Along the coasts of Beach City, two friends were just about ready for an end of the day activity: one involving the waves of the setting sun. Out in the water, one of the friends was a boy named Steven, who was out on a surfboard. Close by was a type of Gem, named Lapis Lazuli. The two were pretty close, being together since first meeting at the beginning of summer. At the moment, Steven and Lapis both were planning on something special that Steven wanted to try out, surfing. With Lapis being able to control water, Steven was for sure to be able to get his waves ready to go. Getting out a pair of water wings from the Gemstone on her back, Lapis flew off ahead and began to work out the water from a few blown waves to a much larger wave. Steven was a bit new to surfing, but he was for sure to try it out. After the wave was big enough, Steven began to work out the board in the right direction, and it seemed to work out pretty well. Steven began to work out his stance on the board as they went, but it was a bit harder than it looked, and Steven soon ended up knocked into the water. Soon after, Lapis quickly flew over the water to look for him, only to pop out of the surface. Soaked, yet stoked out.

"Woo!" Steven beamed, arms in the air, despite his tumble. At least he stayed balanced for ten seconds. Lapis hovered over him soon after the wipeout.

"I'm fine," Steven said. However, before he could say anything else, the water under him began to darken up as something was swimming under him. Steven was suddenly lifted out of the water, but soon after seeing it, the mood of worry turned to joy again. This wasn't a danger; it was another one of Steven's friends; Amethyst. Here, she had shape shifted herself to look like a dolphin, and just as well of a swimmer. Steven was still happy.

"Hang on!" Amethyst said, and suddenly swam off at high speed. Lapis easily kept pace, Steven laughing all the while. This was something that Steven had a lot of fun doing, and something not many other kids would end up doing; to ride a dolphin around the coast. Steven was a lucky kid. As he zoomed along though, another Gem standing along the shoreline soon gave a whistle to catch their attention. This Gem was a taller, reddish Gem fusion named Garnet - leader of the Crystal Gems. That meant she had to watch over Steven as well.

"Time to come in, Steven," Garnet called. Amethyst brought Steven closer to shore, quickly changing herself back into her natural, teenager-like appearance.

"Yes, Steven," Garnet replied, a finger pointing over to the sun, which was about to set at that point. As for Steven, unlike the other Gems, he still needed his sleep much like any other human would be. Even if he wanted to get himself more fun time, there's always tomorrow for another fun day. So, he agreed to it. After all, he had a lot of fun with Lapis and Amethyst already today.

So, soon after that, things got busy for heading off to bed. For the kid, he got himself busy in the bathroom to freshen up. This involved him brushing his teeth, taking his shower, changing into his PJs, that sort of thing. Since he was just out in the ocean though, it took a while longer to clean up the sea salt from his hair, but that wasn't too much trouble for him to take care of. Besides, it wasn't much of a hurry anyway, and it was dark by the time he was done (dark enough for him to fall asleep anyway). The Beach House was quiet at the moment, only Steven and Garnet in the Beach House, as Steven went to his bedroom, and got himself into bed. Steven looked over to a picture right beside his bed, showing himself in a group photo with plenty of other people too. However, the other six looked like equine instead; ponies as a matter of fact. With Steven's adventures, his friends included a unicorn, two Pegasus, two earth ponies and an alicorn, about as friendly to him as the other Gems were. He knew each of them well at this point, as they've helped him out and had plenty of fun with him before.

"Don't worry; you'll have all day tomorrow. For now, it's time for cutie pie to go to sleep," Garnet said with a smile. Steven laid down comfortably, as Garnet tucked him in.

"Goodnight, Garnet," Steven said with a smile. Garnet gave Steven a motherly kiss on the cheek, before getting up.

"Goodnight, Steven. I love you," Garnet said, heading downstairs. Steven was left with a warm fuzzy when Garnet did that, and Garnet knew that. If Steven was going to sleep well, might as well leave with in a good mood for a great night. So, after that, the fusion went to the back, and went through the back door to her room. Before Steven went off to sleep, he took a glance to the front door, seeing the mural of another Gem above it. This Gem was named Rose Quartz, a sympathetic Gem and former leader of the Gems. However, for many of the Gems, Steven was the only one who didn't get to know her. But that didn't have any connection with her. Steven took a moment to rest his hand on his stomach, where he felt his own gemstone as well. On the picture, Rose's gemstone was on her stomach, and Steven's gemstone was in the same place. The gemstone was his only proof that his mother was Rose herself. Aside from the gemstone though, his own knowledge about Rose was minimized to only words spoken by the other Gems. All Steven did was sigh, before he closed his eyes and went to sleep. After all, he had a lot tomorrow to do, and he didn't need to bum himself out over that anyway.

It didn't take too long before Steven's mind was off into his own dreams. From his bed back in Beach City, Steven opened his eyes to find himself in a completely different place. As dreams go, this one was about as typical as a dream could get; in this case, Steven was in the middle of a grassy field by himself, seeing grass horses gallop across the plain, as a flock of cloud, in the shape of geese, flew over his head. The hillsides were wavy, and rather green with some parts floating around all on their own. It was a typical dream set of logic. Also, he wasn't alone; he was actually playing a game of chess on a blanket with what looked like a young dog, but with a helicopter propeller on its back. In their game, the dog move over another piece on the board.

"I win." a voice said, which Steven assumed came from the dog he was playing with.

"Don't focus so much on talent, Steven. Making art is all about communication. A piece of art is a conversation. Every choice you make, is a statement. -" The dog took a moment to eat one of the chess pieces. " - Don't worry about labels or conforming to a standard. Just be true to yourself, and people will appreciate your honesty."

