposed to say that yet," Amethyst said.

"Too? Wait, who else is missing?" Peridot asked.

"Shouldn't you know?" Rainbow asked.

"Hey, I was taking position in Canterlot asking the local unicorns while they went off from me for a minute, I can't know everything," Peridot retorted.

"Who else is gone?" Flint asked. Amethyst then lifted off Applejack's hat, and showed what looked to be a letter that the three had found. Amethyst sighed, and without saying another word then showed them a piece of paper she had discovered with the other two after one side trip to one particular barn house.

"Ransom note?" Garnet asked, expecting the worst.

"Ehhh … not exactly," Applejack said. It was probably better for them to just see the note themselves instead of just saying it up front.

And they all took a look at the note.

Dear friends (and mom): Saw Steven got sick, heard Fulgurite and Pinkie got sick too. Went to Homeworld to see Grogar for an answer. Be back soon. P.S.: Padparadscha wanted to come too

…

"... S-She … she went to Homeworld. … with Grogar there. … By herself. …. To. ask for their help," Peridot's voice sounded more and more scared as she recited what indication this all meant, a very nervous smile and hands twitching.

"No, no, Peridot, breathe, breathe," Amethyst said quickly, seeing the green Gem look ready to explode at any moment.

"... MY BABY'S GONE!!!!"


~~~~~~


"...…. So have you figured out what to do when we get there?" asked Padparadscha.

"Look around. Ask them for help. If they don't want to help or answer, we just go," Star Quartz answered.

The trip between the Warp Pad on Homeworld, and the main Diamond City left the two with that main plan in mind. Clearly, one of the best plans of all time, and the two got that to hold onto as they got themselves closer to the Diamond City boundaries. Padparadscha was mainly trying to keep up with her at this point, Star Quartz going at her speed (which was very quick). The two eventually did stop their moving once they made it to the very edge of the city.

"...…. So …… you don't have an exact plan?" Padparadscha asked nervously. Star Quartz shook her head.

"It's not that complicated. Peridot told me they don't usually make up complicated plans either."
Standing there at the edge of the city, they began to look around for a bit, seeing what they could see. They saw much of homeworld's extravagance and beauty sure, but no Gems in sight. At least, not where they were. They eventually began to walk in some more.

"...…. They don't?" Padparadscha eventually asked.

"I don't think so. It sounds like they just go in and make it up as they go along," Star said. Most plans end up that way anyway, either be it for White Diamond's Space Station antics or just going on a monster mission. Padparadscha thought on it for a little, but eventually went back to looking around the borders of Homeworld.

"...…. It looks so pretty up here," she said.

*HEE-HAW!*

It was only a matter of time until one of the border patrols would find them standing there. Star Quartz looked on ahead down the road into Homeworld, only to find that one of Grogar's creatures had located them, standing in their way. Star and Padparadscha may not recognize him, but the sight of Bray the mule was a common sight in Homeworld at this point.
And as they figured he didn't come alone, his bellowing "hee-haw" bringing in a number of other guards that joined him on his patrol. At least twenty or so large, Equestrian creatures had come out to confront them all, making sure they didn't have any escape route. Bray, joined by Budgerite, got themselves down to the front lines to see Star and Padparadscha.

"Look out Star, we're about to be caught!" Padparadscha said.

"Uh, a little delayed there, missy," Bray commented. Star Quartz didn't seem spooked though - they were supposed to be found anyway.

"Hello. Are you with Grogar, by chance?" Star Quartz asked.

"Are we with Grogar? Ha! What other group's got a bunch of Equus beats in it? NONE, that's how much!" said Budgerite. Unfortunately, this sort of chitchat from the burd gem hybrid flew right over Star's head, so ...

"... Are you with Grogar?" Star quartz asked again.

"Uh. Yeah. Yeah, we are from Grogar's army, yes," Bray said, perplexed a little bit with Star Quartz.

"Great!"

"... Great?" Budgerite and Bray asked eachother, as Star quartz stepped forward. Not the response they were expecting to hear from a Gem that's just been caught. And then Star went for broke (go figure).

"You think you can help us with something? Our friends are sick, and we think you guys did something to them."

"Huh? … OH, that poison Nichrome put in that ca - ACK!" Bray got his muzzle clamped shut, but it was a little too late to block off that kind of information. not that it mattered.

"You think you know a cure for it? They're getting kinda dull and sick," Star asked politely.

"Don't get too close, Star," Padparadscha finally said. Budgerite and Bray weren't sure if they were hearing either of them correctly, Bray digging out some wax in his long ears with his hoof just to be sure he heard right. But nope, they weren't mishearing her.

"Are you two okay?" Budgerite blurted out.

"Yeah, we're fine," Star simply answered. But with Star in a good spot standing, Budgerite got a better look at that gemstone of hers.

"Waaaaait …  eh, what kind of Gems are ya? Don't think I've seen a Gem like you before," Budgerite said, getting up close and personal with Star Quartz's gemstone to see those special markings and eyes.

"Oh, I'm Star Quartz. and she's Padparadscha Sapphire," Star Quartz introduced, Padparadscha catching up with Star and keeping herself hiding behind Star Quartz like a scared child. Budgerite though got around to see her anyway, and actually looked more amazed than suspicious of her.

"A Sapphire? A Padparadscha Sapphire?" Budgerite asked, astonished.

"...…. Y-Yes?" Padparadscha asked. Budgerite took a minute to think, nodding her head and going right back to Bray's side.

"Bray, did you hear that? We got a Star Quartz and Padparadscha here!"

"If I can pronounce that second name, that would mean … what?" Bray asked, head tilted like some confused dog.

"That means that we got some of the rarest Gems ever! Think about it, have you ever heard of ANY of those Gems before?" Budgerite asked, getting very excited.

"Oh? OH yeayeayea, Grogar's gonna get a kick outta it! He's always got a tinkering for the unique and fancy," Bray said, getting the idea. In a way, this might be some good luck to Star and Padparadscha here. Bray cleared his throat.

"K, lot listen up! Get these two back to base, we got some jewels for the king!" Bray said. That was the order that got the rest of the guards to close in on them. Both of them looked around, but eventually they did start walking along their way.

"So Grogar likes special things?"

"Oh yeah, he's all about things that stand out from the crowd. And YOU TWO pay that bill," Bray said gleefully, even giving Padparadscha a noogie to the head. Padparadscha and Star Quartz were actually a bit flattered. Star Quartz did take this chance.

"Excuse me, but if you're gonna see Grogar, can you ask him a few things for me?"

…….

And Grogar got those questions fairly quickly, the moment Bray and Budgerite got back. All of these questions the two got right to him with no delay, and the king Ram, who at the time was in his throne room preparing himself for the time ahead (AKA filing his horns), found this a bit sketchy.

"So yeah, that's all the questions. She's asking for a cure to Steven's sickness, and how you're learning everything before … they know - is that what she said? Yeah, everything before they know," Budgerite concluded.

"And we are more than positive she's suffering from loose-screws-ictus," Bray added, scratching his head. Grogar took a brief moment to think about this.

"... And they are apparently very rare Gems?" Grogar inquired, having a seat as he briefly changed from filing his horns to filing his hooves., making them glean and sharpened like blades on his feet. Budgerite nodded quickly.

"You bet your horns they are: Padparadscha's are the rarest kind of Sapphire there is, and Star Quartzes, heck, I've never heard of em before! Must be a new type created," Budgerite said. Grogar didn't answer for a bit more, finishing up his hoof filing before standing up and getting off the throne himself. A smile came up on his face from there.

"So. Two rare and specialized Gems have just shown up on our doorstep eh? AND from those Harmony Gems no less. It's like they're not even trying!" Grogar laughed. Flint, Pearl, Peridot, and Emerald had their fun going in and out, but at least they weren't as blunt with things as these two were. He took a little blow on his hooves, giving them a cleaner look to it.

"Maybe they're giving up, oh mighty Grogar. They haven't done jack or jenny since their last little visit anyway," Bray figured. That idea gave Grogar such a nice smile. He gave a nice sigh at the thought.

"The joys of seeing your enemies throw themselves at your hooves, eh lads? … Tell ya what, go find those two, and I'll decide what to do with em. And make sure everyone's there to see it."

"Even Nichrome? I mean, you sent him off to see if the others are actually dead," reminded Budgerite. Grogar just huffed, rolling his eyes.

"Fine. Make sure everyone else is there to see it. Happy?" Grogar stated, before he began to trot off to check up on these two. He was still a bit bitter about Nichrome, for a lack of a better word, stealing his kill. But at the end of the day, the end result was the same - Steven and whoever else Nichrome poisoned was gonna keel over by now. He still grinded his sharp teeth together from the reminder though, as he himself went to get himself preened for the "get together".

…….

"One … two … three … four … *thud*"

Exhausting as it may seem to be, Connie was trying her absolute hardest here. With many of the prisoners now left sitting in their cells, either just sitting there waiting for the next outing, or actually trying the practice of "sleeping", it was a good time to continue the practice a bit more.

"Come on Connie, you got this. Do it for them," she quietly told herself, as she got herself back up again. Her muscles had been looking a bit more prominent lately, as she paused to check them. For such slimmer arms they did feel harder from the work she'd been putting herself into.

"You're not gonna keep me here Grogar, just you watch," Connie said.

"O really?"

Connie turned and saw that one of the guards had come up to check on her this time, taking form of a larger bull this time. Connie though simply ignored that lummox outside her cell, and she actually continued to exercise. The bull moved up right to the bars of her cage, snorting inside, with the scent of dry grass filling the room.

"The hay are you doing?"

"Push-ups. I have nothing else to do," Connie remarked between pants. The bull rolled his eyes.

"Don't tell me: you think you're gonna break out of here by yourself."

"No. I will break out of here, AND I'm gonna get even with that ram for everything he's done," Connie stated, growing angry. Who knows exactly how much Grogar did outside of Homeworld?

"PAH! Maybe that corruption thing he did screwed away something, but you're not getting anywhere. You're NEVER gonna be free, and that is final," the bull huffed. Just as they both began to hear someone else start to come over to the cell. The bull turned and as Connie finished up at least ten more push-ups, moved aside. The human hybrid took a breather and saw the figures of Bray and Budgerite standing there, only for them both to hear …

"Good news, Connie: you and Twilight are being freed!" Bray announced.

Well then.

"WHAT?!" the bull snorted.

"Yeah. What?" Connie asked, shocked to hear it herself. Again.

"You heard me, you goaty girl you," explained Bray, as Budgerite hopped off of his back to get the gate opened, "Grogar wants all of the guards and a few fancy trinkets in the throne room right away. Everyone gets to see Grogar deal with Star Quartz, and Padparadscha."

Connie, while still walking out, was seemingly a bit skeptical.

"Wait. Which Star Quartz and Padparadscha?"

"What you mean "which" the ones from the Harmony Gems. I don't know any others ones anywhere, you Bray?" Budgerite asked. Bray shook his head for no, but Connie had been duped before with Nichrome. She needed some more answers.

"OKAY. What do these two look like? And I want details," Connie stated firmly. Budgerite and Bray looked to eachother and, shrugging, just went to answer.

"Well Star Quartz is kinda taller than me, rail thin, looks like she doesn't even have any color or weight -"

"And an idiot. don't forget an idiot," cut in Bray.

"Yeah, sort of," continued Budgerite, "Padparadscha looks like a orange Sapphire, short hair, has a REALLY big delay for some reason. So yeah, Harmony Gem duo."

"They ARE the same ones!" Connie thought, gulping. Bray and Budgerite started going off on their way. The bull, not wanting to hear Connie rub in with her being free now, shoved her along in order to keep up with the other two. As they kept going along, Connie went on thinking a bit.

"Are they trying to get us out now? I mean, Steven would've told them by now, but they wouldn't get themselves captured again. Would they? … Or is Grogar really THAT good, they couldn't even get in here? Maybe when I see Star and Padparadscha they can tell us what's going on. They better be okay."


