My Little Universe

by EquestrianKirin

Princess with an Indirect Kiss

The village aligned on the Equestrian ground was going through a rather rough time. The entire town itself was in the middle of an invasion of what appeared to be the forest itself that laid nearby - vines, thorns, and barbs laying waste to everyone, and everything within it! Houses and cottages covered to the roof with vines, many creatures either tied up or already high tailing it out. Even the sky itself wasn't going to well: Was it day with the Sun to the right, or night with the moon to the left? Impossible to tell with both of them high up in the sky at the same time! With the sky time-screwy, and the town looking like a barely kept garden, things weren't looking so good. All ponies that were stuck were tied up in the invading forest, trying their best to get out. However, one figure was (oddly enough) having a rather casual time with it.

Laying on one of the growing vines, as if it was some sort of lounge chair, a strange creature happily hummed to himself despite all the chaos going on. He seemed like some sort of living jigsaw puzzle gone wrong: each part of his body belonging to another animal. He had the left leg of a goat, the right leg of a lizard, the tail of a red dragon, the torso of some weasel, the right arm of a lion, the left arm of an eagle, the head and long neck of a goat, the right horn of a deer, the left wonky horn of some unknown animal, the right wing of a bat, and the left wing of a blue bird. This odd beast was none other than the Draconequus, named Discord. And being the spirit of chaos himself, being in such an environment was completely normal to him. In fact, he rather enjoyed it personally. The Draconequus was handling some nasty talon-work with a small alligator as some sort of nail file. Unbeknown to him, someone was heading over to him at that moment.

The pony heading over to him was purple in hue, with her hair neatly kept and smooth. In this world, three main ponies exist: Pegasus, Earth Pony, and Unicorn. And this pony was all three in gifted magic, and the blessing of flight. The figure was known as an Alicorn, even with a tiara to boot. Upon her flank, there showed her unique Cutie mark: the mark that signifies a pony's talent. On her flank, the mark resembled a shining pink star, surrounded by smaller stars in the gleam. This Alicorn princess was named Twilight Sparkle. Alongside her looked like a small, young, purple dragon buddy, named Spike. And, upon seeing Discord doing nothing with two ponies in trouble literally right next to him, the Alicorn was not pleased.

"Discord!" That was all twilight needed to say. Startled, he got the alligator away, and with a quick snap of his lion paw fingers, got the vines to suddenly disappear from existence with one flash. Despite being saved, the two ponies quickly galloped away as fast as they could.

"You're welcome!" Discord called, not getting a response from them both. He was annoyed with no response, but quickly changed his attention to the purple Alicorn, grinning as he floated in midair. "No luck finding your tree?"

Twilight turned away from the Draconequus, sitting down as Discord laid down listening to her. "We ran into some trouble. And my friends decided it would be best if I returned to Ponyville while they continue the search. Equestria will need me if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna don't return." Discord stood back up, looking surprised.

"I'm just surprised that you agreed to their plan. I never thought you'd be the kind of pony who would think she was better than everypony else," Discord stated, his back turned to her by the end with an impish grin. Twilight immediately grew angry with Discord for such a remark.

"I don't think I'm better than anypony!"

Discord loomed over her, as he continued.

"Oh, well, how silly of me to assume that you would think that. All you did was choose to keep your precious princess self -" suddenly poofed a queenly robe, and "twicane" for Twilight to hold. "- out of harm's way while your friends thrust themselves right into it." Twilight threw away the cane and robe as Discord continued. "I'm sure you'll all be the best of pals again -" Discord pops up from inside Twilight's left ear. "- when they return from their terrifying -" he pops out of Twilight's right ear. "- yet DEEPLY bonding experience that they're having without you."

Twilight began to put the idea into consideration. With her staying away from her friends, and letting them fight the fight for her, the fact that she just let them treat her more like some precious gem instead of a true friend for battle ... Well, what kind of friends will leave her other friends? Getting the mini-Discord out of her ear, Twilight began to rush off out of Ponyville, with Spike following behind her.

