//------------------------------//
// Overruled! 
// Story: My Little Universe II 
// by EquestrianKirin 
//------------------------------//

While it may seem nice for the Diamonds to now return to their old stomping grounds back on Homeworld, it still seemed a bit more empty since Pink Diamond wasn't anywhere around. The throne room was absent one more Gem to fully complete the Diamond symbol (again), Yellow and Blue Diamond sitting with the empty space in between them within their throne room as one of their own Gems was going over the current situation with them all.

"So at our current rate, my Diamonds," concluded the messenger, "we'll be at full function by the end of this month."

"And the healed Gems? How're they handling their situation?" Blue Diamond inquired.

The messenger Gem actually seemed to recoil a little bit, but as she was in company of the Diamonds themselves she had to try and say something to them.

"W-Well … some are fine. Some are still adjusting …" it did appear that the messenger wanted to say more about it, but Blue Diamond didn't want to force any information out of this one Gem if she could help it. It was a hard time for everyone after all, no doubt there would be some lasting trouble after so much tyranny.

"Thank you. That will be all for now," Blue Diamond simply said. The messenger Gem actually breathed a sigh of relief, before bowing to the trio and starting to go away. Pretty soon it was only Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond present in the room.

"This is wonderful news. It'll make all the difference when Grogar's touch on Homeworld's been fully removed, don't you think so Yellow?" said Blue Diamond.
However, looking over to her fellow Diamond did leave her seeing some more … irritation. Not as much as the intial Spinel thing left her in, but seeing Yellow Diamond tapping her finger on the arm of her throne did give Blue Diamond enough to know.

"Yes, everything going wonderfully. Blue," Yellow said. Yet her tone said a bit more bitterness. Not dramatically angry, but more of a "tired housewife" kind of bitter tone. But for Blue Diamond she didn't have to wait too long to figure out what the problem was, as another Gem from Yellow Diamond's sector came in from nearby, giving her signature Diamond insignia as she stepped in.

"I've returned my Diamond!"

"About time. And …?"

"Uhh … she's not back yet," the Gem informed. Yellow Diamond brought her hand to her head, groaning from the news.

"Seriously? … Fine. That will be all," she grumbled, letting the other Gem go off on her way. This news was enough to make her get on her feet for a bit. Blue Diamond got up to try and comfort her.

"Now, Yellow, we talked about this: Pink Diamond will come back around, it just takes more time for her to reform properly. You're just going to have to be a bit more patient with -"

"Blue, I'm NOT referring to Pink, I'm referring to White."

"Huh?"

"Don't say "huh" like you haven't noticed," Yellow Diamond said, thumb aimed to the other, much larger empty throne between the two, "White Diamond didn't take one step out of her own room since we got back from Earth. It's bad enough the whole Injector incident was partially her fault to begin with, the least she can do is show up."
As Yellow Diamond was saying all of this, Blue Diamond took a look over by the empty throne. They all have their own reaction when it came to the injector incident, and the temporary loss of the current Pink Diamond, but White diamond seemed to be having the most trouble. Yellow Diamond blaming her for the incident wasn't helping much either in this recovery of hers.

"For a start, please stop blaming her for what happened," Blue Diamond stated.

"Well it's the truth! She created that injector that nearly destroyed Pink Diamond's Earth, and it was her experimenting that made that Spinel go insane!"

"But it wasn't her who made Spinel come to Earth, was it?!" retorted Blue back, "She feels sorry enough without you blaming her all the time!"
Not an often happening, but Yellow did recoil a little bit after Blue Diamond's outburst. Not withstanding a grunt escaping her closed mouth. At least Blue was quick to correct herself.

"I'm sorry. … Look, why don't we both check on her, and see if she's okay?"

"... Fine. …"

…

A short walk was all it took for Blue and Yellow to get from the throne room to White Diamond's room, her door shut tight and with nobody by the door for any recognition. Yellow simply stood aside by the nearest wall, arms crossed as usual in such situations, as Blue Diamond knocked on White's door.

"White? It's us … you've been in there all day and night. Is everything okay?" Blue Diamond asked. But even with the offer, neither of them heard anything going on from inside the room. Sure they heard … something. But a clear voice was hardly any. Blue Diamond tried again.

"White, are you in there? We just want to check on you," Blue said, knocking a bit more loudly. But again, nothing. Eventually, Blue sighed and turned to Yellow. All Blue really had to do was give Yellow Diamond a look that told her exactly what she wanted to do. Yellow Diamond didn't feel too keen on it, but with a sigh she went to the door next.

"Hey, it's Yellow Diamond. Listen, if you're feeling bad about … you know. The Injector. Spinel. I'm not fully blaming you -"

"Yellow."

"Ok, I'm not blaming you at all," Yellow Diamond corrected (reluctantly). "But can you come out now? You should know by now this isn't good for any Diamond."

"... N-No. … Go away …"
Now Yellow and Blue were paying more attention. They finally got a voice, yes, enough for both of them to hear … but it wasn't White Diamond's voice. Too high-pitched. Quieter. Younger even. Blue was confused, but Yellow immediately started getting suspicious.

"Who's in there?" she demanded. Then both Diamonds began to hear shuffling going on in the room, as if whoever was in there was trying to hide before anyone could find her. Yellow even placed her ear on the door to be absolutely sure something was in there, hearing the shuffling and muffled voices a bit clearer in there. Suddenly Yellow Diamond was trying to force the door open, despite it being locked.

"Yellow, wait!" Blue gasped, but with a quick electrical shock to short-circuit the locking on the doors, Yellow Diamond forced them wide open to see what the game was in there. Once she got that door opened up, and looked into White Diamond's bedroom, there was no one in sight. No clue saying anyone got out either, nothing opened to escape so they must still be in here somewhere.

"White?" Blue asked.

"We know you're in here, so come out," added Yellow, referring to the new voices she heard. Both Diamonds ventured in closer, trying to find some sort of clue.

"I don't believe this. Did someone sneak in here and take her?" Yellow wondered, though she really hated to admit what was growing to be a more likely idea. But no evidence said anyone took her away anywhere. As they kept trying to look around, Blue Diamond went beyond the bed, and actually caught sight of something on the ground. It was fairly small, only a little bit of silver fabric, but it was enough to tell her who indeed this belonged to. As confused as it was to suddenly see it get yanked under the bed.

"... White? What're you doing under there?" Blue asked, getting down on her knees and trying to look under the bed to see her. The fabric though made view under said bed a little bit difficult, and while she couldn't see White Diamond herself, she knew her cape was in there at least. They both could hear a whimpering from under there, something sounding very scared for some reason, and trying desperately not to get caught.

"White can't fit under there, Blue. That's ridiculous, even for her," Yellow Diamond stated.

"Do you see her anywhere else?" Blue remarked.

"D-Don't see me, PLEASE don't see me!" a voice quietly screamed … apparently not realizing that the two could still hear it.

"We can hear you, you know that?" Yellow Diamond said sternly. A quick yelp was heard under the bed and, tired of waiting, Yellow Diamond gathered her strength and grabbed hold of the bed. If they won't come out, then she'll just have to move it out of the way. Before Blue Diamond could say anything, Yellow Diamond lifted the giant bed off the ground, and … finding nobody.

"Whoever's in here, stop playing games! You're not allowed in this part of the palace … or in the palace, at all -" Yellow Diamond warned. However, as Blue Diamond was looking on in a surprising amount of shock, Yellow Diamond then felt what seemed like something small slip off of the underside of the bed … and on her head, right in her face.

"GAH!" Yellow yelped, blindsided by this thing suddenly on her face. The bed was tossed aside, landing on its side as Yellow Diamond quickly slapped whatever it was off her face, the thing landing on the floor nearby the white cape. Normally a hit like that he could walk off, but not in the condition he was in … or the size he was in, that is.
On removing the bed, the two looked and saw the seemingly unknown visitors to the palace, one trying to make room under the cape briefly until Blue Diamond just picked it up and revealed -

White. Diamond. 

Only much, much smaller. Just yesterday she towered over all the Diamonds. Now she barely reached Pink Diamond's height thanks to her hair, the cape like a giant blanket. Her outfit was the same, minus the cape itself, and her complexion seemed younger, more like a teenager at least.
And she wasn't alone either, White Diamond clutching another creature in her arms out of fear. As for what the creature, compared to how he was normally viewed, he looked downright tiny - about normal Pony-sized, limbs equal proportion despite being the same mish-mash of eagle, bear, lizard, and goat. He didn't have any horns anymore, and his wings (which were already small to begin with), no longer helped him fly around.

Discord.

