The preparations for the upcoming wedding were still going on and underway, albeit a bit clumsily as they got things started in the ballroom. In this case, dangling from an area on the ceiling, Stubby was stuck gripping the tapestry with his teeth, getting a tear open through it. Much of the staff were getting things primped and preened for the event, even including some of the working Gems, and a corrupted Gem even after some work. In charge of it here was Captain Storm, who just huffed seeing Stubby up there like that.

"You clumpy mutt, that's three times you tore open that thing!" Storm shouted. "I mean, really, that cloth ain't cheap you know!"

"Sorry!" Stubby managed to huff, not opening his mouth in fear of falling. Eventually though, the tapestry tore off, and Stubby suddenly fell right to the ground below, right in front of Storm. Not good for anyone to do.

"Come on this is taking forever. I could be out doing some real work, but nooo I'm stuck working like a pansy!" Storm complained, as Stubby got the cloth off of him. Stubby scrambled out of the tapestry, pulling it towards the nearest ladder to try and get it back up and fixed again … just to get stuck about half way up. He would've fell again if not for Tempest reaching down and grabbing him by the tail, pulling him up to the platform.

"Don't mention it," Tempest simply stated, as Stubby gave her the tapestry to fix. The unicorn got to work getting it re-fixed to the rest of it, though that didn't mean she didn't glance over to the lazy Storm and wondering what lord Grogar would think seeing this. He did tell Storm to do this after all. But, she was commander Tempest, so she had to just keep quiet and go with it.
The work itself continued on for another hot minute, until Storm took a glance over by the door. He saw some of the smaller followers working on it, sure, but there was another set of "soldiers" just going by and heading on their way back to the officer's quarters. Or at least, they were going to.

"No, your aunt tilak - yes you two, get in here," Storm restated. Flint and Amethyst had been trying to work out what the heck to do with Twilight's upcoming execution, trying to keep out of sight. It was good that Azlet and Amy were the ones they saw and not Flint and Amethyst. With a sigh, both "ponies" walked in. … And immediately, Storm tossed them both a box of decorations each.

"K, Grogar wants this place looking decent for the wedding, so get these set up for me will ya? Table's over there," Storm said, sort of "shooing them" off in that direction.

"Uh, supervising? Duh! I'm not gonna get sweaty to put bows on the wall, now get to work," Storm scoffed, leaning on one of the throne arms. Being a captain had its perks apparently, and Storm was abusing every single bit of it. Amethyst and Flint eventually walked over to said table. The materials weren't even so complicated: plates, forks, knives, and napkins. Something even fillies and colts do daily.

"You know something, Azlet? They say if you keep yourself busy and the day will go by faster. … This day's going by WAAAYYY too slow," Amethyst said.

"I know. We'll spend the rest of the day at officer's quarters, how's that sound? It'll get both of us well clear of you know who," Flint decided. Out of all the captains and commanders they've met and dealt with today, Storm was by far the worst not in manipulation or even violence. But flat out abuse over his power.

"Azlet, Amy," called Tempest Shadow, jumping down to them for a brief moment, "Need a hoof?"

"Um. Sure, thanks mam," said Flint. Tempest glanced back to Storm, who did see her go to work with them but still knew she was assigned to them, not him. As much of a rotten taste it left in his mouth. Tempest, Flint, and Amethyst just went on to work, all three setting up the long table as it should. Amethyst didn't really seemed too worried though, just getting them on the table for the other two to straighten out.

"So … experiments, are you?" Tempest asked at one point, looking at her reflection in a plate.

"Sure, ask away mam," said Amethyst, tossing some forks in place. Tempest walked over and straightened them out before turning to the two.

"Your story. Came here from the southwest, over the dried seabeds and passed stardust ridge. And you two walked the whole way here.

"Celestia on our shoulders all the way," Amethyst replied casually, getting some napkins folded. The story seemed plausible all the same, but then …

"... Funny. Last I've checked, Stardust Ridge has been relocated to the northeastern part of the world, the planet being left in a few chunks and all … which was it?"

"Y-Yes, that's right, it is to the northeast," Flint managed to say, quickly recovering himself.

"We meant we traveled southwest to get here," added Amethyst quickly. Flint did suspect they were getting onto them, but this was even harder than he thought given what ranking Tempest even was. Tempest paused for a moment, slowly getting some knives in proper place, and looking Flint in the face. And then looked to Amethyst. The unicorn did not utter a word to either of them, and after a long bit of silence simply returned to her work.

"Not him again," Flint and Amethyst thought. But as they turned around, sure enough Nichrome was strolling his way inside, feeling pretty good about things. Wonder why. Nichrome took a moment or so to check the area, taking in the sights of the place as he came in.

"Heh, well, all hail the king right? Just getting the table set up over there," Storm said, pointing over to the table where the three ponies were. The alien took a look over, and while Tempest Shadow was a decent and normal sight, the sight of Flint and Amethyst did get him a bit curious. He didn't really check them back when they first arrived.

"Oh them? Eh, just some new stock that crawled in here, and Grogar's got them under Tempest's watch," Storm said. Nichrome indeed took this as interesting and went right over to them.

"So you're the two new recruits Tempest told me about. You both look a decent size," Nichrome complimented. Though "compliment" might not be the right word.

"Uh … thank you?" Amethyst shrugged. Tempest kept her eye on Nichrome, as he was checking them over. She did indeed warn him of what'll happen if he treated them like he did with Twilight, and she still was keeping that promise. Not that Nichrome really cared though.

"Commander Tempest mentioned you were a teacher, Azlet, and for the Crystal Empire. You must be very good," Nichrome said, going over towards the table for a bit and checking out the set up they did.

"Eh, well I'm not that good, sir," said Flint. Nichrome picked up one of the plates, checking it out for a bit.

"Me?" Amethyst asked, waving it off, "Eh, it's not a big deal, just some side job at a flower shop."

"Flowers … and teaching … Tempest, why're you wasting your time with them?" Nichrome questioned.

"It's the king's orders, Nichrome. That, and with the right training ponies of their size will make formidable members to the army," Tempest explained. Nichrome himself wasn't too sure about it, even going as far as to open Amethyst's mouth to see what kind of teeth she had. Amethyst quickly swatted his front foot away, spitting a bit from the tar-like taste.

"Dude, did you wash today? Yuck!" Amethyst scoffed. Nichrome ignored the comment, and looked to the bigger pony.

"You know, you two, you're reminding me of some people I knew. I mean, I could be wrong, but those stones look … authentic," Nichrome said.

"We did get experimented on and became half-rock type, so yeah they're real," Amethyst said.

"No, no, no, no, I know well they're authentic. I was thinking more along the lines of "I've seen them before" kind of authentic," Nichrome pointed out, actually beginning to slowly make his way around them.

"Coincidence, sir. We've never seen you before," Flint stated. Nichrome went right for the throat.

"The one with Commander Flint. The one responsible for the death of my brother," Nichrome inquired. Flint may not be a commander, persay, but Flint immediately understood what kind of situation Nichrome was pitting them in.

"Eh … F-Flint? Um, nope, we don't know any Flint sir," Amethyst said. Nichrome looked over to Commander Tempest, and silently gave an order that Tempest didn't want to do so freely. But Nichrome still was a rank above her, so she had to comply. Tempest sat down right in front of Flint, and …

"Again!" Nichrome said, almost laughing in joy as Tempest whacked Flint once more. The hits stung just as much as before, but Flint recovered quicker this time.

"Alright, I'll grant your wish. … Slug her too," Nichrome instructed. Tempest hesitated briefly, but she did follow through, and whack Amethyst right across the face, her getting knocked off her hooves briefly. As if it wasn't tiring enough to stay in these forms, this abuse was making it one hit away from just getting exposed.

"Now I'll ask you both one more time. What do you know of the other group?" Nichrome asked once more. Neither complied.

"We. Don't. Know. SIR.," Flint made clear. Nichrome glanced over to Tempest, and just to be sure she wasn't gonna interrupt him or say anything else, he actually shoved her aside. A gesture saying he will not stop for her.

"... You both got a star's light year before you can earn my trust. But I know just the way you can start. … Right this way."

"Hey, I'm using them," Storm stated, the second he saw what was happening. Nichrome just huffed.

"Don't eat all the cake, Storm," Nichrome said, pushing Flint and Amethyst along until all three were out the door.

Inside the palace may be busy, but there was just as much (if not more) activity going on outside of the palace. So many of the guards were on high alert still over the possible full frontal assault on them, which at this point could be anywhere given what they actually know. Whichever plan they knew though, the group wasn't following either anymore and they were making their way closer and closer towards the palace, silent as the night itself. And they had to be with so many guards set up on patrol. But even with so many of them on patrol, it wasn't worthwhile as the Harmony Gems and Ponies were slipping by each and every one of them like shadows in the night, either flying quietly along or racing from rooftop to rooftop.
This group itself had Garnet, Pearl, Peridot, Emerald, Lapis Lazuli, Rainbow Dash, Starlight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy lined up in toe, them all just managing to keep themselves out of sight from the guards on patrol below. It was amazing that even with heightened security they were slipping by like this, and eventually they neared the palace itself. In particular, they were nearby the smaller entrance, two of the larger guards still on their position from earlier.

Garnet and Rainbow Dash took care of them in just one hit, and Lapis Lazuli and Starlight got them both secured and out of the way.

"That takes care of the guards," Starlight said, seeing the two passed out, sleeping, and "tied up".

"Sorry," muttered Fluttershy. The group stood over in their position, going just inside the main room just passed the entrance. With so many guards either on patrol or preparing the wedding, the halls were simply clear as clear can be.

"We're clear guys, come on," Lapis said, bringing them in. The others went on inside, but they didn't go too far from their only exit.

"Ok, ok. Now we have Twilight, Connie, and Steven to rescue from this horrible place. If you have a plan worked out, Garnet, PLEASE tell us," Peridot said, looking around to be sure that they weren't with company. Garnet brought her hands to the side of her head, and focused as well as she could for the next step in this new plan.

"Hey, hey, nobody's stupid Emerald: he's worried over Connie just like the rest of us," Lapis made clear, "Even if he kinda charged in. And … maybe messed up the plan … and putting himself in danger to save Connie."

"I dunno. He did kinda attack Garnet," pointed out Starlight. Which of course he didn't have to do, and also kinda happened out of nowhere.

"OK, maybe he did act a bit reckless," admitted Pearl, "But he has his reasons. I mean, he wouldn't just do this for the heck of it! And this is Steven we're talking about, so I'm sure he'll realize what he did and come back to apologize before he could do anything too hectic."

"You really think so?" Lapis asked. Before Pearl could answer about it, Garnet turned to them.

And then Garnet unfused, just like that. In no time at all, Ruby and Sapphire were standing there, both ready for whatever plan they got going for the time being.

"HUGS!" Pinkie went right in and hugged them both, glad to see them show up. They both chuckled, but they got back to the plan they got in mind with the obvious question.

"Alright everyone. In order for this to work, we need to split the team. Pearl, Lapis Lazuli, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Starlight. You all stay by this spot and make sure it's clear. We'll need a getaway once we find Twilight," explained Sapphire.

"Good luck you guys," Lapis said. Soon the team had been cut down to Sapphire, Ruby, Pinkie, Peridot and Emerald.

"Grogar, as we know, likes any advantage over his enemies. So Ruby is going to tell him more about fusion, and explain to him how it works. Any way to make him stronger will get his attention," Sapphire said, as Ruby gave a wink. Peridot chuckled for a moment.

