My Little Universe: Season 5

by EquestrianKirin

Prey for the Beasts

"And you found this at OUR library, Twilight?"

"Yeah, I did. None of those creatures are from Equestria, far as I'm aware."

Just about ready to set off again, Steven, Amethyst, Connie, and the Mane Six were all at the Temple, just returning with two other gemstones in hand. During their little pit stop, Twilight took the moment to show Steven that monster guide she had found during her library trip. Despite things, some of the others of this group still had better things to do. For Amethyst, that's figuring out which monster was next on the list. She crossed off the two Gems they just got, and by the looks of things, they were on a roll.

"Ok, so that's ten down, and sixteen to go. Anypony wanna pick next?" Amethyst asked. Pinkie was quick to jump at the list at the many fancy options all over the picture.

"Oh, oh, oh, I wanna pick! Do me, do me!"

"Alright, knock yourself out," Amethyst said, giving Pinkie Pie the list. The pink mare was very excited to actually pick something off the list for the first time since joining up. She caught the list in her mouth, and hopped over to the kitchen to look it over. Applejack hopped up onto one of the stools alongside Pinkie to check it out herself, but the only one who seemed a little bit rough on this subject was Fluttershy.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Fluttershy got out.

"What do you mean?" Connie asked, who was sitting next to her.

"This monster hunt. I ... don't know if we're doing the right thing."

"Why? You saw them and us fight these Gem monsters before, and you didn't have a problem with them then," Rainbow pointed out, which was true, really, but the situation was different this time for the nature-loving Pegasus.

"Well, that's different: they came here and were attacking us. But, now, we're running after them ..."

Overhearing the Pegasus, AJ went right over to her.

"Look, Fluttershy, it's better for everypony overall. Just think fer a minute if we just left those pests run loose. Somepony was bound to get hurt, if they come across one of them," Applejack explained. Compared to Fluttershy, Applejack was seeing no problem with this, though that's mainly because her job as a farmer involved dealing with pests anyway. Gem beasts may not be the usual pest, but still a similar challenge to the norm far as Applejack was concern. Fluttershy took her side into consideration, but Amethyst was a bit too hyped to worry about it, ready to head out.

"Well, ok, we got the Gemstones here, can we go now? Pinkie already decided," Amethyst said.

"Yeah! Let's go after mr. frog!" Pinkie agreed, pointing to the picture of a frog on the paper with her hoof.

"Be right with you, Amethyst," Steven said, getting a few other necessities ready, along with everybody else. However.

"Well, I'll get a headstart on it! And we're - oof!"

Suddenly, amethyst opened the door, and walked right into someone, standing right at the door. Amethyst needed a moment to figure out who it was, and the second she did recognize the figure at the door, she suddenly stumbled back as the figure made himself known. The white, pony-like body, long tail, and notable scarred leg made this Draconian unmistakable ...

Kyra.

"Very pleasant."

"Wait. Kyra?" questioned Twilight, as he invited himself in.

"How had you been, dear? We hadn't seen you since our last visit to Darastrix," Rarity said.

"Questions for later. Where's Garnet? Is she in?"

"Nope - she and company are busy building this huge fancy drill to go after a mean mole Gem that they've been doing for months," Pinkie suddenly said. The draconian didn't seem to follow on Pinkie's explanation, but then again, it was hard to understand Pinkie sometimes.

"They're too busy to bother right now, sorry," Fluttershy cleared up.

"Oh. Then, maybe you perhaps can -"

Before they could continue, suddenly the Warp Pad activated from the back of the room. It wasn't Garnet exactly, but actually Bismuth standing there. Kyra knew many Gems for a while amongst the group, but this one was brand new to him. By the look on Bismuth's face, she looked a bit stressed about something, but hard to tell exactly what. It really didn't take long for Bismuth to see Kyra either. The Draconian moved up a few steps towards her, as Bismuth stepped off the Warp Pad.

"Hey gang. Who's this?" Bismuth asked. Twilight moved over, and landed in between them.

"That's right. This is Kyra; a friend of ours before we went to Homeworld. Kyra, this is Bismuth; our -"

"She's our Crystal Gem blacksmith!" Pinkie suddenly cut in. While uncalled for, Bismuth was the blacksmith of the group, and the only one making the weapons for the Crystal Gems anyway, so Bismuth took it in stride with a smile on her face, though Kyra was a little skeptical.

"Crystal Gem blacksmith, huh? A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Bismuth," Kyra said, nodding his head.

"You got a Draconian in your group too? You Gems REALLY gone out places, huh? Neat to meet ya too," Bismuth responded. While a nice gesture, it was especially odd to hear Bismuth know what a Draconian is. Sure, the idea of her knowing "somepony", and "equestrian" upon returning the first day was strange itself and easily overlooked, yet this was even more peculiar. Kyra too was a bit surprised to hear this from a new Crystal Gem. Kyra, as much as he wanted to know that, had to get his mind straight.

"Likewise. But, anyway, are you available right now? It's important," Kyra asked, hoping for a better answer. Bismuth would say no, but concerning recent events as of late, Bismuth just wasn't up for rushing straight back just yet. It was why she was at the Temple in the first place. After a bit, Bismuth nodded.

