> My Little Universe
>  by EquestrianKirin
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Princess with an Indirect Kiss
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Isn't it remarkable? 
This world is full of so many possibilities. 
Each living thing has an entirely unique experience. 
The sights they see, the sounds they hear. 
The lives they live are so complicated... 
And so simple.



~~~~~~


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discord loomed over her, as he continued.

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

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

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

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

"Well, it's working!"

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

"Oh well."


~~~~~~


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

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

And not a moment too soon ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Sure."

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

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

"Where is pain?"

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

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

"Aww, right in the gem!"

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

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

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

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


~~~~~~


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


~~~~~~


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


~~~~~~


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Oh, come on!"

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

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

Twilight. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Garnet. And you?"

"Twilight."

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

"Look, I really have to -"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Ooh-hoo! I'm going to need more popcorn!"
> Welcome to Beach City
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had only been one night since the result from yesterday's fiasco. Since it was dark by the time they got back and settled down, they didn't really spoke to the ponies just yet, so, they didn't really get to know each other yet. All they did get though were the names, but that's it. The very fact that these multi-colored ponies were even here at all was a bit of something new for the Gems to deal with: as if they didn't have enough to deal with. As for the ponies, the new place seemed a bit different from home. Until they could figure out how to get home, there's going to be some getting used to.

As the morning sun rose over the horizon, it brought onto a beachside house. The mountain was created into a special monument, and it was built in a way that it connected to the beach house like it was holding it. The house seemed pretty advanced, the roof angled off in one direction, with the other side lower than the other. Within the house, the house actually didn't fully connect around: an entire wall connecting to a crystal cave. The actual house part was built from wood and had a sort of 'cabin' look - many of the rooms within one. The kitchen was right at the front door, along with the steps leading to the second floor. The living room was right next to the steps, with some comfy couches, and a fireplace over by the entrance of the cave. On the second floor, was Steven's bedroom. It consisted of a bed; a small TV with a GameCube next to it. While Steven would normally sleep by himself, the new pony guests had to sleep with him. Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie slept on the couch, Rarity slept on Steven's bed, and Fluttershy and Twilight slept by the foot of the bed with some sleeping bags. Soon, Steven got up, stretching his arms and yawning.

"Morning world," Steven said aloud. His voice got the other ponies up, and Pinkie jumped right up upon hearing the voice, jumping right off the couch and up into Steven's room as happy as ever. The racket was enough to wake the others up, Rarity first from Pinkie landing on Steven's bed.

"Goodie good morning!" Pinkie beamed. 

"Pinkie, please, not so rough," Rarity said, trying to get herself up a bit easier. However, Pinkie was too excited to stand still, hopping in place on the bed. Steven, despite the wake-up, was laughing all the while as he bounced on the bed from Pinkie's jumping. As for Rarity, she ended up falling off the bed. Only then did Pinkie stopped herself and got off the bed as Rarity got onto her hooves, brushing off the dust from her fur.

"Pardon me, Steven, but could you kindly tell me where the restroom is? I could really use some freshening up," Rarity asked.

"Just over there," Steven said, pointing to the small hall where the bathroom is. With a nod, Rarity went down the stairs, and went in to get herself ready for the day. Twilight and Fluttershy got themselves up soon afterwards, a bit rough with a case of bedhead, but fine. Applejack and Rainbow Dash got up too, and only then did someone else enter the room from the cave area door: Pearl and Amethyst.

"Oh, good morning, everyone. Did you all rest well?" Pearl asked. Suddenly, Pinkie was all up in her face about it.

"Absopositalutly, and my dream was awesome, it was of little flying waffles, and I was flying on a giant birdie waffle while flying over the ice cream sundae mountains with gummy bears and lollypop flamingos!" Pinkie said, rather quick for Pearl to even catch onto. Even if she did, it was too weird to understand.

"...Wha?"

"You too?!" asked Steven, equally happy. Fluttershy went over to Pearl as Pinkie went back to Steven.

"We slept fine," Fluttershy cleared up. Soon, Amethyst was already in the kitchen, getting a snack, as Twilight went down the stairs.

"Thanks again for letting us stay," Twilight said to Pearl. The Gem nodded, though Pearl had been a bit curious over these talking quadrupeds since finding them at Rose's garden. Though, they seemed friendly all the same, so, they didn't bother Pearl too much. Didn't mean she didn't have any questions for them.

"It's no issue at all," Pearl replied, though her mind was still thinking. "Though it was a bit odd to find them at Rose's garden. Were they there all this time? Or -" While Pearl was thinking, suddenly Pinkie was staring intently at Pearl's gem on her forehead, seeing her reflection within the gem itself. Pinkie looked at it like she would a funny mirror, making some funny faces in it and giggling all the while. Eventually, Pearl got a bit fed up with it, giving a look mixing annoyance with boredom. Suddenly, Pinkie got on her hind legs to get some silly shot of herself in Pearl's gem, but suddenly she tripped on top of her. Amethyst started laughing soon as Pearl and Pinkie hit the floor. The noise was enough to get Rarity out of the bathroom, fully freshened up and mane looking good as new. As they were, another figure was watching over them as well, enjoying every second of it back in his own world, some popcorn by his side. Discord.

"Oh, Pinkie Pie, what a funny character you are," Discord said while laughing. Back in the house, Pearl looked to Pinkie with some annoyance.

"If you wouldn't mind, Pinkie Pie," Pearl said.

"Oops, sorry," Pinkie replied, getting off of Pearl. Pearl quickly checked her own Gem for any sort of crack from the fall, but luckily her gem was fine. However, the quick check did get some attention from the ponies, Rarity looked over the gem on Pearl's head.

"You alright dear?" Rarity asked.

"I think so," replied Pearl.

"I have to say, the gem looks simply divine on you. Where did you get it?" Rarity asked, as Pearl sat up.

"Get it? I didn't get it anywhere," Pearl remarked, confusing the unicorn.

"So, you stole it?" Rainbow Dash blurted out.

"Absolutely not!" Pearl yelled. However, Pearl quickly calmed herself before explaining. "My gem is the center of my being: the source of my existence. If anything were to happen to my gem, it can deeply effect my being as a whole." The ponies were a bit taken aback but interested in the explanation. None of them realized how important their gems were to them until now, especially Pinkie.

"That explains a bit, actually," Twilight said, a hoof to her chin thinking.

"Yes. And also explained how someone should be more careful with her gem so this doesn't happen again," Pearl said, referring to Amethyst, who was stuffing her face with a bag of chips.

"Big deal, I'm fine now, quit your nagging," Amethyst said, gobbling down some more chips. Even if she was close to dying, she still survived, so, Pearl shouldn't be so squawky with her.

"Amethyst, if you were a bit more careful, we wouldn't have to go through all that to save you!"

"HEY, it's not my fault the cliff collapsed under me!"

"It is your fault you were playing around up there in the first place!"

"Gems, enough. Not in front of our guests." Suddenly, Amethyst and Pearl stopped arguing amongst themselves as Garnet came in to see the others.

"Morning, Garnet," Steven said. Garnet nodded to Steven, as Pearl and Amethyst went off to do other things. After that was taken care of, Garnet turned to the other ponies.

"Sorry you had to see that."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Rainbow said, flying up to her level of sight. Twilight then went over to Garnet, the Alicorn nodding upon seeing her.

"It's nice of you to let us stay for the night, but now we need to get going," Twilight explained. The news bummed out both Pinkie and Steven. They just got there, yet, they had to go so soon?

"Aww, already?" They both said, Pinkie hugging Steven.

"Pinkie, you know we can't stay here forever, we have to get back home, who knows what's going on back in Ponyville?" Twilight explained. Suddenly Pinkie realized what Twilight meant, her mouth agape as she let Steven go from her big hug.

"*GASP* You're right Twilight, I got so many sweets to make at Sugarcube Corner, my apple brownies, cookie cakes, dandelion muffins, time to go!" Suddenly, Pinkie was off like a rocket, nearby charging through the door just to get out and get going. The other ponies got outside to the front towards the beach, Rainbow trying to catch up to the pink mare. Before they tried to go though, Rarity went over to Steven and Garnet.

"Goodbye Garnet, Steven, hope we can meet again," Twilight said, waving her hoof for a goodbye.

"I'm sure we will," Garnet replied, as Twilight went off after the others. Though normally just a friendly gesture, to Garnet, it was a little bit more than that ... After a little bit, and looking to Steven, Garnet came to a conclusion.

"Steven? Perhaps you might want to go with them. They could use a guide through Beach City," Garnet instructed. Steven became excited on hearing that, a smile regrown on his face.

"Really? Oh, thank you, Garnet!" Steven said, giving a quick hug before going inside to get himself ready to go. Garnet smiled a little bit as she looked out to the beach, seeing just a small glimpse of the mane six going off on their own in order to get home.


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, Discord was still watching it all from his personal TV set. He was a bit more interested in what was going on with the Mane Six rather than the Crystal Gems, so (with some discord logic to boot), Discord fast-forward the screen until it got back to the Mane Six, standing nearby Beach City. No one in town saw the group just yet. However, those that they did see made things a bit more confusing for them, seeing so many odd creatures walking around.

"What are those things?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at the humans.

"I'm not sure, but maybe they can help us out. I'm sure one of them must know where Equestria is," Twilight replied. Sure, she already got the idea that they weren't in Equestria, but Equestria wasn't the ONLY land in the world. perhaps one of these people must know where it is and get them on the right path. However, the main question was who to talk to? The first thing they did see was a shop, with a large, chocolate sprinkled donut on it. It looked like a small donut shop, one that Pinkie was eyeing for some time. Even from where they were, Pinkie could easily smell the sweets from inside the shop. The other five didn't notice Pinkie's reaction just yet, more wondering if they should check it out or not. On one hoof: it could help them out a little bit (and maybe get a bite to eat), but on the other hoof, if they end up freaking out everyone inside, it could cause a lot of trouble for them.

"Okay, girls, I'm not sure how they'll react to us - I doubt they'd seen ponies like us before. So, we should approach this -" Before Twilight could finish, suddenly the group saw that Pinkie was gone! Next thing they knew, Pinkie Pie was right at the donut shop, immediately heading right in with little to no prompting.

"Pinkie!" They all gasped.

Back with the pink mare, she was looking around from within the donut shop. It seemed fairly sweet: a few tables here and there, along with vending machines and coolers along the wall too. Posters, advertising many different snacks, were also along the wall. To the back of the room, the counter was easily seen. While the door did ring from the bell, the counter keeper looked over, yet she didn't see anyone (Pinkie was immediately at the counter, so, she didn't see the pony come in). The person at the counter was a teenaged girl, appearing 16. She looked a bit stocky, blonde hair, and her shirt had a donut "D" on it, possibly work clothes.

"Welcome to the Big Donut, can I -" she suddenly stopped when she saw nobody there. However, somepony was already, ready to go. Soon, the girl got quite a surprise when Pinkie got up on her hind legs, her usual "HI!" ringing in the air. The worker nearly fell on her back upon seeing this sudden pink thing pop up in front of her. Pinkie still had on her smiley face, her tail wagging a bit as she looked around at the yummy treat options. The girl at the counter calmed herself with a sigh and got back to the counter.

"Oh. Hello there, uh ... Can I help you?" She asked.

"Yes indeede! I'd like a chocolate sprinkle, berry jelly, snowflake, Hawaii pretzel, strawberry-filled, chocolate with nuts, pineapple, blueberry -"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down!" she suddenly said, stopping the quick jibber jabber from the pink mare. She still needed time to write this down, but Pinkie's quick talk was a bit too fast for her to catch everything and write it all down right away. She cleared her throat and got herself ready.

"Sorry, can you repeat again? From the top?"

Pinkie nodded and repeated her order to the girl. What came off was a bunch of donuts, many of which were different from each other, and also included some soft pretzels to boot. It was quite an order, but she took it all in, and got everything written down. Some of those she wasn't sure if they actually do have, now that she had time to think about it. The Mane Five waiting outside, watching Pinkie make her order, and noticed that the girl was surprisingly going with the flow, and this was Pinkie they were talking about. Pinkie, the most random and jumpy of the Mane Six, and she handled her quite well. Still, to be safe, they waited for a bit back outside. There's no reason to completely overwhelm her with six multi-colored magic horses in the shop.

"Alright, that'll be 12.99 please," she insisted. Pinkie got into her pockets (yes, Ponies have pockets, go figure), and got out what she thought was easily enough to pay ... thirteen bits. Pinkie waited there with a smile, but the confused look on the workers face made it a bit awkward. She took one of them, and bit into it to be sure of this wasn't fake money. They were gold in color, but, the exact value was unclear, though they appeared like pure gold rather than just simple one dollar bit pieces.

"Uh ... What is this?" She asked.

"Bits! You take bits, right?" Pinkie asked, not as awkward feeling as the worker was. To her, bits are either apart of math, or a type of horse mouthpiece for racing. After a while, she decided to take it - even if they weren't money, they were still gold, and gold can be worth plenty. So, she ringed up the cash register, and added the bits in.

"Alright, it'll be a bit, so, make yourself comfortable," she said, pointing to one of the tables. Pinkie happily hopped over and sat down as she went off to the back to get the donuts. Few minutes had pasted, and the Mane Six didn't even get to go in by the time the worker came back with the box of requested items. The others remained outside, as Pinkie hopped over to the counter, got her donuts, said thanks, and hopped right outside. Course, the others didn't seem to kindly to having Pinkie simply bolt off like that.

"What the hay, Pinkie Pie?!" Rainbow snapped.

"Donut?" Pinkie asked, hoping that'll calm the mood. Still, even if they got food, they still had to get going, and figure out how to get back, and if anypony (or anybody, whichever) knows where Equestria is, and how to get back. However, their pitstop gave another person enough time to catch up to them - Steven Universe. The human Gem ran the whole way, having his casual clothes on.

"Hey guys!" Steven called as he ran nearby.

"Steven? What're you doin here?" Applejack asked.

"I want to show you guys around Beach City! The grand tour," Steven announced happily, a big smile on his face. The mane six looked around amongst each other at first.

"Well, that's rather sweet of you, darling, but uh ..." Rarity tried to put the words together, but Applejack finished for her.

"We can't stay fer much longer. We just have to get back home," Applejack finished.

"Aww, you sure?" Steven asked.

"Sorry, Steven, but there's too much going on back home for us to just stay here."

Back in Equestria, Discord was watching all of this with a bit of a rough taste in his mouth. It was WAY too soon for the Mane Six to just leave like this, the enjoyment was coming in by the load full! If they just left, it won't be any fun and things will just be a simple drag.

"So soon? Let's see now hm ... Aha!" Suddenly, Discord conjured up a piece of paper from thin air and pulled a feather from his bird wing to use as a quill. Quickly, he wrote down a quick message for the Mane Six to read. Soon as he was done, the feather disappeared, the message was rolled, and then he sent it off the same way Spike would send letters: with a green fire breath. Soon, the message went through Discord's seeing glass, and before the Mane Six and Steven realized it, the letter suddenly popped up on the ground nearby. The group heard the letter land and turned to see.

"A letter?" Twilight wondered, walking over to it. Almost immediately, she used her magic to levitate, and unravel the letter (Steven amazed and giddy seeing it). Soon, Twilight began to read the sent letter over.

"Dear friends: the catastrophic event back in Ponyville had ceased. We are aware of your disappearance but are unsure on how to bring you home as of yet. Working on the solution as we speak. We hope for your safe return soon. Princess Celestia."

A rather sudden piece of information, to say the least. On the bright side, the message said two things: the vines were gone, and the princesses were back. Once more, the lack of rush was evident all and all. Steven was still giddy, stars in his eyes, upon seeing the Alicorn use her magic.

"That was awesome! How'd you do that?!" Steven asked.

"It's just some telekinesis - nothing big," Twilight stated. From a land completely magical, just lifting up a simple piece of a scroll was nothing new for her, or for anypony.

"Oh ... Soooo ... Can I give you all that tour now?" Steven asked, full of hope for a good answer. The Mane six wondered for the moment, thinking over what the message said. If their homeland was working on a way to figure out where they were, and how to get back home, wandering around away from where they were might not be the best idea. If they wander away, and Celestia would end up in Beach City, they'll be missed for sure! Besides, a guide around the place would be a better option.

"Well, I guess we can look around for a while longer," Twilight decided. Steven beamed, and immediately began his job as new tour guide to these four-hooved tourists to Beach City.


~~~~~~


For most of the day, Steven and his pony friends went all over town from there. After their visit to the Big Donut, the group got the full tour thanks to Steven: heading through Beach City from top to bottom, from the center down along the coast. Surprisingly, not many of the residents of Beach City actually saw them as too odd while Steven was blabbering on their tour. One thing good: no one will drive them out of town or anything like that. But that just begs the question: how much magic had this town actually got involved with?

While they were putting that together, they also listened to what Steven had to say about many of the areas of town. They went to the pier, along the boardwalk, pass the town square, and even went to some spots outside of the city, such as the golf course, or Brooding hill. Among their tour around the place, they also stopped by a number of the stores and other eateries in town. Some of the spots include the Crab shack, the lighthouse, Suitcase Sam's, and a number of other spots through the town itself. Unintentionally, Discord was getting a bit of a little tour himself, watching the ponies go around with Steven. One good thing here was that the ponies got the name of the species Steven was: Humans. A name that the Ponies weren't familiar with, but at least that was cleared up. Soon, Steven brought them over to their next spot on his little tour: towards what looked like a carwash. A single electric line connected to it, which allowed a neon sign of an elephant to shined, with the words 'It's A Wash' lit up inside it. It appeared to be in some sort of L shape, and (lucky for Steven), a van was parked nearby. Just who the boy wanted to see.

"Ladies, welcome to the carwash," Steven announced, a hand aimed to the place, as if an invitation for them to look around. It was a interesting building: the lights adding a nice touch, but the thing that got their attention was the van parked nearby. Being ponies, meant that vehicles such as cars aren't really invented in their world, so seeing this large-wheeled van outside got them a bit curious on what the thing even was, or what it was used for. The commotion from outside his van got someone else coming outside from the van. The man that came out looked a bit ... well, out of it (way out, to Rarity's perspective). He too had sandals, though he had on a sleeveless white shirt, and a pair of grey pants with cut out leggings. He did have hair, but not on the top of his head and more flowing off the back.

"Hey, dad!" Steven said, going over to his old man, as the man happily hugged, and playfully gave Steven a good noogie on the head.

"Hey there, big guy," he replied playfully as Steven chuckled. After that, he look and saw Steven's 'tourists'. Like before with the girl back at the Big Donut, the surprise was there but not enough to make it feel too uncomfortable. That didn't mean seeing multi-colored unicorns, Pegasus, earth ponies, and an Alicorn didn't give off some sort of surprise.

"Uh, Steven?" He asked, a bit unsure. Soon, Steven remembered the ponies.

"Oh, right! They're my new friends: Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity," Steven introduced. He got the names soon after everypony was found back at Rose's garden.

"Mighty fine to meet you, Steven's dad," Applejack said, nodding her head.

"Greg, actually. Nice to meet you too ... You know the Gems at all?"

"Actually, they were the first we saw. Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you," Twilight made clear. He gave a sigh of relief after hearing that bit.

"Oh, that's good. So, what're you doing here Steven? Come to see your old man?"

"Well, I'm in the middle of a tour, and I saved the best spot for last," Steven said. Before they could continue, Rarity was looking over what Steven's dad was wearing for quite sometime. Leave it to the Unicorn to look over someone's fashion sense.

"Pardon me for intruding, but do all of you ... You ... what are you called again? Humus?"

"Humans," Steven corrected.

"Right, course. Anyway, do all of you humans usually wear such ... how do I put this? ... 'rough' clothes?" Rarity couldn't help but ask: her human knowledge is close to none, and seeing a human like this, she needed some knowledge about that part anyway. Greg looked over his own clothes, thinking it over for a little bit.

"Guess that depends on who you're talking to," he admitted. It didn't help too much, but Rarity didn't want to come off as too much of a nosy pony. As for the others, Rainbow was flying around the van, trying to think over what it was. It didn't look like any wagon, or carriage, or whatever. No harness, no main way to sit on top or nothing. Eventually, Greg saw Rainbow Dash flying around it.

"What is this thing? Some weird carriage?" Rainbow dash asked, completely clueless as she flew and sat down in the driver's seat, still looking around. She saw through the window, seeing the wheel and gear in front of her. She still didn't have any clue what it does from in there, as Steven's dad went over to the driver window.

"No, no, it's my van. Cool, isn't she?" He asked, Rainbow still looking around. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were looking around the front of the van, about as curious as Rainbow was currently.

"She? Doesn't look lively to me," Rainbow said, suddenly looking over the wheel.

"Huh? Oh, no, no, no, my van's not alive. Rather attached though, really."

"let's see what this does," Rainbow said, readying her hoof. Before Greg could remotely stop her, Rainbow's hoof slammed hard, right on the horn! The van's horn blared out for a full 10 seconds, the sudden loud honking noise startling everyone outside, including Steven. Pinkie was the most spooked, and bolted back, accidentally hitting Applejack behind her, and they both tumbled to the carwash wall. Rainbow stopped, removing her hoof from the horn, also a bit frazzled. But seeing the reactions was enough to make her laugh in spite of the situation.

"Whatever you did, don't do it again," Applejack said, picking herself back up and getting her hat back on her head. Rainbow got out of the van soon after that, and it took a minute or so for the rest of the ponies to calm down. Greg knew that these ponies, wherever they were from, were FAR different in their home than his own: personal experience told him such.

"You six aren't familiar with this stuff, aren't you?"

"Not really, sir," Replied Twilight.


~~~~~~


The rest of the tour soon afterwards went on a bit more smoothly for the mane six themselves, as Steven wrapped up their tour by that afternoon. It was a rather simple but fun day, though it didn't help them get any closer to figuring out how to get back home. Even if Celestia did send that letter, what exactly will Celestia do in order to find them, if she ever does, that is. With the idea in mind, Steven began bringing them back to the beach house, the group still wondering on what to do exactly. Discord, still watching from his own perch in Equestria, was beginning to get a bit bored with their going about in Beach City, though didn't do anything yet ...

underline yet.

With the Mane Six, as they neared the beach house, Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet went outside to see them coming back.

"How's the tour?" Garnet asked.

"It was charming," Rarity answered. As Steven, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash went off to tell the Gems about it, the other ponies were still a bit thoughtful over how they were going to head back.

"Hey, Twi, you think Celestia will get us back soon?" Applejack asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. I'm at least glad things had calmed down back in Ponyville, and the princesses are safe and sound," Twilight replied, which was true. Without Celestia and her sister, who knew what will happen? Still, with that problem, it made another: them in another area all together.

"Even so, we're not sure how the others will handle without us to work the Elements of Harmony when needed. Besides, even if Celestia did find a way, anypony would only guess how long that'll actually be before we're actually home."

"She's right. We need a plan," Applejack concluded. As Rarity, Twilight, and Applejack tried to think, Fluttershy did get one idea, though if the others would agree is completely unsure.

"Uh, girls? ... What about ..."

"What about who?" Twilight asked. The Pegasus remained quiet, unsure if she should say it. However, the Alicorn didn't need her answer, figuring it out right away on who.

"Fluttershy, are you sure about that?" Twilight asked, a bit firmer.

"I'm sure on it. He's the only one we know that can appear to us fast enough, I have faith that he will do it," Fluttershy replied. Twilight looked to Applejack and Rarity, who already got the same conclusion Twilight Sparkle did. Eventually, Twilight sighed: if they wanted to get home as soon as possible, he will have to be their only option in order to get themselves a shot at getting back to Equestria. After that was thought out, they went over to Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, summing up what happened on their tour through Beach City with Steven.

"Pinkie, Rainbow, c'mere," Applejack called, after walking over for a second. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash turned around to the other ponies.

"What's up?"

"We made our choice. There's somepony we know that can get us home ... Discord."

The name, while confusing the Gems, got Rainbow and Pinkie unsure of it. However, just seconds after the name was said.

"I thought you'd never get to that part."

The voice rang out for all to hear, and it apparently came from nowhere. While Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, and Steven didn't know who it was, the Mane Six recognized the voice right away. As they all looked around, suddenly the creature of chaos in question suddenly appeared before them. Or rather, on top of the Gem home's roof. He laid down in a way a cat would, looking down with his goat head and smile along his face. The Gems were completely surprised seeing this sudden chimera suddenly pop up on their rooftop, when just seconds earlier there was nothing to speak of.

"Hello there, Steven, Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet. Have the ponies given you any trouble?" Discord asked, in his usual tone. Still, the Gems felt a bit uneasy, especially when he got their names correct down to a Tee.

"How'd you know who we are?" Garnet asked firmly. Discord disappeared for a second, only to pop up right behind Garnet.

"Relax, dear Garnet, there's no need to pull the big leader card on me," Discord said, suddenly popping up by Rarity and Applejack, hugging them both as he continued saying "I'm just here to lend a talon and paw to some of my pony pals."

"don't try to change the subject ... whatever you are," Garnet replied, jumping down to the sand, as the other went down their porch steps.

"Oh, where are my manners, I should introduce myself - (Discord reappeared by all the gems) - I'm Discord, spirit of chaos. Word can't pass my ears," Discord claimed.

"Is that so?" Garnet asked. However, her words literally flowed out of her mouth extremely quickly, each word caught by Discord's ears ... The weird part was that the words were actually visible. In puffy, full lettered words. Pearl was the most shocked, her eyes wide open in utter disbelief. She quietly turned to Rainbow Dash, who just shrugged. Trying to understand Discord's magic is just as difficult as trying to figure out that stupid chicken egg question of what came first.

"W-wha? ... H-how did you -" Before Pearl could finish her sentence, Discord popped up by her head, shrinking himself so he could sit down comfortably on Pearl's head. Amethyst tried to keep her chuckling to herself, though was finding it difficult to keep it in.

"Perhaps we haven't met: Discord, spirit of chaos," Discord reintroduced, laying down, his tail dangling over her eyes like an annoying piece of hair. "Do you think a creature with that title will follow any logic in either dimension?" Discord made clear, purposely making his tail tickle Pearl's pointy nose.

"Can we get to the point, already?" Rainbow interrupted. Discord popped off of Pearl's head, suddenly acting like an opossum - hanging off Pearl's nose with his tail. Amethyst couldn't hold it back any longer, and laughed herself silly, enough to fall on her back with laughter, clutching her stomach she was laughing so hard. All Pearl could do is flick Discord off her nose, her nose making an audible, cartoony sound of a shaky board. Discord popped up back to his normal size, immediately talking to Rainbow Dash.

"Must we rush the fun?"

"Discord, we have to get home," Twilight demanded, a hoof stomping the sand. With a sigh, and a smile, the Draconequus simply snapped his finger, and a door suddenly appeared with a flash. Discord popped up by the door, as the Mane Six walked over, along with the Gems.

"Wait. That's it?" Rainbow asked.

"And you expect a life-threatening journey to get yourself home?"

"... Yes," Rainbow said, a bit bummed out.

"So, wait, that door goes right back to where they came from?" Steven asked, amazed as ever, stars in his eyes. Discord mimicked his eyes almost exactly, as his talon arm wrapped around his shoulder.

"To a land of magic and wonder," Discord said, his lion paw panning out as if letting Steven envision the thing in front of him, "magic as far as the eyes could see." Garnet picked up Steven and moved him away.

"Thank you very much, Discord. It was great for Celestia to let you come," Fluttershy said with a smile. Discord, however, suddenly pulled the same scroll out of Fluttershy's ear.

"Not to be a bummer, but I myself decided to come here to get you ponies," Discord said, blowing the letter into tiny leaves, "Course, wished the fun would last since you arrived here in the garden. (Discord suddenly reworked the scroll into a postcard, with him taking a selfie alongside the Rose statue from Rose's garden) A fine, beautiful place, might I add. Especially with the water of pink roses - nice touch. Sorry about the vines, not intended to go there."

"Wait a minute ... YOU KNEW WE WERE HERE THE WHOLE TIME?!" Rainbow yelled, right in the Draconequus's face.

"You realize you could've got us back home hours ago?" Twilight added, equally upset. Discord didn't feel the slightest bit threatened.

"And to stop you from knowing your new friends AND removing a valuable lesson as princess? What kind of friend do you think I am?" Discord asked, pinching the alicorn's cheek. Twilight just groaned, and sighed as Discord popped up by the door, waiting for them. Twilight then turned to the Gems.

"Well, guess we're going now. For real, this time," Twilight said.

"Well, I hope you were comfortable during your stay," Pearl hoped, making up for her annoyance from earlier.

"See ya later," Amethyst said. The ponies nodded, and began going through the door. Soon, all the ponies and Discord went right through the door. Soon as they did, the door shut, and disappeared in a flash of light. The Gems stood there for a bit, until Garnet spoke.

"Well, they're back home. Let's go in," Garnet concluded, starting to walk towards the beach house, alongside the others. Soon, Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet were back in the house, but, before Steven could go in, another flash suddenly occurred. Only Steven caught it though, the other gems not noticing. On the sand, there was a note, with a special golden key with Steven's smiling face at the handle. Picking up the key, Steven read the attached note. On it, there was a picture, showing a door, Steven putting the key into the door, and Twilight on the other side of it. Underneath the picture, there was a message ...

Use on any door. Have fun visiting.

Steven looked at the key once more. 

A very big smile beamed on his face.
> Mirror-Mania
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a rather slow day back at the beach house, since the Mane Six had gone back to their home thanks to Discord. He was alone for the moment, the other Gems not exactly in the beach house. It had only been a few days, yet, the ponies departure had dulled things down, even if their stay was only for one whole day. For the moment, Steven was chilling out on the couch in the living room, looking over his new key, staring at his own face within the key handle, the one left behind soon after Twilight and company left. Can it really make a gateway back to them? Well, as far as he knew, it had a 50/50 chance of it actually working. Even if it can work, he wasn't sure if just running off on Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet, would be such a good idea. While he was laying there, Key in one hand above him, suddenly he got an idea on what to do. With the thought, he went and got his phone, and quickly dialed up a number. After a ring or two, the person on the other line spoke.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Connie! Wanna hang out today?" Steven asked. Connie is one of Steven's human friends back within Beach City, and a close girl he got to know quite a while ago. After the question, Connie gave a quick sigh.

"Sorry, Steven, but I can't hang out today."

"What? Why not?" Steven asked, disappointed.

"I have tennis practice, and then Mom wants to go out for a family dinner. But she said I could hang out all day tomorrow, and I can come over all the time now that it's summer vacation," Connie explained. Steven looked legitimately confused upon the final two words.

"What's summer vacation?"

"You know, when school gets out for the summer?" It didn't help him too much, as he lazily rolled over onto his back, his head upside down.

"I've never been to this, how do you say, "school". How does it work?" Steven wondered, a bit interested on the subject. Connie began to explain, in her own way, on what a school was.

"Its a place where you go to learn. It's full of desks, chalkboards, books, maps ..."

About a minute later after their chat, Steven ended up with the items in question. These items included a globe, a chalkboard, a potted plant, a map, a TV, a basketball, a small stack of books, an atlas, a locker, a desk, a microscope, and a manikin of the human body (torso upward). However, they were all just in some odd pile in the middle of the room, with the help of Pearl.

Not the best way to start a school.

"So, how do we begin our "school"?" Pearl asked after they were finished. Steven suddenly realized his little mess up on that part.

"Ugh...I... I don't know! This is everything Connie told me. Why do I never ask follow-up questions?! Who will teach little Stevie now!?" Steven asked, feeling completely stupid for not asking another question, as Pearl sat down on the book stack. Upon the word 'Teach', Pearl suddenly got excited, a smile on her face.

"Teach you?! Steven! If only I had known that's what you really wanted!" Pearl beamed. Soon, Pearl got up, and began to focus her energy on the gem on her forehead. After a little bit, her gem started to glow, as something started to float out. What ended up floating out was a small hand mirror, with a deep blue, cracked gemstone on the back of it. It rotated in midair towards Steven as Pearl spoke again.

"We found this gem-powered mirror at the Galaxy Warp. It can capture and display any event it's witnessed in all of Gem history. It'll offer you everything you've ever wanted to know about your fellow Gems and our culture." Pearl explained, as Steven was given the mirror. Steven looked to his reflection with a smile on his face.

"I must be incredibly important to Gem culture," Steven said, checking himself out in the mirror itself. Pearl just scoffed, looking in the reflection herself.

"It's just you in there. It hasn't even been activated. *Clears throat* Show us the Galaxy Warp," Pearl ordered. Steven and Pearl look into the mirror. What'll normally happen was that history will play out within the mirror. However, the mirror didn't really display anything. No picture, no movement, just the same reflection at that moment.

"Show us the Galaxy Warp," Pearl repeated. Still nothing. Pearl then tugged on the mirror, holding it herself.

"Oh, come on, I know you've seen it!" Still nothing. Pearl just sighed, and gave the mirror back to Steven again. "It is in pretty rough shape. It must finally be broken. What a shame."

"Doesn't seem broken to me," Steven replied, still liking the reflection within the mirror. Pearl started to go over the pile itself, looking it over.

"Oh well. I guess that's the end of our school," Pearl sighed.

"Whoa. Wha... So you could say...School's out for summer?" Steven asked, the mirror facing Pearl as Steven smiled.

"Yes. Good, Steven. There are many ways to say the same thing."

"School's out!" Steven beamed, rushing out of the house with the mirror in his hand, and the key left on the table. While he was gone, Pearl began looking over the pile in front of her some more.

"The asymmetry of this pile is really starting to bother me..."