"While Ruby is busy distracting them all, we're going to go and free Twilight from her cage. If it works out, then we'll last just long enough for Grogar and his commanders to leave and for us to have Twilight without them knowing."

"AND by what you just said, Twilight's gonna be in a very hard and very close place right where the mean goat is, possibly in the same room, and maybe with a very small chance of us doing this?" Pinkie concluded.

"Dang. This is Task Improbable levels right here. … I love it," Emerald said, down for the odds. The old missions were getting boring anyway.

"Good. Now I'm off to butter up the king, excuse me," Ruby said. However, she only took a few steps before Peridot went in her way.

"Ruby, think: every single Gem except for those present inside Grogar's army are all cracked, or "marked" as they put it. You walk up like that, he's gonna know something's up," Peridot said. Ruby and Sapphire knew she was right, but none of them really wanted to actually do it for the sake of the mission, or otherwise. The red Gem looked to her gemstone for a bit, thinking how it would look with a crack in it. But then, Sapphire placed a hand on her.

"I'm sorry, Ruby. You sure you want to go through with this?" Sapphire asked. Ruby took a breath, and then smiled as she placed her hand on hers.

"If you have to crack my gem, I'm okay with it. Go ahead, and give me all you got," Ruby said, gemstone shown and at the ready. Sapphire was a bit hesitant about deliberately hurting Ruby like this. Sapphire paused for a moment to check the future, just in case. And it was all looking a little iffy. But there was one trick she could try ...

"It's okay, and don't worry Sapphy, I'm super-tough! I can handle my gemstone -"

"Huh?"
Wow, she didn't even feel that! The others checked in on what Sapphire did, but instead of cracking the gemstone, it turned out all Sapphire did was simply make it look like it was cracked: a few well-placed ice shards crossing to look like the crevasses of a cracked stone.

"Really convincing. I didn't feel a thing," Ruby said. Sapphire went right up to her.

"Now remember: keep Grogar interested, and distracted for as long as you can. We'll be right there with you, over by the farthest back door. Love you, sweetie," Sapphire said, giving Ruby a kiss on the cheek for good luck. That was more than enough motivation.

And no doubt, she was right. Grogar himself was indeed in the throne room, and surely enough the alicorn in purple was already set up inside of the cage Sapphire described. Each hoof and wings were chained down, though saying Twilight actually had wings might not be true due to their methods of cutting her down. That didn't mean she still wasn't trying to get herself free though, trying her hardest to get the chains loose. Not a vigorously as before though, which she would be acting like a crazed bird in a beartrap trying to get away. This effort was just a few strong tugs on the chains, but still enough to get Grogar checking in on her. The cage Twilight was in was draped over like a birdcage, so Grogar had to move the curtains to see her.

"Settle down in there, Alicorn, you're gonna be dead before the wedding starts," Grogar huffed.

"I don't know how you can live with yourself. How do you even sleep at night?" Twilight said.

"With a glass of milk, and some high-class straw pillows. Now be quiet and maybe I'll let you have some water when we're done here," Grogar said, backing away from the curtain to leave Twilight to her lonesome. Twilight herself was of mixed minds right now: she was counting the minutes to her execution, but still knew that the others were coming to save her so she wasn't completely hopeless.
Just outside of the cage, along with Grogar was Bray, Budgerite, along with Tempest and Stubby since they were called by the king shortly after Flint and Amethyst left.

"Take a good long look, lads," said Grogar, "THIS is how you know you've won the game. After this wedding, and it's full-proof."
And Grogar was just laughing himself silly on his victory. Twilight winched on the noise of the ram, though Tempest did peer into the cage to see the Alicorn princess in chains. As the others were gone, Tempest spoke to her.

"Ironic isn't it: the Princess of Friendship herself. With no friends, and no way out."

"Why are you doing this? You're a Pony! … Just like me," Twilight weakly said, really wanting to know what Tempest's main idea even was. But that response almost seemed to trigger the broken unicorn, her slamming her hooves onto her cage, and the horn sparking up a storm.

"Easy Tempest, she's close to dying as it is, don't fry her up yet," Grogar ordered. Tempest Shadow backed up from the cage, and began to move down the curtains a bit. She did pause briefly to see the Alicorn inside, looking like such a tortured soul in there. But it wasn't the wounds on her body that made Tempest feel a chill, but what Twilight's eyes read. Even after all of this, and she still had the eyes of a brave pony.

And still, Tempest turned a blind eye, and closed the curtains. Even if she wanted to help, she couldn't do it in front of Grogar right there. Tempest gave a look back once more, and then a deep breath before she put back on her stern face. It was just some other pony inside that cage, far as she was concerned. Tempest soon trotted back over to Grogar and company.

"This is great, ey sire?" said Stubby at one point, "two new recruits, a wedding, and victory of an empire completely all in one day!"

"It is a fine day for all of us lads. Speaking of which, Tempest, what happened to those two? Haven't seen them since I assigned them to you," Grogar asked casually.

"I've instructed them as you commanded, my lord: toured the perimeter with them, had them shown the officer's chambers. They did help in decorating, but Nichrome wanted them for a bit. He thinks they're from the Harmony Gems," Tempest said. Grogar was a bit skeptical about that claim.

"Didn't he tell us that the Harmony Gems were already dead? Why would he inspect them of that?"

"With how many had come and gone, it's short wonder sir," Tempest said. Grogar scratched his chin.

"Good point. Last thing I want is ANOTHER unexpected guest just walking up on us, especially this close to wedding time."

"Uhh … y-you won't be angry right now, right? like right now, right now?" Budgerite asked.

And then Budgerite pointed to the front door. Grogar started gritting his teeth as he turned around, and sure enough, he got his "unexpected guest". Standing right at the center of the path, nervous as she was pumped, was little Ruby. Right in the firing line of whatever Grogar could do, and probably will do to her. She still had a smile on, but still plenty of nervous smoke coming out from her head. This was the big moment.

"They saw me. Here ya go, Ruby," Ruby told herself, actually starting to walk in.

"And what is this?" Grogar questioned, "You're a bit far from your mark, aren't you?"
At first, Ruby didn't answer, just walking in until she was closer to the four standing there. Ruby knew what she had to do, and as she was looking around the room a bit, she was just able to make out the rest of the group just arriving in their position. Sapphire gave Ruby a wave from just by the far back door, closest to Twilight's cage. Just as she promised. Ruby, growing a little more confident, then began to speak.

"I'm Ruby of the hand mark, m-my lord, reporting in!" Ruby said, giving a diamond insignia for respect. She hoped it would give him some good will, but that was hardly anything.

"I didn't ask for a report from any Gem. And don't give me that diamond insignia, I'm not a doll," Grogar stated. Ruby quickly recovered and put the symbol away. Grogar turned to his comrades.

"Oi, go and shatter her will you? I don't want to rough my fur before the wedding."

"Got it, lord. One, two, one two three!" said Bray, before he and Budgerite went and jumped Ruby! Ruby was pinned down to the ground already, the two trying to get her gemstone to do the job.

"Whoa, waitaminute, WAIT! I want to help you!" Ruby shouted, suddenly finding herself in a bit of a struggle underneath both the donkey and the half Gem. … Ok, she wasn't, but she had to still play the part of a weaker Gem. The info reached Grogar's ears, but he still didn't give the order to stop.

"You want to help me? What can a Ruby offer to someone like me, hmm?" Grogar asked. Ruby could feel a cool chill run through her back, and not the good kind.

"Y-Y-You want to be stronger, don't you? I know a way to make you stronger, if you'll *grunt* let me tell you!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Hold!" Grogar shouted. It took a short bit, but Grogar wasn't one to shy away from strength. Bray and Budgerite hopped off of Ruby, letting the red Gem get right back on her feet. Her friends gave a sigh of relief, but they were not out of danger yet, not even close. Grogar lowered his gaze until it matched Ruby's level, the red Gem seeing his pure red eyes.

Fusion eh? Grogar paused and thought about it for a bit, as he walked right back towards his throne. Everyone else had to bolt out of sight so the ram wouldn't see any of them, only finding it safe once he actually got himself situated on said throne. Budgerite was the only one who was familiar with the term, but she didn't know how this would work.

"Uh, my lord wait, organic creatures can't do Fusion remember?" Budgerite reminded. Grogar wasn't deterred though.

"This should be interesting," Tempest commented to Bray, slightly curious as to how some random Ruby managed to get to their front steps. Ruby smiled, knowing now that she got their attention, and the others can get the plan started whenever they're ready.

"Go ahead," Grogar instructed. Ruby just needed to get her words right now. Ruby did have an idea going in her mind, but something was a little bit missing here.

Grogar rolled his eyes, and his horns started to glow again. Ruby yelped and covered up, but this was just summoning magic this time, and in a quick poof there was a old-school style clipboard right next to her.

"Well you see," Ruby began, "Fusion is when two Gems form together to make another being. This being shares traits of both Gems, and can have a LOT of extra powers from both gems fused together. It can have the same weapons, same abilities, same personality traits, and they can have special things all of their own."
Grogar was actually taking some mental notes himself on this information, not knowing that the others right behind him were close to completely gathering by the cage. None of them got inside just yet, but still out of sight behind it. However, Tempest Shadow was not completely ignoring the world around her, glancing back briefly to the cage when she heard the curtains move.

"Oh, well that depends on who's fusing. You can be able to fly, breathe underwater, survive lava, become VERY smart. Lot of things," Ruby explained. It was all basic stuff really, though Ruby seeing Tempest glancing back to the cage did not suit her well.

"So what would happen if I fused with Grogar?" asked Bray, raising a hoof, only for Grogar to clock his head with his hoof.

"I was just curious," groaned Bray, laying on the ground with a nasty bump on the head. It wasn't the first time he got one either.

"Nothing, now you mentioned making me stronger. How do I make this happen?" Grogar asked, his front hoof resting on the arm of his throne and propping his head up.

"Well, Gems do it by a Fusion dance," Ruby said, matter-of-factly, "But it's SO MUCH easier when the two fusing have a very close bond with eachother."

"He wasn't supposed to ask that yet!" Ruby thought, panicking. Sapphire and Ruby saw the future vision of this scenario, but Grogar wasn't waiting on his question, which was supposed to at least be half way until they got Twilight out of the chains.

"You. Ruby. You know a lot about Fusion so you must do it a whole lot," Grogar inquired, "Just how much do you contribute to your fusions, hmm? It'll give me more an idea for what I get out of it."
Ruby couldn't leave him hanging here, not now.

"O-Ok, Ruby, don't panic. Just think of something," Ruby thought, but the longer it hung in the air, the more risk there was involved. Her mind had to scramble for something to say to him. What did she contribute to her fusions?

"...…. What?" Grogar … didn't know how to react to this exactly, and neither did the others in the room. That also includes everyone on Ruby's side too.

"Yeah, I guess my hair too sometimes," said Ruby, confident, "But topping it off: I bring the booty."

"Oh Ruby you magical genius," Sapphire quickly gasped. They needed a distraction, and they got it. Ruby just had to keep it up as the others slowly began to make their way towards Twilight in the back. Ruby was at the board nearby, but the "students" were left in the dark about the "booty" thing.

"So am I, your majesty," Ruby exclaimed. The ram was not amused at all, but for the joke he didn't add another comment. Budgerite though was more talkative.