"...…. Uhh ……. We can explain," muttered Discord.


~~~~~~


*SLAM*

"Jasper, we just built that!" shouted Bismuth, as Jasper just finished punching the daylights out of yet another doorframe for being just a tad too small.

Little Homeworld was not taking any breaks either in its work, but while the Harmony Gems still had a lot to do in rebuilding it along with healing  what corrupted Gems remained, that would have to wait for a while. For now, as the group gathered nearby the big tower at the center of the settlement, their main focus now was on trying to get the memories of their friends back. Lapis and Pink Diamond were still trapped in their gemstones at this point, so they were going to have to wait on them for a while longer. All the remaining Gems of the Harmony Gems (the ponies couldn't make it today) were present and accounted for, with only Pearl, Spinel, and Sapphire being there mainly on necessity: Spinel being with Flint, Pearl providing an umbrella for Connie during the soft snowfall, and Sapphire … well, because her future vision told her she would be there anyway.
As for the others, Flint and Steven were both standing up at attention, Flint already drawing out what he thought would be the best diagram for who to do first on a chalkboard brought to them from Ponyville.

"Okay, so if we're gonna get their memories back, we can't just go in without a plan, so here's the best scenario we got," Flint explained.

"Why do we need a scenario if we're just repeating events? We can re-create them, can't we?" Diopside asked.

"We are re-creating them," said Steven, "But it won't be that easy if it's just us. We need people closer to each of them. Like Peridot!" Steven took a piece of chalk, and drew an arrow connecting Ruby, pointing to Peridot, "All of her experiences Ruby keeps helping her with: her fighting, her Cutie Mark, even having her enjoy fusion some more."

"Oh yeah, Rubidot! Totally forgot that was a thing," said Emerald.

"So I guess Lapis is off the list because we already got the boulder rolling," assumed Bismuth, noticing how Lapis Lazuli wasn't up on the diagram like the others.

"Well you did poof her like she did when she first got to Earth, so I assume -" *SPLAT* "- what the?!"
A bit out of nowhere, but the snow coming down did pile up on the tower's outside building platforms. One of which just needed a little bit of nudging to land on him.

"Sorry!" called a worker from far above them.

"Pearl, can I borrow that?" Flint asked, pointing to the umbrella.

"I'm sorry, but my Ms. Maheswaran will be vulnerable without it," Pearl stated.

"I think I can handle a bit of snow without the umbrella, Pearl. You can give it to him," Connie said. Only then did Pearl give the umbrella to Flint, who got it tied to the side of the chalkboard so the snow wouldn't land on him again … only for Pearl to pull another umbrella out from her gemstone, and got it over Connie's head again.

"I tried," Connie said.

"By the way, where is Ruby? Haven't seen her since she reformed back at the Beach House," wondered Flint.

"She is guarding Padparadscha now, so, I'm gonna guess wherever she is, she is," Fulgurite assumed. Ruby didn't seem willing to leave "her" Sapphire's side. Though bringing that up did get them wondering on a very keen detail with Ruby and Sapphire.

"But how do we get them together …?" Steven wondered. It wouldn't be that hard if Ruby and Sapphire were already together, even if it was just a guard with her assignment, but the fact Ruby was with a completely different Sapphire only complicated things even more.

"Well, if we're starting with the those two, why don't we get the Dorito out of those Limb Enhancers first, huh? I mean, look at her," Emerald pointed out.
Peridot in question wasn't actually that far away at all, though much of what she was doing was just checking out the area, not really accounting for the things that they needed, or if anyone needed any of it (like testing a hammer on some snow to test its density).

"It's not that bad. She's more hand-on than she did with her normal enhancers," shrugged Steven.

"That and she's actually helping Little Homeworld get itself rebuilt," said Connie. And indeed she was, as after testing the hammer on the snow, she started hammering some nails into a plank. It was again for testing density, but in a way she was still helping them out somewhat … only for the same plank to suddenly get knocked over by Jasper, who needed SOMETHING to train with.

"I was examining that!" Peridot said. Jasper though wasn't in the mood for anyone shouting at her, and picked up the Peridot by the collar.

"I got nothing else to train with, so I'm taking this. Got a problem with that?" Jasper questioned, relying on intimidation in full to make Peridot shut up.

"Jasper, not again!" gasped Diopside.

"I'll take this one. Watch this," Emerald said, clearing his throat, and starting to march right over to the brute. He may be small, but there was some advantages for Jasper being reduced to how she came out. She may've been reduced to just a brute and a bully, but …

"ATTENTION!"

Jasper was also shockingly obedient. Upon heard an Emerald's demand, Jasper immediately dropped Peridot, spun around, and presented the diamond insignia to Emerald.

"What … the …?" said Connie. 

Spinel couldn't help but snicker as Emerald got out his hexagon and floated up to Jasper's eye level.

"What're you doing?"

"No one's even bothering to train, so I'm taking this for some practice materials, sir," said Jasper, showing the plank.

"On who's authority, shrimp?" Emerald questioned, giving Jasper one of those "evil eye" expressions, humbling the Quartz soldier as she didn't technically get any orders. Jasper quickly got the plank back where she found it, all under the watchful eye of Emerald so she wouldn't get in any trouble.

"Okay, quartz, here's the update: my pals are looking for a Ruby guarding a Padparadscha around here, so instead of smashing the daylights outta everything, how about you go fetch them both for us."

"Yes sir!"

"Yes what?"

"Y-Yes, your clarity," Jasper corrected.

"You got it. And don't hurt them will ya?" Quickly Jasper turned and raced off to find her assigned targets, as Emerald smugly got off his hexagon and strolled back to the rest.

"How did you do that?" Jade asked.

"Just show em you got bite for your bark, that's how," Emerald replied with a smirk, "Also helps Emeralds are build to take charge of Quartzes."

"I'll buy the second one," Fulgurite said. They've tried showing "bite for their bark" all last night, but Jasper didn't really give them much mind except for when Emerald tried it. As dumb as the idea sounded. At least Jasper had some form of leash to her destructive manners.

"That's great, but what're we gonna do while she's doing that?" asked Connie.

A question that, before anyone could verbally answer, was already given one due to sheer timing: just before a word could come from anyone, the Warp Pad in Little Homeworld suddenly flashed bright. The flash itself stood only for a moment, until the weight of two Diamonds touched earth's ground. Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond had arrived … at least it seemed like just those two.

"Yellow? Blue?" Steven asked.

"Hello, everyone. We're so glad to see you … it is only you for now, is it?" Blue Diamond asked.

"We got a few workers up along the tower still. And NO Yellow, Pink's not reformed yet, so don't ask," Flint said. Well so much for that. They didn't have anymore time to wait, so Yellow looked up to the workers.

"That will be all for now. See if Equestria needs some work," Yellow Diamond quickly ordered. A bit of a quick order, but those that remained for the day did eventually work their way down from their posts, heading towards the Warp Pad.

"Hey, hey, w-what're you doing?" asked Fulgurite.

"Just a moment," Blue whispered. The whole group waited a bit more until what remained of the workers got into the Warp Pad. A few flashes of said Warp Pad later, and it appeared to be just the two Diamonds and what Gems of the Harmony Gems remained. Blue and Yellow checked the area once more, only seeing the Harmony Gem members and nothing more than that.

"Ok, so what's the matter?" Bismuth asked.

"... Ok. It's safe to come out now," Blue said to her hair.

"T-This is so embarrassing." muttered a voice that didn't sound familiar. "Can I just talk from in here?"

"Let's just get this over with - OUT YA GO!" said another oddly unfamiliar voice.

And suddenly something was "kicked out" of Blue Diamond's hammock of hair at front, landing down abruptly on the ground, as the kicker just jumped out himself, landing not-so-gracefully himself right next to her. No Gemstones were harmed in the fall, though what dignity this Diamond had was quickly being gone as she got herself off of her face.

White Diamond and Discord.

"W-WHITE?! DISCORD?!?!" exclaimed Steven, shocked like everyone else.

"H-Hello," muttered White Diamond. Seeing all of their shocked faces did not suit White Diamond well, but there wasn't anything she could do about it in the state she was in. For a good half a minute, everyone was just trying to accept what they were seeing was real. They looked so … frail now.

"... Oh … my … gosh … you look so CUUUUUUTE!" Squeaked Spinel. Much to White Diamond's own embarrassment, Spinel couldn't help herself, and placed a hand on her head. … Stars, this felt weird.

"W-Wha? … How … y-you - …" As for Flint, he couldn't even come close to comprehending what trick this was. The same world-conquering, experimental, GIGANTIC Diamond Authority leader, and now ... she looked so small he probably can look down on her for the first time in history. 

"I predict you will all get a quick shock," said Sapphire.

"Sapphire, you're not Padparad - YOW!" Emerald was cut off when Fulgurite zapped him, along with every other Gem of the Harmony Gems all at once … including herself.

"Nevermind," he groaned.

"Welll we're not dreaming," Steven said, dazed slightly.

"I'd love this to be a dream, then I can wake up like this," Discord said. He got his talon out and snapped his finger.
Now, what WOULD happen was that he would pop in bed, and an alarm clock of himself would appear next to him to ring away, and jolt him away. … But nothing happened. Discord, annoyed, tried snapping over and over again like someone trying to spark a lighter, but it was no use.

"Stupid magic, not working. I could've at least kept my good looks, but NOOOOO I got ditched of that too."

"Your magic isn't working, Discord?" gasped Jade.

"Does it look like it's working?" Discord sighed, slouching. This all felt too weird without asking the obvious question, and Diopside readied to ask it.

"We're really hoping you and your friends are capable of changing them back. Please," said Blue Diamond with a hint of worry.

"But … HOW?!" exclaimed Diopside, "You're this strongest beings we know!"

"We could really use an explanation here," Connie added. 

"Allow me, my Ms. Maheswaran!" Pearl suddenly said, going over to White Diamond and Discord to investigate herself. Typically it would be White diamond giving her subjects the more judgmental investigating look, so being given one herself just felt so backwards. Especially with how diligent Pearl was investigating both her and Discord. And her verdict? …

"Ah! What we have here is an Off-Colored Diamond."

"I could've told you that!" commented White.

"Ehh … thanks Pearl," said Connie, looking a bit troubled on her just flat out saying it. She wasn't wrong, but still it wasn't helping White Diamond much, who at this point was flustering all over again.

"Actually, you can tell us a lot. What even happened to you two?" asked Steven. Discord and White diamond looked to one another, but Discord was the one who went to talk for them both.

"Ehhhh … well … how open-minded are you?"

"Don't you know?" Fulgurite asked.

"Well … okay, so. It seems that I maaaay have gone just a teeny tiny bit overboard with my whole broken reality magic for a fairly long time. I mean, you know how it is, when you have so much -"

"Get to the point, Discord," butt in Bismuth.

"Ok, ok. … I … I lost my magic. All my reality-bending ways are GONE! Taken away from me because I was so "reckless and beastly"." Though Discord didn't see it as either or.

"And White?" asked Steven, "did she lose her powers too?!"

"Yes, but I don't know why: I mean I know why I had to be powered down, but I have NO IDEA why they brought her along too," Discord replied, pointing to White Diamond.

"I believe they were very clear about that," White Diamond said meekly, rubbing her arm.

"Trust me, WD, compared to me you barely did a thing! I can control the very fabric of reality, you just do it in a more "realistic" way."

"And who's "they"?" asked Yellow. A detail that Discord and White Diamond didn't technically explain that well on the first chat.

"It's like this," said Discord, only to snap his fingers and show nothing again.

"Ok, I'll explain it and you can just imagine it! So boring," Discord huffed. It never was fun to be without powers.

"Maybe I can just show them," White Diamond said. They did weaken her a lot, but she had to have something still in her to work with. She stood at attention as best she could, eyes closed as she focused hard on the remaining energy inside her gemstone. It took a lot, but eventually she finally got the effort to create a display screen. 

"Are we watching a movie?" Spinel asked curiously.


Through White Diamond's remaining display screen, it showed a rather vivid memory of what occurred to her and Discord, the best she could remember. Since she was so much weaker though, she needed some extra effort to make the image crystal clear. The first main image was of the almighty ruler North Star, apparently just waking up as she was on the ground … somewhere. Wherever it was she was locked up, stuck inside what looked to be a cage of sorts with Discord alongside her. Neither one seemingly tried to break out of the cage, and despite their large size the small servant was pulling them along just fine. Which in case was a blast from the past: a red-capped crane. The same one that they've seen months before, alongside the members of the Spirit Council. The bird seemingly walked along nothing for a while, until the bird pushed on some doors.
And out came the light of a much brighter room, which at first seemed blinding to not only White and Discord, but for those watching the screen too. Eventually though, with the bells of the building still chiming a rather eerie tune, the two found themselves in the most unlikely place. A courtroom. A Very, large courtroom. … At least, they assumed it was a courtroom, given how things were set up with numerous odd figures about the place. With the largest of all being at the very front, seemingly expecting them.

Then the crane came forward in a few steps, and began to speak, starting his first sentence with a regal bow to the leading charge.

(Pink Floyd - The Trial + FENNAH's The Trial parody)

Red-Capped Crane; Good morning, your great honor!

After bowing, the crane straightened up, starting to walk pass the cage briefly before continuing, a wing aiming at the condemned, and the accused.

Red-Capped Crane; The crowds shall plainly show
the Prisoners who now stand before you
And caught red-handed showing FEELINGS

Confusing statement, but White Diamond and Discord still heard the crowd make a slight gasp on such a statement. Maybe the idea had more meaning to the council than they figured. The crane paced around in tune to the song, step by beat.