~~~~~~


While Steven ran around with his mirror back in Beach City, Equestria's pony group were doing their own little venture. After their drop off back in Equestria from Beach City, the pony group was basically doing their own thing, but hadn't forgotten about the Gems and Humans. Within Ponyville, there is a building made up of a full grown tree: the library of Ponyville as of were. Within it, the alicorn princess herself, Twilight, was busy looking through her own books. Book, after book, after book, she couldn't figure out any particular information within any book. While coming up the steps, with a feather duster, Spike was doing some cleaning around the library, when Twilight angerly threw the book back, hitting Spike's duster.

"What's wrong, Twilight?" Spike asked. Twilight groaned again.

"Ugh, I've gone through every book in Ponyville, Spike, and there isn't a single mention of the Gems that came from Beach City, nor anything about any human species! But something tells me they're pretty important. I hope Princess Celestia has some ideas. If the library in Canterlot doesn't have anything, I-I don't know where else to look!" Twilight explained, trying through another book before Spike ended up in a book avalanche! Spike got himself out, a bit dazed but okay, but soon he accidentally gave of a good loud burp. The burp came out as green flame, and soon a letter suddenly appeared within her vision afterward. Twilight got the note through her magic, unraveled it, and read it out.

"My dearest Twilight, while it would be perfectly lovely to have you in Canterlot once more, I have another option in mind much closer to Ponyville. As you know, the ancient castle that I once shared with Princess Luna lies mostly in ruins, deep in the Everfree Forest. But if you look carefully, you may find a book that could prove helpful to your research, hidden somewhere in what's left of the castle library. "

The information of the note got Twilight and Spike going right off out of Ponyville, following what the message had said. Twilight knew of where the objective was: going through the forest, and appearing within the area in question. The area in particular looked like older ruins of what was a spectacular Castle for Celestia. Centuries of wear and tear had made it look all worm away. Following the main sort of information, Twilight and Spike ended up heading right to the library within the castle itself! Unlike the Ponyville library, this one was by far a lot bigger, taller, and many more books! Twilight, mouth a gape in a huge smile, was extremely excited.

"Wow! Look at all these ancient books! It's a veritable goldmine of information! I can't believe it! Woo-hoo!" Twilight said in glee, flying around, looking at all of the books themselves. However, Spike wasn't enjoying it all that much, worried as he walked around. The little dragon accidentally walked right into a spider's webbing, immediately tumbling as he tried to get it off. Upon looking up, he was staring at a freaky horse stone head above him! Spike wasn't enjoying it at all.

"Uh, heh-heh. So, uh, Twilight. Uh, ready to head home?" Spike asked.

"Are you kidding? This place is perfect!" Twilight beamed. All Spike could do was just sit there, teeth chattering in his jaws, as the spiders crawled around him. So much for a calm trip.


~~~~~~


Back in Beach City, Steven was having his own fun. With the mirror in hand, Steven was going about the city with a nice smile on his face. He was having his own fun with the mirror as he continued onward down the boardwalk. In fact, he was doing his own little dance.

"♪ Wo, Wo, Wo, Wo! ♪ Wo, Wo, Wo, Wo! ♪  Wo, Wo, Hee-Hee! ♪" Steven started to moonwalk backwards into the boardwalk, but as he was, something started to close in on him! The thing was a huge van (not Greg's van), with a large head on top of it as advertisement. A sound of "May-or Dew-ey" kept ringing out as well. Steven didn't pay attention to it, going right in the van's way! Suddenly, the mirror started to act up! A face suddenly appear of a teenaged boy, and a voice rang out saying "Er, watch where you're going, you little-!"

"Huh?" Steven heard the mirror and turned around to see the oncoming van coming right for him!

"Nooooo!"

The van came to a screeching halt, as Steven stood there for a bit. Soon, another man looked out from the main driver's seat. His skin was slightly pink, not much hair on his head, and he looked very formal. By all means, he must be the mayor of Beach City (Given the head on the van matched his own very well). He didn't look very happy either.

"Car wash kid, what are you doing?!"

"I don't know. Why were you driving down the boardwalk?" Steven asked.

"I'm the mayor—I'm not going to walk anywhere. Now, go get run over somewhere else. I'm late for a speech." Steven moved out of the way as the van drove off towards the area of speech. Steven simply was confused on the voice. Yeah, he knew who's voice it was, but, he wasn't around. So, where did it come from?

"What just happened?" Steven wondered. Suddenly the mirror blurred and glitches again, and that time showed Steven himself, but laughing. Steven was ecstatic upon figuring this out.

"You work! This is so cool! What's it like being a mirror?" Steven asked. The mirror whirred again, and repeated the 'You work!' part Steven just said.

"So you can repeat stuff?"

"Yeah!" The mirror replied, the yeah being repeated from earlier, showing Steven again. A quick idea came to his mind, as he looked over to the speech not too far away. Time for some fun. Steven went over as the mayor started to talk to the residents of Beach City.

"Hello, Beach City, my friends! It's great to be here to celebrate the coming season. A warm summer breeze wafts through the air." Suddenly, Steven inhaled, and made a good loud fart noise with his mouth, for the mirror to get a clear sound. The people who heard it snickered as the mayor continued.

"We all look forward to the sounds of the summer season -" *PBHT* "- the smells of the busy boardwalk -" *PBHT* "- The hot, wet ocean wind -" *PBHT* "- The time to take that pressure that's built up all year and just let it out." And one more *PBHT* for the road. All those perfectly timed fart noises made the crowd laugh, as Steven went off again, giggling to himself. The mirror copied the giggling and image, Steven smiling all the while.

"Wow, you picked that up fast," Steven said.


~~~~~~


Back in Equestria, the ruined castle was still being looked over by Twilight and Spike in the library. Both of them were going over the library still, Twilight going through book after book for some sort of answer to her dilemma. A lot of candles were lit up in the room as well.

"I don't think I'll need all these candles, Twilight. I was really only scared for a second," Spike said.

"Oh, these aren't for you, Spike. We're gonna be studying late into the night, and we're gonna need all the light we can get," Twilight replied. Not the answer Spike wanted to hear.

"Oh. Great."

Despite them doing their own little bit of detective work, there was another pair of ponies that had entered the castle themselves. Both ponies were bickering among each other as they entered: Applejack and Rainbow Dash as it turned out. The ponies themselves, while one was expecting a good time, the other one seemed unimpressed.

"Well, here we are," Applejack said as they entered the main room.

" Uh, what's so daring about this place? This is where we got the Elements of Harmony," Rainbow Dash reminded. Those 'elements of harmony' were the necklaces and tiara they had before they ended up in Beach City. As for the daring bit, the ponies were trying out their own little contest earlier that day, most daring pony, and it was Applejack who decided upon the castle. Applejack smiled, and began walking up the main room steps, under a large tapestry of a alicorn, as she started to explain.

"When I was just a filly, Granny Smith told me of an ancient legend. When Nightmare Moon was banished, not every last bit of her dark magic went with her..." Rainbow was a bit confused, as Applejack continued. "Granny used to say, when night falls on the castle, that magic takes the form of...the pony of shadows!"

"You mean, like a ghost?" Rainbow Dash asked. The story was a bit textbook, but was enough to get a little bit of some worry from the Pegasus. Applejack came over to her again, trying to act spooky.

"Nopony knOoOoOoOows," Applejack replied. Well, those two were stuck there, and Rainbow Dash needed to get a grip on herself.


~~~~~~


Back within Beach City, Steven and his mirror were still having their own fun. Throughout the day, and later on that night, Steven had hanged out with his little mirror for a pretty good while, the mirror enjoying the fun time as much as Steven. As night time rolled around, Steven went back to the Beach House. When he went in, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl were in there. However, the pile of junk looked a bit different, a lot more professional and symmetrical than before.

"Yo! Ste-man!" Amethyst said.

"Hello, Steven," Pearl added.

"Howdy," Garnet finished, her finger mimicking a gun as she added "bang."

"Want to see something hilarious?" amethyst asked. Steven watched as Amethyst lifted a teddy bear towards the junk pile. Seconds before she placed it, suddenly a spear stabbed through the teddy bear, courtesy of Pearl.

"You don't understand. Symmetrical means both sides have to be the same!" Pearl snapped, as Amethyst chuckled. Pearl simply groaned, as she tossed the speared bear to a small pile of other speared stuff. Seemed Amethyst was busy with her own fun time with Pearl and her own pile. Steven had different news though.

"Okay, that's great. Anyway, I fixed the mirror!"

"Excellent work, Steven!" Pearl said.

"You didn't tell me it's, like, a person!"

Suddenly, the Gems looked a bit spooked.

"Wait. What?"

"Say "hey"," Steven said. However, the mirror didn't react that time. 

"...Little buddy..." 

Nothing. 

"Uh...excuse us. *Turns around* Come on. You want to come out, don't you? You have so much to say and funny noises to share from across the ages. Are we not beach-summer-fun buddies?" After Steven explained that, a few seconds later, the mirror came alive again, replaying a good *PBHT!*, making Steven laugh again.

"Just couldn't help yourself, huh?" Steven chuckled. The mirror became alive again, and replayed other events from that day. What came out was "Just for you, Steven." Before it repeated Steven's laugh again. Even if it was sweet, the Gems themselves found this behavior very worrying.

"It's talking to him? It shouldn't be able to do that. I-it should just be following orders," Pearl said in worry. Amethyst nudged Garnet after she said that.

"Garnet, do something," Amethyst said. Garnet agreed, and got up, walking over. The mirror turned from laughing to the loud "Nooooo!" upon seeing Garnet. Steven turned around to face Garnet.

"You should just give us back the mirror. It will be safer where we can watch it," Garnet said, reaching for the mirror. Steven began to get a little worried at first, hearing the Mirror scream.

"Steven, don't make me have to take it from you."

"It doesn't want to go with you. Don't you hear it screaming?" Steven protested. As they argued, Pearl and Amethyst notice something else odd: on the table, that same key started to vibrate more and more, catching their attention.

"Steven, it's just a mirror, a tool. It can't want anything," Garnet stated firmly, her hand reaching for the mirror as it kept echoing out no, over and over again as Steven felt more worried for it. The key suddenly started to move on its own, its vibration to the point of bouncing around in place. Just before Garnet could grab the mirror, Steven suddenly looked angry.

"It wants to be with me!" Steven yelled. Before any of them could react, the key suddenly gone crazy, and flew off from its placement after a few hops, hitting Garnet square on the shoulder. The force was enough to make Garnet flinch, like getting hit with a thrown rock. Garnet turned, seeing the key flair around in the air until it landed back on the floor. Steven backed up while Garnet was distracted.

"Okay, who threw that?" Garnet asked firmly. She wasn't in any mood for games, especially now. Pearl and Amethyst were still on the part when the key got alive, and bounced around. Both of the Gems pulled the dumbfound card, not having a clue on what happened, or how it happened. In fact, they never noticed the stray key until now. Steven had his back to the screen door to outside, as the key again started to become active. Steven noticed the key, the mirror noticed, but the Gems were a bit pre-occupied. Steven and the mirror (which had steven's same expression) watched the key bounce around them both, before slipping out of the screen door holes. Steven, not wanting to loose his new friend, got out the door, and ran! Only then did they notice Steven had left.

"That little boy, is in big trouble."

Outside, Steven was quickly running around outside, the key practically leading him away from the beach house, heading away from Beach City. The trio rushed out as Steven kept running after the bouncing key, not having a clue where it was going.

"Fan out!" Garnet ordered, all three rushing out to find Steven. Steven ran off until he hid behind a large rock, the key bouncing in place on one end, the handle face looking towards Steven. The mirror kept glitching out on its reflection surface.

"What am I gonna do? What's their problem with you? Are you trying to say something?" Steven asked the mirror. It started to glitch out again, but the message was distorted.

"Away from home! Let - me - OOOUUUTT."

"Come on, I want to help you! What can I do?"

Suddenly the mirror started to act up again. Instead of repeating any lines, the mirror then showed something else. It showed a silhouette of Steven pulling the gem free from the mirror. Steven turned the mirror around, and saw the gem in question. It didn't take much to know what he had to do, but, he was still a bit unsure on what to exactly do. He took a glance at the key on the ground, standing upright on the ground. As he did, he noticed a rainbow shimmer from it... It went over his eyes after that.

He knew what he must do.

He got his hand onto the gemstone on the mirror, but as he did, the key made one more jump into the air, spinning like a drill in midair. However, the sight of it got the group's attention from further away, and they immediately moved as fast as they could go towards them! Steven was too busy trying to get the gemstone free to notice what the key was doing. As Steven pulled hard, with one final pull, the gemstone was free! The mirror shattered afterwards, and the gem levitated a bit above him, and shined for him, and the Gems to see.

The physical shape soon began to appear towards the beach: the form of what appeared to be that of a girl. Her hair was close to Pearl's, but a bit bigger. She had a flowing dress, with a ribbon by around her upper back, and flowing past her knees. Her skin was dark blue, her hair even darker. She turned to him, and Steven noticed that her eyes were lacking any irises, and even gave off a reflection!

"Thank you... You didn't-" She ended up falling forward a bit, quickly being caught by Steven himself. The new Gem looked up to him. "You actually talked to me. You helped me! It's Steven, right?"

Steven calmly took a breath, before nodding. After that, she got up to her feet, and smiled to him.

"I'm Lapis. Lapis Lazuli. Are you really a Crystal Gem?"

"Yeah!"

"But, you set me free."

"But- Wha..." After a bit, Steven noticed the key reacting once more. Lapis and Steven turned to the key, which quickly hopped to between them both, and sunk into the sand until the handle was remaining out. The key twisted, the sound of an unlocked door echoing out. After, the part of the sand began to open out, almost like the sand was one door-sized block, opening inward to see a spiral hue of magical essence, the colors varying from sky blue to midnight blue, which glimmered and shined to them both outside.

"STEVEN!"

The Crystal Gems had found them! Lapis and Steven were a bit startled by the sudden call, Lapis taking one small, false step and suddenly slipped to the portal! Steven rushed over, and grabbed Lapis's hand - the only one holding onto her. But, the sand itself was making him slip, and suddenly he found himself hanging on by his own feet! Garnet immediately ran as fast as she could to Steven, but, Steven suddenly lost his grip! Garnet was extremely close to catch Steven, when the boy slipped and fell in! Lapis and Steven yelled as Garnet watched. The lead Gem was ready to jump in herself, but suddenly the door slammed shut, the key shooting outward into the air. The swing from the door made Garnet fall back onto the sand, and the key landed right into her hands, as the door disappeared.

"Steven!" Amethyst gasped. she took the key, and tried to get it back into the sand, to reopen the door. However, no matter how many times she tried, nothing seemed to happen. All that did happen was sand being knocked around from the force. Garnet and Pearl still weren't too sure, but, jabbing the key into the ground wasn't helping.

"Amethyst, stop that, that's not helping!" Pearl said eventually.

"You got a better idea?!" snapped Amethyst. Garnet was still a bit unsure on what just happened. Yeah, a group of magical ponies were around at the time, but, they didn't give Steven any fancy key. As for Discord, Garnet didn't notice him give anyone any key. Garnet knew Steven was in big trouble for not listening to her.

She didn't think of it THAT big.


~~~~~~


Back in the main room of the castle, Rainbow Dash and Applejack both were still in the room, bickering over one another about the 'most daring pony' thing. Rainbow was still on about the whole Shadow Pony legend bit.

"I don't see what's so daring about an old legend. Plus, I don't believe in ghosts," Rainbow Dash said. However, unaware to them both, one of the tapestries was right in the way of the opening portal. The light from the portal emitted from behind the tapestry, Applejack able to see it.

"You might wanna rethink your position on that," Applejack said, pointing behind Rainbow with her hoof. They both saw the tapestry start to move, the light making it look deeply ominous! It didn't help that a simultaneous scream was being heard as well, sounding like a mix of female and male. Suddenly, something hit the tapestry, and a second hit made it fall off the hinges! A huge wall of cloth suddenly rushed right at Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The thud itself was enough to get Twilight's attention from the library, along with the extra screams.

"What in the world is that?!" Twilight gasped.

"Oh, you know. Probably just more strange sounds of this old castle falling apart!"

"No one likes sarcasm, Spike."

Soon, Twilight and Spike went back out to the main room, only to see a huge tapestry with a number of things struggling inside. Soon, Applejack and Rainbow Dash got out, and rushed off as fast as they could away from it. After a bit, Applejack saw Twilight and Spike.

"Twilight?" Applejack asked.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked. Before anypony could say anything, the tapestry was still moving, two other people still within the cloth. After some more struggle (and fear growing in Rainbow and Applejack), the tapestry was finally moved off of whoever was left under the thing: Steven and Lapis! Steven and Lapis needed a minute to figure out what happened to them, but when Steven saw Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, the reaction was a bit mixed. There was a mix of surprise and happiness on seeing his pony pals again.

"Steven?!" all the ponies gasped. How could he end up back after their fiasco? Once more, he had a new Gem with him, who was trying to figure out where she ended up.

"Where ... What happened? Where are we?! ... what are those?" Lapis asked, looking to the multi-colored ponies. They didn't seem to be Gems, though were just as colorful as Gems are. Twilight went down herself, flying right down to them. Steven smiled, but Lapis still was a bit wary of the Alicorn.

"OK, this is weird," Rainbow bluntly said.

"How'd you get here?" Twilight asked, almost immediately after landing.

"It was so cool! - a magic key came to life and opened up a portal for us! Wait ... Oh no!" Steven beamed, still psyched about the portal itself. However, he then remembered that the key was no longer with him! The key was stuck back in Beach City - back in his own world. Without that key, he's pretty much stuck there, along with Lapis!

"Steven, you can bring us back, right?" Lapis asked, looking down to him with her hands on his shoulder.

"Uh ... No ..."

That was worrying: a random portal opening up thanks to some magic key, and now they don't even have the key, and are stuck in a different world all together! Lapis tried to remain calm, but the thing was a bit hard not to worry over. The ponies nearby also thought over for a little bit before Twilight went over again. Course, Spike was completely dumbfounded by everything in general: he didn't know who the Gems were, how the ponies knew about Steven, or what exactly he was seeing in front of him.

"Uh, somepony tell me what's going on?" Spike asked.

"Oh right, these are the Gems I told you about. Steven, this is Spike," Twilight introduced. Spike was still a bit unsure on who was in front of him. Compared to Steven, he was at about just up to Steven's chest at head size (without the head scales). As Steven and Spike looked each other over, Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash looked over to Lapis Lazuli.

"And who might you be?" Applejack asked. Lapis didn't answer at first, but eventually, the blue Gem girl relaxed. Last thing she wanted to do is start any trouble with these sort.

"Well ... I'm Lapis. Who - or, what, are you?" Lapis asked.

"Name's Applejack, partner. That there's Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle," Applejack introduced. However, by that point Rainbow Dash noticed Lapis's mirror eyes. They didn't get to know much about Gems, but, none of the Gems back at Beach City had reflection-eyes like hers. Come to think of it, nopony even saw Lapis while they were there, nor even mentioned. As for Lapis, she didn't expect them to already know what Gems were, even if small.

"You are familiar with Gems?" Lapis asked.

"We came across you Gems before, few days ago in fact. But one question: what's with the eyes?" Rainbow blurted out.

"Oh, my eyes. Is it that noticeable?"

"Anypony can see that, really." the glares from Twilight and Applejack got her to shut up. While they were busy, Spike and Steven were doing a sort of "mimic" bit (copying eachother). Soon, Spike notice something poke out from under Steven's shirt. Soon as he lifted it up, the Gemstone Steven had on his stomach was shown right in Spike's face. The immediate sight of it made Spike smile, but licking his chops.

"Sweet Gem!" Spike complimented.

"Thank you," replied Steven.

"Can I have it?" Spike asked, licking his lips again. Seeing Spike looking at it like a tasty rock candy made Steven a slight bit uneasy. Lucky, Twilight noticed Spike's reaction.

"Spike!" Twilight said. Spike immediately snapped out of it, and looked over to Twilight, a bit startled. Twilight went over, a wing in front of him so he wouldn't try anything.

"Not exactly the best idea, Spike. Sorry, Steven, he has a bit of a ..." Twilight tried to put the right words together. Since Gems from Steven's world are sapient, it was hard to put it correctly. What came out was "... Liking for gems."

"Liking?" Lapis asked, equally confused.

"Well ... as food."

... Lapis took a large step back away from Spike, not taking her reflected eyes off him. Immediately, Spike tried to redeem himself, moving Twilight's wing away from his face.

"Ok, don't freak out, I'm not eating you! Besides, Gems in Equestria aren't so much ... Alive," Spike said, which was true. At least HE never saw a living, breathing Gemstone before.

"Really? That's horrible!" Lapis gasped. Well, that didn't help too much. After a little bit, though, Twilight then notice Lapis's cracked Gemstone on the base of her back. Even if freed, her stone was still in bad shape, a large crack evident on her body. She only saw this once before: when she first arrived. By the looks of it, it didn't look good.

"Your Gem is cracked," Twilight stated in concern. Lapis knew that from the start, and gave a sigh.

"I know, I know. I'm powerless like this ..."

Then, the Ponies remembered what Pearl told them back at Steven's home ...

My gem is the center of my being: the source of my existence. If anything were to happen to my gem, it can deeply effect my being as a whole.

And now, that's what is happening to Lapis: her Gem became damaged, and she's suffering from it. However, Steven suddenly got an idea.

"I can fix your gem. I have healing powers," Steven made known.

"Wait, you have healing powers?" Lapis asked, turning to him.

"I know, right?" Steven replied with a smile. The other Ponies were well-unaware of this, watching as Steven walked over to Lapis's Gem. 

"Oh, what should I..."

"Oh, uh, sorry. This might be a little weird." 

"What?" Steven then proceeded to lick his own hand. A bit odd to start, but, whatever. After he did, with determination, slapped the saliva right onto Lapis's exposed gem. Lapis shuttered a little on feeling it, and they waited for a bit. After a little while, the Gem began to glow, as Lapis began to feel a bit different. Something soon shot out her back, spreading out alongside her: water. The water stretched out and stopped in midair, forming Lapis's spectacular water wings! Lapis felt something else come back to life: her own eyes returned to normal. They no longer were the reflection they once were, and became regular, navy-blue eyes. Speaking of blue, her body became much more prominent in color than before, the blues lighter and more colorful than before. Lapis waited for a second or so, until she suddenly started to fly around, happy as ever! Everybody, and everypony, knew that Lapis was healed, as the happy Gem flew around for pure joy. Soon, Lapis hovered in mid air, her new wings keeping her up.

"Steven, you did it! I'm healed! Thank you so much!" Lapis said, scooping up Steven in a great hug as she spun around in midair. Steven couldn't help but laugh himself, as Rainbow Dash and Twilight hovered alongside her.

"Whoa, you can fly now? Sweet!" Rainbow said.

"Lapis, Steven. I'm not sure how we'll be able to get you two back home, but if it makes you feel better, I'll be more than happy to help you with a temporary home," Twilight offered. Lapis and Steven looked to each other, and they both nodded. If they couldn't go home, they might as well try to handle something here.

"Hey, Twilight? This mean we're going back now?" Spike asked.

"Yes, Spike. Come on, everypony," Twilight said, letting Spike go on her back before starting to go. Her wings opened, as she began to fly as well. Lspis looked to Steven, still being held onto, and gave a smile.

"Want to go flying?"

"Yeah!" Steven said with a laugh. With that, they all headed off out of the castle. Lapis and Steven both were grateful that these Ponies offered to help them out. Especially Lapis Lazuli.

Maybe she'll grow to like this place.
> Daring Do, and the Aqua Gem
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within the Beach house, back in Beach City, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all weren't having the best time ever. Since Steven and Lapis both ended up disappearing thanks to the whacky key, the trio had tried to figure out where they'd gone. They tried everywhere they knew, looking high and low, up and down, here, there, and everywhere, but nothing. No matter where they went through in their Warp Pad, there was no trace of Steven Universe, or Lapis Lazuli anywhere they went to. It was starting to get discouraging for the three.

At the moment, they were back in the main living room, Amethyst laying on the couch, looking over the odd key as Pearl paced around, trying to think on where they'd gone. Garnet was also trying to think, the tall women over in the kitchen.

"Oh dear, where could they've gone to?" Pearl worried, trying to go through every option they've done.

"We've tried every place the Warp Pad could bring us. There's no sign of them anywhere," Garnet reminded. While they tried to think over, Amethyst herself was a bit pre-occupied with the key. How could a key, with no gemstone on it, possibly just come to life and send the two off like that? As the purple Gem looked it over, a bit bored, suddenly, the handle's face began to alter and morph right in front of her! The face of Steven turned into the face of some horned/antlered goat. The new face chuckled, and winked at her, making Amethyst drop the key right away.

"What's wrong?"

"Think the Key turned on, or something," Amethyst replied, pointing to the key, as it began to suddenly bounce around the room some more. The key suddenly spun in midair, and the three hoped that it'll open up that same portal again. Instead, something quickly popped out, landing on Steven's bed. The creature on the bed casually settled down on the bed, the key landing on Amethyst's head, as it somehow had a root beer float in his lion paw. He took a good sip from it before looking to them.

"Discord!" All three gasped. Only Amethyst was smiling though as they said that, as Discord chuckled, looking down at them like a cat would from above.

"Ah, a fine morning for a drink, isn't it?" Discord asked, sipping up the last of the root beer before it disappeared from his hand.

"What're you doing here? We thought you'd gone home," Garnet pointed out, as Discord comfortably hovered around the room.

"Just thought I'd visit for a little while. Any luck finding your boy? Seems he's been gone for a while," discord said, his smile still on his face as he asked. Pearl suddenly had her spear in his face. The fact that Steven was gone was bad enough, any snotty draconequus wasn't gonna make it easier.

"How'd you know about that? Where is he?!" Pearl demanded. Discord just grabbed the spear with his talon, and used it to pick his teeth. Pearl's face sums up her annoyance with the draconequus, as Discord ate the spear like a piece of celery. 

"Now, must we jump to conclusions, sweet Pearl? It wasn't my decision to get Steven and his buddy off from your little world, and into another. He must be having the time of his life while you three worry your heads," Discord said. Then, Garnet went over to him.

"Discord, he's been gone for four days straight."

"And you still wonder why?"

"We know why he's gone."

"Oh do you? Even after you threaten to take away a new friend, as Crystal Gem leader (he suddenly makes himself a crystal gem clothes, matching Pearl)? I didn't think you put yourself over him, now would you?"

"That's a lie, I put the team over me!"

"Oh, my apologies, of course you threaten to take Lapis Lazuli away from little Steven, and scare him out of mind, for the sake of keeping your team together." Obviously, Discord, despite his mocks, was getting to his point quickly. Garnet sighed roughly, but kept firm to her own idea. Garnet tried to take the mirror away from Steven, and that mirror turned out to be another Gem, who must be what Discord meant as "Lapis Lazuli". Still, Garnet didn't make any other comeback to the draconequus after thinking it over. Discord happily settled down on the couch, next to Amethyst herself. Discord's tail turned into a hand, and took the key off Amethyst's head.

"See the lad left his trinket behind," Discord commented, rolling the key down his tail until he caught it with his talon.

"You know about the key too?"

"Course I do, and a fancy key at that. Too bad he didn't go with it. O well," Discord sighed, him flicking the key over to Pearl, which she tried to catch. However, it ended up on her nose, spinning around like it got a ringer. Amethyst laughed, as Pearl got the key off.

"I assume you at least know something on his whereabouts?" Pearl asked, not looking at him. 

"Perhaps, but I think you gems disserve some relaxing time, how about a movie, eh?" Discord offered.

"Huh?"

Discord suddenly popped up on Steven's bed again, That time Amethyst hopping up there from the couch. Pearl and Garnet looked over to him, Pearl going half way up the stairs before Discord conjured up his movie idea in the form of a VHS tape in a plastic case with its own cover art. It showed Steven on the right, Lapis on the left, and some sort of Pegasus in the middle.

"Whoa, cool, what's the movie?" Amethyst asked.

"Amethyst," Pearl retorted. Before she spoke though, Discord happily answered her, bringing the tape over for Amethyst to read. Garnet followed Pearl up to the bedroom, as Amethyst read out the cover art title.

"Daring Do: and the Aqua Gem?"

"A little featurette I got floating around, it's a sweet little movie, you're going to LOVE it," discord said, conjuring up a VHS player under the TV, and popping the VHS tape inside.

