Spinel nibbled on another small, cold-looking Cherry as she just sat there, far away from everyone else. With Steven gone off to The Reef, and other Gems doing other things, Spinel couldn't really think of anyone to actually go off and see. Not that she would want to though, after seeing just how heart-broken Sapphire was for practically losing her true love. The love she had for thousands of years, no less. Spinel dropped the Cherry stem nearby her, which it turned out she already at least twenty of them, as Spinel simply left herself to her own thoughts.
And what thoughts they were left with. Spinel knew she did bad when she rejuvenated practically all of the OG Gems and all, but the true extent of just how bad it actually was slowly began to dawn to her. She didn't just go ahead and erase some Gem memories, but she single-handedly ended something she herself was, in a way, made for. Maybe even more. Just seeing the misery and shock on Sapphire's face when Ruby told her the news said it all. The Gem felt her hands grip her knees more so as she huddled there by the edge of Brooding Hill.

"I'm so stupid …" Spinel muttered to herself. Though stupid might not be harsh enough of a word, but before she could think up of any better words to describe herself, she began to hear something starting to approach from behind. Probably someone who wanted to hit her or something.

Sapphire. Spinel glanced behind her and saw the very same Gem she just saw crying her eyes out earlier. She appeared to be all by herself as well, so it was only her and Spinel for now.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Sapphire said, walking over closer to her.

"Why? …" Spinel murmured. Sapphire stopped moving towards her at that point, though her hand was still out towards her. At first there simply was silence between them both, but eventually Sapphire once again broke it.

"You can tell us anything wrong if it means anything to you. We all saw how you looked before we all split up. And we both have an idea what it is … if you want to tell me," Sapphire explained, though she tried choosing her words carefully. Spinel may be on their side, but Sapphire still knew how unpredictable the Gem was, at least to some degree. More silence hung around in the air for a bit, but little by little, Sapphire began to hear what sounded like small whimpering.

"WHY DON'T YOU JUST SAY IT?!" Spinel suddenly shouted, throwing herself at Sapphire's feet (almost literally), her hands grabbing Sapphire's dress as the rest of her laid on the ground. "I'M SORRY! This is all my fault! Look what I did to you and that Ruby, you two were probably the closest people ever, and I just cut you two apart! Why'd I even come here at all? … All I did was make things worse."

Now normally Sapphire would try to deny it. Grogar was the one who did that blow on her and Ruby, not Spinel. But little by little, she began to think about this.

"Spinel. … I'm not going to deny what you've done," Sapphire began, gently lifting Spinel's chin so Spinel can look up to her, "But I've already forgiven you."

"I wouldn't let you stay here otherwise," Sapphire pointed out, "To be honest, I was more worried about what Grogar would do over what you did."

"... Hmm … Even after I slaughtered you and your buddies, you still want me around eh? … Thank you for forgiving me." Spinel felt more tears coming out, but now was the moment Sapphire stepped back, letting Spinel let her go.

"Not so fast," Sapphire stated. "I know you're sorry, but that's not enough to just say it."

"W-Wha? … B-But why not? I said I am sorry, I-it's not like I'm lying or anything! Look at me, I'm groveling -"

"Spinel, easy, that isn't what I mean," Sapphire said, making Spinel clam up again. Sapphire helped Spinel get back onto her feet again, the crying Gem still unsure of what exactly to do.

"I know you're sorry. But it isn't enough to say you're wrong, you got to correct what you did wrong," Sapphire explained. Spinel felt beside herself with such an answer. On one hand, yes she was happy Sapphire forgiven her, but that didn't mean it was complete forgiveness. She turned her gaze away, rubbing her arm.

"No offense, Sapphire but … didn't I do enough to you guys?" Spinel asked meekly, looking away from Sapphire. Sapphire smiled.

"You want to make it right, don't you Spinel. Now how do we make this right?" Sapphire asked, letting Spinel try and figure this out by herself. It wouldn't be a teaching mechanism if she told her every single bit of information up front.

"Hmmmmm … Steven and Lapis went to that Reef place for Pearl. Fulgurite and Emerald went after Cheese Puff - whoever that is. Bismuth and Flint went to find a Tank, and Twilight and Applejack are going with Ruby. …"

"PLEASE let me help you! I don't want to mope around up here anymore, if I can help just say it," Spinel said, almost pleading. Sapphire got her in the right direction, and simply nodded but spoke anyway.

"I don't know. I don't know, but I know I still got a lot to do," Spinel concluded. She started to feel a bit more motivated now, and her mission was now clear as she stood tall up on the top of Brooding Hill. The breeze was at her back, and now confident brought her fist into the air.

"Just watch me. This is for you, bro!" Spinel said, good, proud, and ready to go.

Oops. Spinel just realized what she said. She turned back to Sapphire, her face now as red as a tomato.

"Hehehehe d-did it say that out loud? … Can you uh … not tell Steven I said that?"

"Sure Spinel. Though it's actually kinda cute," Sapphire said with a smile. Steven may have helped out a lot before one way or another, but hearing someone call him "bro" just seemed so sweet. Spinel gave a sigh of relief as Sapphire walked back over to her.

"Now then. We already got an idea how to help Ruby. but, can you do one thing for me?" Sapphire asked.

"Are you kidding? Anything," Spinel replied. Sapphire joined her on top of the hill.

"Excellent. … Operation: Star Love is a go," Sapphire announced. Spinel could easily imagine a good "Steven Universe" style title card right now, and her eyes sparkled.

Now for Ruby.
With Spinel on board to function the operation, they still needed the secondary main character to even get this whole thing started. However, ever since her last tiff with Sapphire, confronting her up on the spot about her wasn't going to be that simple and both the Earth Pony and Alicorn knew it. Sapphire did her part, Twilight and Applejack at the least found Ruby off nearby the barn house on guard with Padparadscha not too far away. Both ponies took their own outpost on the road up towards the barn (this isn't a spy mission), just far enough away to not be noticed just yet. They got their approach to think about.

"So how do you want to do this? We need to get her and Sapphire back together somehow," Twilight asked.

"How about you and I just explain to her Sapphire wants to see her again," Applejack said, "We both know they're married, so we can be honest with them."

"... Any other suggestions?" Twilight asked, wings around her chest. The Earth Pony paused.

"Twilight, you're not planning to lie to Ruby are ya?" Applejack inquired. Lying was probably the last thing they should do right now, but Twilight quickly corrected herself (kinda).

"No! … maybe. I don't know, this is not just me this time: Sapphire said she wanted to make it natural, so if we just tell her up front, of course it's gonna be awkward," Twilight explained, starting to walk towards the barn with the Earth Pony alongside. AJ though wasn't sure about it.

"I get where you're comin from, but how do we tell her then? Looks like she's got her priority down," Applejack pointed out, namely referring to her guarding Padparadscha from things. It hadn't been too long since they split up, but word from the grape vine (AKA Pinkie Pie because of course) told them Ruby's guard had really been amped up. This became especially apparent when Ruby stood in between Padparadscha and a patch of snow that fell off the roof. They knew it couldn't hurt them if it wanted to, but Ruby wasn't taking chances and jumped at the "attacker", body slamming it.

"Ok, maybe we'll ease the truth in a little bit. After Ruby calms down," Twilight decided.

"No, it's fine, I'll talk first," Twilight replied.
Their mission is to get Ruby and Sapphire to the same place, so with the main idea in mind the two ponies walked over into view of the guard and "her Sapphire". The second Ruby saw them, she jumped up on her guard.

"Calm down, Sugarcube, it's just us," Applejack said. Ruby kept her guard up to form, a hand spread out to block Padparadscha and keep her behind her for her protection.

"Here comes Twilight. How're you girls doing?" Padparadscha asked kindly, in a way helping Ruby calm down too. Padparadscha wouldn't be so friendly to them if they were a threat to her at all. Applejack stepped back and allowed Twilight to talk to Ruby first.

"So Ruby … how are you?" Twilight began. A decent start to any conversation. Ruby remembered Twilight and Applejack over back at Little Homeworld, so she was slightly on edge with these two.

"Oh, that's good. We were on our way here, and both saw you uh, attack that snow," Twilight pointed out, hoof aimed towards the now flattened lump of snow on the ground.

"You know it's not a threat," Twilight pointed out. Ruby looked back at the snow pile again.

"Not anymore. I keep saying it, and I will keep saying it: my sworn duty and life purpose is to protect my Sapphire with my life -" *SPLAT*
Soon as Ruby had finished, another clump of snow fell down, this time landing on Ruby's head. Ruby yelped, flailing her arms and legs until she fell onto her back, head covered in snow.

"I predict you will be hit by a bunch of snow," Padparadscha said, though she actually found it a little bit funny. Not malicious but still funny to see. Ruby shook off of the hit and jumped to her feet in case there was another quick attack, but alas that was all the snow that fell down from the roof today. It was a bit of a stretch, but both ponies got some idea over what to do next.

"I don't think the snow's going to hurt her, Ruby. Here, have you ever considered taking a break? For like, oh, five and a half hours?" Twilight asked. A bit forward. Ruby sprung up to her feet.

"Nope, not me! I'm not going anywhere," Ruby insisted, "I got my life purpose to do! … I kept ditching it already …"
Well what now? Applejack and Twilight looked to eachother before talking again.

"Don't worry about her, she'll be okay by the time you get back. Why don't you take a break and come along to Ponyville? We got somethin to show you anyway, and I got a feeling you're gonna get a kick out of it," Applejack offered. Ruby looked more defiant by that offer, given it involved her Sapphire this time.

"I'm not going anywhere with you unless my Sapphire says so! … right?" Ruby asked. Well they need to figure something out soon, but after a pause, Padparadscha actually figured something out.

"Thank you Ruby, you're very nice. Super nice. In fact, so nice, I'll even let you go and see what they have for you," Padparadscha answered after a little bit.