"I never should have agreed to come back here."

"Come on, Twilight. Discord may be reformed, but he's not that reformed. He's just trying to get under your skin," Spike pointed out. However, Twilight levitated the dragon onto the Alicorn's back.

"Well, it's working!"

Soon, Twilight and Spike galloped off back out of Ponyville, heading back to their friends, as Discord waved goodbye to her. However, despite the change of time for the Alicorn to right her wrong, there was a little something Discord had thought of after a quick second soon after Twilight left. When he snapped his fingers for the vines to go, he didn't exactly think over where he put the vines. While no one was looking, he made a small 'peephole' from thin air with a cut of his talon, and looked through to where the vines were. All he saw was the vines in some sort of ravine, apparently inactive for the moment. Satisfied, he took the peephole, and threw it into the forest.

"Oh well."

Perhaps Discord should've considered exactly where the tons of deadly plants would've ended up a bit more. In a flash of light, the small strand reappeared in an opened valley. The exact area though was a part of a monument, lined with a stone fence, with a star-shaped arch. It looked like an opened arena, with a single large fountain at the center of it. The fountain had a number of crystals within it, with a large statue of a women at its center. The women had long, curly hair that stretched down her back, and the center looked like some sort of rounded stone where the belly button would normally be. Her arms were out, palms of the hands aimed to the sky, with water flowing around the fountain.

Almost immediately after appearing through the sudden teleportation, the vines started to grow rapidly all over the place, surrounding the statue after a few minutes. While spreading out away from the monument, other parts of the vines couldn't seem to get close enough to the statue to cover it. Instead, the vines wrapped around the area of it, making a sort of dome around the area. Soon, it appeared like the entire statue was covered, apart from a small skylight just above the statue itself, giving the little light it had left. However, the statue's flowing water suddenly began to weaken until it stopped completely. The vines, being plants themselves, sucked away the water remaining inside.
After just half an hour, the statue turned from life-nurturing, to completely removed of operation thanks to the vines and brambles. The vines stretched out in clumps in multiple areas, and soon, the area ended up almost completely covered in these invasive vines ...

And not a moment too soon ...

Just sometime after the vines relaxed, and stopped moving, suddenly another monument became active nearby. It looked like some odd disk, or platform, not too far away from the bramble-infested statue. None of the brambles touched it - similar reasons as of the statue. The exact activity was a suddenly blue pillar appeared around the statue, whatever vines managing to wrap around in a dome of the object suddenly disappearing, destroyed. What appeared from said platform soon after the pillar disappeared were four different figures.

One of these was a human boy, with three other human-like figures standing around him. The boy was the smallest of the group, actually appearing to be the size of the Ponies back in Equestria. He was a bit stocky, curly brown hair, a pink T-shirt with a yellow star on it, along with blue pants and sandals. This young boy was named Steven.

Next to him looked like a taller girl, thin and slender in bodily shape. Her hair was pointed back, slightly peach in color, though her skin was surprisingly white for a human. Her eyes were of a cyan blue, and in between them was a sort of gemstone - a pearl as of were. Her shirt, a sea green, also had the star symbol upon it, her bottom short tied with a band. Although it seemed at first, she wasn't a human, but actually a Gem. And this Gem was named (conveniently enough) Pearl.

The other two were also Gems, though looked dramatically different from Pearl. the tallest Gem of the group had a perfectly cubed afro, shades covering her eyes. She had a full bodysuit on, also possessing the signature star symbol, covering from her shoulders down to her feet. While most of it was black, her right leg was a dark red. and her arms had on long gloves, which only covered the middle finger on her hand. Within each palm was also a gemstone - red in color instead of the Pearl white. Her skin slightly matched her Gem as well, some sort of deep, dullish hot pink. This gem was named Garnet.