~~~~~~


As for the gathering, Grogar made sure that things were looking exactly as they should. Budgerite and Bray's message for everyone to meet within the throne room spread around like wildfire, and got to the throne room just as fast. Commander Tempest, Storm King, Trotter, and many others amongst Grogar's forces had taken this time to arrive to the place of Star and Padparadscha's state of questioning. Grogar himself was looking plenty pleased, a devilish grimy grin across his muzzle and showing teeth sharpened by the file he used earlier. Whatever was to happen he wanted to make sure it went his way. He was especially pleased when he saw Connie Maheswaran and Twilight Sparkle being forced into the room, under watch by Bray, Budgerite, and the bull to make sure they didn't try anything. They eventually got into position, but Grogar did notice that Connie and Twilight didn't have the best view.

"You there," Grogar stated, pointing the sharpened hoof at a fairly large boar, "Move aside will you? Our "special guests" can't see well with you sitting in the way."
A loud snort echoed and the boar did as instructed, giving Connie and Twilight a clear view of the space between the guards, and the throne of Grogar. Twilight and Connie didn't move from their spot.

"He wants to kill us, but still thinks we're "special guests"," Twilight quietly stated in disgust, "Oh I wish I knew what to do, Connie."

"Don't worry. you heard what they're saying, maybe the others got here to get us out. I bet they're gonna come right through that -" before Connie could finish, in came Star Quartz and Padparadscha. And nobody else. They were escorted in by some of the lions that found them earlier, none of which threatened any of them just yet, though despite that the two Gems did stop when they saw Connie and Twilight.

"Hi guys," Star said.

"So they caught you?" Connie asked.

"I think so. Padparadscha and I let them get us," Star simply answer.

"I see Connie and Twilight!" gasped Padparadscha.

"And you've come to get us out?" asked Twilight, hopefully. Then came the weird answer.

"Uh … no? That wasn't really the idea. Should it be?" Star asked, perplexed. Connie and Twilight couldn't believe their ears.

"But why are you here?!" Connie gasped.

"No talking!" roared a Bear, before Star and Padparadscha were moved along by the lions again with a few growls and some paw swipes. Star Quartz and Padparadscha were at center stage now, with only Grogar standing tall in front of them.

He was gonna enjoy this.

"... Star Quartz. Padparadscha. You two had requested me which I would take. War or Peace. Life or Death."

"Not exactly what I said, but I guess that can work," Star Quartz stated. Grogar wasn't too impressed with either of them. Rare or not, they were still dolls in his eyes. A novelty at best. The guards around them both, along with Connie and Twilight with some of their prisonhold watched in anticipation and anxiousness as Grogar considered what his answers would be.

"Before I say my answer, I want to ask you two something. Are you two willing to join? To join Tambalon? Or are you willing to stay with those "Harmony Gems" of yours?" Grogar questioned.

"But we didn't ask any of those things. Right?" Padparadscha asked Star Quartz, who just shrugged. Captain Storm got his clawed hand to his forehead.

"Seriously?! It's like you're in a different time zone, I swear!" Storm groaned. Which technically, Padparadscha was, whether they wanted it or not.

"You … want us to answer good or bad?" Star asked.

"Oh, answer however you want," Grogar said. He honestly was hoping they'll refuse, for the sake of seeing the other two nearby suffer a little bit more. The two Gems looked to one another, only then Padparadscha becoming a little startled by Storm's outburst, clutching onto Star's dress. Padparadscha and Star Quartz then went on with it, the white gem looking to the ram first.

"But we already are in a group. It doesn't sound like it'll be fair for us to just join you. Thanks, but, we can't do that. Sorry," Star Quartz said casually.

Silence.

"... Then here's your answers: War or Peace, Life or Death. WAR. DEATH."

"This is a lot of trouble just for your information, sir. Why's that so bad?" reminded Star Quartz, a little taken aback by what she saw as a BIG overreaction.

"BECAUSE I SAY SO! Captains, Commanders? Shatter at my command."

"NO!" exclaimed Connie and Twilight. JUST the answer he wanted to hear. Connie and Twilight tried to reach them, but some of the stronger guards kept both of them back: Twilight concealed behind some bear claws while Connie had some whips tied to her horns. Trotter, Tempest, and Storm went up towards them, ready to get at them at a moments notice. Only after they got surrounded did Padparadscha yelp in fear.

"Careful Star! I predict we're about to be shattered!" Padparadscha exclaimed.

"What, again - HE JUST SAID THAT, YOU IDIOT! You call yourself a Sapphire?!" Storm mocked. Padparadscha shivered in fear, but Star Quartz rested a hand on her head, using a bit of her power to try and calm her down even if she seemed a little humbled herself. As both were contemplating, Grogar then looked on to the whole crowd.

"The Harmony Gems claim to be the saviors of Earth! And the Alicorns claim they're the rulers of Equus," he began. However, no one was aware that something was going on with Padparadscha, except for Star Quartz.

"Is it cold? Why're you shaking?" Star asked quietly, as Grogar continued.

"Both sides are seen as owners of their world. But I am the true ruler here! -" "Ooohhhh …" "- Their people will become mine, and ALL of the worlds they live in! They will -" "Aaaahh. Aaahh!" "- live as I COMMAND! They'll live by me, and live through -" "Aaahhh!" "- WILL YOU SHUT UP?!"

Padparadscha looked panicked, but not in the same way as normal stress would have it. As everyone watched, Padparadscha gripped her head in discomfort, moaning and yelping in fear as she was shivering. None of them knew what was going on.

"How dare you interrupt our king? SLAUGHTER HER!" one of the guards demanded. But just before any of them could go in and do anything -

"N-NO. No! The fire's spreading! I-It's everywhere!" Padparadscha stuttered. Star Quartz looked around briefly.