"Oh. Ok. I'm goin," Ruby concluded, actually flustering from such compliments. Ruby can't deny her own Sapphire all that much anywho. So, as Ruby began to go off on her way towards the nearest Warp Pad, Applejack and Twilight both began to trail her somewhat after thanking Padparadscha for the help. At least they would've, and they probably should, but it only took them a few more steps before Applejack suddenly felt something on her head, making the mare stop.
Twilight and Applejack looked off a bit, seeing Ruby far enough away before the alicorn took off AJ's hat … revealing a walkie talkie. Old classic, but it works. Twilight levitated the device off of AJ's head, getting it working.

"She's on her way to Ponyville now, we just got her moving," Twilight explained.

"Alright, will do. Count on party pony Pinkie," Pinkie said, before disconnecting the call. Applejack got the walkie talkie back under her hat.

"Ok, sounds like they're game. Now how do we get Ruby and Sapphire together? She won't leave Padparadscha," Twilight wondered worriedly.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Fer now, let's get em back to Ponyville. She's getting kinda far," Applejack decided, trotting on ahead to catch up to Padparadscha and Ruby. Twilight glanced back over to the barn for a brief moment before she too began to walk on her way to catch up to the rest. The Alicorn had a feeling this might not be as easy as expected.

Only one hoofstep was enough to make the Alicorn stop herself. A bit faint but still audible even when there was no wind to make any vegetation shutter and shake. Twilight turned back just fast enough to catch where that noise was coming from. It was small, and it moved kinda quickly, but Twilight just managed to make out the faint glimpse of a vine skimming through the snow, just pass the corner of the barn.
It was just enough to have Twilight trot over that way instead of following the others.

"What's that?" Twilight thought as she passed the barn corner. Upon stepping out to see, she saw something was trying to get away, hidden just underneath the snow cover for a short bit until the very cold of the snow started to make the thing shiver somewhat. Plants not adapted to the cold always had problems with snow, and Twilight soon saw the vine shiver itself exposed.

She tried moving in closer, but the vine suddenly had another trick up its sleeves. Twilight reared back, looking to see something suddenly open up on the vine, before something suddenly sprayed right in her face! Twilight could only yelped and stumble back as the vine bolted away from sight, hardly leaving any trail for anyone to follow her. The spray slightly blinded Twilight for a bit, though it did disappear after a few short seconds, letting Twilight see the world again. For a little bit the Alicorn sat there coughing a bit, much of the spray getting into her mouth from the vine's strike. After seemingly clearing her throat, which took a few coughs and hits to the chest, Twilight stood back up and opened her mouth to say … something …

……. Nothing came up. The only thing that did come up was a worn out wheeze, like that of a squeaky toy used just a bit too much.

"That's odd," Twilight thought. Twilight tried saying something again, but once again nothing much came up. Not even a tone of voice, just a strained wheezing. She tried to simply say a few words, but her voice box was so strained she was lucky to even say the word "hey" without sounding like she was being strangled.

"Oh my Celestia, I can't say a thing now! What kind of plant even is that, what did it do to me?! I … I can't talk!"
Twilight then screamed. Even THAT sounded like a worn out squeaky toy. Twilight clamped her mouth shut, though it probably wouldn't matter anyway - it was a Fluttershy scream.

"I can't even scream?" Twilight thought, "I better find a way to fix this, pronto. I can't help anypony if I can't even talk."
With that horrifying thought going through her head, Twilight Sparkle quickly took flight to go find the others. Someone HAD to know how to fix this whatever it was, otherwise Equestria will have to live with a mute princess.

"And we are DONE!" finally concluded a rather tired Spike. Once everything was completely finished, the remaining members of the Mane Six paused to check their work they've been working on.

Entirely debatable. Since Operation: Star Love was spoken out to many of the ponies, they all went busily at work making the setting as good as Sapphire described to them. The place in Ponyville they've all decided on was Ponyville Café, in part due to it willingly going along with their plan, but also the fact not many ponies would visit there during winter anyway. Of course the Mane Six also decorated the Café a little bit, even adding a frontal arch of beautiful blue and red flowers, and a fence lining the Café boundary in a loop to make it look more authentic and not placed there for the sake of a stage setup. One of the tables also was set up rather fancily, a table covering lace made from some of Rarity's spare cloth, and a small candle as well.

"I don't see anything wrong with it," said Pinkie Pie, as the others walked around to make sure everything looked alright as it should be.

"I do hope they arrive soon. The owner only promised me an hour or two to make this a success, and I tried even my best persuasion," Rarity said, checking the pace on the table.

"It looks like we got everything here," said Spike, as he checked their checklist left for them by Twilight, "Table lace, red and blue flowers. The only thing we need now is -"

Half of the party had arrived. The rest building things up turned over towards the entrance of the Café, seeing Applejack joined by Ruby. Ruby still kept her guard up.

"Yep, and all went pretty good," Applejack replied. As Applejack began heading over to the others, Ruby took a moment to look around the place a bit. Given how she'd been following Padparadscha around, she had gone into Equestria a few times already. Though it was the first time she had actually stopped and looked around the Café, seeing much of what they've decorated and what it had already. The flowers especially were a bit of a nice touch.

"Did Sapphire get here yet? I don't see her," Applejack asked in a hushed voice.

"No, she didn't show up. Maybe she's trying to work things out with Spinel some more," Fluttershy wondered.

"Speaking of missing persons, where's Twilight? Isn't she with you?" Rarity then asked. Applejack looked around again through the Café, but the Alicorn didn't look like she was anywhere there either.

*click*
Before any of them could answer the farm pony, another portal started to open up right by the arch entrance. In fact, it actually was apart of the arch entrance, a magical door opening up and new arriving figures coming in on the scene. Immediately Ruby jumped into action and made herself the barrier protecting the table just in case it was something that'll tear them to pieces.
Instead, Ruby was greeted with an angel: Sapphire had a little bit of a wardrobe change. The outfit mirrored her groom outfit almost exactly, Spinel slipping her hand in and adjusting Sapphire's bowtie for her. While Ruby was kinda caught up in how she looked, the events replaying earlier suddenly flashed through her head.

"Eep!" Ruby yelped, suddenly trying to ignore Sapphire standing there. Was she mad at her for attacking still, or no?

"My, Sapphire. You look so handsome," said Fluttershy, "Is that the same tuxedo for your wedding?"

"I thought it'll be appropriate," Sapphire replied. But her concerns were more focused on Ruby. Sapphire would be lying too if she said she wasn't a bit nervous about this, again considering what happened between the two just earlier. It was kinda hard to say though who was more awkward, Ruby or Sapphire.

"A little," Sapphire admitted, already feeling some ice start to appear on her shoes. But she knew she had to tackle this bull by the horns somehow, so she walked over towards Ruby. Ruby tried acting like she had a guarding duty to attend to, which really was just her walking back and forth by the table. It all just felt confusing to her: she was programed to protect higher class Gems like Sapphire, but at the same time this wasn't her Sapphire. That and she did kinda attack her anyway, so there's that.

"H-Halt, you're uh … too close to my Sapphire'sssssss seat!" Ruby made "clear". Sapphire could already tell she was making it up on the spot. She couldn't waste time in saying what she needed to say.

"Ruby, wait. I'm sorry about what happened between us earlier, I shouldn't have gotten that upset. I got too caught up in those rings. I was wrong," Sapphire said. Some closure never hurt anyone. Ruby paused on hearing all of this, flustering again.

"Eeehhh … I-it's okay. … B-But that's not important. I'm a Ruby Guard, my feelings aren't as important as protecting my Sapphire," Ruby said, trying to sound professional.

"Ruby, of course your feelings are important, and they always have. Which is why I wanted to make it up to you by bringing you here for the day. No pressure," Sapphire explained.

"Huh? But those ponies -" Ruby actually got smart for a second, looking over to Applejack who, while smiling, had a look that told Ruby this was the original idea all along.

"You are the surprise!" Ruby realized. Now it was Sapphire's turn to blush. Ruby didn't know what to say about this just yet, but the guard knew her place, and if a high-class Gem wanted to see her this much …

"... Umm … M-My Sapphire did say I can stay here for the next five hours. So ……. What do you … wanna do?"
Ruby was really flustering up at this point, her face much redder than normal and even steam coming out of her head. If there was one good thing Ruby could say about this so far is that she didn't completely mess up. Sapphire forgave her, to say the least.

"Let's just take the time to get to know eachother, starting here," Sapphire decided.

"O-Ok, lead the way. Your clarity," Ruby said, bringing out the diamond insignia for her. Padparadscha seemingly didn't tell her this wasn't as big of a thing anymore. Sapphire gently placed a hand on Ruby's hands, slowly bringing them down.

"No Ruby, it's okay. You don't have to be so formal here. Just call me Sapphire," Sapphire said. Ruby blushed again, but dropped the insignia.

The meeting was going well so far, and Ruby and Sapphire actually had a seat. The ponies, Spike and Spinel off nearby were feeling pretty good with the whole thing. Operation: Star Love was going off at a good start. But even with this going off smoothly, there still was no exact sign of Twilight Sparkle anywhere. Wouldn't she at least come by and check by now?

"Couldn't have, Twilight even told us she cleared her schedule for today just to help us out. There couldn't be something else coming up on her," Rarity explained.
Unfortunately, that answer came up on them in the form of Spike burping up a letter of flames. It was a bit quick and quiet, so it didn't interrupt Sapphire and Ruby off nearby but the group did end up getting a scroll coming right from Canterlot itself.

"Boy, it's been forever since that happened," Spike remarked, thumping his chest in case there was more. The scroll itself was one done by Twilight herself, as this one had a specialized symbol along the ribbon used to wrapped up the paper.

"It's from Twilight?" realized Rarity, as she went on to unravel the message. And what did this message say?