"Woah. Thanks for the advice." Steven said, closing his eyes for a moment to let the words sink in. Such lovely advice from a doggy helicopter. When Steven opened his eyes to look, all of a sudden, he found that dogcopter was gone. Just as fast, the blanket and chess game had gone as well. Steven looked around, but then all the birds, horses, and even hillsides suddenly vanished into a blank void. Looking back down, the hill he was on had suddenly changed to a rounded platform, with one path leading forward to only one thing. It looked like the path lead to another platform, but Steven saw himself standing on that same platform. Steven found himself moving forward until he was face to face with himself, just inches away. Steven went forward with one hand, only to find that his hand didn't contact anything in particular. In fact, his hand went right through, making the reflection ripple like water. Steven looked to his hand in surprise, yet his curiosity over this odd thing he found overcame him. Soon, in a simple motion, he went right through, disappearing from sight ...

~~~~~~

The morning sun began to break over Beach City, and the gentle warmth of the sun rested within the Beach House. At the moment, it seems that nobody was up, including Steven who was still sound asleep in bed. To the back, the doors opened up to one of the Gems. This gem was smaller, about Steven's size overall, aptly named Peridot. Peridot was a rather newer Gem, not one of the original members like Garnet and Amethyst, but still she had her own perks for the group. Bored with nothing to do, Peridot looked around the room for something to do. Looking over, she noticed Steven in his bed. Peridot found Steven as her source of entertainment after a while, so maybe getting him up will have something to do.

"Steven!" Peridot said, only assuming Steven will wake up to that. However, there was no response to Peridot's call, which the Gem was for sure would get him up anyway. Peridot climbed up to Steven's bedroom, seeing that he was still fast asleep.

"Hey!" Peridot said. Still, oddly, Steven remained asleep despite the demand. That just left Peridot a little perplexed, but before she could go any further, the front door suddenly opened up to a portal of white. It wasn't any threat or any danger, though something pink and very fast suddenly shot out. Like a bouncy ball, the thing bounced around the room more and more. Peridot ducked for cover until the pink object landed right on Steven's bed. Turned out, she was one of Steven's pony friends - Pinkie Pie. The giddy pink mare bounced on Steven bed for a bit.

Still nothing. Steven was still asleep. Pinkie stopped bouncing when she realized Steven wasn't waking up, and Peridot was for sure that would've done it. This was really getting weird at this point; the loud noise and light in Steven's face should've woken him up by now. In the back, the door opened up to have the other Gems come over, hearing the commotion from Pinkie Pie. They included Lapis, Garnet, Amethyst, and two others. One was a lean, white Gem named Pearl, and the other a large, muscular, orange Gem named Jasper.

"What's going on in here?" Garnet asked. Peridot went over to them as Pinkie tried to wake Steven up.

"Well, it seemed Steven is still in his sleeping state," Peridot informed, a thumb to the sleeping Steven. Suddenly Pinkie pulled out a trumpet from her mane and blew in it hard. It made a few of them jump, but Steven didn't flinch. Annoyed, she threw the trumpet aside (hitting Garnet in the head), and she suddenly popped up with an even louder instrument; a tuba. Pinkie blew hard into it, the loud bellow of the trumpet making everyone jump. But Steven didn't flinch either. Frustrated, Pinkie threw the tuba back (landing on Jasper's head) and brought out the big guns; a megaphone! Panicked, Pearl quickly covered her mouth before she can break anybody's eardrums.

"That won't be needed, Pinkie," Pearl quickly noted, removing the megaphone before they could try it. Still, the fact that Steven didn't even flinch or wake up was starting to worry them. Why was he still asleep, even after all that?!

"Something's wrong here," Garnet concurred, going to Steven's bed. Lapis landed nearby, also worried.

"Is he okay?" Lapis asked. Garnet felt his hand for a second, feeling a pulse still.

"Stand back; I got this. Lapis, water wing," Amethyst said. Lapis brought out her water wing, which Amethyst pulled over Steven's head. The water dripped down on Steven's head, but it didn't seem to work either. Amethyst shook the wing for more water to fall on him, but Steven was still asleep even after that.

"Okay kid, ready?" Amethyst said, reaching for Steven's eyelids. Of noise wasn't gonna work, she'll make him wake up. Having a grip on them, Amethyst pulled them open. Steven's eyes, despite Amethyst being right in front of him, seemingly stated off into space.

"Yo, Steven! Rise and shine buddy!" Amethyst said, Pinkie joining the gesture with her big grin. Still no response. Amethyst snapped the eyelids back into Steven's head - which didn't work either - and looked to the others, shrugging.

"Jasper, this is serious, he's not waking up!" Pearl snapped. Jasper raised an eyebrow.

"I'M NOT OVERREACTING!" Pearl snapped. The scream didn't work either. Rolling her eyes, Jasper went right over to Steven, pulling him from bed and holding him in front of her. Steven's body was completely limp as Jasper held him firmly with both hands. Pearl and Lapis were a bit worried over what the powerhouse was going to do to him. First, Jasper shook him rather roughly up and down, and that didn't work. Jasper then tried flicking his forehead - that didn't work. Frustrated, Jasper went a bit far with her physical force, and slapped Steven good and hard right across the face! That succeeded in freaking out the others with the loud slap and left a red mark on his cheek. Anyone in the right mind would've woken up by now ...

"Humans sure can sleep through anything. Do their tolerance decrease in this state?" Peridot.

"Not this far," Lapis said in worry. No human can sleep through loud noise and physical abuse that strong without at least a groan, moan, or SOMETHING! Steven though was still deep in sleep. Garnet held Steven gently, looking down to Steven face. She didn't show it, but she was about as worried as anyone else at this point. Was this something outside just regular sleep? ...

~~~~~~

It didn't take too long, and as far as things were going that was a good thing. If Steven's sleeping was something bigger than they could figure out, then Garnet decided that they should head for somewhere where magic was not only of better use, but much more understood; Equestria. Throughout the summer before, they've hopped back and forth between their world, and Equestria. At this point, it had become a pretty regular thing overall. In this case, maybe somepony from Equestria can help the Gems with Steven's predicament. With Steven Universe still asleep, the Gems brought Steven over to one of Steven's other friends within Equestria. This one was a purple alicorn named Twilight, and with Twilight's large study on magic, perhaps she could figure something out for them. Arriving at Twilight's library, Garnet brought Steven to Twilight, placing him down gently inside the room, Twilight trying to think on what to do.

"He's been like that all morning - we tried everything to wake him up," Lapis explained. Twilight Sparkle thought for a little bit, seeing the slightly red mark where Jasper slapped him still, so they've tried some big ways at least. Eventually, Twilight sparkle nodded, but Pinkie suddenly jumped at her.

"Please wake him up! WE'RE LATE FOR OUR PLAY DATE!" Pinkie begged, shaking Twilight for a bit as she did.

"Okay, okay, I think I got something," Twilight said, getting Pinkie to let go as she put some distance between herself and Steven. "I've studied a spell that wakes anypony from sleep that should be just what we need. Alright, here we go." The Gems moved away, despite some worry, as Twilight's horn began to glow. After some strong focus, Twilight ended up making some bring rings which went right towards Steven. The rings went around Steven's head, and soon disappeared. They waited for something to happen ...

"What was that?!" Peridot suddenly snapped, seeing that as simply nothing. Twilight tried again, but again, Steven still was passed out as ever.

"I don't get it, that should've done it," Twilight wondered, as Pinkie Pie opened his eyelid and waved her hoof just to make sure. Twilight decided to try one more time as Pinkie had Steven's eye open. Pinkie bolted aside just as Twilight fired, but unlike before, the rings suddenly came to a halt before it got to Steven, almost like it was either getting knocked away or sliced up with each ring. Only one got the closest to go around Steven's head, to which it almost appeared to be pulled apart and split in two. Everybody and everypony seemed a little silent about this; the way that the rings were moved away was not of Twilight's own power, nor was it intentional by any means. And it seemed painfully obvious that there was something deeply wrong here. Since Pinkie was closest to Steven and whatever the hat did that, she made a large sidestep over to a safer distance (Aka the other side of the room). Twilight did the only other thing; a quick scan with her horn to see if any apparition or haunting was there.

However, nothing seemed to show up. Whatever did that was either hiding away somewhere or had disappeared before Twilight could catch it. Either way, the Alicorn was starting to wonder what was really going on with Steven, or how the heck it happened? Same things went with the Gems too (well, most of them anyway). They knew Steven couldn't stop that kind of magic without some form or shield, and you can't exactly react fast enough while sleeping like this. Pearl moved over to Steven, kneeling down to his level, very worried for him. Could he be possessed by something to make him this way?

"No, no, no, there must be some way to wake him up!" Pearl said, her hands gripping her head as she went on the verge of freaking out. An alicorn can't wake him up?! If that couldn't be done, what's to come for Steven? Is he to stay asleep like this forever? That was something Pearl didn't want to think about. Garnet looked over to Steven. He surely did look lifeless at this point, but his breathing can tell them that death wasn't the case (at least, not a physical death, or a literal one). Garnet needed to think some more on what to do, or who to contact. However, Twilight own mention of 'Luna' seemed to work some gears in her mind.

"Can the princesses help?" Garnet asked, looking to Twilight. Twilight quickly thought for a moment. Maybe they can help them out with Steven!

"Give me a second." Twilight flew off to her own bedroom, where her assistant was still snoozing in his bed. This little guy was named Spike, Twilight little dragon assistant. Spike wasn't having the same problem as Steven, he just had on some earmuffs to keep him asleep. The alicorn's magic easily pulled them off, waking the dragon up.