"Discord, we don't have time to -" Garnet tried to say, but Discord suddenly was in her face, a talon finger covering her mouth

"SSSHHH! It about to start," discord insisted. Pearl and Garnet weren't too sure, but Amethyst was up for it. Discord settled by her, conjuring up some popcorn as a snack. He also conjured up a second popcorn bucket for Amethyst to have some food, as the little feature-length movie began to play out. Pearl and Garnet weren't too sure on what else to do, so they sat down nearby as it began to play.


~~~~~~


Equestria was going through a well day, as per usual. Yet, things had been a bit different since a duo of creatures made their appearance within Ponyville. Some bit of gossip had gone around amongst the pony residents, but, they didn't damper the newcomers at all. In fact, the gossip didn't really come across as harmful, if not annoying. The news had especially gone up to the Pegasus nearby Ponyville, as one of them was constantly seen flying around the place. And today, it was no different.

The flyer, Lapis Lazuli, was happily enjoying the flight she had regained from four days prior. She was extremely giddy about being freed from the mirror alone, not to mentioned regaining her water wings overall. And boy, did Lapis fly quick! Lapis Lazuli flew with such grace, it was almost like she was made from the air around her, flying around, under, over, and through the clouds above Ponyville. Her happy flight hadn't gone unnoticed, as many of the ponies on the ground were watching her go by above them. The water in her wings gave off a unique shadow to the ground, while the regular shadow of her body was established, the water wings gave off a sparkling blue reflection down below, giving off the idea of her wings being made of pure magic. The big smile on her face was enough to tell anypony that she loved flying, and enjoyed every second of it. Sure, a few days might help somepony get used to it, but given that she was trapped in a mirror for who knew how long, this was a great relief for her.

Despite her seemingly directionless flying, Lapis did have somewhere to get to, as she ventured near Ponyville. However, as she did start to get a bit closer to the ground, something suddenly zoomed by her! it was enough to get her spinning, but, she got herself straight, as she saw a particular Rainbow Pegasus flying around, excited as ever.

"Four more months, four more months, four more months!" Rainbow beamed, flying around Lapis for a bit, until she ended up in front of Lapis' face. "I bet you're excited, huh?" However, Lapis didn't really have any real clue about what to be excited about, yet she smiled anyway.

"Yeah ... about what?" Lapis asked.

"Because the next Daring Do book is coming out exactly four months from today! That's how exciting it is! So what amazing, incredible, awesome adventure do you think Daring Do will have in her next book, huh?" Rainbow asked. Lapis Lazuli wasn't entirely sure what 'Daring Do' was, or what was the big hub-bub about it. Sure, she'd been around for a while, but, it wasn't long enough to know about this great Daring Do. Still, Lapis nodded after a bit.

"I'm uh ... not sure. Anyway, I'm going over to Twilight's house. Wanna come?" Lapis asked.

"Oh, sure, let's go," Rainbow said. In her excited state, the Pegasus already flew right off, Lapis following behind her as best she could. Even if Lapis was fast at her flying, the Rainbow Pegasus's speed easily outmatched her by a mile. Still, Lapis kept good pace with the Pegasus as they continued off down to Ponyville. Soon, the two arrived over by Twilight's library/tree house, Rainbow arriving first. The happy Pegasus went on and opened the door.

"Heya, Twilight! Aren't you excited that -" Before Rainbow could finish, suddenly a party horn was blown in her face. Turned out, there's a party going on in Twilight's house, including the rest of the Mane Six, and Steven Universe himself. Lapis Lazuli joined up soon after that, having to lean a little bit to get inside. The ponies and Steven were wearing a sort of party hat on. Rainbow didn't know there was a party going on, along with Lapis.

"Hey, Lapis! Hi Rainbow!" Steven smiled, wearing a party hat much like the others.

"What's everybody doing here?" Lapis asked.

"We're having a holiday party!" Pinkie replied, blowing the party horn again.

"So what holiday would today be?" Rainbow asked.

"National Random Holiday Party Day! Woo-hoo!" Pinkie replied. Well, it seemed pretty expected from the national Party Pony of Ponyville. Lapis smiled at all of the joy going on around her, as Rarity went over to them both, with a cup of punch levitated in front of her.

"I've never heard of it either." Rarity sipped from the cup. "But the punch is quite tasty."

" You might say the secret ingredient is... a secret!" Pinkie said, whispering loudly at the last part to Rainbow Dash. 

While this was going on, those that were watching back at Beach City beach house were simply shocked to see who was there. Still in Steven's room, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst locked their eyes on the screen, seeing Steven having fun at the party. It did seem that Lapis was happy to see him, not to mention that Steven was doing alright with his Pony friends. Still, the fact that Steven was there to begin with was enough to cause surprise.

"Steven?! He's alright!" Pearl gasped.

"Discord, you have to get us to Steven," Garnet demanded. However, Discord himself wasn't in the mood for just getting himself to go just yet.

"But our movie just started," Discord protested, flicking a piece of popcorn into his mouth. Garnet groaned, and got her attention back to the TV.

"How come nopony bothered to invite me?" Rainbow protested.

" I came to invite you personally, but it seems you were a speck too busy reading the last Daring Do book for the twelfth time," Applejack said. Rainbow didn't realize that exactly.

" Yeah, well, in four months, I'll be able to read the next one," Rainbow said, as she walked in. Lapis happily went over to Steven. Pinkie popped up above her, and got her own party hat on her head, looking like a blue top hat, with waves of water along the rim. Steven's party hat looked like a top hat, lined with cute black cat faces.

"Had things been going alright, Steven?" Lapis asked, as Steven happily helped himself to some of Pinkie's baked cupcakes.

"Yeah, Twilight let me stay with her for a while. Want one?" Steven asked, kindly handing Lapis one of the cupcakes. Lapis was a little unsure about the food choice, as she just stared at the cupcake. After a little bit, Steven looked a bit confused.

"What's the matter?"

"Well, Steven, Gems don't really eat food to live. I never exactly had to eat anything."

"WHAAAAA?!" Steven gasped. She never had a cupcake before? That is unacceptable! Steven got Lapis' hand, and placed the cupcake in her palm. Lapis was still a bit frazzled by Steven's reaction: that how humans Gems on earth react to such news? Perhaps it was just Steven, being so young.

"You have to try it! They're super yummy!" Steven insisted, taking a bite out of his own cupcake, as Lapis looked to her cupcake. Being a Gem, she never had to eat anything, as she said. That didn't mean she couldn't eat, period. So, with Steven's encouragement, Lapis opened her mouth, and took a good bite of the treat. The taste of sugar, dough, frosting and sprinkles went right onto her tongue, with a hint of apple in it. Her eyes widened - the taste was fantastic! While it did feel weird after she swallowed, feeling it going down her throat, but the taste was worth it. And Steven Universe could tell she enjoyed it.

"That was ... incredible," Lapis gasped, licking her lips of some of the frosting that had gotten on her face. Steven smiled, but before they could say anything, the sound of spewing from a rainbow Pegasus

"Two more months?! I've been waiting so long already! I don't think I can take another two months! I'll never make it!" Rainbow gasped, ending up on the floor in defeat.

"Yeah. I can vouch for that..." commented Fluttershy, as Pinkie kindly included a pink party hat, and got it on Rainbow Dash's head. Rainbow got up, and looked at the pony responsible for the bad news: Twilight.

"Did they give a reason?"

"The publisher just said author A.K. Yearling won't be able to finish the book for another two months. Cupcakes?" Twilight levitated the batch of cupcakes to Rainbow Dash, but the Pegasus didn't feel any better about the result.

"How could you possibly know that before me? I'm the series' biggest fan!" 

"I'm just as big a fan as you! In fact, I'm the one who first introduced you to the books, remember?" Twilight reminded. 

"Oh. Right."

"A.K. Yearling just might be my favorite author. I know everything about her. Where she grew up, where she studied literature, where she wrote the first Daring Do book -"

"Where she lives?" Rainbow interrupted. 

"Uh... no, though I could probably find out somehow. Why?" Twilight asked. That's when Rainbow started up.

"Don't you get it? The new book is obviously delayed because she needs help dealing with whatever everyday nonsense is distracting her from spending her every living breathing second writing! So I - I mean, fans like me, can get to read the new book ASAP! Think about it! We could help her with her laundry, buy her groceries, cooking her meals, whatever! Now, who wouldn't appreciate that?" 

Obviously, this Pegasus just wants that book, yet her idea of how to get it didn't seem too harmful, if not a bit overdoing it.

"Hmm, I don't know... What she probably wants most of all is respect for her privacy," Lapis pointed out, finally joining in on their conversation.

"She can always just say no."

"Mmh... I suppose you're right..."

"Of course I am. So... how's about getting that address?"


~~~~~~


Sometime later, the Mane Six ended up going through the forest again, Steven in the front while Lapis walked alongside. It was a bit unsure if they were doing right or wrong by going to A.K. yearling's house to do this. Lapis and Twilight both knew that the main reason Rainbow suggested this was to get her hooves on the newest edition for her Daring Do collection, no doubt about that.

" You see what I mean? Why would she live in this remote part of Equestria except to keep folks from intruding on her privacy? We should respect -"

"I think I spotted the house! We're super close! This way!" Rainbow interrupted, getting everyone but Lapis and Twilight to rush on ahead. Seemed they found one thing in common: respect over other's choices. The rest knew they wanted to help, but, this wasn't really the best option anypony would just choose off the bat. When Twilight and Lapis caught up with them, they looked on ahead through the forest and saw what seemed to be a old cottage, but looked a bit beat up.

"Apparently somepony has intruded on her privacy pretty hard already..." Rainbow commented, flying over to the cottage. The other followed. As Rainbow knocked on the door with her hoof, the door simply fell over. Upon looking in, the home was simply a mess! Seemed whoever A.K. Yearling was, wasn't the best housekeeper. A ton of objects were sprawled out on the floor, from pieces of paper, to a knocked over shelf.

"Hoo-wee, somepony really trashed this place," Applejack pointed out, as the group went in. Pinkie went in and thought it over.

"Hmm... Maybe... or maybe A.K. Yearling's just a terrible, horrible, unbelievable slob!" Pinkie suggested, gathering up a bunch of the pile and making it into a tower, her at the top. Lapis went over to Rarity, who was looking into a shattered mirror. A worried thought crossed the unicorn's mind, as she looked back to the others.

"I hope A.K. Yearling's alright!" Rarity wondered.

"Oh no! What if something terrible happened to her?" Added Steven, who was over by Twilight. Rainbow got herself out of a junk pile in the middle of the room.

"I know! There might be no more books!" an annoyed glare got to Rainbow from Applejack and Lapis. "Uh... But, of course, I'd be worried about her, too. Heh." Before anypony, or anybody, could say anything else, suddenly somepony was at the entrance. Upon looking, a mare with tan fur came in. She had on a purple robe, with a grey hat and red reading glasses.

"What are you all doing here?" She asked, seeing the state of her house.

"Uh... A... K-K... Yearling...?" Rainbow said aloud, feeling very excited to see the author of the daring do book standing in front of her. However, after looking around, A.K. Yearling was more worried over what happened to her ransacked house.

"What have you done to my house?" She asked firmly, as she tried frantically to look around. First she ran to Applejack, who was standing on a rug.

"We didn't do this, Ms. Yearling - whoa!" Applejack was a bit cut off when A.K. Yearling pulled the rug from under her hooves, but finding nothing as she continued.

"We're awfully glad to see you're alright," Twilight remarked, though not getting a reply from A.K. Yearling as she looked around. Rainbow Dash stood by her desk, acting a little more casual than the others were.

"Okay, clearly this isn't the best time, but I've just gotta say how much we all really love your books," Rainbow Dash complimented, laughing a little nervously. Still, A.K. Yearling wasn't listening. Instead, she found that Rainbow Dash was standing on one of her books, as she quickly pulled it out from under her, making the Pegasus fall back onto some more of the junk in the room. Soon after, A.K. Yearling placed the book onto her desk, and quickly opened it. A relieved look was on her face, though none of the others had enough time to see what it was that she was worried about.

"It's safe," A.K. Yearling told herself, before turning to confront the rest of the group.

"Great! Maybe now would be a good time for me to ask her how we can help move the new book along a little faster. Chop chop!" Rainbow anticipated. That just made A.K. Yearling annoyed, much like Twilight and Lapis.

"Only way you ponies (sees Steven and Lapis) … And, whatever you two are, can help now is get out. I've got enough on my hooves, and I don't want any visitors," A.K. Yearling firmly stated. The others thought it over and began heading out. Twilight had to use her magic to bring Rainbow Dash back outside. That pretty much got them nowhere, and for Rainbow, no exact book to speak of.

"What did I say, Rainbow? We should respect her wishes, and just go back to Ponyville," Twilight instructed. However, as they all turned to go, Steven took a look back to A.K. Yearling's cottage, and noticed something a bit odd. On her roof, there was three rugged looking stallions that were by the top of a roof window. One of the ponies, the largest one, was slight blue with a orange, short mane with a orange beard to accommodate. He also had a cut along his left eye. Another one of the stallions looked like he had a 5-oclock shadow for a beard, just visible past his tan fur and brown short mane and tail. The guy had on a black hat and collar vest. The third, and smallest one, had white fur accompanied by a black mane and tail, with black shades. The group watched as all three went back into the home from the roof, immediate worried for A.K. Yearling (at least Rainbow Dash was).

Inside, A.K. Yearling was looking at her cracked mirror, when suddenly she noticed the three stallions approaching from behind her! When she turned, she quickly noticed that she was surrounded by all three. No way out, no where to hide, no point to talk it out here. The others outside looked in from the window, as A.K. Yearling kept her cool.

"I don't want any visitors, right now."

"Then hoof over the ring, and we'll kindly leave," one of the thugs, the largest one, suggested, a hoof waiting for the item in question.

"What ring? I'm not ready for that kind of commitment."

"Don't play dumb, you have that ring, where is it? We saw you take it," He asked, getting a bit testy as he walked over to A.K. Yearling. As he did, it distracted her while the smallest browsed through the stuff all over the ground.

"You must be confusing me for some other pony," A.K. Yearling insisted, remaining calm, yet distracted by the blue stallion.

"Only thing your confusing is yourself. There's three of us, and one of you. Now, I'll tell you for the last time: Hoof over that ring." Before A.K. Yearling could reply that time, the ponies from outside then saw the white stallion find that book A.K. Yearling looked in. The stallion quietly reached in, but before he could do anything …

"HEY!" Rainbow yelled. That got A.K. Yearling's attention, as the stallion quickly pulled out something from the book. However, A.K. Yearling rushed forward, and tackled the stallion to the wooden floor, the object flying in the air. A.K. leaped up and grabbed it with her teeth. Upon doing so, the purple robe and hat flew off her head, as she landed. What was revealed made Rainbow and Twilight simply speechless: A.K. Yearling … Well, she wasn't just A.K. Yearling. Her mane was of shades of grey and black, styled much like Rainbow Dash's own. She had on a vest of navy green, with an explorer's sunhat. Twilight and Rainbow looked to each other in complete shock.

"A.K. Yearling is Daring Do!"

Indeed, the mare in between the fight with the thugs was indeed Daring Do! The same character from the Daring Do books, and the writer that brought it to life, were one of the same! Once more, that ring the thugs were talking about was a huge golden one, large enough to be considered more of a necklace than just a ring. Daring Do, with the ring on her wing, got into battle position. Outside, the ponies watching were still shocked that they were seeing the same exact character standing right in front of them.

"A.K. Yearling and Daring Do are one and the same! My mind is officially blown!" exclaimed Twilight.

"Aw, come on, I knew it all along," added Rainbow Dash. They all knew that was a lie. However, seconds after, the fight quickly began as the thugs tried to take the ring away from Daring Do. Even with three on one, Daring Do was holding up surprisingly well. Daring Do easily dodged, weaved, and beat off any thug who tried her. However, outside, They were getting worried over seeing Daring Do like this. Almost blindly, Rainbow Dash and Steven tried to get in there, but before they got inside, another large stallion got in their way, and rammed them away. This stallion had similar brown fur, and black hair which looked a bit wavy. He also had a bit of a 5-oclock shadow for a beard, and had a tan shirt with a poke-dotted red and white under tie. His cutie mark was that of a pony gold skull, one eye socket having a ruby within it. The sight of the ruby on the stallion's flank made Lapis and Steven a bit troubled (sure, Rarity had three diamonds on her flank, but at least she was a friend).

"Ouch!" Steven yelled upon landing.

"Pardon me," he said smugly.

"Pardon yourself!" Rainbow snapped, trying to fly in again. However, this stallion wasn't giving her the chance. At one point, Rainbow made a strong battle cry, flying at him as fast as she could. All the stallion had to do was lay down for a brief moment, and Rainbow Dash flew right into Daring Do's house! If that wasn't bad enough, the Pegasus smashed right into her hero, both mares hitting the wall hard! The ring went off flying, and the stallion in charge (apparently) caught it around his neck. A classic ringer.

"Thank you. Hench ponies, let's go!" Before anypony realized it, the four were gone! They'd go after them, but they had bigger issues: Rainbow Dash and Daring Do. Upon looking in, the two had gotten up, but Daring Do had her front leg brutally damaged during Rainbow's tackle. Rainbow was fine, if not bruised. Steven, worried, went right over to Daring Do.

"You okay?" Steven gasped, trying to help. However, Daring Do whacked Steven's hand away from her.

"I got this," Daring Do replied. Hobbling a little bit, she got some medical bands, and quickly wrapped them around her injured leg with her mouth. Daring Do got up, a bit laggy on her hoof, but able to stand.

"He was just trying to help, Ms. Do," Lapis replied.

"Daring Do doesn't need help. She handles her business herself," Daring Do replied, getting outside, and flying away. The others got out there, and watched her fly off. Rainbow was about to fly after her, but Twilight stopped her.

"You heard her! She says she works alone!" Twilight reminded. Rainbow turned back to her in worry: something Lapis and Steven hadn't seen her act as of yet.

"How can we just stand by and do nothing? You know what's at stake here! Ahuizotl has sought control of the Tenochtitlan Basin since book three, and that's one of the rings he's been trying to gather!"

"Wait, who's -"

"True, but in book four, she defeated Ahuizotl and secured control of the Amulet of Atonement, dispelling the dark magic of the Ketztwctl Empress, and thus protecting the basin with the Radiant Shield of Razdon!" 

"What are you -"

"But the Radiant Shield of Razdon is vulnerable to the dark enchantment of the Rings of Scorchero!" 

"GUYS!" Steven yelled, getting in between them. The two remembered that Steven and Lapis, not to mention the rest of the ponies, weren't sure what the hay they were talking about. After things had calmed down, Rarity then went over to them both.

"Thank you, Steven. Now, as much as we love to hear your uh … knowledge, on the books. Ms. Do is still off on her own, after three ruffians with that golden ring," Rarity reminded. The Alicorn and Pegasus knew she was right.

"We got to help Daring Do retrieve the ring for safekeeping before it's too late!" Rainbow announced, flying above the ground, ready to go.

"Okay, but sounds to me like we're in over our heads. We're going to need a carefully thought out plan -"

"I'm coming, Daring Do!" Rainbow yelled, flying off ahead. It was a little too late for them to stop Rainbow, but, Lapis Lazuli did try to fly after her.

"That's not a plan!"


~~~~~~


Later on that night, the Rainbow Pegasus was really far ahead from the herd, still trying to look for Daring Do. For an injured Pegasus, she sure can fly off quickly, and pretty far. However, wherever those other thugs went off to must've went very fast themselves. While flying through the forest, the Pegasus kept looking down on the ground in order to find Daring Do. Eventually, the Pegasus ended up looking down, and notice a line of smoke ahead of her. Looking at it more closely, she noticed the same four thugs with the ring in hoof, having an early dinner.

"There they are, those thugs. Now where … Bingo!" Soon, Rainbow did see Daring Do, sneaking off nearby on the ground. Rainbow tried to relax, though her fangirl side was getting to her, as she neared her hero from above. As she landed nearby her, Rainbow tried to think over what to exactly do. However, someone else ended up landing nearby. Rainbow turned around, and noticed that it was Lapis Lazuli, the only one who caught up with her. Upon landing, Lapis retracted her wings into her gemstone.

"Lapis?"

"What're you doing, Rainbow, you left us -" Rainbow noticed she was a bit louder than she'd liked, so, she covered her mouth with her hoof. She didn't want to end up in anymore trouble, or get somepony into trouble again.

"Quiet, I'm trying to help Daring Do," Rainbow said quietly. Though, she didn't have a clue how to approach it. Meanwhile, suddenly the mare in question got her own plan in motion, as she walked over to the thugs that stole the ring. As she neared, the thugs saw her, yet she dropped a large bag of bits in front of them … As for how she looked, she had a beard of leaves and mud. Dumb? Yes, but it worked.

"I have been led to believe you have in your possession an item of significant importance that might be... for sale," Daring Do said, trying to sound like an old stallion instead of a mare. Lapis and Rainbow watched from the bushes, as the events unfolded in front of them. The thugs looked down at the bag of bits with wide smiles.

"Oh, uh, well... I did have another buyer lined up, but he's not here, so... sounds like we have a deal."

Before they could take the bag of bits, and give Daring Do back the ring, everypony was startled when they heard a huge blood-curdling roar! Appearing from the bushes away from Rainbow and Lapis, a giant creature suddenly appeared, freaking out the thugs into running away, the ring landing on the floor. The creature had a elongated dog-like head, the eyes placed near the nose. It had ape-like arms and hands, yet also dog-like back legs and feet, with a long tail with an extra hand attached at the tip. The fur was a dark blue except for the belly, chest and lower jaws, which were a lighter blue. It had golden jewelry lining the neck, forearms and tail, with a piercing on its right ear. It gave another roar as Daring Do grabbed the ring, the beard falling off.

"The ring, Daring Do! Give it to me!" He roared, jumping at her to get it. Daring Do easily dodged him, landing not too far away.

"Now, Ahuizotl, you know I love you, but I can't give you the ring 'til I've properly proposed," Daring Do mocked. Rainbow snickered silently, as Lapis looked on in concern.

"Interesting, because my friends here have a proposal of their own," Ahuizotl replied, his tail snapping its fingers. Suddenly Lapis and Rainbow both saw a group of Ahuizotl's fighters come forward. They all were a sort of cat, all aggressive, all ready to fight Daring Do. Each cat was different from the other: a Tiger, a Cheetah, a Black Panther, a Lynx, and even a small white pussycat.

"Bring it."

The panther attacked first, lunging forward with claws out and teeth barred. However, Daring made the ultimate uppercut on the panther, the cat skidding to the ground. The tiger charged over next, but Daring Do jumped up, and slammed its head in the dirt with her back hoof! Rainbow and Lapis continued watching the fight from afar, the tables turning on Daring Do as the cats were acting more vicious. While Lapis grew more worried as she watched, Rainbow had enough of watching, and took action.

"Eat hoof, kitty!" Rainbow yelled, flying in and hitting the tiger before it got to Daring Do. Daring Do herself didn't expect (nor wanted) to see the Pegasus return again, however she didn't have time to say much of anything, the cats all over her and Rainbow! Ahuizotl growled upon seeing that Daring Do had a partner that time around. However, Ahuizotl turned around, and noticed Lapis within the bushes, watching the whole thing from afar. Both Pegasi kicked and bucked wildly as each cat tried to get to them. However, suddenly they all heard a scream coming from nearby, only to find Lapis Lazuli in the grip of Ahuizotl, the tail hand around her neck! That distracted them both just long enough for Rainbow and Daring Do to be grabbed, and tied up almost immediately! The two tried to get themselves free, but the cats picked them up and started going off, as Lapis was thrown aside by Ahuizotl, the Gem landing on the ground. The two struggled, but as Lapis got up, she saw Rainbow and Daring Do being carried away by the big cats, Ahuizotl heading off with them. Lapis felt a tear go down her face as she saw them go. Poor Lapis Lazuli sat down, and brought her forehead to her knees. She stayed like that for a good hour after Rainbow and Daring Do were taken away. 

While no one seemed to be there, back in Beach City with the movie, the three crystal Gems saw that Lapis looked simply miserable. The three still were a bit unsure on her, given she was released by Steven from the mirror, but still, seeing her like that, at the very least, was getting to Pearl. Even if it wasn't Steven in trouble, seeing her loose her friends was enough to tug on heartstrings. Discord, who was at that point by the kitchen fridge, getting some extra snacks for the good part, floated over back to them, seeing the reaction on their faces.

"Oh my …"

"Feeling a bit worried over her? Here I thought you'd be happy to see another Gem like her crying," Discord commented, taking some bites of his own snacks. They didn't say anything, but Garnet had enough of his comments: they care about other Gems, and Discord's making it sound like they hate every other Gem because of one example! Garnet got up, and turned to Discord.

"Discord. I need to see her."

"Maybe after the movie -"

"Discord!" Garnet's voice made Discord a bit startled, as his snacks ended up scattered on him, and on the bed.

"We do care about other Gems. If you won't take us there, then can you at least do something?" Garnet asked, not looking at the draconequus. Discord gave a yawn, cleaning up the snacks with his tongue (gross) before he suddenly disappeared. The group tried to look around for where the heck he ended up, until, back on the TV, they saw that Lapis Lazuli had a shadow hovering over her. Lapis Lazuli looked up for a brief moment, and noticed something floating down to her from above with a small umbrella.

"Having a rough time, my dear?"

Lapis watched in confusion, as the figure landed gently, and making the umbrella disappear.

"Who are you?" Lapis asked, through small tears. She wasn't too sure about this sudden appearance by Discord, as the draconequus laid down beside her.

"Oh, that's not important. Now, a little bummed down, are we?" Discord asked. Lapis groaned a little bit, and brought her head back to her knees. Should she share her feelings with this guy? Discord thought for a moment, and coiled gently around her. Sure, he could forget it, but, the Crystal Gems wanted him to do something (and can see him, anyway). Plus, there's a number of factors against him: the Mane Six, the Elements of Harmony, Steven and Lapis herself, and once more, his only role in this movie being a jerk will not suite him.

"Now, there's no need to not trust, just a quick whisper is all you need," Discord said, his ear by her head. What'd she got to loose? Lapis Lazuli sighed miserably, and answered him.

"I just watched my friend get captured, and its all my fault. Happy now?" Lapis said grimly. Discord uncoiled her, giving her space to breathe.

"A little quick to blame yourself, aren't you? Quick to put the blame on you just so you can't blame others? Course, you're not the only one to jump to conclusions," Discord commented, his mind trailing off a little bit.

"But it's true, I just stood aside, and got myself captured!"

Discord ended up shrinking himself, now standing on Lapis' shoulder like a parrot, leaning on her head.

"Correction: they got captured. Still, you think that everypony, and everybody will blame you. Far as I recall, all ten took you in."

"Ten?" Now the confusion was evident. There's the Mane Six, and Steven for the most part. There isn't any more that she could recall other than ... Suddenly, she realized what he meant, but didn't believe him. "No, you're wrong. They don't care about me. They knew where I was, and they did nothing but kept me away!" Lapis said, her voice turned to pained yelling. The Crystal Gems watching knew what she meant. Despite the situation, Discord actually chuckled, as he leaned into Lapis' ear.

"Now look who's jumping to conclusions."

Lapis tried to slap him off, but Discord dodged it easily. However, she realized he was right: here she is, jumping on the idea that the Crystal Gems knew she was in that mirror, and stuck with it. Course, she never mentioned it to anyone other than at that moment.

"You know, maybe you are onto something. How close of a bond you share with your dear friends, and yet here you are calling yourself worthless for letting her end up caught. Who knows? Maybe you are onto something," Discord accused through a sly smile. Lapis couldn't believe him: just a minute ago, he said she was jumping to conclusions, and here he is agreeing with her accusations. She felt horrible … But she got up and turned away from Discord.

"... You're wrong. I'm not worthless. Perhaps I didn't stopped Rainbow from being captured. But, I can save her now," Lapis said. Her wings extended back out, and with one motion, was airborne. Discord waved goodbye to Lapis, as she flown off.

Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet watched Discord suddenly disappear, and pop up behind them, with a large soda in his talon. It was as if he didn't do anything at all. However, the three Gems didn't say or do anything, as Discord sipped his drink.

"OOOO, this is my favorite part!"


~~~~~~


The next morning, Ahuizotl was easily dealing with Daring Do and Rainbow Dash. After capturing them, Ahuizotl had got them in the most unlikely scenario. Both of them were locked up on a wall of what seemed to be a pit. Under them both, a water pit full of ravenous piranha with razor sharp teeth. Alongside them was rotating spikes, and to their wall on their right was the platform Ahuizotl was watching them from.

"Surrender now, Ahuizotl, or I'll be forced to take you down!" Daring Do yelled. All that did was make Ahuizotl laugh.

"Oh, Daring Do, I will so miss your amusing laughter-jokes. Now, I must leave to commence the ring-placing ceremony to unleash eight hundred years of unrelenting, sweltering heat!" Ahuizotl announced, holding the ring as pure mockery. Ahuizotl laughed, and walked away, his tail pulling a lever so more water will go into the pit under them. Both ponies struggled in their binds, but couldn't get themselves loose. Daring Do looked to Rainbow Dash, anger on her face. She knew that Rainbow's involvement got her into this mess, and damaged her own leg.

"Don't say it, I know I messed up!" Rainbow said, before Daring Do could say it herself.

"I was acting so stupid, I just wanted to help so you can get your book finished without any delay, and now look what happened! I shouldn't had come to your house, if I left you alone, we wouldn't be in this mess," Rainbow admitted. She can be tactless, but, she's not that naïve to not know what consequences come with her actions. Daring Do tried pulling on her binds some more, suddenly getting both her bottom hooves free.

"Look, Rainbow is it? *grunt* I don't mind *grunt* too much that your trying to help but *grunt*" Daring Do suddenly got her other hoof free, dangling by one hoof over the rising piranha-filled water. Daring Do looked up at Rainbow Dash.

"I work alone, and I'm sure you know how much danger I get into, with Ahuizotl and all that -"

The final rock started to slip.

"I just don't want anypony else to end up in these problems like I do! You really think I don't care about what you're trying to do? I'm the one that should apologize - I should've told you at the start!" Well, that explains it: every time Daring would refuse for anyone to go with her (be it in the books, or in real life), it was because she didn't want anyone else to risk their lives. Even so, Rainbow knew she had to do something now, and help make up from the past. Rainbow struggled more and more, her wings flapping around for some extra power, as Daring's final block started to slip. Either Daring will fall first, or they both fall in and get diced up by the piranhas! As they struggled, both Pegasus were unaware of what was about to happen.

After a few more struggles, Daring Do's final block slipped out completely, as she fell towards the watery grave under her. Rainbow closed her eyes, unable to watch as her hero fell to the water. However, a blue blur suddenly rushed in from the skylight, and Daring Do was caught at the last second! That same force also grabbed Rainbow Dash, and pulled her out. When they both looked up to see who it was.

"Lapis!" Rainbow gasped.

Lapis Lazuli placed them both onto the platform, the Gem helping them in avoiding their death. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash turned to Lapis Lazuli, the Gem grateful that they're alright.

"Thanks, Lapis," Rainbow Dash said. As Lapis helped Rainbow with her binds, Daring Do just managed to get herself out, now that she had a better hoof hold. After the two were freed, Rainbow turned to Daring Do.