The third Gem of this group was also a bit stocky, much like Steven, though slightly a bit taller than him. Her hair was a light lavender, shaggy, and stretched down to her feet like some sort of mane. Her clothes fitted more of the "backstreet bad girl" type, including her Gemstone peeking out from the sleeveless tank top neck hole. Her gem was a deep purple, and her skin matched with a mix of lavender and purple. While she didn't have the star symbol on her shirt like the others, her star symbol was located on her black pants, on the kneepads. This Gem was named Amethyst.

The vines couldn't had come at a worse of time however: Although Pearl, Garnet, and Steven were all okay, Amethyst didn't appear alright. One of her eyes was completely bulged out, and a small crack was on her own gemstone - most likely the cause of it. Upon arrival, Pearl was already talking to Steven about where they were going to help their friend out.

"And in the center of the garden--Rose's Fountain, overflowing with your mother's healing, lacrimal essence!" Pearl explained, a bit dreamily at the last part, as she thought of how good the fountain was (maybe).

"I don't see it," Garnet stated, her voice more to-the-point.

"Wha?" Pearl asked. However, they didn't need much time to see the end result of the fountain itself. The vines Discord teleported there, completely covering the entire statue itself. Amethyst made another comment on the matter, but again unlike the others, her speech was unintelligible in the slightest. The speech was almost just her talking backwards, to be more accurate. As they went closer, Pearl began talking again.

"Now, now! Let's keep it together! Our memories of Rose can't be tainted by some overgrown brambles!" Pearl stated, holding onto Garnet's arm, as she looked over to the vines and brambles. "Look at them. They're a mess without her guidance. Directionless, pathetic, clinging things."

Suddenly, Pearl gripped Garnet's shoulders, looking completely panicked while Garnet remained calm and collective.

"It's going to be okay, Garnet!" Pearl said, though her voice of worry didn't help. All Garnet did was shrug.

"Sure."

"Y-You really think so?" Pearl stuttered. Garnet didn't reply. While they were working the ins and outs of the situation, Steven stuck around with Amethyst, oddly straining his own eyes while Amethyst simply laid on the ground. Pearl and Garnet were a bit busy for the moment, so, Amethyst and Steven were by themselves. Nearby, the same vines started to sense their presence within them. Amethyst tried again to talk to Steven, but since her voice still was messed up, the girl tried to image out the message: her fingers going down her face to signify tears, and suddenly slapping herself. Soon, Steven got it.

"Pain can make one cry," Steven concluded. Amethyst nodded as Steven trued to think. The vines still moved towards Steven while he was thinking.

"Where is pain?"

Soon, Steven got the answer: the vines themselves! They all were covered in sharp barbs, so, it couldn't be too hard. Steven went over, a finger aimed right at one of the thorns. However, the vines began to react a bit more, just enough for Amethyst to notice. Steven had his eyes closed so he wasn't too aware of it. Before the vines could catch him, the purple Gem tackled Steven, getting him out of the way. However, Pearl just noticed the act.

"Amethyst, no more roughhousing, you'll exacerbate your crack!" Pearl snapped. Amethyst said some more gibberish, but as she walked, suddenly she ended up flipping her head, and walking backwards right into a rock! The hit made the crack in Amethyst's gem bigger.

"Aww, right in the gem!"

Amethyst tried to speak again, but suddenly her body started to glitch up. In one glitch, one of her feet suddenly replaced her head! And the head ... well, you can assume where it ended up. Pearl became even more panicked from seeing this.

"Ohh! Oh! Keep calm. What we need to do is to get you into the fountain immediately, if we can ever find a way through all this mess! " Pearl stated, not doing well to calm down by herself. While she was, Garnet was already dealing with the issue: getting a huge boulder in position. Garnet's hand suddenly had a magically enhanced boxing glove, and with one huge punch, got the rock launched through the vines, making a pure path right through.

"I needed that. This way," Garnet said, starting off ahead. It didn't help Pearl too much, chuckling nervously at the sight of it.

"We could've probably gotten in without hurdling a giant rock into Rose's most precious sanctuary! But if you're okay with it, I'm fine, too!" Pearl said, chuckling nervously again before following Garnet. Well, at least their path was purely straight. As they went off, one of the vines suddenly began to seep away from where it originally was spawned. The tiny, smallest hole in time and space Discord used to see where the vines were was still open! ... and that one piece slithered through, heading right back to its original world. The connection had been made.