Red-Capped Crane; Showing FEELINGS
of an almost Human nature
… This will not do.

The crane seemingly was done with its statements about their reasons here, and once it was done singing it flew off out of sight, presumably to join the others. "Your Great Honor" eyed them all for a moment or so. While White Diamond and Discord may not be too intimidated under normal circumstances, they still could sense that whoever "Your Great Honor" was, it will NOT be messed with.
Then they both felt something land on top of the cage, easily viewed on the screen, but humbling the Draconequus and Diamond. Only Amethyst would've easily recognized this guy from her dabbling with Time Travel way back when.

Time Jumper; I always said I'd like a well-made story
but I won't suffer sorry
ones who bring forth not but worry
to the lack of bitter will

Time Jumper got off of the cage, allowing the other two to see him in full, as he moved along the cage. White Diamond didn't know if he was with them or against them, based off what he was talking about as Time Jumper paused by the side of the cage, resting one of his arms on it as another pair seemingly revealed a written list, which he unraveled apart to his singing.

Time Jumper; But here, presents your bill
The result of heart and artist
I'd say "The universe is joyous!"
But with that, we have to say ...

Discord checked the bill itself, which almost seemed to extend down to the floor, and then some, combining not only the shenanigans of Discord's world-bending magic, but White Diamond's experimentation as well. Let's just say the bill was REEEAAALLLLY big.

"Oh poo," Discord gulped. But the song was far from done, as they then heard a voice off from who knew where. One that the Diamonds recognized vaguely, and one White Diamond in recent days felt silly for cutting down in the first place. The Rose Tree. The Lost One.

The Lost One; Diiiistaaant …
trapped in your own mind
you are diiiistaaant …
Constantly dreaming ...

Even if the tree didn't have any legs or arms, it still seemed to move on its own, and moved closer towards the cage itself. White Diamond moved back as much as she could to the back of the cage.

The Lost One; I'd just wished they'd give us some more time to think

???; Diiiistaaant …
trapped in your own mind
she is diiiistaaant …

After the tree seemingly went away, then came a figure Discord knew WELL wouldn't be happy to see him: The Spirit of the World Yet To Come. They all knew who this was this time, her appearance unique to her alone (well, since Luna was with them that is). Spiteful, the spirit was more handsy, and actually grabbed Discord by the neck and pull him to her.

The Spirit; You little rats, they've done it now
I hope they throw away the key
you should've stayed away and kept down to your world

Discord tried pulling and squirming out of her grip, but she only got out another hoof and wrapped around him tighter, keeping him locked in her grip like if he was a worm.

The Spirit; But NOOO!
You HAD to go your own way
Did you shatter any more worlds lately?

She attempted to wrap Discord around her neck to mock him, but all the draconequus could do was slither back to the cage as she walked towards "Your Great Honor".

The Spirit; Just five minutes, Your Great Honor
Them, and us, alone ...

"Hold me," muttered Discord. For a brief moment, it almost looked like Your Great Honor was going to give her that privilege, much to Discord's trouble as with White Diamond. But before she could go in and do so …

???; WWWAAAAIIIIIIT!

Out of nowhere, in came probably the most caring one of this council so far, and one that Steven knew right off the bat: Quetzalcoatl! The winged serpent flew in from above, quickly wrapping around both the diamond and draconequus, making sure he was heard out.

Quetzalcoatl; These two aren't bad by character
it's coincidental fare!

Quetzalcoatl slithered forward, his coils slowly loosing from the cage as he moved closer to "Your Great Honor".

Quetzalcoatl; They never aimed to tear their calling
rather a sprawling display of
emotion, in their nature
Your Great Honor, we can take that whole!

It seemed briefly that Q's words were reaching them jury nearby, who were looking in between eachother in silent discussion about the matter. At least there was ONE who was trying to make this fair, but the highest weren't all too convinced by his words. Quetzalcoatl wasn't ready to give up though.

Quetzalcoatl; Maaayyybee
There's more to this tall tale
just Maaayyybee …
both sides of the wall

The Spirit moved forward towards Q at this point, White and Discord telling that they were ready to butt heads about this, glaring at one another.

Quetzalcoatl + The Spirit; There's a difference between nonsense, after all

Their singing though was briefly cut short as they began to hear a very low and distant rumble coming from "Your Great Honor" himself, which itself sent shivers down the bodies of White and Discord. If the Spirit of Chaos was left shaking in his hoof and foot over this thing, you just know it was a force to be reckoned with.
Then came the voices again, this time aiming to Discord.

???; Craaazzzy …
Over the rainbow
he is Craaazzzy ...

…

"Your Great Honor" then revealed himself before the prisoners in full. He had heard more than enough against White Diamond and Discord, the titan of a creature leaning forward and slamming down onto the ground with a pair of tortoise feet. The mighty being was a GIGANTIC, COLOSSAL tortoise, so big he could probably swallow White Diamond whole if he wanted to. Which given his angry expression on both her and the chaos spirit, was probably an idea he had in mind. His eyes matched those of a scorned Dragon. Discord, freaking out, wrapped around White Diamond as the Diamond held Discord close as well. Neither could tear their eyes away from the giant, which probably would have dire consequences anyway.

Your Great Honor; THE EVIDENCE BEFORE THE COURT
IS SO INDISPUTABLE
THERE'S NO NEED FOR THE JURY TO RETIRE!

The voice from Your Great Honor showed a force in of itself, one that kept the rest of the council silent as he spoke. No one was going to defy his words in this session, not after everything he heard and knew. Your Great Honor then started marching closer and closer to the cage, his shadow casting over the prisoners like an approaching storm.

Your Great Honor; IN ALL EONS OF JUDGING
I HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE
OF CREATURES SO DESERVING OF THE FULL PENALTY OF LAW!

The powers of the council began to take more effect once the titan of a tortoise got close enough, the cage morphing into a zoo brick wall, the Draconequus and Diamond left trapped inside. With Your Great Honor's reptilian head and jaws taking up what was the top of their ceiling, every word slamming down hard.

Your Great Honor; THE WAY YOU TORMENT, FELLOW
YOUR EXQUISITE BLUE AND YELLOW
FILLS ME WITH THE URGE TO DEFACATE!!

"W-What're you gonna do to us?" White finally asked. Your Great Honor already got an answer for not only her but Discord as well, one of his feet reaching in, and grabbing her.

Your Great Honor; SINCE, MY FRIEND
YOU HAVE REVEALED YOUR DEEPEST FEAR
I SENTENCED YOU TO BE EXPOSED
BEFORE YOUR PEERS!

TEAR DOWN THE WALL!


Even if it was through a screen, the voice itself almost seemed to shake the ground, they all felt so humbled by the voice. After the announcement, the whole screen turned a shining white, and abruptly cut short before White Diamond got too tired.

"So let me get this right," said Diopside, "A Giant Turtle. Not a mythical one, just a giant turtle. Took away your powers AND White diamond's powers, simply because you're too crazy and distant?"

"But he's a magical tortoise," said Discord, "... and the highest judge in the Spirit Council. Apparently."

"YOU can say that?" Steven asked.

"And I don't like it any one bit."

"BOULDERDASH!!"

A rather loud and sudden screech from seemingly nowhere, as everyone turned to the now ticked off looking Fulgurite, sparks coming out of her hair.

"WHOA WHOA, what's with you?" Emerald asked.

"THAT turtle that's what's with me! "Your GREEAAT honor" tried and convicted those two without even having any proof! Did any of you hear ONE THING of evidence in that whole song? HUH?!" Fulgurite complained, up a wall about the whole thing.
They all paused and replayed the entire song in their heads from start to finish, listening to each of the Spirit Council in their turns for something. They had a defendant in Q, prosecution in the Spirit, the jury for the others … and who had any evidence?

"Huh … you know, they actually didn't say anything other than "we hate you, die in a pit"," Emerald said.

"No. They had enough proof; I was too distant and made so many suffer … and Discord was too reckless," White Diamond gravely said.

"Well okay you were, but look at you now: you've been making a lot of progress to be better without making anyone suffer," Steven pointed out.

"I told them that on the way: I stopped experimenting on Gems, I stopped trying to conquer more worlds, I say "please" and "thank you" to lower lifeforms!" insisted White Diamond. Steven suddenly looked a little stern.

"What did we talk about?" Steven reminded.

"Ok, uh, equal lifeforms," corrected White Diamond. Suddenly it didn't seem as bad that they wouldn't listen to her even if she had plenty of evidence to protect her.

"There must be something you can do. You're more experienced with such happenings like this far more than we are," Blue Diamond inquired, hoping for a good answer here. That might be true, their track record being full of magical mayhem, but this was on a different kind of level. It still got some of them thinking on what to do however ...

"Hang on a sec. You said something earlier, Fulgurite. "Your Great Honor"'s already tried and convicted them," Bismuth pointed out.

"You got an idea, Bismuth?" Connie asked.

"Maybe. But I need to get a good look at that guy first," Bismuth concluded.

Everyone was quiet.

"... Y-You … you don't mean …"

"You got it: I'm gonna go right up to that Great Honor, and give him a piece of Harmony Gem mind. Anyone wanna join me?" Bismuth offered confidently. It took some bit of thinking, but some of them already were on board.

"We can't leave them like this. I say we go," Steven said.

"I'm game!" said Fulgurite.

"Me too!" Spinel said, all giggles (and possibly not knowing what's going on).

"ARE YOU COMPLETELY MAD?!" Discord screeched … which was extremely weird coming from him, "Did you not see with your eyeballs what "Your Great Honor" even is?! He's HUUUGE, and he can tear you in seconds! PLUS he's the big head judge of that council!"

"So?" Bismuth shrugged.

"... Aww heck, you made your point, but I can't take you there! I can't even do card tricks. … or shuffle. …"

"That's fine, Discord, you don't have to. Steven?" Bismuth waited for Steven to get her plan started, but Steven kinda got stuck.

"I think I left it back at the house," Steven admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't worry, we'll fetch it," said Connie, her and Steven (and Pearl as it ended up being) going off on their way. Or at least, they would've if not for Fulgurite to suddenly bolt by them, and then returning with Steven and Connie's portal key. Hardly breaking three to five seconds. Spinel, impressed, actually clapped upon her reentry.

"Hey, if we're gonna get going, we're gettin' going. Here ya go, Steven," Fulgurite said, tossing Steven his key, and tossing Connie her key (which Pearl caught for her).

"Wait, now?! Right now?" White Diamond asked.

"Duh," Fulgurite replied.

"Discord," said Bismuth, "you've been there, and they told me you made these keys. So think you can work them into sending us to where "Your Great Honor" is?"

Discord felt himself shiver a little bit, but he knew still that they will not exactly give up on him. Besides, he wanted his powers back! So, without a word, he snapped his talons towards Steven and Connie, talon opening and waiting for either of their keys. The method for actually making this work was surprisingly simple: after Steven gave his key to him, Discord brought the head to his mouth and whispered the exact location to said key. All Discord had to do then was toss the key out to a random direction, and it found its opening within the large tower, opening a door for them all to pass through.

"B-But wait, you're just "going"? But what about your pony friends?" White Diamond asked.

"Oh yeah. … White, Discord, you two can tell em for us while we're away. They'll believe you right away after seeing you both like this, so don't worry about that," Steven said. Blunt maybe, but they'd face it either way.

"If you're sure …"

"When have we ever let our friends down?" asked Bismuth with a wink. She'd say "let you down" but that's a hefty list actually.

"Anything you want us to do?" Blue Diamond asked.

"You two can come help us. I think we can make a case for White Diamond with two of her closest supporters," Steven concluded. Politics was a common and boring thing for them to do, but really it at least was something they can join the Harmony Gems with. With that decided, they group finally -

"Spinel's here to save the day with her best friend!"

Wait, they still had Spinel to deal with.

"Again, Spinel? You've been following me everywhere, just wait here will you?" Flint groaned. This had become such a common thing for a while now, and while Spinel didn't technically do anything harmful (thank the stars), Flint's patience was  thinning out …

"Why would I do that? Best friends ALWAYS stick together!" Spinel said with her beaming smile. Only for Flint to push her back a bit, but Spinel still held his hand.

"I can't right now, I'm going to handle court session stuff. So please, just wait here with the others, and I'll be right back …"
Flint released her hand, just for a brief moment, and …

"NO!" she snapped, suddenly looking ready to kill him!

"WHOA! Ok … let's go together?"

"... YAY!"
And just like that Spinel was back to being her bubbly, happy self. Spinel wrapped her arms around him, and next thing he knew, he was stuck giving Spinel a piggy-back ride as they started going through.

"We'll talk about this later," said Flint.
Pretty soon, the only ones remaining were Discord and White Diamond.

"... Soooo … how far's the castle?"

With those two working out what to do, the rest and their teleportation actually took a bit of time compared to their typical teleportation with the portal keys. This at least gave them some time to consider what exactly to do on their way through the warpstream.

"Now, do you actually have a plan, Bismuth?" asked Connie.

"You bet. I just want to see what this guy's like first, then we'll get started on it," Bismuth replied.

"Sounds great, but be ready," said Steven, "Considering this guy drained Discord, who knows what we'll end up getting into?"

"Come on, how crazy can it be?" Fulgurite asked, just before their main method of teleportation reached its place. One step in and -

*CAAAWWW!*

The entire world of the Spirit Council laid out before them. And it was MASSIVE, starting with the bird-like creature that just flew by them, knocking many of them over with ease as it flew onward into a land that, for a lack of a better word, looked like a land of clouds and stars. Not too far off compared to a view from the Earth Moon Base, mixed with the flooring foundations of Cloudsdale. And they were seeing quite a fair share of beings not found in any of their worlds (far as they knew).

"... I should just keep my mouth shut," muttered Fulgurite.