"Look, I'm sorry for intruding into your business. I just got freaked out about the backup, and I wanted to handle whatever was stopping you."

"Rainbow, I know you're trying to help, but like I said, I don't want anypony in danger thanks to my own problems. Now, you two go while you can, I have to handle Ahuizotl before he finishes that ceremony," Daring Do said, starting to walk on ahead. Before they could though.

"That might be a problem," Rainbow said.

"What're you talking about? You're free, right?"

"Well, yeah, but my friends got the same idea, they're coming to stop Ahuizotl." That's when Daring Do stopped.

"Have I mentioned yet that I work alone?"

"Have I mentioned yet that you're lucky I don't?" added Rainbow, pointed to Lapis Lazuli. Daring Do, for the first time, actually smiled towards them. A spur of determination went over her.

"Let's go."


~~~~~~


In the main room, Ahuizotl was currently working on the next main ceremony. He was on a platform, with a large monument of rings of varying sizes, the last one in his hand. Also, a number of other ponies were lined up for the ceremony, all holding spears and hitting their hooves on the ground in a rhythmic fashion. Two ponies held the ring, ready to put it in, as Ahuizotl laughed in victory. He felt very good, so close with finishing his goal, when ...

"Drop the ring, Ahui... whatever your name is!"

Everypony in the room saw the Mane six suddenly appear, ready for the battle. Steven was also with them, also ready himself.

" Hmph, place the ring, quickly!" Ahuizotl ordered. However, Pinkie quickly took action, and got the ring away from the two ponies (doing some hula-hoop action) before it was tossed away! "Get it!"

Then it began. First one to catch it was Steven, who quickly began to run as fast as he could, as another pony chased after him. Before he could catch him, Steven saw Rarity open, and tossed it like a Frisbee towards her. However, one of the guards quickly caught it, and tried to throw it to Ahuizotl. Still, the Mane Six was ready, and Applejack knocked it away, it landing on Twilight's horn. Ahuizotl quickly gave chase as the game of 'keep away' continued on for a while in the mayhem. As this was going on, Lapis, Daring, and Rainbow arrived on the scene, and noticed the area away from the rings was forgotten about.

"If we can remove the giant ring at the bottom, the whole fortress will collapse! Come on," Daring said, flying over with Lapis and Rainbow Dash, as they began to pull on the rings. There was no time for any real thinking, with all the mayhem going on. One by one, the rings were removed, each one getting heavier and heavier for the three to handle. As each ring was removed, the keep away game over the final ring was becoming more desperate. Different sides tossing it to one another, trying to avoid it getting into the hooves of their opponent. However, in a desperate attempt, Steven, having the ring, quickly tossed it as three of the guards surrounded him. And Ahuizotl ended up catching it! Ahuizotl laughed, and was about to put it on …

Only to find every other ring almost removed!

"STOP HER!" Ahuizotl ordered. But, it was too late - together, Lapis, Rainbow Dash, and Daring Do, lifted the final ring from the pole. After that, the feeling of an earthquake started to come around, as the temple started to collapse!

"Ponies! Run! This place is goin' down!" Lapis yelled through a strained voice. They didn't need to be told twice, as everyone raced off out of there as fast as they could. Since they were flying, Lapis, Rainbow, and Daring just took the skylight out. Ahuizotl tried to catch them, but was inches away, as they escaped. The Mane Six, the Gems, and Daring Do, all got out just before the entire temple collapsed. The only one left inside was Ahuizotl, who was still alive.

"Daring Do! I will have my revenge!!" Ahuizotl's voice echoed up to them, as they kept flying. With a nod, the three all let go of the ring, and the ring itself shattered upon impact with the ground. 

Mission complete.

.......

The tape had finished up on a black screen, as it began to automatically rewind, and eject. Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl were a bity enthralled by everything. After everything, Amethyst gave her round of applause by the end of it.

"Awesome!" Amethyst said.

"A fine movie indeed," discord replied. Pearl and Garnet thought it over for quite a while. Throughout the whole thing, Lapis Lazuli didn't seem to be very dangerous. In fact, she was very sweet towards everyone, including Steven himself. As for Steven, he seemed to be doing pretty good in Equestria, alongside Lapis. While him being chased around by Ahuizotl's ponies, other than that, he was doing okay. And all the time they were looking for him, they thought he was in big danger with Lapis around...

"Well, that was a lovely movie, here, you can keep my copy," Discord said, giving the empty case to them. With a nice goodbye wave, Discord suddenly disappeared! So much for asking him. However, as Amethyst was holding, she found that there was something in it. When she looked, she pulled out something else for them ...

Keys …

Three magic keys ...
> Geode Guest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lapis and Steven's time in Equestria had been a rather eventful one. Since they showed up, the events that happened in Ponyville had been all the rage (not to mention their involvement with Ahuizotl sometime back). While that was a bit unexpected, the Gem duo felt a bit glad for sticking around the place for as long as they've been doing. Still, even so, there's still the wonder on how to get back home. Steven didn't have his key with him, and as far as he's concern, that's their only way to get back. Sure, Discord could just pop back with them ... If they knew where he was, that is. Lapis did tell him about her encounter with him, yes, but knowing his current whereabouts meant that past information from that far off won't entirely help. As for the Crystal Gems back in their world, the three were a bit unsure on their new keys they had gotten. Each key had a smiling face of their own on it - one for Amethyst, one for Pearl, and one for Garnet. They pretty much matched Steven's own key, but the group didn't have a clue on how they worked. The paper that Steven had didn't get to everyone else, so, how to activate them was, to put it bluntly, unknown. Well, they had to figure something out, otherwise Steven and Lapis are gone for good.

When it came to information, though, Twilight took it to heart and hoof. She'd wanted to figure out a bit more on these Gems since first meeting them, and there's no better time than the present: especially when that present had the exact creatures right at her doorstep. So, one afternoon, Twilight was with Lapis and Steven by one of Ponyville's bridges, going over the large river flowing through town. With her, Twilight had a notepad and quill to take on some notes, as Lapis gave her some information about Gems. It wasn't something Lapis would normally just talk on about, but she let her because it was about Gems in general, rather than anything too personal. Steven was learning alongside her, enjoying the new information.

"Yeah, Gems don't need to eat anything to live," Lapis said at one point, Twilight noting it down. She already got a ton of other info she thought was pretty interesting (A.K.A. almost all of it). After Twilight was finished with that part, the Alicorn looked over to her.

"Thank you very much, Lapis," Twilight complimented, setting her notes on the rim of the bridge.

"I'm glad I can help you, Twilight," replied Lapis. Lapis Lazuli looked over to the water along the river under them. While she did, another question came across Twilight's mind.

"Uh, hey Steven? You are a full Gem, aren't you?"

"Well, half Gem, on my mom's side," Steven said, showing Twilight his Gem on his stomach. Before Twilight could continue though, suddenly the three had another visitor that suddenly appeared by them. In a quick blur of pink, one Pony quickly ended up by them. After getting a better view, it turned out to be Pinkie!

"Twilight! Steven! Lapis! There you are! You won't believe what's going on!" Pinkie said.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked, a little bit worried over Pinkie's reaction.

"Something bad happen?!" added Lapis. Steven suddenly pulled out something from his pocket and showed it to the two. What it was, exactly, was a poster of what seemed to be furniture ... used furniture.

"There's a sale of used furniture! TODAY!"

The sense of worry was quickly replaced soon after that. Lapis looked at the poster in confusion while Twilight calmed down. Lapis was aware of these so-called 'sales' but why will anypony buy used furniture, especially if the stuff itself looked like it was wrecked? As for Steven, it was pretty good to hear it, as he looked over the furniture on the poster with a smile.

"Uh, is that all, Pinkie Pie?"

"Oh, that and a magic mystery door popped up over in the Market, but that's it," Pinkie said, a bit calmer that time.

"What?!" all three gasped. THAT was information worth being surprised over, shocked enough for them to ditch the poster, and immediately rushed off to see what she was talking about. Pinkie was stuck in a spin they went off so fast. Pinkie took back the poster and bolted off after them.

The marketplace was the main source of attention by the time Lapis, Twilight, Steven and Pinkie got to the marketplace. A group of ponies were already taking notice of the object she was talking about. In the middle of the market, a lone door, much taller than normal, was perfectly standing up on end. Nothing too special was about the door: looking like a regular light blue door, but nothing seemed to be supporting the thing as the other ponies looked it over. Steven, Lapis, and Twilight went over to the door, as Pinkie galloped off to get the rest of her friends. Nopony had remembered putting up any new door, in the middle of the market no less. 

"Cool!" Steven said, rushing over to the door, giving it a 360 look-over. It wasn't nailed to the ground, propped up, or even fake. It was a real door, both sides looking exactly the same.

"How'd this get here?" Twilight wondered.

"Isn't this normal for Equestria?"

"Well ... No, but it isn't the weirdest thing magic does. Trust me," Twilight said, remembering her own experiences with her magical mishaps. Still, even with that information, the mystery door was still something of a curiosity, as Lapis and Twilight looked it over along with Steven. While hovering just off the ground, Lapis had her hand to her chin, thinking it over more and more. Soon, she had the nerve to give a knock on the door. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but suddenly, the door began to slide open! The three stepped back, as it did so, revealing a sort of white plain, a bit too bright to exactly see what was in there. Not blinding, but enough so they couldn't see what was on the other side. Before they could end up doing anything, the door was gone, and they saw the entire opening come through. After a little bit, three silhouettes began to show itself from the other side, walking towards them. At first, it was hard to tell. But, suddenly, one of them saw Steven.

"Steven!" A familiar voice rang out, as she rushed out, and hugged Steven.

"P-Pearl! You're here!" Steven realized, being lifted up by Pearl. Soon, as surprising as it was, the other Crystal Gems soon showed up alongside her!

"Hey, dude, sup?" Amethyst said.

"Pearl? Amethyst, Garnet?! How are you three here?!" Twilight gasped. Garnet then pulled out what had got them there in the first place: her own magic key.

"This got us here. Here's yours Steven," Garnet said, getting out Steven's own key, and dropping it to Steven's hand.

Then their attention turned to Lapis. The blue Gem was a ways away, as both sides stared at each other, unsure of what to really say. One side was a bit wary of her for being freed from the mirror, while the other was mad at them for not doing anything to help her in the first place. However, while both sides had their reasons, one similar force contradicted their own thoughts on each other. One was told to be more trusting, while the other was told not to jump to things. Still, that didn't help the overall feel of the situation, really.

"... Hi," Lapis finally said after what felt like forever.

"Hello," replied Garnet.

"... You uh ... You are ... Garnet? Steven told me a bit about you ..."

"Right. See you both are doing well."

the awkwardness is overwhelming to deal with for Lapis and Garnet (even though Garnet didn't try to show it).

"OK then ... So, I guess you're here to get Steven?"

That time, Garnet didn't reply, looking around at the place for a bit. The place seemed very different from where they were: many more colors, a bit calmer, more magical activity being sensed as well by the Gem. All that combined together to form a new feeling within her. Soon, Garnet sighed and looked back to Lapis.

"And you are ...?"

"Oh ... Uh, Lapis?"

"Lapis. Well, thanks for being Steven's friend," Garnet said with a smile. Lapis did not expect to hear that come out of Garnet, of all Gems. Still, Lapis smiled, and gave a nod to Garnet, as the tall Gem turned to Amethyst, Steven, and Pearl.

"Garnet, shall we head back to our world?" Pearl asked, now having Steven safely with them.

"So soon? But you all just got here!" Steven said.

"Steven, you've been gone for over a week now."

"And we've been here for a minute. come on, can't hurt to look around, can it?" Amethyst said, out of the blue. Amethyst was also a bit curious about this place. However, Pearl was more focused on getting Steven back home than to look around. Before Pearl could say anything though, Garnet went over to them, leaving Lapis alone for the moment. Garnet then turned to Twilight, who which she towered over like everypony around her. Garnet kneeled down so she was more to her level.

"Hello again, Twilight."

"Hi Garnet. So, are you three going to be on your way?" Twilight asked.

"Actually. Mind giving a tour to my friends?" Garnet asked, Pearl taken a bit off-guard by the decision. Twilight nodded happily.

"W-wha? Garnet, are you -"

"It'll be okay. You have your key; you can return without my help. Besides, I have something to check on," Garnet said, beginning to walk back through the portal.

"You sure, Garnet?" Pearl asked. Garnet turned back to Pearl.

"I'm sure. See you in a bit." After that, the Gem went back through the portal herself, and soon after she did, the portal, and door, disappeared. Now, Amethyst, and Pearl both were in the same world Steven and Lapis were in. Still, Twilight turned to them after Garnet left.

"So, I guess you two will be staying for a while?" Twilight asked. Pearl sighed.

"Seems so."

"Well ok then. If you follow me, I can happily show you around."

"Alright! Time to see what we've been missing," Amethyst said with joy. Steven gave his own tour back in Beach City, now it was Twilight's turn to play tour-guide.


~~~~~~


As Amethyst and Pearl were going about back in Ponyville, Garnet had returned back to her own world. Turned out, the door they tried the keys on was at the front door, as the glowing stopped soon after Garnet went through it. Garnet held onto her key and was already stepping onto the warp pad to the back and teleporting herself away. Seconds later, she was at her destination ...

Not entirely at its best, and not what Garnet expected.

Looking out, Garnet was along the edge of a gigantic crater, the ground appearing like blocks curved to make a rounded impact wound in the earth. The clouds, darker than normal, were even rounded out for the object at its center, circling it. The object at the center looked like a ginormous black orb-like object at the center. It was mostly black, like charcoal, yet some hint of red and blue were smeared along the surface from Garnet's point-of-view. One thing she also saw that worried her was a large, cyan blue crack along its surface on the ground.

"Oh no," Garnet sighed, a few large strides all it taking to get there. The crack was fairly slim, but rather tall already. The evidence of what effects it was causing was already shown around her: the amount of storm clouds surrounding the large object, and a few spare lightning bolts being spewed out time and time again. Garnet can even hear the potential storm inside the geode itself. For one thing: how'd the geode crack open? Garnet felt the side of the giant geode, able to feel the storm looming from within it.

"The storm's more active than normal in there. Have to seal it up," Garnet told herself, trying to think on what exactly to do. It didn't appear to be anymore damaged, but it was probably a good idea to handle the Geode as soon as possible. As Garnet went over to the crack, something else seemed to catch her attention. Garnet could see just a small glimpse of something bolting around inside, but with the lightning shooting out, Garnet couldn't tell that much on what was going on.

Suddenly, while smaller lightning bolts got out, one huge one suddenly shot out past Garnet, missing her by inches! Garnet took a step back, but she didn't fall over, as she watched the huge bolt rush out. Unlike normal lightning, this one moved a bit differently. Lightning rushes out within close to light speed, and far more erratic with aim. This one was fast, sure, but it wasn't as erratic, and more in one direction until it slowed down. It actually looked like it was a bit dizzy, spinning around until it got correct on its feet. It was no lightning bolt.

It appeared to be a girl, looking slender much like Pearl was. Her yellow hair went down her back, with a blue and orange lightning-bolt highlight within it. She also had bright orange eyes, though looked like they were spinning for the moment (being dizzy), and her skin was a sandy yellow. She also had on a yellow, long-sleeved crop top, accents matching the highlights in her hair, and blue electric shorts. On her feet were a set of yellow boots with lightning bolt designs on them. On her knees, though, were two lightning-bolt shaped gemstones! Garnet knew about the Geode for a while, but she didn't see that coming, as the other Gem tried to get herself out of her dizzy spell, her eyes wall-eyed for a little bit until she shook her head and got her eyes straight.

"You do this?" Garnet said firmly, after regaining her composure. Upon hearing the voice, the Gem spun around to see her. Standing up straight, she appeared just a bit taller than Pearl, but not as tall as Garnet.

"Bye-bye," she said quickly, before suddenly running off. She ran off extremely fast, too quick for Garnet to fully realize it.

"Hey, wait!" Garnet called. However, the Gem was already gone from her sight. Garnet took another look at the cracked Geode, should she deal with the Geode, or the new Gem that rushed out? Either way, she had to handle them at one point.


~~~~~~


Back in Equestria, Pearl and Amethyst were given a good tour of Ponyville, with Lapis, Steven, and Twilight leading them on. At the point, the two were going through town square. Other ponies around the place watched the new Gems go around the place. Pearl and Amethyst were just enjoying the colorful world of multi-colored ponies.

"So, this is 'Ponyville' you were talking about?" Amethyst asked, quoting "Ponyville" with her fingers. The idea it was called 'Ponyville' still sounded a bit silly to her, despite knowing the reason why by looking around at all the Earth Ponies.

"That's right, this town had been here for generations, growing a little bit more as time went by, and more ponies settled down here," Twilight explained.

"Where's the horns and wings? Didn't your other pony pals have those?"

"Oh. Well, you see, this town was founded by Earth Ponies. The other main races settled down afterwards, so, it's mostly Earth Ponies," Twilight said, directing their attention to the number of Earth Ponies around. They did notice the lack of horns and wings, like Twilight had on her. Before they could continue, suddenly another blur of pink rushed by, that time landing at Pearl! the two tumbled, but eventually Pearl looked and saw Pinkie Pie's happy grin. Amethyst couldn't help but laugh at that. Unlike before though, another pony showed up, the rainbow mane easily idolizing her. She also had a rolled-up poster on her back.

"Hey Pearl, Amethyst! You two are here after all," Rainbow Dash said as she flew in midair above them. Amethyst went over and gave her a good brohoof. Pinkie got off a bit quicker that time as Pearl got up and whipped off the dust from her clothes.

"A pleasure to see you Rainbow, Pinkie."

"Great to see ya, Rainbow, how's it hanging?" Amethyst asked. The Pegasus then quickly got out the rolled-up bit of paper off her back. The poster showed an area of ponyville, and it details something about 'Tryouts for Equestrian Games'.

"Equestrian Games? What's that?"

"Only the best, greatest, most awesome event in all of Equestria! Ponies come from miles around to compete in teeth-grinding competitions, and yours truly is going to represent Ponyville for the games," Rainbow announced, a smile on her face, full of pride. Immediately, the Gems seemed to really be interested in the Equestrian Games, Amethyst especially! A pure event where Ponies from all over go to, with competitions only the best can do? That's for her! Steven was also pretty excited, though Lapis and Pearl were more curious on this event than excited.

"You serious?!" Steven asked, excitedly.

"You bet I am, and me and my team are coming home winners."

"What do the ponies do in these games? Sounds very important," Lapis wondered.

"There's air relay, ice archery, the iron ball toss, 20 miles dash, barrel racing, lots of stuff!" Leave it to the athlete pony to know many of the events going on for the Equestrian Games. Steven and Amethyst looked to Pearl, big smile and hopeful eyes. Pearl knew what they wanted, and looked over the poster and when the Games will start, thinking it over.

"... Well, let me talk to Garnet about it," Pearl concluded. Steven and Amethyst secretly wished Garnet would agree to it, as Pearl gave the poster to Lapis.

"Well, wish I could chat guys, but I got to get my team ready, tryouts are next week. Later," with a quick salute, the rainbow Pegasus flew off to get her team ready to go. Amethyst was happy to keep the poster with her, immediately hooked by the events, as the tour continued on from there. Twilight didn't intend on bringing the Equestrian Games into the tour, but it was a nice surplus.


~~~~~~


Back in Steven's Universe, Garnet had decided to keep looking for that speedy Gem that appeared. Sure, she could focus more on the Geode, but that doesn't get up and run away. Who knew where that Gem could end up by now? Considering how fast she went it could easily end up miles off from where she was. The barren land away from the crater seemed completely lacking anything, aside from a few rocks. She could sense that someone was around, somewhere.

"I know you're around here; I can sense you."

No response. Garnet felt that she was either purposely responsible or saw her as a threat ... or both. Either way, she wondered how she ended up in the Geode in the first place, knowing there's a deadly storm inside of it. Eventually, the Gem stopped moving in the middle of the barren land, looking around. Some reason, she kept hearing Discord in her head as she looked for the other Gem around the area, especially when he kept saying they don't care about other Gems ...

She does care.

"If you come out, I won't hurt you, I promise," Garnet called...

Seconds later, the same Gem suddenly appear in front of her, though not standing close enough for Garnet to touch her.

"You're not here to hurt me?"

"No. I only came to check on the Geode. Who might you be?"

"Name's Fulgurite. And you are?"

"Garnet. Do you know anything about the Geode's state?" Garnet asked, pointing back to the Geode. Fulgurite herself looked guilty of something, though didn't exactly say on what it was. Still, the look on her face said it all.

"Fulgurite?"

"Hey, I was locked up in there for 4,000 years, can you blame me if I wanted to get out?" Fulgurite said, though flinched as Garnet moved over to her.

"Ok, calm down. Look, all I want right now is to seal that Geode up before the storm escapes. You managed to open it, do you know how to seal it?" Garnet asked. Fulgurite needed a bit to regain her composure.

"So ... you're not going to hurt me?"

"No."

Fulgurite gave a sigh of relief and smiled towards Garnet.

"Great! Well, let's have a look-see," Fulgurite said, heading off back to the Geode in a sort of jog rather than a walk. Talk about a quick change of heart, but she seemed to be fast in everything, far as Garnet's concern. All Garnet did was follow Fulgurite, as they went back to the Geode.


~~~~~~


Back in Ponyville, the tour continued on throughout the while. It was a bit of a bother that they didn't see much of the Mane Six, apart from Pinkie, Rainbow, and Twilight, but it didn't dull out from the tour all together. In fact, the next stop on their tour was to one of the Mane Six's houses: the Ponyville Boutique. The boutique itself looked pretty marvelous compared to the other cottages of Ponyville, which caught Pearl's eye right away. When the group went on in, the room within the boutique was also highly maintained, with a number of pony clothes and designers' fashions along pony mannequins. The number of designs were pretty good overall, nice colors, patterns, and designs overall. Still, Amethyst was a bit unsure of the place, being a tomboy type and all that. nearby, there was a platform with three different mirrors surrounding it - a dresser's platform no doubt. Over there, Rarity was happily working on her latest fashion, nearby a sewing kit with her red seeing glasses for extra detail. She was currently working on a new design by the time the group walked in. The unicorn stopped the sewing for that sec, to see Amethyst and Pearl come in.

"Oh, Pearl, Amethyst! Sorry I couldn't make it to greet you right away," Rarity said.

"It's no issue, Rarity, really," Pearl replied. However, her focus quickly turned to the fabric Rarity was working with.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm working on my latest designers' masterpiece. You Gems had given me so much inspiration, I just HAD to work it into my latest design," Rarity explained, continuing sewing the fabric in front of her hooves. It took only a little bit before the fabric was ready, and the unicorn levitated the finished dress piece to the mannequin nearby. The exact design had a lovely pattern of the gemstones (not real gemstones). Along the rim looked like a row of shining blue pearls, with the stripes of deep blue and purple along the flank. The dress flowed down the back legs, with the neck laced with a lavender hue. It also included a tiara head piece, with some elegant feathers along it. The group looked over the dress. Even if it was designed for ponies, they could see where she put the idea for the Gems in it (Pearl mostly).

"Wow, Rarity that's ... Impressive. A very fine attention to detail," Pearl said, looking it over. However, Rarity was thinking it over, looking over Pearl for a little bit until she got an idea.

"Pearl, you have to model for me!" Rarity said, feeling a lot of inspiration coming to her. Pearl didn't expect to hear that right away.

"Wha? Model?"

"Yes, dear. It's the least I can do."

"Oh ... well if you need some ... somepony a model, then may I suggest Twilight perhaps," Pearl offered. The idea that these ponies go by 'somepony' rather than 'somebody' was still new to her, and Rarity shook her head.

"I insist, you are perfect for a model! Please, it'll only take a minute," Rarity insisted. She needed someone to model, and since this dress was inspired by the Gems, it was only reasonable for a Gem to model it for her anyway. Pearl didn't know what a model is, let alone what to exactly do. However, looking at the dress itself next to her.

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt. What do I need to do?" Pearl asked. Rarity guided Pearl over to the platform by the mirrors, taking out some measurement tape to get started.

"Just stand still dear, I need to take some measurements," Rarity said, starting to work out Pearl's height from her shoulders down. The measurement tapes. Pearl stood perfectly still as Rarity got the measurements and went to work. That 'minute' turned to nearly half an hour as Rarity worked on the design for Pearl. Everypony thought it was going to be the same dress Rarity had just made. However, this design was a bit different upon the revelation afterwards. What they thought was the dress Rarity had just made actually appeared to be something entirely new. The dress was flowing down, only showing her feet, but the dress was snow white. It didn't have any sleeves, and was outlived with a lovely pink rim, stripped about three times with lighters colors. The neck was laced with a pink fishnet ballet made of silk. It was simple, yet beautiful on her. Lapis, Steven, Twilight, Pinkie and even Amethyst were impressed with how Pearl looked. Pearl looked to the three mirrors to see herself, unsure of what to say. Both hands cover her mouth in surprise, though a smile did form on her face, eyes wide.

"What do you think?" Rarity asked. Pearl still didn't reply, just looking at the clothes she was wearing.

"I ... I'm speechless. Can I keep this?" Pearl asked.

"Sure, by all means, darling," Rarity said. Seemed they were doing well here, but Amethyst had already booked it after 10 minutes, waiting outside until Pearl was done. When the others finally went outside, Pearl had a box with her outfit, curtsey of Rarity herself. This was their own little trinket on their tour, and Pearl was glad she had gotten hers.


~~~~~~


Back at the geode, Garnet and Fulgurite were back at the problem at hand: the crack in the geode itself. Garnet waited alongside as Fulgurite went to work, looking it over as best she could. The idea for letting a completely new Gem help her out was a bit sketchy, but one: she didn't know how to close it, and Fulgurite got herself out, and two: she wanted to prove that she does care about other Gems rather than leave them alone. She shown it to Lapis, now it came to Fulgurite. The yellow Gem looked over the crack a bit, some of the lightning bolts still shooting out of the crack in the dome-like rock. Some of the lightning bolts flew around rather violently before disappearing after a few seconds, but that didn't deter Fulgurite as she looked it over as best she could.

"You need any help?" Garnet asked, trying to be polite with her.

"Nah I got it. Now let's see - EEEEE!" Suddenly, Fulgurite was struck by one of the lightning bolts, but, rather than show pain, she showed a sudden adrenaline spike as the electrical hit surged through her for a few seconds. Her hair stuck up for a little bit, the lightning actually went through her hair, it standing on end for a little bit as the lightning shot out from the back. Her hair went back down after the lightning left, though looked a little bit fluffier than before. Garnet took a step back, not wanting to get electrocuted herself (not from pain, from annoyance).

"Got it!" Fulgurite suddenly said. Fulgurite then proceeded to turned backwards to the crack. Garnet was unsure what Fulgurite was going to do. Her hair suddenly began to move on its own, under Fulgurite's control, until it covered up the whole crack with her hair. No glow came from the crack, but Garnet could tell that the lightning was still going about the place. At one point, the lightning struck the hair blocking the whole, giving off an electrified lightning effect to Fulgurite's whole body!

"WHOOO HOHOHOHO!" Fulgurite screamed, feeling the energy flowing through her body as crazy flashing went off her body and hair. Garnet watched as the event occurred. Suddenly, Fulgurite ended up splitting her hair off to the crack! the hair itself ended up sealing to the crack completely, and the hair on her hair turned back to normal, as if she didn't lose any hair to begin with. Still, Fulgurite ended up running in circles, working off some of the energy in her from the lightning strike. Garnet was indeed impressed from the final result, the crack completely sealed up by Fulgurite's hair.

"You can thank me later," Fulgurite said with a big smile, trying to relax from the electric charge. Fulgurite gave Garnet a high-five, the spare electricity going into Garnet. The Gem didn't react too much but did get the Goosebumps from the sudden charge. Still, the objective was done, even with another Gem's help like Fulgurite.

"Thank you," Garnet said, starting to walk over to the Warp Pad. However, as she got there, Fulgurite suddenly rushed over at the Warp Pad itself, standing next to her. She moved too quick for Garnet to catch right away, her movement more of a blur. She stood next to Garnet, a big smile on her face. Garnet wasn't sure on this point.

"Let me guess ..."

Fulgurite nodded quickly, still having her smile. Garnet kept quiet for a bit, in deep thought on the matter, but eventually nodded herself. Fulgurite hopped in place, the energy in happiness overflowing as heck, as Garnet activated the Warp Pad. It was the least Garnet could do anyway for sealing up the Geode for her. Soon, the two were back in the beach house, Fulgurite immediately making herself comfortable as she hopped over onto the couch, bouncing for a bit until she laid down nice and easy.

"Nice place you got here," Fulgurite said, looking around the place. Garnet walked over, and sat down, as Fulgurite looked around the place, checking out the kitchen and Steven's bedroom. Soon, the Gem saw a picture of someone above the outside screen door, looking like a motherly figure. She looked rather elegant, sweet, and just had a sort of leader-mother sort of look to her. Fulgurite looked over to her, thinking over on who it was.

"Who's that there? Looks familiar, what was it. Rizz? Rise? Rooz?"

"Rose," Garnet corrected.

"Yeah, that's it! You know Rose?" That's when Garnet grew a little quiet. This Gem knew Rose? Before it could go any further, suddenly the door by the picture turned up all white, as it opened up. Soon, Pearl, Amethyst, Steven and Lapis too went through the portal back from Equestria, to the Beach House.

"We're back, Garnet. How'd did your work go?" Pearl asked, setting the box down on the counter. Before they said anything, Fulgurite got their attention rather quickly, sitting in plain sight in Steven's bedroom, just above the couch. She was laying down, her hair flowing over the edge. Immediately Steven went over to them.

"Who's this?" Steven asked.

Garnet just roughly sighed.
> Just Joking
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a hum in her tune, and a nice walk in her step, Lapis was going along the sunset shoreline of Beach City, heading to the beach house. The sun was just about to disappear behind the waterline. The water Gem, at least at first, had her doubts on staying. But, after her experience with Steven, and the ponies, she felt that she could stick around for a little bit longer. The smell of the ocean was in the air, the sand and occasional wave gently tickled her toes. Lapis Lazuli, seeing that no one was around, gently went off onto the water. One step at a time, on her toes, the water Gem gracefully was walking on water as if it was ice. She just felt calm and content, as she gracefully went over the water similar to someone ice-skating. She gave a calming sigh, feeling the breeze go through her hair. It just felt nice to the Gem. So calm. So sweet.

"HEY, LAPIS!"

So annoying. The shout from shore got Lapis off guard, enough for her to fall into the seawater. She turned around, and saw Fulgurite along the shore, waving to her with both hands. Lapis didn't mind Fulgurite too much, but, sometimes her hyperactive behavior can get a bit on her nerves, especially when she was trying to relax. Still, Lapis got out of the water, and back onto shore.

"What is it, Fulgurite?" Lapis asked, getting some of the sea-salt out of her dress. She's a water Gem, but, not saltwater proof.

"Wanted to see what you're up to," Fulgurite said with a big grin. Lapis just sighed before she looked to the Beach House.