"Fire?" Star asked. But Padparadscha didn't seem to hear her. Some of the guards actually looked around frantically for any signs of anything flammable. Sapphire's did predict the future after all.

"There's no fire, she's just talking crazy!" Storm exclaimed. But then Padparadscha spoke again.

"R-Run! Run! Peshtihorn's burning! Hurry. Save him Fawn!"

That didn't sound too familiar to any of them. Well, except for one.

"HOLD!" Grogar suddenly shouted. Everyone looked to him on this sudden change in command, the ram suddenly jumping off of his throne and landing right in front of Padparadscha, shockingly unfazing the sapphire as the vision rushed through her. Star Quartz stepped back a little bit.

"Peshtihorn. … Fawn. … Only death herself would know of these things."

"A-Aaahhh! A-A Dragon!" Padparadscha exclaimed, "R-Running through the fields! Through the flames! R-Run! RUN GROGAR! THE DRAGON'S COMING DOWN ON US!"

Grogar suddenly gasped in shock, stepped back a bit at the mere mention of a Dragon, the word sending shivers running down his spine. Bray and Budgerite panicked as well, yelping and frantically looking around for any sign of a dragon. Padparadscha looked ready to scream, but Star Quartz got both hands firmly placed on her head, her powers working fast as a white aura flashed briefly. It was more of a impulsive move than one with thinking, but it did calm Padparadscha down, enough to actually make her pass out.

"D-Dragon?! Where? WHERE?! I'm too young to be eaten!" Bray stuttered, hooves on his head as his eyes bolted back and forth for any signs of such a creature.

"Y-you think she's predicting, my lord?" Budgerite stuttered, "I-I mean, she is a Sapphire. A defective one, but still a Sapphire."

NOW Grogar looked scared. Canterlot had a Dragon. Equestria had a Dragon. He saw a baby Dragon on Homeworld. NOW a Dragon's coming to Homeworld?! ...

"CLEAR THE THRONE ROOM! I want every flank and butt out of here NOW!" Grogar screeched. It was a strange one-eighty spin on this whole scenario, but many of Grogar's Army wasn't about to question the ram, even if seeing him afraid was a bit weird. Connie and Twilight, despite being given orders to be freed, were forced away and brought out of the room too, and eventually it was just Grogar, Star Quartz, and Padparadscha. Star did try to walk out with them though, holding Padparadscha as she was sleeping.

"Not you," groaned Grogar.

"But you said every flank and butt has to go, and we have butts too," Star asked, confused. Grogar didn't have time to explain, and forced them both back in the room. He jumped them both then, namely putting himself right in front of the Sapphire.

"You're a Sapphire, that has to be a vision of some sort," Grogar said, firmly and urgently, "What else did you see? Did you see when this'll happen? Padparadscha, talk to me!"
But it was no use. Padparadscha was passed out still, and could only mumble as she was sleeping with Grogar's yelling. Such a vision like that cannot be ignored. Star Quartz took Padparadscha, and held her away from Grogar, cradling her in her arms.

"She's sleeping. She can't talk to you in her sleep," Star said, Padparadscha cuddling closer to Star Quartz as she was sleeping. Grogar stood tall over both Gems.

"What was she talking about?" Grogar demanded.

"I don't know. I never seen her do that before. … You know what Fawn and Pestyhorn is?"

"It's Peshtihorn," Grogar corrected.

"Sorry. You know what that is?" Star Quartz asked. Grogar loomed over them both, his red eyes piercing through Star. The ram was not in the mood to go over his own knowledge with these two, especially after … well, whatever the hay THAT was.

"Like you need to know that. Now answer my question about that future vision, or I'll force it out of you," Grogar warned, snarling as his hooves are dangerously close to their feet. Star Quartz looked down to Padparadscha, and then to Grogar again.

"But she can't predict the future. They said she can only predict things that just happened."

"Well we didn't just get the palace burned down, now did we?" Grogar snarled. "Future vision is the only explanation for all that, now -"

"Really? … *gasp* Padparadscha! Padparadscha!"

It took a bit, but eventually Padparadscha slowly began to stir, Grogar growing more impatient.

"Huh? … What?"

"Padparadscha. Grogar says you just predicted the future right now. It's the first future vision you actually did, isn't that great?" Star Quartz stated, actually sounding happy for her. Padparadscha paused, but eventually a small gasp appeared on her face.

"That's amazing! I actually predicted the future this time! How exciting!" Padparadscha beamed, hands on her cheeks as she smiled.

"Yes, now WHAT DID YOU SEE?" Grogar snarled, itching to just blast the two idiots into dust. He could just blast them to pieces, but he can't predict the future and so long as Padparadscha had that information, she was safe from harm. For now, anyway. Star Quartz however went in and placed her hand on Grogar's head, the area glowing again. Grogar didn't have it and swatted her hand.

"NO MAGIC ON ME!"

"Sorry, you just looked upset. I wanted to calm you down," Star Quartz said.

"You haven't even SEEN anger, you -"

"I saw somewhere far away," Padparadscha suddenly cut in. Delayed, but at least she was talking. Grogar and Star Quartz looked down to Padparadscha as she continued.

"I predict that um … somewhere small is going to be burned to the ground. At uh … some point in the future? … And you'll be there, Grogar, and a lot of others like you too -"

"I KNOW, WHEN?!" Grogar demanded, starting to get anxious now. All this sounded too familiar to the ram, and if this was gonna happen in future he needed to know exactly when it'll be. Too bad Padparadscha was still slow as ever.

"WELL?!"

"...…. I predict someone will be getting scared."

"GAH!" In anger, Grogar spun around, and in that turn slammed his head into the nearest wall, cracking it like glass. His hooves dug into the ground under him.

"You okay?" Star Quartz asked, though the question was not helping him at all either.

"It's no wonder the Diamonds wanted Off-Colors dead, I can't rely on you two for ANYTHING! I swear, you both are worse than Sumu -" Grogar suddenly clamped his muzzle shut, but unfortunately his anger finally got out a clue to what Padparadscha and Star Quartz were wanting to figure out. Seemed even the king of Tambalon can goof up, but at the very least no one else was there to see that slip of the tongue.

"Sumu. … Who's Sumu?" Star asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Grogar insisted.

"You just said "Sumu"."

"You heard wrong!" Grogar snarled, his horns starting to glow ominously. Padparadscha slowly began to grow scared, something Star Quartz wasn't picking up on. Especially with the next question.

"You don't have to be so angry if you're scared. What're you so afraid of?"

In a flash, Grogar jumped them. Padparadscha fell out of Star Quartz's arms, but Star herself was suddenly pinned to the wall, Grogar's cloven hoof keeping her neck pinned down as if they were edged scissors.

"The only thing that I'm afraid of is giving out my info to the enemy. Now you and your Sapphire have exactly nine seconds to clear off of my property, or I'll turn you both into stardust! CLEAR?!"
Grogar then threw Star Quartz at Padparadscha, giving them both a singular moment to get out of his sight before Grogar would really lose it on them. Star Quartz got up after the throw.

"Look out, Grogar's attacking!" Padparadscha suddenly gasped. Grogar just ignored her, and Star did get up to her feet again after the initial hit.

"You got until three to get out of my throne room. Out of my kingdom. Out of my world," Grogar warned one last time, as his horns began to glow a blue hue. One hit of this beam, and both will never be able to leave as themselves. While anyone would be scared at this point, and for a brief moment Star actually was, but then her eyes began to wander a bit towards one of the doors to the back. There was something there that was beckoning her. Like a small bell chime.

"Are you even listening to me right now?!"

"... Ring. …"

"Ring? Ring what?" Grogar snorted, turning to find that same object on the floor. He snarled in anger at this.

Then Star actually smiled, and began to move away from Padparadscha. She actually started giggling a little bit, as if she found a game to play. She closed in on the bell chime by the door, and the object darted off away. And so did she.

"Oh my! I predict -"

"Whatever it is, it already happened, now shut up! I'll kill you later," Grogar snapped, before chasing off after Star Quartz. Padparadscha wasn't gonna be going anywhere fast. Padparadscha thought about it briefly before finishing.

"... I predict that we found something. How exciting!"

…

It was as if she was suddenly in her own world now. Ignoring the fact she was racing around the palace, and even passed some of the guards without stopping, Star Quartz continued her pursuit after this small object as it zoomed around the place. It was just out of Star Quartz's reach for most of the running, the Gem trying time and again to catch it but without much success. It was like a cat chasing one of those laser pointers, and Star was just as determined to catch this thing. Meanwhile, Grogar continued his own chase after Star Quartz, blasting away just as he did before when blasting the escapees, but it seemed this object knew Grogar's fighting as it seemed to lure Star Quartz away just enough to avoid a shot. The only one that wasn't exactly running around was Padparadscha. Well, not running at the same speed anyway.
The exact movement was a bit erratic depending on where the object itself wanted to go, a bit more than Grogar could keep up with.