"Thank goodness for that. My apologies for coming in on short notice, but there's something urgent back at home that I need help in handling. I need you to come with me," Kyra summed up, looking ready to head out himself already.

"Urgent how?" Connie asked.

"I'll explain on the way. It took too much time just getting here already, so if you're willing to help -"

"Wait a minute. I thought last time we helped you, you kept refusing it. What's so big that you need our help now?" Rainbow suddenly pointed out. Rude, but it was true either way. Kyra knew she was right, and spoke before anyone could set her straight, stopping over at the door.

"I wouldn't be here if I knew I could handle it myself. This is entirely new to me, amongst other ponies. But anyway, are you going to come?" Kyra asked again. Hearing this out of Kyra was interesting to note, and it would be very urgent for Kyra to ask for their help in a Draconian issue, despite their previous visit to Darastrix. In the end, it was Twilight who spoke for them.

"We'll be glad to help you," Twilight decided. Kyra was grateful to hear that.

"Excellent. Best we get going then. Do any of you have your magic keys still?" Kyra asked.

"I got it!" Pinkie said, her hoof fishing through her mane until she pulled out her magic key. Much of the group didn't have much use for these keys thanks to the Warp Pad, but Pinkie was sure to keep hers on hoof just in case something like this would happen. Quickly, the mare got the key into the door lock, and soon the door opened up to the portal. Kyra peeked in first to be sure that the portal lead to the right place, and confirmed it with a nod of the head. Pinkie was happy to help, as Kyra turned to the others.

"Looks about right. Ok, we better get going then. Sooner, the better," Kyra concluded.

"Ok, but what is the problem?" Steven asked again, curious himself.

"Believe me. You'll know when you get there," Kyra simply said. Amethyst took a moment to look at her list, and rather than take it with her, placed it down on the table. They just got two Gem monsters after all, so she can afford some extra time to help Kyra with whatever this trouble is. As they began to go, Bismuth stopped for a short moment.

"Are you coming, Bismuth?" Steven asked.

"Of course I am! I'll catch up with ya, just wanna get a little something first," Bismuth said, heading over to the Warp Pad. Kyra was hoping to go off right away, but he just hoped that wherever Bismuth was going, or whatever she was hoping to grab wouldn't be taking long.

"Will this take much time, Bismuth?"

"It'll only take a few minutes. Hey, Rar, mind lending a hoof?" Bismuth offered.

"Me? Well, if you insist," Rarity said, trotting over to her. Bismuth kneeled down, and rather than saying it allowed, she wanted it to be a surprise, and whispered the idea to Rarity. The others didn't exactly catch it, but Rarity liked the idea. So, the unicorn and Gem went off to the Warp Pad. Kyra sighed, and began to step through the portal. Whatever it is, he couldn't wait much longer for it.

"See you soon," Twilight said, as she and the rest entered the portal as well. Rarity had her key, and that's all she'll need to get herself and Bismuth to the next location.

~~~~~~

For Kyra's side, it didn't take very long for Steven, Amethyst, and company to get themselves off from their world, and over to Equestria, or in this case the land of the Draconian. It had been a very long time since any of them had really been in this place, aside from Kyra, so seeing the area was a sight for sore eyes. The portal itself took them right to Darastrix itself, right at the entrance, since it was the only main place within the land that they knew of. Kyra didn't mind that TOO much, though he hoped that they were at a better location ...

But as he said, the problem was quick to show up.

"What the? Snow? In summer?"

Rather obvious indeed. While they do recognize the number of areas around Darastrix, but at this point, many of it was covered in white, thick snow. Though, this isn't your typical fluffy snow, more of one would describe it as 'packing' snow: thick, deep, and the snow through the main road reaching past their feet and hooves.

"Cool!" Steven said. For any kid, snow in summer was like a dream, but Kyra did not think so in the slightest.

"Not cool, Steven. In fact, this is exactly the problem," Kyra quickly corrected. Steven's moment of happiness was quickly dashed at the reality of the situation. Kyra moved a bit, but his scarred hoof was, again, giving him a sort of limp as they began to move in themselves. This thick, heavy snow, combined with the much colder wind, was quite a shock for many of them. Steven and Connie were the coldest of the whole group, since they didn't have any winter clothes, nor any fur like the others do, nor are they exactly Gem like Amethyst was.

"Is weather normally like this over here?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm afraid not. Our weather is a natural cycle, same as Steven's world. This snowfall is NOT a normal one," Kyra cleared up, keeping his scarred hoof off the snow as much as he could. The others looked around the place, taking into account what Kyra had said. Thick snow laid down wherever the surface met the sky: the road, the roofs, whatever was left outside and in the open, all covered in snow. One other odd detail about the place that they noticed, was the lack of hoof prints in the snow. You'd think in a main place like this, hoof prints would be common, but now there wasn't much of any. Any Draconian they did manage to see was either indoors, or hidden away.

"The Draconians sure looked freaked out here," Rainbow commented to Applejack, who had to agree.

"Right, but why? Sure snow won't be enough to rustle up these folks," Applejack wondered. Before they could go any further, another portal opened up, this time showing Rarity and Bismuth coming through. But this time, they had a little something with them, that Rarity was holding with her levitation magic.

"Oh, Bismuth, Rarity. you two were quick," Connie said.

"Right. Here you go, Kyra. Pleasure doing Bismuth with you," Bismuth said, as Rarity gave the gift to Kyra. The object looked like a sort of metal boot, silver in coloring, and one that resembled a regular pony hoof. Kyra slipped his scarred hoof into the boot, which while it felt a little restricted, did help conceal the scarred hoof from the snow.

"Ah. Well, thank you, Bismuth," Kyra said, resting both hooves down in the snow.

"Looks like this place got an early Hearth's Warming," Bismuth commented, reminding Kyra more on the situation, as he tested the metal hoof covering.

"This 'early Hearth's Warming' is apart of the problem. We don't get weather like this so early on ... and ..."

"And?" questioned Amethyst. Kyra groaned.

"... Well, this snow is not the only thing showing up ... Look, I'll explain everything in just a bit, but for now. Steven, Connie? May I ask that you get some more ... durable clothing?"

Steven and Connie were actually hoping he'd say that, and the two were quickly off back through Steven's portal in order to get their winter clothes. Not a good idea to catch a cold.

"I bet there's some evil monster behind it," Rainbow Dash suggested.

"What for?" Asked

"Because fighting a evil monster will be so awesome! Plus I'm in the zone for monster fighting," Rainbow said, doing some hoof punches in the air. Bismuth laughed.

"You and me both! Just point me to that troublemaker," Bismuth suggested, about as psyched about the action as Rainbow Dash was being. Kyra was at least glad his friends were up to the challenge, and he looked on from Darastrix, and looking towards some Very distant highlands farther away. From Darastrix, it looked very tiny in perspective.

"Right over there."