Back in Equestria, the situation didn't seem much better for the ponies. Twilight and Spike both continued through the forest, all covered with the same vines. Twilight herself was having some bit of trouble with her navigation, since the vines made the trail she was on hard to travel. Spike was also looking around for the moment or so.

"Are we there yet?" Spike asked. Suddenly Twilight stopped.

"I don't know where we are," Twilight realized, sitting down miserably.

"We're lost. I never should have left my friends," Twilight concluded. If this was as hard, Twilight will never find them this way. Spike, however, tried to be more supportive.

"We can't just give up." Spike looked around for a second, until he saw the tree next to them. "Maybe if I get up there, I'll be able to spot 'em," spike suggested. As Twilight waited, Spike began to climb up as high as he could. As he did, Twilight was alone for that one brief moment. While he looked, he soon noticed that their friends weren't too far away!

"Well, what do you know?" Spike said to himself. However, that brief moment Twilight was alone ... one brief moment, was all it took.

A little bit away, the vine had found the end to its own tiny portal (the one Discord carelessly tossed into the forest) and ended up back in the forest, with Twilight not too far away! The vine quickly sensed where the alicorn was, and advanced on her while Spike was busy. Twilight quickly noticed the vines advancing, opening up like some flytrap, as Twilight tried to fight. However, the plant moved way too quickly, and Twilight was caught by a spray the vine shot at her. Spike didn't hear a response from Twilight and looked down from the tree.

"Twilight?" Spike called, suddenly realizing that Twilight was in deep trouble! The spray that got to her began to mess around with her head, just enough for her to suddenly collapse onto the ground! Freaked out, Spike quickly rushed down from the tree, and raced off to get the friends they were searching for. Meanwhile, Twilight was barely conscious, the spray somehow deeply weakening her, as the plant began to drag Twilight back to where it teleported from! All Twilight could do was weakly struggle, her wings and hooves doing little in effect. Soon, the alicorn was suddenly dragged down through the portal! The only thing left was the tiara, which was launched off.

Twilight was suddenly released as she suddenly fell like a ragdoll through the portal itself! Her body fell through the portal with slight grace, but Twilight barely could control where she was going, nor how she was going to land. After a little bit, the Alicorn suddenly landed roughly on the ground, her body tumbling for a bit. The vine wasn't attacking her again, yet she wasn't too sure on where she ended up. She just saw a large statue of someone, but that was it ... She ended up at Rose's fountain! Laying in the middle of the room, Twilight felt simply too weak to react very much to anything. As she laid there, eyes closed, almost like she was asleep, suddenly she heard something beginning to come her way, yet she didn't do anything, succumbing to the spray, as she fell asleep. Bout that point, Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven arrived at the fountain, from the pre-made tunnel.

"This isn't right," Garnet said, looking into the place. The others came in, Steven in front, looking around. The fountain inside wasn't running, brambles were everywhere, and it seemed to be simply out-of-date.

"The fountain isn't running," Garnet said.

"What? W-what's wrong with it?" Pearl asked.

"I'm not sure." Garnet replied. Steven looked up to the statue in the light, feeling a bit emotional from seeing it himself.

"Is that Mom? ... Oh, oh, I'm getting emotional! I think it's happening! Uh, I'm really feeling it!"

Pearl and Garnet watched as Steven aimed himself over Amethyst's cracked gem ... Nothing.

"Ah, come on! I had it!" Steven groaned. Pearl simply sighed, in spite of it all.

"Steven, it's fine. Just—just stay here and watch Amethyst. We'll find out what's wrong with the fountain," Pearl advised, as she and Garnet walked off away from them both. However, Steven went after them.

"No, no. Wait! I can still do it!" Steven pleaded. However, Garnet and Pearl ignored them, and just left them alone. Steven looked over to the fountain. The alicorn was just out of sight, on the other side of the fountain. And she was too weak to do anything ...