"Hey, I'm taking a nap," Spike said, rubbing his eye. He gave a yawn, but only then did Spike suddenly notice the Gems there. Spike looked over to Twilight.

~~~~~~

-- Bring Steven to Canterlot Castle. If we can have a look, we might be able to find a solution. --

That was the overall reply from the princesses soon after the message was received and got the Gems over to the castle. Twilight and Spike too were with them and waited. The information wouldn't be given right away, as the princesses in question - Celestia and Luna apply named - had to check him out first. The wait as well seemed to be a rather long one, or at least it felt like it to the others waiting. The Gems had to wait outside of one room of the castle. while the others waited patiently, Pearl ended up pacing in complete worry over what answer would come around. Even if not meaning to, the pacing was starting to bug some of the other Gems as well.

"Can you quit pacing? He'll be fine," Amethyst said, getting a bit edgy herself from seeing Pearl pacing about.

"I can't help it, who knows what could've happened? Just yesterday he was fine and wide awake, but now he won't react to anything," Pearl reminded, getting more paranoid as she was talking. About as annoyed as Amethyst was, Jasper flicked Pearl right in the temple, knocking her over.

"Thanks," Amethyst said. Jasper just nodded, as Pearl got back up, rubbing where Jasper flicked her. A bit rough, but it stalled her just enough, as the doors opened up. Celestia and Luna were both standing there, looking to the others.

"Did you find anything out?" Twilight asked. The princesses looked to eachother first before answering.

The Gems went on inside the room to see Steven. The room that Celestia and Luna brought him to was Celestia's royal bedroom, the light outside shining in. It was fairly big, plenty enough for the others to fit in comfortably. On the bed, tucked in, they all saw Steven just lying there in his sleep. He looked so peaceful just lying there, not uttering a sound. Still, Celestia and Luna both knew that there was something more troubling than it seemed to be. Twilight moved over to Steven, looking down to him.

"We do have one theory. But one question first; how long was he like this?" Celestia asked.

"We found him this morning like this. He was just fine last night," Garnet explained. Celestia and Luna looked to Steven before Celestia continued.

"Then our theory is true. Steven has been hexed during his slumber, and his conscious mind became dormant. In short, he's unable to wake up in our world."

"But he was like this back in our world, wasn't he?" Amethyst asked, scratching her head. Luna sighed.

"Not that way. We mean that his mind is trapped in his dreams, and he's unable to return to the real world."

"It's a state of mind while a creature sleeps. Your mind and soul are placed in a world beyond time and direction, and where logic has no effect. And I'm afraid Steven's mind and soul had been tampered with ..."

"What're you talking about?" Asked Twilight. Luna sighed, looking away for a moment and moving out onto an open balcony nearby. The Alicorn looked out to the setting sun (it was close to bringing out the moon for the night anyway).

"I'm afraid I know exactly who did this to Steven," Luna began, a sigh escaping her muzzle. With a nod of her head, Celestia aided in a projection from her own magic, knowing what she was talking about, detailing the frames and images to Luna's words perfectly.

"Thousands of years ago, there had been mysterious cases all over Equestria when ponies, and other creatures will end up in a deeply hibernated state, unable to wake up no matter what anypony had done. Me and my sister tracked the problem to a mysterious being within the frozen north, known simply as "Lucid". In order to awaken the ponies, we defeated him, and banished him to the deepest abyss of the dreamscape - the realm of Limbo, where he'd remained ever since. Somehow, he had contacted Steven and is doing the same to him."

"I'm not sure yet. But I do know this; Steven's consciousness has become lost. And now, it needs to come back," Luna explained. Her horn glowed as the sun outside disappeared, and everyone watched as the Alicorn began her nightly duty of raising the moon. She had to do that at least.

"Not me. You. All of you Gems have to go in after him, otherwise he'll never be the same again." Now things were a bit weird. Okay, so something from the dreamscape had taken Steven away, and now the mission was clear, but confusing. How are they supposed to go after him if it wasn't in the real world? However, the first to actually catch an idea for how Amethyst was, who got comfortable on the floor with her hands behind her head and laying on her back.

"Actually, that's exactly it. Steven's mind is trapped in the dreamscape, and the only way for you to go find him is to enter the dreams yourselves," Celestia explained.

"Once you all do that, I'll connect your dreams to Steven, and you can find him from there. Be warned though; even if your physical body won't be effective, it is still as much a dangerous place to be. I can't have you in there for too long," Luna explained.

"The realm of Limbo is more than just Lucid's refuge; the deeper you are in sleep, the stronger likelihood for you to venture further and further into Limbo. If that happens ..." Luna paused and didn't finish the last part. Still, her information was just enough to get the point across.

"Listen. Steven's not a pony like you, and therefore I'm unable to connect your species' dreams to his. I'm sorry but this is a mission for the Gems only. Besides, somepony has to watch over them while they sleep. Anything can happen for the time they're in slumber, and they need someone in this world to make sure they're safe. Understand? I'll be here to help," Luna explained. Twilight didn't really enjoy that answer, but if the Gems are able to go, then she had to contribute to help in some way.

"Your bodies will be as inactive as Steven is, making you unable to defend yourself in the real world. Yes, you need somepony on watch. And if you are to go, we have to do it now. If the sun rises to the next day, then you'll be cut off."

"I would if I could. I know this may sound unfair, but all of Equestria needs the passing of the days. I can't halt time for you to find your friend - I can't keep it night forever," Luna explained, feeling a slight sense of guilt for saying that. Still, it was the truth.

"Let's do it," Garnet said. If it means to save Steven, the risk is worth the reward. However, most of the group didn't have much clue where to start since they never needed sleep. Garnet and Amethyst knew the idea of it and were ready to go. In fact, Amethyst got a head start and was already asleep. Lapis, being more flexible on the idea, laid down by the bed with her back to the bed frame, and copied what Amethyst did to go to sleep.

"Just lay down and close your eyes. I'll take care of the rest," Luna said. Still not sure what she was doing, Pearl did just what she was told, and laid down on the bed next to Steven. Jasper and Peridot could only follow their lead, again not sure what they were doing. Still, just a little bit after everyone had done so, Luna began to focus her magic to them. From her horn, a white light beamed out, a number of lines stretching to each of the Gems, including Steven. Disconnecting the line from herself, a few small, brighter lights flowed from each other Gem at rest, each light moved over to Steven's head as they did.

~~~~~~

Within the mentioned dreamscape, Steven was still roaming around in his own dreamworld. He had eventually gotten himself through the strange mirror-like pathway and had gotten himself in an entirely different area. From being in the grassy hillsides and blue skies, suddenly the area around him looked a bit drier, and less lively as before. At first, Steven didn't seem to recognize anything anywhere here.

"Hello?!" Steven waited for a response as he walked along, but nothing seemed to reply to him. He tried to feel for a way back, but that also seemed to disappear from behind him, so, going back to find dogcopter was out of the question. Steven wasn't sure exactly where he ended up, but all he could was roam around and try to figure it out for himself. Every step seemed to echo around surprisingly loud compared to the rest of the area. the ground was firm, flattened out, and not very much of life apart from small grass. Steven kept going forward for a while more, not seeing anything out of place until his wandering eyes caught glimpse of something moving farther away. It was very far off, so, it was almost impossible to tell what it was.

"Hey!" Steven called. But whatever it was soon disappeared from Steven sight. Something compelled him to start moving off towards whatever it was, but as he went, the ground in front of him suddenly began to split open very quickly! Steven raced back as fast as he could, but the cracking ground split open much faster than he could run, and he ended up falling right down the cliff! Steven tumbled head over heels as he screamed for a little bit, before landing on something. Sitting up afterwards and checking, turned out the item was actually a Gem injector, and it was currently active. The injector was in middle of the process of putting a gem into the earth, and as Steven looked around side to side it seemed there were a ton more.