~~~~~~

Moving down the path, the weather began to show just how much affected the land of the Draconian. The Mane Six and Crystal Gems followed Kyra as they went on the trail towards the mountains. While Darastrix was a bit heavy in snow, the wilderness was even more so, with much of the snow reaching the ponies knees. Kyra and Bismuth were going through fairly well, and Rainbow and Twilight had no problem at all because of their hovering, but the rest had some effort going through the thick snow. The tall pine were also thick with snow on the limbs of the trees. Many birds, which would stay during spring, were especially confused with the sudden cold weather shift. As for the sky, it had gotten clouded up, small snowflakes falling down around them. Steven and Connie both were up on Bismuth's shoulders, getting a free ride through the thicket. Both kids had gotten their winter clothes at this point, and Connie had a iPhone with her, camera mode on.

"Thanks again for the ride, Bismuth," Connie said.

"Eh, it's nothing," Bismuth said with a smile, as Steven stuck out his tongue and got a snowflake in his mouth.

"Smile," Connie said, iPhone camera aimed at Bismuth and Steven. Both of them smiled big as Connie took a good picture. After she did, she turned the camera to Kyra, who turned back to them for a brief moment.

"If you don't mind me asking, Connie, why are you taking so many pictures? You took about ten now since we left," Kyra asked.

"My mom and dad want me to keep pictures to track my progress," Connie replied. A basic answer. As they continued going on, Twilight moved over to Kyra.

"You said there's something else out here, but we're not seeing anything," Twilight said.

"All we're finding are trees, and snow at our hooves. You sure there's something else we should be lookin for?" agreed Applejack. Kyra looked up to the sky for a moment, a few snowflakes landing on his snout.

"We'll find it, I'm sure," Kyra said.

"But what's it?" Amethyst wondered.

Even with Kyra's assurance, it didn't seem like they were really getting anywhere with this. They saw trees, snow, and a few birds time and again, but that seemed to be all they were getting to for a while. They know something weird happened to make the snow fall, that was for sure, but this other thing Kyra was talking about was not something they were really seeing. Kyra turned back, and he was seeing these doubts on their faces ...

*KAAAAWWW* *KAAAAWWW*

"EEK! I-It's one of the things is it?" Fluttershy whimpered, freaked out by the ghostly cawing. Everyone there looked around, trying to find the source, but they weren't seeing anything. They heard the echoing caws, and soon the sound of wing beats. Kyra knew exactly what that was.

"Everypony, out of sight, now," Kyra ordered, as both sounds grew closer and closer. While some of them listened and raced under the cover of the trees, Amethyst, Rainbow, and Bismuth both armed up instead, Amethyst summing her whip, and Bismuth turning her hands into hammers.

"Get down here, you three!"

"Don't worry, we got this," assured Bismuth ...

And there it was.

*KAAAAWWW* *KAAAAWWW*

Their opponent soared right above the tree line, but the first thing they all noticed was just how GIGANTIC it was compared to them! Even to Bismuth, who was a large Gem, she looked like an ant compared to it. A set of gigantic, fur-covered wings stretched open to cast down its huge shadow, each one as long as a semi truck. A long tail stretched out behind it, ending in a sharp point much like Kyra's tail. Its head, attached to a rather thin neck, looked like that of a heron, or a pterodactyl; a long beak out and ahead, small eyes, and nothing on the head covering the yellowish-brown skin. The body and legs were covered in short, yet thick, dark greyish-blue fur. Its feet consisted of a set of large eagle talons.

And the talons were out, and open, ready to grab them!