"For lord sake, slow down! I just wanna kill ya!" Grogar shouted, trying this time electric bolts to get her, but once again it didn't seem to work. What's worse: Star didn't even know he was attacking thanks to the distraction. At one point Star Quartz bolted around the corner, and by the time Grogar got to said corner, it seemed as if she had completely vanished. Still, Star could still hear the ram screaming from behind as she ran.

"Come here, bell," Star said, still trying to catch the object. Her focus was strictly on the object in front of her, almost enough that she almost ran right into the nearest wall. She only stopped herself when her hands finally caught the object on said wall.

"I win," Star Quartz said with a grin.

Finally after all that running around she finally began to see what object it technically was, getting a better look at it. Opening her hands, she found that she was now holding a small bellflower of sorts: a rose flower colored amber, about the size of an actual Christmas bell. Star Quartz rang the bell a little bit, hearing the chime of the bell echo with her in a calming way.

But then she turned around.

"... Oops."

"Star, don't go too far ahead!"

Star stood there a bit, admiring the bellflower she found and caught. At the least, Grogar wasn't right on her tail right now, but on the dark side Padparadscha had to handle the palace by herself. Then Star looked to the bellflower.

"She won't be safe for long in here by herself. Can you go find her for me?" Star Quartz asked.

And the bellfower actually responded. Going out of her hands, the plant suddenly was out of sight, extending along a very thin, almost string-like vine.

After that, Star then heard another door opened up from behind her, where that bellflower came from. In this palace, whether this lifeform seemingly wanted to or not, the room that it resided in was Pink Diamond's room (perhaps to once again spite Steven on Grogar's part, but who knows?). Star Quartz turned and actually didn't hesitate to walk inside the room itself. As probably expected though, the room itself did not look the same inviting room that the Gems were familiar with. Instead, the whole room was covered from ceiling to floor with a strange looking plant, wrapping around the furniture, but keeping some parts of the room uncovered such as the mirror and window (and the door, of course). The wrapping rope was dark in color like a Changeling, with blue thorns on numerous vines, some of them blooming into cotton ball tops like weeds. Star Quartz stopped briefly when seeing one of these, kneeling down and tapping the top of the weed, the soft surface feeling like fur on a bunny.

"Are these new?" Star Quartz asked curiously.

"Not really. But they help me a lot. Especially in here."

Now who said that? Star seemingly knew, not fazed at all by the voice, which itself sounded similar to her own. Quiet, calm, and slightly naïve. Not as ghostly, but pretty close. As Star Quartz gently petted the cottonball weed, the feeling of it seemed to make something giggle a bit. Star Quartz got up.

Star Quartz looked around the room for a bit before something started to come out of the vines. A Venus Flytrap-like plant lowered itself from the ceiling, a few leaves behind the bud that looked like a thrill. The sharpened bud opened up and revealed that this being actually had a face that looked very human-like, but with Changeling eyes.

"Hello, Star Quartz," said the plant. Star smiled.

"Hello Plunder Vine. Or … is that your name still? I think Grogar wants you to be called "Sumu"," Star asked, not wanting to sound too insulting to the plant. The Plunder Vine recoiled slightly.

"Whichever you so prefer, Star. I hope I didn't worry you," Sumu replied, as Star had a seat over on one of Sumu's many vines, which had moved so it was comfortable for her.

"I thought you'd be sleeping by now. It's winter on Earth, you see, and you were usually tired this time of year."

"I still am a little. … Grogar brought me here though. I don't have to fall asleep here for spring," Sumu said. Star Quartz looked around a bit at the handiwork Sumu had done to the room.

"Isn't this Pink Diamond's room?" Star questioned.

"It is, but Grogar put me in here anyway. He wanted the memory of Pink Diamond removed with me, since my vines need room to grow," Sumu explained, one of the vines actually concealing a part of the cabinets as they were talking, to which Star noticed. "Pink Diamond isn't giving you and the Harmony Gems too much trouble, I hope."

"I don't think she is. She's been a bit less bratty since she found out she wasn't what everyone says she is," Star Quartz explained. Sumu nodded her head.

"So it was Grogar who brought you here. Didn't you like your cave by the fountain?" Star asked, tilting her head in confusion. Sumu patted Star Quartz's head with a spare vine tip, not being too hard with her tapping.

"I'm still there. There, the barn, the beach house, Ponyville. It's just harder to go there because of the cold," Sumu sighed. Made sense to Star: Vines aren't exactly pine trees. Before their conversation can continue, Star began to hear the sounds of a soft chiming bellflower nearing the door. The door opened up and there was Padparadscha, lured to Sumu's position thanks to the bell, albeit a bit slowly.

"Hello, Padparadscha. This is the Plunder Vines. Or Sumu," Star Quartz introduced.

Padparadscha stood there for a minute before she suddenly looked startle.

"Oh my stars! What is that?!" Padparadscha gasped.

"The Plunder Vines," Star Quartz simply answered. Unlike most other people, it didn't bother her that Padparadscha was usually a step behind on things. Sumu didn't mind either, and calmed Padparadscha's nerves by gently resting a leaf on her head. The Sapphire blushed after five seconds.

"Hello, Padparadscha. Star told me about you," Sumu said softly.

"The … Plunder Vines?" Padparadscha wondered. Sumu nodded.

"Yes. You and her doing okay in Grogar's domain? It is a scary place since Grogar came in," Sumu inquired.

"We're both still here," Star Quartz answered, "But Grogar doesn't like us right now. Something about fire and Dragons."

"Oh. Sorry," Sumu stated. Padparadscha then caught up with the situation and tugged on Star Quartz's dress. However with her belated response, she stalled long enough for Star Quartz to keep talking.

"Plunder Vine? Are you the one who's been teaching Grogar? We want to know who's doing that," Star asked. Sumu looked back to Star Quartz and nodded.

"Well, yeah I am. I told a lot of others before, but they left me alone afterwards when they got what they wanted. Always something either about your friends, or to go somewhere. Grogar wanted to keep me to himself so no one else can hear me," Sumu explained. Star pondered.

"Huh. He did mention how he didn't like doing that a minute ago," Star noticed, the words echoing in the back of her mind.

"Star, you sure we can talk to her so freely?" Padparadscha asked, feeling nervous about the whole thing.

"Why not?" both Star and Sumu asked. Suddenly Padparadscha was humbled, glancing back and forth between both of them for a bit before drawing a blank. Guess there was more than one Star Quartz here. Star and Sumu went back to talking after that, with Padparadscha pondering.

"I would like to go back, but Grogar says it's a bad idea."

"It doesn't sound like a bad idea to me," Star pointed out, "And actually. Can you come back with me? We have to get back before we get in trouble."

"Oh, trouble's no good," Sumu stated. "But I think Peridot and Rhodonite's already panicking. She's been running around since you left, I think."
And to seemingly show what she was talking about, Sumu showed another one of her abilities to them (she wasn't a normal talking flower). Bringing up her vines, she shaped them into a TV screen, the screen appearing much like one would see a bubble blower after dipping it into soap water. To sum it up, it showed Peridot running like a complete maniac, screaming as she tried to think of what to do with Star Quartz gone. Both Gems weren't sure if they should've expected this to happen or not. Rhodonite too was also panicking a little bit.

Star looked down to her feet in embarrassment. "We'd better get back. Mom's always been scared over me. … Can you make it back to Earth from here?"

"I don't think so. not my main bud. My vines can stretch across miles, but there's nowhere to go here on Homeworld. Unless you have something I can ride in," Sumu inquired. Star Quartz had to think on that one. What could they use to carry Sumu away in?

Unfortunately they didn't have time to get an answer together.

*BAM!*

"Oh no! Grogar's about to find us!"

And indeed he did. The ram, overhearing both the bell and their conversation, wasted no time in practically destroying the door off its own wall to get himself inside. Grogar snarled immediately when he saw Star, Padparadscha, and Sumu in the same place.

"Oh! … Hi Grogar," said Sumu, waving a leaf to him.

"Don't "hi" me, CLEAR OFF!" Grogar demanded, already firing away at Star Quartz and Padparadscha, Star was quick enough to avoid the shots, grabbing the sapphire so she would get shot. Even if the vines got fried, Sumu didn't look hurt at all. If Sumu's vines weren't there, the room would've been blown to rubble by now.

"Bye Sumu, we'll talk again," Star Quartz said to Sumu.

"Ok, bye," Sumu replied, just before Star Quartz and Padparadscha took the only exit out of there. Which was the window. One more blast got outside, missing the two, and both Gems leaped out and out of Grogar's grasp. Grogar tried to get a few more shots, but he didn't see them once he got to the window, as if they both vanished on the spot.

He bit off a chunk of the balcony before turning back to Sumu.

"What was THAT all about?"

"I … wanted to chat with my friend," Sumu said.