~~~~~~


They may have been busy lately with Little Homeworld's construction, but the Mane Six still weren't going to let that get in the way for the upcoming holidays. Hearth's Warming was on its way to Canterlot, and even after what had been going on with Grogar's Army, they still took the time to setting up Canterlot for the great harmony holiday to come. Many a pony was at least lending their hoof in getting it all looking nice and sweet.

"Up goes the streamers, up goes the bows, and up goes the tinsel, here we goes!~" sang Pinkie Pie, hopping from building to building and getting both the red bows and minty green streamers and tinsel strung up across the rooftops, some of course stretching across the street. Not a single part missed in her hopping. In her hopping though, she made only one miss (kinda) and a red bow flew in the air for a bit until it landed on Applejack's hat as she was passing by with Twilight and Spike.

"I see the decorations are comin along, Pinkie Pie," said AJ.

"Yep! All bows, streamers, and tinsel hung by the chimneys with care! Chimneys, rooftops, AND street corners," Pinkie Pie reported, pointing out the decorations around them.

"Huh. Keep this up and we'll be done decorating Canterlot before lunchtime," said Spike, as he marked decorating off the list of to-do's.

"You know, after everything that's been going on, this is just the thing to unwind a little bit," Twilight said, taking a look up to the tinsel up on the buildings.

"Even a busy princess needs a holiday," said Spike, even playfully giving Twilight Sparkle a noogie to the head.

"Especially after being stuck inside that Tambalon place by a VERY evil goat king, and saving Earth from a super big injector," added Pinkie Pie. Twilight knew what they were talking about, and smiled as they all went along towards Canterlot's main square. THIS is where much of the activity's been going on inside Canterlot when it came to getting the city all prepped up for Hearth's Warming.
And coming out here Twilight got quite a bit of eye-candy: Moondancer with her friends of Canterlot enjoying the day, some decoration prepping on the Off-Colors part (with Ruby keeping guard of her Padparadscha Sapphire the whole time), and the rest of the Mane Six working some special preparations.

"Twilight, darling, there you are," said Rarity.

"Hello!" called the Rutile Twins.

"Hi, Twilight. Had a good walk on the way back?" Starlight asked, as the trio of Ponies and Dragon came up to them.

"Yeah, I'm all good. It's nice to be back to normal for a while," Twilight said. "... well, almost."

They knew who she was referring too, checking over to guarding Ruby. For the moment, Ruby was on high alert, "hup"s repeating from her mouth as she patrolled back and forth.

"Hello, Twilight," Padparadscha said with a smile.

"Well, memory or not, at least we know they're safe and sound," said Fluttershy.

"AND we get to re-introduce them to the most festive time of the year all over again!" added Pinkie.

"Besides, it's not like this is something we can't fix. Let's just get through the holidays first," Rainbow added, nudging Twilight Sparkle. Twilight looked back over to the Off-Colored Padparadscha and on-guard Ruby again.

"... I guess we can wait just a day or two. Uh, speaking of which, is she uh …"

"She's been rather protective, but meaningful," explained Fluorite, "Padparadscha told Ruby that we're all friends."

"Well that's one problem solved," Twilight said. Though as she was gonna find out, it won't be the last one today …

"ACK! My aching metatarsals! You know, you forget how convenient snap-travel is."
And just like that, the Elements of Harmony got their next problem for the day, in the form of an arriving Discord. Though aside from his obvious physical change from Draconequus serpent to Draconequus Pony, he also looked a bit ruffled up and worn out, sitting on the ground as he massaged his reptilian foot.

"And one problem given," remarked Starlight.

"Wait, did you walk here? On foot?" questioned Spike.

"And what's with the new look? Trying something new or what?" added Rainbow Dash.

"You're not reacting shocked or anything? Just give me a minute, I think I got a cramp in my hoof," Discord griped, trying to get his now sore muscles back into shape. So many eons using only his magic and he couldn't even go for a casual stroll without getting sore feet. But for Discord, he didn't need to say something was wrong just yet, especially with who was coming up next alongside Sapphire, also looking a bit worn out from her a long travel to Canterlot from the Warp Pad.

"Remind me *huff* to make a Warp Pad *huff* closer," White Diamond huffed, leaning against one of the buildings.

"WHITE?!" gasped the others.

"That's better," Discord sighed. Not on him, but whatever, he was too tired to care. They could buy Discord being in a different form, but White Diamond was just that much more unexpected.

"Wait a minute, what's going on?" asked left Rutile.

"What happened here?" asked right Rutile. The twins went quiet when White Diamond raised her hand, giving her a minute to catch herself up.
After getting themselves together, Discord and White Diamond both began explaining their situation to them, though being so tired they didn't include the video and song this time. It wasn't as entertaining, but it avoided the strain of even making it work at all so at least that was something.

"So let me get this straight," said Starlight once they were done, "You two don't have any power now because you got too power-nutty?"

"That's what he said, so the Gems are just up and off to try and see him about this. I know, it's crazy," White Diamond said, already wondering if they will even come back in one piece.

"And they left without us?!" exclaimed Pinkie.