"How'd I get to the Kindergarten?" Steven thought. He recognized this place from a few trips before, but last time he checked the place was completely abandoned, and these injectors were just as deep in disrepair. Now though, the whole place seemed very busy, and very much active. Steven saw a ton of Injectors all over the canyon wall moving about and working like clockwork, and other activity going on along the canyon floor. From where he was, the view he got from the injector got him seeing other Gems working around the canyon, but Steven couldn't tell what they were doing. However, as he tried to get a better view, suddenly the injector moved, making Steven stumble! He grabbed the injector, but it was no use, and Steven ended up falling right down to the ground below. The hit was rough, but Steven shook it off as he looked ahead. Nearby, suddenly he saw someone familiar.

Gem Log 107:

Progress on Planet Earth has been going successfully. The prime kindergarten progress was continuing on at a steady and reasonable pace.

"Peridot, glad to see you! Can you tell me what's going on here?" Steven asked. However, a number of things split her apart from his Peridot. One; she still had enhancers. Two; her Gemstone wasn't on the forehead. Three; she didn't even acknowledge Steven. Steven got up, as the Peridot was fiddling away, but before he could get her attention, this Peridot began to move away. When Steven had a better look at the other working Gems. The sizes vary from large fighter Gems, or smaller Gems in study. Many of them were different in their own way, and none of them noticed Steven standing nearby.

"That's a lot of Gems. This must be when Gems were made," Steven thought, scratching his head. However, standing there, he was right in the sight of a planted Gem, right on the wall next to him, the wall began to make an outline of another, much larger Gem (at least compared to Steven). This Gem had a white outline to her, about had a similar body set to the other fighter gems. Or at least the same in overall shape. Steven stepped back a bit as the body took shape, though apparently other Peridots took notice and were right behind him, watching as well. About three Peridots were there as the reformation was complete.

"Welcome to Homeworld," the Peridots all said in unison. Steven got up, amazed on who he saw.

Steven didn't know what to say, but his mind went completely haywire on seeing Rose standing there (not looking to him by the way). Steven just stayed put at first, but as a Peridot stepped forward, her foot enhancer ended up too close to Steven. Not exactly considered stepping on his foot, but her enhancer almost seemed to "note clip" through Steven's leg. Steven didn't notice just yet.

"Mom!" Steven beamed, running to her to hug her. When Steven tried though, he ended up tumbling right through her! He ended up landing on the other side, towards the same hole Rose had been reformed from. It was only then did Steven realize he wasn't changing anything here.

"If you follow us, Quartz, we'll show you your proper placement," one of the Peridots said, motioning Rose to follow them. Steven watched as the curious Rose Quartz began to go. Steven got up, but suddenly the ground under him began to shift backwards. Just as Rose seemed to turn around back to him, Steven went right down into a steep, slippery incline back into the back of Rose's hole. Soon, the kid was out of sight again ...

~~~~~~

Further back, and just arriving, the other Gems needed a bit before they woke up in the dreamscape. It was something they didn't seem to end up getting used to, as they just ended up there without waking up (or knowing that they did). First thing they knew they were back at the castle in Canterlot, and the next minute they suddenly ended up somewhere completely new. Getting up, they ended up in what seemed to be some sort of city, with them at town square right by the city center clock (which by the by had no hands on it). As for the buildings, they all had a sort of 'older' look to them in terms of design and construction. Rather than the smaller buildings in Beach City, these buildings were fairly tall, though clearly built with stuff like smoothed out bricks, or cement. Still, something just felt off to the place (aside from the fact they just popped up there without any logical reason).

"Is this ... The dreamscape?" Lapis asked, looking around into the sky, which had cloud birds flying around. While many of them seemed normal as they got there, only one of them had a bit of a surprise in store for her. Peridot, got up to her feet, but as she did she suddenly realized that she was a bit taller than usual ... Then she saw her arms and legs ...

"My ... My ... MY ENHANCERS!!" Peridot could barely contain her excitement for having them back, and everyone else was just as surprised to see the enhancers back on her, despite Peridot losing hers beforehand.

"B-But how, I thought they were unable to work! She came to Canterlot without them, didn't she?" Pearl wondered, about as surprised as everyone else as Peridot went all out on her returned enhancers (basically running around and playing with them for the joy of it). Still, Amethyst wasn't too surprised.

"We're in a dream, Pearl - anything goes," Amethyst said. Unlike everyone else, Amethyst took to the dream world with a much calmer, but happier vibe to it. Being a Gem who sleeps regularly herself, she should know this stuff by now.

"Don't be silly, Amethyst, there's easily some sort of ... explanation ..." Pearl had trailed off once she looked to Amethyst again. At this point, Amethyst was actually floating in mid air, without any sort of visible power. The Gems surely know that Amethyst couldn't fly without using her shape shifting magic to make her so (say as a bird), but here nothing like that seemed to be in effect.

"What, never seen a floating Gem before?" Amethyst asked, flipping herself upside down, and staring Pearl in the face. Her hair didn't get effected by gravity, so it still went down her back rather than hang towards the ground.

"Okay, focus! Steven's here somewhere, and we have to find him before he's gone for good," Garnet reminded, beginning to walk around and looking for him. It was something that they really needed to do, and they can't get sidetracked at this point. Still, the fact that Amethyst and Peridot were ecstatic at the moment didn't seem to help her out on the matter. Garnet looked back to them, yet Jasper went over to her.

"Forget them. If they want to mess around, that's they're choice," Jasper said, not caring too much. Still, Garnet went to them anyway, as Jasper continued ahead.

"Amethyst, Peridot!" Garnet yelled. Even if it was fun, the two went over to catch up, Peridot moving on her fingers stubs because she can (you got them, might as well use them). With them going off, the place truly seemed rather empty, despite it being as well maintained as it was. No cars, no trash, as if the town had just been made within one day. Still, the exact effects of said place was leaving them all a bit on the lookout as they went, trying to figure out where Steven had gone. Lapis (and by this point, Peridot) flew up into the sky to have a better look around. there wasn't too much to really see aside from the rest of the city ...

Then, suddenly a garbage can was tossed out to the street, catching most of the Gems off guard. The Gems readied themselves for whatever would come next, as something moved out onto the street. The thing looked rather rough in appearance, and fairly huge. The beast was as tall as a horse, with the main body of a gorilla with its forelegs much longer than its hind legs. It's feet ended on hoof-like fleshy stubs, which didn't make any noise on the ground as it moved out to the street. It's head didn't belong to any normal creature, with a flattened human-like face and sharp, uneven teeth. Small white slits for eyes curved in a rough glare, and it's skin was a leathery black. The beast didn't look like it was any corrupted Gem, or a sort of normal creature. Even if in a dream, they still need to be wary.

At first, it seemed to be a stand off between them and the creature, but soon the beast locked eyes with the closest Gem; Jasper. All of a sudden, it ran forward towards her in long gallops, stopped inches from her, and roared good and loud. Instinctive response; a swift uppercut to send the beast back. The other Gems rushed forward, and the fight quickly turned one sided for the beast. Amethyst and Lapis restrained the beast by grabbing its legs. The beast struggled in their grip, but very quickly (maybe too quickly) Garnet took care of it with one powerful grab and swing. The beast was soon out of sight.

"Well ... That was quick," Amethyst said in disappointment. She didn't expect the fight to be over that quickly.

"We didn't come here to fight, we came here to find Steven," Pearl said, starting to move on ahead. But, soon the Gem suddenly walked into something just in front of them. However, they didn't seem to really see what Pearl walked into, as Pearl stepped back. She felt around a little bit in front of her, feeling some sort of surface in between them and their path. It was invisible as they're concern, but no doubt something was there and in the way.

"I'm not too sure," Pearl replied, feeling around the barrier. Garnet placed a hand on it as well, but instead of finding a strong wall, she found a liquid pathway when her hand slipped through. As she moved her hand, she actually made out the boundary of the supposed door; just tall enough for Jasper to go through.

"Found our route." Garnet announced, looking back to the others. Garnet took point and went on through, and with not much else to go, they soon started to follow.