Girls, sorry this just came up, but I need help! I know what I said about clearing my schedule to help Ruby and Sapphire, but there was this one thing I forgot to do: Yakyakistan is coming to Canterlot and are finally opening their borders for the first time in hundreds of moons, and Luna and Cadance said I HAVE to be there. I can't stay with Sapphire, but I also need help in making Equestria feel comfortable to the Yaks, so PLEASE come by for the introduction if you girls can. Operation: Star Love is still a go, it's just temporarily on hold for now.

signed: Twilight Sparkle

"The yaks? OH YEAH, I knew something was gonna be crazy today," Pinkie realized.

"I thought they weren't coming until next week. They're coming by today?" Fluttershy asked again worriedly as she too checked the letter. Sure enough it was there in black and white.

"Waitwaitwait, what about Ruby and Sapphire?" Spinel asked, them checking on the two Gems as they were talking off nearby. The two looked alright for the most part, though they could see something must be happening to Ruby as she tried to ignore the flowers around them.

"You're leaving?! But the plan," Spinel said, freaking out. This was NOT what Sapphire had in mind at all, and Spinel was on edge as it is with the whole plan in general.

"We'll be back here in two shakes of a lamb's tail. Just make sure they have a good time til we do, ok?" Applejack explained. The task seemed simple enough for Spinel to do, but she was more than hoping they would help her out so she wouldn't screw any of this up. Plus what would these Yaks do? That wasn't gonna be her priority for now though, so she gave them a salute.

"I'll hold down the fort here, everything's gonna be fine," Spinel promised them.

"Thanks, Let's go make some new friends," Pinkie Pie said, her and the others starting off back towards Canterlot, using a Key Portal for a quick access back to the castle. It was only Spinel standing there now, and all she could do is hope things go smoothly as she was hoping for.

Canterlot Castle was filling up quite a bit now. Who would've guessed Yakyakistan would just show up on the same day they tried getting Ruby and Sapphire together? The throne room made sure everything looked as good as it could for the newcoming Yaks to arrive on the scene, the throne room cleaned up and the royal guard at attendance over alongside the main runway. Cadance, Luna, and Twilight were over by the thrones themselves, though as Cadance and Luna were sitting and waiting for their arrival, Twilight was stuck going back and forth in a cold sweat. She would've taken more time to study up on Yaks if she knew they would come a week early! Twilight didn't utter a word (not that she could), but her face said it all already.

"Twilight tell all those butterflies in your tummy to beat it! Making friends is always fun," Pinkie Pie promised. The Alicorn didn't seem like she was doing all that well though, still sweating and constantly checking the door for the second the representatives would arrive.

"I'm sure they're just as nervous as you are," Fluttershy added in, but again it seemed Twilight wasn't answering them much either.

"Anypony else wondering why she's not talking? Twilight, you can hear us can't you?" Rainbow Dash asked, more blunt about the problem herself as she flew over by the worried Alicorn. Twilight gulped and she tried talking, but nothing really came up so she quickly recovered and just nodded her head quickly. Bad enough she was mute, this Yakyakistan visit was only making things even harder for her.

"Ok, Twilight, just survive the day and everything's gonna be fine!" Twilight thought, "Yep, completely fine! It's not like the Yaks hadn't been in contact with anypony for hundreds of moons, and the fact they live so far up north nopony has even BEEN THERE so we don't know what they like! ……. I'm doomed."

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike asked, poking her in her wing. It was enough to make Twilight jump and spin around to see Spike standing there. She tried saying something, but this time she clamped her mouth shut before she could try any attempts. Instead she shook her head and tried to keep a cool smile.

"Geesh. We know you're nervous, but don't you think you've dealt with worse before? What's the worse a bunch of Yaks can do?" Spike asked.

"Presenting before her majesties!" started one of the guards by the door, "The representatives of Yakyakistan and his majesty himself: Prince Rutherford!"

With a gulp, Twilight jumped right into place by Cadance and Luna, who by the way also saw Twilight worried behavior. Though this wasn't anything new for her, so they all kept their focus towards the front door, which itself swung wide open and (funny enough) another rug appear and rolled right up towards the thrones themselves, covering up the rug already there.
Then the Yaks came in. The Yaks themselves were plenty large, easily as tall as Celestia would be by they themselves are as big as Ponyville hay wagons, and most likely weighed twice as much. They all could easily tell they were strong beasts of burden just from a simple glance their way, big enough to cover up one of the ponies just by laying on them if they'd want to. They all were thick with fur that almost dragged on the ground, large "manes" along their necks and so much hair it covered up most of their faces except for their muzzles. Not to say these Yaks weren't primal, as they all were clothed up in their own traditional attire: rings and bulbs of pale gold along their legs, beards, and horns, large Viking hats on their heads with a warrior wolf's tail poking out the top of them, and drapes of saddle blankets along their large backs.
Probably the most "regal" of the Yaks was Prince Rutherford himself: his fur a fine ginger color, his neckbeard so big it was made into a ponytail by a large gold ring, a small set of cowbell earrings, numerous large rings along his horns, including a very small one at the tip of his left horn, and blue and gold saddle blanket along his own back.

"Ponies! Greetings, ponies!" Rutherford bellowed, his voice loud and showing a bit of his own power.

"Prince Rutherford. May I be the first to welcome you and your Yaks to Equestria. It is a great pleasure to finally see your country open your borders to us," Luna said, the first to speak to the prince himself. Rutherford didn't seem to react at first, at least in expression.

"Me honored. Yaks hope for good friendship between ponies and yaks. FRIENDS FOR THOUSAND MOONS!" Rutherford bellowed. His own voice was enough to rattle her eardrums, and blow her mane back, but at the least Rutherford was in good behavior for now. Twilight only hoped the big Yak wasn't gonna ask her for anything, as she sat a bit farther back.

"We are all honored to have you here, Prince Rutherford," said Cadance. I'd imagine you all are pretty hungry from such a long trip?"

They heard one of the Yaks' stomach started to rumble and growl for their answer.

"Yaks could use hearty meal," Prince Rutherford said, also feeling pretty hungry himself. A good answer for them to hear, as Luna gave a signal for one of Canterlot's high chefs to come in, bringing what easily looked like one delicious banquet. The meals in question the Equestrians made absolutely sure were something traditional for the Yaks to enjoy: a green pumpkin, some spiced roots and tubers, even a slice durian for something extra. The Yaks, while hungry, took a bit to see what the princesses of Equestria had made for them.

"We thought you'd say that, so our royal chefs took their time to prepare this banquet for you. It's not as authentic as we'd like it, but we tried our best to have it similar to Yakyakistan's cuisine," explained Luna. The prince of the Yaks went over to see just what the ponies had created for them, a few sniffs here and some close looks there, seeing how well they've done in duplicating Yakyakistan food. Rutherford kept his inspection going for a little more before looking to the ponies.

"When things not perfect, Yaks get mad. Yaks always mad when things not perfect," Rutherford "warned", though it didn't sound like it. Twilight sure felt under pressure though, gulping as she backed up a little bit.

"Twilight, calm down. You're freaking out more than usual," Spike quietly said. And he'd seen her freak out much more before than anyone else.

"Well, just remember, we tried our best to make it authentic, but … we're not Yaks," admitted Cadance, trying to be friendly about it. Rutherford will be the judge of that. The first part of the banquet Rutherford tested out was the green pumpkin. He first gave it a few sniffs, and then he went ahead and gave it a good bite. He took a few chews, and then a swallow, letting the taste sink in …

Twilight gave a huge sigh of relief as the Yaks went in and enjoyed themselves on the banquet. That could've gone downhill VERY fast, but at least it was going well so far. Good thing Rutherford was distracted with eating too, because by this point the ponies began to go over towards the troubled and silent Twilight.

"Hang in there, Twilight, we know you're nervous about impressing the Yaks. We got everything under control, because we got you to make sure everything's under schedule," Cadance said. Twilight admittedly did feel better since this was all gonna be in a schedule instead of just willy-nilly, and Cadance even levitated a list she had by her throne for Twilight to look over. Twilight didn't need to talk this time, and instead hugged her sister-in-law for the list.

She could only hope that the rest of this visit was gonna go just as smoothly. Though, that was just about to be tested, as Rutherford finished eating.

"Food is good, yes. Yaks want to see Ponyville now. Ponyville exciting Yaks hear," Rutherford decided, the other two Yaks agreeing with a nod of the head. And just like that Twilight felt her worry rise again, especially with what they said next.

"Sure thing, sir Rutherford," said Applejack, "We'll show y'all around Ponyville if ya want. It's gonna be dandy."

So both sides got busy: Spinel tried her absolute best to make sure Ruby and Sapphire had a good time as the others tended to the Yaks' stay. Prince Rutherford and his followers followed the ponies right on into the middle of town, the group of ponies having themselves an easy access portal key to use. Ponyville itself went along with these new Yak newcomers like they've done with many of the recent newbies over the years, giving them a friendly hello once and a while and continuing their day. The Yaks meanwhile just followed the pony guides they got going for them, listening to Pinkie Pie going on about Ponyville same way as she did with Spinel.

"And that's the entire history of the Ponyville Flower Shop. Now what history do you want to hear next? Sugarcube Corner? Town Hall? The Town Square Fountain?" Pinkie Pie offered.

"Pinkie Pie, I think we all heard enough history for today," said Rainbow Dash, "You've already talked about everything else."

"Pink Pony smart and chatty. Yak historian will like Pink Pony talk," Rutherford figured.

"Good job on the history Pinkie, though I was expecting that more from Twilight," said Applejack.

"I know, but Twilight's been so quiet lately, I thought I'd fill in for her," Pinkie replied with a big grin.
The Alicorn in question had kept herself ahead of much of the group as a silent guide for the Yaks to go through Ponyville. With the subject brought up again, the others were stuck thinking about it.

"You know, she has been rather quiet come to think of it. I haven't heard her utter a word since we left Canterlot," Rarity realized.