Within the forest back in Equestria, further away from the princess and dragon, five other ponies were going along through the vine-covered forest. The group consisted of the very same ponies that had stopped Twilight from going any further. All of the ponies had on a necklace, with some sort of mark on it to match their Cutie marks. The ponies were as followed:

Leading the group was an orange mare, cowgirl hat on her head, with her mane in an extra ponytail, much like her real ponytail. Upon her flank, her cutie mark was a basic symbol of three apples. This pony was named Applejack.
Following along in the air was a Pegasus of light blue. What separated her form the others were her rainbow mane, consisting of the colors purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Her flank was of a storm cloud, one rainbow lightning bolt. This pony was Rainbow Dash.
Another pony following them had fur of pure white, white as snow. Her mane and tail were well kempt, and a lovely dark purple. Along her flank, the mark symbolized three blue diamonds. This unicorn was named Rarity.
Trailing behind, hopping along like a rabbit or a spring was a pure pink mare, her mane and tail like cotton candy. Along her flank were a bundle of balloons, one balloon yellow while the other two were also blue. This pony was Pinkie Pie.
And lastly, another Pegasus trailed behind. Her long mane and tail were purely pink, in contrast with her yellow fur. Her flank had a symbol of three small butterflies. This pony was named Fluttershy.

The group was, by that point, down in a revenue, the vines all connecting back down within it. Upon inside the revenue, their main goal in their grasp was right in front of them: a tall crystalline tree. However, this tree was completely covered in brambles and vines, the same type that had covered Ponyville, and that covered Rose's Fountain. There was some sort of issue though, as none of them knew how to handle it. Rainbow and Applejack tried already, but, with no luck. Eventually, this lead into a bit of an argument among themselves.

"It was your idea, Applejack!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"We all agreed it was the best thing, Rainbow Dash! We were tryin' to protect her," retorted Applejack. However, as they were talking amongst themselves, suddenly they heard something beginning to tumble down the path where they came in. The other ponies went right over to him, as Applejack held him in her hooves.

"Twilight! Trouble! Help!" Spike said. However, before they could do anything, suddenly they all heard something else tumbling down to them. In a few bounces, they all saw in horror, the tiara that connected them together, flying in the air towards the tree. All of the ponies gasped, as Spike rushed to the tiara, holding onto it. Before many of them could even comprehend this turn of events, the ponies suddenly heard another screech, as they saw the vines quickly come to life! Applejack looked to the vines, angered.

"Listen here, you rabid rhododendrons! You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!" Applejack said. The vines advanced fast to the group, as the ponies took action. Spike raced off with the tiara in his grasp, as the ponies rushed around the vines, trying to fight them. The plants couldn't get the ponies, no matter how many times they tried. As they maneuvered about, the vines all ended up completely in knots, no longer moving. Pinkie suddenly popped up, confetti she coincidentally saved flying in the air.

"Ta-da!" Pinkie beamed. Despite doing well to avoid any oncoming danger, Pinkie Pie popped up in front of one of the flytrap vines without thinking, and she was suddenly grabbed!

"No you don't!" Rainbow snapped, flying directly at the vine. However, the vine was unaffected as Rainbow tried to help pull Pinkie out. Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy tried their best, but this one vine got them all grasped, and pulled them fast away from the tree. Their necklaces were off of them and flew to the ground by Spike as he tried to pull on the vine to get it to stop. That vine in particular, unlike the others, was the exact one attached to the portal (how it got that far away was anyone's guess). So, in no time, the five shared Twilight's fate. All that was left was poor Spike, a Tiara, five necklaces, and a tree covered in vines. Oh joy.

Back within Rose's garden, things seemed to dull down. Twilight still hadn't been discovered, and Steven and Amethyst were none-the-wiser. Amethyst, though, was having more of an issue. During the wait, her gem crack even more, and her body ended up stuck together in some loose strands: her head, arm and leg popped out away from her body and attached by some stretchy tube-like skin. Eventually, as Steven was standing by the fountain, Amethyst tried talking to the kid, but Steven was getting a bit rough on it.