"Hang on a minute," Budgerite said, "Out of all the things you contribute in fusion, you're saying THAT'S the thing you're known for? I mean, you hardly have anything back there to begin with."

"Are you kidding? Rubies are booty machines!" Ruby made clear, confident grin. Suddenly she grabbed the chalkboard and spun it around, knocking Bray and Budgerite away briefly before it showed a rather detailed picture of a fusion, measurements included around the waist and everything.

"Exhibit A: Rhodonite! Look at that: she's a Ruby/Pearl fusion, and she's still got a booty!" Ruby stated proudly, pointing right at the model. Ruby erased it and quickly drew out another model, this time one closer to home (to Ruby, anyway).

"Exhibit B: Rubidot! See that fusion of Ruby and Peridot? I don't see any booty missing back there!" Ruby pointed out.

"Ruby," squeaked Peridot, flustering up. She never noticed that until now, and no one heard her thank goodness. As for the others though, this talk of all this "booty" logic was not really suiting well for the ram. Ruby's team just managed to get to Twilight's back cage, slipping past just behind the curtain. It was just enough of a distraction to get them back there. Ruby could just see Sapphire give her the thumbs up as she continued with the next bit.

"Exhibit C: Garnet. Look at this bombshell: I attest she does have a booty, and it is a fantastic booty!"

"It's not worked yet," Sapphire said, as they began getting to work on Twilight's chains. Twilight of course knew better than to speak, but was glad to see them either way. Ruby meanwhile kept on going.

"Alright, you got a huge flank, we get it! Now how about something useful," Grogar snapped, Ruby jumping on the roar. Ruby's mind scrambled up all over again.

"OK OK! Uh, let's see …" Ruby tried to think of something fast as she could. Her eyes darted around, as if trying to find some idea out of the crowd but not really able to find anything. She could see that Pinkie was there, just in sight and she luckily gave Ruby a bit of a clue, bringing her front hoof up and flexing it a bit. The idea clicked in her head like a lightbulb.

"OH! Power! Yeah, our bigger piece is that Rubies are super strong!" Ruby said, flexing her muscles and pushing out her chest to look as muscular as she could. Confident maybe, but it wasn't convincing to much of them.

"Hmm … well, Rubies are workers, like ants. Or Peridots. So strength adds to the fusion too?" Budgerite asked. Ruby nodded.

"How much?" Grogar asked, this time getting up and off the throne for a bit. On one hand this gave the others more room, but this also means that Grogar could move at any time so Ruby had to watch it. The question though was leaving her a blank.

"How much is "a lot"?" Grogar questioned, this time staring Ruby down. This made Ruby gulp, needing some sort of number. But instead, she got something else in mind.

"I know, I'll show you! Watch me!" Ruby quickly said, grabbing the closest items at hand. In this case it was some of Grogar's subordinates AND the board on hand, and next thing they knew Ruby was suddenly juggling them all.

"HEE HAW! Put me down!" shouted Bray, as he, Budgerite, and Stubby were being tossed in circles. A setback, sure, but at the least it still kept their minds off of what they were doing just behind that curtain. Emerald, Peridot, and Sapphire kept working as fast and as quietly as they could, Peridot being the quickest with her metal powers snapping off the cuffs easily, and Sapphire's ice abilities freezing the wings chains so they broke off like fragile glass.

"We're not leaving you behind, silly," Pinkie said, nudging her. However, that nudge alone made Twilight cringe thanks to her wounds, Pinkie jumping back a bit.

"Uh oh. We'll get you an appointment and they'll patch you right up. Pinkie promise," Pinkie said, even quickly doing the Pinkie Promise procedure to better prove her point. No way no how was she gonna leave Twilight in the state like this.

"Everything will be okay. Now everyone quiet, and follow me," Sapphire instructed.

Tempest! The clever Unicorn had caught them red-handed, lifting the curtain with her head and her horn already sparking for some shattering. A few of the sparks actually shot out of the curtains, which made many of them duck a bit. As for Pinkie -

"Great, you're needed!" Before anyone could ask what, Pinkie Pie quickly took action: grabbing Tempest and covering her muzzle, Pinkie yanked her right inside the curtain cage. Since many of them were distracted, they didn't notice Tempest suddenly go missing.

Five seconds later: Tempest was tied down by chains from neck to back hoof, gagged by a quick addition of duct tape from Pinkie Pie's mane. She tried to get lose, but Tempest was in a bad position to even stand, let alone move and try to stop them. Quick and on the fly, as it always is with Pinkie Pie.

"Forgot all about a decoy, good job Pink. Ok, let's go before they smarten up," Emerald said.

"Keep your voice down. Let me see if it's clear first," Sapphire quietly said. As she did, Twilight looked down to Tempest.

Sapphire took a look outside of the cage, still seeing Ruby doing her juggling act. Grogar lost patience, and actually swiped his hoof underneath Ruby's feet, making her (and everything else) fall to the floor in a bit of a heap. The ram king easily pulled Ruby out of there.

"Well in that case: see you with Red Diamond. I'll remember your shards on the cake," Grogar snarled.

"Ruby!" quietly gasped Sapphire. Ruby was freaking out, and tried to go but Grogar got one hoof pinning the Gem down, and another one raised up high, ready to cut Ruby's gemstone into pieces! Even Ruby's heat wasn't getting Grogar off of her. In a swift move, the other hoof got Ruby's hand facing up, gemstone open and at the ready. Just one hit was all it needed. Everyone waited for the hit, but just before the strike could be made, Grogar's eyes caught glimpse of something a bit aways. Namely, just outside the window at Homeworld's moon …

"Gah! The wedding, it's almost time," Grogar realized. Suddenly, Ruby was knocked right into Stubby.

"Sorry, we were stuck in a spin cycle," said Budgerite, still seeing stars as she tried to regain herself. Grogar snarled, his hoof digging into the ground a bit like a pickaxe.

"Fine. Tempest, bring this Ruby back to - … Tempest! TEMPEST!" Grogar called, but of course there was no response. Not like her to just wander away, but Grogar had bigger fish to fry so he turned to the rest.

"Stubby, go find Tempest Shadow, see where she went. Bray, Budgerite, get that cage and get it to the ballroom on the double!"

"But what about Ruby?!" Bray asked. Only for Grogar to toss her up, turn around, and buck her straight into the wall.

"What Ruby? NOW MOVE, AND I'LL BE CHECKING ON YA!" Grogar roared. No more arguments now, and as Stubby bolted like lightning out of sight down the nearest hall, Bray and Budgerite quickly made a beeline right to the cage. The bird Gem first made it there first, getting Bray hitched up to it fast, and Bray quickly started galloping off on his way. Straining, of course, but it beats any punishment by the ram any day. Pretty soon, it seemed like it was only Grogar and Ruby.

"Good. Because you'd better stay there until I get back. We'll finish where we left off," Grogar said.

The wedding cannot start without him being present for it, regardless if he was king or not. With a huff, and with no more time to deal with this for the moment, he turned and made his way towards the ballroom, his hooves still scraping the ground in his dash.
As for Ruby, she got herself off of the floor, standing up on her own accord and finding the room completely empty now. It all just happened so quickly, and she didn't see any sign of her friends anywhere in the room.

Ruby looked around for a quick moment or so, but then soon as the coast was clear, the group managed to bring themselves out into the open, coming up from just underneath the large throne. It was a miracle that they weren't spotted under there, but all that mattered was that they weren't seen anyway. Ruby gave a sigh of relief seeing them, immediately going to Sapphire.

"We should be asking you that Ruby, you're the one slammed into the wall," Emerald pointed out.

"Oh, I'm fine, just thought you all got taken away and I had to fight Grogar head on to save you. Nothing new," Ruby said. Which honestly, given their record wasn't far from the truth at all. Only Pinkie threw in some giggles, but Twilight's groaning reminded them the situation (and worried Ruby). Seeing her more in the moonlight showed everyone there Twilight's injuries: her fur worn out, wings scraped up, horn gone, the whole works and then some.

"She's not holding up well. Get her up here," Emerald said, already helping Twilight up onto Pinkie's back. The Alicorn simply laid there on her back, finally feeling some bit of relief in her sore limbs. Giving one more check to be sure they were alone, the group was just about to start going off on their way. Few steps later -

"Steven … Ruby stay, the rest of you go on ahead, don't stop for anything!" Sapphire quickly instructed.

"We'll get Steven. Now Twilight? This is for you," Sapphire said. And then she walked right up to her, and gave the Alicorn a kiss on the forehead. Some future reassurance never harmed anyone, and Twilight was grateful to see it, even if it was very brief.

"Yes. now hurry!" Sapphire said urgently. They didn't have any time to stay back and figure things out, so the others began to high-tail it out of there. They came in to get Twilight and Connie out, and with Twilight in toe she had to come first. As for Ruby and Sapphire, they both began to go off on their own way, trailing behind where Grogar had gone to.

But while Ruby and Sapphire may be in the clear. The others were not. And they found that out the second they came around the next corner. In a quick gasp, they skidded to a halt, coming face to face with some remaining guards of Grogar's Army with Nichrome right at front.

And right on time with the moon too, as it glistened and glowed right into the main ballroom. Considering what it was for, and who it was for, the entire room was decorated up with the outlook of a true wedding day setting. Grogar himself got situated over by the alter, his coat smooth and diligent and his horns edged and in their prime. His bell gave a small chime as he gave it a quick-clean, not dissimilar to whipping off a stain on a shirt. The ram looked around at the setting with satisfaction: several rows for the attendees to stand and observe, the wedding cake Bray and Budgerite made off to the side by the table. His closest followers were right alongside, dressed up as their best and at attendance. They even did some extra details, such as a chandelier made up of some leftover shards of the Supreme Kindergarten hanging up good and high, the moonlight dancing off of each one like stars. Grogar was sure pleased.

"We lucked out on that one, eh lads? And not a minute to spare either," Grogar said. His eyes looked over many of the subordinates at attendance, mainly made up of guards, officers, and commanders and captains. Well, except for one of course. Stubby could only give Grogar a nervous shrug when he looked to him. As he continued looking around, Grogar then noticed where the music was coming from off by a balcony.

"Well she was just sitting in the barn, my lord, and what's a wedding without music? Heck, that should be a crime to have weddings without music," Budgerite said. Grogar smirked and patted Budgerite on the head.

"Well when we're done here, I'll make that a law," Grogar said. Budgerite and Bray couldn't help but chuckle with him. Grogar had all the power to do that after all. Checking over the attendees though, he did find more missing.

"Add that to the list," Grogar sighed. If it's not one thing, it was always another.

There she was. Connie Maheswaran, all dressed up and ready to join her "husband" up by the alter. Her outfit remained the same, and she felt nothing more than like a doll just playing out a role to Grogar's game, the only thing left of her defiance still being that eyepatch. She could go and run, but it was no good when the doors closed up right behind her as she walked in. The only direction she could go was forward, and forward along the red silk rug was what she did. Her seeing eye looked around as she did this: Equestrian animals, alien races, Corrupted Gems. All of them apart of this demonic Ram's army. And even worse … Gems she recognized. She glanced to a large, yellow one …

Next thing she knew, she was at the front. Standing quietly in the presence of the king himself. On the surface (sort of) it seemed like a picture perfect moment, but knowing what lead to this moment just made everything all twisted. Connie could feel Bray sweep off some dust on her beautiful dress.