"It's not like we were there to hear this, Pinkie," Applejack said, "Besides, someone's gotta hold down the fort til they get back. I bet they'd be a bit more worried if we all just up and left."

"But what do we do?" asked White Diamond, "I can't go back to Homeworld like … this."

"Well, then don't," Spike simply shrugged, "Weren't you gone from Homeworld for thousands of years before?"

As they were talking about things, Padparadscha saw Sapphire standing at attention off nearby. She may not know too much about Ruby and Sapphire in terms of backstory, but she did know they did belong together. So, eventually, Padparadscha moved over towards Sapphire, and stood alongside her. Ruby of course moved to the right position, and upon seeing the other Gem, she stood in between Sapphire and Padparadscha.

"Do I have permission to confront her, my Sapphire?" Ruby asked.

"I'm over here, Ruby," Padparadscha said. Sapphire wasn't all too fazed by this despite Ruby looking ready to fight. The others saw this happening, but Sapphire spoke up again.

"It's okay. I predict she won't have time to act," said Sapphire.

"Why?" Rhodonite said, worried over what answer would come next as Sapphire thought about it. …

"Because a large enemy ship will arrive in the settlement in the next minute, lead by a large white creature, accompanied by his own army. They will try to take over the kingdom as soon as they land," Sapphire explained.

… Oh clod. They were left mostly blank-faced after hearing that future vision being said, but it was quick to raise some alarm. Almost immediately, Rainbow Dash leaped off of the ground, going airborne. She was really hoping this wasn't true, but as soon as she got a good fifty feet off of the ground …

"Oh great."

Rainbow Dash was the first to see the oncoming danger, though it didn't take very long until Canterlot itself began to see just what kind of danger was starting to loom overhead. An airship. A huge, darkened zeppelin slowly coming in from the sky, the light blue streaks mirroring that of armor worn by a very particular group of Grogar's Army. An armored balloon and dark wooden base made up the body of this vessel, and as the pitch black smoke uttered from the ship's engines, it began to move into place right next to Canterlot's balcony. Time seemed to have stopped for everyone in town, looking on to the unfamiliar airship, some backing away out of worry. It was a sight that all in Canterlot, including the royals in the castle itself could see.

"Get back, everybody!" called Twilight. Those that were closer to the zeppelin quickly galloped away from the threat, and good timing as the hatch opened up from the side, a bridge connecting the Zeppelin to the Canterlot grounds.

"G-Grogar? Already?!" gulped Rhodonite.

"Everyone, keep it together," said Rarity.

Then they began seeing someone start to walk out into sight of the entire grounds of Canterlot. Though, she wasn't the white-furred creature described by Sapphire at all, she still was a pony that Twilight knew well.

"Tempest," Twilight muttered. At first, Tempest Shadow didn't really speak, but she did look over what exact "army" she was dealing with. She saw the Elements of Harmony no doubt, even some of the Gems alongside White Diamond. Though, she didn't have much time to go and confront any of them right now, as the royals arrived up front to see her. Princess Cadance, Princess Luna, and -

"Starswirl the Bearded? What's he doing here?!" quietly whispered Twilight.

"We were saving it for a Hearth's Warming surprise," quietly replied Spike. Well so much for that. The broken Unicorn meanwhile wasn't too fazed on seeing two more Alicorns, and a Unicorn who specialized in magic better than any Unicorn alive.

"And who might you be?" questioned Starswirl.

"My name is Commander Tempest Shadow," revealed Tempest, "And you must be Starswirl the Bearded. Alongside both Princess Luna of the night, and Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire. How nice to meet you three."
Though, the way she said "nice" made it sound a lot more threatening, as if her words themselves were venom. Tempest started to casually walk down from the Zeppelin before them all as they continued talking to her.

"And how may we help you?" asked Cadance.

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked. How about we start with your complete, and total surrender?" Tempest offered.

"Oh my - blue Sapphire! You were right," gasped Ruby, though in a more surprised way than a scared way, "what'll happen next?"

Sapphire paused and began to think before glancing to the third Alicorn nearby.

"The purple one will try talking to her."

"Come on guys, let's thump this chump!" Rainbow said, ready to fly in. However, Twilight quickly intervened.

"Hang on a second guys," said Twilight, "Let me see if I can talk things out."
With that idea in mind, Twilight flew right over towards Starswirl, Luna, and Cadance, standing up at front so Tempest could see her clearly. Tempest stopped moving briefly upon seeing her.

"Twilight Sparkle. See you've recovered well."

"Listen Tempest, don't do this," said Twilight, "If you just try and hear us out, maybe we can reach an agreement?"

"An agreement … alright, here's my agreement: the king doesn't like competition and can be a bit dangerous if he doesn't get his way, so surrender nicely please … or we make things difficult."

"The dark blue one will choose difficult."

"And why should we?" questioned Luna, "There's only one of you, and hundreds of us!"

For a moment, Tempest just stood still, looking around once more at all the ponies. Some knew of the full extent of Tempest's army, but instead of calling the cavalry in, Tempest decided to test something …

"They will then run away."

By jumping at the crowd! In a big leap, Tempest landed dangerously close to the citizens of Canterlot, her horn sparking up a storm like the king she followed, and that alone made the ponies scatter away, like mice before a cat. Some just as desperate in trying to get away from her. Heck, one pony literally found a barrel and dove inside to hide as if it'll do anything.

"THAT'S your army?" Tempest questioned, the scare so easy it wasn't even fun. Admittedly, Luna did feel a bit rough about how quickly they were willing to bolt off, but that did seem to further prove Tempest's point.

"Leave them alone," demanded Twilight, "It's us your after, not them."

"I was just testing, anyway. But it looks like you're the only ones not so … skittish. Why stand up for ponies who can't stand up for themselves?"

"We're more than capable of standing up for our lands," warned Starswirl.

"Really? Let me see what you're capable of."

"The large white creature will appear."

"Fascinating! And what'll that be?"

The Storm King! After all of that warm up, Storm got just too tired of waiting, and decided to just get up out of the ship to check out his future kingdom. Tempest quickly stopped and turned around to see him, regathering herself.

"To submit to you, your excellency," Tempest said.

"Submitin's good, I like that!" said Storm, just before catching sight of the Gems nearby. The Off-Colors were odd, but his first target came the very bright white one in front of them. "Uh. Who're you supposed to be?"

Why her first?

"... I'm the leader of the Diamond Authority," said White Diamond, attempting (and possibly failing) to be brave and regal. Storm though just laughed a bit.

"Oh yeah. Heh. That's nice. … why's this one still here?" Storm questioned to Tempest, his growls so low and menacing they could come from underground. Tempest was probably the only one not intimidated by the Storm King.

"She didn't go with Yellow and Blue with the rest, but she's powerless now. She won't be a problem," Tempest reported … only to get her mane rubbed by Storm as if she was a dog.

"In just a moment, the white creature will call his troops, and a brawl with start."

"Yeah, that's nice, now speaking of problems, this place looks a little too O I dunno … CUTE!!! I hate cute! I never liked CUTE! It doesn't go with the whole "big, bad, powerful, warlord" thing does it?! Deliver the punch line Tempest, because THIS HAS GOTTA BE A JOKE!!"

Then came the loud whistle from the Storm King himself to kickstart the invasion. The zeppelin started to come to life on them now, Storm Creatures starting to come out and coming into Canterlot itself. As Tempest herself figured, many of the "hundreds of ponies" suddenly started to panic and run away as the Storm Creatures raced in.

"You're amazing!" said Ruby, actually psyched at how accurate Sapphire had been so far. This remark actually made Sapphire smile, a very slight blush as she continued.

"Next, the King will command the broken one to attack them, only to have it reflected, and hit himself."

"K, if you're done having teatime Tempest, be a good pony, AND GET RID OF THEM!" the Storm King demanded, pointing directly at the royals and Elements nearby. Tempest galloped forward at full speed, her horn sparking and zapping forward stray lightning right at them. Thinking fast of course, Cadance brought up a protective shield. It was just enough to get them all safe, though one of the lightning strikes bounced off said shield, and struck Storm right in the head, making him twitch and shutter until he fell onto the ground.

"Everyone, get the Storm Creatures! We'll keep the Storm King busy while you do," called Luna, hearing more lightning strike the shield as everyone raced off to try and get the rest of the army handled. However, there were still a few that were left aside (White Diamond, Padparadscha and Rhodonite specifically). Ruby and Sapphire nearby were still idle, Ruby psyched and wanting to hear more as Sapphire continued on, beginning with three of the creatures cornering some ponies.

"The rainbow one will fly right at those three creatures. They all will fall nearby, one of which landing on top of another one."

"BACK OFF!" Rainbow Dash said, diving in like a falcon as she collided right into the three Storm Creatures. Fluttershy helped escort them to safety as Rainbow got them knocked out right away, two Storm Creatures rolling and landing on the ground, and one actually bowling into one more before it could take another runaway pony. The two of them landed hard into a building rather harshly as well, the two down and out.
The Pegasus landed briefly, but another Storm Creature soldier got right behind her, using its large claws to give the Pegasus a quick and strong whack to send her a good ten feet away. The fighter did land on her hooves, albeit a bit dazed from the blindsided hit.

"Looking for a tussle, ugly?" Rainbow Dash said, wings open and at the ready. Rainbow Dash dodged a few more strikes from the creature: one from above, one she jumped off the ground to dodge, and pulling her body back gave the Storm Creature a buck to the face. It dazed the soldier enough for Twilight to shoot a magic beam right at the creature, knocking it out and crashing it into a nearby building by mistake.

"The building will start to collapse on top of them, and they will be saved at the last second."

Rainbow Dash and Twilight were caught in falling debris from the building itself, flying and dodging falling blocks of brick and parts of the falling roof. They dodged a bit of them, but the actual wall wasn't gonna give them time to get away. Suddenly though, Starlight popped up with them, and thinking quick, teleported all three of them five feet away and out of the collapsing building.

"What next?! What next?!" beamed Ruby. Before Sapphire could reply this time, one Unicorn was picking weaker targets.

"I predict," said Tempest Shadow, "That you two will collapse in a heap of shards."

Ruby stood in protection of Padparadscha, arms out in protest and making a wall, but Sapphire wasn't worried at all.

"Hmm … Actually, you'll be bombarded by a rain of pink balls of sugar," Sapphire corrected.