"I can't understand you!" Steven snapped. Amethyst, with her head stuck on the ground, looked up to him as he continued "I don't understand anything! Why is everyone acting so strange? Why can't I - " Steven looks at the statue of his mother. "Why can't I cry?!" Steven's voice within the silent area suddenly echoed throughout the area. However, the loud outburst was just enough to get Twilight to slowly come to. She still was a bit weak, and couldn't get up yet, but she could still hear him, as Steven sat down next to the statue.

"It's just...I mean, I don't know how to feel about you, but everyone else does," Steven said, a hand placed in the statue's own hand. "I wish I could have met you then this place you make me sad." Steven climbed up into the statue's comforting arms." And I could cry healing tears, like you." He knew the statue wouldn't talk to him, but all he did was just lay there on her arms. On the other side of the statue, Twilight could hear everything Steven had said. While she was unsure what he was talking about, the way he said it told her that he wasn't going too well. Amethyst, her head still on the ground, looked behind the statue, and actually noticed something beginning to move from behind. Still having trouble to speak though, Amethyst did the only thing she could do. ... Hoot and screech like some crazy monkey. Course that got Steven's attention, but since she continued that instead of talking, Steven covered her mouth. After he removed his hand, Amethyst tried to tell him what she saw ...

The vines, though, weren't as supportive of the situation.

Before they could say anything, the vines and brambles suddenly came alive again, and attacked Steven and Amethyst! Quickly, Steven got Amethyst's body and head out of the way, but her foot and arm ended up caught, as Steven ran away from the statue. That barely helped, as more of the deadly foliage blocked their path again. All Steven could do is run back to the statue.

"Amethyst, where's your gem?" Steven asked frantically. A hopping hand from Amethyst pointed to her limping body, which Steven tackled back into the statue's fountain pond. The impact made the gem crack even more.

"Amethyst, I'm sorry! I can't do anything right. Now I'm going to lose you, and it's all my fault," Steven miserably said, thinking that he is unable to save his friend. Amethyst glitches again, and spoke to Steven again, this time him able to understand.

"Ha ha ... You care about me ..." Amethyst's voice was very slow, but at least he understood her. It was enough for Steven to shed one, single tear ...

"Please let me be a magic healer." The tear then dripped off his face and landed on Amethyst's cracked gem. Steven just realized what happened and waited for some result ... nothing.

"Oh, come on!"

The vines were advancing fast on them both, one of them towering over them, ready to strike! Steven screamed, and covered Amethyst's body, bracing for the impact. Before the plant could slam into them, a sudden, light purple blast of magic slammed into the vine, destroying it!

"W-wha?!" Steven gasped. Steven, Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet looked back to where the shot itself came from, and there she stood.

Twilight.

While Steven and Amethyst were trying to run earlier, Twilight got up to her hooves fully, and was watching everything from behind the statue. although weak, the Alicorn couldn't stand by any longer and watch. The vines advanced at her, but she shot more of the vines away with her magic, though in her state, the aim was purely by chance. Twilight's wings were spread out, though drooped to the ground, showing her slightly weakened state. Twilight looked to Steven, seeing the deeply injured Gem. Twilight turned over to him. Before they could even process this turn of events, something else happened.

Suddenly, the place started to rumble a bit, and the statue, almost on cue, began to seep the healing waters from the eyes. The water spewed out from the opening very quickly, swallowing Amethyst, Steven, and Twilight up underwater! The grand healing waters spread around rapidly, moving away all the vines and attacking foliage from the fountain. The bushes aligned, the vines begin to calm, and upon the plants ... Flowers ... Lots of flowers.