"Yeah. Actually she hasn't said a word since we left Earth either," Applejack added. Rutherford heard all of this himself, looking to the smallest princess of Equestria, and despite appearances actually got his own thinking cap on. So …

"Purple Pony!" Rutherford shouted. Twilight jolted around to face Rutherford, who by that point was standing right behind her. Again, she couldn't talk.

"Purple Pony quiet since Yaks got here. This mean Ponies no want Yaks?!" Rutherford asked, his tone demanding an answer. Twilight immediately panicked and shook her head quickly, hopefully being enough to satisfy Rutherford for now. Rutherford snorted, a scent of thick hay and pumpkin not hitting Twilight's face.

"No meaning you do, or you don't?" asked Spike. Oh goodie. Twilight tried to put on her best face, but there was no mistaking her worry with these Yaks, and her lack of a voice.

… The whole group heard worn out squeaky toy noises for a good twenty seconds before Twilight gave up.

"Good impression, Twilight. It almost sounded like you didn't even try," Pinkie complimented. Twilight would find that silly if it wasn't true, but how was Twilight going to respond to this? She had to answer them SOMEHOW without making them worry about her again, not to mention still showing the Yaks a good time during their visit.

"Pony answer Yak!" Rutherford insisted. Twilight tried to think fast, looking over the list she had on her given by Cadance. Maybe that list would give her something to do for this, but as she skimmed through the list, she suddenly had that "eureka" look on her face. And she went right over to Pinkie Pie, levitating the list to her face.

"Huh? … OOOO, you want us to do this, Twilight?" Pinkie asked, pointing to the spot Twilight was bringing attention to. Twilight quickly nodded her head, feeling a little more reassured in Pinkie's abilities than to her own. Who better to plan a celebration than the party pony herself? Pinkie though took a look to Twilight on understanding that, seeing deep into Twilight's eyes to figure out what Twilight's deal was. It almost looked like Pinkie might actually figure the mare out …….

"Okie dokie lokie! We'll make this the best Yak visit ever," Pinkie Pie promised, taking the list and going back over to the Yaks. Twilight was so lucky to have such supportive friends, otherwise she probably wouldn't make it out of this alive. Unfortunately, the Yaks themselves started to notice something else as they checked around the place. Namely, the Ponyville Café.
And the Gems were still there. Sapphire, Ruby, and Spinel were still in position, and it seemed their get together was going pretty well. Even if Spinel by now was acting more like a waiter by this point (she even had one of those throw towels on her arm and everything).

"Okay, gotcha," Spinel simply said. That pattern had been happening at least five times now since the Mane Six had left her alone. The Yaks found this interesting, and Rutherford walked over to the flowers decorating the area.

"Greetings, not Ponies!" bellowed Rutherford, the bellow almost making Spinel trip over her own feet. The bellow also startled Ruby and Sapphire, though Ruby had the more immediate reaction as she jumped to her feet in an instinctive protection gesture.

"Ok, guess we're doing this - Rutherford, this is Spinel, Sapphire, and Ruby," introduced Rainbow Dash. Rutherford looked over the three of them some more, but seemed interested in them quite a bit actually.

"How do you do?" Sapphire said. Rutherford moved right over towards Sapphire, but Ruby kinda had to keep herself in between the Yak and the Gem. She may not be her Sapphire but her "instincts" to protect Sapphires was too deeply engraved. Rutherford's focus though was in Sapphire, even bringing his hoof up to move some hair out of his eyes so he could see her a bit better.

"Yaks hear not Pony strong! Fierce! Almost Fierce like Yaks," said Rutherford. So even Yakyakistan had heard of the Gems before.

"Well you're not wrong," Spinel admitted, given what she witnessed already from them. Still she leaned over towards Sapphire.

"Psst, you're the future seer, did ya see this coming up?" Spinel quietly asked, as the Yaks were seeing the flowers along the fences and arch.

"I saw it as a possibility … but now you'd want to move five steps to your right," Sapphire said/warned.

WHELP, there goes the décor. Rutherford's sneeze single-hoofedly blew off ALL the flowers, covering Sapphire, Ruby, and Spinel in a heap of the stuff. Red flowers, blue flowers, and plenty of fencing all now cobbled in a pile. The tables were knocked over too from the blast.

"No! It took me forever to find those flowers!" Exclaimed Rarity (which probably isn't true). But that was the least of their worries.

"What?!" Spinel exclaimed. Rutherford suddenly charged right then and there, starting by hooking his horn into the arch and swinging it right out of the ground, slamming it into the dirt before trampling it under his hooves in rage. The other two Yaks joined in and found their own flowers to smash and trample. Spinel had to quickly yank Sapphire and Ruby out of the way before they could get trampled themselves.

"What the hay?! They didn't get THIS mad at the castle, what gives?!" Rainbow asked, just to get hit by a tossed-aside piece of wood, knocking her onto the ground.

"Hang on a second, stop! You don't have to -" Applejack tried to calm the Yaks down, but in their stomping and trampling, AJ got herself a buck to the face, sending her AND her hat, careening off a ways.

"Take cover!" yelped Spinel. The others off nearby had to play a sort of dodging game, jumping or reflecting away either a bunch of flowers, stray fencing, or a table or two. The whole group could only find some sort of safety about twenty feet away from the Yak prince. And just how long did this rampage last?

"... Did you … get everything out of your system now?" Fluttershy asked meekly, once the noise all stopped. Rutherford huffed, having some flowers in his muzzle before he chewed them up for a snack.

"I KNOW, how about you go and sleep? It's on the list, and we've got some hay beds made for you if you have back in Yakyakistan," Pinkie said, thinking fast on her hooves before they could try and destroy anything else.

"Pony make nice offer. Yaks see, but if things not perfect …" Rutherford didn't need to finish, as his hoof stomped on some flowers again. Not that he needed to remind them again after THAT display. Thank the sky above for Pinkie Pie. Pinkie and the Yaks started off on their own way from the destruction site, leaving behind a group of very stunned people.

"... So that's a thing that happened. Why?" Spinel murmured. Twilight could feel her entire body shiver on what kind of damage these Yaks can cause now, her hooves trembling.

"Don't be like that, they're just different. … Very. Different," Rarity said, levitating up some of the flowers she tried hard to even get.

"I think they broke my record for most stuff broken in under a minute," Rainbow Dash said.

"Yes, I'm alright. I guess we got more to handle with today than I predicted. We must be in the buttercup timeline," Sapphire figured, thinking on it a little bit. The operation must've got her distracted from other plans for today.

Sapphire rechecked the possible scenarios, but before she could actually get an answer in, one toy Gem was already working out the gears in her head. There was only one thing to do in a situation like this, and she was smart enough to know the ponies will be a bit busy during the Yaks' stay.

"Sure. I mean, what kind of friend won't help her friends deal with a Yak prince? I'll make em have a good time. Can I, Twilight?" Spinel promised, giving them a wink and a thumbs up. Twilight nodded eagerly, giving Spinel the greenlight to help them out a bit more.

"I thought you wanted to do the operation- I-I mean, the date," inquired Rarity. Spinel suddenly felt spooked, and began to wonder.

"Holy, you're right, dang it. Ok, think … I know! Walkie talkie please," Spinel said. She can't ditch her responsibility, but she needed to help them with this Yak problem too. The walkie talkie was given to her by Fluttershy, but rather than keep it, she gave the device over to Spike.

"Just give me a jingle if you need anything. I'll be right back here, no sweat, no problem. I promise I'll make this work," Spinel made clear, though the last part was slightly pleady even if she didn't mean to. They probably could use the extra hand with Rutherford.

"If you all are okay with it. Some of you stay with Sapphire, some follow the Yaks, I'll be wherever you need me," Spinel promised. Now Sapphire was starting to wonder just what kind of future they were in for with this scenario.

"That sounds fare to me," said Rarity after some thinking, "Twilight, would you mind staying with Sapphire? No offense dear but you looked very … troubled with them."

Twilight could only nod yes. At least with Sapphire she wasn't required to speak. Spike went to Twilight's side.

"... You can say yes, Twilight …" Spike insisted. Twilight didn't and just nodded her head again.

"Uh oh, we better go. We'll catch you later," Rainbow Dash said, before flying off to see what else the Yaks were complaining about. The other Ponies mainly did the same, leaving Twilight, Spike, and Spinel to handle the date with Sapphire and Ruby. Sapphire though took a look over towards Spinel, who herself was just waving goodbye to them with her own smile. She had her own ideas to what might happen next, but she'll just have to wait and see.

"I saw this as a possibility. I didn't realize it's the path we were taking," Sapphire thought.

And in such thoughts, they weren't alone. Twilight's vine had already given her information off to the enemy, who by this point was taking their position over by some cover in the form of barrels. They knew what they had to do.

"Wow. I can't believe that worked. I thought sneezing from sprinkled pepper was just a dumb myth," said an admittedly surprised Budgerite as she tossed the pepper shaker into the nearest garbage can (for the record, they sprinkled it on before the ponies got it).

"Now I understand y'all are noble warriors, and don't care much for the "finer things", so my family will be honored if you rest in our barn for your visit," said Applejack.

First stop for the Yaks now was Sweet Apple Acres (after nearly smashing apart the wagon in Ponyville). All that energy smashing things did leave the Yaks needing some sleep, the ponies figured, and what better spot to do that than the barn? Applejack's family made sure the barn looked spick and span to appease the Yaks, Big Macintosh being the one to move the beds of hay in place for the three to relax in.
Rutherford checked the beds themselves, though not as much as before back in Ponyville.

"Great! You can chill out here all afternoon, because you're gonna need all your energy for my welcome party later!" said Pinkie Pie with a beaming smile.