"Hit the deck!" Rainbow yelled. She, Amethyst, and Bismuth ducked down, the giant creature's talons barely grazing Bismuth's back. The others were almost hit by the large wings, the wings whacking the trees, and knocking almost all the snow off of them with one sweep. The giant behemoth slowly flew upwards after the failed hit in slow, yet powerful wing beats, as the others were covered up to their heads in snow.

"And, that's the 'something' showing up?" Rainbow said, jumping to her hooves.

"OH yeah. Now get under the trees before it comes back around, we can't fight it while it's flying," Kyra ordered. But as he was saying this, the flier managed to turn itself around, and was aiming down at them again. Bismuth, again not listening, readied her hammers and charged forward. The first charge was off guard, but now she was ready.

"BISMUTH!" Twilight yelled. The giant bird, instead of just another charge, suddenly spun its body straight, and its wing beats kicked up a ton of snow as a blinding method. Bismuth still jumped forward through the wind and snow, both hands in front of her. The others couldn't see her, and even if they could, they ended up blown back by the wind gusts. A loud screech echoed from the blinding snow, but rather than seeing the creature succumb to Bismuth, it was Bismuth who was thrown back, the Gem landing down hard into the snow. She was alright overall, but the giant aerial creature was all but hurt, flying above the blinding snow. What's worse, was that they all were blown out into the open, and all out for grabs. Twilight took action at this point, and blasted a good magic beam at the creature's face, and landing a direct hit. The creature bellowed, but damage wasn't very much. The animal rushed down at her in a single flap of the wing, and Twilight was nearly taken on the spot, only saved by Kyra grabbing her, and pulling her out of the way.

"YAAHH!" Rainbow cried, charging straight at the bird with lightning speed. Again, this was right at the head, but the giant bird snapped its beak at her during her bombing attacks. Bismuth and Amethyst joined in on the fray, and while the bird was distracted, Bismuth grabbed it by the neck as Amethyst got her whip around one of its legs. At first, they alone seemed to be doing some damage, but then the bird surprised them all: It grabbed Bismuth by the foot, threw her AND Amethyst into the air, and swung its tail to hit both Gems and Rainbow Dash all at once!

"GUYS!" Steven gasped, as the three landed hard into some trees. The hit was so violent, and so brutal, their impact made the tree crumble! Bismuth was shaken up, Amethyst almost getting her gemstone cracked, but Rainbow had it worse due to a broken wing in the fall! Bismuth got herself up, angry, and charged back in, as Steven and Fluttershy rushed to the other two.

"She's gonna shatter herself at this rate. BISMUTH, COME ON!" Kyra demanded. He needed their help, but now was not a good time for the fight, with the bird having the advantage.

"I'm fine, you go!" Bismuth yelled back. This sort of stubbornness sounded familiar to the draconian. The bird only cut her short with a whack of its wing, sending the large fighter flying!

"This is BAD, what do we do?" Connie asked, helping Amethyst up to her feet. She shook off the hit, but this beast was a lot harder than she anticipated, or any of them anticipated for that matter. The giant bird shook off Bismuth again, slamming the hardy Gem into the earth. Suddenly, in the situation, Amethyst got her idea, and went right to Steven.

"Steven? Wanna show this bruiser our friend?" Amethyst asked with a wink, hand extended ...

Back with Bismuth, she was getting more beat up than she'd like, but she was still flaming hot as the bird hovered in the air. As it did, it changed its target to Twilight instead, the alicorn ready to fight. In a screech, the bird dove right towards her when ...

"HEY, BIRDBRAIN!"

BAM! A signature giant Yo-Yo slammed the bird off course, flying past Twilight Sparkle! Everyone soon saw the fusion Quartz standing there, battle ready, and Yo-Yo swinging in her hand.

"SMOKY!" Pinkie beamed.

"About time I came out to play. I got this giant turkey," Smoky said, as they heard the bird starting to shift course again. The others moved off, as Smoky began swinging her Yo-Yo fast.

"Time for my own Smoky-screen!" Smoky joked, her own wind gusts from her Yo-Yos tossing up a ton of snow to blind the bird. With the bird temporarily blinded, Smoky went right to work on it, tossing Yo-Yo after Yo-Yo, right at the bird. This kept up for a good while, until the bird suddenly struck the ground, grounding itself in a crash. Smoky was quick to get one more useful Yo-Yo on another tree to yank herself out of the way. The crash toppled trees, and launched snow high into the sky, everyone else unable to see it through the snowy haze. Smoky landed down by the others, proud of herself.

"Well ... That was impressive," Kyra said, still surprised himself.

"ALRIGHT, SMOKY!" Bismuth cheered, joined by Pinkie Pie. Smoky felt happy for taking down the problem, but as Twilight looked, something felt ... off ...

*KAAAAWWW*

Suddenly, a giant, long talon shot out of the snow, wide open, and directly at Smoky Quartz! What happened next was almost slow motion: panicked for them both, Twilight shot off as fast as she could, and slammed Smoky out of the way, the giant talon slamming down onto her! With the alicorn in its grasp, the bird took flight with its catch.

"TWILIGHT!" Kyra gasped.