All the vines suddenly started to bloom into lovely pink roses, both from the Equestrian land and the garden itself. Upon turning into the flowers, the vines disappeared themselves. This effect didn't just stop at the vines at the garden. Back in Equestria, with Spike still sitting by the tree itself, with all the necklaces and tiara with him, when the vines suddenly begin to change around him! It was enough to make him jump, seeing all of these dark vines turn into pink flowers. However, seeing raining flowers was a sight to behold. This effected the vines spreading out back in Ponyville as well, all of the vines turning into pink roses that floated around in the air. Discord, who was laying on one of the vines (wearing sunglasses, and a Hawaiian shirt), suddenly fell down to the ground with a thud.

"Oh, poo," Discord said, slumped over. One of the pink roses gently landed on his nose, as Discord looked at it. The Draconequus picked up the rose with his lion paw, as he looked around at all of the roses raining down gently all over Ponyville, a number of ponies watching the pink roses gently land around them. Back at the tree, the absence of the vines began to show, as two rainbow portals opened up, and low and behold, two figures appeared.

On the right stood another, pure white Alicorn, with a flowing rainbow mane. On her flank, the Cutie Mark symbolized the sun itself, and the royal hoof shoes, tiara and necklace signified her status as Princess Celestia, Goddess of the Sun. To the left was a similar Alicorn, though her mane, fur, and tail all had a deep dark blue coloration. Her mane and tail sparkled as if the stars themselves were in her being. This was the moon goddess of the world, Luna. Spike was very glad to see them, and hugged them both, though the Alicorn princesses quickly noticed the missing mane six, and with the main necklaces and tiara still alone.

Back at the fountain, the overflowing healing waters covered the whole area, as Steven got to the surface, a gasping breath. After glancing to the working statue, suddenly he felt someone bump against him. Looking over, he saw Amethyst floating there. She looked much better - no part stretched, no crack in the gem, no messed-up eye.

"Look at this guy, saving my life and junk," Amethyst said with a big smile. Both Steven and Amethyst laughed, though they both were very grateful that Amethyst will be alright. With another gasp from nearby, both of them were reminded of Twilight, as the Alicorn breached the surface. She felt a lot better from the vine spray, her energy back and better than ever!

"Oh, thank goodness," another voice called. they all turned, and saw Pearl and Garnet standing nearby, Pearl happy to see them all alright.

"Did you see what I did? It was magic! My tears brought the fountain back to life and saved Amethyst!" Steven announced, as he and Amethyst swam back to them. While they did, Twilight swam to the edge as well, as Pearl and Garnet looked to each other. Garnet was the first to notice Twilight as she swam over.

"I'm pretty sure me and Garnet unplugging the clogged chamber brought the fountain back to life." Pearl corrected, dulling the mood a lot more. So, in the end, Steven's tear didn't do anything? But it had to had done something! Before it could be touched on, Twilight climbed out herself, getting everyone's attention. Upon getting out, Twilight spread her wings. While the act was meant to just dry her wings, it looked more pretty to the others in front of her.

"Wha? That's never been here before," Pearl wondered aloud, as Twilight flapped her wings a little bit to dry them off. Twilight looked to everyone standing there, a bit unsure of what to say. Twilight was about as tall as Amethyst was.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked. Knowing now that the Alicorn could talk made it even more surprising. Garnet readied up in case of an attack, but, quickly, Steven rushed in the way.

"Wait wait, she helped us out earlier!" Steven said, making it clear that she wasn't dangerous (to them anyway). Garnet and Pearl looked over to the Alicorn for a second or so.

"Is that true?" Garnet asked. Twilight nodded.

"Yeah, it is." Twilight said, looking around. Equestria was full of magical areas, but this wasn't anything she was familiar to. "Where am I?" She asked - only main question she had on her mind. The gems (mainly Pearl and Garnet) weren't too sure on her. Amethyst and Steven though were a little bit more positive on her, since she did save them from the vines earlier, even for a little bit.

"But how did you get here? This is a sacred Gem location," Pearl said, equally curious.

"I-I don't know, one of those vines grabbed me, and I woke up here. Is this near Ponyville, by chance?" Twilight asked, hoping for a good answer. However ...