"Steven, wherever you are, whatever you're doing … please save us," she thought. Now, with the final piece set, Grogar cleared his throat, chimed his bell, and looked on to the crowd.

"We are all gathered here today to celebrate a well good occasion. The wedding, and blood-cross, between yours truly, and this sweet right here. The day that the great King of Tambalon shares his own rule with another for the first time in its history. From many full moon highs before, to this very full moon high now. … Today, we celebrate the Princess of Tambalon herself. Queen Maheswaran of Tambalon!"
And the crowd cheered and celebrated on that note for a bit. Once again, good on the surface, but Connie just felt more bitter about it. All the cheering stopped almost at once when Grogar raised his hoof good and high.

"Thank you, thank you. … Budgerite. If you please," Grogar said. Budgerite happily went right between them, clearing her throat and presenting those rings of hers. Grogar gleefully levitated them out, and slipped one right on Connie's ring finger, and Grogar actually slipped his on the tip of his horn. Just as effective.

"Almighty King Grogar. Do you take Connie Maheswaran to be your lawfully, and lovingly wedded wife?" Budgerite asked. Grogar smiled.

"I DO." Grogar declared, good and proud. Connie winched a bit on the response, wanting O SO MUCH to just punch him across the wall. But then the inevitable.

"And Connie. Do you take his most majestic majesty to be your lawfully, and lovingly wedded husband?"

"... I … I …" Now what? Every single fiber of her being, corrupted or not, was screaming at her, pleading with her to say no and make a run for it. To not take this monster as her husband and wedding partner. Grogar waited for the answer he wanted to hear. He would kill her friends if she did refuse. She knew Twilight will be taken soon for sure …

… And Grogar just ignored her. All he did was gesture for Budgerite to continue.

The entire room shook, and the doors suddenly exploded right off of their hinges! Much of the people amongst the crowd had to just aside as the giant slabs of the doorway fell and slammed onto the floor. It was almost as if a bomb had went off in there, and many of them either bolted to the back, or covered from the debris. Even Grogar suddenly got up on his hooves like a startled deer, darting his head right to the source of the noise.
The thing that made this no ordinary explosion was the thing that flew in: someone was within a round, pink, spiked orb. But soon as the orb landed in front of the line, it disappeared, showing somebody that made Connie smile.

"STEVEN!" Connie beamed, almost crying for seeing him alright (for the most part). She immediately went straight for him, hugging him tight upon meeting with him.

"It's okay, it's kinda my fault. Are you okay?" Steven asked. Connie, tearing up, nodded yes. But Grogar wasn't gonna take this lying down. Grogar soon got in between Steven and Connie, forcing them apart.

"You're the only busy one here: Connie doesn't belong to you, now leave her alone!" Steven shouted. Grogar snorted.

"Dear lad, why don't you think with your head instead of your heart for once in - *bang* OW!" before Grogar could finish, Steven didn't hesitate of launching his shield right between his eyes, forcing him away from Connie.

"The hay happened to that patience?" Grogar hissed, now with a good red mark between his horns. Steven summoned another shield, ready for a fight he knows will happen at any second.

"People who make mistakes deserve it. People who're doing bad things but don't know why deserve it. But you? You don't deserve it at all! I tried talking to you, make you change your mind, but you still won't listen," Steven exclaimed in anger. The other guards readied to go in, but Grogar, wanting to "humor" him a bit more, raised his hoof to keep them from rushing in. The kind to play with his food, that Grogar.

"Wow, it took you this long to figure it out. What do you see in him, Connie, if he's this thick?"

"Everything you're not," Connie coldly stated. Grogar huffed, starting to walk over to them.

"I'm not letting you take my friend. And I'm not just here for her: this is the Diamond's kingdom, it's their home. Give it back or I'll make you!"

Make? Him? Typically Grogar would find it funny, but so many problems had gone on today it just was leaving him a little more bitter. Steven at this point was just a nuisance. Grogar actually sat down in front of them.

"Oh I don't think so: there's only you and her. And here I am with the entire guard right there, including some extra you left behind. One hit on my head, and you'll be eaten alive. And they are looking pretty hungry," Grogar warned. He could see that it did worry Steven and Connie, but only very briefly. Steven was quiet at first, but then …

"What the - look! Just give back Connie, and I'll let you live! Get it?" Grogar stated quickly, legitimately off guard and surprised by the remark Steven shouted.

"It's not happening, Grogar. Give back Homeworld and this can end!" Connie shouted, holding Steven's hand.

"NEVER! This kingdom's mine, and so is she! Having a queen's the final piece to make Tambalon whole again!"

"SHE'S A WOMAN! She doesn't know up from down!" Grogar roared, Connie immediately wanting to kill him NOW, "Once I marry her and get her mind straight, she won't be making any stupid mistakes again! Once that happens, everything will be perfect."

He did not just say that. This wasn't even out of love at all! Steven and Connie both were flabbergasted. Steven even raised his fist in anger, it trembling as he gritted his teeth.

"You know, Grogar, we've met a lot of bad people before. But you sir … are the worst," Steven stated boldly.

"LOOK AROUND YOU! The entire empire's fallen, everybody's only following you because you'll kill them otherwise, and every Gem is either cracked, corrupted, or shattered! How can you stand there and say everything's perfect when all you're doing is making a prison? You all don't have to live your lives tormenting all the time, there're better ways -"

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP?!" Grogar roared, his horns sparking a storm and actually shooting off electrical sparks around him. Steven blocked some with his shield so he and Connie wouldn't get hit, the other guards scattering a little bit. As for the Ram, he actually jumped them, one hit of his hoof shattering the shield to pieces and scattering it like shards of glass before it disappeared. Sure Steven and Connie saw this as defiance and a rather brave statement, but Grogar was seeing something more along the lines of delusional. The blind eye seemed to confirm it for him.

"Stop pretending that you're anything important, Steven. Special, sure, but NOT important, and we both know it."

"Maybe you think so, but I don't: all of my friends are important, I am important, we helped save Homeworld and make it a better place for everyone, and we're not gonna let you take that away!"

Grogar finally decided to bring down the hammer. But not before using his magic to shatter the shield, and digging his hooves into Steven's arms, keeping him down. Steven kicked him over and over again but it wasn't doing anything, even if he trained to be stronger.

"Fine, for your sake I'll be blunt: The most you've done is JACK and JENNY! Reforming White Diamond, The Pony of Shadows fight, stopping her two invasions on Earth, fighting the Osicone. Just how much can you say you actually did out of any of those things, huh? You didn't save the world, you got extra credit!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE, he convinced White Diamond to change her mind," Connie retorted.

"No he didn't, the cheater: the Orthix fog just screwed with her head that's all. All Steven "did" was make it look like his words did something. You're nothing but a poser!"
And that got Steven to aim both feet up and clock him right in the lower jaw. The momentum finally made Grogar get off of him as Steven got to his feet, but he didn't go at him at first as those words were sticking to him. Connie quickly went over to him.

"Don't listen to him Steven, he's just trying to psych you out," Connie quickly said, showing support to him as always. Grogar got himself back together. He shot a green bomb spell at them, which Steven quickly covered them with his bubble before the initial explosion.

"What're we gonna do? He's never going to listen, and he's never going to let us leave," Connie inquired. It was painfully clear he will never listen to either of them. So much damage had been done thanks to this ram: the Gems, all of Homeworld … eachother.

"I'm not a Gem, diamond, it won't work on me," Grogar snarled. Well that just confirmed it.

"Then let's settle this. Your magic against ours, you against us. For all of Homeworld and everyone living here," Steven announced. Grogar paused briefly, but allowed them to continue.

"If we win, then you and your entire army have to leave Homeworld alone. Give Twilight back, and fix all the corruption you made, AND let the diamonds return to their throne," Steven added. Grogar gave them an evil grin.

"And when I win, then all of Earth and Equestria become mine along with Homeworld. All the Harmony Gems and Diamond Authority will surrender to me, and Connie there will be my queen. … And I'll take your stone for her new crown."

And they both agreed. It was probably the only way to get Grogar to at least accept their offer, even if it was such high steaks for both sides. The wedding can wait.

"Alright, lads. Follow me."
Everyone watched from there, still not given the order to go in and attack yet. The ram took the lead, and both Connie and Steven followed behind. This will be the fight to decide Homeworld's future. Steven and Connie held their hands as they both went out to join him. As they went off, Grogar slipped one small message to the closest commander by him.

The main question going through both Flint and Amethyst as they remained in place under Nichrome's command. It was bad enough that Nichrome was the one making them in his demands, but it was where they were that made them both rather troubled. For a start, they weren't near the palace anymore, but instead far beyond, outside the borders of Diamond City and out in the wasteland. The exact spot did have a good view of the Diamond Palace, sure, but they were outside borders.
The place the two took post was what a place eerily familiar to them both, the ground untouched for quite sometime from the hardened rock and dust, soft cold breeze coming to them from the city itself, and the full moon lighting up the Homeworld sky. And with the two sitting on top of a large, golden, damaged Warp Pad, it was just a reminder to them that Earth and Homeworld were not meeting again anytime soon. A clear view for what was just about to happen.

"This is bad. The escape's supposed to start by now," Flint said, looking to said moon.

"I know. Come on Flint, forget the disguise, let's make a break for it and get them out," Amethyst suggested. They've played soldier fool long enough, and while Amethyst won't say it, she can not stand seeing Flint getting hit anymore. However, Flint looked on ahead towards the city.

"Wait. Something's coming," Flint said.
It was too little too late for them to just galivant off to do anything, and the sight of a group of guards, prisoners, and a single captain began to make their approach towards them. They could easily see it was Captain Nichrome again, and as they feared, Twilight Sparkle was amongst the group. The weak Alicorn was struggling to just walk along, but the guard just behind her kept forcing her along with rough pushing.

But it wasn't only Twilight Sparkle who was being brought along towards them, and it was them that made them both alarmed. Pinkie Pie, Peridot, and Emerald were kept under strict and tough supervision, and under heavy chains. Peridot especially had her luck cut out for her, being put in one of those restraining jackets so she couldn't use her metal powers on Nichrome or anyone else. Pinkie and Emerald were just chained up like dogs. All three of them were still trying to get themselves free, thrashing in some way, but Twilight was just tired at this point.

"Pinkie? Emerald? Peridot?! What're they doing here?" Amethyst asked quietly. Flint wished he had an answer, though his mind immediately thought of the worst. By the time they all got over there, Nichrome moved himself until he was just passed Flint and Amethyst, and Twilight herself was tossed right onto the Warp Pad, the Alicorn falling off her own hooves and onto the ground.

"Azlet?" said Nichrome, making Flint turn to him as Twilight just rested on her stomach.

Oh lord no. Flint felt his front hoof move back, a small gasp escaping his muzzle. A silence befell on everyone the moment they heard that come out, and … well, if there was any time that Tambalon would find them out, it would be here. And in some way, Nichrome probably was expecting it, the sly grin going across his face seeing the shocked look on Flint. The Gem tried to think of something to retaliate, but there was nothing that came to him, or any of the others for help.
Slowly, his gaze turned from the alien killer, to the Alicorn just a few steps away from him. She looked like she could die just from blowing a breath at her. Every member of Grogar's Army saw a feeble, and weak creature under their mercy. Flint saw someone who can't die. Who shouldn't die. And yet this world wants her to. And now, it wants Flint to do it.

…….