~~~~~~

With himself tumbling down whatever hole he gotten himself into, Steven ended up finding himself stuck again. From a light above the area, Steven had a rather rough landing, right on his back. The hit was hard, and left him a bit sore as he sat up to look around. The only light in the place was where he landed, but rather than just being stuck underground underneath the Kindergarten, the place he ended up looked more open than it actually was. As for the ground, turned out the supposed dry earth was actually firm paneling, almost like metal but had a reflecting compliment to it almost like a mirror. Aside from that though, Steven couldn't see anything beyond a few feet from the light.

"Now where am I? ... Hello?!" Steven called. However his voice echoed out around him, and not seemingly reaching anyone, or anything for that matter. Steven trued to look around, trying to figure out where the heck he was, or what else was around beyond the light.

"Anyone know where I am?!" Steven asked again. His echoes still went all over the place, but not much response ... Well, not at first, anyway.

All of a sudden, Steven began to hear footsteps from further away, right behind him. When Steven turned around though, the footsteps then turned into flowing water. Looking down, water suddenly appeared under his feet, and rising fast! Steven immediately freaked out, as he ended up deep underwater. Steven instinctively held his breath as he found himself deeper and deeper in the water, ending up on a smooth sea floor. Steven at least wasn't in the dark - having more light in the blue water then when out on the metal floor. This odd ocean came with a waterfall-like effect right in front of him, providing more light for him to see. Quickly, Steven swan like mad to the light, and popped his head out to get some air. The new waterfall didn't drag him down, or pulled him up, as if he was in still water despite his vertical placement. The kid looked on ahead of him, trying to get himself out of the water. Steven only got himself half way through, but then he ended up sealed tight, unable to get himself out of the flowing water. Steven pushed as much as he could, until his body popped out like a cork from a bottle (and surprisingly just as fast). He landed right onto the ground, which was actually a open sea floor. Looking up again, Steven got to his feet and got himself a better view on his location.

Standing tall, Steven saw a huge building, a tower going straight up from the center of the dry sea bed. The huge walls of water around the tower didn't seem to be able to go any further, and as such were blocked by some sort of force. Steven didn't see any other buildings around apart from a sort of glass roof dome house nearby, but that was about it. Even if it seemed like a place that no one had been to before, Steven seemed to have some old memory of the place. Much better maintained, yeah.

"The sea spire," Steven realized. As he was looking, the kid soon noticed a number of other Gems roaming around as well, different sizes and different Gem types. Steven went on ahead, passing other Gems as he went but none of them seemed to notice. Steven didn't recognize any of them but was fascinated none the less. Soon though, up ahead, one Gem got his attention right away, which soon ended up in front of him. In fact, he ended up walking right into her. One look at the blue Gemstone on her back said it all, but when she looked back, she looked anything but joyful.

"Lapis, it's me, Steven, remember? Beach summer fun buddy?" Steven said, trying to remind her apparently. Still, Lapis kept a similarly rough look on her face.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Stop bothering me," Lapis insisted, going away. However, Steven followed her quickly.

"But, don't you remember? We had so much fun together back in Beach City, we explored Equestria, played in the ocean -"

"Stop bugging me. I got enough to keep track of with the Sea Spire, now go away," Lapis demanded, walking off from him. Steven tried to think, and thought of something that might get her memory going.

Lapis turned back in a scold, as Steven took a deep breath, got his hand out, and ...

The same fun noise Steven used while Lapis was trapped in the mirror. However, Lapis just glared at Steven before walking off, and disappearing into the crowd. Steven's heart sank, speechless from Lapis's colder demeanor towards him compared to the friendlier, fun-loving Lapis he knew. He would say that it was another Lapis if her Gemstone was in a different spot. Still, soon after she left, he suddenly found himself moving away from the lobby, and outside the Sea Spire at breakneck speed. He didn't had any control over where he was going, and soon ended up back in the deep ocean again. The kid tumbled about for a little while, but he got himself upright after a bit. He couldn't believe that Lapis would act that way, even after everything. As Steven just floated about for a while, he began to see a blur of something moving around in the water close by. Steven didn't had much clue about what it was at first, but soon it started to close in on him, with a loud moan echoing in Steven's ears.