"Ponyville?" Amethyst couldn't help but chuckle a little at the name. She's a pony, yes, but a town called Ponyville was simply silly. However, the response from Amethyst, and the confused expression on Pearl and Steven's face didn't help either. Twilight's ears tucked back, realizing the extent of the situation.

"Ok, does Equestria sound familiar?" Twilight said, a bit more nervous that time. Still nothing of luck. Twilight tried to relax, using her breath technique one of her close friends had taught. One hoof on her chest for the inhale and extending it out for the exhale. Still, the fact she was out of Equestria, let alone Ponyville, was enough to get her a bit worried! Those vines were still affecting her home, that tree needed their help, and here she was completely stuck, with these - things - that don't have a single clue on what she was talking about. It could be worse: these people could end up not understanding her, and she would end up simply talking gibberish like Amethyst was earlier.

"Is that where you live?" Garnet asked eventually.

"Right, but, I-I don't know where it is from here, and so much is wrong back home right now! What if I can't go home, what if Equestria ends up in danger again -" Twilight realized she was starting to panic again as her thoughts wandered and tried the calming technique again. "Ok, ok ... *sigh* Listen, I'm not here to cause any trouble, I swear. But I really need to get back home, back to Equestria," Twilight explained. Unfortunately, in their world at least, Ponyville and Equestria didn't even come close to sounding familiar, apart from a story book or fairy tale perhaps. Garnet thought over the Alicorn's predicament for a bit, a bit quiet as Pearl, Steven, and Amethyst looked on.

"I would like to thank you, for helping Amethyst and Steven," Garnet said, kneeling down more to Twilight's level so Twilight wouldn't feel as intimidated by her. Twilight looked back to the two.

"Oh them? Well, you're welcome uh ..."

"Garnet. And you?"

"Twilight."

The introduction was short, but, good enough for them. Garnet got back up to her feet, but then she looked back to the exit of the fountain. Garnet went off for a bit, as Steven, Amethyst and Pearl went over to Twilight, Pearl looking over in deep curiosity. However, the fact that Twilight wasn't sure how to get home was painfully clear. Before Amethyst and Pearl could figure out what to do ...

"Look, I really have to -"

"Wait a minute. Maybe you can stay with us for a while," Steven said. The sudden acceptance got the others off guard, including Twilight. Then again, Twilight did pretty much save Amethyst and Steven earlier when they were nearly crushed by the vines prior to the activation of the fountain. Guess the least they could do is let her stay until she figured out what to do. However, Twilight also knew that Steven wasn't the leader of the group (that was Garnet's job).

"Well, it's up to Garnet, I guess," Twilight said, slightly unsure herself. They had only met for just a few minutes, and already they're letting her stay, despite barely knowing anything. By that point, Garnet was standing by the exit, looking out from the main area of the fountain. Garnet had overheard Steven's quick decision, but, remained calm as usual. Again, Twilight saved Steven and Amethyst earlier, and she knew that Twilight wasn't lying to them. Plus, this 'Equestria' was Twilight's home, and for the moment, she didn't have anywhere else to really go. So, Garnet gave a nod.

"We'll let all of you stay for a while."

"Oh! Well - wait. all of us?" Twilight asked. While it was good that Garnet agreed, she was the only one taken. The others went up, Twilight ahead, as they looked out from the exit ...

Low and behold, they all saw a group of the same ponies laying on the ground, just coming to after a bit. Their own little tangle with the vines had left them ending up in the same place as Twilight, and only now did anyone even notice them. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie all were present. The very sight of them made Twilight gasp, as she rushed down to help them out. Seemed they got a lot more on their hands than they'd ask for.

Meanwhile, one particular little Draconequus was watching this whole event back in Equestria. Course, the fact that they're gone all alone was a bit of a surprise, but Discord seemed pretty content with it. In fact, he was in a one-seater, with some 3-D glasses, and a popcorn holder in his grubby talon and paw. He had on a smile, acting like he was in his personal little movie theater. Will their absence cause issues, perhaps, but the ride they're on was too good to miss.

"Ooh-hoo! I'm going to need more popcorn!"