"AND YOU TOLD THEM ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ME?!" Grogar roared, his horns shoved right into Sumu's face, making her lean back a bit.

"It's the truth, isn't it? They wanted to know that before they get into trouble," Sumu said. All that response got her was Grogar tearing out one of the cotton flowers from the roots, making Sumu cringe a little bit.

"I don't care what they wanted to know, I only care what I want to know. That's why I dug you out in the first place! You got all the information I've needed to get to where I am so far, and if they get a hold of you, I will be on the lower end of the hoof."

"Who's hoof?" Sumu asked.

"Wanna find out?" Grogar warned, his large hoof hovering right over Sumu's head as his horns charged up in yellow electrical charges. This was just enough to scare Sumu a bit.

"D-Did I do something wrong sir?"

"OF COURSE YOU DID, and now I can't stop Star and Padparadscha because I don't know where they ran off to! And NO, they didn't just "jump through the window"."

"Didn't you want them to leave? I thought you said -" Sumu asked.

"I don't care what you think," Grogar said, turning around to the hallway door, "I only care about what you know about the enemy. Now it's been a bit since you've checked on them. Now get at it."

And before Sumu could even say anything else, Grogar just walked away, slamming the door shut behind him and leaving Sumu all by herself with only one main question lingering in her head.

"... What did I do?"


~~~~~~


Steven was walking.

Walking silently along the sand, on autopilot thanks to his gray state, Steven Universe was only really left to his thoughts. Sure his outer body may seem to be dormant and just walking aimlessly, Steven on the inside was trying to figure out how to get out of his own head and back in control of himself. Even going as far as to charge into the walls of his own head as if the head itself was some sort of cage, but to no avail.

"Steven! Or, my body! Let me in and - or, out! Boy this is confusing. Let me take pilot for a minute!" Steven exclaimed, but the body wasn't listening to him exactly. All the gray husk did was continue walking aimlessly along the sand. Even out in the bitter cold, Steven didn't apparently stop until he found a decent-sized boulder just off of the shoreline.

"Body, don't you do it! No, no, don't -" Steven wasn't able to stop him as the husk suddenly was walking towards the rock. The husk may not be reacting much, but Steven in his own head started freaking out, feeling the cold of the water on him, and Steven freaking out as if he just got stung by a bee.

"COLD COLD COLD COLD!" Steven yelped, running back and forth in blind panic until husk Steven pulled himself up on the rock, and sat down. Dripping wet, and just staring out to sea. Steven in his head was just shivering and cold.

"Ok. Why're we out here?" Steven asked, as if the husk could talk to him, "We could've at least got a coat, or a scarf."

Again no response coming from the husk, him simply staring off to who knows where. Steven was just getting frustrated.

"AUGH, what am I thinking, I can't talk to myself! My body's not gonna listen to me! If I'd just gone with my gut, none of this would've happened," Steven groaned. "How could I just fall like that? I knew he was bad from the start, I should've said something. Why can't I - … WHY CAN'T I WIN?!"
In his anger, Steven slammed a fist into the walls of what was the eye … and actually found it cracked. Funny thing too, hearing that crack actually made his own eye hurt some more, as if someone did indeed punch it.

"Owowowow. … Huh?" Steven took another look to the eyes, seeing that prominent crack. The husk he wasn't sure if it reacted or not, but that wasn't important. Steven looked closer through the crack in the "eye", seeing nothing but white on the other side of it.

"A cracked window. … That means I can - …" Steven, while excited, quickly paused himself for a moment. "Wait a minute. I cracked this, but hurt my eye. If I break it ... then …"

… Steven shook his head, and started to back up.

"No, don't freak out. You can just go heal it later," Steven told himself. It would be an easy fix, even if the risk was gonna be painful.

"Time to get out of my own head."

And he charged.

… *CRASH!* ...

Ten seconds was all that took, the pain shooting through him as he only saw light for a brief moment. The husk's eyes bolted wide open, one eye normal in theory, but the other as gray as everything else. He could see the world, not through a window, but through his own eyes.

"I … I did it! … And I'M FREEZING!" Steven exclaimed, suddenly feeling the body shivering far more clearly, and he suddenly bolted off of the rock. The diamond power made him jump fairly well, but he made sure to aim forward more than upward so he could hit the rocky wall off not too far away. At least he can get gravity to get him down quicker than he would normally do. He was cold, and now in his body again, tired and feeling more of that depression that struck him. He slowly found his feet once he struck the sand. But there was something else wrong here.

The world was starting to turn less and less visible.

"Got to … to … get back … getting …… too ……. tired …" Steven could barely even feel the ground anymore, not even reacting to stop himself when a rock knocked him off his feet, making him slam down onto the ground. But he didn't care. As with everything else going on today. Too emotionally exhausted to move, he stayed on the ground a bit more, not even having the encouragement to keep going on his own. That was, until he noticed something coming to him, appearing after keeping an eye on him. Someone Steven could only wish he had treated a little bit better.

"...…. Pink? … Pearl? …"

"I'm here, my diamond. Hold on." Steven felt himself get picked up, firm yet gentle, as the two went off. All poor Steven could do was simply allow all this to happen to him. Wherever they were going, whatever might happen now … well, whatever be will be. Steven couldn't do a thing about it.

"STEEEEEVEN!"

"Where'd that Diamond go?! I swear this isn't making anything easier!"

"Where're you, Steven?!"

All those voices of his friends. Nothing much to him anymore, but Pink Pearl saw them as a stars sent, and made little to no time at all in getting towards the noise, fast and light on her feet. They both saw the cavalry of friends altogether once they cleared a group of trees over near the barn. ALL of them were now there at this point, with the only exception being Star, Padparadscha, Connie and Twilight (for obvious reasons). The Diamonds were even present, trying to find Steven, alongside the Off-Colors too once they got word of the news. If there was a time to show Steven, now would be it.

Pink Pearl went right out, Steven cradled in her arms.

"STEVEN!" Gasped White Diamond. Seeing Steven's faddily colored body told them immediately that there was something horribly wrong, just like before with Pinkie and Fulgurite only more so. They all were quick to go over to them both.

"Pearl, what's wrong with him?" Yellow Diamond asked urgently, as Pink Pearl placed Steven down on the ground gently. Steven was held up then by some of the others, namely Starlight holding his head up.

"He's growing too detached from his feelings. Maybe. … I think?" Pink Pearl said, unsure exactly herself. All she knew was that he was not feeling very well.

"Hang in there, Steven, we'll get you fixed up good as new! Guys, come on, do something to make him happy!" Starlight said.

"Like what?!" asked Diopside.

"I don't know, whatever you did with Pinkie and Fulgurite!" exclaimed Starlight. Steven just groaned, going a little more limp.

"Can you guys keep it down? … It's hard to do nothing if you're yelling …" Steven said, monotone and quiet.

"No no no, don't do nothing, I-It's gonna be fine! Eh, here look at me!" Amethyst insisted. Steven did look over, and suddenly she started her expert funny faces: her face shapeshifting into a hilarious-looking face with tongue sticking out, googly eyes, whatever else it may be. It always seemed to crack someone up, as she pranced around like an idiot. Unfortunately, that was all Steven was seeing.

"Too … dumb …" Steven breathed. Suddenly his colors, which were dull enough, started to fade away even more as if they were triggered!

"Uh, uh, OH wait, what about this?" Lapis said. She knew one trick that did make them both smile at a time, though it had been a long time since she did it. She went up to him, brought her hand up to her mouth, and the sound of *PBHT* echoed for a good three seconds. Not even close.

"It's okay ……. I don't care anymore. … It's been … fun. … Huh?" Steven's voice was sounding a bit hushed, as if he was barely making an effort to even speak, and very briefly a smile did show up, only for him to grow greyer. Anymore of this and he will be ending his run!

"Guys we're losing him," Flint said urgently, turning to them.

"We got this! Rosebud, Emerald, I need you two!" insisted Pinkie, already getting an idea on what to do for him.

It didn't take them that much time to get something else going on. Steven, sitting there and looking on with bemusement, as the trio began to try their own tricks to get him to smile. In this case, Pinkie Pie got out a balloon, blowing it up good and big for a good sized beach ball before jumping up on top of it, joined by Pink Diamond.

"Lookie here, Diamond boy, a three-way circus!" Pink Diamond beamed, holding Emerald and Pinkie Pie in each hand as she balanced on the balloon.

"But ……. why though?" Steven asked, just before the balloon popped, making all three of them fall onto the ground. The fall wasn't all good either, Pinkie and Emerald landing on top of Pink Diamond.

"Is he happy yet?" Pink asked, moving Pinkie's tail out of her face.

"Not even a smirk," said the Rutile Twins.

"We need a different approach," Fluorite figured.