"I'm on it!" Smoky said, charging up her Yo-Yo, and throwing forward. It was a purely lucky shot, but the Yo-Yo wrapped around the same leg, and Smoky pulled on tight. Bismuth, Connie, and everyone else grabbed her, but this bird had one advantage against them: its size. Even with a firm grip, the giant bird shook its foot in a way that made the entire group lift off the ground for a moment in a whiplash. When they landed, the grip was lost, and Smoky flew off, still holding onto the Yo-Yo string! Smoky began to reel herself in, as Twilight tried to get herself out of the bird's crushing grip.

"Twilight, We're coming!" Smoky called, getting closer and closer. With the others far below, Smoky was on her own. Smoky's reeling got her just at the foot, with two hands gripping the Bird's foot, as one more tried to reach for Twilight. However, the bird felt Smoky's weight, and wasn't having any of it. The leg started to shake, making Smoky lose some of her grip, but not enough to shake her off completely. Twilight tried to reach Smoky Quartz, and it looked like Smoky just might. A few more inches, and she can pull Twilight free -

*KAAAAWWW*

The bird did the final move: wings beating hard, it started to fly in a full 360, horizontal spin, the shift in gravity AND shaking making it harder for Smoky Quartz to stay on. Finally, with one strong, final shake, Smoky Quartz lost her grip! Twilight and Smoky locked eyes for one more moment, before the bird spun upright, and its tail slamming Smoky on the way down. Smoky slammed into the ground at very high speed, causing a snow explosion.

"Oh no, Smoky!" Rainbow gasped. Everyone else raced off to where Smoky had landed, but as the snow cloud cleared, a crater was left, with Steven and Amethyst inside. By the time they got to them, Twilight, and the giant bird, were far out of sight ...

"It's getting away!" Bismuth exclaimed.