"What?"

*SPLAT* and out of nowhere, a cupcake projectile splatted Tempest right in the face, making her jump back. There stood Pinkie Pie with a plate of cupcakes, in her battle pose just before going rapid-fire on the unicorn. Tempest Shadow backed up, eyes shut tight as all she got was a face full of frosting and sprinkles as Pinkie Pie was laughing hysterically.

"Look out everyone, Tempest is about to attack us!" Padparadscha said in worry. Angry though, it was Tempest Shadow's turn to turn the tables, her sparkly lightning from her horn zapping the rest of the cupcakes to a crisp. The lightning shots as well jumped all over the place, catching attention of both soldiers and the Elements of Harmony.

"Nothing is going to get in my way from getting my horn back," Tempest stated, anger filling her voice as her horn threatened to barbeque them all on the spot.

"NNOO!"
Like a literal train, Fluorite barreled right into the unicorn, sending her flying off and skidding on the ground. Out of all the fighters, Fluorite had to be both the biggest enemy and the one targeted the most, at least three to four Storm Creatures trying to weigh her down but with no luck. Sapphire, Padparadscha, and Ruby were moved away by Pinkie Pie, who picked all three up and bolted off to a safer distance as Fluorite basically was like a mix of a bucking bull and out-of-control locomotive. The Storm Creatures punched, and even tried stabbing her with their weapons, but they were literally just sticks compared to this Mega-Fusion.
Fluorite herself managed to KO all of them with a single flip onto her back, squashing them underneath her. One of the Storm Creatures was even tapping out after that, and Fluorite rolled back over to find four knocked out Storm Creatures.

"We're not going to win this. Your excellency, we have to regroup!" Tempest shouted, just as Storm was knocked back closer to her. Storm heard her well and good, but -

"What? Are you giving me an order, Tempest? Get rid of them, or I get rid of you!" Storm growled, before getting back into the fray. Seemed Tempest no longer had any choice on the matter.
Tempest could just look passed the bombardment to see the Storm King off in his own fight against Luna, Cadance, and Starswirl the Bearded. Tempest and the army may have their own issues, but Storm … well he's lucky to last a whisker at the rate he was going. He couldn't even touch them half the time with his crazy strikes all over the place, only for the Magic users to either fly aside or teleport away.

"YOU WRETCHED TOY HORSES! STAND STILL!" Storm shouted.

"Alright," said Luna, stopping briefly only to blast strong magic right at the Storm King to send him flying off a good twenty feet skyward before he slammed down into the ground.

"He will be defeated in a few moments."

"Do you submit?" Starswirl asked.

"Get your flanks in line so I can beat you!" Storm demanded in a angry roar. Clearly this Storm King wasn't going to be giving any of them any sympathy anytime soon, and he looked more than ready to kill them right then and there. Luna, Cadance, and Starswirl together charged up their horns, and as the Storm King rushed right for them, he suddenly got a face full of powerful magic, sending him flying so far back he smashed into the mountainside wall! He was knocked out cold right after that, falling off the mountainside, and out of sight into Canterlot's flowing river.
The king was down.

Out in the battlefield, it did seem that even with the larger size and fighting power, the Elements of Harmony and even the Off-Colors were giving the brutes the runaround for a good while. During the fight, after head-butting one guard and bucking another behind her, Applejack looked to the rest of her friends.

"How're y'all holding up?" Applejack asked.

"Actually, surprisingly well," said Spike, who he even fought a bit by shooting fire at one of the large guards.

"But we can't hold them off forever," added Rarity. Even if they were fighting well, the numbers were still a bit high for them to be at it without the Gems' help. Applejack then saw, closer by, one of the Canterlot bridges. It was their closest shot. Applejack gave another buck to a Storm Creature's knee before calling the rest.

"We gotta go, come on!" AJ called. Her friends heard this loud and clear, and trying to give them as much time as they could, quickly started off following Applejack to the bridge. No fighting was over there so they could regather themselves before going right back in. They all were heading there, but the Elements of Harmony were a bit ahead, and got to the bridge first. The ponies themselves were just about half way across the bridge when -

"Wait. The bridge!"

"HALT!" Tempest was not going to let them get away so easily, and in a mighty leap and rough landing, hard enough to dig her horseshoes into the bridge itself. The unicorn turned to face them all, her presence alone making them all stop, but Twilight Sparkle immediately went on the offensive and blasted a magic beam at her.

"It will break …"

The magic beams and lightning shocks collided in mid air for a bit, bouncing off here and there, but while many of them missed the group, the bridge kept getting hit over and over again, until it started to crack open from underneath them. One particularly large bolt of electricity smacked right center in between the two …

"And they will fall!"

And that's exactly what happened next. The explosion caught everyone off guard, the bridge cracking open like weak ice from the blast, even the flyers caught in the crossfire. Tempest and the Elements of Harmony all fell straight down before anyone could realize it, collapsing the bridge into rubble and all of them landing right into the raging river below! The rest could only make it to the edge of the rock wall just as this happened.
The Ponies now in the river were struggling to keep themselves above water, the rushing winter water trying its best to swallow them all up.

"Twilight, I'm coming!" Starlight shouted, and almost blindly leaped over the edge herself.

"Hurry and save them! Especially Fluttershy!" shouted Discord, who himself was freaking out by this sudden change of events. His magic gone, he couldn't do anything but watch them.
Starlight Glimmer meanwhile landed head first into the raging river below, quick to start swimming to their aid as they all struggled to try and not drown. Starlight though was more focused on trying to reach the others just ahead of her. And she better do it soon: because this river was edging closer to the mountain's edge. Straight to a two hundred foot drop!
Swimming as much as a pony possibly could, Starlight got herself in the middle of her friends, her horn glowing like a beacon. 

They all then could only see the following flash right at the waterfall's edge.