"W-Well, think of something!" White pleaded, growing impatient and worried all the same time. Steven was actually growing a little bit tired, a small hum emitting and his body getting greyer. They had to think of something, and something fast before he could go completely under.

"More happiness. Now," instructed Garnet, pulling Pinkie, Pink, and Emerald aside so someone else could try at him. First thing: another physical approach with Amethyst as a tiny car, with Fulgurite riding around in it.

"Look Steven, a tiny car! Beep-Beep!" Fulgurite said. This lasted only a little bit before Amethyst shapeshifted back to normal, both smiling and hoping that brought around something. Unfortunately it didn't look like it was working much either.

"Nothing?!" Fulgurite snapped. Rainbow Dash got another idea from earlier that managed to get Pinkie Pie around, bolting away for a moment at lightning-fast speed. She took less than ten seconds before bolting straight back with something in her mouth, skidding to a halt so abruptly it nearly broke up the ground in her own hooves. The object? one of Steven's gifts from Homeworld. in this case, Blue Diamond's snow globe she gave him from his fifth-year anniversary party.

"OOOO look at this Steven! Check out this awesome show of stars," Rainbow Dash said, her hoof moving and making the universe inside the snow globe spin in a beautiful array of stars. Steven grumbled and huffed, pushing the object away.

"So many worlds ……. so much time. All the time in the world."

"Stop talking like a depressed poet!" exclaimed Pink Diamond. That didn't even faze Steven at all, much to their worry. White Diamond finally had enough.

"Move out of the way!" She demanded, shoving Yellow and Blue Diamond aside before she reached Steven. Everyone else had to move out of the way, the diamond down on her hands and knees, shaking the ground on impact around Steven Universe before she snatched him up, much to their surprise. Steven just laid there on White Diamond's hand as she looked him with worried eyes.

"Steven, stop being depressed! I-I command you to stop being sad!" White Diamond demanded. Steven didn't answer her, laying there like a limp fish. Desperate, her eyes started to glow white.

"WHITE, STOP!" shouted Blue, quickly grabbing her and pulling her gaze back before she could take control of him. Yellow Diamond joined in too, both Diamonds pulling back hard as a white beam was shot off into the sky. The clouds weren't gonna be in her control.

"I-I'm sorry. I thought controlling him will help," White muttered, just as she felt Steven slide off of her hand. Greg went in and managed to catch him before he could strike the ground below.

"Hold on a minute here, let me take a crack at it."

"You? The Gems and ponies don't seem to have an answer, what can YOU do?" Yellow Diamond questioned. A bit harsh, but they didn't have time for tactfulness with Steven fading away on them.

"Yellow, he raised him since birth. Maybe he knows something we don't that could bring him back," Blue Diamond said.

"Well I don't know, but maybe I got something in here," Greg then said. He brought Steven over to the van nearby, placing him down gently inside as he got out something he felt would at least do something.

"Here kiddo, why don't we listen to one of your favorite tunes? I know you're gonna love this," Greg said, popping the disc into a radio in the van, and it began playing the song. It was something he knew Steven enjoyed way back in the day, and still enjoyed now so it had to do SOMETHING, right?


I know I'm not that tall
I know I'm not that smart
But let me drive my van into your heart
Let me drive my van into your heart


"Yeah, come on Steven sing along," insisted Applejack. However, Steven did not look like he was even listening … at all. Things were getting a bit more desperate, as Peridot grabbed the radio and brought it right up to him.

"Boring," Steven sighed.

"No, it's not boring! Just listen to THE SOFT MUSIC!" Peridot insisted, suddenly blaring the music right in his ears full blast! It made them all jump, even the diamonds nearby. All that did in the end though was make Steven groan as he lazily tapped the radio with his finger until he found the eject button, making the disc pop out and onto the ground.

"Not that either?"

"But that's supposed to work! You said it would!" Rhodonite shrieked. Steven covered his ears from all the trouble, getting annoyed that they're bothering so much over him.

"I hoped it'll work!" corrected Greg. "Ok, what else?"

"Pearl, you're up, get over here!"

"I-I can't!"

"FOR STEVEN!"
Next thing they tried now was a bit of a random jump, but they were having very little options at this point as Rainbow Dash forced Pearl over to position. Pearl though got a bit of a makeover, looking like a mix between a hobo and a clown: white sleeveless shirt, some baggy pants, even including the clown rainbow hair and nose. That, and a pie was in her hands. Oh did this feel familiar to her.

"Deja vu," thought Garnet.

"Oh look at that it, uh … I-it's appears to be … a delicious pie," Pearl said, barely keeping together as Steven just watched with a thousand-yard stare. Steven would've called her out for doing this again if he remembered that as correctly as the others.
"I-I sure hope nothing happens to … to … OH STEVEN!"

And just as Garnet and Amethyst had figured, Pearl broke down into tears as she slammed the pie into her face. Not exactly the best way of doing it.

"AGAIN?! REALLY?!" Amethyst shouted. Pearl knew the feeling all too well, she just couldn't help it. At least before when Steven was close to dying they had SOME idea of what to do, handed to them or not, but the tricks here just weren't working the same as with Fulgurite and Pinkie Pie, and they were losing him fast.

"Again? This happened before?!" Rarity gasped.

"Something about age and birthdays, now ain't no time for that!" Amethyst said.

"What hasn't this kid gone through before?" Tiger's Eye commented.

As he was simply laying there, his lack of carelessness was starting to truly make him lose himself physically, his senses starting to go and fade on him a little bit. He could barely make the effort to keep his eyes open, and as for hearing all he got were just muffled words. Was he really that depressed that his own body was just quitting on him?

"They still trying? What's even the point? Nothing's the point …" Steven thought. As everyone tried to figure something out, Steven began to slowly start to close his eyes, just ready to go off to sleep. Peridot saw him starting to go, jumping at him.

"STEVEN! STEVEN DON'T FALL ASLEEP …"

Too late. Too tired to care anymore, both physically and mentally, Steven started to drift off to sleep. Peridot in desperation tried to get him to wake back up, even slapping Steven across the face over and over again, but it wasn't working.

"Peridot, STOP, you're hurting him!" yelled Fluttershy, pulling her away before she could hurt him any further.

"WHAT DO WE DO THEN HUH?!" Peridot shrieked, "STAR AND PADPARADSCHA'S ALREADY GONE, I'M NOT LOSING STEVEN TOO!"
As Peridot thrashed to try and break out of Fluttershy's hooves, Greg placed an ear on Steven's chest. His heartbeat almost seemed to be getting tired, growing weaker but still beating.

"He's still kicking it," Greg said.

"Good, but how do we wake him up? We can't cheer him up if he's too sleepy to see it!" Pinkie said, immediately working her magic to try and get Steven to wake up With her Pinkie logic she tried all sorts of loud things to bring Steven back around: a trumpet, huge drum, even the airhorn right in Steven's ear, but it just wasn't working. They all tried to think of something to do, ANYTHING to do, to get their boy back. But it seemed that their "happiness" attempts weren't working on him the same as with Fulgurite and Pinkie earlier. However, there was one particular idea that came to one Water gem, remembering a little something over paint …

"Guys? I'm about to do something completely crazy. And Flint, you'd probably freak out over it," said Lapis.

"Anything, what?" asked Garnet. Lapis took a breath.

"Fulgurite, didn't you say that you, Rarity, Pinkie, and Steven had some "free cake" in Canterlot yesterday before this happened?" Lapis asked.

"Yeah sure, but what of it? Cake don't do this!"

"No, but I think this one can. … Give me some room, guys, I'm going for it."

And Lapis began a dance. Immediately this raised alarms, but Lapis was already performing her fusion dance towards the sleeping Steven, graceful as ever. Everyone had to move, but as probably expected someone did try to go in and stop her. But surprisingly it wasn't Flint who made a jump, but instead it was Rhodonite who quickly was grabbed and held back by Bismuth.

"You're gonna let her do this? W-what if she gets all depressed too?"

"Cool your engines, Gem, we have to at least try it. We got nothing to lose, eh?"

"But she's gonna - … oh, this can't work!"

"Could though," Garnet said.

"Yeah, it might work. Might as well let her try," added Starlight.

"He's gonna keel over into limbo if nothing's done," finished Pinkie.

What other option did they have? None of the earlier tricks were working, so it was time to go for a more unorthodox approach. Lapis Lazuli wasn't going to stop anyway, moving closer and closer to Steven. Her dance was starting to be accompanied by a glow of her own gemstone.

"I'll save you Steven."
One small touch on Steven was all it seemed to take. Even with Steven basically quiet and sleeping, but even so the gemstone on Steven actually did glow upon her touch. Just as she was hoping.

Everyone around backed up from the situation, a bright light emitting from them both as a white mass started to move away from the van and out in the open. They were waiting for the finishing result of the fusion to take place, some more anticipating than others, but the full fusion didn't entirely form like other fusions did. No, fusing with Steven was not the single goal here. As the white mass fought a bit for some form of mass, they all began to notice that within the mass of light, something … dark was within. Small, black, and moldy like clay as it spun and danced about within the energy.