"We'll have to get it later, they need our help," Connie insisted, helping Steven up off the ground, as AJ and Rarity helped Amethyst. It was clear they weren't going to catch that bird today ...

~~~~~~

Night came. It was troubling for them at this point over what had happened to their friend, but for the case, they had to wait until morning to go and look again - something they were hoping not to do. A nice, warm campfire was quickly put together, providing them with some warmth against the night winter wind, and after some work, Steven and Rainbow were bandaged up. That, and the night was fairly clear so no risk of more snow, yet full moon nights like these are the coldest. Some of those amongst the group felt simply discouraged over what happened, and they could tell as they were sitting around the fire.

"Owowowowowow," Steven said, as the final bandage was wrapped around his arm thanks to Rarity.

"There, that should do it," Rarity said at last.

"Man, I don't get it. How'd we get crumbled by some random giant bird? Smoky could've finished it off easy," Amethyst wondered in a huff, poking a stick at the fire.

"Come on, Amethyst, you, Bismuth, and Steven were great out there," Applejack said, trying to comfort her. Amethyst pulled her stick out, blowing off some of the fire, before she started to bite and chew it, like a carrot.

"But it still took Twilight. ... I think I'm getting outta practice," sighed Bismuth.

"You? Ah ponyfeathers, you're stronger than a dragon at it's primetime," Applejack retorted. Bismuth though didn't seem to think so now. She did beat up the pufferfish Gem a while ago, but that wasn't very much compared to this thing. To prove her point, Bismuth flexed one of her arms to try and show her muscle.

"Here, feel this," Bismuth said. AJ did so, and although her hoof did push in ever so slightly, it was enough to rival Bulk Biceps.

"Still feel hard to me, Bismuth," AJ insisted. Bismuth lowered her arm.

"Not as hard as stone. I hadn't been practicing lately, and it's catching up with me. ... I miss Jasper. Training had always been fun with her," Bismuth sighed, laying down in the snow. The mention of Jasper brought some rather rough memories back to everyone else there, remembering the orange Quartz fighter on their team. Jasper had done quite a lot for them, one way or another, and it just wasn't the same since she and Lapis ended up gone. However, amongst the down faces, Kyra was the only one not up to speed. What better time than at a campfire to do so?

"Uh, hope you don't mind me asking, but ..."

Kyra didn't need to finish his question for the others to start answering him.

"Jasper's gone. Her and Lapis. ... They've been missing for months now, and we've been trying to find them," Steven said, not looking to the Draconian. Perhaps what he asked next was inevitable.

"What happened to them?"

There was some silence at first among the crowd, but in the end, Bismuth was the one who got onto say it.

"Well, Sapphire was taken away by White Diamond, so we and the other Gems went off to try and get her back off her station, but -"

"White Diamond? THE White Diamond?" Kyra gasped.

"Well yeah. Anyway, we got her back, but Lapis and Jasper were ... thrown out of the ship ..."

Kyra needed a moment to take this in, looking at everyone else. Seeing the looks on their faces told him, no doubt, that they were not lying to him. To think that they would go this way against White Diamond, of all Gems. Kyra looked down to the flames of their campfire to contemplate the idea, but before he could fully process it, Bismuth had more questions for him.

"Wait a minute. how do you know who White Diamond is? I KNOW they didn't tell you before I showed up," Bismuth said. Kyra glanced to Bismuth again before looking back into the fire. It was hard for Kyra to really forget his encounters with the Diamonds, especially evident on the scar on his leg.

"... I had an encounter with them before."

"Them? so you met all the diamonds?"

"Twice in fact. ... And, while we're on the subject, what about you? You seem to have some knowledge about what I am when you met me. How?" Kyra asked, changing the subject off of him, and onto her. This was something the others were more curious about too. Some of them, like Pinkie and Amethyst, got a bit more comfortable, as if sensing that Bismuth had a story to tell.

"Well, I did stumble onto Equestria before."

"I KNEW IT!" Pinkie suddenly shouted. Amethyst and Steven's suspicions were confirmed on that statement.

"When did this happen?" Amethyst asked.

And so, Bismuth started her little story.

"Let's see now. I was out in the cosmos with my group: me, pair of Quartz soldiers, and a few others, flying around through space, when we found this funny little planet on our star map. It looked new, and rather interesting to us, plus Yellow D wanted some info on it, so we decided to go in to investigate. You know, see if it can work out for Gemkind, and all that. So here we are, going about this "colorful, pebble world", and just keep getting into trouble, one after another. I swear, It had just been an asteroid belt of craziness being pelted wherever we go: Yakyakastan, Griffinstone, The Kirin Empire - it was hilarious. Oh, I wish I knew what a camera was back then. You should've seen her face whenever we made some of our reports! Anyway, we stayed here for a while, and Yellow Diamond just gave up on it. To be honest, I bet she just got too weirded out by this planet."

With Equestria having all the strange creatures, magic, and what not, it made sense why Yellow Diamond would be weirded out about the planet. However, after a little bit, they all paused when they heard a familiar, albeit long distant call from the giant bird, reminding them of the situation.

"Well, anyway, we all better get some sleep. We need all our energy for tomorrow," Kyra decided, laying down by the warmth of the fire.

"But it'll be miles away. Can't we just send a scout after it or something?"

"Don't bother, I know exactly where it's going. My last attempt to subdue it brought me to its lair. We can fight it better while it's at rest rather than it flying around above our heads," Kyra explained.

"Well ... I hope Twilight's alright up there," Steven said, glancing up to the sky.

"Don't worry, Steven. We're talking about the Alicorn princess of friendship here! I bet she's already making her way back to us," Connie said.

.......

If only that were the case. Farther off, the giant bird was still having the now tired Alicorn gripped in its talon. Twilight had tried many a spell, but for some reason it just wasn't working. In the night winter air, Twilight tried to look around, to see where she was going to end up. Eventually, she felt herself land on some sort of rocky platform, only then being released. The ground was made up of cobble stone under her hooves, and when looking around, it looked mainly like the top of some sort of old building. The giant bird, soon after tossing her, landed down on a perch, and settled down for the night. She felt weak, shaken up, and no idea how far she was from the others.

"Where am I?" Twilight wondered ...

*SHING*

"AH!"

Next thing she knew, she found herself surrounded! Out of nowhere, crystals were suddenly appearing around her, dark and sharp at the points. This situation was eerily familiar for her, and she wanted to get herself out. ASAP! She tried to fly, but the crystals just came together enough so there was no room for her to fly. she tried magic, but each spell had no affect on it. She tried teleporting, but just popped back in there.

"Hello, princess."

Twilight looked out her prison, and saw somepony beginning to move herself out from the shadows. At first, Twilight wasn't able to recognize her since she was wearing a winter cloak, but the second she removed her hood to show her smirking, triumphant face ...

"Starlight!"

"Yes, you know me. Princess Twilight," Starlight mocked, Twilight unable to get herself out. The cocky unicorn went right up to her, the giant bird not seemingly noticing her at any point. Starlight Glimmer sat there, watching Twilight with a satisfied smile.

"What're you doing?! Get me out of here!" Twilight said, trying to get herself free. Starlight had her trapped.

"No way. I've had it with you going around and messing everything up for me! You were off lucky before, but I'm NOT letting you slip this time!" Starlight yelled.

"Starlight, don't do this. If you just -"

Starlight slammed her hoof on Twilight's muzzle to shut her up.

"You just stand there and look pretty. Once those Gems come here to find you, they'll be right to see how great my method truly is!"

"Your method isn't right, you can't force a friend by removing their talent!" Twilight yelled.

"Maybe not to YOU, but you'll see. You'll ALL see! Once they're out of the way, all of Equestria will see the true harmony!" Starlight announced.

"You're making a huge mistake!"

"NO I'M NOT! I know they'll come for you, and the second they do, they're right for the rehabilitation! HAHAHAHAHAHA -" Starlight suddenly broke her laughing, turning into a coughing fit. Starlight was quick to recover, but was slightly embarrassed ...

"I gotta work on that," Starlight told herself, as she trotted off to get into position. While the laugh was simply stupid, Twilight still knew the powerful unicorn had her stuck on the castle, one way or another ...

~~~~~~

The next day, and the group was immediately going off and on their way to locate Twilight, Kyra leading them right on their way. The weather was starting to get a little worse, with clouds gathering up with more snow falling down into a flurry. Winds were picking up, and the cold was beginning to bite at them. However, one good thing: the group began to see the destination ahead of them. In the snow flurry, the destination was blurred up and hard to see clearly. What they could see was that it was VERY tall, almost like a narrow mountain without a point to it.

"So let me get this straight, Kyra. You want us to climb up there?" Rainbow asked.