In this world, it wasn't just there that had been feeling anxious about everything. Since the group had been and gone, far off back at their secluded ditch, the Diamond Authority were all waiting for some form of news from everyone involved. Yellow, Blue, Pink, and White all unable to come in and do much of anything here. Even those Harmony Gems who stayed behind were left unsure of what to even do, only able to wait for the word to come back. Tensions were running high, yet they all were simply staying there and doing nothing.

Well, almost no one. And she stood up on watch, looking right towards Diamond City. Her home, for the moment no more. Standing tall. Silent. Until she began her singing.

(Watership Down Netflix miniseries: 10,000 Enemies parody)
Blue Pearl; I hope a million times
You tell me the truth …

Blue Pearl's soft, and sorrowful voice carried on the wind, the Gems hearing it first giving a pause for thought. The first to feel the sorrow was those closest to her, all turning to her and listening to what Blue Pearl's words echoed from their side of the world, and far beyond the wastelands of Homeworld. Even the Diamonds felt some bit of move from the singing.

Cause now there's much to know
I trust in you ...

"Do you have any last requests?" asked Nichrome to the worn out Twilight Sparkle. He might as well give her that final honor, if anything at all. Twilight didn't know what request to make. But ever so slowly, one did begin to come to her, the signal being her eyes opening up some more.

"I do have a request … I'd like to speak to Tempest."

I feel the whole World shake

Blue Pearl's voice drifted along the wind, reaching miles off to the distance to those who may hear. Even within the city, the soft tune of the melody had drifted along through the entire area, as if all noise had stopped to allow the song to move through. None of the guards heard it well, but the prisoners briefly stopped everything, lifting their gaze to the sky. The marks above ground knew the voice well ...

Brought to my knees

The prisoners underground, as faint as the breath of their own, also began to hear the soft voice drifting through the Supreme Kindergarten. Once again, the guards may not be hearing this kind of tune, but the prisoners could just make it out in their minds. Some began to cry.

Although a million strong, I shall be free

"MMPH!"

After a bit of struggle, Tempest Shadow finally broke herself out of that cage. It was a hard effort, but with everyone already gone by the time she did it was no wonder. Forcing a hoof out of the bindings, she got the duck tape off of her muzzle, allowing her to breathe normally. Forcing the binds and chains off, she was soon back and mobile once again. No sooner as she did, someone finally remembered her.

"Commander Tempest!" said the worn out guard, tired from the rush through Diamond City to reach her. "You're needed."

I shall be free …
I shall be free ...

It took a long while, but not too long. Tempest Shadow galloped right from the ballroom, and directly towards the Warp Pad area in question. And only then finally seeing what was truly going on now, Twilight laying there in submission, her friends kept down, and Flint and Amethyst just standing there with Nichrome watching on.

"I'm needed here?"

"Me. I asked for you," Twilight said. Tempest wasn't sure why she would do that, though the set up was a familiar one to her. She knew what'll be coming for Twilight Sparkle soon. Tempest Shadow walked over to her, and Twilight then turned over to Flint.

"Please, will you give me some space?" Twilight asked. Flint, playing the role, nodded and took a few steps back. Twilight and Tempest had one brief moment with them.

"I wanted to thank you, for being so kind to me while I was here Tempest. You kept me alive this long …"

"I'm a commander, not a monster. … But you're welcome," Tempest replied. Tempest thought that was it, but there was something else Twilight said that made Tempest herself pause.

"I hope you find what you're looking for here."

"...…. I do too," Tempest admitted. The unicorn helped Twilight to sit up, but that was as much help Tempest was going to give her here. Tempest gave one more look to Twilight before she moved away from her, pausing when she made it towards Nichrome. It was sorrow incarnated, this scene. Tempest was ready to leave, but Nichrome slipped one more thing to say.

"Azlet, deal with this quickly. Oh, and if you hesitate … I'll kill you too."

I hear the softest sound
Blowing from the north

In Diamond City, the melody was becoming more and more effective in its own way. The prisoner Gems may be feeling the emotion, but the guards began to notice that the Corrupted Gem soldiers were actually stopping their work and hearing the song as well. The corrupted Gems even began to howl a little bit, their own form of crying.

It's says, "Please don't cry now"
What's mine is yours

Even with all of this, with the sorrowful tune and Gems in emotion. Grogar, Steven and Connie were still off and on their own way to their fighting arena. Even if they heard that song, it probably didn't matter now. This fight was something that had to come first.
And by this point, it seemed they've made it to the fighting arena. The area, just like everything else, was altered by Grogar from what it originally was. In this case, the fighting arena was made from the landing platforms of the Diamond City docking station. Wide open, plenty of room, and nothing blocking their way. Grogar smirked wickedly to Steven and Connie, who both just glared at him.

"We're here," Grogar snarked, a throaty chuckle escaping his muzzle as he walked towards the position. Steven nodded, and he was just about to go up and begin the fight, but Connie held him back. No words were exchanged, but expression was all they needed to know what they were going to do next.

"Ready, jam bud?" Steven asked.

"Ready," answered Connie.

And a warm glow began to shine from them both ...

I hope a million times
you tell me the truth …….

With a small thump, Twilight was pinned down to the ground underneath Flint's hoof. It was just enough to make her pinned down and unable to move. No struggle. No attempt to get out. They did all they could do. Flint was left just standing there with his hoof on the creature. Not a word spoke out, and the only one giving him any sort of clue to what to do next was Nichrome himself, his front foot gesturing him to continue with the act. THIS will ultimately decide if Flint was truly worth trusting or not, to show exactly what side he was on.
Flint looked around him at each one of his friends, waiting in baited breath for what he was going to do next. The risk at his own life was at hoof now if he didn't do it. But how true would that be? … What sort of Gem was he? A Gem that followed rules … or one that followed heart? …….

Cause now there's much to know
I trust in you ...

I shall be free ...
I shall be free …….

"... You know something, Twilight. … Some people are subtle. And cunning. And seem to always know what to do, when ever they do … some are good at tricks. And fool everyone around them to their own games. ……. But I'm not one of them." Flint stepped off of her, allowing Twilight to look up to him. "Look at this face, Twilight. Look how worn and rough it is. This isn't a face of someone who's had an easy life. I'm no Crystal Empire teacher, I'm Flint! A Harmony Gem! And by the stars I'll be dust if I leave this world doing anything else!"

"I don't know what you're doing, but it ends now!" Nichrome ordered. He shoved Twilight aside, and suddenly whacked Flint's head good and hard, strong enough and brutal enough to knock him right to the floor, gash in the side of his head for Nichrome's hoof turning into a spear last second. At first he just laid there. But as Nichrome turned and readied to finish off Twilight, he felt a hand grab him.

"ALL. DAY. All day, I've been cuff in the face - " he suddenly slugged Nichrome right in the head "- OVER -" he punched nichrome's head into the dirt, "- and OVER again. And it's INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING!"

After giving Nichrome several more fast punches, he picked up the scared alien, and with one swing, threw him right at the remaining guards, enough to force Pinkie, Emerald, and Peridot out of their grip. That sure felt good. The guards tried to recover, but Amethyst jumped into action and, turning back to normal (FINALLY), she clocked them all right in the head, knocking them out cold too.

"Stay down!" Amethyst shouted. Flint actually found himself laughing, finally no longer having to keep himself down anymore. The others went over to him, including Twilight herself, and Flint only had one more question.

"Come on, I don't have all night!" Grogar shouted. The ram got himself positioned and ready on the opposite end of the docking station platform, his hoof tapping the ground. The ram would be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to this confrontation for the last week or so, but he didn't want to keep it waiting any longer. But, things weren't going to go his way when he saw who was coming up from the building, and to the arena.

Stevonnie. Steven did say he was fighting both him and Connie at once. With the damage from both sides however they both were shown on Stevonnie here: the horns from Connie, and the lost eye from Steven. Either way, Stevonnie held herself without any other concern than the fight ahead of her. Connie's wedding outfit was still on her somewhat, the main one being the white eyepatch covering the missing eye.

"Nope, you're fighting me. Steven and Connie could use a break for once thanks to you," Stevonnie made clear. Grogar was gonna just force her aside to get them, but looking closer, the details of both characters began to click something in Grogar's head that he heard earlier from Ruby. She did mention Fusion shared traits from both fusers involved, and this Stevonnie clearly had that going on here.

"OOOHHH that's the game eh? I'm in no mood for killing my wife before the wedding," Grogar huffed.

"Don't you start, you jenny, I've got a mouthful from your twerp parents already," Grogar said, not in the mood for another speech. Stevonnie was not there for a minute and she was already fuming.

"Keep talking, farm goat," Stevonnie stated, "We'll see who's the twerp when I'm done scraping you off the floor!"

Grogar snarled. That's the tenth time someone called him a goat, but a FARM GOAT? And to Stevonnie's satisfaction Grogar was fuming. His hooves clawed the ground, heated breath fuming from his muzzle.

Grogar was more than happy to oblige, him lowering his head and scraping his horns on the ground. Each horn was sharp enough to cut the very ground, like a blade on a sharpening wheel, sparks shooting off of each one. The ram though didn’t see any fear in the fusion’s eyes, her fists up and at the ready. Steven and Connie made this fight happen, and they weren’t going to back out if it now. She got in her fighting stance, firm and strong just like Jasper taught Steven.

“Just wanna let you know, we’ve been REALLY looking forward to this,” Stevonnie said, taking a brief moment to crack her knuckles.

“Then you’re a bigger fool than you look,” Grogar replied, laughing in a sinister grimace, much to Stevonnie’s anger.

“RAAHH!”
In a mighty roar Grogar made the move first, a mighty leap right towards the fusion with all of his force. Stevonnie, rather than give Grogar any satisfaction of seeing her bolt from him, ran forward herself and met the monster half way, both hands gripping at Grogar’s horns. The fusion could feel the power inside the ram, and pushing against him was like pushing back a truck. Already though, Stevonnie could feel her feet drag on the floor, and the ram was quick to swing his hoof into her leg, knocking her off balance and cutting in. Stevonnie had only seconds to recover and could just manage to jump back from another blow from Grogar’s hoof, which upon missing her cracked the station’s floor.
Stevonnie got her opening: while Grogar got his hoof out, Stevonnie jumping him and sent her foot right between Grogar’s horns. The blow sent the ram back a bit, his hooves cutting deep in order to keep himself steady. This fusion has bulked up, and the ram more than knew it. They both met up again in a mad run, now in a fist match between Stevonnie’s hands and Grogar’s hooves. Grogar May have his hooves as built in knives, but Stevonnie still proves to do some damage whenever her punch did connect. A particular low hook from the fusion connected with Grogar’s lower jaw, making him flip over onto his back.

“What’re you smiling about?!” Stevonnie asked in annoyance. Grogar chuckled.

“I’m just remembering the last time he fought,” Grogar replied, before he charged forward at her again, this time his horns glowing for an electrical charge. Stevonnie felt the surge of energy race through her when the ram got close, stinging her like any live wire would. The fusion gritted her teeth in a groan of pain, but her hands did find their way to the ram’s weapons, lifting him up.