"You guys seeing this too?" Diopside asked, adjusting her gem eye.

"Yeah. It looks … strangely familiar," Peridot noted, adjusting her visors for a better look. A bit too familiar.

The black mass inside looked as if something was pulling it, straining it like pulling freshly chewed gum out of someone's teeth. They weren't sure if it was Steven trying to get it out, or Lapis trying to get it away, but either way it was fighting them pretty darn hard to stay where it was. In this fusion, they all did begin to see a human-like shape start to appear: a figure made up of light as if just regenerating from their gemstone.

"Stand back!" shouted an unfamiliar voice from this figure, whoever it was. Something was beginning to try and sprout from the disjointed figure's back, struggling a little bit.

"Three … Two … One!"

Suddenly the wings shot out of her gemstone, extending the water wings. And as two magnificent wings of liquid shot out, the black mass suddenly found itself mixed in with the water, ripping out from the main body and now floating in the flow of her wings. All Lapis then did was give one mighty flap, slamming both wings together, to release every bit of that black stuff in the form of scattered drops of rain. The others had to step back a bit for this, as others reflected it off in their own way (Pinkie using her tail like a fan, Starlight using a bubble shield, etc.)

Only then did Lapis and Steven split. Lapis was caught by some of the Gems as Steven fell right into Greg's arms, making him fall over.

"There. That should do it … boy …" Lapis huffed, a bit out of breath from all of that concentration.

"You ok?" Pearl asked.

"Forget me. What about Steven?"

Everyone soon turned to their little human, who was still in Greg's arms. At first, Steven didn't look too different from before, but as Greg sat down, Steven's colors slowly began to return to him: the browning of his hair, the pink in his stone, and the colors of his clothing were all slowly coming back. In no less than a minute, Steven was back to his colorful self, and only THEN did he begin to stir.

"Steven?" Greg asked. Steven groaned as he began to come around, everyone coming in close to see if he was okay. His eyes needed a moment to come back around to him, and the first thing he saw were a lot of faces looking right to him. A little bit close at that.

"DREAM OVER!" he suddenly shouted, jumping out of Greg's arms in shock. He didn't seem to remember that much since nearly tumbling like that as he quickly hopped up to his feet. "What happened?! Guys catch me up to speed, d-did I get too depressed? Did I end up watching soap operas?"

"AHA, he's back!" cheered Tiger's Eye. Steven wanted to catch up, but he was quickly overwhelmed when the others went to him, some hugging while others allowed him the space. Either way they were all glad he got himself back to normal.

"Welcome back kiddo!" Amethyst said.

"You're all colorful again!" added Pinkie. "and don't worry, no soap operas met your eyes today."

"THANK GOODNESS," Steven said in relief. Steven then felt a hand placed gently on his head.

"Glad to see the real you back," Garnet said. Steven smiled.

But …

"FOUL! FOUL! I CALL FOUL!!!"

Blowing his OWN COVER, Nichrome stormed right out in the open, ticked off to no end at what he saw as a complete deus ex move. He pulled all the stops, and SOMEHOW he still survived? NUTS TO THAT! He didn't even care that everyone saw him storm out of his hiding place, even the diamonds (who're kinda taken aback by this stupid move to do anything at first).

"The hay do you think you're doing, DIE ALREADY!" Nichrome shouted.

"Nope. I'm perfectly fine where I am, and it's gonna take a lot more than a bad mood to do that N Kelly," Steven said.

"BAD MOOD NOTHING!" Nichrome screamed, "I spent weeks working out that poison to knock everyone out in just one day, NO WAY NO HOW should you still be alive after eating that thing, ESPECIALLY RIGHT NOW!"

"You poisoned him?" Applejack asked.

"Of course I did, why else would I give out a cake for free in Canterlot?!" Nichrome exclaimed, "Anyway, I spent day after day concentrating that iron and metal to cripple an elephant of all things. BY ALL RIGHTS YOU SHOULD BE DEAD! What did it this time? Huh?! HUH?! WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT THAT?!"

"...…. Thanks for confessing," Steven shrugged, humbled by Nichrome's anger. Nichrome stopped, looking at the entire enemy around him. Nichrome immediately tried to bolt for it, but Yellow Diamond got him pinned down under her foot. Nichrome squirmed to try and get away, but she was not going to let him go not after that kind of confession.

"I thought it was gonna be harder to get you to tell the truth," Steven admitted.

"Would you really believe me if I lied anyway, kid?" Nichrome hissed, wheezing under Yellow Diamond's weight.

"... Huh. Good point."

"I'm guessing Grogar put you up to this," Flint questioned, going over to Nichrome. The dark alien looked to him, immediately recognizing him. However, his concerns were more about the tyrant on top of him, soon turning to the Pearls standing nearby.

"Hey! Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl! Tell your tyrant of a golem to get off of me!!" Nichrome shouted. Both Pearls didn't know why he signaled them out of all things. But Pearl did fill the two in.

"He thinks Pearls are superior to other Gems, apparently," Pearl said.

"Hmm. … Flattering. Wrong, but flattering," Yellow Pearl said. Nichrome was just ticked off at this point, seeing they weren't going to be letting him go anytime soon.

"So what do we do with N Kelly now? Electrocute him? Squish him?" asked Tiger's Eye. Garnet looked to Nichrome for a minute, him huffing on sight of her. The fusion kneeled down closer to him, Nichrome worn out just from struggling. Of course, she was angry at him for trying to poison Steven, but while Ruby wanted to get the pain train over with, Sapphire had to keep herself calm and think on what the future will hold if they do.

"Hmm … maybe … no, no we can't -" Garnet wondered.

"Can't what, lock me up? Got that right, you filthy war machines, with your "prison" used as our own little cleanup. Where're you gonna do that, eh? The ocean? The temple basement perhaps?" and despite himself Nichrome laughed at the idea. Garnet grabbed him and pulled him out from under Yellow's foot …

And threw him in Greg's van. Nichrome got up and found the windows rolled up, and all doors locked. Even the back doors to the van were sealed up tight.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Nichrome demanded, trying to get himself out. However, it was no use: the car doors were shut tight. Normally Steven would have something to say about this, but he was just as angry as everyone else.

"Save your strength," stated Steven, "You're up against the strongest car defenses known to man: the child safety lock!"
This infuriated Nichrome, him trying to get himself out. But while he was strong with words, his actual muscle … not so much.

"If you pathetic creatures think THIS *BAM!* will keep me here *BAM!* then you *BAM!* ARE *BAM!* … right."
Nichrome, head hurting now, just slumped in the front seat, stuck.

"Uh …"

"Sorry Greg," said Garnet, "Impulse."

"Swell, but now what do we do with him? We can't just leave him like … this," inquired Starlight, seeing Nichrome inside now banging his head on the wheel horn.

"We can't?" Tiger's Eye asked. This gave her some scolding from the ponies.

"Kidding, kidding!" Tiger's Eye stated, thinking a little bit. They all thought about what to do with Nichrome inside Greg's van, but it seemed they all suddenly came to the same conclusion, considering what they got to deal with already. This was probably the closest they're gonna get to an actual soldier of Grogar without getting killed, so they might as well make the best of it.
Nichrome looked to the window when he heard someone knocking on the door, seeing Flint standing there.

"Ok, Nichrome, we'll let you off easy but you need to answer a few things -"

"Where're you keeping Connie and Twilight?!" Steven cut in. Blunt, but to the point.

"What do you mean "where"? On Homeworld, you pebble."

"I mean where on Homeworld. You got them in there, now tell us where they are," Steven demanded. Nichrome rolled his eyes.

"And betray Grogar? I wouldn't even satisfy you with an answer," Nichrome said, chin up and turning his head away. Even if trapped, his pride still had a bit to go before it can get wrecked.

"N Kelly, Grogar's bad, we need them back here. Now tell us where they are or we'll get serious!" Steven insisted.

"First off, It's Nichrome. Second, you may need Twilight, but you need Connie as much as you need a migraine. Thirdly, there's nothing you can do to me that Grogar can't exceed ten fold."

"You up for that card, Steven?" Flint asked. Steven took a quick breath.

"Not really, but he already poisoned me and wanted me dead. We have to try something to get him to talk," Steven said. Nichrome found another time for character stabbing.

"My, Steven Universe wanting to hurt people? What happened to the fun-loving, friendly kid of yesterday," Nichrome mocked. This made Jasper stepped forward, and give a good punch to the van, making it and Nichrome shake inside.

"Alright, if you won't answer, then it's time to get serious!" Steven gave a loud whistle, and … nothing happened.

"Wow. Terrifying," Nichrome said. Steven grew red-faced.

"Guys!" Steven said, a bit hushed and embarrassed.

"OH! Right, sorry, I got it," Fulgurite said. Getting her long hair out, she quickly wrapped it around the van in numerous spots like one would connect electrical cables to a battery. Nichrome was barely intimidated by this bunch of cables.