"Where's the rest? Off in Equestria?" Lapis asked.

"No, no, they actually went off to Rose's garden. Wanted me to get you and bring you along," Fulgurite explained, pointing back to the Beach House.

"Really?"

"Right. Garnet said some mumbo-jumbo about some odd plant growing there, no big deal but needed some help," Fulgurite said, rushing off back to the Beach House. The sudden dash caught Lapis off guard again, and she ended up rushing after her, water wings helping her fly fast back to the Beach House. Fulgurite ended up right back at the Warp Pad when Lapis caught up with her. Soon as Lapis stepped on the Warp Pad, the two were suddenly off from one place, right to another.

Upon teleporting, the two ended up back at Rose's Garden. They saw Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst and Steven already there. The garden dedicated to Rose herself looked good, and still running like normal. The plants seemed fairly maintained, yet, one in particular looked oddly different from the rest of the plants growing. While many of the shrubs and flowers themselves seemed in the same spot, and in peak condition, there was a large group of plants that were also growing in the area that none of them ever saw before.

"Hi, Lapis, Fulgurite!" Steven said smiling.

"Hi, Steven. What's the problem?" Lapis asked.

"That's it," Garnet answered, pointing to the plants in question. The plants growing around the fountain looked like blue flowers - not a color associated with Rose. It appeared to resemble a sort of flower, the leaves, stem, and center as blue as Lapis Lazuli was. They were bundled together, growing in one spot around the garden. None of them saw these sort of plant before, yet Lapis and Steven felt something nag at the back of their mind. After all, they were in Equestria for quite a while ... they seemed a little familiar, but, they couldn't place a name for it.

"Oh, such misguided plants, they shouldn't be here," Pearl said, already starting to get the plants un-rooted from the ground, one by one as if she was picking off delicate flowers. However, Amethyst wasn't going to waste anytime with this caper.

"Come on, Pearl. If you're going to pull weeds, do it right!" Amethyst said. Suddenly, she manifested her body into what appeared to be a push lawn mower, and began to mow down the plants. A bit unexpected, and a bit rough, but it was faster. Amethyst rushed past pearl, the varying amounts of shredded petals landing on Pearl as she went by.

"Amethyst, they'll just grow back if you charge over them like that! you have to pull each one by the roots," Pearl said, continuing to pull the roots out of the ground. Amethyst just rolled her eyes, as she continued mowing over the amount for a while. Fulgurite decided to use Pearl's idea, and quickly got right to it, pulling out a huge chunk in a matter of seconds. It wasn't accurate, much like Amethyst was, but, it was good. Fulgurite smiled at a job well done.

"There you are, all pulled and ready to go!" Fulgurite said.

"We still have a lot more to go," Garnet pointed out, showing Fulgurite the tons of more plants that grew around the same area. As the Gems were busy, Steven went over and was about to touch one of them, but, Lapis went over and pulled him away.

"Wait a minute, Steven. Don't these plants look familiar to you?" Lapis asked. Steven looked over the plants a little more.

"A little ..." Steven replied. Suddenly the spot they were looking at was lifted up by Garnet as a huge chunk of blue plants. Lapis and Steven still couldn't remember what it was exactly, but, they were unsure as they saw Fulgurite, Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet pull out the plants in their own way.

"There's a lot to get, you two," Garnet said.

"You sure you're supposed to be touching those?" Steven asked, still trying to figure out what the plants were. Garnet just got her pile in one.

"They can't keep growing around here, Steven," Garnet replied, continuing to work. The two knew she was correct, but, still something wasn't right about these plants. Yet, if they keep growing, they'll cover the whole garden. Lapis looked around for a bit, until she saw the flowing water from Rose's garden. She looked from there, and back to the odd blue pants. Suddenly she got an idea, and the blue Gem looked to the other Gems. She saw that Fulgurite and Amethyst got plenty of the plants fast (a bit unorganized and inaccurate, but still a lot of pulled out plants.

"Amethyst, Fulgurite, can you move for a second?" Lapis asked. Steven sat down as Lapis began to work out the water from the fountain. The water itself began to form into a large hand, ready to collect. Fulgurite and Amethyst bolted out of the way as Lapis went to work. Steven stared in awe as Lapis got to work. Working the water, it acted much like a vacuum would do, pulling out a number of the blue plants right away, right down to the roots. The other end got to the pile Garnet had made. Pearl and Garnet moved out of the way, as the water sucked up those plants as well. Soon, there was a huge pile of the blue plants, and Lapis didn't need to touch one to do so.

"Amazing, Lapis!" Steven said.

"Efficient," added Garnet. Lapis simply smiled, as Garnet stepped over to the pile of plants. Garnet lifted up the entire pile at once and got a huge bubble around the entire pile. With one small motion, she got the entire pile teleported away. After that was taken care of, the group began heading back to the Warp Pad This mission seemed pretty easy to handle.

"I could've done that," Amethyst said, as the group stood back on the Warp Pad. After their small discussion, the group of Gems and half-Gem teleported back.


~~~~~~


Next morning was pretty relaxing, the sun shining down to Steven's face. The little boy yawned, and got up from his bed. As he looked off from his bed though, he saw Amethyst in the kitchen, with some waffles she got together (mostly for herself). The smell of freshly made waffles and syrup hit Steven right away. Over by the couch, Fulgurite was also waking up from sleeping on the couch the whole night.

"Mornin, Steven," Amethyst said.

"Morning, Amethyst," Steven said, sitting down on the edge, above Fulgurite. Fulgurite gave a yawn, bright eyed and busy tailed.

"Morning you two, ready for another fun day?" Fulgurite asked, getting the covers off of her. When she did, Amethyst and Steven looked at a Fulgurite with some surprise. However, Amethyst was the one laughing when she saw it. Fulgurite looked confused, until she followed her eyes down to her feet.

Her feet were spotted with blue dots, and were as large as winter sewer boots! Fulgurite didn't remember changing her feet. Her feet were flattened at the bottom, and her boots were a lot bigger than normal.

"My feet, what happened to my feet?!" Fulgurite gasped. She got up, her feet slapping on the ground. Her feet felt like they were a ton each, making it hard for her to walk around.

"What happened to your feet?" Steven asked. Before it could go any further, suddenly the door to the back opened up, Pearl and Lapis coming in. However, Pearl suddenly tumbled, tripping over the Warp Pad as she went in, making Amethyst laugh even more.

"Pearl, you okay?" Steven asked, rushing over. Pearl got up.

"I don't know. I was fine, but, all of a sudden - whoa whoa whoa AH!" As Pearl got to her feet, Pearl seemed to loose her balance completely, each step poorly executed, as Pearl fell onto the floor in front of Amethyst, the Gem barely containing her laughter as Pearl's sudden lack of grace. Almost as if Pearl was walking on eggshells in bare feet, Pearl tried getting up again from one of the stools in the kitchen, only to knock it over, and tumble again.

"She's been like this all morning," Lapis said, a bit worried over her. Most of the falls were close to her Gem

"You're killing me!" Amethyst said between laughs, Pearl not enjoying herself at all. These effects seem familiar to Lapis and Steven, becoming a bit more clear from yesterday. This diffidently sounded a little familiar to them both. Then, the doors opened to the back, Garnet coming out to see Pearl struggling to keep her footing, Fulgurite's large feet, and Amethyst falling to the floor in laughter. Garnet walked over, and sat down.

"Uh ... are you okay, Garnet?" Steven asked. Garnet didn't reply, a finger tapping on the counter surface. Garnet looked, and saw her plate of waffles in front of her. With the others around her, Garnet didn't say anything as she got to her fork. Her fingers got around the fork, but the fork didn't move an inch. Instead, Garnet tried a glass of water on the counter. She seemed to be ... oddly struggling with it, the glass not moving an inch, but just vibrating. Stress was on Garnet's face, not able to even lift a glass of water for herself. Amethyst smirked.

"You havin yours Garnet?" Amethyst asked.

"Just take it," Garnet replied.

"Alright, more for me," Amethyst said with a smile, happily taking Garnet's share, as the Gem had her hands to her face. Amethyst easily got the fork, stabbed the waffles, and took one hearty bite, her smile on her face. However, the smile showed her teeth were covered in blue spots too! ... Plus, it looked gross. the smile on Amethyst's face quickly turned to one of pain, as she spat out the waffle, covering her mouth. It felt like she just chomped down full force on an ice cube, yet she couldn't even penetrate the syrup-covered waffles! Obviously this wasn't right, Lapis and Steven looking to each other in worry. So, Fulgurite got slow, Garnet became weak, Pearl ended up a klutz, and Amethyst can't bite into anything to eat.

"Something's wrong here," Lapis wondered quietly, only enough for Steven to hear. Amethyst tried to bite into the waffles multiple times, but it was like biting with gums, it was just squishing it. Her teeth were like sensitive sponges now. Pearl tried to balance in the meantime, her legs knobby-kneed. Garnet didn't do anything other than just sitting there at the kitchen counter. Fulgurite was trying to get herself moving with her huge feet, but only ended up failing. Lapis and Steven went off towards the Warp Pad as the other Gems handled their own issue.

"Steven, these effects. Doesn't it sound familiar at all?"

"A bit. Amethsyt has sponge teeth, Pearl can't stand right, Fulgurite has big feet, and Garnet can't lift a fork. Do you think ...?"

"What're you talking about?" Garnet suddenly said. Steven and Lapis turned back to them, all of them having their own trouble.

"We have one idea on what it can be. Remember those blue plants we gathered?"

"What about them?" Amethyst asked, trying to bite into the waffles a few more times.

"It could be something called 'poison joke'. We've read about it back in Ponyville while we were there," Steven asked, looking over the blue spots on Fulgurite's feet. Coming from Steven, who stayed in Twilight's library for over a week, that could be a good spot to where they found out.

"Well is this stuff permanent? I can't go anywhere fast with these boulder stubs!" Fulgurite asked.

"There is, but it's back in Ponyville," Steven said. While Amethyst was biting, suddenly her teeth cocked up, and jutted forward from her mouth. Pearl, despite the situation, couldn't help but snicker at Amethyst's misfortune. Amethyst quickly got even by simply nudging Pearl on the forehead. Pearl's lack of balance made her tumble backwards onto the couch - first soft spot she landed on that morning.

"Amethyst, Pearl, enough." Garnet ordered. The Gem turned to Lapis and Steven.

"Can you bring the cure back to us?"

"uh ... maybe. We'll tell ya if we can," Steven said. After Steven got dressed up, he got his magic key, and used it on the front door. Before the two got out though, Amethyst rushed over, after pushing her teeth back in place like they should.

"WHOA, hold on, you're not going without me, are you?"

"You sure?" Lapis asked.

"Hello?! I only got my teeth messed up, I can still go around without wrecking anything," Amethyst said. Lapis and Steven looked back at the three by them. Thinking over the situation at hand, they realized Amethyst was right (much to the trio's dismay).

"Wait, wait, Steven, we can go, honest!" Pearl said, however that second got Pearl off balance, and she grabbed Garnet for support. Since Garnet turned weaker than a newborn kitty, she fell right to the ground on top of Pearl. Fulgurite ended up tripping herself, her larger feet getting caught under Garnet and Pearl. Lapis, Amethyst, and Steven glanced to each other before coming to the same conclusion.

"Maybe you should stick out for this one," Steven said, trying not to sound harsh. He may be young, but, seeing them toppling head over heels made it not a good idea to bring them. The three just watched as Lapis, Steven, and Amethyst went on through the opened portal. The three were off to Equestria, as the other three were stuck in Beach City.


~~~~~~


In Equestria, one area of Ponyville was as busy as ever. Over in the countryside of Ponyville, a large red barn stood tall, with the area surrounded by loads of trees. All the trees looked pretty much the same, and they all sported a good set of apples. Amongst the farming forest around the barn, a number of ponies were busy helping each other out throughout the barn, with wooden buckets getting filled with apples. Going through the working field, a stallion was going through, pulling a wagon being filled with a number of apple basket. He had a pure red coat, his mane small and ginger along with his tail. His cutie mark. With a working harness around his neck, he was happily pulling the wagon as other ponies brought the basket away from the trees, and over to the wagon. Two ponies were doing the moving of the baskets, one of them being Applejack. The other pony was a bit smaller than Applejack, carrying the baskets with her head one at a time. She didn't have a cutie mark on her flank, was yellow with her hair red as the apples. She also had a large bow on her head as well.

Applejack and the others were right in the middle of their harvest, the apples perfect for plucking off the trees. The three were going right off to the red barnhouse with their load of apples, Applejack trotting alongside the stallion.

"Who-hee, a lot growin this year, eh Big mac?" Applejack asked, wiping off some sweat from her forehead.

"Eeyup," replied Big Mac, as he neared the barn house with the load for the day.

"Wait, one more!" A voice called. Applejack, and Big Mac turned, and saw the little filly run over with one more basket full of apples. She tried to catch up, but suddenly she tripped over her a rock, the basket and apples flailing through the air! Applejack quickly got to action, and got the basket with her head. With some accurate, and quick movements, she got every single apple directly into the basket. Applejack got the basket into the wagon.

"Thank ya, Apple Bloom," Applejack said, as the filly got back up to her hooves. Unaware to everypony, a sudden white light emitted from inside the barn for a little bit. Big Mac went ahead, and opened up the barn, but as he walked inside, his face suddenly met up with another creature, eye level with her! His muzzle was right in her face, as the two behind her looked a bit surprised. When Apple Bloom and Applejack looked in, they saw Steven, Lapis, and Amethyst. Seemed the portal didn't go exactly where they wanted it to ...

"... This is awkward ..." Amethyst stated.

"Eeyup."

Amethyst and Big Mac backed away from each other, as Applejack and Apple Bloom went over to Steven and Lapis. They both saw the opened portal, as it suddenly closed up behind them. If they're going back, it wasn't going to be that way.

"Oh uh, Howdy, partner ... What're y'all doing in my barn?" Applejack asked. The three looked around for a little bit, realizing where they ended up.

"Sorry, we came here to find help, we don't know how to control where the end goes," Lapis said, walking out with Amethyst and Steven. Amethyst wanted to try an apple, picking one out of the wagon.

"Are these those cool Gems you told us 'bout?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Right. These are the Gems, Lapis Lazuli, Steven, and -" Suddenly, the group heard a audible groan, as Amethsyt stood there, mouth clamped shut, and hand covering it. "- Amethyst."

"You alright?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Nah, I'm fine," Amethyst said, smiling like she'd normally do. However, the sight of blue-spotted teeth wasn't a pretty one, making the ponies cringed a little bit.

"You Gems have dentists, dont'cha?" Apple Bloom asked. Amethyst covered her mouth quick, as Steven went over to Applejack.

"You know where Twilight might be? We need some help with some poison joke with Amethyst," Steven asked.

"Poison Joke? How'd she get it, you only find Poison Joke in Everfree Forest," Applejack asked, trotting over to Amethyst, looking at her teeth.

"A lot of them were growing in our world, and we had to get them away. Amethyst touched a lot of them," Lapis explained, as Applejack gently touched Amethyst's tooth with her hoof. Even with a small scrape, Amethyst flinched in pain, as the tooth jiggled like Jell-O.

"Fragile as a Breezie, those choppers. Twilight should be in her library by now," Applejack said, aiming a hoof towards Ponyville. No sooner after she pointed it out, Steven thanked her, and the Gems quickly rushed off to Ponyville. As they left, Apple Bloom looked up to Big Mac.

"A cool bunch, they are. Right, Big Mac?"

"Eeyup."


~~~~~~


Back at the Beachhouse, Pearl, Garnet, and Fulgurite still were a bit stuck in their situation. Since Garnet was so weak, and Pearl can't stand for a few seconds without loosing her balance, the two were on the couch along with Fulgurite. The three can't exactly do anything correctly in their state, so all they could really do is sit and wait for Lapis, Amethyst, and Steven to come back. The three didn't realize how dull it was when there's no one doing anything until now. Fulgurite kept impatiently tapping her foot on the floor, making a fast-paced beat. It didn't help out the situation. Garnet just sat there between them, arms crossed and seemingly staring off into space, as Pearl kept looking around the place. She tried to think of something to do, but, she can't exactly get up otherwise she'll trip over her own feet.

"So ... You knew Rose, Fulgurite?" Pearl asked, trying to start a conversation.

"A little bit. Didn't meet her directly, but, word gets around," Fulgurite said, not stopping her foot beat.

"You were locked up," reminded Garnet.

"Doesn't mean I can't hear the guards blabber on and on and on about what the heck's going on outside," Fulgurite said. Before their conversation could continue, suddenly Garnet got up, and looked outside to the beach. When she did, she saw someone was coming up the steps to the door. What a time for guests. Coming to the door, there was a girl, looking a little older than Steven, but not by much. She had brown skin, brown hair, and some red glasses with no lens. She was wearing a sky-blue t-shirt, pale-gray jean shorts, and peach tennis shoes. She went right to the door, and knocked on it.

"Come in."

Soon, she opened the door, and saw Pearl and Garnet, but also saw Fulgurite.

"Who's this?" She asked.

"That's Fulgurite. She's fairly new. Fulgurite, this is Connie," Pearl said. Connie and Fulgurite shook hands, before Connie looked to Pearl and Garnet again.

"Have you guys seen Steven? I haven't heard from him in a while," Connie asked. Pearl and Garnet looked at each other, before Garnet answered her.

"He's busy."

"Busy? With what?"

"You see, Connie, we uh ... We had found some ... 'strange' plants, at one of the ancient Gem sites, and we uh ..."

"A funky plants messed us up, and Steven went off to another world this morning to get a cure," Fulgurite said, getting to the point.

"W-What?!" Connie gasped. To Connie, this came right out of the blue. Sure, Steven told her a bit, but, not about the other world. The other Gems themselves didn't expect the news so bluntly.

"That was blunt."

"You were going to say it, weren't you?"

"... Point taken."

"Which world did he go? Why aren't you with him?" Connie asked, a bit urgently. She'd be a little better if Garnet and Pearl was with him.

"We can't."

"Why not, you look fine to me," Connie pointed out. To prove the point, Fulgurite made Pearl get up off the couch, and onto her feet. Seconds after Fulgurite let her go, Pearl already began to loose her balance fast (as much as she tried to stay up). Suddenly, Pearl tripped over her own feet, and caught herself on the stool in the kitchen. Connie kept watching as Pearl tried to stay up, but ended up falling towards her. Connie easily caught her, but was a bit surprised to see Pearl, of all Gems, act so clumsy on her feet.

"That plant did this to us, we can't help this way."

"Oh ... Wait, where's Amethyst?"

"She went off with them. Apparently, she's the only one without a clumsy handicap. I'm stuck with iron feet, Pearl can't walk, and Garnet -"

"She got the point, Fulgurite," Garnet quickly interrupted. Garnet didn't want the idea of her being a complete weakling go around to everybody they come across.

"Man, hope Steven comes back soon," Connie said.

"You're telling us," Garnet sighed, Pearl trying to stand once more, but falling back on the couch. Wherever Steven was, he better hurry back with the cure before something -

*RRAAWWRR!*

Nevermind. The group, as best they could, got outside onto the main deck. Pearl nearly fell of the deck, falling on the rim, and Fulgurite stomping out as slow as her feet could do. After they all got outside, they noticed something going along the rock wall nearby the beach house. It looked like some weird sort of four-legged spider thing crawling around above the beach house. It was colored grey, with a gem located on its abdomen. The spider Gem roared again, the roar more reptilian than most, as it landed on their roof! Garnet activated her fighting gloves, but the sudden weight suddenly yanked her weak arms down and making her stuck to the ground. At the same time, Pearl tried to summon her weapon, but after she got out the spear, she ended up accidentally dropping it due to her new butter fingers. The spider Gem jumped down, and whacked all of them in one hit, Connie narrowly avoiding it. Connie rushed off as the spider leaped after the Gems.

"Connie, run!" Pearl yelled. Connie saw the three struggling a bit, Fulgurite trying to fight well. However, not only were her feet slowing her down, but her attacks were slow too!

"You kidding me?!" Fulgurite snapped, as the spider leaped at her. Course, Fulgurite couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and was knocked off into Garnet. Connie ran off as fast as she could, but, was worried over the fate of the Gems.

"If only I knew where Steven ended up," Connie said to herself in worry, hearing the roars of the spider Gem. She didn't have a clue where Steven went (exactly), and she needed him back to help the Gems ...

Then she heard laughing from nearby. However, the laughing matched her own almost exactly. Connie stopped, a good distance away from the spider, when she noticed something bouncing on the ground, heading right towards her. Almost as if it was some sort of bouncy ball, it turned out to be, yet, another magic key! Where'd it come from was anyone's guess, but, the key kept hopping until it jabbed into the sand, unlocking something, and landing down in Connie's hands. The unlocked bit was, once again, a door, the exact same result as when Steven used it the first time with Lapis. Connie hardly had time to comprehend what occurred, as the spider turned to her! Connie saw the spider coming at her, gripping the key tightly.

"Please, please take me to Steven," Connie whispered, closing her eyes, and did the only thing she could. In a yelp, she jumped into the opened portal, as the spider pounced at her, Connie being missed. The door quickly slammed shut fast, the portal closing off.


~~~~~~


Back in Ponyville, Lapis, Steven, and Amethyst went right through Ponyville, and straight to Twilight's library. As much as they wanted to check things out, they needed to get that cure right away for the three. Lapis and Steven knew exactly where they were going, Amethyst just following behind them since she didn't know where to go entirely (she only visited one time compared to the other's near two week stay). Steven went right over, and knocked on the door right away. Soon, the door was opened, showing the alicorn standing there.

"Oh, hi Steven," Twilight said, a little more used to Steven visiting. At least she knew how he was getting to Equestria, along with the others with him.

"Hi, Twilight. Listen, we need some help," Lapis explained, as they went inside the library. Twilight was in the middle of some reorganization of her many books, with Spike trying to help a bit too, with a stack of books in his claws.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked, starting to work out some books on her shelf in the right order.

"We found some funky plants back home, and look what they did to me," Amethyst groaned, opening her mouth to show her blue-spotted teeth. Unlike the others that saw it, Twilight saw the blue spots as a reminder - she was well aware of what happened to Amethyst. Twilight went over to Amethyst.

"Poison Joke. Ok, I think I have it somewhere," Twilight said, starting to look through the books on her shelves. She got through about twenty books, but none of them were it. Spike settled the pile down, and immediate saw the book she was trying to look for. It was a green book, some ferns in front of it.

"Here you go," spike said. Twilight got it over to her with her magic, and quickly skimmed through the pages until she found the exact plant within it: Poison Joke.

"Here we are. If you get the others back here, I'm sure I can have this ready by the time you do," Twilight said, reading over the Poison Joke cure within the book. As Steven went over to the door, ready to use the key to go, suddenly a light began to emit from the other side of it. However, none of them were noticing the light, but a slight scream was heard, getting louder and louder. Suddenly, the second Steven opened the door, something shot out, and tumbled over Steven, crash landing right into the stack of books Spike settled down. Spike just avoided becoming covered in books, but Steven and whoever ended up with him were covered in books. Steven poked his head out, and the second person got her head out, a book on her head, and a bit dizzy in her eyes.

"Connie?" Amethyst and Steven gasped.

"Steven! Amethyst!" Connie gasped. Twilight soon got the books in the air, Connie and Steven both out of the pile, as she neatly got them all on the shelf where they should be. Connie was amazed, seeing a real winged unicorn standing there. That, and she didn't recognize Lapis Lazuli either.

"You okay, Connie?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, I am. You are for real, aren't you?" Connie said, astonished as she got up and looked over Twilight Sparkle. She'd only heard of creatures like this from story books for toddlers, yet, here she was in the flesh and bone.

"Yeah, I am," Twilight said, a tiny bit uncomfortable with the question.

"How the heck did you get here?" Amethyst asked.

"Oh, well I - wait what am I doing? We have to go back, the others are in trouble!" Connie said, pulling Steven to the portal back to Beach City.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a monster attacking them, they need you back pronto!" Connie answered, heading to the door to get back.

"Monster?! Why didn't you say so. Thanks Twilight, but, we have to go. We'll be back soon," Steven said, heading through the portal with Connie. Lapis and Amethyst also went through, as Twilight tried to hurry up with the cure before things could get worse. When the Gems did go through, the portal on the other end suddenly opened up. However, since the Gems were running on one end, they shot right upward on the other end, Connie, Steven, and Amethyst landing in the sand. Lapis was flying once she got out. They all saw that the spider was still going at it, Garnet, Pearl, and Fulgurite still trying to fight. It seemed though that the three were getting their butts handed to them.

"Steven! You're back!" Fulgurite yelled. The spider Gem turned back to see them, giving a horrid roar before running after them.

"Oh boy," Amethyst said, pulling out her whip to fight. The spider charged at Amethyst first, whacking her hard towards the sea. Steven rushed over to Amethyst, and quickly protected her with his own Gem weapon: a pink rose shield, just as the spider nearly smashed them into the ground. The weight of the spider was actually pushing Steven into the sand, up to his knees after a few seconds of powerful pushing. Amethyst quickly got her whip into action again, and whipped the spider Gem in the face, making it screech and step back. Amethyst pulled Steven out of the sand, and rushed aside as the spider was stunned. Pearl, Garnet, and Fulgurite wanted to help, but their poison jokes were simply holding them back too much for them to truly help the other three. As for Lapis and Connie, they were still on the sidelines watching. The spider felt the water gaze its leg, quickly bolting away like mad. As it did, it whacked Amethyst aside (be it accidental or intentional depending). Before Steven could react, the spider swung around, and whacked Steven good and hard. The boy ended up whacked high in the air until he landed nearby Connie and Lapis.

"Steven!" The Gems gasped. Steven barely got up, as the spider Gem leaped over to them, roaring at them. That did it. As the spider began to move at them again. Suddenly, the ocean next to the spider quickly came alive, in a huge arm much like earlier, and it slammed down hard on top of it! Everyone looked over to the only Gem who could do that: Lapis Lazuli, as she angrily  stared down the spider as it struggled. The water arm lifted the spider high up in the air, throwing it upward. The spider flailed around before Lapis got the water hand into a fist, and slammed the ultimate fist down on top of the spider Gem! The spider Gem suddenly exploded into a large poof cloud, the main gem all that remained. The gem was a lot smaller, and big enough to be carried by hand easily. Lapis calmed down after a bit, realizing what she just did.

"Steven, you okay?" Lapis asked, rushing over to him.

"I think so," Steven replied.

"Thank goodness you're ok, Steven," Pearl said, balancing on her spear so she wouldn't fall over again.

"A cure?" Garnet asked.

"Cure? ... Oh, right! Twilight's working on it," Steven said.

"... when?"

"I don't know."

"Seriously, we can't operate like this," Fulgurite groaned, pointing to her enlarged feet.

"Let's just be patient. Be happy that there's no more problems," Lapis said, trying to calm their nerves. Still they didn't like being this way.

"Well, I hope she finishes up soon. That thing nearly shattered us before you showed up, even Garnet had trouble," Fulgurite said. Garnet still didn't like being called weak, so, she tried to punch her to be quiet...She barely made a dent in her, and her hand even hurt...

"Ouch."
> Rainbow Tryouts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, ponies, listen up!" Rainbow demanded, getting her teammates their full-on attention.

Ponyville was in rather great shape, and the weather was perfect for Rainbow Dash and her team members to get themselves all set. The rainbow Pegasus had been up and down practically for days to get her team together, and to get them up and ready to go for the grand event that was the Equestrian Games. The idea of playing in the Equestrian Games is one thing, but qualifying for them is another, something Rainbow Dash worked hard to do.

Speaking of teammates, the two Pegasus ponies Rainbow had gathered together were all ears, and ready to go. One Pegasus had a sort of yellowish gold coat, with a light blue mane and tail, which was similar to Rainbow Dash's hairstyle but longer. Her Cutie Mark is comprised of three raindrops, circling each other close to resembling a flower. The second one next to her had her coat a celeste blue, and her mane and tail all colored a sort of Persian green, hairstyle more in loops rather than a tomboy look like the other two. Her Cutie Mark resembles that of a raincloud, raindrops and all. Rainbow Dash was going through the game plan with them both, the two nodding so Rainbow knew they had their attention.

"We are the Aerial Relay team, and it's up to the three of us to make sure that we qualify at the tryouts. And do I need to remind you how much I Ponyville wants to qualify and make it to the Games? Right Sunshower, April?"

"Not at all, I really, really want to qualify for Ponyville," April said with glee. Sunshower was already up in the air with determination.

"I'd love to see them try! Bring it on!" Sunshower said, hoof in the air.

"I like your enthusiasm, you two. We'll show those judges that we got what it takes. Because what are we?"

"Team Ponyville!" April and Sunshower replied.

"I can't hear you," Rainbow said, hoof to her ear ready for the chant. All of a sudden though, her ear was assaulted by a extremely loud "TEAM PONYVILLE!" However, April and Sunshower didn't say anything. It was enough to make Rainbow stunned for a second, only to find a particular pink mare stand there, a megaphone in one hoof. She was dressed up as a cheerleader for Rainbow's team.

"Thank you, Pinkie," Rainbow said, a hoof trying to clean out her ear to clear it from Pinkie's clear.

"You're welcome. Let's go, go, go! Everypony's waiting," Pinkie said, starting off back to the direction she came from. Rainbow began to fly herself - the group had a train to catch, and their friends were waiting for them.

Over at the train station, Rainbow, Sunshower, and April arrived on time, as their train waited for them to go. As they expected, many of their friends, old and new, were waiting for their arrival. The rest of the Mane Six were by the train themselves, and even Steven, Connie, and the OG Crystal Gems too. With Garnet's permission, the group was given the chance to go with Rainbow and her team to the tryouts. It was great to see everypony, and everybody, there to go.

"Hey guys," Rainbow said, upon landing by the train station.

"There you are. This your team?" Pearl asked on seeing her with her team.

"Hello there. I'm April Showers, and this is Sunshower Raindrops," April introduced.

"What's up, everypony?" added Sunshower.

"Sup?" said Amethyst.

"Alright, everypony here, ready to go?" Twilight asked. They all agreed and began to board the train. The conductor went out as they went on inside, a signature "All aboard!" passing out his muzzle. While everypony/everybody went in without too much trouble, the second he saw Garnet, he was a bit flabbergasted. Compared to the ponies, she was simply giant! Course, the conductor cleared his throat before saying anything.