“Well a lot has changed since then,” Stevonnie said. Grogar found himself being lifted off the ground, and thrown off of her. The ram landed hard, rolling a bit before landing on his feet. Stevonnie, her body still stinging, did not take any chances and kicked Grogar in the side, knocking him off his hooves again. Stevonnie tried for a second kick, but the ram dodged it that time and attempted to dig his teeth into her head, only biting into her arm instead in a desperate block. Stevonnie’s scream was music to his ears, sinking his teeth even deeper, and tasting her blood. The only way he was letting go was force, and Stevonnie gave him just that by twisting her body, and landing both feet on the side of the ram’s head. The hit made Grogar roar, rubbing near his eye as Stevonnie stared daggers at him. She still had to stop to hold her hurt arm though, which she actually saw one of Grogar’s sharp teeth still indented in there. Grogar also pause to lick the newly made gap in his jaw. Physical strength she may have, but the ram still had an ace up his sleeve.

And that took the form in a green magic bomb launched high in the sky. Stevonnie, not wanting to get blown up, opened up her shield but suddenly the moment felt all too familiar. Grogar was coming.

Sure enough, Grogar tried the same tactic as before: the enemy focusing on one thing while he slipped in a move to remove the shield. Grogar’s hoof slammed down, the ground shaking as before but Stevonnie was prepared this time, and dove to the side in a roll. The bomb exploded right where she was just standing in a mass of green magic, and as for the shield she had she turned that into a weapon and threw it fast towards the ram, Grogar clipping his hooves on the very tips of the disc before landing on his feet. The failed attack left Grogar fuming, especially seeing Stevonnie smiling.
Grogar made another quicker attempt to slice her into ribbons, but while he may have had the strength from the start, Stevonnie still had the advantage of actually training to earn her power. Steven's training with Jasper, and Connie's self-training were all shining through in Stevonnie's kicks, punches, and speed.

Chaos may have erupted for the arena, but this only made the invasion that much more easier for Flint's group: he, Pinkie, Amethyst, Twilight, Emerald, and Peridot made a U-turn from their location on the outskirts back into Diamond City limits, rushing straight for the one place where the rest of the prisoners were. Connie and Twilight were important, sure, but they needed to make up for lost time thanks to the "execution" earlier. And he said he'd get as many as will come after all.

"Of course," Flint said. They didn't have time to actually discuss the plan anymore, what little of the plan still existed anyway. So long as most of the guards weren't in the city itself, they didn't have that much to worry about until they get closer to the Palace itself.
Through each of the roads, cuts, and corners the guards seemed to be vacant from the city but that didn't mean that guards were not there at all. As they got closer to the main entrance to the Head mark, a pair of smaller guards spotted them.

"Stop! … STOP!" the guard ordered, eventually getting right in their way, "What're you doing over here?"

"OK, so here's the deal: I'll only kill whichever one of you I catch first!" Flint suddenly stated.

The two were long gone in the next five seconds, yelping in panic and not wanting to die obviously. It was a bit of a bold move, but Flint had been pushed around more than enough today.

"WOO, torn down by the T man!" Amethyst beamed, liking this approach a bit more than before. At least they can give them what for if they messed with them. The group got right down to the head mark above ground at the time, all of them immediately taking interest. And so did the other guards.

"Get them!" shouted another. There was only about five of them though over what Flint and Amethyst saw earlier, so this battle didn't really last too long: Pinkie pony-kicking one, Peridot grabbing two - one her hands and the other feet - and spinning them til they saw stars, and Amethyst wrapping one on a whip and knocking the fifth one. The five were out cold within half a minute.

"Sorry about that. Time to go folks," announced Amethyst. The answer was pretty obvious, and the head mark was already starting to get themselves moving out of their mark and to who knows where?

"Head straight south, you'll know when you get there, now move it! Don't you clods stop for anything!" Emerald said. They did as told and got moving a bit, but one of the Agates was stopped briefly and was given Twilight.

"Think you can take her back for us?" Flint asked. "Just give her to the diamonds when you see em."
The agate nodded and soon she was off and on her way too. It didn't take very long until this mark was empty of any Gem or conscious guard in the vicinity, so the group of five started going off to get more from the other marks. They can't get everyone out from just one mark alone, but this was a good start to it all.

"K, one less problem, what's the plan now?" Peridot asked. And to her absolute amazement …

"Nope: no plan. Just go in, get them out, and run like mad out of here," Flint stated in their run.

"It don't matter, they never work anyway, now come on let's get this done!" Amethyst said.

Pearl, Lapis Lazuli, Rainbow Dash, Starlight, and Fluttershy, still unaware of what was actually going on with the A team in the Palace, still kept their visual nearby the main exit for any guards outside or inside going away. Some were simply standing by the entrance while others were left pacing back and forth.

"Where're they? They should be done by now," wondered Fluttershy, glancing down the halls again only to find no one coming or going.

"Sapphire said they needed a getaway exit, so they'll make it back. Won't they?" wondered Lapis. The odds were against them, yet Sapphire would not lie to any of them if she could help it. As they both kept looking down the hall however, they both began to hear something down the same hallway. Something in force.

"Good, I'm getting WAY too bored out here. Bring on the getaway," Rainbow Dash said, getting her hooves ready for the next tussle whatever it was.

"Don't think about it Rainbow, we're not fighting anyone today. Just get ready to move when Steven, Twilight, and Connie come out that door," Pearl instructed … only to see just what was coming up to the door, barreling Lapis and Fluttershy out of the way as they began to come out. Everyone else had to jump out of the way as a corrupted Gem found its way to the area The corrupted Gem looked much like a wolf, but silver and without any eyes, with the gemstone on the end of its tail.

"UGH, can't we avoid a fight ONE TIME? … Fine," Pearl sighed, getting out her spear.

"Make it quick before the others notice," said Starlight. The corrupted Gem growled seeing them, it being joined by four more catching up to it. It probably won't take very long to deal with a few Corrupted Gem wolves. The wolves snarled and barked a bit at them, but before any of the Gems could even fire, suddenly something was shot at the pack, making them all scatter away yelping.

"Flint!" gasped Fluttershy. Flint and his gang chose quite a time to show up to the rest. Him and company went straight to them.

"Sorry, but yeah: we had to improvise," Lapis said. But then she quickly noticed that Pinkie, Emerald, and Peridot were with Flint and Amethyst too.

"Wait a minute, when'd you get out? We were standing here the whole time waiting for you, what happened?"

"To be blunt: the plan dun goofed - Nichrome got them on the way out, nearly got a necklace of gems, then MY MAN Flint got us out," Amethyst said, giving Flint a nudge to the side. Flint tried to be more modest about it.

"Well when someone threatens you to kill your friend, you would try to retaliate a bit."

"... Don't wanna know," said Starlight, "So Twilight's out, or did that go haywire too?"

"No she's out: one of the marks agreed to bring her back to the Diamonds while getting out of here so se should be out of Diamond City by now," Peridot explained. At least the plan's goal worked, even if the plan itself didn't.

"We can't leave yet: Connie and Steven are still in there," retorted Pearl, "Not to mention Ruby and Sapphire by the look of it!"

"Ruby, Sapphire, AND Steven? OH COME ON!" Amethyst said, worried sick. It was bad enough Twilight and Connie were stuck here before this started, they didn't need any more in here.

"Oh, Steven ran off after clocking Garnet good in the face and bolted in after hearing about the most twisted wedding in history, and Ruby and Sapphire are probably off finding him right now since we had to split up getting Twilight. Nothing unusual," Pinkie explained. Amethyst and Flint would argue if that wasn't true. The "nothing unusual" part that is.

"If we did, we'd tell you by now," replied Flint, "But if Garnet's handing Connie and Steven then we'll see them soon. Come on, let's get the others out of here before they know what's going on."

Not an answer they were expecting from Flint, as he began to head off to find the other marks.

"We've been kinda "rolling with it" since getting Twilight out, but it's been successful so far," Peridot shrugged.

"In that case, let's get going. We'll get them out, then loop back for Steven, Connie, and Garnet," said Starlight. They arrived only for Twilight and Connie, but if they could get everyone else out and to safety then that would make it even better. It was risky, but what part of this wasn't anymore? The Team B joined up with what remained of team A and began to go off a bit on their way to handle it, leaving the entrance behind briefly. They did begin to go, but something just briefly caught Lapis's attention. It was very slight, but just enough to be noticed.

The fight between Stevonnie and Grogar was becoming more and more brutal. The shriek from the fusion was accompanied by a harsh roll on her part thanks to a well-aimed slash from the ram's hooves. Both sides at this point were beaten up quite a bit, Stevonnie having a good amount of cuts along her body whereas Grogar looked more bruised than sliced up. Despite his injuries though, Grogar was still laughing.

"I'm not gonna let you win!" Stevonnie shouted, her breath strained as she held her side.

"I got bruises, you got cuts. COME ON, show some effort why don't you," Grogar scoffed.

"Oh, you want effort? HERE'S YOUR EFFORT!" Stevonnie got out her shield again, and got to throwing it, but Grogar simply lowered his head and it bounced off his horns. He had to look down though, and by the time he looked up, Stevonnie's foot slammed right in his jaw, easily getting another tooth to get loose as Grogar stumbled back. Well it was a match for each side anyway so it didn't look THAT different. Stevonnie smiled and saw her chance to land a truly brutal finisher, but this ram had a particular trick …
And Stevonnie suddenly felt something hit her in the shoulder, cutting in her skin like the end of a arrow. And what did she find looking and pulling it out.

"... Your tooth? YOU SHOT ME WITH YOUR TOOTH?!" Stevonnie exclaimed. How can a broken tooth be used as a weapon?! Grogar smiled wickedly.

"An eye for a tooth," Grogar said, only to suddenly charge right at her again. Stevonnie did give him a look to kill, but Grogar was not giving her a chance to strike back this time, either trying to bite her, shoot her with magic, or trample her with his hooves - all the works. All Stevonnie could do for a bit was dodge and block whenever she could. But even with all of this jumping around, and with Grogar's laughing, Stevonnie grew desperate and grabbed him by the muzzle like a crocodile, only for the ram to throw her off.

"THIS is for corrupting the Homeworld Gems!" Stevonnie shouted, and with a grin of her own suddenly began to thrash Grogar around, swinging him over her head over and over again, making sure he struck ground hard each and every time. She only released him when she clocked him in the face.

"And THIS is for torturing the princess!" Stevonnie jumped up and Grogar shook himself off only to feel Stevonnie's feet start jabbing into his back over and over again. It was heavy enough to make him lay on the ground as the kicking moved from the back to his face.

"And THIS. Is for everything you did to Connie and Steven," Stevonnie said. Stevonnie jumped up high into the air, highest she could manage (which was easily over twenty feet straight up), but the human side did give her weight to fly straight down. Grogar looked up, seeing her rush down, yet he couldn't move out of the way in time.

The cloud of dust was drifting around for a while so no one could see what was going on. But soon as it cleared, it revealed something that filled Stevonnie with a sort of power, and victory. Grogar. Laying on the ground. The ram had the wind knocked out of him, Grogar now in quite a bit of pain as he just laid there, his horns going off a little bit as if they were loose wires. One of the horns actually broke off thanks to Stevonnie's final move, and it laid a little bit away from him. But Grogar was still breathing, yet didn't get up so fast.

A pretty late arrival, but good timed too. Stevonnie knew that voice better than anyone else, as another fusion finally appeared up by the entrance to the docking station. She was worried sick, and seeing the injuries all over her only made that even worse, but Stevonnie was still alive and that was good for Garnet.

"Garnet!" Stevonnie gasped. Garnet did not stop running until she was right at Stevonnie's side. The fusion needed a minute to take in what she was seeing: the Stevonnie she knew as a grand experience for both Gem and human involved, now turned into a scarred, and brutal-looking being.