And what a jinx that was: after following them to the barn, Budgerite had taken her position up along the barn rooftop, finding a hole in the roof just big enough for her to peek inside and see what was happening. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were glad Rutherford approved of their efforts, and for a moment they felt like they dodged another bullet with these big brutes as they all got settled on the hay beds. You know, until Budgerite decided to sprinkle down some pepper from the roof hole, right down in front of Rutherford ...

"WAIT," Rutherford suddenly said. His tongue tasted some of the hay. A hint of pepper.

"E-Er, we didn't have yak hay, but we thought it'll be good enough for you to sleep on?" Pinkie said worriedly, as she and Applejack backed away slowly towards the door. As for Rutherford, this was NOT good enough for him at all.

"Not perfect! YAKS DESTROY BED!" Rutherford roared, stomping down and trampling the hay beds right then and there, the other two Yaks joining him and destroying their own beds. All Pinkie Pie and Applejack could do was quickly bolt out of there as the Yaks made an absolute mess of the entire barn, throwing out wood pieces, stray buckets, and whatever else they could get their hooves on. Not even a few minutes in the barn, and already these brutes were making a wreckage outta everything.

"Pinkie Pie, what do we do?" Applejack asked worriedly, just avoiding getting hit by a flying milk pail. But this was just the first thing, they got a LOT more listed on Twilight's to-do list to handle, and there's plenty of time they can do to make up for this mishap.

They weren't the only ones with a monkey wrench in their plans today. As they still were trying to handle the Yaks, the secondary team kept pace with Sapphire and Ruby as they were going about their day, at the ready to be sure they have a good time. So far though, the two didn't have too much trouble, as Sapphire and Ruby were going out to have a picnic by the snow-covered fields. Who cares what month it is? Spinel, Twilight, and Spike were keeping an eye on them from afar, but made sure not to directly intervene. Spike and Twilight were alright and keeping watch, but Spinel just couldn't keep herself still.

"You going to keep making laps, Spinel? Sapphire and Ruby aren't going anywhere," asked Spike, trying to help Spinel relax a little bit.

"I know, I know I know I know, just waiting to see if they need anything. They didn't say anything so far," Spinel said, playing with her fingers as to distract herself. How can she make amends if they aren't letting her do anything to help?

"It's not like they have to call you at this very second. Just chill out," Spike advised.
Her opportunity though would have to come up soon, because eventually Twilight gave Spike a good tap on the head so he could see what she was seeing. Sapphire and Ruby seemed they were having fun, but that wasn't what Twilight was seeing when she was looking beyond them. There was something, or someone, moving around through the snow. Stalking the two from a distance. Twilight didn't say who it was, but Spinel and Spike saw the movement too.

"Uh oh. Something's coming up on them," Spinel gulped. But what it exactly was they couldn't tell. Sapphire and Ruby didn't really seem to notice though, and in fact Sapphire actually had something for Ruby, holding it in her hand: a pretty little buttercup, colored a shining violet. Ruby's eyes sparkled in surprise seeing that thing.

"Is that for me? You didn't have to," Ruby said. Sapphire answered Ruby by helping her put the flower in her hair.

"I know. I wanted to though," Sapphire simply answered with a smile. Ruby felt a smile show up on her own face.

"I dunno, I can't even tell what that is," Spike said. "Got any ideas, Twilight? … Twilight?"

Twilight didn't answer, her horn glowing a little bit just in case. Just a quick cast of magic should do the job, but the thing was in a position where she couldn't aim properly. Twilight tried her best, but she didn't want to zap at Sapphire OR Ruby. The snow clump loomed closer, and closer, until it looked right behind them.

Spinel acted faster than her mind did, and next thing they all knew, Spinel sprung out from nearby, lunging at whatever it was. Her tackle ended up making a cloud of snow poof out, Twilight and Spike unable to see what was happening.
Soon after that cleared, there was two Snowmen, and an upside-down Spinel. Sapphire and Ruby shook off the surprise snow, just to look and see Spinel with nothing to show for her goof.

"Hi, I'm just checking in on you. We all good? Good," Spinel said, thumbs up while upside-down before falling onto her back.

"I told you we're alright Spinel," Sapphire restated, as Ruby shook off the snow that got stuck on her. Sapphire helped her out though she had more snow stuck in her hair.

"Right. Checking," Spinel simply said again, though she was flustering up when she realized that, potentially, she did that for no reason. She didn't see what she got, nor was it around for her to see. Sapphire didn't look too mad though, but then again most of her looks were more monotone than most as far as Spinel was seeing.
However, as Sapphire looked to Ruby and her snow-covered head, it started to remind her of a little something.

"Oh Ruby, you look like an ice cream cone," Sapphire chuckled. Ruby looked up to her head. Ruby, embarassed, quickly got the snow off of her head. No guard would be good looking like ice cream.

"S-Sorry. Uh, I-I think we should go somewhere safer mam. For your protection," Ruby said, trying to sound tough like a actual Ruby guard should. Sapphire stood up.

"Okay Ruby. If you don't like it here, we can always try somewhere else. There's a lot more to see than just a field," Sapphire decided, gently holding Ruby's hand. Ruby felt much better after that, smiling her cute smile. However, she quickly shook it off and got her insignia back on again.

"R-right. Let's go," Ruby said more professionally.
Spinel breathed a sigh of relief seeing this not become a disaster like the Yaks did to the barn, but before she could continue on about this, she then keenly heard the sound of the walkie talkie going off by Spike and Twilight. Spinel got herself back over there, and got it to play.

"Hi Spinel, you mind coming over here? I got the Yaks a surprise I think you'll love to help me out with," said Pinkie Pie over the walkie talkie.

"She nearly got me, she nearly got me, she nearly got me," Bray stuttered to himself repeatedly, his heart still pounding like crazy as the donkey SOMEHOW found a hiding spot further away from the commotion.

Lucky for her the next stop wasn't too far away. In fact, it was practically in the same field. Rutherford and his Yaks had basically a similar idea to that of Sapphire and Ruby to have a picnic out in the snow fields, joined this time by Fluttershy for Pinkie Pie's idea with Spinel's help. The pink mare and Gem stood by a curtain strung up from the nearby tree.

Spinel was given the honors of pulling the curtains away from one side as Pinkie Pie pulled the curtains from the other side. Soon after that was handled, the animals in question all started to come out from behind the tree. Actually it was mostly Applejack's smaller barn animals and a few of Fluttershy's animal friends (including Angel Bunny), all wearing large custom Yak horns. Spinel made sure to get the farm animals here since she already had to help mend the barn with Applejack just minutes earlier, and Pinkie Pie got the horns made and made sure they got animals that weren't in hibernation at the time.

"Thank goodness," sighed Fluttershy. All three could only hope that this wasn't going to end badly again like it did back at Sweet Apple Acres. Unfortunately, as with the barn, one half-bird Gem had something else to say about that. This time the hybrid took her position up in the same tree, high enough out of the way so they wouldn't detect her up front. She didn't have any pepper with her this time, but she didn't need something so complicated this time.

All she did was drop a stone onto one of the animals' heads before bolting away. The animal (which was a beaver) stumbled a bit and fell onto the ground.

"Mr. Beaverton Beaverteeth!" Fluttershy gasped. The beaver was okay, shaking off the stone as he started shouting up to the tree at whatever that was, but there was something else the Yaks saw that they were NOT going to take lying down: the Beaver's horns fell off.

"HEY! Actors lie! These no Yakyakistan animals! YAKS SMASH!" Rutherford bellowed.

"NOT THE ANIMALS!" gulped Spinel. Fluttershy was quick enough to fly in and get all of the animals out of the way before Rutherford could smash them, and while he did miss the animals he got his head caught in the blanket they were using, shaking his head and tearing it to pieces. The other two Yaks just joined in with Rutherford in stomping everything around them, the only thing they weren't going for being the tree itself. Spinel, Pinkie, and Fluttershy got up there as quick as they could, none of their party hurt by the rampaging Yaks.

Spinel had to make tracks right to Sugarcube Corner after that venture to catch up with Ruby and Sapphire. It was a mad dash, just as the lovebirds gotten themselves right inside, Spike still outside by the time Spinel managed to make it back to them. She practically almost barreled inside Sugarcube Corner.

"We just got to Sugarcube Corner, and Sapphire just order a few cupcakes," Spike explained, catching her up to speed.

"Cupcakes? Oh, that's good. Nothing bad can happen from a few cupcakes," Spinel decided. She actually baked a few herself, so no reason to be worried. She and Spike looked over to Sapphire and Ruby, just receiving theirs from one Velvet Sugar, and boy do they look pretty good: one sparkling blue like the ocean, the other a vibrant red like fresh apples off of Sweet Apple Acres.

"not at all," Sapphire joked, "I couldn't ever predict that such a phenomenon could happen. It must mean something!"

Part of Ruby's mind kept saying to take her words seriously, and one part kept telling her it was just all in good fun. Since it looked so silly, Ruby actually chuckled. Sapphire smiled seeing this reaction over the professional one. As Sapphir4e, Ruby, and by extension Velvet Sugar were distracted with something, one sneaky looking figure started to peep over the counter and at the cupcakes. Only Spinel saw a sneaky looking tail quickly appear, add a little something to the Cupcakes, and bolt out of sight.

"See what?" Spike asked. That's a no then. And neither did Sapphire and Ruby as they got a hold of the cupcakes. Spinel tried to keep herself back but the more she looked at them, and the closer the cupcakes got to their mouths …

"Gimme!" Spinel suddenly said. Before Sapphire or Ruby could take a bite of either cupcake, Spinel had no other choice but to take them away … and gulp them down whole.

"Yep, those're definitely gooood cupcakes," Spinel said, licking her lips as she patted her stomach, "So good you two should orders a fresh set of cupcakes for the road!"

That summed up everyone's thoughts as what happened to Spinel. Whatever was spiked into those cupcakes immediately effected the Gem, suddenly inflating her into a round ball! Potent stuff whatever it was, and Spinel couldn't move, rocking back and forth on her round form.