"We'll see what we can do."


~~~~~~


Sometime later, the train was on and running, going through the Equestrian mountainside to its destination. The area of snowcapped mountains, and tall pine trees were seen as the train continued onward, the whistle echoing off for miles. Within the train itself, the seating was quite nice for the train, lit up by candlelight and windows revealing the scenery just outside. For the number of ponies and Gems on board, they could accommodate with four passengers per booth. In one booth, Rainbow, Twilight, Steven, and April were sitting within one booth, April and Rainbow having the window seats. Among the crowd, Garnet had one booth to herself, which she had to bring her knees to her chest in order to sit properly. Seemed size wasn't working for Garnet here ...

"Thanks again for letting me and Sunshower be on your team, Rainbow Dash," April said at one point.

"Don't sweat it, you two were great fliers back at the Wonderbolt Academy, you'll be great for the games," Rainbow said.

"What's that?" Steven asked, not hearing of that before.

"The Wonderbolt Academy is a training camp for Pegasus ponies, lead by the elite Wonderbolts - the same place Rainbow, Sunshower and I went to. I've been there a bit longer before Rainbow and Sunshower arrived," April explained.

"Yeah, you were a part of it for nearly a month, weren't you?" Rainbow asked, remembering the Wonderbolt Academy herself.

"I wanted to go for a full month, but couldn't qualify well enough to do that," replied April Showers. Soon, behind Steven and April, Sunshower and Lapis overheard what they were talking about. While Lapis were curious, Sunshower was a bit knowing of it herself with her own experiences.

"Yeah, it was great there. Though a bit sore after a bit though," Sunshower said, joining in.

"That rough, huh?" Asked Lapis.

"Well, yeah, got a few bumps and bruises, but we went through with flying colors, right Rainbow? Those Wonderbolts were really impressed with you."

"And who are the Wonderbolts?" Lapis asked.

"Only the best-known flying team in Equestria! They're appointed by Celestia herself, as the elite flight protection. They're known all over the place," Sunshower explained.

"I bet they are - I've heard they're representing Cloudsdale for the air relay, so, competition might be a bit high," April said.

"Really?!" Sunshower and Rainbow gasped.

"Well, hope you two are on your game - the tryouts are expecting the best of everypony."

"You got it," Sunshower and April said. As they were, two other ponies suddenly began to walk through, seeing Rainbow Dash. One was a light blue with a yellow mane and tail. The other was a stallion, black coat with a sky-blue mane and tail.

"Good luck, Rainbow Dash! Sorry we couldn't fly with you on the Aerial Relay, but the air sprinters needed us too," the mare said.

"Too bad we can only compete in one event. *sighs* But, rules are rules," added the stallion, before they both went off to their seating booth. The news got over to Amethyst, who was sitting on the otherside, across from their seating. Amethyst was with Applejack, Pearl, and Fluttershy, Pearl and Fluttershy having the window seat.

"One event?" Asked Amethyst.

"Well, yeah, one event per team. And we are doing the air relay," reminded Rainbow.

"So, you mean you're not doing all those other awesome events. Just one out of the whole thing?"

"Yeah," replied the flying team. Immediately, Amethyst found the news a bit rough to swallow.

"You kidding, right? Heck, I bet I can compete for all the challenges without trouble," Amethyst boasted.

"Amethyst, we're not going to compete, we're going to observe the tryouts, and support Rainbow's team. Besides, I doubt you know how the events even work, anyway," Pearl reminded. She was correct, Amethyst didn't know how the events work exactly. After all, they were in a different world entirely, what kind of events will these ponies do for the Equestrian Games is beyond her.

"Well, I wish the best of luck to you and your team, Rainbow."

"Thanks, Fluttershy," Rainbow said. Fluttershy nodded.


~~~~~~


After a while longer, the train began to go on through to its destination. With a screeching halt, the train settled down on the tracks by the next station. The area in question looked like a mountain town, all settled in on a plateau by the mountains. One key thing to note is the multiple amounts of waterfalls that flow through the area, the waterfalls themselves were multiple colors - purple, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and purple. Purely the colors, and appearance, of a rainbow. The Gems and Ponies went out and begun to go off to the tryout grounds (which itself was easy to find). The area was opened up for the tryouts to play out, a number of accessories going on to show where the tryouts will be. A number of different Pegesi were also training around in the area. Most of them were Pegesi in general, all of which were differently colored and different cutie marks. All of them were training by the time they'd arrived, so, the events themselves hadn't exactly begun just yet. As they settled, they even noted some other creatures competing in the relay as well, creatures none of the Gems really recognized (well, except Steven and Connie that is).

"Are those ... Griffins?" Connie asked, looking to the Griffin group. The Griffins themselves looked rather intimidating (and rather large). One of them was a pure brown Griffin, with brown fur and feathers. The Griffin's beak match that of a pelican, but hard as stone. The other two were grey colored female Griffins. One of them was more white and light grey in color, with black wings, talons, tail tip, and eye spots. The other Griffin female was similar, yet her feathers were mostly black, with the eye spots and talons grey. They've heard of Griffins, yet they didn't see any Griffins with this kind of coloration before. The three Griffins were stretching for the events coming up, when one of the female Griffins noticed Steven and Connie staring at them.

"Are we interrupting something?" She asked.

"Oh, uh no, not really," Connie said, as the Griffins began to head over.

"Good. I suppose you are here for the tryouts," the male Griffin spat. They were a bit taller than the ponies, but, not by too much.

"Well, not competing, no," Connie said. Soon, Sunshower and Rainbow Dash got in between the male Griffin and Connie.

"That would be us you're talking about. And you are?"

"Grieva. And you are the Ponyville jocks, I assume? A bit late," Grieva said, obviously mocking them for the events ahead. The Pegasus glared at him.

"A-ha, keep flapping that beak, we're going right to the Equestrian Games, no problem," Sunshower snapped.

"You'd think you've got what it takes, filly? Believe you me, the only place your going is right to the loser's horse stall," she mocked, the other female Griffin giving her a high five for a good burn.

"Now listen you -" Suddenly the white-faced female griffin got right in Rainbow's face, making the Pegasus go to the ground as she towered over her like a predator would naturally.

"I'm all ears," she said. Before a fight could even begin, suddenly something rushed by everyone there, getting the Griffin and Rainbow Dash in a spin out for a few seconds. Everyone else was avoided, as something bolted around in the sky above them. It was flying very quick, yet erratic, until it landed nearby the Griffin and Ponyville team. One of them, while at first looking like a Pegasus, looked rather different. For a start, she had bat wings rather than bird wings, already looking plenty different. Her coat was red as a pepper, her mane and pigtail pitch black with a bit of red and pink for highlighting. Her cutie mark appeared to be a bright heart, with a set of headphones on them. Speaking of headphones, she also had a pink pair with her, with her cutie mark on them as well. Upon landing, the others took note of her, as the batpony hovered around them. She did chuckle seeing Rainbow and the griffin dizzy.

"Sorry," she said with a chuckle. "Looking for my group. You see any other batponies around here?" After a little looking around, one of them found a group of batponies nearby, waving her over.

"Over there," Garnet said.

"Cool, see ya in the air," she replied, rushing off to join her batpony group.

"You alright, girls?" Rarity asked.

"Eh, it's fine, we'll show them that Ponyville's got what it takes!" Rainbow said. Soon after she said that, suddenly there was a cause of commotion, as a trio of fliers went through the air above the Rainbow Falls training grounds. A number of the Pegasus Ponies saw the group, and were immediately looking on in awe, which included Rainbow Dash and her group. The Pegasus above them all wore a similar outfit, signifying their status to everypony present. The Gems looked up at the Pegasus ponies, the three in synch with each other almost perfect.

"My, I never seen such perfect coordination in flight. Are they ...?" Pearl asked.

"Yes. They're the Wonderbolts," answered Twilight. As the Wonderbolts flew over the training grounds, one of them looked down and saw Rainbow, April, and Sunshower below, and made an airplane side dive towards them, one by one. The Wonderbolts landed right down in front of them.

"And the game is on!" The leading pony said. She didn't sound as mockery or as irritating as those Griffins were, so, tension wasn't as high. One of them, a male Wonderbolt, went over to the rainbow Pegasus.

"Hah, nice to see there's some real competition here," he said, moving his goggles off his face. The rest of Rainbow's team went over to the Wonderbolts, catching their eye.

"Two more days of practice, then we'll see you in the air, Rainbow Dash! If you're lucky." Soon after that, the Wonderbolts went off on their way to begin their training. No other option then to begin themselves.


~~~~~~


For the time being since arrival, the team's got busy. Each team representing each of their towns got their training off and running right away. Rainbow, Sunshower and April were doing fairly well for their training exercises as the hours ticked on, as the other teams did their time with training as well. Improvement on each team was showing, including the Griffin and Batpony team. While Rainbow, Sunshower, and April were busy, the others were doing their own thing while they were busy.

"My, Rainbow Dash has been really busy with her team," Pearl said, watching the Pegasus with her group.

"I'd imagine so, she's been looking forward to this event for months. It'd be a shock if she didn't try for the Equestrian Games," replied Rarity.

"Seems so. Wait, where'd Steven and Connie?" Pearl wondered, looking around in the group.

"They're with Applejack, last I saw, dear. Said something about trying something with her Apple Bettys, I believe," explained Rarity.

Not too far away, Connie, Applejack, and Steven were hanging out together for the moment. For their trip to Rainbow Falls, Applejack had brought her homemade Apple Bettys for some sales while the events were going on. Steven and Connie both went over with her to try some for themselves, and, to try a little something after watching some other ponies do it not too far away. While Sunshower, April, and Rainbow Dash were in the air. Soon, Connie gave them a loud whistle, catching their attention. Upon seeing them, Steven and Connie each had an Apple Betty in their hand, looking up to them.

"Catch!" Steven yelled, and both of the kids threw the Apple Bettys as high as they could. Sunshower, licking her lips, immediately flew over and caught one of them in her mouth. Rainbow narrowly missed hers, and the Betty ended up going down to the ground. Pinkie quickly took note of it and skidded on her back just to catch the treat in her mouth.

"Sorry, Rainbow!" Steven called. Rainbow nodded and went right back to training. While they were doing that, the group ended up seeing the Wonderbolts training above them, going very well. While two of them were on the ground, the stallion practicing flying through some hoops up in the air. Each rainbow hoop was set on a path for practice.

"C'mon, Soarin, pick up the pace! You can do better than that!" One of the Wonderbolts called. As the stallion looked down for that one moment, suddenly the hoop in front of him, which was supposed to be a part of the main track for flying through, was moved just slightly off the straight path. Soarin turned back, but was too late to alter his flight pattern, and his right wing suddenly clipped the ring. Everypony bellow heard a distinct 'crack' fill the air, and the next thing they knew, Soarin was plummeting to the ground in a spiral! Looking up, everyone looked worried, seeing him fall to the ground. As he was, Garnet quickly rushed off before anypony could react, and caught Soarin just before he could hit ground. Soarin looked up to Garnet, who was holding him pretty easily.

"Thanks," Soarin said.

"You're welcome," replied Garnet, as she settled him down on the ground. He looked alright, but, Soarin's wing looked roughly bent the wrong way - clear sign of harsh injury. And, considering it's delicate wing bones, that could be a ton of trouble for him. His scream was heard everywhere, and a number of pony groups stopped upon seeing him fall, and hearing him.

"Soarin, you alright?" One of the Wonderbolts asked.

"Uh, my wing hurts, but I-I'm sure it'll be okay by the competition," Soarin assured them, though the appearance didn't look too good. Soon, another group showed up, upon hearing Soarin. The group were the Batponies, one of which they met already earlier.

"What happened?" One of them asked.

"Soarin got his wing caught in the ring up there. You will be good by the time, right?"

"Spitfire, it's just a clip. I promise, I'll be fine," Soarin promised. A little bit later, two medic ponies galloped up with a stretcher. Soarin settled himself down onto it, and the medics galloped off. He may have been distracted, but the rings are normally aligned with each other. One of the Batponies looked over to the long pole the ring was on and flew over to it. Garnet noticed her and went over as well.

"That's odd, all of them should be lined up here," the batpony wondered, looking over the pole a bit herself. Garnet looked down at where the pole was put in the ground, and noticed something with the ground.

"It was moved," Garnet stated, pointing to the ground. Sure enough, both of them saw that the ground where the pole was supposed to be stuck into was forcefully moved. a hole right next to the pole, literally an inch away, proved that. Garnet and the batpony looked to each other for the second. Soon, Twilight ended up over with them, hearing what they had to say.

"Great, somepony's playing for keeps," the batpony said, looking around at the many groups practicing.

"Who's doing what now?" Twilight asked.

"This pole was moved to injure Soarin," Garnet said. Twilight looked down, and saw that the pole was indeed moved from its spot. Twilight thought for a bit, but, didn't see this as a intentional act to injure the ponies.

"You sure about that? The officials probably moved it just before everypony arrived," Twilight said. A reasonable, and most likely reason for the pole being moved. Still, Garnet put her mind to work on the idea, looking over the pole, as the batpony went over to Twilight.

"Maybe, but, things had been a bit rough lately, many teams kept getting into accidents all day yesterday. Sprained wings, wrecks during practice, Pegesi going sick, it's going bonkers!" She explained.

"Be careful," Garnet said.

"Don't worry, Loli Beats is gonna be fine. I should worry more about your own team," she said, also giving her name to Twilight and Garnet while she explained. Loli began to trot away back to her team, as Twilight looked to Garnet with some worry. If ponies were suddenly having trouble, then Rainbow might end up in trouble along with April and Sunshower too. Twilight began heading back to the Ponyville group, as Garnet moved the ring back to where it was supposed to be before going back. When they did, Applejack was giving out some of her Apple Bettys to some of the group, finding Connie, Steven, April, Sunshower, Pinkie, Amethyst, and Lapis having an Apple Betty by the time the two got back.

"Want one? They're really good," Amethyst said, scarfing down hers. She wanted another, but, Applejack didn't want her profit completely eaten up by one Gem. For the moment, it seemed the issues might be something worth telling Rainbow, Sunshower and April about.

"No thanks," Garnet said.


~~~~~~


As the day rolled on, and training continued, Twilight and Garnet kept an eye out just in case something else would go wrong. So far though, it'd quieted down from any accidents, at least as described by Loli Beats. Everypony else just did their own thing, with Rainbow training up her own team for the upcoming tryouts tomorrow. However, one thing that bugged her was that the Wonderbolts, while still training, might not actually be able to show. For the event, they need three ponies, and they can't do it with one shy. At that point, Ponyville was practicing on some side-waving rings, placed close together. Rainbow Dash began, and flew through with ease.

"Alright, Sunshower, ready. Set. Go!" Sunshower flew forward with all her strength, and gone through with flying colors. Her tail was a little caught in a few rings as she did, but, she'd gone through.

"Boyaa! Okay, April, your turn!" Sunshower called, the Pegasus hovering in place, trying to think on how to approach. The others down below watched her, as she readied to go. After some time, April went for it, and started flying through. Through the first few rings, it seemed well, as April was able to fly through. However, as she neared the final ring, Garnet began to sense that something wasn't right. Soon, that feeling turned real - as April flew to the final ring, suddenly it began to speed up like crazy!

"April!" Garnet called. April slowed down when the final ring sped up, just saving herself from injury trying to pass through. However, the ring had gone haywire, and began waving around too erratic for anypony to fly through.

"What the hay?" Rainbow said, flying over to the crazy ring. Rainbow and Sunshower grabbed it, trying to stop it, but they ended up being banged around as if they were riding some crazed bull - banged around back and forth, trying to slow the thing down. The others quickly rushed over, and Pearl was the first to find the main control. Soon, with a few sudden switches, it got the ring pole to slow down. At regular speed, Sunshower and Rainbow Dash were still gripping, the pole slowly swaying with the two Pegasus, dizzy with mane and tails ruffled up. After a little bit to gain their composure, Rainbow and Sunshower peeled off, and fell down, being caught by Garnet down below.

"Who messed with the controls? It wasn't supposed to go that fast," April said, landing by the control panel.

"I don't know, but, something's not right here," Twilight said, a hoof to her chin in thought.

"You think?" Rainbow said, after getting herself together.

"Rainbow, this can't just happen. Maybe you should relax a bit while -"

"NO WAY! We can't rest now, we have to qualify!" Rainbow insisted. Sure, some stuff was happening, but, it couldn't stop her from qualifying for the big event.

"Rainbow, we'll be fine. Couldn't hurt if we rested for a bit," April said. Nearly getting herself tossed around in that accident, it might be a good idea to relax before anypony would get hurt. Sunshower didn't argue (she felt like she was just inside a washing machine anyway). So, Rainbow agreed. Rainbow, April, and Sunshower walked off from the situation, Pearl taking the moment to look over the controls while they did so.

"They need to fix those," April commented.

"Eh don't worry about it. I'd love to see those Griffins go through that," Sunshower replied. Suddenly, the three stopped and quickly realized something. They looked to each other before Rainbow spoke.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Rainbow asked.

"Yep, let's check on those bird brains," Sunshower replied.

Immediately the three went off to find the Griffins for the Equestrian Games. Throughout the entire thing, they didn't hear a peep out of them for nearly the whole entire time. Might as well pay them a little visit to see what they were up to. Soon, the three found the Griffins off away from the others, still doing their own training. However, Grieva and his fellow Griffin were around, with one missing from their group. Did they end up apart of the series of accidents? Considering who they were dealing with, they couldn't take any chances. Soon, Rainbow, Sunshower and April flew into their sights.

"What do you want?" Grieva asked.

"Oh not much, wanted to check on the competitors, see how they're doing and all that," Rainbow said, obviously acting a bit rough towards them.

"What are you saying?"

"Me? Well, there's been trouble happening to every team yesterday, and you haven't made a peep the whole time since we showed up!" Rainbow accused; a hoof aimed right at Grieva's beak. Course, the Griffin took offense to it, and whacked the hoof away.

"Because unlike some teams, we try to keep focus on our team's progress," the female Griffin growled. Rainbow was ready to clock her right there, but, April flew over and got in the way.

"Rainbow, wait a minute. What happen to their third? She's not here," April pointed out.

"If you three must know, our third had took a rough tumble, and is in medical attention. Kinda puts a damper on your accusing, doesn't it?" Grieva explained. The Pegesi (Sunshower and Rainbow mainly) looked to each other in some silence ...

"Oh ... uh, okay then, sorry," Sunshower said, and the three went right off back to the others.


~~~~~~


As time went onward to the next morning, the group themselves had been going on with their own training to handle the tryouts tomorrow. Still, Rainbow's group still needed to be weary, considering all of these random accidents that had been going on. So far, Twilight and Garnet both had been keeping their eye out for anymore trouble, or the pony who'd been causing the trouble to begin with. So long as Rainbow, April, and Sunshower can go through it all in one piece, they should be alright in the end. During the whole thing, the Griffins didn't bother them all that much, and still had their third missing while they were trying out.

"Guess they're not behind this after all," said Rainbow.

"Hope the other teams are doing better," added April. While the pony team continued training with their bit, Rainbow looked over and soon noticed the Wonderbolts nearby, beginning to fly off.

"Hey, where ya going?" Rainbow asked, flying up to them.

"Soarin's still a bit rough, so, we're going to check up on him. See ya later," Spitfire said, flying off with her teammate to check on Soarin. Some thought did come up to mind as Rainbow flew back down to her team. So many ponies had been a bit rough lately, and, they couldn't help but wonder how bad the situation actually was for Soarin. So, with some thinking, they actually began to follow Spitfire to the said area. Those who decided to go were Pearl, Rainbow, Twilight, Steven, Connie, and April as the rest of them stayed behind to look after things.

It took a little bit, but, eventually they found Spitfire heading into the village's medical center. They went on inside to see the state of the ponies within, and soon found the main area where the ponies were indeed at. There were a lot of ponies, many of which were actually from the Rainbow Falls tryouts. Some were looking sickly, as Loli said, some also had casts on either their hooves or wings. They even saw the Griffin third with her wing casted, looking ticked off with herself for injuring her wing. Grieva was right after all about his third. Soon, they saw Spitfire with Soarin, his wing still casted and still a bit rough in shape. One of the doctors was with them while they were there.

"Oh my," Pearl gasped. Spitfire turned, and saw them come in.

"You got somepony in here too?" Spitfire asked.

"No, no, we're just want to check on everypony," said Twilight.

"Well, everypony isn't doing very well. It'll take a week to cure at least half of these ponies," the doctor explained, much to Spitfire's disappointment. The group were sad to hear that, but suddenly, Connie realized something.

"Wait, Steven your healing powers!" Connie remembered.

"huh?"

"You healed Lapis, didn't you? You can heal these ponies here!" The other ponies easily heard what Connie was talking about. Steven did tell her how he healed Lapis, but to heal so many ponies ...

"Can it work again? Here it goes," Steven said, walking over to Soarin first. With a good lick, his spit covered his hand, and he placed it on Soarin's wing. At first, nothing seemed to happen, no light flash. However, Soarin looked back, and began to move his wounded wing. However, when he was moving the cast, it was moving very quick for a hurt wing. Suddenly, the cast actually broke off, to reveal a fully healed wing! Everyone, hurt or not, was shocked to see Soarin's wing fully healed. Even Soarin seemed surprised on it, but, felt great!

"Whoa! My wing it - it doesn't hurt at all!" Soarin gasped, starting to fly off the bed with both wings fully healed! Steven smiled big on a job well done, yet the others hurt were a bit eager upon seeing that, wanting to be healed themselves. After looking to his pals, Steven looked with some determination. He saw a medic cap, and grabbed it.

"Don't worry everypony, Doctor Universe is here!" Steven beamed, putting on the cap.


~~~~~~


Sometime later, the Rainbow Tryouts weren't looking too good: many of the teams still had their own team lacking their members. Ponyville team was still waiting for Rainbow and April for the event to begin (which was going to be in just a bit). Soon, one unicorn began to go out to begin calling for teams to step forward. He was a cream-colored unicorn with a cutie mark of a medal. He also had a judge's coat - perfect for his job.

"Will the prepared Pegasi team step forward please," he called out, waiting for the prepared teams to go forward. However, many of the teams had at least one member missing, not too many groups actually were ready for the tryouts. A few of the teams did step forward (which was only about three), compared to the many other teams total. Many of the other teams, including the Griffin team, still weren't ready with their members injured. Sunshower, however, did step forward despite April and Rainbow both gone for the moment. The unicorn looked to Sunshower, who was looking ready as ever. The unicorn waited for anymore groups to go forward, but that seemed to be the only groups ready. So, levitating a quill, and a list chart, he was just about to mark off the groups going in, but, before he could ...

"We're ready!"

Everypony, and every Gem looked over, and noticed a ton of Pegesi flying towards them. The Pegesi were the other members for the tryouts. The Wonderbolts landed first, as the other members went back to their respected teams. the Gems got back to the Ponyville team, though, Steven seemed to appear a little bit bothered, his tongue out and kind of dry.

"You okay Steven?" Lapis asked.

"Can I have some water?" Steven asked. Lapis got a small bit of water from her gemstone, and used that to quench Steven's thirst. It helped Steven out, as Rainbow and April got back to Sunshower.

"Everypony's better now?" Sunshower asked, still a bit surprised.

"Indeed, you should've seen Steven, he was doing so well! Though I have to admit, his method to heal was ... Different," April said, though, they were glad to be there anyway. Suddenly, many of the other teams went forward, the judge impressed seeing the competition up and ready. So, he quickly altered his list, everypony ready and assigned.

"Very well. Is everypony ready? teams with the best combined time is qualified for the Equestria Games," the judge asked. The starter team got ready, as their two teammates flew off to get into position. For the Ponyville Team, April Showers was still on the ground, as Sunshower and Rainbow flew off to ready themselves for the event. The competitors on the ground were given a sort of small horseshoe, as a way to pass onto their teammate for the event.

"Good luck, Ponyville!" Twilight said.

"'P' for Ponyville!" Pinkie yelled. April nodded, and looked up to Sunshower ahead. In between them was a number of rainbow rings (actual rainbows, not hoof-made), and April had to fly through them to keep herself in. Soon, everypony was all set, as the judge readied a stopwatch.

"Ready!"

Everypony got their wing's spread.

"Set!"

Ready to take off.

"... Go!"

Off like a light, everypony on the ground flew off as fast as they could. Everypony in the sky kept rather close pace with each other, though after a few seconds, the speed of the Pegasus began to show as each flier went through the first ring. April was about the 3rd, going back to 4th, as the fast fliers were passing her. Sunshower tried to encourage her from where she was, but she can't fly down to help her out. The Wonderbolt was in the lead, with two other ponies in front of April, with the batpony right beside her. It was a rather close call, but April eventually got to Sunshower, and passed on her horseshoe. Sunshower rushed off fast, going up to second place after a second time. Everypony behind her tried to keep up, yet the only one in front was Grieva from the Griffin team. Sunshower, and Wonderbolt Soarin flew right behind, trying to get in front of Grieva, but suddenly the Griffin's huge wings whacked Sunshower back, making her go into a spin out! Soarin didn't get hit and got in front of Grieva. Sunshower kept spinning, but eventually got herself flying straight again, the Ponyville team on the ground cheered her on to get her faster, though she got behind an extra five ponies before she got back to it. Sunshower flew as fast as she could, and even threw her horseshoe to get Rainbow moving. Luckily for her, Rainbow caught it, and quickly rushed off as fast as her wings could carry her. Everypony on the Ponyville team held their breath, as Rainbow rushed as quick as she could, passing other ponies and eventually the Griffin, til she was close to second place after the third ring. The only pony in front of her was Spitfire for the Wonderbolts, as the two were neck and neck. The Gems, and ponies for her team looked in anticipation. Soon, the judge was at the finish line, seeing the Pegasus fly off as fast as they could. By the time everypony got pass the finish line, many of them were a blur passed the judge, catching the third pony time as they passed.

Those who passed through the finish line went back to their spots, the Ponyville team flying back to the mane six and Gems nearby. After everypony passed through the finish line, the judge unicorn looked over the following times, every team holding their breath.

"We have five teams that qualified! First team ... Cloudsdale!"

The Wonderbolts were an obvious choice for the Equestria Games, Spitfire and Soarin doing a brohoof as the judge continued.

"Second team ... Canterlot!"

The team cheered at a job well done.

"Third team ... Griffinstone!"

The griffins seemingly expected their spot, and just smirked on hearing their name.

"Fourth team ... Transylmaneia!"

Loli Beats and her batponies felt grateful for being apart.

"and the final team ... Ponyville!"

That was the best news they've heard all day! Rainbow, Sunshower, and April flew up in the air in a grand cheer. While the teams who didn't manage were a bit bummed out, they still applauded the group who did qualify for the Equestrian Games. Even after everything, and risking time in the medical center, it was a good day at the end of it, especially when they got to qualify at the end of it all. The judge went around, and got the medals out for each team, passing it down team by team until Rainbow, April, and Sunshower got their own. Everyone in Rainbow's group got together, Gem, Human, and Pony alike, for the big picture. The judge got his camera out, having it perefectly aligned for everyone to be put in. With a good flash, the picture was made.

A good memory for everyone.
> Nightmare on Gem Street
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beach City, and Ponyville both were pretty much calmed down for both sides. Within the Beach House, the Gems had been relaxing. Since not many things had come about, there wasn't too much to do. In the main room, Steven and Fulgurite were actually playing a video game together. Steven was easily beating up Fulgurite in the game, given that the Gem was just recently learn what a video game was, let alone how to play, and soon Steven beat up yet again.

"Whooo!"

"Dang it," Fulgurite groaned, hand to forehead. Over on the couch, Lapis Lazuli was actually checking out some of Steven's manga, having some interest in it for a little while. She was a little distracted by Fulgurite and Steven when they were done but got right back to it. However, as Lapis was, Pearl came back from the Warp Pad, checking on a few things, when she saw Lapis looking through the manga.

"There you are."

"Oh, hi Pearl. Something wrong?" Lapis asked.

"I'm trying to find Amethyst, she disappeared on me. Had any of you seen her?" Pearl asked. Fulgurite, Steven, and Lapis didn't know where she went off to exactly. In fact, they didn't hear much of her all day. However, their answer came around when the front door opened up to a white land: telling them the portal was opened. Soon, Amethyst came through, but she moved surprisingly fast past Pearl. Pearl suddenly had what looked like a monster right in front of her face! Amethyst looked very different: her teeth had sharp fangs sticking out of them, she had a long black cape which looked like wings when she spread out her arms, and the sudden jump scare was enough for Pearl to fall back onto the ground. Amethyst laughed herself silly, as Pearl got herself back up. The portal back to Ponyville closed up after Amethyst rushed in.

"Amethyst!" Pearl snapped.

"Oh man, that was rich!" Amethyst said between laughs. However, the costume Amethyst was in did catch their attention. Lapis closed the manga to see Amethyst dressed up like she was.

"What are you wearing, Amethyst? Doesn't look like your own outfit," Lapis said, obviously confused. Amethyst lifted up her black and red robe.

"Good ol' Rarity gave me this. Something about getting in holiday."

"Holiday?"

"She said they're having something called "Nightmare Night". All of Ponyville's dressed up for it, must be the main gimmick," Amethyst said. Steven began to put two and two together and got a mix of confusion and excitement.

"OH, Halloween! But that's not for months now."

"Halo-what now?" Fulgurite asked.

"Halloween: it's when everyone dresses up, goes around their neighborhood, and collects candy," Steven said. That was the main idea anyway. Though, mentioning the collecting candy bit. Amethyst wasn't told that part.

"Well, Rarity told me the same stuff, so, guess they got their own thing for this 'Halloween'."

Immediately, Steven had a huge smile on his face, and stars in his eyes. This was indeed exciting news, as Steven got right up to his feet, and rushed down to the main floor.

"Halloween in summer!"

"Where're you going?" Pearl asked.