The kid quickly began to swim upward as something huge swam past him. When looking down, Steven saw that it was actually a van-sized whale. Steven swam towards the surface as fast as he could, with the whale following close behind. As for the whale, its head was very broad and large, looking like that of a sperm whale but more compact. Steven was swimming fast, but the whale soon began to push him up very quickly until they both breached the surface. The whale ended up throwing Steven very high in the air, the kid spiraling around in the air until he ended up landing on something. It wasn't the water, but instead it turned out to be a orange life raft, which kept Steven afloat. Looking back, he still saw the sea spire, but he wasn't getting dragged to it. Instead, he was actually moving away a little bit. Appearing nearby was the same whale, but it didn't look as dangerous as before. However, the whale gently placed its head on the back of the raft, and began to push Steven away. Guess his travels weren't finished yet.

~~~~~~

Back with the Gems, the portal they'd gone through has brought them off to their next destination - wherever that was. When exiting their own source of a portal, they got themselves into what at first seemed like some dark room. However, as they ventured out, the light had gotten them to see what they had ended up; a grey, lifeless canyon, covered in holes like that of a beehive. some machines laid wrecked and didn't do well with the test of time. It was painfully clear that this was the Kindergarten, but unlike Steven's visit, this was the more 'current' condition of the Kindergarten on Earth, than the Kindergarten Steven had been to.

"Let's just look around. Keep in pairs, and split up. Come back to the others if you find him," Garnet instructed. Soon, the group's did split from there; Amethyst and Pearl, Peridot and Lapis, Jasper and Garnet.

The place made them feel pretty small compared to the tall, holed walls, the place quiet as quiet can get. Pearl and Amethyst looked around as they went, Pearl keeping front as they went. Being in such a place made Pearl a little uneasy, knowing what had occurred here, and the consequences that came to be from it. Same goes for Amethyst, who was lagging further and further behind from Pearl.

When Pearl turned back, Amethyst had actually disappeared, Pearl ending up in a white fog all by herself.

"Amethyst, this isn't a game!" Pearl yelled. Still, Pearl didn't hear anything or anyone. Unaware to her though, someone did start to catch up from behind.

Pearl turned around just in time to dodge a sudden whip attack! Looking over, Pearl saw Amethyst standing there, but she looked a bit different. For one thing, she looked about as tall and muscular as Jasper, with a similarly sadistic expression on her face.

"Amethyst!" Pearl yelled. But her anger went away fast on seeing the sadistic smile (which had shark-like teeth). She got out her whip again, and attacked Pearl with strength and speed almost unnatural. Pearl dodged them easily, but Pearl didn't get why Amethyst would do this at the drop of a hat. One whip was so quick, Pearl barely saw it and stumbled onto the ground. Amethyst charged forward and was about ready to crush her! Pearl bolted to the side as the ground shattered under Amethyst's attack.

"What're you doing, Amethyst?! This isn't you!" Pearl said, but all she got was a punch to the face, sending her flying fast. The hit missed her Gem by millimeters, but Pearl ended up landing hard on the ground, spinning head over heels until she stopped at the wall. The crash was (oddly enough) where they came from, so the crash was heard all over the place. Pearl got herself up, hearing the sound of Lapis, Peridot, Garnet and Jasper making their U-turn back to her. Lapis first arrived back, seeing Pearl pulling herself to her feet.

"Amethyst," Pearl replied, regaining herself and checking her Gem. The punch left a large bruise on her face, right between the eyes. Soon, the others came around, but by the time they did Amethyst caught up.

"I happened, triple eyes," Amethyst mocked, cracking her knuckles on seeing them. Jasper was the one to confront her, seeing that they matched size now.

"Why should I? Making Gems suffer and shatter is what we Quartz are made for. This is the true me!" Amethyst said, full of pride. Jasper was about ready to fight as anybody, and Amethyst began to go forward. After a few steps though, one of her feet were grabbed and pulled from under her by another whip. At the other end of it, they all saw Amethyst - the real Amethyst - holding her down. One quick hit though, and the whip snapped in two, as this monster Amethyst faced the normal Amethyst.

"You again? I got better things to shatter than you right now," the monster said, referring to her friends. Yet, the real Amethyst looked angry at this other version of herself.

"I wouldn't want to fight me neither!" Amethyst growled, and charged at her monster. Quickly, the battle between them both kicked off with brutal force, both sides pummeling eachother. The others watched them go at it for a bit, as Amethyst's whip was grabbed by the monster, and Amethyst was slammed to the dirt hard! Amethyst got herself up, a bit bruised up.

Amethyst gave a battle cry, before sending out two whips from her Gemstone, and got a grip on her monster by the shoulders.

"I'M NOT GONNA HAVE YOU STAND THERE AND REMIND ME OF EVERYTHING I HATE ABOUT MYSELF!!!"

In one motion, the whips built up some power, and exploded once reaching her monstrous self, the explosion extremely violent. Soon, the place became very quiet, Amethyst just standing there with whips in both hands. The other Gems looked to Amethyst, hearing every word Amethyst had screamed. For Amethyst, she didn't need to see that while on this crazy mission of hers. She had anger on her face ... but tears were seen on her face.

"Amethyst ..." Pearl said at one point, slightly hushed. Amethyst turned to them, forgetting for a second that they were actually there in her rage. As she was looking though, suddenly the monster Amethyst slammed both fists into the earth, making the ground violently shake. The entire wall above them began to tip forward, about to crush them! Lapis got out some water, and quickly concealed everyone ... All but one.

But rather than get to safety, Amethyst turned and ran, just as the wall fell on top of them! For a few seconds, everyone in Lapis's shield was safe, but wondered what happened to Amethyst. The wall soon disappeared, and Lapis removed the shield, but Amethyst wasn't anywhere to be seen. Both monster Amethyst and normal Amethyst were gone completely. Not a sign of her ...

"Oh my. Amethyst! Amethyst!" Pearl called, going out and trying to find her. Lapis quickly joined her, and the two got a head start on their little search. First Steven, now Amethyst. It didn't take too long before they figured it out though; as Pearl went by one of the many holes of the area, one of them caught her eye to the point upon stopping herself. Inside one of them looked like Amethyst, or at least Amethyst's hair, as she had her back turned to the outside. The two quickly came forward to see her.

"amethyst, there you are!" Lapis gasped in glee, happy to see Amethyst alright. However, the feeling was only mutual.

"Go away. I'm bad, and you shouldn't be around me," Amethyst said, a bit hurt in her voice.

"Yes I am! I was made here - This whole place was a mistake! I'm a big mistake!" Amethyst retorted, turning to show that she looked exactly like the monster she was fighting, feeling tears down her face. Seemed her inner monster had gotten to her. Next it was Pearl's turn to speak.

"No, no. Amethyst, you're not the mistake. You're just the byproduct of a ... big mistake." Pearl quickly saw the error in her words, blushing a bit. "No, that's not- I ... I just never thought of this as you. None of this is your fault - You didn't build this place. I-I'm sorry, Amethyst. I hope you can forgive me. You're the one good thing that came out of this mess. I always thought you were proud of that." Amethyst took a minute to just look at them both, letting the words sink in. As she was thinking, Pearl and Lapis saw her body turned less monstrous, reverting back to normal after a while. Lapis, Pearl, and Amethyst came out after a bit.

"... You both mean that?" Amethyst asked. Both Lapis and Pearl nodded to her. Though hesitant at first, eventually Amethyst went over and hugged them both. The two didn't expect that, but they both returned the gesture. After all, it sounded like she needed one after that ...

The three turned away on hearing that, and saw Garnet nearby, just showing up to see the hug rather than hearing the talk. Peridot and Jasper caught up after a while. Amethyst looked to them soon afterward.

"It's okay to share your feelings, Amethyst. Now, I think it's time we move on," Garnet concluded.

~~~~~~

With the wind to his back, and the sea calm, Steven continued going forward with his whale pushing him along the ocean waves. Moving along the seas gave Steven some time to think over what has happened so far; particularly with the Kindergarten and with Lapis at the Sea Spire. On one hand, he saw basically Rose being born, but on the other, Lapis Lazuli seemed to forget him entirely. He couldn't really get it, or what was going to happen next. Still, the spire was far behind him, and wherever the whale was pushing him was up ahead. Well, at least the sky was clear and the sun was shining ...

Suddenly, the raft hit something rather abruptly, sending Steven forward. The object looked like land, but purely made of metal, or some sort of smooth material not of Earth. When the raft hit, the whale nodded and swam away.

"Thank you," Steven said, waving to the whale. The whale waved a fun back before it disappeared underwater. As for Steven, he went onto the metal platform, pulling the raft on too after some effort (could come in handy). Soon after he did, he got a good look over where he got to this time. So far, he ended up in he Kindergarten, the Sea Spire, and now ... well, Steven didn't even remotely recognize this place. It was a large, arena-like place that also seemed to have a ton of Gems amongst the crowd. Unlike before though, this crowd all looked like silhouettes, with a single color splitting one from another. Each one had holes on them showing their mouths, eyes, and where their Gemstones were. To Steven, they looked like colored paper cutouts for the most part. As with before at the Sea Spire, none of them really bothered with him, and instead kept their attention to each other. Steven couldn't understand what they were saying, but that didn't mean he didn't try anything.

"Hello? Can you tell me where I am? ... Hello?" Steven tried to tug on one of the Gem's arms to get some attention, but when he tried, his hand ended up going right through the Gem! It was like as if he was trying to grab a hologram. Steven went around and tried his luck with other Gems, but it ended up the same. That meant one of two things; either all the Gems weren't truly there, or he's not really there himself. Still, he wasn't going to get any information this way. At first, nothing seemed to really happen.

"Does anyone know I'm here?!" Steven yelled, trying to get some attention. But his voice was put on deaf ears, and no one responded to him, or acknowledged him to any extent. Ironically, Steven felt alone for a little bit amongst the crowd, until ...

Steven immediately had stars in his eyes and a smile on his face as he turned to see his friends. Looking up above, he did ended up seeing a familiar Gem; Pearl.

"Pearl! There you -" Steven suddenly stopped when he saw her fully, his mood turning to unsureness. Pearl looked a bit different here than before. First of all, her outfit was a bit different, and actually had a slightly different pallet in color; this included a small ballerina-like silk skirt. Her skin was, ever so slightly, darker than normal, her hair a bit longer and closer to what Lapis's hair would look like, and she had two swords in her hands. However, he didn't see Garnet, Amethyst, Lapis, or anyone of the other Crystal Gems. The only other person he did see though, was actually Rose Quartz! The same Gem he saw back at the Kindergarten, and she and Pearl both were now here, and apparently ready for battle.