"I feel like I'm gonna explode," Spinel mumbled, her body rolling so head settled on the ground. Sapphire looked back to the counter, not seeing Velvet Sugar at the counter. Instead, the blue Gem walked just behind the counter and noticed something left behind at the crime scene, and some rather larger footprints leading out the nearest back exit (too big for a pony). Sapphire soon saw the cause of the inflation in the form of some bottled-up frosting left on the ground. The tube had what looked like a cloud on it.

"Looks like someone's toying with us," Sapphire concluded, showing everyone the tube briefly before she placed it on the counter.

"Does that happen to say how long this lasts?" Spinel asked, poking her round body.

"It says "half an hour". But since you ate two, you'll be like this for an hour," concluded Sapphire.

Wonderful. Well, at least Ruby and Sapphire didn't turn into balloons. Just after that was revealed though, Spike began hearing the walkie talkie going off once again. Spinel had to roll over to Spike in order to get close enough, holding the walkie talkie.

"Spinel, honey?" asked Rarity over on the other end, "When do you think you'll be coming back?"

"Well I know you're awfully busy with Sapphire and Ruby, but I think the situation's getting a bit uh … sketchy," Rarity warned. Spinel then heard what sounded like gnawing, and a loud spit, just to then hear …

"Nononono, please not my mannequins!" Rarity pleaded, as Spinel started hearing the sounds of numerous objects breaking and smashing.

The rest of the day basically continued on like this: Spinel having to go back and forth between both parties to try and keep up with everything: either she had to help the ponies make things right for the Yaks, or she had to intervene in some rough way in Sapphire and Ruby's date so things didn't go south. Unfortunately for her and for Pinkie Pie (given she was in charge of the Yaks basically) the end results seem to always end up the same.
For the Yaks side of the party, Rutherford always seemed to end up smashing or destroying something that ticked him off, no matter how hard they tried to make it look authentic to Yakyakistan stuff. Pinkie kept trying idea after idea: baked goods, clothing (according to Rarity), she even tried SNOW of all things, but alas it was always a wreck after everything.
As for Ruby and Sapphire, the trouble with those two was mostly on Spinel's head. With Twilight for some reason not with them anymore, Spinel was put under a bit more pressure to make sure Bray didn't actually hurt any of them, or messed them up. At least they were somewhat aware of what Spinel was trying to do, but her methods were still rather rough all the same.

Either way, Pinkie and Spinel were STRESSIN.
The very first moment they were given a break, Spinel and Pinkie both met up away from both parties and by the most comfortable spot they could think of: Pinkie Pie's room. Only Gummy the gator didn't look stressed out, staring off into space as he usually does.

"This day's turning into a DISASTER!" Spinel said, pulling hard on her ponytails as she paced around back and forth, "Operation Star Love is struggling just to stay active here, and I don't even know if it's working! And clearly SOMEBODY's trying to split them up because I'm the only one apparently seeing it!"

"You call THAT bad? What am I gonna do?!" said Pinkie, who was laying on her bed upside down, "I got a lot of awesome stuff planned for the Yakyakistan welcome party, but they're GONNA HATE IT! I don't know if Ponyvilla can take anymore smashing or breaking, or destroying!"

Both girls felt weak, Spinel down on her knees as Pinkie sorta slid off her bed and onto the floor, as Gummy tried to flick his tongue out at a fly outside.

"With a capital SSSSSSS," Pinkie agreed. She turn spun herself back up onto her hooves as it was her turn to start pacing back and forth.

"I never could've imagine it would be THIS hard to make Yaks happy, but they're just too sensitive. Even Fluttershy made them mad! FLUTTERSHY!"

"And who gets THAT ticked off over snow? SNOW! Isn't that universal or something, why does it matter where it's from?!" Spinel added, almost ready to tear her hair out. Even she wasn't that trigger-happy. Spinel went over to Gummy and actually saw the three Yaks in question being walked around town by Spike, who by the by was leading them to their party in question. Much to their dismay.

"This is really confusing: How am I gonna help make Rutherford happy, and keep Ruby and Sapphire happy, AND make sure they're both alright and not getting hurt while I'm gone?! … Do you know an answer? I could REALLY use one. I don't want to mess this up," Spinel asked Gummy.

Gummy just stared at Spinel for a second or two, before his tongue stuck out and licked Spinel's face. Not any words, and to her not much help. While Spinel didn't think this was any help and ready to huddle on the floor and cry, Pinkie's ears actually perked up as she went to her pet alligator.

"Come again?" Pinkie asked. Gummy turned to her, and basically did the same thing to Pinkie's face as he did to Spinel's face. THIS TIME Pinkie had a struck of genius hit her face, the reaction being a loud gasp.

"Gummy. You're a genius," Pinkie said, giving her favorite alligator a kiss on the head before she pulled outta her mane her Portal Key.

"If we can't make Ponyville feel like Yakyakistan, then I'm just gonna have to go RIGHT to Yakyakistan and bring something back! Spinny, you hold down the fort until the party starts," Pinkie concluded, holding her key as if it were a sword, standing on her bed. Spinel suddenly started to panic, and she grabbed Pinkie by the hooves, laying on the ground.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie promised, full gesture and all. GOLLY did it feel good to give that gesture again, and what a good time for it too. In an actually impressive throw of the hoof, the Portal Key got right into the door, opening up the portal good as new. The pink mare needed one thing, just one thing to help the Yaks have a good time, and she was willing to go to the source to get it. Pinkie jumped right through the portal, but soon she popped her head back to the room.

"Don't worry, Spinel, Gummy's got you covered. Bye," Pinkie said, before closing the door and, as such, the portal too.

"...…. Tell me your secrets, Gummy," Spinel said, leaning in close to the reptile. All Gummy gave her was yet another lick to the face.

She's on her own now. So what was a troubled Gem with two responsibilities to do?

"They keep smashing things back in Ponyville? Are you sure?" asked Luna. Spinel was just too freaked out to think, so she went right to the higher ups themselves (Twilight was still missing for some reason). Unfortunately it was only Luna in this visit, but it was better than nothing. She also brought Gummy with her too, in case these ponies could translate for her what the reptile was trying to tell her.

"I don't know what to do, and Ponyville's gonna crumble if this keeps up. You never got them mad, PLEASE tell me what magic spell you zapped them with while they were here," Spinel said, hoping for a good answer. Luna looked a bit puzzled.

"Magic spell? I didn't use any magic spells on Rutherford, why would I do that?" Luna questioned, the guards questioning that decision too. Spinel wasn't sure if she heard that right.

"But HOW is Canterlot still standin?!" Spinel exclaimed, not seeing ANY SIGN of destruction in the throne room or anywhere in Canterlot for that matter on her way here. Clearly she did something to keep it that way, but what? The Alicorn got up and started walking over towards her.

"Calm yourself, Spinel. Now what is it you and your friends tried before?" Luna asked.

"Oh man, where do I begin? Well Applejack tried showing them some Yakyakistan beds at her barn, they never got over that. Then we tried to show them a Yakyakistan animal show, and they tried making pancakes outta them. We even tried showing them Yakyakistan SNOW and all they did was trample it all! What's the difference anyway?! What're we doing wrong?"

"I can agree we did present them a Yakyakistan-style banquet on their arrival, but that was because Yaks have different diets than ponies do, and it'll probably not be very good to keep to normal food we ponies usually eat. We never planned that extending to everything else during their stay."

"But what about their comfort? What about making them feel at home in Equestria?" Spinel questioned, still worried a bit. Luna sat down, a wing around Spinel to help calm her down.

"I believe you just answered your own question, Spinel," Luna said. Spinel didn't entirely get it.

"I did? All I said was how can we make them feel at home … why're you so quiet?" Spinel pointed out. Luna nodded, but didn't say anything to her. Spinel had to work it out for herself, and indeed Spinel began to wonder just what she herself meant by that.

"Home is somewhere where you feel welcome," explained Luna, "That doesn't always have to mean that it has to be from your old home in order to make you feel welcome. And anyway, we already explained to the Yaks that we couldn't replicate their culture exactly like it was in Yakyakistan. They understand how difficult that can be, especially for a country who hasn't ever truly been there themselves."

"Yeah, something I wish we knew a few hours ago," Spinel admitted, feeling stupid all over again. Luna walked over to the window, which itself looked out to Ponyville. But then at mention of "we" something else crossed her mind.

"Sorry not to inform you, Spinel. Since Rutherford is visiting us in Equestria, Cadance had agreed to visit Yakyakistan as well for her own informal visit. I had Twilight go with her as her representative, just as Rutherford has with his pair of Yaks," Luna explained. Something, again, they wished they knew sooner.

"You might want to tell Pinkie that, because she just teleported there too," Spinel informed.

"I'm more than sure Cadance will inform Pinkie Pie by the time she gets there," Luna reassured. It'd be ridiculous if Pinkie Pie wasn't informed while Cadance and Twilight were there. All the same, Spinel started to feel slightly better about the situation.

"Here we are! Hope you're all ready to have a good time, because your frowns are going to turn upside down!" announced Spinel.

Desperation called for desperate measures. Instead of spending her time going back and forth between the two, she got both sides of the party to the exact same place at the same time. In this case, it was Ponyville's outdoor theater, with a piano set up for some entertainment, and some decorations in the form of some lights along some fencing. Best she could do on short notice.

"Hold your frown face!" ordered Rutherford, making a more forceful frown on his face.

"You shouldn't have brought us all here," Sapphire said, as Ruby felt a bit uneasy with the large Yaks again. Spinel though was more than insistent.

"No, nono it's FINE, I-it's all good! Now we allcan have a super time together, and NOBODY'S gonna get messed with. It-it's brilliant, it's genius, it's spectacular. JUST LIKE how this party's gonna be!" Spinel said, finishing her statement with a good thumbs up and a BIG smile. Though, her eyes said she was more desperate than anything else, and it actually looked kinda scary.