"Getting a costume! OOO, Connie's going to love this," Steven said, rushing out the door to get himself ready. Halloween in Ponyville? What news this was!


~~~~~~


Within Ponyville, the preparations were getting well underway for the upcoming night. There were many sorts of decorations being set out around Ponyville: bat streamers, jack-o-lanterns, various activities for the night being set. It was close to sunset at this point, Twilight Sparkle and Spike both working together on the preparation for a little bit. Both Twilight and Spike were already in costume, as with the other ponies working on the decorations. Twilight Sparkle was in an old wizard get-up: with a long grey beard, and with a blue rode and large hat with various stars and moons. The hat was lined with yellow bells, something she worked hard on. As for Spike, he simply had on some fake doggy ears, and a cute collar on his neck for his costume. Not really much, but it works.

"Spike, did you finish setting up the bats?" Twilight asked at one point, as Spike was trying to get some fake bat props up on the treehouse library.

"Almost got it," Spike called, placing the last bat in its spot. After that, Spike slid down the latter, landing just fine on the ground.

"Nice job, Spike. Nightmare Night's going along just as planned," Twilight said, looking around at the other ponies setting things up for the celebration that night. While they were handling the decorations, suddenly they saw a square door open up and appear in front of them both. Apart from the event, this didn't seem too odd to them.

"Looks like the Gems are going to spent Nightmare Night with us," Spike said, a bit eager to see them again. Soon, the first person that rushed out to see them was Steven, dressed up in his costume. Steven had a sort of sheet over himself, colored mostly a sea green, with a light underbelly attached to a mouth cut for Steven to talk. There were some paper fangs on the sides of the mouth, with some stitched-on paper 'claws' for the hands. He also had on some clawed boots for his costume. Steven began to happily run around like a cute little monster, with some roars and growls, though he looked more cute than scary.

"Rawr Rawr! I'm going to eat you!" Steven playfully said, looming over Spike.

"Steven, glad you can make it," Twilight said, smiling at Steven's little outfit.

"Cool costume, the others will love it!" Steven said, smiling. Before Twilight and Spike could say anything, someone else then stepped out of the portal, and into Equestria: Connie. Connie was wearing a green dress-shirt over a blue shirt with light-blue pants and large brown boots. She also wore a cape, an eye patch, a belt, a glove on her left hand and bandage wrapped around her right arm. She had the look of an experienced warrior.

"Wow, impressive, Connie!"

"Thank you very much, Twilight, I've worked hard to get it right," Connie said.

"What're you two supposed to be, anyway?" Spike asked.

"I'm a lizard man! Rawr! Ger!" Steven said. Connie smiled before answering.

"I am Lisa, a young girl with the magic powers of the witch from 'The Spirit Morph' saga. A girl with the inner strength of a hundred men, and a heart of pure gold, on the quest to save her father from the evil one-eyed demon." Connie explained, pulling out her fake sword, a little more dramatic and passionate than needed to be. Twilight though was rather impressed over this "Lisa" character that Connie was dressed up as overall.

"That's very interesting, Connie! Is that a book series?" Twilight asked. Connie put her sword away.

"I can lend you some copies if you'd like," Connie offered, which Twilight easily agreed to.

"What about you, who are you supposed to be?" Steven asked.

It was Twilight's turn to explain, as she too smiled.

"I am the legendary Unicorn, Starswirl the Bearded. The most important conjuror of the pre-classical era, the father of the amniomorphic spell, the very unicorn with over two hundred spells to his name!" Twilight explained, also a bit more passionate than expected, but, felt needed. Connie was interested in this 'Starswirl the Bearded', as Spike and Steven were playing around as their respected character.

"He sounds like a great unicorn," Connie said.

"I know, Oh, I wish I could meet him, we'd have so much to talk about!" Twilight beamed, a little lost in her mind until she got herself back. "Er - uh - the other Gems, where are they at? Aren't they coming?" Twilight asked, blushing a little.

"They'll be around, they still need to figure out what they're wearing," Steven said.

"Okay then. Say, the others are going to meet at the fountain for Nightmare Night, want to come along?"

"Sure! But I think the Gems might want to know where we're at when they get here," Connie said. Twilight agreed, and Spike quickly got out a piece of paper and quill ready to write.

"Thank you, Spike. Just tell them that we're going to be at the Ponyville fountain for when they arrive," Twilight explained, Spike writing it down right away. However, he was just about to send it off with his fire breath, when Twilight levitated it away.

"Let me send it this time, this is for the Gems," Twilight reminded, her magic working out the letter into a paper airplane. With a simple throw, the paper airplane flew around Steven and Connie and then right through the portal. Good thing too, the portal then just closed up soon as that airplane had gone through. Soon as it did that, they went right off to the fountain, confident that the note had gone through.


~~~~~~


While going through Ponyville, eventually Steven, Spike, Twilight and Connie arrived at the fountain in question. For the celebration, the bat streamers connected to the top of the stone pony in the middle. Along the fountain, Twilight's friends, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, were waiting for her, and saw Steven and Connie come over as well. Both ponies were dressed up well for Nightmare Night: Rainbow Dash looked like a sort of war mare: with a blue general's coat and large hat. As for Rarity, her hair and mane were in elegant barbs, looking like snakes rather than actual hair, with a long, ancient Greek, lavender dress to match her main costume.

"Hey Rarity, Rainbow!" Steven called, running over to them.

"Steven, Connie, glad you two make it for Nightmare Night," Rarity said with a grin.

"Great to be here. Are the others here too?" Steven wondered.

"They'll be around in a bit. What about the other Gems, they showing up or what?" Rainbow asked. Before they could answer, suddenly the familiar portal opened up nearby them.

"Here they come," Steven said in excitement. Soon, the other Gems went on through to meet up with Steven and Connie. First one to go through was Fulgurite, in her own little outfit after learning on it. She was in some sort of black suit, her shoulders down her arms checkered in black and white and had on a red belt. She also had on a cool cap, with the number "42" on the front. It was rather obvious on what Fulgurite was being for Nightmare Night. The others followed in after her, with Amethyst still in her Vampire outfit.

Pearl's outfit actually looked a bit familiar to the Ponies there, her outfit consisting of armor of gold. The armor was on her chest, with armored gloves and shoes, along with a golden helmet on her head. With her staff, she had the perfect look of a Canterlot Guard (a human version, anyway).

As for Garnet ... Well, she looked the same.

"Aww, no costume Garnet?" Steven asked, disappointed.

"Is it required?"

"Well, not exactly..."

Garnet didn't reply.

"... Soooo, where's Lapis?" Connie asked.

"She needed to spruce up on her outfit. She didn't say what it was going to be though," Pearl said, thinking about it. Before they could continue, the Gem in question flew through the portal, and right over to the rising moon, her water wings spread.

Lapis Lazuli also had her costume up and ready as well, though had a look of beauty to her, though the costume itself was more of a pattern sense. Her dress was striped with large, smooth, white and cyan blue stripes, even looking like they were made of scales. Her hair was a bit longer that time, most like from a body alteration on Lapis' part. Her hair flowed down her back, sparkling much like her wings were in the night sky. She had a little seashell tiara on her head, and some small blue and green scale necklace aligned on her neck. She gently landed down in front of them, her wings still spread out, as she looked to her friends. Everyone there was simply staring at her in amazement, including Garnet herself.

"Oh my Celestia," Rarity gasped, walking over to her.

"So ... How do I look?" Lapis asked, still smiling but really was a bit unsure if she got the costume thing right.

"You kidding? You look absolutely Magnificent!" Rarity complimented, looking at Lapis' amazing outfit. The look on everyone else's faces said it all, Lapis got it right.

"How'd you even come up with such an amazing design?" Pearl asked, equally amazed as Rarity was.

"I got the idea from looking around the ocean. It's amazing how many beautiful creatures are found in there," Lapis said, her wings retracting back into her Gemstone.

"Well, everypony, we're here! Ready for the awesome Nightmare Night?" Rainbow said, hoof in air. Everyone else was ready to go, but some others weren't there.

"What about the others? Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, aren't they meeting us here?" Fulgurite asked.

"Eh, Pinkie and Applejack will be around. Fluttershy ... Well, she's not gonna be joining us," Rainbow explained. She still remembered finding Fluttershy's door being completely sealed just for this night alone when she showed up. Still, Fluttershy won't be joining them for this holiday.


~~~~~~


Soon, the night festivities began. Everypony around the Gems themselves all wore many different outfits, giving off a very creative outlook for the holiday event. As the Gems were observing everything going on, from bobbing for apples to the classic trick-or-treat by the fillies and colts. Even if this wasn't a human tradition exactly, it was still one that got their attention. This was indeed the night for some cool times.


Nightmare Night 

Twilight, "Welcome to our night."

Rarity, "Our special, true delight."

Rainbow began to fly around the Gems, acting a bit scary as some other ponies went on by in their costumes.

Rainbow, "Skeletmares, and Ghouls, and Vampires too."

Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow, "All here, to say hello to you!"

The ponies continued dancing around to the tune, as they continued singing.

"Keep an eye out, for the Pony of the night. The mistress of your dreams will surely give you, her fright. The god will arrive soon, here to leave you doom, on the night, of Nightmare Moon!"

The ponies aimed their hooves to the moon, the silhouette of Nightmare Moon being seen by the Gems, the Gems themselves getting a better idea as the ponies continued to dance around. It sure was a display of how much they liked Nightmare Night. Soon, Fulgurite, Connie, Lapis and Steven all were joining in on the dancing, in synch.

"Come on through the night,
Enter you and I,
O the real delight,
Of Nightmare Night!"

Connie, Steven, and Lapis went over to the Gems to continue singing.

Connie, "Enter if you dare,"

Lapis, "Handle on with care,"

Steven, "Prepare to be scared,"

All 3, "On the Nightmare!"

The Gems were getting a good beat, with Amethyst dancing it out with Pearl walking along with the beat as Garnet simply tapped her foot. Admittedly, it was a good beat really, with many a pony (along with the Gems dancing) going along with the song. Unexpected, yeah, but a good surprise really.

Fulgurite, "Watch your back, take a turn on to the left, and the right."

Steven, "Watch your back, as the ghosts and ghouls come over to rise."

Soon, Lapis flew upward in a spiral, her shiny water wings reflecting the moon in a way night magic would.

"Keep an eye out, for the Pony of the night. The mistress of your dreams will surely give you, her fright. The god will arrive soon, here to leave you doom, on the night, of Nightmare Moon."

Lapis gently landed, every Gem and pony now into the beat.

Fulgurite,"Come on through the night,"

Steven and Connie, "Enter you and I,

Twilight, O the real delight,

All 4, "Of Nightmare Night!"

Amethyst, "Enter if you dare,"

Pearl, "Handle on with care,"

Rainbow, "Prepare to be scared,"

All, "On the Nightmare!"



~~~~~~


Nightmare was beginning to get into full swing, and the group started to go around to get their own experience for the nighttime of fun. For the moment, Amethyst and Rainbow Dash both ended up together as they went through the celebratory event. Both were having a pretty good time so far, and Amethyst couldn't help but wonder on how much candy there actually was to eat, licking her lips in anticipation.

"So, Rainbow, there's candy on Nightmare Night, right?" amethyst asked. If Nightmare Night is like Steven's Halloween, then there must be candy somewhere to eat.

"Oh, sure there is, chocolates, candy corn, lollypops, the usual stuff. But hey, let's try out some of the games first," Rainbow insisted, aiming a hoof to one of the events going on: apple bobbing. A number of ponies were already doing the events as Amethyst and Rainbow went right on up, but Amethyst wasn't sure how this exactly worked.

"What's this?"

"Apple bobbing, just jam your head in those buckets and get out as many apples as you can," Rainbow said, as some ponies were trying to do just that. Amethyst thought a little bit about what to do, observing the ponies doing it before Rainbow and Amethyst went up. After some thinking over, Amethyst began to get the idea on what to do. So, looking at the bucket of apples floating in the water, Rainbow and Amethyst began. At first, Rainbow did a fairly good job, getting five apples after thirty seconds. However, Amethyst had a little different idea on the exact concept. Instead of just grabbing one apple at a time, she ended up opening her mouth wide, and shoved her head into the bucket. Rainbow flew back quickly as her mouth gobbled up  all the apples at once, including all the water. Rainbow just stared at Amethyst, her cheeks like water balloons until she swallowed every bit of it. The large amount of water and apples barely effected her apart from a swollen gut.

"HA, too easy."

"Uh, Amethyst? You don't actually eat the apples," Rainbow pointed out. Amethyst looked down to her bloated belly, full of water and apples that she gobbled up. All the Gem did was shrug and walked off to see what else was new. So much for another turn at the apple bobbing. As they went, Amethyst began to think over the idea of getting candy from other ponies. Then, another idea got into her head, snickering to Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow, you trick or treat?"

"Nah, that's filly stuff," Rainbow said, waving her hoof at the idea.

"So you think you can't trick or treat, eh?"

That comment got Rainbow's attention.

"Hey, I can't trick or treat circles around every filly and colt in Ponyville if I wanted to!"

"Wanna bet? I bet I can get more candy before the night is over. Winner gets the loser's stash."

Rainbow grew a smile on her face, matching Amethyst.

"Deal."


~~~~~~


As the night events were in full swing, the Gems and ponies were having a good time with the events. Pearl and Lapis ended up alone as they explored the event going on, seeing the many sorts of sights and activities go on. Lapis was getting quite a number of stares from everypony due to just how beautiful she appeared to be with her own outfit for the night. Her face, although plenty blue already, did end up blushing a deeper blue in the face. She liked it, but, maybe all this attention wasn't the best idea ever.

"Pearl, they're all staring at me," Lapis whispered to her.

"Don't worry, Lapis. They're just a bit new to you," Pearl said, trying to comfort her. Yet, the Gem had a bit of a hard time ignoring Lapis herself. With an eye for perfection, Lapis' unique look kept her attention too. As the two continued onward, soon, they saw someone else over by a larger wagon. Lapis and Pearl quickly recognized the particular farmer earth pony nearby, as some ponies began to get into the hay-filled wagon. The pony nearby was Applejack, with Big Macintosh ready to pull the wagon. Applejack's outfit, which was mainly her in a deep black robe. she also had a bit of a full body suit to accompany it, and some eye shadow of yellow gave her the good appearance for her character - the pony of shadows. As for Big Mac, he had a outfit more fitting to a logger; a red plaid shirt and blue pants, with a red beanie on his head. Lapis and Pearl went right over.

"Hi, Applejack," Lapis said, waving her hand to get her attention. Applejack looked over to Lapis and Pearl in their costumes. Applejack was impressed by them both in their costumes, Lapis especially.

"Howdy, partner. Sure got somethin fancy this year, don't ya?" Applejack complimented. Lapis ended up blushing again. Her first nightmare Night outfit, and everypony is giving her more credit than she expected.

"Well, it's our first time ..."

"Well, you both did a dang good job. Got a royalty idea goin here," Applejack pointed out. It did seem like that, Pearl as the guard, and Lapis as the princess. Made sense really, and the two got the idea quickly.

"Oh, well, thank you. What are you?" Lapis asked.

"I am (acts spooky) the pony of shadows," Applejack said, acting like a ghost while she revealed herself. Big Macintosh looked back to the wagon, seeing the full seats on the wagon, and began going off on his way.

"You ponies sure love being festive," Pearl said, looking around a bit more.

"Darn tootin! Everypony loves these sort of get-togethers, can't get enough of em," Applejack explained. However, seeing Big Mac go off without her, made Applejack realize what she missed.

"Seems so," said Pearl.

"Yep. Sorry to cut it short, but, I gotta get goin. Handling some catering for Nightmare Night, ya know?"

"Okay, see you later," Lapis said, as Applejack galloped off to catch up with her brother. It was a bit short, but, at least they knew what Applejack was up to for that night.


~~~~~~


Connie and Steven were having their own fun as well, as they both continued going through Ponyville. It was a lot of fun to see so many ponies going along for the event itself. Soon, the two found themselves over nearby the edge of town, checking out the decorations as they went through. As they were, Steven was happily enjoying the amount of candy he got while going about.

"This is great, isn't it Steven?" Connie asked.

"Yeah, it is," Steven said, taking a bite from a candy bar. As they went through, they found themselves nearby a neat-looking building. The whole entire thing looked like it was baked, and placed down into Ponyville. The roof, walls, door, everything seemed like that of a gingerbread house rather than an actual house. Connie, and Steven went over to the house, some other ponies going by as well. They did see Amethyst go in, and come out with a lot of candy before going off, peaking their interested.

"Trick or Treat!" Steven called, running to the house, and knocking on the door. However, the door into the building just moved open on its own, looking inside to see a sort of bakery outlook. The lights themselves were on, plain as day, yet nopony was there (how cliché did you expect?). Connie and Steven both looked into the building, not seeing anypony in.

"Hello?" Connie asked. Soon, they both noticed something else inside: a batch of cupcakes out for whoever wanted some. Didn't seem to be up for any grabs, yet, there were only two left on the plate. Connie and Steven went inside, heading right over to the cupcakes left on the table. As the two got over to the cupcakes, the two were just as the counter when somepony jumped up into view, giving them both a bit of a startle. The pony spook was actually, after a second look, Pinkie Pie. However, the pink mare's costume was a bit odd: she had a full dress on for her costume. The thing was though, her costume had multiple marks sewed in, each one having a different picture on it. Her outfit also consisted of three sets of wings, each a different color as well.

"Pinkie!" Connie gasped, realizing who it was. Pinkie chuckled after that.

"Hi Connie, Steven, cupcake?" Pinkie asked, showing them both the cupcakes on her plate. Connie and Steven both looked to each other before they took the cupcakes off of the plate.

"Why aren't you out with them?" Steven asked.

"I am, I am, just baking up sweets for Nightmare Night's super duper extra spooky oopie doopie Nightmare filly trip," Pinkie explained.

"Filly trip? What's that?" Connie wondered.

"It'll be happening in about five minutes, just find zebra Zecora and you'll find the filly trip," Pinkie said with a big grin. Suddenly, Pinkie realized what she herself was saying, and quickly rushed off to start making some more treats for the night to come. Connie and Steven did find that part a bit interesting, as they both went on out with their cupcakes, Steven starting to eat his as they left. They didn't want to bug Pinkie on her own sort of baking spree.


~~~~~~


On hearing the idea, Connie and Steven went right off back to the main grounds, looking for said zebra. It was a bit new to hear that they had zebras as well, but hey, they were new to the whole thing. While they went around, they did see Rainbow Dash going house by house fast, getting more candy as she went, yet they didn't bother with her. After walking around for a bit, Connie spotted the pony in question, leading a group of fillies into the nearby forest. She was a zebra, like Pinkie Pie had said. She didn't look too different from a zebra (apart from size of course), yet she had golden rings on her ears, neck, and front left leg. She was also in outfit, looking like a witch doctor. Connie and Steven went over to her, thinking she was the right one.

"Excuse me? Are you Zecora?" Connie asked. The zebra turned to them, giving them a gentle smile. She had a sort of calming, mystical look to her as she walked over.

"Ah, so it is true what the ponies say; two young humans venture here to play," She said. The two nodded.

"That's right. Are you doing a sort of 'filly trip'? Pinkie said you were going to," Steven asked. Zecora nodded.

"Follow me, and very soon, you'll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon," Zecora said, beginning to go on ahead with the other fillies and colts behind her. Connie and Steven followed the zebra.

It took just a minute or two, but Steven and Connie did eventually were brought to a stone statue. The statue looked like a alicorn, like Twilight but thinner, taller, and more menacing. Zecora stopped, and the group listened to what the zebra had to say.

"Listen close, my little dears, I'll tell you where you got your fears of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary."
Zecora then pulled out a sort of odd green dust from her costume pocket, and blew it in the air, the magic mist beginning to form into the same figure as the statue. "Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary."

The green fog began to surround them all, as Zecora continued.

"Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes."

A evil smile began to appear behind Steven and Connie, the two spooked upon seeing it appear.

"But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!"

Some of the fillies, backing up slightly, back into another colt, as the three screamed themselves.

"Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year!" Zecora said, the green mist nightmare moon flying up to the moon, and disappearing.

"However, my little friend. For Nightmare Moon you must not offend." Zecora blew out a little more of the green mist. "Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return to come eat you!" The alicorn figure opened her mouth wide, filled with sharp teeth, but disappeared just before it could "eat" anypony. The fillies and colts, and Steven in the end, gave some candy to the statue. Connie, however, didn't have any candy to give, and everypony finished up. Zecora started to bring the group back to Ponyville, yet Connie thought it over for a little bit more. She wasn't one to believe in stories like this, but, with the world she was in, she might as well listen to advice. All she had was Pinkie's cupcake, so, she placed the little treat down on the pile of candy, before rushing back to join Steven.


~~~~~~


Soon, back in Ponyville, Applejack and Big Macintosh eventually made their round. Even if rather uneventful, it really was a nice Nightmare Night for the two. Soon, Big Macintosh stopped to rest, as the number of ponies got out of the wagon Big Mac was pulling. The two stopped by the apple bobbing tubs, not aware of the results yet.

"Getting tired, Big Mac?" Applejack asked. Big Macintosh turned to his sister.

"Nope," Big Mac replied.

"Well, you can relax now, big brother," Applejack said, trotting over to see how the Apple bobbing was doing. However, one look made her stop, seeing the tubs completely empty! No water, no apples, nothing! Applejack rushed over, and looked into the tub for something, but it appeared like it wasn't filled with anything to begin with!

"What in tarnation?" Applejack gasped. Then she turned back to Big Mac.

"Big Mac, you sure you filled these up?" Applejack called. Her brother nodded, assuring her that he did indeed fill them. Applejack didn't have a forsaken clue as to what happened, but, before she could think on what could cause it, suddenly she then began to hear something zoom by her, though was too quick for her to notice. Still, after that, Applejack turned around, and then noticed somepony standing happily in place. The pony was Pinkie Pie, still in costume and having a plate of cupcakes balancing on her forehead.

"Oh, howdy Pinkie. See you got your cupcakes ready," Applejack said, looking to the colorful cupcakes balanced out in a delicious pyramid of frosting, dough, and sprinkles.

"I know, I worked all day, perfecting my super duper secret recipe! Where's the filly trip, ooo they'll LOVE IT!" Pinkie beamed, hopping in place, the cupcakes and plate bouncing up and down on her head. However, Applejack began to rub the back of her head before answering.

"Sorry, sugarcube, they've finished up a while ago," Applejack said. Pinkie Pie stopped hopping around, and stood still, the plate and cupcake pyramid still balanced out perfectly on her head. A bit bummed out for missing the event.

"AW! Oh well, everypony else will love these!" Pinkie Pie said, but before she bolted off, she saw the empty tub.

"OOOO, you setting up?"

"No, I swore they were ready," Applejack said. Pinkie Pie hopped in head first, the plate of cupcakes landing on her tail as she looked around inside the tub like a dog would. Suddenly, she spun upright, so quickly that the unmoving cupcake plate was back on her head again. She jumped out, and quickly made a move like a dog pointer would, aiming right at the culprit. Applejack looked over, and saw Amethyst still at it, getting a lot of candy from another pony for trick or treat. Applejack groaned a little bit, but, didn't bother to get at her for doing so. Besides, water and Apples were abundant back on the farm.

"Well, I can get some more apples back on the farm. Thanks, Pinkie," Applejack.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said, rushing off to get her cupcakes eaten by other ponies. Applejack then began to head back to the farm for more apples.

Speaking of Amethyst, She began to head back to Rainbow Dash with her huge load of candy. It did appear that Amethyst had gotten a huge amount of delicious candy. While as much as she wanted to just eat it all right there, she wanted to at least get Rainbow Dash to see her pile. As she did go, she was unaware of the two in front of her, and ended up tumbling into them, the pile of candy ending up in a huge pile on them all. Amethyst popped her head out, but two others popped their heads out, which were Pearl and Lapis.

"Amethyst!" Pearl snapped, as Pearl and Lapis got themselves out of the candy pile.

"Where did you get all this?" Asked Lapis Lazuli. Amethyst took one piece, and bit into it with her fake fangs.

"Trick or Treating," Amethyst answered, swallowing one piece from her pile. However, while Lapis and Pearl got out of one pile, another one soon showed up. Lapis and Pearl got out of the way that time. This pile belonged to Rainbow Dash, as the happy Pegasus confronted Amethyst with her pile.

"There you go, I win!" Rainbow concluded. That was, until, she saw how big Amethyst's pile was. Compared to her own, Amethyst's pile was just slightly bigger than her own. So much for her own.

"Looks like I win," Amethyst said, smirking. Rainbow rolled her eyes, and flew out of her pile. However, licking her lips, Amethyst immediately went full on gluttony on the pile, gobbling it down fast. The ferocity of Amethyst's eating left all three a little bit unsettled, some of the wrappers flying by them.

"Uh ... Lapis? Can you get Garnet?" Pearl asked.


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Garnet was still chilling out where the group met up; the Ponyville fountain. Garnet was sitting down by the fountain until the Gems were finished having their fun. She simply watched the other ponies having their own fun as time went on, As she was sitting there, Connie and Steven both showed up by Garnet, the tall Gem getting up when they approached.

"You two enjoying yourselves?" Garnet asked.

"Yeah, it's pretty great. How has it been for you, Garnet?" Steven asked. Garnet just shrugged.

"It is getting late," Garnet pointed out. Both Steven and Connie knew what that meant, but, before Garnet could say it, Lapis was seen above them, landing nearby them.

"There you are, Garnet. Can you come back for a second?"

"What's wrong?"

"Eh .. You'll find out when you get there."

"Is it Amethyst-related?"

"... Yeah."

Garnet then began walking off to get her, Lapis, Connie and Steven following her. It didn't take too long until they found where the Gem was. Pearl and Rainbow were still there, though a few other ponies were there as well, including Twilight, and Fulgurite too ended up finding her. What they did see was Amethyst finishing off both piles. She didn't care who's watching, the candy was delicious! However, the Gem looked about ready to pop, her body rounded out like a blimp. Amethyst was laying down on the ground, on her back, looking ready to pass out in a food come. Her mouth was open in a funny grin, completely satisfied. Her tongue was still lapping up some of the chocolate on her face. Pearl and Rainbow didn't change their expressions until Garnet got their attention.

"Has this happened before?" Twilight asked.

"More often than you'd think," replied Garnet, as she walked over to the stuffed Gem. Amethyst looked up to Garnet.

"Hey, sup Garnet?"

Garnet just sighed, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Okay, we're good, going back," Garnet said, lifting Amethyst up onto her shoulder as if she was a huge, soft boulder. Course, Garnet carried her pretty easily. It was bound to come to that anyway. Steven and Connie looking over to Twilight.

"Sorry, we have to go. It's getting late," Connie said.

"That's alright, Connie, you can always come back whenever you wish to," Twilight assured.

"Same to you guys," Steven replied.

"Come on, Gems, we're going."

"Come on, can't we stick around a little longer?" Amethyst asked.

"No," Garnet bluntly said. If she let Amethyst stay any longer, than all the candy on Ponyville will be eaten up by her. she might as well just bring everyone back. So, pulling the key out from her pocket, she flicked the key in the air like a coin. The key landed into the ground, as the portal back home was opened up.

"Have a good Nightmare night," Lapis said, before flying through the portal, the other Gems following as the ponies waved goodbye. Now was a good time as any to go off. So, in no time, the other gems went on through the portal. With a wave from Steven, he too jumped into the portal as the last one, the portal closing up. The trip was a bit for everyone, though ending a bit abruptly thanks to Amethyst, yet, the other ponies still had a long night ahead of them. As Twilight turned to leave, and the door closing, suddenly the key was shot up, and landed in Twilight's sight. However, this key didn't belong to Garnet (the Gem took her key as she jumped in anyway). This key had, low and behold, Twilight's head at the end of it. Twilight levitated the key to get a better look, recognizing the similarities between one and the other.

"Guess I can go back after all," Twilight thought, a smile on her face before she began to head back to the others.
> Hook, Line, and Sinker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was some relaxation over at Greg's carwash that morning. He had just finished up washing another car, though business had been rather slow, to say the least. Late in the morning, and he had only one car to clean up for that summer day. On the bright side, it was a nice day, not too hot with a nice breeze to balance it out. Greg settled down nearby his van, in a lawn chair, and actually began to snooze off. As he was, he was unaware of the company that was coming his way. While Greg was dozing away the morning for the upcoming afternoon, something began to block off the sun from his face. Upon opening his eyes ...

"HI!"

Upon opening his eyes, Greg was face-to-face with a pink mane and pink pony face, with a grin from ear to ear. Even with the friendly gesture, Greg ended up falling off of his seat, not expecting to see the pony around. He did see someone else though, someone he did know and liked to see.

"Dad!"

"Hey kiddo," Greg said, giving his son a fun-filled noogie to the head, Steven laughing himself silly. Pinkie happily hopped to Steven's side, after Greg gave Steven the second to fix his hair from his dad's noogie attack.

"See your ponies are still around with ya. How's it been?"

"Going absopositalutly great! I've made these great yummy treats in Ponyville for six hours straight, with so many blueberries, strawberries, oats, nuts, lots of bread, icing -" Steven covered her mouth so Pinkie Pie wouldn't get too carried away with her cooking. Pinkie eventually calmed down, and Steven spoke instead.

"Actually, I want to ask you something," Steven said. Steven then pulled out something from his pocket, and showed his dad a poster he found. The poster appeared to detail a event going on in Beach City, with a man on a pontoon boat, trying to reel in a huge tuna fish, a bit dramatically for effect. It didn't seem too hard to really figure out what this event is, being by the sea and all that.

"So, you want to fish with your old man, eh sport? Don't see why not," Greg said. Pinkie and Steven were very happy to hear that. Pinkie immediately bolted off, as Steven got a hold of Greg's arm, getting him up to his feet.