All of a sudden, Pearl and Rose went right down, as some of the other Gems took battle with them. It was Pearl who'd shown true infamy in the battlefield, slicing and dicing any who gotten close. At one point, two larger warrior Gems charged her, and all Pearl did was swipe at them both, one sword per attacker, to defeat them. Further away, he then saw something interesting; Rose ... and Ruby. However, this Ruby not only had three other Gemstones on her, but she was huge! Easily, she was Jasper's size, if not bigger, and this Ruby was charging at Rose. However, with a smirk, Rose easily defeated the supposed fusion with a few punches, the fusion splitting from one to three. Two of the three Rubies were suddenly sliced up by Pearl, leaving only one Ruby left. Now, Steven was worried. And what's worse, Pearl landed with blades raised ... at Sapphire?!

"thank you, Ruby. You did your best," Sapphire said, unfazed. Then ... something strange happened. For Steven, anyway.

Naturally, Steven raced over to try to stop the carnage. Even if he couldn't touch anything, or interact with anybody, but he had to try something before Pearl could finish Sapphire off. As he ran, he didn't notice but, he began to change a bit. His skin turning red, his hair larger and square, his voice from a young boy to a tomboy. Next thing he knew (or rather, she knew at this point) reached Sapphire just in time, and tackled her out of the way before Pearl's blades could meet with her head. As the two were in mid air for the moment, both of their bodies began to glow bright. Steven knew exactly what that meant ...

Just a few seconds later, his body fused with Sapphire, and they both turned into something very different; taller, mixed colors of blue and pink like mixed paint, three eyes on the face ...