"You think this is supposed to scare me? I'm made of metal - electricity practically flies through me!"

"Oh yeah?" Fulgurite growled, and she sent the electricity flying through the Van. Sparks shot out of the van, everything going haywire and alarms setting off in the van, but even after a solid twenty seconds of electrocution, Nichrome didn't look too hurt at all.

"Ok, electricity isn't working," noted Fulgurite in a growl. But something Nichrome did say did get one of them thinking.

"Wait. Didn't he say he's made of metal?" Starlight realized.

… All of a sudden, Nichrome heard the doors unlock, and him getting pulled out of the car.

"Steven, what're you doing?!" Lapis asked.

"Relax, he's not going anywhere," Peridot said. Getting in a bit of a dramatic stance, Peridot brought her hand forward, and basically "gave Nichrome the hand" as it were. Nichrome did not get it at all, and he was about ready to go, but as he tried, only his head seemed to move anywhere. As for the rest of him, all of THAT remained completely still. And suddenly he was floating off the ground!

"WHAT THE?!"

"Now tell us where they are, Nichrome! Star, Padparadscha, Connie, AND Twilight," Steven asked once more.

"Make me!" Nichrome snapped. Well that settled his fate far as Steven was concerned.

"Alright. Peridot. Take him round town."

NOW they got the full idea. Plus she needed to vent a bit with the two gone anyway. Steven summoned his shield, and Peridot jumped on. Peridot stood tall on top of it as Pinkie (who instinctively knew what was gonna happen) stepped over, and her tail started to spin like a propeller. The second that tail touched that shield, and Nichrome immediately began spinning like a madman! Nichrome screamed as the entire world spun and spun and spun at Rainbow Dash speed, maybe even Fulgurite speed if Pinkie was particularly ambitious.
The spinning itself lasted only about a minute, but as quickly as it began it abruptly stopped when Steven grabbed the shield. Peridot was still on and just fine, but the G-forces left Nichrome looking VERY warp and VERY dizzy.

"I uh … didn't mean it," Nichrome mumbled, his eyes still spinning as he felt sick to his non-real stomach. In fact he looked ready to throw up briefly, but he quickly recovered.

"Wanna go for round two?" Steven asked.

"Noooo nonononono! I'll talk, I'll talk!" Nichrome pleaded, not wanting to have his body completely blended by any of them.

"Ok then, shoot," Rainbow said. Nichrome was gonna hate himself for this, but just to make sure they didn't get any false information, Peridot looked ready to give him another spin.

"T-They're both in the Supreme Kindergarten with the rest of the prisoners: Connie Maheswaren's along the fifth wall along the walk paths, and Twilight Sparkle is five floors up from there in the canopy section!"

"The canopy?" White asked.

"Ugh gems - the upper levels!"

"And Star and Padparadscha?" Peridot asked. Nichrome decided to play cards again.

"T-They stopped by Tambalon for a bit but they got away! Last we heard of 'em they were heading out of the city on the west side, so they're probably on their way back here through your Warp Pad by now!" Nichrome said. That last mention of the warp pad did raise some alarms for some of them.

"You knew about the warp pad?!" gasped Rarity in shock.

"Your Star Quartz and Sapphire told us about that, and why they were there in the first place. something about information of the sort. Either they're very stupid or very open," Nichrome stated, only to go in a fit of "sorry"s when Peridot began using her metal powers to basically squish him.

"T-That's all I know, can you put me down now?" Nichrome asked in a wheeze. At first they didn't really do that, as Flint went over and grabbed him by the chin, locking eyes with his for a moment.

".. One more thing. Grogar's sources. Know anything about it?"

"Sources? What?"

"Since Star and Padparadscha already told you all about our current goal - I'll have to talk to her later - then perhaps you can explain exactly how your Grogar is getting all of our information," Peridot explained.

"How the hay should I know?"

"You're working for him!" retorted Steven.

"SO WHAT? All I know is that he knows everything everyday every time he feels like it! Swear on my tar skin and metal in my cells!" Nichrome reassured, getting worried that they will spin him all over again.

"Hmm. Really?" Steven questioned, eyebrow raised.

"YES! So can you put me down please?" Nichrome asked once more. There was a bit of a pause at that moment, again Flint making sure that he was telling them the truth or not.

"...…. Alright, set him down."

"You sure about this?" asked Yellow. Steven just nodded his answer.

Well, with all the information they wanted to hear, Peridot conceded, and dropped Nichrome on the ground. The alien got himself off of the ground. He should thank his lucky stars that they weren't murderers (yet), and with the only chance to actually get away, Nichrome bolted for it. They didn't really get him this time as he got as much distance between them and himself as he could.

"Well that got us nowhere," Flint shrugged.

"Don't sweat it: we know where Twilight and Connie are, and maybe Star and Pad got something already," figured Diopside.

"Please be okay Star, you innocent clod," Peridot said, hands clasped together. Nichrome never said if she did make it back or not, but all they could do is wait it out. When everything calmed down though, Steven suddenly got something back in his head.

"AHH! GUUUYYYS!" Steven screamed.

"You don't have to scream, what?" asked Rhodonite.

"Last night, remember that ghost power thing I did before during that Pony of Shadows fight? It happened again - I saw Connie on Homeworld!" Steven said.

"Well why didn't you say?" Flint asked, not believing his ears. Something like that shouldn't be ignored so easily, but Steven got embarrassed on that question.

"I was gonna, but Nichrome kinda caught me first and … well, you saw Mr. Depression Universe," Steven admitted.

"Wait wait wait. So you saw Connie - OUR Connie - ALL THE WAY on Homeworld from here?" restated Starlight, looking up to the sky briefly, trying to comprehend that idea herself. Not even the strongest of projection magic can go off planet, far as she knew anyway.

"But how? That kind of power can't just … happen," Blue said, astonished.

"Steven started flying and that just kinda "happened"," Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, not flying, but controlling the speed of his decent," corrected Pearl.

"That's what I said: Flying."

"Guys, that's not important," Steven cut in, "But there's something I need to tell you." 
Everyone listened as Steven, at first, tried to look calm about things. however ...

"WE HAVE TO GET THEM OUT NOW! I MEAN NOW!"

"Whoa, Steven, don't freak out on us," Lapis said, trying to keep him relaxed.

"No you don't understand: I don't want to be the best man for Grogar's wedding!"

"... wha? … Wedding? Steven?" Bismuth asked, very confused. Then they got the big news.

"Yes! And Connie's gonna be his bride!"

3 … 2 … 1 …

"WHAT?!?!" they ALL gasped (except Garnet). Thank the stars the parents weren't there to hear that, otherwise they'd probably pass out by now and go ballistic. That scream actually knocked Steven off his own feet, him now laying on his back, the sheer force shaking up a few nearby trees.

"S-Steven you're kidding! Please say you're kidding man!" Fulgurite said, already in a cold sweat.

"I wouldn't be panicked if it was a fake wedding. WHY did it have to be Connie of all people? Why can't he marry a lamb or something?!" Steven said, freaking out about it.

"Clearly he's doing this to mess with you, but, UGH! Connie's only in her teens, and he's how old? I know humans have a law against that," White Diamond said, disgusted by such an idea. Even with her years of experimentations and science, the idea just sounded WRONG. She suddenly freaked when she was suddenly met with a panicking Pearl.

"A goat is marrying a human girl possibly against her will, and AGE is what you're worried about?!" Pearl exclaimed. Call it spur of the moment panic, but White Diamond didn't get too panicked to do anything too rash. You know, except for pulling Pearl off her that is.

"ALRIGHT, CALM DOWN," Flint quickly said before anything else could happen. "Yellow's right, it's time we get this done. Any ideas Garnet? … Garnet?"

Garnet had frozen still the second she heard that news. Not a single word, but they all could sense that there was something going on behind those visors of hers. Grogar. Marrying. Connie. The same girl they saw get corrupted and abandoned back on Homeworld. The others waited for some response from her, feeling the tension. Without a word, she began to stiffly walk right over behind the barn. Garnet could barely keep quiet, but they all began hearing what sounded like a jackhammer going off in the back.

"Oh ponyfeathers," Applejack said, brave enough to trot over to check on Garnet. Just to find it was her digging a hole in the ground, her fists punching like mad. The hole wasn't too deep, just enough for her to shove her face in.

And the ground started to shake. Violently.

"E-E-E-E-EARTHQUAKE!" Pinkie shrieked, shaking up and down along with everyone else for at least a good twenty seconds before the "earthquake" calmed down.

"Relax everypony. That's just Garnet gettin' some tension out," Applejack reassured. Not too reassuring, but Garnet went back out anyway, a bit steamy and frost-bitten as she caught her breath.

"... You good now? You need another minute?" Pink asked, humbled.

"No, we're good," Garnet said. Or maybe one of her components, but either way she wasn't gonna completely lose it in front of them again. She then took off her visors.

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