"GUYS!" called Spike. Unfortunately, the whole group up above the Waterfall couldn't find the Elements of Harmony anywhere. And the Storm Creatures couldn't find any signs of neither the Captain nor the Commander. Nothing of them remained.


~~~~~~


Steven's group were left wandering. None of them exactly knew where "Your Great Honor" was, but if the Portal Key brought them here, then they must be close somewhat. Some of them were treating this more like a field trip (guess who?), in awe and fascination over pretty much everything around them, others simply trying to go and find out where this guy is and nothing further.

"I've been wondering where a thing like Discord would come from," pondered Flint as he kept checking around the place.

"Can we go play hide and seek? Pleeease?! You can be it first if you want," offered Spinel, really wanting to go out and have some fun around the place. Rather than answer, Flint just held her a bit tighter so she wouldn't just bolt away on them. Last thing they needed was a lost Gem in a realm of gods.

"Okay, he's got to be here somewhere. Yellow, Blue, do you see anything?" Connie asked.

"Not exactly much luck," sighed Blue, "But … I think we're the ones being watched."

And Blue Diamond wasn't wrong either. A number of locals were at least pausing briefly to see them go by with a bit of curiosity, though it wasn't exactly the same kind one might get when seeing something entirely new, but more of something along the lines of a returning urge. Something like 'why're they here' over 'what are they'.

"That's fine, just long as we don't start anything we should be okay. Let's just find him, talk to him, and then we go," Steven concluded.

"You know, for being as big as a mountain, he sure can hide," remarked Fulgurite, not seeing any signs of the giant tortoise anywhere in the area.

"Maybe that turtle's too big to stand on clouds," added Emerald with a shrug.

"Excuse me, my master wants to know some information," Pearl suddenly said, the others quickly finding her in presence of one of the local Cranes of the neighborhood. They didn't need to be bothering anyone right now, but it was a little too late for that, as the red-capped crane took sight of everyone else there with a similar kind of curious look. And of course came the inevitable question.

"Who're you?" asked the bird. Well how were they supposed to answer this question?

"Uh … hi?" said Diopside, "We're uh -"

"We're just passing-by gods, don't worry about it," Fulgurite quickly said, covering Diopside's mouth. This made the bird confused a bit, as with the others, but Fulgurite wanted them to tag along.

"No we're not," whispered Jade.

"I know, but you remember how angry they were last time we met em? How do you think they'll react for us being here?!" Fulgurite said. Not exactly the full story, but bit by bit they did start seeing a point. After all, the other two were punished over their own power being too much for their own worlds.

"Gods?"

"Y-Yes," said Yellow Diamond, clearing her throat, "We've only decided now to pass by with our subjects as all. Now that will be -"

"Gods of what?" the crane questioned

"... Isn't being a god enough?" Yellow Diamond questioned back. the crane then got a scroll out, opening it and reading it out

"Well technically no. Beings that're given the god status are given it over attributes, objects of interest and/or specified locations," the crane explained, rolling back up the scroll. Before the others could figure any of this out though, it was Bismuth who stepped forward.

"Oh no, we're not doing this today fellas," Bismuth said.

"Bismuth no -"

"Okay, we're not gods," Bismuth made clear much to Fulgurite's dismay, "But we are here over one what you guys did to -"

"... Then how'd you get here?!"

"We had to use our Portal Keys to teleport here," said Steven, not wanting to lie and make things more difficult either. The crane was a bit confused again, but then Steven even went as far as to show the crane his own Portal Key. The bird looked it over, even pecking it at one point, before the bird seemingly got the full picture.

"Chaos magic ……. so Discord sent you?" the crane figured, actually not as surprised as he was just moments ago.

"How'd you know that?" asked Jade.

"There's no mistaking the kind of aura Discord leaves in any of his creations. They're all always unique."

"Putting it mildly," said Flint.

"So you don't mind us being here? We're not breaking anymore rules, or anything?" Steven inquired. The crane paused and thought about it for a short bit before shaking his head.

"If you're already familiar with the beings of this realm enough to actually come here, then there's no trouble just for being present, well, here. Eh, speaking of …"

"Oh, the information right! We're looking for a "Your Great Honor"?"

"I might've known."

Before the crane could actually answer, another one of the beings caught sight of them present in her realm, and landing down roughly not too far away she did not look too happy to see any of them at all. The landing too was very rough, making many of them having to run back to avoid her as she straightened out.

The Spirit of the world yet to come.

"Why am I not surprised to see you all here?" the Spirit said, her wings already spread open to give off a colder chill to the air.

"Hello! Uhh … long time no see?" said Steven, trying to get the chill off of his own skin.

"You know her, Steven?" asked Blue. However, this remark got the Spirit's attention to check out the rest of the crowd. If it were only Steven, and probably only Connie, then this would be fine, but seeing newer faces didn't suit well for her.

"And what are they doing here? Haven't you learnt nothing from the past?!" The spirit bellowed, her voice easily overpowering any Royal Canterlot voice Luna could muster. The only one not scared of her aside the Diamonds, was innocent Spinel who was looking on with actual amazement.

"Hey, back off! Coming here was my idea, not his! You gonna start yelling, know who you're yelling at!" Bismuth said, standing in defense of Steven. But the Spirit wasn't any more pleased by the answer. The spirit loomed over them all, towering over Bismuth.

"Don't say it: you all arrive on behalf of the Spirit of Chaos, and the leader member of their authority, in hopes you're capable of making amends."

"That's right," said Steven, confidently. The spirit huffed.

"You're wasting your time. The Council has already spoken, for they deserve their rightful punishment when no one else was willing to give it. And we've no plans on returning that kind of power. So however method you managed to arrive here, use that to leave. NOW."

"NO WAY!" shouted Fulgurite, "We're not leaving here til we see that turtle!"

"... Tortoise? You mean?" the spirit asked, though it was a more snotty remark if anything.

"WHATEVER!" Fulgurite snapped.

"You're not being fair," Steven said, "You all are punishing them without any proof!"

"Without? Proof? Did he or did he not alter the very reality to his will and connected both your worlds to the world of Equus unprecedented, and triggering conditions for the Everstorm? And did she or did she not continuously attempt to play the role of creator to the point of creating false life, and forcing torment and pain upon you all?!" the Spirit bellowed.

"Yeah, so?! They're learning from their mistakes, they're trying to be better," insisted Steven.

"Doesn't matter. Your Great Honor had -" suddenly, and abruptly, the Spirit stopped talking right then and there. The anger in her voice turned to silence, and she suddenly actually started thinking about the idea of them meeting Your Great Honor. "...…. Actually. ……. Perhaps you should meet Your Great Honor."

"Well, bring him up here!" insisted Bismuth.

The Spirit's change in tone did give them mixed feelings. Yes they were gonna meet the guy, but the way she seemed more willing to do so told them that maybe this might not end too well for them. Not that it wasn't something they didn't consider, but still.
The suggestion itself seemed to pass around quick to the other locals, as they started to move and clear the area as the Spirit walked over into place to bring him out. Even all the birds had to fly off away, sensing something big was about to come over their way. The Spirit herself, her horn glowing a ominous hue of silver, but while they expected something to shoot out of her head, nothing seemed to come up. That didn't mean some of them didn't arm up just in case.

Especially when the ground started to shake.

Off in the distance, opening up slowly from the floor of the cloudy realm, a portal was starting to open and widen up, growing easily to the size of a lake, swirling magic forming up from underneath like a whirlpool. Then they all began to see something start to slowly rise up from the portal below, one large foot after another rising upward and causing an earthquake with each step. Each foot was large enough to crush a house with little to no effort. Once two of these feet were placed on the ground, up rose the upper body and head of the massive animal. The head of Your Great Honor already went into the clouds.
Upon finishing his arrival, the Spirit then flew right up to his head, and explained the situation to him, bringing his attention to the others down below.

"WOWIE WOW WOW, that's the biggest thing I've ever seen!" exclaimed Spinel.

Your Great Honor then lowered his head, and began to speak.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" Your Great Honor bellowed. It was intimidating enough to hear his voice from a TV screen, but hearing it in real life was … something else. NONE of them were feeling confident at all seeing him anymore, many too quiet to talk at first.

"U-Uhh … Hello, Your Great Honor. Sir? We wanted to talk to you about uhh … Discord and White Diamond?" asked Blue Diamond.

"WHAT ABOUT THEM?" the colossus demanded, not in a very good mood. The demand even made Blue Diamond cower behind Yellow Diamond slightly, although not intended to.

"W-We want you to change them back," Fulgurite answered.

"They really aren't doing good without their powers," added Connie.

"THAT'S THEIR PUNISHMENT!" bellowed Your Great Honor, "THEY UPSET THE BALANCE OF EARTH, AND EARTH ISN'T READY FOR ALL THIS MAGIC! HOW MUCH LONGER DID YOU WANT US TO LEAVE IT ALONE?!"

"I-I don't know, forever?! You did this, so you have to fix it," Steven said, finding a pluck of courage.

"Please! Homeworld and all Gemkind won't take White diamond being like this," added Blue Diamond, only for their confidence to be stripped away by Your Great Honor's bellowing.

"WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF LITTLE ONES? I HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN PUSH PEBBLES AROUND!!"
And then much to their surprise, Your Great Honor started to go away with his large footsteps shaking the ground.

"WAIT, where're you going?!" Bismuth shouted, actually trying to run around so Your Great Honor could catch him.

"We're not done with you yet!" added Fulgurite added. Your Great Honor ignored them, and in desperation, Fulgurite actually zapped his hard shell.

Bad move.

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"
Your Great Honor's voice was so loud, and so harsh that they felt their ears would crack under pressure. But this magic Tortoise had his own display of power to present to the crowd below him. Raising both feet, he reared back, and the bottoms of his feet began to glow bright and strong, bringing them both down like hammers.

"RUN FOR IT!" Steven shouted. Some stood in defense. Some tried to run.

One stomp covered them all.


~~~~~~


The river flowing out of Canterlot calmed down into more of a slow stream by the time it reached more forested areas of the countryside, the rapid flow of the mountain river no longer forcing the water any further. Within the water, a lone hat slowly flowed along. Soaking wet, but still floating along in the current as good as a cowgirl hat would be able to do. For some who saw it, it would mean at least one pony didn't make it out of the rapids alive. But as the hat found itself gently touching the river bank, the orange pony found it and gently picked it up, getting the wet headpiece back on her head. As if she wasn't already wet from swimming in the river to begin with.

"Everypony okay?" asked Applejack, as she turned to see the rest of them over nearby. It was great that Starlight Glimmer managed the quick save, though quick-dry was still something they had to handle themselves: some squeeze-drying their tails and manes, others just shaking off the water like a dog would.

"Well that wasn't exactly our best way of retreating," said Rarity, just finishing ringing out her tail before it curled back into shape.

"I didn't know Canterlot's river can be used as a Waterslide," commented Pinkie Pie, who while holding her nose, squirted out a good amount of water from her ears like fountain streams.

"Sorry about that guys, but at least we're all okay. … You are, are you?" Starlight Glimmer asked after a bit. It was a good thing she was o good in magic, otherwise she wouldn't even be able to pull off the mass teleport like that.

"We're fine, but we gotta go back," said Rainbow Dash, going airborne, "Canterlot's still being attacked by those goons, we gotta get back there and fight!"
Rainbow Dash readied to fly off to go and handle the situation, but as it always seemed to happen, Applejack had to grab hold of her by the tail before she could rush back in to try and handle this. Some habits never really seem to go away.

"Don't go charging back up there now," AJ advised, "we got to think about this first."

"There's no time to think! The Storm King's still up there, and it's gonna be his crumby throne if we don't go back, right Twilight? … Twilight?"

Twilight Sparkle was handling her own issues off nearby, but funny enough they didn't involve the invasion at Canterlot Castle, or anything actually involving royalty either. In fact, the alicorn was actually in process of getting Tempest Shadow more promptly settled on the sand of the bank. Most of them were fine and all, but the fall looked like it did a bit more on Tempest Shadow, enough to briefly leave her unconscious at least so she wasn't struggling.

"Is she okay?" asked Fluttershy, walking over to her.

"I think so, but she's hurt. That fall must've knocked her out," Twilight said, even using her wing to try and fan Tempest Shadow a bit. This did put some ponies in confusion though.

"I know you're the princess of friendship and all Twilight, but … why're we helping her? Didn't you say she's from Tambalon as a Commander or something?" Starlight Glimmer asked.

"None of you have to if you don't want to, but I'm not going to leave her stuck in that river," said Twilight, sitting down by Tempest.

"But she's Grogar's commander! It'll actually help us," retorted Rainbow Dash.

"Right now, she's a hurt Unicorn," replied Twilight, "Besides, even while I was locked up in Tambalon, Tempest Shadow actually helped me more than hurt me. She kept me alive in there when everyone else wanted me dead, that's got to count for something."
Since they needed time to rest anyway, Twilight continued on explaining how much Tempest Shadow did for her while she was locked away in Tambalon. Even if she was the same Unicorn that captured her in the first place, she still avoided torturing Twilight any further than she had to, the Alicorn still remembering times when she defied Captain Nichrome and his cruelty whenever she could. Twilight at least knew what she was talking about, and the tension between many of them did start to relax a bit …

That was, until Tempest Shadow began to stir.

"H-Huh? … Where am I?" Tempest muttered in a groan. She tried getting up on her own, but it turned out that not only her head was hurting, but one of her hooves too due to the falling debris of the bridge.

"Are you okay, Tempest?" Twilight asked. It took the broken Unicorn a bit to regain herself, and realize just what kind of situation she found herself in. All of these ponies were NOT from her army, so Tempest did feel apprehensive at first.

"You're here too? …"

"Starlight teleported all of us over here before we could fall down the mountain," said Pinkie Pie.

"Is that so? … and we're all alone now, are we? … We must be pretty far from Canterlot then," Tempest figured, intrigued admittedly.

"Now let's not start any war games," insisted Rarity, "you're injured, and we're all a bit worn out already."

Tempest sighed, looking around the place. Sure they weren't near Canterlot anymore, but they didn't look like they were near anywhere anymore, in more like Everfree Forest or something. Even if she fought and won, where would she go from there?
The Unicorn then tried to stand up a bit, finding it a bit rough thanks to the hoof injury. Despite being the enemy, Twilight did help her stay on her hooves instead of letting her fall again. A bit of a weird gesture to Tempest, considering who's side she was on and all.

"Any reason why you're helping me out?" Tempest asked.

"Does it matter? It's what friends do," Twilight asked. It was a bit of a blunt answer, but Tempest didn't ponder on it much further, as she sat down and started rubbing her injured hoof a bit.