All of the gems around him looked at him with shock and disapproval - something he was not used to. What happened? How did he end up as a Garnet?! He couldn't make sense of it, nor knew what was going on but he saw Rose and Pearl staring at him with similar expressions. Soon, the two went away physically (jumping away), but the world around him started to shrink, leaving him with less of a arena to stand on. The only thing not growing was the raft, which Steven ran to (which was easier with his apparent new body). Soon, he ended up tumbling on the shrinking edge, and landed on the raft. The only good thing was that the raft acted like a parachute as he fell down from the arena, to the seemingly endless sky. The arena had disappeared completely, but Steven remained a Garnet still. He could only float down on his raft to wherever he was going. Steven looked to the sky one more time before he disappeared into the lower clouds ...

~~~~~~

"Any luck?" Garnet asked, after everyone came together. However, the overall answer was no, much to her dismay.

As for the Crystal Gems, their walk about was left with less of a result. The Kindergarten was searched up and down, but Steven wasn't found anywhere. There wasn't any more incidents thanks to Amethyst's own closure over her issues, but that didn't mean she didn't want to stay around any longer than they need to. After going through all of the Kindergarten, it had become painfully clear that they were going nowhere, and time was getting away from them. If they don't go now, there's going to be a lot of trouble for both them and for Steven.

"Please be okay, Steven," Garnet thought. The last thing they needed to find was him in any serious danger while trying to find him. All they could do was try to find a way out of the canyon. Since they couldn't find any Warp Pads, they were stuck walking. As they were though, something from the shadows was keeping an eye on the traveling Gem group. Hidden deeply in the wall, the creature remained unnoticed by any of the Gems. Out of them all though, Peridot like they were being watched. With all of the dark shadows, and the many holes in the canyon walls, Peridot was left thinking that something was just hiding in the darkness. Time and time again, Peridot kept looking around, to make sure no other surprises were actually there. Next to her, Lapis noticed Peridot's own worry.

"Don't worry, Peridot, we'll be going soon," Lapis said, trying to comfort her, arm around Peridot's shoulders.

"I'm not worried ... much," Peridot insisted. She didn't want to be seen as scared, but, it was kind of hard to. Being in such a dark place, the watcher had plenty of room to keep itself hidden, despite Peridot's vision. As they kept going, the figure snuck along the walls until it eventually perched itself in one of the holes, higher up the walls. Peridot kept glancing along the walls, and finally did catch a glimpse of whatever was watching them. All she could see was a black humanoid figure, looking down like a vulture. It had a deeply judging look, trying to see what the Gems had to offer in this dreamscape. Before Peridot could say anything, the figure disappeared once she blinked, making her wonder if she did see anything real or not. Then again, the dreamscape's rules don't match up with the real world, so -

The sudden scream made everyone jump, and turned back. Soon, they all noticed something wrong; Lapis Lazuli was gone! No sign of any struggle, just two footprints in the dirt, and only taking mere seconds to disappear! Where'd she go?

For Lapis, she opened her eyes, and suddenly found herself ... well, somewhere. It was far too dark to exactly see anything aside from herself. It was deeply quiet, and not a single soul was around. The only thing in this void was Lapis herself, though she could've sworn something got her before she ended up there.

"Hello?!" Lapis called. Her voice was left in a long echo, telling Lapis that wherever she was wasn't as small as she thought. Even her footsteps left some small echo as she moved around, though personally she was unsure on where to actually go, or where the right direction would be. There wasn't anything that Lapis could see that would point her the right way. All and all, the only thing that she can manage to go, is forward. Lapis kept looking around for some sort of sign of anything left, but it was painfully obvious that the farther she moved, the more obvious that she was completely alone.

"Pearl! Amethyst, Garnet! ... Steven ..." Lapis felt a small tear go down her face. "Please ... I don't want to be alone. Not again ..." The Gem soon sat down after a while ... But then she heard something.

Farther away, she heard the sound of footsteps coming her way. Lapis didn't react at first, but soon she felt something touch her back. The object felt cold and flat against her Gemstone, and Lapis got herself around to see it. Soon, she was face to face with her own reflection, casted on her by a large full body mirror. While it may not be frightening to some, Lapis quickly backed up in pure shock. She didn't say a word, but the mirror seemed to move closer to her, making her even more panicked. What's worse is that the reflection showed a dully colored version of herself, with eyes that reflect just as the mirror did. That was more than Lapis could take, as she took off running.

That didn't mean her own version of a nightmare; more and more mirrors spawned up all around her, until she ended up trapped in a room of mirrors! No matter where she turned, no matter what corner she tried to get, she only saw her reflection in a mirror. She was horrified to the point of tears.

"STEVEN!! HELP!!" Lapis cried in her panic, falling to the ground and curling up into a ball, tears streaming from her face. All the mirrors boxed her in, so she was simply stuck - much to her horror.

"Steven. I need you," Lapis sobbed. As she just laid there, feeling the eyes of her mirror selves staring her down, she then heard something else. Something oddly calming, yet a bit confusing.

Lapis looked over, and found a very familiar hand mirror within arms reach. Without getting up, Lapis reached out, and felt the handle of the mirror before bringing it to her. Looking at this one, Lapis didn't see herself. Instead, she was seeing her times with Steven, starting from the very start when Steven freed her from her mirror. Lapis continued watching, actually starting to relax as she saw all of the good times she had with her beach summer fun buddy. With her trip to Equestria with her friend, to the shenanigans she'd done with Steven, even down to the surfing she and Steven did just before this problem started.

"... Steven ..." Her face soon had a smile on it after the visuals were presented to her. When it was done, Lapis saw her own reflection in the mirror, but not altered. She gently placed the mirror down, and got to her feet. Steven wouldn't want to see her like this. Her face showed strong determination.

Getting out as much water as she could muster, she went all out on the mirrors around. Not exactly breaking them, but sending them off out of her sight with a powerful water current. With confidence regained, she got her arms to work, and the water got every single mirror almost instantly. Very soon, all but one mirror had been removed; the only mirror there was the small hand mirror she spared. After that, she picked up the mirror with a gentle grip, a smile equally sweet. But there was one more twist to this.

The hand mirror began to float out of Lapis's hands, and grew into a door. With a nod, and a smile, Lapis didn't hesitate ...

Lapis opened her eyes to see the other Gems again, still in the Kindergarten as she was before.

"You alright Lapis? We found you passed out over here," Amethyst said. Lapis got to her feet.

"That's a relief," Pearl said. After a little bit, while Lapis had finished her ordeal, something else then presented itself. Further away, Jasper began to come over.

~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Steven, in his Garnet form, was still floating around slowly downward in the life raft. He didn't know where he was going, or why he was in this fused state anyway, but either way the Garnet could only lay there, looking up at passing clouds like they were laying on a hill. What else could he do anyway? Jump off and hope he lands safely on the ground from an impossible height? Course not. However, with this fusion he was stuck in, he also had Sapphire in his mind as well, and Steven didn't know how to deal with it.

"Yeah, they are," Steven replied. In his head, Steven and Sapphire were both side by side, though Steven wasn't aware of his body change just yet.

"Hm ... Well, I fused with you, grew too big for the arena, and floating down on a life raft ... Yeah, I'm dreaming," Steven concluded. Sapphire smiled.

After a while, the Garnet looked off down from the raft, Steven and Sapphire both looking down to where the clouds were starting to clear up. Under them, the ground slowly began to become visible out of the cloud cover. The place opened up from the open sky, to flying around skyscrapers. All of them weren't overall new, but they both saw the reflection in the glass windows, but rather than the Garnet, they instead see themselves sitting by eachother. It was only then did Steven notice that he wasn't himself, with his skin red and square afro.

"When you fused with me. Don't worry, I'll be with you the whole way," Sapphire promised. After a little bit, the raft landed gently on the empty roads below. No one else was around, so, it was safe to go and look around. The Garnet got up and began to go around for a bit more. Within the city, they both felt quite small, even if fused together. The towering structures, with the lack of people, just left them with a bit of loneliness, and even uncomfortable. Still, the fusion continued to move around the empty city regardless of that. After all, they both don't entirely know where they are, nor where they're going. Steven and Sapphire both took the time to look around, occasionally seeing the reflection of a Ruby and a Sapphire in the glass mirrors. They began to hear some sort of odd whisper after a while, seemingly coming from nowhere...

The sound of the whispers began to have some sort of effect on the Garnet, making both Steven and Sapphire more and more tired. Soon, still in their fusion, they both could no longer keep awake. The Garnet gently laid down, and was soon fast asleep ... With a looming shadow hovering over them.

Farther away, still in the city, the other Gems had arrived from their other portal found by Jasper. They all were on their guard after what happened at the Kindergarten, not wanting any surprise attacks this time around. After looking around the area for a bit, it was clear they had a bit of searching to do in this city if they were to find him.

"It'll take forever to find him here," Amethyst stated. The others quickly realized she was right; from what they could see they won't be able to find him around here so quickly. It was a pretty big city after all.

"You're right. We can't waste anymore time," Garnet said, beginning to move ahead. It was all they could do in order to find Steven. With what happened with Amethyst and Lapis though, it was probably better to keep together than to split up. With that in mind, they all kept together and kept their eyes open for any sort of trouble, or any sign of Steven. By the looks of the city though, that'll be a long time to accomplish - time they don't have.

"You positive about that?" Peridot asked. After seeing Amethyst's struggle, and Lapis being knocked out, going off into the sky could have some sort of consequence. Plus, she was the only one who saw that figure back in the Kindergarten anyway, which left her on edge. Still, Garnet nodded.

"We'll wait right here," Garnet promised. While the two still were slightly a bit concern about it, if it means to find Steven, then they might as well try it. So, the two fliers got up in the air (not too far away), and tried to have a better look. However, with the tall buildings, it was hard to exactly look around the place. They can see further down the road, but not past any of the other buildings or glass windows. Not a single soul seemed to be around really, but both Lapis and Peridot kept close together just in case there was something waiting to get them. However, as they looked on ahead down the road, something else started to show itself farther down the path. It seemed rather far away, about a mile down, but something else was starting to move around the road, seemingly dragging something across the way. It was just too far away for Lapis to get a good picture of it, but Peridot seemed to have a much better view of the situation than most. What she saw there looked like two people, one passed out on the ground, and the other dragging her as best as it could. For the figure on the ground, she looked like someone dumped pink and blue paint on her, and the other ... well, it looked like some large, hunched over figure. The head was small, but expression was impossible to tell.

"Something's going on down the road," Lapis called back. Peridot looked closely at the figure, not noticing the Gems farther away. Soon though, Lapis took a closer look, but rather than seeing one, she saw someone else ...

"Wait ... Someone's in trouble down - IT'S STEVEN!" Lapis called in shock, looking through some binoculars to see the details ...

"Convenient, now come on," Lapis replied, tossing them aside. Peridot just rolled her eyes, but at least they had someone close. Lapis was off like a light, with the others running to catch up with her. Peridot also flew close by her, trying to get to them. The figure dragging the fusion noticed Lapis and Peridot coming in hot, and suddenly disappeared in a quick movement. It wasn't any natural teleportation, or even running; the figure holding the other and just floating off at high speed. With the dream logic coming into play, all the other Gems were moving very fast in order to catch up with this odd figure, flying or running, but no matter how fast they went, or how many turns they had to make, they couldn't catch up to the figure for the life of them, or for whoever it had. As for the figure in question, it seemed undeterred by their chase, and kept a strong grip on its target, and it wasn't letting any of them get close no matter how fast they were going. Out of all of them though, Lapis was going the fastest, and was the most determined to get Steven back. With her water wings almost at a hummingbird's pace, she reached out and finally grabbed Steven's hand. The figure turned back as they were flying fast, Lapis trying to get it to let go.

Lapis's eyes were glued to the face she was staring at; the figure didn't had a face per say, having on a mask. This mask though was having a odd pattern to it; eyes staring off into space, a menacing grin, and a nose straight forward the size of a eggplant. Even if scary wasn't the main point, it was by far disturbing, especially with the chase they were doing. As she was looking at it, a strange whisper was starting to echo in Lapis's ears ...

The figure watched as Lapis loosened her grip and ended up falling back as the figure disappeared behind one of the glass buildings. While Lapis tumbled, Jasper ended up catching her, while the rest skidded to a stop. Lapis was back asleep again, and the figure had slipped away. Course, they saw where it went, and they weren't having any of it.

"Get back here!" Pearl demanded, chasing after the figure. Pearl though couldn't go pass the glass walls. Pearl felt around, but then remembered what Amethyst said.

So instead, Pearl tried thinking of something to lead them to their goal - at least somewhat. After a bit, the glass window began to disappear, and Pearl started to pass through. On the other side was a simple box room, with a bed inside. On the bed, Pearl saw who the figure had; the Garnet, but the figure was nowhere to be seen. The other Gems went in as well, with Lapis having to be carried in by Jasper.

"Better question is what did it do to Lapis? She's not waking up," Jasper informed. As they were thinking over that, Garnet looked over to the figure in the bed. With her, Garnet looked surprised, yet tried to see if she was Steven like Lapis had said. She gently placed her hand on the other Garnet's forehead, just above the third eye, and waiting a minute before she came to her conclusion.

"Steven's in there," Garnet said, sensing Steven inside. Peridot scoped her over before she looked to Garnet.

"Well, now what? If that's Steven, we still can't wake him -" suddenly, Garnet laid down rather abruptly. "... Up."

"Aye-aye, napping captain," Amethyst said, soon joining her in sleeping. It was a rather odd, and bold move. If this was just a simpler dream, then the deeper they go, the crazier things will end up getting. In the end though, what else could they do? Bring back the unconscious Steven? ...

My Little Universe: Mindwarp

by EquestrianKirin

My Little Universe: Mindwarp Pt1