"Because she's pushing herself, Ruby," Sapphire replied. Of course Spinel didn't catch it, and wanted to get this show up on the road.

"Alrighty, who's music fans here?" Spinel then asked, waiting for them to answer her.

"This Yak music?" Rutherford questioned suspiciously. He had seen more than enough "Yakyakistan" in Ponyville for one day, but Spinel's answer surprised everyone.

Spinel then grabbed the nearest rope and pulled the curtains aside. The Ponytones looked ready themselves, Octavia, Toe Tapper, Torch Song, and Big Mac were ready to go, their voices prepared for the performance. This seemed different from their attempts earlier, so the Yaks weren't ready to just turn tail and leave. Same thing for Sapphire and Ruby. Big Macintosh did warn them about their "destructive" behavior, so they all were hoping this wouldn't be a bad time for everyone. Again.
Though the Yaks were a bit questionable since there wasn't any instruments on stage to use.

That was, until they started to sing. Their top hit song began to bring out to the crowd, starting off with Big Mac as it usually does, with Toe Tapper, Torch Song, and Octavia joining in on their accord. Everyone was surprised on the upbeat music, because even without instruments carrying any of them, their voices were enough to give them all an awesome song. Rutherford couldn't believe his own ears.

Trot outside and you see the sunshine (see the sunshine!)
Something's in the air today (Oh, ah-ah, today!)
Sky is clear and you're feelin' so fine (Oh, ah-ah-ah-ah)
Everything's gonna be A-Okay (Everything's, oh-OoooooKay!)

"Music beautiful! So much soul!" said Rutherford, actually tearing up along with his fellow Yaks. It takes a LOT of talent to make music work without instruments, and the Ponytones were killing it as they continued singing. Spinel couldn't be happier, even dancing to the music herself with a sway of her hips. Of course she did see that Sapphire and Ruby weren't dancing just yet, so she jumped over to them, silently inviting them to dance to the song by basically dancing next to them both.

"D-Do you … do you want to dance?" Ruby asked Sapphire. Sapphire though actually started to shiver as her future vision saw something going on.

"What's wrong?" Spinel meekly asked. Sapphire looked to the Ponytones once more as they neared completion of their song for Yakyakistan.

And then the song ended. The Yaks were so overjoyed with the musical performance, they were actually applauding the Ponytones for their effort.

"Thank you very much," said Octavia, "When Spinel told us to entertain you, we were more than honored to -"

Trot outside and you see the sunshine (see the sunshine!)
Something's in the air today (Oh, ah-ah, today!)
*zzt*
in the air today (Oh, ah-ah, today!)

Ok, that was NOT them. The Ponytones, confused, looked around the stage for whatever was singing their song they just finished. Eventually, the source of the noise came up just behind the back curtains, and they all then saw what decided their fate: a recorder. A very loud recorder, playing the song it just heard.
Rutherford saw this too, and you could probably guess what happened next.

The Ponytones had to scatter as Rutherford body slammed the stage AND the recorder, smashing it and the floor to pieces. THIS was the straw that broke the camel's back: he can take the food, the fabric, maybe even the snow he'll let slide, but when they're messing with his choice of MUSIC, that's when they crossed a line. His frustration though was all his own this time, tearing apart the floor of the outdoor stage until there wasn't much left except for wood tossed every which way.

"Rigged?! I'll have you know we weren't even aware of that recorder!" retorted a very insulted Octavia.

"LIE!" Rutherford roared. He tried charging them again like a bull in a pit, this time his horns hooking the fences and lights and tearing them out of the ground. This time his rampage did catch someone, as a huge bit of fencing actually struck Ruby, knocking her head over heels until she slammed into the stage herself.

"Ruby!" gasped Sapphire, rushing to her aid. Rutherford's hair was tossed back at this point and everyone saw the sheer anger in Rutherford's eyes, targeting the one responsible for setting this all up. Spinel was more than shell-shocked at what just happened.

"NO MORE WAIT!" Rutherford roared in Spinel's face, "Yaks no friends with liars! Yaks take train, go home, return with more Yaks! WE DECLARE WAR!!!"

WAR. These Yaks were going to declare WAR over this visit?! Rutherford turned around, his yak tail slapping Spinel's face as he turned and began to walk away. Spinel needed a moment to comprehend all of that, staring blank-faced at first with wide eyes. Slowly, her expression began to frown, and tears began to slide down her cheeks.

"THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!" she cried through soaked eyes, "I just wanted to make this day super extra special for all of ya, but I can't even do THAT RIGHT! All I do is mess things up and ruin people's lives! AND NO EVEN MY STUPID DANCING HELPED!"
She yanked on her hair like mad in her tears, this time actually tearing some bit of her ponytails out of her own head before she collapsed on the ground, fist slamming the ground as she tried hiding her face in the other arm and in the snow.

"I tried my best! I tried my best!" she wept. It was hard to make this out as a lie, and Rutherford did stop and looked back to her for a moment or two. Suddenly though, Spinel was up on her feet again and, still crying, turned around and ran away. She couldn't risk making things even worse than she already did, even if she couldn't possibly make it worse at this point.

Only Ruby saw someone else leave for a brief second. And it wasn't Spinel she saw there running off …

Find Spinel. That was the new mission they had to try and handle before anything else now. The ponies dropped Operation Star Love and even the Yaks' party in order to try and figure out where Spinel went. Sapphire stayed over by the Ponyville fountain (one of the few spots not wrecked yet), left pacing back and forth herself much like Twilight would in such a situation. Eventually, the other ponies did finally return to her.

"Angel and I searched the forest, but …" Fluttershy simply shook her head for her answer. So no where in the forest.

"I looked all over Sweet Apple Acres, and both my barn and your barn top to bottom. No Spinel," Applejack said, hat to her chest, "... But I did find an old pair of Granny Smith's dentures under the house so … not a complete loss."

"Tried the entire castle back in Canterlot, but that's got nothing too so … yeah," Spike shrugged.

"I tried my search back in Beach City, but no sign of her. She simply vanished!" said Rarity.

"I should've known this would happen. Spinel tried so hard to please everyone," Sapphire said gravely.

"But who said she had to please everybody? It's not like she had to handle both the Yaks and Ruby," asked Spike. Sapphire took a breath.

"I … I did. I told her that it's not enough to just apologize, and she had to fix the mistakes she made. I didn't think she would take it this far … even after seeing the future. I shouldn't have told her about the operation," Sapphire confessed. She tried to keep Spinel from worrying too much about herself and Ruby, but guess that wasn't enough. Heck, it probably made this result happen.

"Uh, sorry for changing the subject and all, but you might wanna check on Ruby Sapphire," said Applejack.

"I dunno, but since Spinel ran off she's been getting headaches after headaches," Applerjack explained, "We got her layin down in bed, but she's not looking too good."

As if things weren't bad enough. Sapphire wasn't sure who to feel worse for anymore, everything that could go wrong happening all at once. They could only hope Rutherford could be handled before he could leave on the train.

"Hang on a second, Sapphire, it's nobody's fault. Things just became a bit … disorganized that's all," Rarity said.

"I know but, I don't know what's worse. The fact we started a war with Yakyakistan, or the fact we now lost Spinel. …"

*flick*
Hardly a sound, just a flick of the tongue, but just enough for everyone to then see a little helper come over to them. Brave little gator, that Gummy, who somehow got himself some tiny winter boots, a snow hat, and scarf as he made his way through the snow. It was weird seeing Gummy walking around in winter, but the alligator had something for them, which at the point was stuck inside his mouth in the form of a note.
Weird, and kinda gross, and still Rarity levitated the letter out (after wiping it clean) and read it out.

"I've heard the bad news, and I know how to handle the Yaks now. Hold tight, and I'll meet you all at the new party. Love Pinkie Pie. PS: Ruby's in my room. She says hello and wants to see you too."

"If Pinkie says she's got this, then she's got this. Now, what about Ruby and Spinel?" Rarity asked.

Ruby looked like she was in so much pain all at once. Sapphire's answer was made with a heavy heart.

"You sure y'all wanna do that now? I'm not kidding, she didn't look good at all when I brought her back to the barn," Applejack asked, as Sapphire began to walk on her way to Sugarcube Corner.

It was a bit quiet when they reached Sugarcube Corner again, the place more empty since they were last there. Instead of them just hanging out over in the main lobby, the group went off upstairs towards Pinkie's room, leaving the main lobby alone for Velvet Sugar and the Cakes to handle basic cleanup from Spinel's involvement earlier that day (rolling around knocked over a few things). The walk seemed long, but they soon got to standing right in front of Pinkie's door before Sapphire even knew it.

"Ready, Sapphire?" Fluttershy asked, a comfort hoof placing on Sapphire's shoulder. All Sapphire did was simply nod, before the group of Ponies opened up the door, Fluttershy opening it up first and taking the lead inside.

No answer. Though, Ruby was still there, laying down in Pinkie Pie's very comfy bed. Everyone quietly walked in, not wanting to wake her up, the red Gem quiet and taking a nap too. Applejack still saw a small cloth over Ruby's forehead, something she could've sworn she left with her at the barn and not here. Still, none of them looked like any of their movements were disturbing the Gem.
Sapphire naturally got closest to her sweetheart, having a seat right next to the bed. She only wished this actually was her sweetheart, memory and all, but she couldn't force that to happen. She reached closer to Ruby, but her eye then glanced to the ring still on her finger. The symbol of their marriage that, while she always will have, Ruby's was who-knows-where. Not on her, she knew that much.

"For having that bad of a headache, she's not looking too bad anymore," Applejack admitted.

"I wonder how she got all the way here," Fluttershy pondered. Applejack was not a pony who was good at lying, nevermind wanting to lie, so she wouldn't fib on where Ruby used to be to her knowledge if she could help it.