"I could be better," Stevonnie admitted, still sore and cut up but other than that alright. There was a moment of pause, but Stevonnie quickly got to talking again, already knowing what was up.

"Ok, I know you're mad I slugged you, I-I just got so scared when they were talking about the wedding, a-and Flint and Amethyst didn't say anything so -"

"Stevonnie. … Steven. I understand. … And looks like you did a bit on Grogar over there," Garnet said, both of them looking over to him. Only for the ram to start to move a bit. He could only get to his front hooves at first, his back hooves sore from so much kicking.

And she began to go over to the remains of Grogar's broken horn. Namely, the sharpest. Grogar and Garnet knew exactly what was coming next, and while Grogar seemed too tired to get away as Stevonnie moved closer, Garnet had to try and go in.

"Stevonnie, don't!" Garnet shouted, getting in Stevonnie's way before she could go any further. In her state of mind, she couldn't believe it.

"Stopping you from making a mistake," Garnet said, arms open so she wouldn't just rush Grogar.

"Mistake?! Garnet look at what he did: he took over Homeworld, he corrupted the diamond court, he's been targeting us for weeks! Gah, and look! Look at this jacked-up face! HE did this to my face - their face! I'm not letting him get away with any of this."

"And you think you're the better person by killing him?!" Garnet shouted. Stevonnie paused, a bit longer this time.

"Garnet, I've made too many mistakes since Grogar arrived, I made this happen! I can fix this now. It'll be quick, I promise," Stevonnie reassured her, gripping the horn tight in her hand. Garnet could not believe her ears. Maybe it make sense from Jasper before she joined the Crystal Gems, but hearing this from Stevonnie was just … wrong.

"Stevonnie, this is not the answer, and you know it. He may have done a lot of wrong, but if you're not letting him at least try to learn, then what would that make you? He already lost, you two. Let him learn from his own mistakes," Garnet explained. Stevonnie paused for a moment again. Now normally at this point Stevonnie would take time to consider it. Would killing a killer be the right move? But as she pondered, one sight just behind Garnet made Stevonnie's blood absolutely boil.

"NO! We have to beat him. He deserves to lose." Garnet even her Stevonnie's voice stutter a bit, her energy starting to spike up. Garnet felt a tear come from her eye. This was the inevitable, and still only had one thing to say to her. ...

"Grrr, MOVE!" Stevonnie shouted, trying to get to Grogar to finish the job but Garnet held Stevonnie tight. All the training she done was giving Garnet a hard time keeping her still as she struggled, holding the horn like a blade. Garnet felt herself crying as she was doing this to her, and Stevonnie had herself a little bit of tear too, as the emotions from their tortures thanks to this creature hit a breaking point. Connie was corrupted, kept as prisoner and planned for his bride, and Steven was scarred, forced into silence, and watched Grogar ruin everything he tried to make.
How could she not finish him?

"YES! I! DO!" and Stevonnie finally forced Garnet aside, reaching for the Ram at last, and getting herself on top of him, forcing the ram onto the ground, and the horn knife ready to finish things once and for all.

"I'm not making another mistake," Stevonnie stated, raising the knife, aiming directly for the collar. But suddenly, a surge of energy got Grogar back up and making Stevonnie get off of him. Garnet caught her from behind, but before she could say anything, Grogar made one final leap at them, horns glowing and shining bright.

Silence. One motion was all it took for Stevonnie to do it. The cloud cleared, and it revealed the ultimate end to this entire ordeal: Stevonnie was back on top of Grogar, the horn knife right in the center of the ram's chest. Grogar froze up, staring into the sky passed Stevonnie, his front hooves holding onto the blade but clearly not enough to avoid the mark. Both sides were only breathing, taking in what occurred around them. Stevonnie had a look of shock at first, but eventually that shock shifted into … snickering. Much similar to what Peridot would do as Stevonnie smiled upon the victory.

"YES! How's it feel, Grogar! This is the pain you kept dishing out to everyone. This is what you deserve," Stevonnie said in victory, fist in the air as she said so.

She saw it. Grogar, not a single word or even a sound, simply gently moved his front hooves aside from his chest, and allowed the victor. Stevonnie could see the horn going into Grogar's chest, with a good amount in it. But there was something else that was stuck in between the blade, and the ram.

"GARNET!" Stevonnie could NOT hold together and suddenly Steven and Connie were now there, side by side, and both still holding that blade. Immediately they yanked it out, making Grogar move back, and the red and blue stones fall to the floor, each now left a shattered mess on the ground at their feet.

"NOOOO!!!" Steven screamed, not even able to walk, but scramble towards the two gemstones. His eyes could not break free from both gemstones. He and Connie were frozen on the spot, everything around them no longer on their minds as they simply stared down at the broken shards of one of their closest friends.

"G-Garnet? … I didn't - ..." Steven got the shards and tried putting them back together like a puzzle, but just like a real one, all it showed was the picture. And even then, not a complete picture as the pieces crumbled again.

"That's what they all say ……. but Garnet is dead ……. and if you'd only listen … she'd still be alive. ….... being a hero sucks, does it?"

Grogar could just manage to breathe out a small muffled chuckle before he finally settled down and grew still. It felt bittersweet admittedly, but both Connie and Steven were left simply in tears. Sure, Grogar may be defeated and Homeworld was saved ... but not the way they wanted it to.

"Steven!"
It was too late to do much for him, and after backing up a little bit, Steven turned and ran off from the battlefield. He couldn't think to do anything else right now, he couldn't even think about how Connie might be taking all of this herself. Connie simply stood there in shock, unable to figure out what to do now …

Log Date 12 32-1: it's been at least nine hours since our latest adventure. The Harmony Gems are, currently, in a bit of a precarious situation. Yes, we've successfully manage to get the villain for the year - Grogar - out of Homeworld for good it seems, and did get a number of the Corrupted Gems deployed away from Homeworld and onto planet Earth - *gnaw* HEY, Let go! LET! GO! *yoink* - … Anyway, current status on Garnet and Steven have so far been inconclusive, yet Twilight Sparkle is recovering fairly back in Canterlot, and Connie is currently being brought back home - WILL YOU STOP IT, CLOD?!

Unfortunately, the recorder was quickly snatched away by a smaller corrupted Gem from Peridot's hands. The tape recorder got a good amount of gnawing sound effects before Peridot yanked it away again, this time with her metal abilities - she added a metal ring around it just in case - before the corrupted pup could mess with it any further.
This was what it was like for those nine hours back at the temple. The corrupted Gems, what they could get during their excursion anyway, were kinda stuck over by the temple. It was the first thing thought up to put them, and circumstance really didn't give them much time to say anything about it. Peridot wasn't alone in here though; Amethyst tried to ignore the number of corruptions by playing some video games … well, to a point until a small bird started pecking at the controller.

"Hey, cut it out, I'm on a roll here," Amethyst said, trying to shoo the bird away … only to lose in her game. Great. Amethyst just tossed the controller and groaned, laying on what remained of the bed, just as she heard a plate break over in the kitchen.

"This is worse than Fluttershy's house. When they said they needed somewhere to say, I didn't think they all would be stuffed in here," Amethyst groaned.

"Apparently it was beneficial. Anyway, I thought you like rough-housing like this. You call it "animal-style party"," Peridot asked, managing to crawl her way through the corrupted animal zoo that was the living room before reaching Amethyst.

"I'm up for a good animal bash as much as the next guy, but Seriously, I don't want to do anything else for a month - no. TWO months," Amethyst said, just before a larger turtle-like corrupted Gem pushed her off the bed so she could relax a bit.

"No. Whatever they're planning to do, they better do it soon before they find - … TOO LATE! LET GO OF THAT!" Peridot shouted, finding that a corrupted Gem found her Camp Pining Hearts collection and thought they'd be good to sharpen her teeth with. Peridot, panicking, grabbed hold of it and quickly got stuck in a tug of war. Amethyst helped her out a bit and luckily got the dvds out of the maws.

"No no no no, please don't be scratched, please don't be scratched," Peridot said, quickly getting the slobber off and checking the DVDs. They were alright, but then she saw which season they were …

"... Oh. You know what, you can eat this," Peridot said, tossing one of them to the corrupted beast to gnaw on. Amethyst sat up, but quickly got what this was about.

Peridot and Amethyst may have gotten their heads in enough trouble, but as they were dealing with the destruction of a worthless season of Camp Pining Hearts, the two then heard the Warp Pad from behind them, with Lapis Lazuli coming in (and pushing some of the corrupted Gems aside.

"THANK THE STARS!" exclaimed Peridot, "What news from the front? Can they take them in now? Nothing personal but THIS IS CRAZY!"

"Not like it's anything new for us," Lapis chuckled, "But yeah they got somewhere made off by the forest near Ponyville they can stay at for a bit until Nephrite can un-corrupt them. Only thing we need to do is get them there and it'll all be good."

"Say no more!" said Peridot. She went into her hair to get the portal key, though with so many corrupted Gems everywhere it was a bit hard to find where it was at first. Luckily a frog Gem got the key and with a croak, upchucked it for them. Gross, but effective.

"Eww. Okay, everything outta the house," Peridot announced, already getting a door open after thinking about said location. But of course none of them moved to the door at first. Heck, some were moving away from the door. Peridot grumbled a little.

"I SAVED YOU CLODS, AND YOU'LL DO AS I SAY!" Peridot shrieked. A rather bullish Corrupted Gem just snorted at her from that response. They spent all night doing this, and they thank them like this? Peridot growled a little bit as the bullish Gem made a snack out of one of Steven's couch pillows.

"Hang on, P-dot, I got it. Stand clear," Amethyst instructed. Peridot didn't know what Amethyst was gonna do, but the second she saw that whip come out, all Peridot could do was quickly freak out.

"Amethyst. Not in here. Please," Peridot said, almost straining in her voice. But Amethyst knew this was the quickest way to get them moving. Even if she didn't feel too keen on it herself. Peridot and Lapis stood a bit back, and after taking a breath, Amethyst raised her whip up good and high. Some of the corrupted Gems already began to feel a little bit antsy seeing that thing when …

"RAAHHH!" the whip itself didn't get any of the corrupted Gems in the room, but the very sound of that whip crack was enough to make them all stumble and scramble to get away. It was something they kinda found out the hard way as the corrupted Gems were getting gathered from Homeworld and brought here after the army left.
As for the group in there, they could only find one main exit, being the portal created by Peridot. So the only natural reaction for them was to turn and bolt right on out. Each corrupted Gem got themselves through, but not before trampling through the kitchen first, knocking over the table and TV and such other things as they went off through the door.

However, that wasn't the only problem they had to handle today, the three were given another surprise coming in from just outside of the building. Good timing on her part, since she had to charge right in just after the portal door closed up, allowing her to swing it back open and race right in, skidding to a stop right in front of the three. Any earlier and they'd have a bit more of a mess again. Fulgurite looked winded too upon landing.

"Fulgurite, you're back. What's the rush?" Lapis asked. Rainbow Dash needed a minute to re catch her breath.

"Ok, ok, so you want what news first?" Fulgurite asked after getting herself together.

"Alright. K, so, I just got done back at the barn, and I swear, Steven's running down towards town right now!" Fulgurite revealed.

"Steven?! Our Steven? He's okay!" Peridot exclaimed. At least one of the two were found, now all that's left was Garnet.