"Friends? … I don't know if a rock fell on your head, but I'm from the Tambalon Army remember? I tried to fight you just a … hmm … how much time passed?"

"About half an hour," said Rainbow Dash, pointing to the sun.

"Huh …" Tempest focused more on the injured leg of hers, giving it a rub so it wouldn't feel as sore. For a moment, the Elements of Harmony looked to one another, still wondering exactly what to do with this unicorn. Though with their mental discussion, Starlight Glimmer did take a seat over next to her.

"So … Twilight said you helped her a lot in Tambalon, and she thinks you're better than the others hanging out with Grogar," Starlight began.

"Well I'm no worse," Tempest remarked.

"You can't really like how Grogar's running things, do you?" Rarity inquired.

"Look, we're getting along, don't spoil it," she huffed, not too in the mood for these mind games right now. But that still didn't technically answer the question all that much, whether Tempest meant it to or not.

"Tempest, you don't believe him. I know you don't. You were probably the nicest one there," Twilight insisted, shaking her head. This was starting to annoy Tempest Shadow a little bit, but the Unicorn wasn't in the mood for another fight right now. Not a physical one, anyway.

"Sure you do," Tempest said, rolling her eyes.

"You're after something else from him, and it's not just to takeover Equestria," Starlight said, "We did talk a bit, and Pinkie, didn't you say Tempest was trying to get her horn back?"
Tempest gritted her teeth, what energy she had sparking up her horn again at the pink mare. First being humiliated by cupcakes, now this. Rainbow Dash was ready for another round, flying in her way before any of it could hit anypony else.

"Grogar's not as bad as you think," Tempest said after some pondering. Unfortunately for her, that wasn't enough convincing.

"You kidding? He tried to take over Canterlot just now, and he already took over Homeworld and look what happened there!" Rainbow Dash said. Tempest found the strength to get up now, and with her just taller than the other ponies, found herself looking down on them.

"Before I met him, I was starving and falling apart!" explained Tempest Shadow, "My horn had been broken, and nobody was willing to help me out when I really needed it - I wouldn't be here without him. And everyone else that Grogar took in dealt through the same thing, if not even worse. Nobody else could've saved us!"

"... Maybe … but who's going to save everyone from Grogar?" Twilight then asked. Tempest stopped, but she didn't seem to pay it that much mind. She knew what kind of  leader Grogar was, and it was gonna take more than just a few words to turn her around.

"I'm too tired for a fight today," she groaned. Rather than get into another tussle, she decided the best cause of action right now was to try and find her way back to her army, so she turned and started to hobble off a bit.

"... Oh, and by the way, Grogar didn't plan this attack," Tempest said, "The Storm King just ditched him, and tried taking over himself."

"He isn't helping Grogar?" asked Fluttershy.

"Not anymore. … Well, if he's still alive, anyway," Tempest said, still remembering seeing the Storm King get slammed into the mountainside.

"You really expect us to believe that?" Rainbow questioned.

"Not really, but I can't make you believe something," Tempest said. It was the best she could say to them. The Elements of Harmony stood there and watched Tempest go off on her way, having enough energy to at least go into a slow gallop away from the situation.

"After that fall and she still can gallop away?" said Starlight.

"Dang, she's one tough cookie," said Pinkie Pie.

"Well … it was worth a try. I just hope she reconsiders," Twilight said, as they saw Tempest Shadow go out of sight and away from them. This still left the question: if Grogar didn't plan this attack, what was he doing now? …

…

*SLAM!*

"What the hay?!" Rainbow gasped. The slam was enough to shake the ground, as if a meteor had just struck ground not too far away. The group started to go away from their river bank towards the noise, though Twilight and Starlight both did stay a while longer before they too started going off on their way to the noise.
It was a quick gallop through the nearby forest, but soon the group caught sight of something that made them stop on the stop: AJ stopped first, but Pinkie ran into her and made Pinkie tumble onto the ground. Laying on the ground, she was perfect eye level.

With Spinel.

"Is it … over?" Spinel asked.

"WHAT IN CELESTIA HAPPENED?!" exclaimed Rarity. EVERYONE from the Gem side was stuck there, laying on the ground from their encounter with Your Great Honor, but even after getting stomped on be metric tons of tortoise, none of them actually looked crushed or even hurt. Fazed and dazed, of course.

"I'M GONNA SLAUGHTER THAT TURTLE!" Fulgurite said, springing up and actually jumping straight upward, only to not reach anything, and slam back to the ground. She wasn't gonna get back there that way. The Elements of Harmony spread around the group, helping them up.

"Everyone okay? What happened to you?" asked Starlight Glimmer. Steven was the first to answer, shaking his head.

"Well, we found "Your Great Honor" … he stepped on all of us and sent us back here," Steven simply answered.

"He STEPPED on you? ALL OF YOU?!" exclaimed Twilight, not believing her ears. Someone had to be VERY HUGE to do that, especially if that included Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond too.

"But you all look just fine to me," said Fluttershy, checking to see if any gemstones were cracked.

"He must've used some teleporting trick or something then," said Diopside, "Either way … we're not gonna change White and Discord back by just talking to him."

"Speaking of which," said Blue Diamond once she got together, "Where're they?"

"Oh, they're at Canterlot, but we just got finished fighting off an invasion from the Storm King just half an hour ago, so everything kinda nutty right now, not to mention just finished going down a big waterfall. You know, the usual," said Pinkie.

"... What?"

"Don't worry about it," Pinkie simply replied. They had more time to work out the details later on. The ponies went around, helping the Gems get back up after their brush with death, and eventually they all managed to find their feet. But out of all of them, there was one Gem who actually seemed … pleased. Chuckling even as she stood there, after contemplating what just happened.

"Oh no, the turtle did something to her," Emerald said.

"No, no, I'm fine," said Bismuth.

"We just got crushed, are you sure?"

"Just hear this rock out," said Bismuth, "Now, what is it that big guy said before he kicked us out? Why we won't fix this for us?"

"Uh … something about Earth not being ready for magic? Why?" shrugged Connie. Bismuth smirked.

"So why not show them how ready Earth already is?" Bismuth concluded.

"... Explain," said Flint.

"Okay, put it together: the Spirit got mad at Discord for making Earth and Equus together right? And they think it's gonna mess up everything since they think Earth "isn't ready" for all this stuff. So If we convince them that Earth's used to having magic before this happened, they won't have an excuse to keep Discord locked down! And if we get Discord back ..."

"He can fix White Diamond with his chaos Magic!" concluded Steven.

"Exactly!"

"So, we're still here, and we don't have a clue what you're talking about," reminded Starlight Glimmer, reminding them that there was still some who weren't there in the realm of Gods.

"We'll catch you up if you catch us up," said Emerald.

"But we're talking about gods here, it's gonna need A LOT of convincing to trick them. You know how to do this?" Flint brought up. Before anyone could speak, they heard Emerald clear his throat nearby, him and Fulgurite both seemingly getting a bit of an idea going.

"I think I got a good idea how," said Emerald, "We just need some good material. A few legends, some myths, a monster or two."

"I can research some at the library," suggested Connie.

"And I'll be there to help you if you need learning," added Pearl. 

"Great! Spinel? How would you like to be … a Heart Fairy?"

"I'll do it! … What's a Heart Fairy?"


~~~~~~


Further away, and despite having an injured leg from her fall, Tempest Shadow gained a pretty good distance away from not only Canterlot but also from the Elements of Harmony. It was a bit of a long move for her with three good hooves, but she still managed all the same, only briefly stopping once she cleared the forest. At this point, she looked on back to Canterlot … only to see the ship fly away from the settlement.

"Of course. Weak soldiers following an even weaker king," Tempest sighed. She was just about to move on when -

"Grab her!"

Ambush! Tempest was weak, but not ready to give up without a fight to whoever wanted her down. Not thinking of who was jumping her, she spun around and shot a few good sparks at whoever was charging her. The electricity did get at least one, but this came out in a wave, and Tempest was pinned down by two large bull subordinates to Grogar's army. Tempest was stuck under two tons of bull, as the king himself started to come out with Captain Nichrome off close behind him. She should've expected Grogar himself to show up not too long after her conversation with the Elements, especially since she saw Sumu on Grogar's back in a flower pot.

"What's this for?" groaned Tempest Shadow.

"Safety precaution. You DID leave the Elements of Harmony without an attempt at capture," informed Grogar.

"I heard you talking to them earlier," said Sumu, though more curious, "But what happened? You didn't fight them?"

"Well, Tempest? … Let's hear it," said Grogar. Tempest should've known by now. NOTHING gets passed Grogar with Sumu as a informant. 

"No. I didn't fight them. I got injured falling out of Canterlot, and without the army, odds were against me. Besides, they … saved my life. … They didn't leave me to drown."

"They … saved you? Really?" Sumu asked. Tempest was surprised Sumu didn't get that detail yet, but just nodded.

From there, Grogar didn't speak, but he did give a physical gesture for the bulls to move her onto her hind legs, standing her up but keeping her back in case she tried to retaliate. Nichrome looked like he was enjoying this troubling situation for Tempest, since it was her who kept defying him while they were on Homeworld. As for Grogar, he moved right up to her, and stood up tall on his hind legs himself, sharpened hooves at the ready. All Grogar needed to do, was give Tempest one quick slash …

But NOT to kill?

"Congratulations," said Grogar in a surprisingly moment of pride, "your commander days are over, Captain Tempest. Of the head mark."

"What?" Nichrome gasped. Sure enough, Tempest Shadow's already scarred eye got a re-cut, fresh and new thanks to Grogar. Only then did the bulls released her, letting Tempest stand on her own power as she rubbed the new cut.

"B-B-But my lord, she just said -"

"I heard what she said," said Grogar, "Any real traitor would try to lie their way out of this. But she not only told the truth, but told it knowing it could kill her."

Grogar then turned his attention to the Unicorn.

"You don't got any fear in you, lass. If your loyalty matches your courage, then you'll make one fine captain of my army. … But betray me. … And I'll grind your bones to dust."
With that final statement, Captain Tempest Shadow simply stood there for a bit, as Grogar started to leave. Nichrome joined him, him now carrying Sumu on his back. Tempest glanced over back towards Canterlot, knowing where her boss was. If he was still alive, he's gonna have a pretty decent surprise …

"As you wish sir."