"What do you mean? Can't your future vision help you out with that?" Spike asked.

"Maybe but Ruby's so … spontaneous. So sweet, and wonderful, I-It could be anything -"

Ruby was starting to wake up. Sapphire was slightly startled by this, getting to her feet as everyone else looked to her. Ruby didn't even look like she was weak or anything, just waking up from a simple nap even by the looks of it. After her yawn, Ruby stretched a little bit, and opened her eyes. Funny thing too, Ruby looked slightly different from earlier.

"You sure? Last I saw you, you looked ready to pass out at any second," Applejack said. Ruby just nodded again with her signature sweet smile.

"Oh, he's right here," Fluttershy said, showing Ruby the pet Alligator. They got him out of his winter clothes, Fluttershy placing him down over by Ruby. Gummy didn't do much as he laid on the bed, but Ruby did give Gummy a pat on the head. All this behavior Ruby was showing, while nice to see, got Sapphire thinking about something. A Ruby guard wouldn't just act kind to organics on the spot unless told by Padparadscha. She had a theory, but before she could start looking into it, Ruby then looked to her.

"Hi. … Are you okay?" Ruby asked, seeing Sapphire stressed out. Sapphire took a breath.

"I'm fine. Ruby, I'm sorry things today didn't work out as well as I hoped. I wanted to help you but … mostly I just wanted to be with you again. …"

"Yeah," Ruby explained, starting to think more about what happened earlier with her headache. "I mean, all day long, you've been trying to give me a good time. I don't know why someone like you would be so happy with someone like me, but … you look like you were. And you know something else?"

"Today was a bit of a mess but … it's also the last day we're ever gonna be apart. No matter what, we'll make sure everything works out. What do you say?"

"Ruby!"
Sapphire could feel tears coming up, this time tears of joy, as she and Ruby hugged eachother tight. The best couple in all the worlds is finally back together. The other ponies were expecting them to fuse right then and there, but Sapphire and Ruby wanted to savor this moment a little bit more.

"Let's give em some space," Applejack suggested. They all agreed on that no doubt about it. So, seeing Sapphire and Ruby smiling, the group was just about ready to go off on their way out of the room, but the two Gems weren't going to give them the chance to actually let em do that, as a bright light began to form up on them. The two were just so happy, they weren't wasting anymore time.

"Garnet!" exclaimed everyone else. Garnet was finally back together, feeling better than ever to finally be whole and be alive again.

"I've been waiting for you this whole time," Garnet said, Sapphire still talking to Ruby as she was basically hugging herself for a bit. Ruby and Sapphire were so glad to be back together again, though Garnet still felt one hand lacking a little bit, only one ring left on her finger out of the two.

"Welcome back, Garnet! You have no idea how much we've missed you," Rarity said. Garnet smiled on the gestures the ponies were making, adjusting her visors.

"Alright, alright, we all can see me later. We still have some things to do. But first ... Spike?"

"Way ahead of you," Spike said. Such good news wasn't going to go unnoticed, and somehow Spike already got himself something to write with and something to write on. Garnet, already knowing where this was going, just went over and opened up the window nearby just as Spike finished writing up his own letter. All Spike needed to do was send it on its way with a good ol' dragon breath. The green flames flickered only for a few moments, before flying off outside to its destination.

"But where do we look? She could be anywhere by now, and none of us found her yet," Fluttershy asked. Garnet, now calmer and with a more focused mind on her visions, started to see out into the options before her. It took Garnet a little bit of time, until she finally got an option.

It always was amazing how quickly ponies can make a celebration happen. Also a good thing Rutherford was caught by the train station before he could leave, otherwise he'd miss the actual party planned for him and his Yaks.
And for once, Rutherford actually wasn't mad at the effort this time. At least he wasn't smashing anything this time, enjoying the party as Pinkie Pie promised. Many ponies and even a few Gems were joining in on the party, some of which were getting to know the Yaks. Rutherford even got himself a few balloons, one Yak having a big pink hat he won in one of the party games as another Yak got himself some goggles and a pinwheel. Who says Yaks can't enjoy simple prizes? The Yaks also were joined by Luna and Cadance in their fun, the two princesses seemingly glad to see things turning up well. Sure they may not technically need any actual Yakyakistan stuff to keep the Yaks happy (they knew that now) but Pinkie still got the curtesy of having at least ONE thing from Yakyakistan to here.

A Yak player, playing a huge bag-pipe like instrument called a Yovidaphone. Surprisingly soothing music for the party, and the ponies were enjoying it as much as the Yaks.

"Well, Pinkie Pie, looks like you made it through. This is great, even for you," complimented Cadance to a much happier Pinkie Pie.

"What can I say? I'm good at what I do," Pinkie said, almost sounding a little smug. Even if most of her earlier attempts didn't go over well. Still, it was great seeing that all of it paid off in the end, seeing Rutherford enjoying himself and all.

If only that was true to everyone in the party though. Many ponies and the Yaks were still having their fun, sure, but Spinel herself was still left acing as she was simply sitting aside and away from everyone else. She did promise to at least show up to the party at the least. She couldn't bring herself to actually do something though, worried that any involvement on her part will just backfire on top of her again. This didn't go unnoticed for too long.

"Come on, Spinel, turn that frown upside down! It's a party," encouraged Pinkie Pie, even giving Spinel a cupcake and a big smile. Spinel simply looked over to the mare, pushing the cupcake away.

"... Ok. Don't you want to at least talk to Rutherford? He's having a pretty good time over there," offered Cadance.

"No thanks to me," Spinel sighed, "Here I am trying to be Ms. goodie two-shoes, and I can't even fix my own screw ups. What kind of friend can't even please a Yak? I'm nothing but a screw up …"
Despite pushing the cupcake away, Spinel took it back and basically gulped it down. Comfort food always seemed to help a little bit. Pinkie Pie then began to sense a little something start to come over.

"I wouldn't say that, Spinel," said a new voice. Spinel herself was so bummed out she didn't even realize who that voice belonged to. She even looked to her.

Spinel's eyes almost popped out of her head she was so shocked, spinning a complete 180 and seeing Garnet in her glory standing right behind her.

"You're here?! B-But you, I-I thought - … you're back to normal, right?" Spinel asked, not thinking of what else to say. Garnet shouldn't even be a thing now as far as she knew, and she had no clue how Garnet was going to react to her now.

"We're both back now. So why don't you come and celebrate with us? There's room for one more with your name on it," Garnet offered. It was a bit quick, and while nice Spinel didn't feel up for it right away.

"You're … not still mad at me? For … well, basically everything that happened today?" Spinel asked meekly.

"No, Spinel. In fact, I'm proud of what you've done today. I just wished I didn't put so much pressure on you," Garnet said.

NOW Spinel couldn't believe it.
"Waitwaitwait. PROUD of me? For what, I didn't do anything special. I didn't get you back together, obviously, I made the Yaks mad. I couldn't fix anything."

"But you took an effort in trying to fix your mistakes, and a lot of effort too. We saw you all day, and how much work you put in trying to not just please the Yaks, but Ruby and Sapphire too. That sounds better than not doing anything at all, if you ask me," Garnet explained.

"I uhh … I guess so. But that doesn't cover up the "war with the Yaks" thing, does it?" she said, rubbing the back of her head in dismay over that. All Garnet simply needed to do was show Spinel to the Yaks off nearby.

"They sure don't look like they're ready to go to war," Garnet said. They even saw the other ponies seeing the Yaks too, Rutherford enjoying the company.

"Why don't we go and find out," Cadance decided. That would be the easiest way to see for sure, something Spinel herself hadn't actually done yet. Spinel was still a bit hesitant over seeing Rutherford, especially since he was the one who declared war in the first place, right in her face no less. Rutherford soon saw them coming over to him.

"Hello, prince," said Garnet. Rutherford took a look to Garnet for a moment or two.

"You might have," Garnet said with a smile, showing the gemstones in her hands. Whether or not Rutherford understood wasn't too important right now, and they got other things to talk about. So, Pinkie and Spinel went over to his side.

"Prince Rutherford? Just wanna start off by sayin sorry for screwing up a lot of things today," Spinel started, "We just wanted to make this place feel like your home. Though, you probably already know that by now."

"But -" added Pinkie, "we shouldn't have tried making Ponyville feel like your home. We should try making you feel at home in Equestria. That means showing you how much we love it here, so you'll love it too."

Rutherford took a minute and looked around Ponyville. Seeing all of the ponies and Gems having a good time all around them. The other stuff they've done was hardly a thing compared to this party. They didn't have to go all out like this, even including the Yakyakistan player. It was enough to give him some tears.

"Pink Pony and friends try hard to make Yaks feel at home. … Yaks happy. No declare war."

BEST NEWS ALL DAY. Spinel was sure happy about that at least, though this did kinda made Luna look a little bit troubled.

Their victory was achieved at last: not only in befriending the Yaks, but also they got their favorite perma-Fusion back. Just wait until everyone else would see her. This got everyone cheering for the announcement and for a better future with Yakyakistan. Rutherford looked over to Garnet and he actually had something for her.

"Gift of Yaks' friendship," Rutherford said, as he lifted his hoof up, and actually pulled off the small ring around his horn, and gave it to Garnet. A golden ring that glistened in the light. Garnet was taken aback, but she did take the gift anyway. All it took was one slip on her open ring finger, and she was a match set again.

"Thank you, your majesty," Garnet said. Rutherford then looked to Spinel and Pinkie.

"Thanks a lot!" Spinel said. She was about to go in and give the Yak a hug, but considering everything else that happened earlier today it was enough to keep her back. Pinkie though did give the Yak a hug, but she did stop quick.

"Ow! Too tight, too tight!" yelped Pinkie and Spinel, feeling the strength of those same hooves holding them both tight. It was a slight punishment that neither of them minded.

My Little Universe II

by EquestrianKirin

Tongue-Tied