"Wait a second, P. Ful, you said "what news first" did ya? So Steven's the good news, who's the bad news?"
Fulgurite felt a shiver run through her back, but got it out anyway.

"So here's the bad news: you know that Unicorn? Cut in one eye, has that black storm armor, has no horn? I think her name was "Tempest"?"

"You saw her?!" gasped Lapis, already having her wings come out and ready to fly.

"Yeah I did, she was leaving town with two other pieces of scum!" Fulgurite said.

"Don't ask me, I just saw the mare and I was already getting word around town about Steven coming - … Oh MAN!"

Steven finally stopped briefly to catch his breath. All that running from Homeworld, to the Warp Pad, and now to here, and only now did the world begin to look a bit more familiar to him. His home. The ground was cold, and much of the plants may be covered in snow by now, but Steven knew this part like the back of his own hand. Here, from all of his running he found the telltale signs of the barnhouse a field or so away. The half way point between the open fields here, and Beach City beyond the barn, and from there right to the Gem Temple where everyone else, he was sure was waiting for him one way or another.

"The barn. Doesn't look like anyone's home … don't worry, I'll be back soon," Steven promised himself. He began to go on down the field a bit more, not wasting much more time in trying to get his way back. The others were probably worried sick over him by now, especially with how he left there. Briefly, a smile came up on Steven's face as he got close to the barnhouse itself. He only paused to look to the barnhouse for a moment, and with a sigh he was just about to go off for another step on his way. Underline: just about to.

He wasn't alone here, not by a long shot. Sure it wasn't any huge army from Grogar, but Steven knew his followers by now. In this case, the first to show themselves were Bray, Budgerite, and Tempest, all three coming around from the otherside of the barn and cutting Steven off up front. He expected more, but it appeared it was only these three this time.

"Well look at this," Tempest commented, "You got quite a bit of nerve to just start running on back here."

"No, I didn't!" Steven insisted, making Budgerite and Bray jump, "I have to get back to my friends now, so please -"

Steven was cut short when Tempest stepped in his way. He kept trying to get passed her, but she kept getting in his way, to the point of actually pushing him back.

"Don't take this personally, Steven, but even you should realize you're no longer welcome here," Tempest informed as Steven picked himself off the ground, getting some snow off of him.

"But this is my home, and all of my friends are that way. Why wouldn't they want me back?"

As they kept talking, there was a bit more commotion coming up from behind them, as there were a few more people who had come up to the barnhouse. Normally it would just be the Gems or ponies, but this time as Tempest turned around to see, it was actually members from Beach City who were coming by to see him, getting word thanks to Rainbow Dash's quick word. Steven knew everyone here very well, none of them would want him gone. … Right?

"Lapis!" Steven exclaimed. Lapis tried to fly over to see him, but she however was stopped about half way when Tempest threatened a few lightning shots. One zap of those and it was back into her gemstone. She wasn't the only one though, Amethyst too joining her.

"There see? They want me back! Lapis, Amethyst, don't worry I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," Steven pointed out. Tempest though wasn't going to make this easy for them.

"Not going anywhere? You think so?" Budgerite asked. The hybrid Gem got up onto a taller balcony of the barnhouse, looking to everyone from Beach City.

"Try and show some restraint will ya? Or did that crazy fight on Homeworld mean nothing to you? Seriously, you were a complete psycho there, and you still think you're wanted here?" Budgerite questioned. Steven froze up as the fight began to flash in his head. With only Connie as a witness, and fellow arm in crime might he add, what was he supposed to say to any of them here?

"I … I was just trying to stop Grogar," Steven insisted, but that didn't seem to really convince the three.

"And look how that went," Tempest said. "But then again, Rose Quartz too was desperate when getting something she wants, right? Like mother, like son."

"HEY, that's not true and you know it!" Amethyst snapped, which only got Bray to jump in her way and try to buck her to shut her up … which only got him hurt. Tempest glanced her way, the unicorn having the cards already laid out for them.

"I'm not lying here," Tempest stated, "Pink Diamond disguised herself as Rose Quartz, knowing well that it'll mean killing thousands of Gems in that war. You have that same stubbornness in you, THAT'S what happened back there."

"Ok, maybe I am stubborn about a few things, but I'm trying to do what's right! Guys? Tell them -" Steven tried going closer to them, but actually some of them took a step back. Steven was acting a bit forceful, more than they're used to, and it was getting to the point when he could go off on any of them.

"Guys, hold on!" whispered Amethyst in a plea, but Steven already saw the worry in their eyes.

"Well, look at that," said Budgerite from her balcony, "You keep saying they want ya back kiddo, but they look like those mice you see in front of a cat. And just as trembly in their legs!"
Steven felt troubled seeing that, as Tempest grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back to the otherside of the barn. NOW she stepped to her side, and lined the ground with her hoof as a line.

"Don't listen to them Steven, you're welcomed here!" Lapis made clear. But now Steven wasn't so sure about that, seeing them worried that he would jump at them or something.

"Guys? Don't freak out, I-I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise. Just give me time and I'll show you," Steven reassured them.

"You can show everything you want to, Steven Universe, but it will not cover up the shards on those hands of yours," Tempest made clear. Steven stopped and looked to his hands, again the memories of those gem shards in said hands going through his head.

"Friendship and murder do not mix, Steven! You killed the leader of the Harmony Gems. Did you, or did you not?" Tempest asked. Steven felt his heart skip a beat, not too sure if everyone did hear what happened to him back on Homeworld or not.

"...…. I didn't mean to," Steven muttered. That made everyone scared now. He wasn't denying any facts, but he still felt that this was his home … he hoped.

"Another excuse? That doesn't change the fact that you killed her, Ruby and Sapphire both. Killers are only welcomed by other killers. And anywhere else they are outcast'd and outlaw'd. Or is that an exception for you because you were "doing right"?" Tempest stated. Bitter truth about facts that he wished he didn't have to experience himself.

"Oh right, you're a shatterer then, two completely different things, just like hunting!" Bray mocked. Steven was breaking, Amethyst and Lapis feeling more and more worried.

"Come on, Steven, let's get back home! Don't listen to these chumps!" Lapis called.

"You're lying, obviously," Amethyst shouted, "NO WAY Steven would kill Garnet just because of a temper! You even met him before?! Come on, Steven, tell them."

Steven suddenly realized what was going on here now, but he couldn't lie about this. The truth is always better than a well-meant lie. That's what they've all agreed on, and they've agreed to be more open about things. And these two weren't believing it by a longshot, so that could only mean one thing …

"Steven, what're you waiting for?" Lapis said, finally able to go up to him alongside Amethyst. "Tell them you didn't do that, Garnet's just missing that's all!"

"Dude, Steven, say something!" Amethyst added. Steven remained quiet, looking down to his feet.

"S-Steven, q-quit fooling around," Amethyst said in a cold sweat, even laughing a little as if this was some sick joke, "You only make jokes if it's supposed to be funny, remember? Right? … Steven? …"

There was no joke. Accident or intentional, Steven was the one that killed her. Sapphire, Ruby, AND Garnet all. Lapis and Amethyst were finally seeing the awful truth as Steven began to cry. Slowly but surely, horror edged on both of the Gems' faces.

Steven didn't need to answer anything this time to convince them. Just seeing their horror was more than enough to convince them all their own idea. Steven couldn't even bring himself to look up to any of them, but eventually his gaze slowly went up and he did take one step, just for them both to step back. Steven took a second step and -

… Stay. Back. Those two words came from a Lazuli Gem who's mind was still trying to prepare itself for what they've just figured out. Lapis and Amethyst both weren't thinking straight, their emotions starting to kick in and take over as seeing their friend turned killer try to come closer to them. They both tried to keep together, but with the reality swirling in either of them, they both came to the solution that'll decide what fate had in store …

"... There you are then. It looks like everyone's against you," Tempest concluded. And this time there was absolutely no denying it. "So, Steven, what're you gonna do now? Clearly no one wants you around here."

And then Steven turned around and ran. And this time, he was not going to come back. No one wanted him there anymore, and no one wanted him around. So what was the point in staying where he wasn't welcome?

"WHY DID WE DO THAT?!" Lapis exclaimed, frustrated. Were Amethyst and Lapis shocked about the end revelation, of course they were, but that was no excuse to just up and leave Steven like that! Unfortunately, it wasn't until after they got back that their frustration caught up with them, Lapis Lazuli even more so as she was banging her head on the nearest counter.

"Lapis, stop it! Getting a concussion isn't gonna help," Amethyst said, pulling Lapis back.

"Leaving him behind didn't help either!" Lapis snapped, pulling herself away, "Why didn't you talk me out of it?!"

This kind of panic kept up as the two were then visited again by more of the team, the Warp Pad signifying that someone was just about coming by back to the Beach House. Looking over was more of the Harmony Gem team, mostly Ponies (RD, AJ, Starlight) with the exception of Jasper and Pearl.

"HEY-O!" said Rainbow, "Woo, come on everybody let's go - oooooo …" Rainbow was gonna say go and celebrate, but seeing Lapis and Amethyst like this told them immediately that they were NOT in the mood for any celebration of any sort, mixture of sad, shock, and frustration in their expressions.

"You two okay?" Starlight asked, going over to them. All of a sudden, Lapis and Amethyst were all up in their faces, both trying to explain what was going on to any of them. However they weren't exactly getting it out right. Whatever the problem was, they were going too fast so Jasper stepped in.

"HOLD IT!" Jasper shouted, just enough for both Amethyst and Lapis to quiet down. "Ok. One of you tell us what's the matter, ok? Now, what is it?"

"Ok. Rip it like a Band-Aid," Amethyst quietly told herself, being the one to step forward to tell them the situation. She took a deep breath and …

"We messed up big time: we heard Steven was coming back, but Tempest Shadow found him first, and we found out Garnet's dead so we don't have a leader right now, and Steven actually killed her during some crazy fight back on Homeworld, and now we just ditched him and he's probably torn up and running away right now!" *GASP*
Amethyst didn't need to breathe, but all that info flowed out very fast for her, and all that was needed now was the reaction.

"G-G-G-Garnet and Steven? Gone?! Nonononono I can't deal with this! Not again!" Pearl said, starting to worry up and down about it. It was bad enough Twilight had been gone, there was no need for Garnet to be out of the picture now!

"Me, Lapis, and all of Beach City apparently because they are just as freaked out at Steven as we were," Amethyst answered, worriedly.

"W-Well what're we doing here? Steven's still out there, he needs our help! Come on, maybe we can catch him before he goes too far," Starlight decided.

"High-tail it then!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Many of them did started bolting off right for the nearest Warp Pad just off to the back, which at this point was the quickest route to get themselves back to the barn. While all of them were willing to go - no. Most of them were willing to go, there was still one Gem that got in the way. This news struck her hard, sure, but what good would it do to charge off after him right now?

"WHY NOT?!" everyone yelled, even startling the battle-ready Jasper, making her step back.

"He'll be back," Jasper stated firmly, "And he will be stronger than ever. He just needs some time to think, that's all, and once he figures it all out he'll come right back. … Trust me."

"Jasper?" said Starlight. The others paused for thought as Jasper walked from the Warp Pad, and over to the front porch, looking onward out to the sea for a bit.

And they all do. There was no reason to not trust Steven, even with Garnet's death in mind. They all joined Jasper out on the balcony for the moment, and looked out inland, knowing that it was where Steven had gone off to.

My Little Universe: Season 8

by EquestrianKirin

Homeworld Down PT2