"That's the roost. It'll not be easy, but she's up there, I'm sure," replied Kyra, starting to move on again. Rainbow would be fine with this, if her wing wasn't jacked up.

"Man, it'll take all day!" Amethyst groaned. Steven walked over to the wall itself., and he began to put his thinking cap to work. Eventually, thinking on who he had with him, he smiled, and got an idea.

"No it won't."

.......

It really didn't take much time to figure it out. Rather than Bismuth using the whip to thrash around or anything like that, she began to work with it, and extend it. Soon, Bismuth was scaling the wall, her pickaxe hands digging into the cobble, and pulling the others up as she did. With a quick thinking, she got Amethyst's whip turned into a safety line for everyone else, which was the best idea they got all day. Bismuth, being as strong as she was, made all of it look easy.

"Nice thinking, Steven," Connie said.

"Yeah, this is great. We'll be up there in no time," agreed Bismuth.

And as true to Bismuth's word, they didn't take very long until they were just about at the top. Once there, Bismuth pulled everyone else up, and soon there they all were, all at the top of the great structure. Lucky for them, the giant bird wasn't anywhere around, but they soon saw Twilight not too far away, still encased in her crystalline prison. She tried all night to get herself out, but it just wasn't able to be done with her inside, so all she could do was lay there.

"Twilight!" Steven called, waking the alicorn up. She was extremely cold, sitting in that prison of hers, but she had the energy to get herself up on her hooves.

"Guys? Is that you out there?" Twilight asked, hearing the others rush in to go get her.

"Don't worry, we'll have you out of there in a jiff," Bismuth said, her hands turning from pickaxes to hammers, already starting to slam on the crystals. Rainbow and Applejack helped in chipping away at the crystals as well, slamming hoof and hammer into the sturdy stone.

"No, guys get out -"

Before Twilight could finish, a magic beam was suddenly shot right at them! A majority of them were struck, with the exception of Kyra, Connie, and Steven. The spell didn't have any exact effects aside from impact damage, as their next contender, Starlight, stepped out into sight, her horn smoking a little from the concentrated spell. A simple blow was enough to remove the smoke, but they knew the instant she showed up what was happening with Twilight.

"About time you showed up," Starlight mocked.

"Let her go!" Amethyst demanded.

"I will, I will. After I put you all in the right perspective," Starlight said. Kyra growled on seeing the unicorn come out, and it didn't take long until Starlight saw him as well.

"Starlight Glimmer," Kyra growled.

"You know her?" Connie asked.

"She passed by Darastrix sometime ago, and went on about her anti-friendship propaganda. I personally sent her on her way," Kyra said, his tail whipping behind him as a threat.

"Yeah, you did, but I'm getting even with these jokers, not you," Starlight snapped, her horn charging up for another blast. Before anyone could get a word in edge wise, Starlight blasted another power beam at them, but this time they all got out of the way. Starlight wasn't going to let them all get the best of her so easily, and did a wide-ranged spell on almost all of them. Suddenly, many of the ponies and Gems had the same crystals stuck down on their feet. Therefore, stopping them from moving.

"There. Now this."

Oddly, instead of a finishing spell, Starlight brought her hoof up, and gave a loud whistle. ...

*KAAAAWWW*

The bird was back. Appearing from the skies below, it flew right up, and landing over on the platform. When they saw this, everything else seemed to fall into place. ...

"Wait. You control that bird ... and the winter - ..."

It suddenly clicked in Kyra's mind.

"YOU BROUGHT THE WINTER ONTO US!" Kyra accused. Starlight though rolled her eyes.

"How else was I supposed to drag them over here? Outside Equestria, AND Earth, they're too far away for any of them to help. Soon as I'm done here, then you'll get your own weather back," Starlight said, as she moved over right towards those trapped under the spell. Her horn glowed again, and suddenly the bird flew down towards the Gems, and the bird kept them busy as Starlight marched proudly towards the ponies, her horn glowing and ready to handle them once and for all. Bismuth and Amethyst were caught in it's sights, as Starlight wished it to do, though Kyra was going in to help them out. Both Gems and Draconian gave it some strong hits, but it wasn't enough against the magic beast, but during the short fight, the bird's large beak reaches towards Bismuth, but in a sudden turn, Amethyst was caught in the bite, and ...

*Poof* ...

"Come on!" Steven said, grabbing an equally worried Connie, as they both raced over towards Starlight. ...

"Trust me, you'll be thanking me later," Starlight promised, just about to cast her spell. However, just before she could, someone gave the unicorn a strong kick to the side of the head. Starlight tumbled head over hooves for about ten feet, only to see ...

"What the?! You fused?!"

"Oh. I-I guess I did," Stevonnie stated, standing in between Starlight and the others. This attack made the others stop for a short moment, Stevonnie picking up Amethyst's Gemstone from the ground in dismay.

"No, not again! Why couldn't you just LEAVE ME ALONE?!" Starlight yelled.

"I don't wanna hear anything you say ... unless, it's "sorry"."

*KAAAAWWW*

Seeing the shift in the situation, Starlight tried her luck against Stevonnie instead. She seen fusion - she knows how their strength. Kyra was given the Gemstone, as Stevonnie wielded her sword. Starlight, galloping towards her, started firing her magic beams her direction. Stevonnie started running at her too, and her swordsmanship skills clearly shined here: dodging the beams, and even slicing one in two with a swipe of her sword. Kyra, seeing the moment, held the Gemstone in his mouth as he galloped over to the other Mane Six, trying to get them out, and Bismuth was busy distracting the giant bird so it wouldn't attack the others. Starlight needed some distance between herself and Stevonnie with the sword, so she summoned her own sword through a magic spell. Make it what you will, but despite the even odds, Stevonnie had the upper hand. Starlight was still backing up, only succeeding in blocking Stevonnie's swings. Any thrust she tried was a clear miss that didn't need a block by Stevonnie. Fir the giant bird, it stopped trying to hurt Bismuth after a while when it saw Stevonnie and Starlight fighting, and swung around, Bismuth just narrowly dodging the long tail. Stevonnie halted her assault for a tiny moment, and this gave Starlight an extremely desperate opening, causing Starlight to take it and blast a magic beam.

Stevonnie dodged it, but the bird was struck hard with it.

*KAAAAAAAAWWWWWW!*

Everyone immediately stopped, the screeching call echoing all over the land, as the bird just stood there, dazed. Looking closely, the bird's eyes began to blink, as if snapped back to reality, and it shook its head to bring itself back around. Starlight's desperate attempt to discipline Stevonnie, now freed the beast from her own spell. Lucky for them though, it was not going to stick around, and launched off the edge of the cliff.

"NO, COME BACK!" Starlight yelled, racing after it, but it was too late for her to do much, and soon the giant bird was off and out of sight. The powerful flap of its wings blasted Starlight back, and strong enough to pull many of the ponies out of Starlight's crystal bind (except Twilight, of course), and blew off many of the snow clouds as it did. Now, Starlight was alone, left with SO much disadvantage compared to the others. Twilight may still be stuck, but Starlight knew it wouldn't be long until either she was beaten, or Twilight was free. Further away, Amethyst's Gemstone started to come back around, flashing up a storm, until Amethyst brought herself back. She looked the same, but her shirt was all white this time, the colors between the pants, and the stars on her knees swapped, and her shoes matched the color of said stars.

"Don't worry guys, I -"

Amethyst stopped herself when she realized what was going on. The bird disappeared, the others were out, and Stevonnie was there, in between her and Starlight. ...

"You're outnumbered, Starlight. Get rid of the winter, now! It's over!" Kyra demanded. Starlight backed up, but she did not look willing to comply to it, or anything.

"Oh no, it's not over. This is only the beginning! ... OF MY ESCAPE!"

Suddenly, she flung herself off the cliff before anyone could go in. They all thought Starlight just finished herself off, but Starlight was then seen ... flying away. A green aura around her, making her fly, as she flew off right away ...

"Huh. So she can fly now," Stevonnie said.

"What happened?" Amethyst asked, getting their attention.

"Amethyst, you're back!" Pinkie beamed, hugging her strongly. As the others went back to free twilight, the others checked in with her, Stevonnie turning back to Steven and Connie.

"We did it! We beat Starlight!" Connie beamed

"Yes, but now she left this winter all alone," Kyra pointed out, looking back to the clouds. Starlight left the biggest problem all alone for them to handle. Suddenly the victory was more bittersweet than needed to be. Starlight was the only one who figured it out, and she already flew off!

"OH COME ON!" Amethyst shrieked, slamming her head to the floor.

"Calm down, everypony. That big bird handled the problem already, I mean look at it," Rainbow suddenly pointed out.

"There's still storm clouds, Rainbow."

"Not enough to keep the winter going. I'd give it oh ... a week, before the sun gets rid of them. ... I worked with the weather team, I know these things," Rainbow said, the last part to avoid any confusion. Rainbow Dash may not always keep track of the weather team, but she still knew the basics of it. When looking, they do see the clouds, but sun was still going through them well, and not too many of the clouds were left to drop snow, so, Rainbow had a point there.

"I think you're right. ... Come on, I think it's time we get down from here," Kyra decided.

not too far away, amethyst was simply standing there, and while she was happy the problem was handled, she took the moment to reflect on what happened during all this. She tried Smoky, and that didn't work, she barely did much, and she got poofed in the process of it, only to wake up and see they already handled it all without her. ...

"... You didn't need me at all ..."

Author's Note:

Some extra promotion for an AWESOME game: Prey for the Gods. As of writing, it's not released yet, but LOOK AT IT! A spirit successor to Shadow of the Colossus?! How could I not promote it in some way, eh?

And look who came back around this time. Been while since we saw Kyra, has it? Always nice to have some old characters come back around. If I am honest, I think I left him behind, and I don't want him or any other interesting characters to just be forgotten ... *Forshadowing senses tingling *

Comments

[st6nbones]

AMETHYST
DONT BE SAD

[EquestrianKirin]

8075033

[st6nbones]

8086398 OK

[GamerDroid23]

Wait...did you just say "a spiritual successor to Shadow of the Colossus?" About time we got one. I loved the original, although it never got a sequel.

[Base drop]

*comes back after about a month, while listening to Christmas songs by PTX* OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG WHERE'S TIGER'S EYE?

[jen_lee_hattie]

*hugs amethyst* we do need you amethyst and don't think about us not needing you.