"Let's go now!"


~~~~~~


"Welcome, everybody, to the summer fish-off!"

Nearby the boating docks, many of the people were listening to Mayor Dewey, announcing the event. Mayor Dewey himself was up on the top of his van, with a megaphone so everyone can hear him. By the time Greg and Steven showed up (with their fishing gear), it was already a bit crowded with the fishermen and fisherwomen. When they did show up though with Pinkie, Garnet, Rainbow, and Twilight were there too. A bit odd to see them there as well, yet Greg didn't complain too much. He was a bit bummed out that he wasn't going to be just with Steven, but, it couldn't be too bad.

"Garnet! Twilight, Rainbow, you're joining us too?"

"Thought it would be good. I've heard of this, and wanted to learn how it works," Twilight said. Steven looked around, though looked a bit disappointed.

"Where's everyone else?"

"They're not coming," Garnet said, bluntly. So much for the whole group joining them.

"Aww, what about Pearl?"

"She's with Amethyst, getting her back into shape."

"Fulgurite?"

"Wasn't around to ask."

"Applejack?" Pinkie asked.

"Busy at the farm."

"Fluttershy? Rarity?!"

"Finds fishing horrible, and too busy with dress orders."

"... Not even Lapis?" Steven and Pinkie said.

"Same reason as Fluttershy."

"Eh, don't worry kid, we'll still have fun," Rainbow assured him, giving Steven her own little noogie to the head. The number of fishing teams looked pretty much as ready as they are, as everyone got out. For the contest in particular, they were allowed to rent a boat to go out to the sea to get some good fish. However, with many of the people fishing already out, many of the boats had already been rented out, leaving some smaller boats available for use. In their case, they had a old pontoon boat to use. It looked a bit dated, slightly rusty on the bottom rim, but other than that it was a regular pontoon boat, and apparently functional. It wasn't too much compared to the other boats, but, it was good enough to get them going. Pinkie landed in the pontoon boat first, as Rainbow flew around from above. Greg, Steven and Twilight got on fairly well, but when Garnet stepped on it, the pontoon boat leaned rather dramatically for the few seconds until Garnet sat down on one of the pontoon chairs. Mayor Dewey waited until everyone was on their boat before speaking again.

"Alright fellow fisherman of Beach City, you have until three o'clock to catch your fish. The one with the biggest catch wins! Good luck to you all," Mayor Dewey said through the megaphone, as the number of boats started to leave dock. Steven's group tried to get going, but, the pontoon boat had a bit of trouble starting up. They had keys, but, it won't start up really. Greg tried three to five times, without success.

"Come on, start," Greg said, trying to start the engine.

"Is there a problem?" Twilight asked.

"No, no, I got it," Greg said, trying a little bit more to start up the pontoon boat. Pinkie hopped to the back of the boat, wanting to start this fun game. Soon, Pinkie was at the back of the boat, and she began to twist her tail to look like a tight screw. After she finished doing that, it began to spin like crazy.

"Hang on, everypony!" Pinkie said, her tail going into the water. Suddenly, the boat surged forward, much to their surprise. Rainbow, who was flying, was actually left behind, and the Pegasus had to fly after the boat to catch up. It only took a good ten seconds, but, in that time they were far off from the docks, right in pure deep water. Rainbow landed back in the boat, as Pinkie got herself out of the water. She was a bit wet in the hindquarters, but, she was find apart from that. She got her tail twisted up, and it spun off the water. However, not only did it made her hover for a second or so, but, the water got onto the others.

"Oops," Pinkie said, as the others got themselves dry. Soon after that, Greg then started to get his fishing pole started. However, soon Twilight went over to him, as he pulled out a glove box with a various set of lures and hooks.

"You need any help with setting up?" Twilight asked.

"Don't worry, I got it. Just got to attach the ol' lure. Let's see ..." Greg continued looking over the options for the fish catching. Eventually, he found a very unique lure to use: a two hooked lure, looking like a small fish.

"You ponies ever fished before?" Steven asked.

"Yeah, but mainly for fun. I hadn't myself," Twilight said.

"Well, watch and learn," Greg said. He then got himself ready, rallied up the fishing pole with lure attached, and casted out the rod. The lure flew through the air, landing in the water a good twenty feet away from them. Steven looked out with a grin, while Twilight looked in intrigue. Twilight waited for something to happen ...

"So ... now what?"

"Well, we wait. Here, you try," Greg said, pulling out another pole for Twilight to use. Twilight levitated around the reel, and tried to mimic what Greg did. However, she couldn't seem to cast it out, the hook stuck on the other end. She can hold it, but, concentrating magic to get the multiple motions wasn't easy. First swing - nothing. Second - nothing. Third - the hook flew back, and got into Pinkie's mane. Pinkie yelped on feeling the hook got in her mane.

"Sorry, Pinkie," Twilight said, using her magic to get the hook out without pulling a chunk of hair out. When Twilight tried once more, she finally got a good cast out to the water. Not as far as Greg, but, pretty good for her first try.

"Nice cast, Twilight," Greg said.

"Thanks. So, do I stay like this or ..."

"Start reeling in the line when you feel a fish biting," Greg said. The others settled down, as Steven helped himself and got his own fishing pole out and casted off into the water. Rainbow, Pinkie, and Garnet just settled down, and waited ...

And waited ...

And waited ...

It was a little too long for everypony on board. Rainbow was feeling the most effected by the lack of activity, pacing back and forth on the boat. Garnet didn't really look much different, and Twilight leaned bored on the boat. She never realized how long fishing can be, especially with nothing biting. Steven gave a yawn, and looked over to another boat nearby. Over on the boat, the people were having a lot more fish than they did, a large bucket with live fish swimming amuck in it. One of them he and Pinkie recognized from Big Donut, actually, as they both waved to her.

"Hey, Sadie!" Steven called, his voice actually startling the bored people and ponies on the boat (except Garnet). Sadie, over on the boat, saw them both and waved back to them. Rainbow Dash looked over, and saw a large, feisty Dolphin fish, being reeled in by Sadie with the help if her mother. Seeing that huge fish getting caught when they got nothing made Rainbow a bit bugged.

"This is getting nowhere," Rainbow groaned, and suddenly started flying.  Before anyone can stop her, Rainbow was up in the sky, like a hunting. While she was in the air, Rainbow was joined by a few seabirds, one of these was hovering over a particular spot. The bird, a gannet as it turned out, suddenly stopped flying, and dove head-first right into the water like a living dart, barely causing a splash upon impact. Seconds later, it came back up with a small tuna in its beak. Rainbow compared her wings to the gannet, and decided to try to dive for the fish. Her wings looked close to arrow-dynamic anyway, like a peregrine falcon, so she can try to be streamline in her approach like the gannet did. Soon, after seeing a good spot, she began to dive forward, hooves out in front. She folded her wings back, and she dove right into the water. The others waited for Rainbow, and she soon got back to the surface, the impact a little rough for her. The gannet next to her squawked in her face, and flew away with its own fish catch. Rainbow got back onto the boat, drying herself off, and acted like she didn't do anything.

"My turn!" Pinkie said, jumping off the boat, and diving in. Garnet just reached out, and grabbed Pinkie by the tail. Pinkie didn't get any fish, but, was soaking wet.

"Don't do that," Garnet said.

"There's a huge fishy over there," Pinkie said, pointing over to the open sea. Steven reeled back his own hook, coming up with nothing on his end.

"Really? Where?" Steven asked. Pinkie kept pointing over to where she spotted something large underwater. Eagerly, Steven quickly casted out his line and hook, landing nearby the thing. At first, the creature didn't seem to be noticing the hook at first. However, soon, the thing finally bit the hook, giving a powerful pull! The pull was extremely strong, the line reached its full length after a few seconds!

"Whoa!" Steven gasped, grabbing the reel so all the line wouldn't end up being lost. However, Steven nearly was pulled off the boat, caught by Greg to keep him on.

"Steven!" Garnet said, grabbing him too. However, suddenly the fish breached the water. However, the sight of the fish wasn't anything normal. For one thing, it was huge, nearly as big as the boat! It had lavender skin, not appearing scaly, and a long paddle-like bill. What caught Garnet's attention the most was the two gemstone eyes!  In one quick movement, the Gem fish yanked the fishing pole out of Steven's hands. However, Garnet grabbed the pole, being pulled to the back of the boat. Garnet stopped herself, her feet slamming into the back of the pontoon boat, but this fish wasn't going down without a fight. Before anyone can realize it, the pontoon boat was moving very fast, the fish strong enough to move the boat around like it was nothing. Garnet kept her strong grip on the pole, which threatened to break apart under the pressure, as the Gem fish swam around the water as if there was no drag to speak of. Garnet eventually pulled hard, with some help from Greg and Rainbow, and the fish breached the water again, that time directly at them! The fish landed hard into the boat, thrashing around wildly, as Garnet tried to get the fish to stay still. Many of the others tried to help, but, the Gem-eyed fish was thrashing around so much, they couldn't grip it if they tried. Even Garnet was having some issue, as she kept punching at the fish while it thrashed, jumped, and flopped around on the boat. Eventually, Garnet finally got a firm grip, though the fish's strong tail kept whacking her in the face about ten times until it calmed down.

"You alright, Garnet?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah," Garnet replied, getting herself back up to shape before letting the tired fish go. The creature flopped onto the boat, too tired to continued.

"Uh ... Do all fish in this world have Gem eyes?" Rainbow asked, poking at them with little reaction from the fish itself.

"Not at all. Stand back," Garnet said, getting her fighting gloves out, and readied to finish off the giant fish. However, Steven suddenly got an idea, and got in the way.

"Wait a minute, I got an idea!"

"Steven, not now."

"But, can't we show the judges first? It is a big fish."


~~~~~~


"And the winner of this year's fish-off goes to ... Mr. Universe!" Mayor Dewey said, going over to the group. They all had the huge gem fish hanged up, like they caught a large shark in such manor. The fish was hanged upside down, rope around the tail and its head laying on the ground.

"Quite an impressive catch here, if not a rather special catch," Dewey pointed out, looking at the shining gem eyes.

"It was a hard catch," Garnet said, adjusting her shades.

"I'd imagine so. And here's your trophy, curtsey of yours truly," Dewey said, bringing over the prize-winning trophy for them. It was fairly big, pure gold, and had the same symbol as the poster it advertised earlier. Some people also showed up to take some pictures of the catch, seeing it as the best catch of Beach City. Rainbow flew over to the fish, leaning to it and giving a good smile, as everyone else smiled for the camera.

Many pictures were taken, and one was to keep for the Universe family too. After the whole thing, They were back home (both the ponies in Ponyville, and the Gems at home), as Steven happily was looking at the picture they took, laying on his bed with the picture held above him. It did look good, to say the least of the good shot. While he was, Garnet came through the door, with two signature gemstones within one bubble. Garnet looked over to Steven.

"Thanks again for coming with us, Garnet," Steven said.

"I'd come along either way," Garnet said, moving the bubble to one hand.

"Oh. Well, did you have fun?" Steven asked, before Garnet made the bubble disappear with the gems inside with a move of her wrist.

"Yeah, it was alright."
> I'll be Dog-Gone!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, do be careful Spike, those gems are one-of-a-kind," Rarity said.

It was that time again for the white fashion unicorn, time to add some more gems to her fashion designs. With little Spike with her, he and Rarity both were off earlier that day, and the two were off Gem collecting. NO, not the Gems that they knew and cared for, the types of Gems that were found in Ponyville. You know, the kind that don't talk and walk around like Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet do back in Beach City. Pulling the wagon behind her, Rarity trotted back to Ponyville with a wagon full of brightly colored gemstones. Sapphires, rubies, emeralds, that sort of thing. Spike, not in the presence of the Gem friends, wanted to gobble down his favorite treat.

"Can't I just have one, please?!" Spike said.

"Oh ... Oh, alright, but only because you're so cute," Rarity said, lifting up a bright blue diamond, and giving it to spike, who happily slurped it up in one gulp. His forked tongue whipped around his lips on the taste of it.

"mmmm, blueberry," Spike said, thinking on the taste of gemstones.

"Help me with my dress, and you can have some more if you want to, Spikey-wikey," Rarity offered, her hoof rubbing his head. Spike smiled in a goofy way, a bit perplexed with Rarity's beauty.

"I'll be happy to, Rarity," Spike said, following the unicorn back. Suddenly, as they were going through, something began to rustle in the nearby bushes off the path, catching them both off-guard. After a little bit, Spike went over to investigate. Upon getting close, a huge creature roared at them from the spot, jumping out with a huge crocodile head. Rarity and Spike got spooked, Spike hopping into the gem pile to avoid any pain ... then a familiar laugh rang through the air.

"W-wait ... Amethyst?"

Indeed, the Gem was in front of them, altering her head to look like a crocodile, as she laughed herself silly.

"OH man, I got you two good," Amethyst laughed. However, after calming down (and changing her head back), Spike popped out of the pile, a few gemstones landing in Amethyst's sight. She stopped laughing and noticed the large wagon full of them. Immediately, Rarity realized what she was doing, and what Amethyst was to begin with.

"Geesh, graphic much?" Amethyst said, getting up and looking to Rarity with a sort of disgust.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I wasn't - I mean -"

"HA, just kidding! I know Gems here aren't like back in our world. What can match up to mine, anyway? My Gem is AWESOME!" Amethyst cleared up, a little ego-centric at the last bit, but still.

"Uh ... you're not upset, darling?"

"Nah, it's cool. Not all gems are magical back home anyway. You do what you want, I'll see ya later," Amethyst said, heading off on her way again. After regaining their nerves, Spike stumbled out of the pile, a gem or two falling out. Rarity got all the gems up with her magic and placed them into the wagon. Soon, the duo was off on their way. As they were, something else nearby was spying on the group. Three figures were hiding in the bushes, until Rarity, Spike and Amethyst were gone entirely. Upon such, they went out in the open, though were more interested in Amethyst than what Rarity and Spike had (oddly enough). The three looked a bit like strangely shaped dogs, huge forearms and shorter hind legs. Each one looked different from each other: one tan, short, and with bent tipped ears. Another was much larger, greyish-blue fur, and ears that fully droop down. The third was about medium sized, ears fully erect, and having a dull brown fur.

"You heard that, dogs? Otherworldly, magical gems. Jackpot!"

"Yeah, Rover, sound delicious!"

"Easy, Spot, you want that unicorn to hear?" Rover asked, looking to make sure Rarity was gone. After making sure, Rover looked to the largest dog.

"Fido, keep an eye on that two-legged monkey, be right back. C'mere Spot," Rover said, starting to head in the opposite direction from where Rarity came. Fido nodded and started going off to follow Amethyst. Seemed they had their own plan to go.

Not too far away, Amethyst got herself isolated, so to not bug anyone, and pulled out her gold key. However, the Gem wasn't aware of Fido, still watching her, as Amethyst threw her key upward. The key landed perfectly into the ground, opening up the doorway in a tree. Without much thought, Amethyst went right on through, grabbing her key. However, Fido still needed to watch her, so, before the portal closed, the large dog grabbed a large branch nearby, and jabbed it in the gap. Sure enough, the portal didn't close all the way, like a cracked door. Not too long after, Rover and Spot showed up soon enough. Fido pointed to the bright line of light, and Rover quickly opened it right up.


~~~~~~


Back in Beach City, the Gems in question weren't doing very much as of late: Garnet wasn't around for the moment. Amethyst, Steven, and Lapis were trying something together, as Pearl was doing the dishes in the kitchen. What the others were trying out was actually apart of Steven's card game from a TV show he liked.

"I summon the sad grape bundle!" Steven said, putting down a card, the picture of crying grapes on it. Amethyst and Lapis both were a bit unsure over this 'crying breakfast friends card game' Steven told them about, and it was a confusing game none-the-less.

"Okay uh ... I summon the ... Sobbing Waffle special," Lapis eventually decided, a little unsure on her choice.

"I cast ... whatever this is," Amethyst said, throwing down a card with a teary-eyed milk carton on it.

"Ha, I win!" Steven said, full of glee. Lapis was bummed out, though Amethyst could care less for this confusing game all and all. However, none of them really looked outside for that moment, and then they heard a knock at the door. Being polite herself, Pearl answered the door first. Standing at their doorstep were the three dogs from Equestria: Rover, Fido, and Spot. Their appearance alone was a bit surprising to see with their disproportionate legs, and rough appearance.

"Uh ... Hello there," Pearl said. Rover glanced to the other gems inside, seeing they all had a sort of Gemstone on them.

"Eh, you are the Gems, yes?" Rover asked.

"... Yes?"

"Good, good, your pony friends told us about you, wanted to ask a few questions for our ... research," Rover explained. As they were talking, Spot was eyeing Pearl's shiny ... well, Pearl. The sight of such a perfect, ripe Gem was making the pup drool, panting a bit. However, Rover and Pearl caught him doing that, and Rover flicked his temple.

"Sorry about that, just missed his morning kibble," Rover said, a bit quickly before adding "Anyway, want to answer a few things? We'd love to learn a thing or two about your uh ... kind." Pearl suddenly looked a bit happy to hear that: a chance to teach some newcomers about Gems of their world! A bit bummed that she didn't get to teach Steven much last time she tried, so perhaps she can make up for it here.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place? I'd be happy to," Pearl said, as the dogs walked in. Amethyst, Lapis, and Steven got up, as the three dogs came in.

"You three from Equestria, I guess?"

"Yep, nice place to live. Alrighty then," Rover said, getting out a list from the pocket in his vest. Spot was still a bit fixated by the beautiful gemstones, though at that point he was eyeing Amethyst's gem, drooling again on the sight of it. Amethyst got pretty uncomfortable from this dog. Rover looked to Spot, annoyed again by the pup's stare, and eagerness. So, he went to the door, dropped Spot outside, and closed the door behind him. Spot was a bit bummed that he was left out, as Rover began to go through his 'questions', as Fido moved aside so they wouldn't be distracted.

"So, one: What magic does your Gemstones have?" Rover began. Pearl looked to her own Gemstone before answering him.

"Well, our Gemstones hold a lot of magical properties within them, giving our kind their assorted special abilities, and Gem weaponry. Allow me to demonstrate," Pearl said getting up. A little over-dramatic in her actions, she pulled out her spear weapon as an example, Rover 'taking note' of it. Pearl only showed it for a little bit before she made it disappear. Fido moved off to Steven's bedroom, above everyone else, as Rover continued on.

"Can your Gemstones be removed in anyway?"

That question was a bit confusing for the Gems, Amethyst and Pearl glancing at their own Gemstones.

"Well, not exactly. You see, our gemstones are the core reason behind our natural being. If anything happened to them, why, we wouldn't be here now would we?" Pearl explained, her last bit more of a joke than most, as she added a laugh or two. Rover tilted his head in some confusion, but he wasn't too focused on the questions anyway. Fido readied himself.

"...So, you are attached to that thing?"

"In a way, yeah we are. Course, it's not much of an issue for us, so long as it doesn't get damaged itself," Pearl explained, her fingers gently touching her own gem. Fido got up on his own back legs, his frontal paws ready to do their work.

"What happens to the rest of you?"

"Oh, well if we're damaged too much, we can always rejuvenate within our Gemstone at any time," Pearl explained.

"Retreat in your Gemstone," Rover thought, though the thoughts were more focused on those magic Gems themselves. Fido took that detail very well. The three true Gems had their back to Fido, so, they weren't focused for the moment. However, Steven looked over and noticed a shadow of Fido, upright, fists in the air like two hammers. Before the kid could react, or anyone for that matter, Fido laid it down on the three. Lapis, Amethyst, and Pearl flicked as the powerhouse whack landed right on their cranium. What shocked Steven the most was that the blunt force was so strong, and so sudden, the three poofed! He wasn't sure if it was brute force, or just the surprise of it, but either way, the three were suddenly back in their Gemstones. Fido quickly caught the three in one paw. Their magic keys also flew around in the air, but Fido missed them, as they all fell on the couch, as Fido shoved them into a small bag they brought.

"Yes!"

"Hey!" Steven yelled. However, Rover quickly grabbed him, and threw him in the bathroom. Rover and Fido quickly ran off for it before Steven got outside. Upon running out, Spot ended up flung out of the way. The little type followed them, as Steven rushed outside. However, the three dogs still had their portal to escape open, and they quickly rushed in! Steven wasn't fast enough, as he tried to get into the portal. However, the last second, the portal closed, Steven landing in the sand headfirst. After spitting out the sand, Steven realized that he had just lost three friends, to three random dogs who just wanted their Gemstones...

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"


~~~~~~


Back in Ponyville, the ponies were a bit unaware of what had happened, still going on their daily routine. In the boutique, Rarity and Spike were both busy with their latest dress creation. Spike was mainly the little helper while Rarity worked her magic (literally, and metaphorically), as she worked the gems into the dress. The pony dress was aligned with colorful gems along the trim, looking like Rainbow Dash's hair in coloration until each Gem was perfectly aligned with one another. However, looking it over, Rarity felt that something was missing. Spike licked his chops, hoping for some bite of the Gemstones, but Rarity used her magic to drag Spike away before he could eat the dress.

"Can't I just have one?" Spike asked, hoping she would let him.

"Spike, this is fashion design you're wanting to eat, not just some fancy snack," Rarity reminded. However, for his efforts, Rarity did promise him a few more gems for his help, so, she levitated three other gemstones towards the little dragon, the three landing in his claws.

"Course, I did promise a few gems for you," Rarity said with a wink. Spike, smiling wide, gobbled up each gemstone fast like it was nothing, enjoying the taste of the yummy gems.

"Anything else you need help with Rarity?" Spike asked.

"No no, that's all for now. You can go," Rarity said, lining up the mannequin with the said dress just right. Spike nodded and started walking out (though not without hitting the door first, while looking at Rarity). With his dignity intact, he went right on out of Rarity's home. As he did, he then heard something else go on nearby. Not too far away, a few feet behind Rarity's boutique, a familiar white portal appeared. However, rather than any Gem, the three Diamond Dogs tumbled through, still having their gemstones with them. Spike quickly recognized Pearl, Lapis, and Amethyst's gemstones in their grubby paws, as Fido shoved them in a brown handbag, before the three ran off snickering to each other. It didn't take very long before the little dragon realized what happened.

Almost as if on cue, the dragon wasn't the only one who was rushing back for help. As the little guy was running off, another portal opened up in his way. Though Spike tried to stop, he ended up running right into Garnet's leg. That portal was opened by Garnet, Steven, and Fulgurite, when Spike showed up.

"Hey, Garnet," Spike said in a daze. However, he quickly got himself back together, as the three entered Equestria, the portal closing up behind them. Garnet was a bit focused by the time they showed up, as Fulgurite spoke.

"Oh, hi Spike," Fulgurite said.

"You see any dogs?" Garnet asked urgently. Spike then remembered why he was running around.

"Over there, I saw three Diamond Dogs running off back! I think they got -"

"We know what they got," Garnet said.


~~~~~~


Further away, Fido, Rover, and Spot all were heading off through some open, rocky landscape with their special stash. The gemstones in the bag were a bit funky, looking like they were moving around, but the enclosed space didn't give Pearl, Amethyst, and Lapis any space to rejuvenate. The rocky area was a goldmine for many jewels, and where the Diamond Dogs do the most Gem excavation. There was a number of open holes as well, which the three started to head over to. However, the bag was banging around more and more, the Gems trying to get themselves out. However, Fido covered up the bag even more, until the bag began to slip. Rover quickly fixed it, tying the opening together so the gems wouldn't end up getting themselves out.

"These things are squirmy. Here, Spot, you handle it," Rover said, dropping the squirming bag to Spot. Spot held it like it was a bag of fish, but they all knew special Gemstones were in there, so, they didn't try to get rid of it. So, with the beg, Rover, Fido, and Spot went back underground. Unaware to them, they were soon found out by the particular pals of the Gems in question.

Nearby, Garnet, Steven, Fulgurite, Spike, and the mane six followed them back to their hideout. After getting the information out, everybody/everypony got right to it, the ponies guiding the Gems to the location. It was a bit rough to believe that these Diamond Dogs would be at it again after a long time of no trouble. Guess they upgraded from Ponies, to whatever else was available for them. In this case, Gems.

"You sure they're in there?" Steven asked.

"We delt with these mutts before, I'm sure they're in there. Let's go and kick some doggy butt," Rainbow insisted, beginning to fly over. The others soon followed, some more motivated than others. Without much time wasted, the group began to head down, Garnet taking the lead. The Gems didn't know how tough these Diamond Dogs were, but, if one was tough enough to poof Pearl, Amethyst, and Lapis so quickly, then they are a threat to be reckoned with.

Soon, Garnet landed down at the bottom of the hole, landing on her two feet. Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Twilight flew in just fine, yet the others had a bit of a tumble. Garnet made sure to move out of the way before they landed. After getting themselves up, they looked around from where they landed. The tunnel from above lead down to a labyrinth of passages, many of the tunnels going every which way. Normally, it would appear a bit hard to figure out, but that alone wasn't too much trouble for Garnet... Or the fact they were in sight already.

"Hold it!" Fulgurite ordered, rushing over too fast for the dogs to react, or do anything.

"Alright, hand them over," Garnet demanded.

"Hand? Hand what?" Rover asked, turning to Garnet.

"You know what, our friends."

"We don't know what you're talking about. Fido, do you know?"

"No, sir," Fido replied.

"Spot, what about you?"

"Not a one, nope, especially no talking Gems - ow!" Rover whacked Spot on the back of the head for the slip up. Not like it would've helped anyway, with the squirming Gems still in the handbag. Garnet crossed her arms, towering over the dogs as the rest came over to make sure they don't run off.

"DIG DOG!"

Suddenly, all three went underground, digging away, and covering the holes before they realized it! They popped up down one of the tunnels and started running like mad. Course, everyone rushed off and followed them. The three dogs kept dodging and weaving, holding onto the bag, until they got through a particular tunnel. They all rushed off into it, but they all ended up in a complete halt. In front of them, much to their dismay, was piles upon piles full of gems! All different colors, shapes, sizes, all in a complete mess, and all over the large room! The three dogs weren't around, most likely hiding in the piles themselves, but the Gems were simply at a loss of words on seeing the piles of Gems everywhere.

"Geesh, graphic much?" Fulgurite thought aloud, looking all over the place. The ponies, not exactly stopped by the piles, went off first to look around. Rainbow dove into pile after pile, trying to find the Gems in question. Pinkie was doing something similar, as Twilight and Rarity used their magic to look through the piles. Eventually, Fulgurite and Steven joined in, but Garnet wasn't so sure about this exactly. She can sense her gems, but she can't sense them around here, despite all of the Gemstones around. Garnet needed a bit to relax but got her mind straight as she looked down another tunnel, seeing a tunnel going straight upward. Garnet went right for it, and sure enough, saw the three dogs making for the surface. Course, Garnet wasn't going to let them get away that easily, giving a whistle for the others to hear. They saw her, just as Garnet jumped upward through the hole to outside, the three Diamond Dogs tumbling out onto the surface, the tied bag stuck with Spot.

"Give back our friends!" Garnet demanded, upon landing outside. Fido and Rover growled, as Spot stayed behind them. Rover then suddenly gave off a whistle, as the others joined Garnet at the surface. The whistle ended up giving the Diamond Dogs more reinforcements, as a ton of guard dogs suddenly dug up to the surface, with spears at the ready! A bit of a surprise for everyone there, but it didn't seem too hard to deal with. However, as the dogs readied to fight, the bag Spot was holding suddenly made him loose grip of it. The large guard dogs soon rushed into battle, fighting the large gems and pony group. However, the battle seemed more one-sided, the Mane six and Gems dealing with the mutts fairly easily. Even so, the bag was still squirming around like crazy, until finally, Spot lost his grip! One of the Guard dogs was punched hard in the face, the spear flying through the air until it cut the bag open. But rather than the three Gems, a huge light suddenly began to glow, catching everybody/everypony's attention! The three spiraled into the air, a bright light surrounding them all, as a shape began to take form. Soon, a final form fully took place, landing on the ground with everyone watching.

This new Gem had Pearl, Amethyst, and Lapis within it, their Gemstones in their proper place, though all of them were a duller blue rather than their respected colors. This tall figure was twice as tall as Garnet, with a set of four arms. The coloration of the body mirrored the Gemstones, one on the back, one on the chest, and one on the forehead. The gem's clothing was a bit different, consisting of a long-sleeved dress, the flowing rim only going down to near her knees, with a lighter pair of pants attached to a sort of futuristic, steel boots that go around the calf. Her hair flowed down to the base of her back, well maintained in waves, in a color of light blue with the tips in a slight lavender. The face of the Gem actually had three eyes. The top eye was a light blue, just under the large Pearl gem, the left eye was a dark blue, and the right eye a dark purple. The Gem also had some goggles, which were put over the deep blue and purple eye. The arms were covered in some lighter gloves. After fully forming, the tall Gem looked down at everyone with a smile on her face, seeing the gawking eyes of the dogs themselves, along with the ponies and even the Gems. Garnet had her mouth slightly a gape, her eyes covered by her own shades.

"How do you do, everybody? Tanzanite has arrived!" She said with enthusiasm, taking the look a bit casually. Rover snapped himself out of it, and quickly howled to get the guards to recapture this sudden new Gem. However, Tanzanite was a bit hard to catch, the large Gem going by them with ease. Suddenly she then began to do something else: pulling out her weapon! As first, it seemed like it was Pearl's spear, but Lapis' water wings came out from the back, wrapping around the spear. Amethyst's whip then came out, wrapping around the water spear until they all fused together as well. What it ended up being was a long, pure silver trident, about as long as Tanzanite is tall. All four hands readied themselves, holding onto the Trident as the dogs attacked. Everyone saw Tanzanite poured it on them all, beating many of them very easily with a few swings. At one point, a guard dog tried another approach and used some rope. However, Tanzanite got one end around the trident. many of the dogs tried to pull the weapon away, but then the tall Gem tried something else. With two hands holding on just enough, the other two suddenly got the trident spinning. Like a fork with spaghetti, the rope wrapped around the trident, the dogs getting stuck in the rope themselves. Fido stuck his head out of the rope ball, along with Spot and Rover. Looking with a 'you got owned' look, she pulled the ball out and then, like a professional basketball player, threw the group of pups right to the hole - a perfect throw. When they all were gone, everyone looked to Tanzanite, who looked down at them herself.

"W-wha?! Where'd she ... Where's the others?" Twilight asked.

"You're looking at them," Garnet concluded.

"So ... you know who we are, right?" Rainbow asked, flying to her eye level.

"Course we do, Rainbow. Nice to see the world from your point-of-view," Tanzanite said, playfully fluffing Rainbow's mane.

"B-but how?!" Twilight asked, shocked as ever.

"Typical fusion - a trick we Gems know," Tanzanite answered.

"Well, I'll be. You Gems got a lot of tricks don't ya?" Applejack said.

"Yeah, we do. Well, gotta unfuse now, hope to see you again soon!" Tanzanite said. Suddenly, her body began to turn white again, the Gems turning back to their regular colors before three figures came back to normal: Lapis, Amethyst, and Pearl. Pinkie was the first to jump over, hugging Lapis first.

"Oh, I was so worried! you are alright! How did it feel to fuse? does it feel funny? Can you do it all the time, or -" Pinkie was cut off from her fast-paced rambling when Applejack covered her mouth with her hoof.

"Well ... that was interesting," Pearl admitted.

"Yeah. Never fused like that before," added Lapis. Soon, Garnet confronted the three, with a big smile on her face.

"Impressive. Tanzanite," Garnet said. The three knew what she was talking about but were just glad that they were alright. Steven and Fulgurite hugged them, along with the ponies.

"Glad to be back," Amethyst said, accepting the hugs like the others.

"Alright. Let's head back home," Garnet said, pulling out her key, and opening the door to the ground under them. Saying goodbye and tank you to the others, the Gems were off back home, and through the portal. After they left, the ponies started to head on back themselves. They weren't too worried over the Diamond Dogs, as they weren't getting out of their bind anytime soon.
> Logical Care
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The morning in Ponyville was like what others would be: calm, collective, and sunny as can be. Over by the library, Spike woke up and went on outside, stretching his arms for the day ahead. First order of business: getting the morning mail. With a flick of the mailbox, and quick grab, Spike got a hold of the mail and began to head back into the library for Twilight. Upon stepping back in, the little dragon waved the letters in front of him.

"Mail's here!" Spike called. However, due to eagerness, Twilight yanked them out of his claws with her magic, making him fall over onto his face. The first couple of letters weren't too special, but one in particular had a special mark on it, telling Twilight which letter apart. She quickly pulled it out, and read it over.

"Please be a yes, please be a yes, please be a yes..." Twilight quickly scanned through the letter with her own eyes for a second or so, before a smile quickly grew on the Alicorn's face. 

"Yes! She can make it, she can make it!" Twilight beamed, spinning spike around as she flew in circles, out of pure joy. Spike, feeling dizzy, spoke again.

"Going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing that Princess Cadance said she can come this weekend," Spike assumed, as Twilight placed him down, the dragon trying to get himself together without hurling from Twilight's spin attack. Still, Twilight was very excited herself.

"I'm finally gonna get to spend some quality time with my sister-in-law! This is the best news ever!" Twilight replied, so in static she almost didn't hear the knock on her door. A bit unexpected, but Twilight opened it to find Fluttershy and, surprisingly, Connie.

"Um, so sorry for barging in like this..." Fluttershy said, as if just creaking a door was considered barging into anywhere. "But I'm so excited, I just couldn't wait to tell somepony!" Soon, Fluttershy then brought out another bit of paper she got from her mail, showing it to twilight. 

"The Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures have given me permission to observe the rarest, tiniest, most adorable magical creatures in all of Equestria – the Breezies!" Fluttershy said, very excited herself, although most of her words were hushed. Twilight was happy on hearing the news.

"Wow, Fluttershy, that's fantastic!" Twilight said. She took another look at the note before adding in, "It also said you can bring somepony else with you."

"That would be me. Thought it'll be great to learn about some of Equestria's more elusive creatures," Connie explained with a grin.

"Ooo, I'm so excited, this just might be the best news ever!" Fluttershy exclaimed, out of pure joy. Seemed two special things were already happening today.


~~~~~~


Sometime later, everypony arrived at the train station, with the crystal Gems also joining up to see Connie and Fluttershy off on her way. When they were there, they both looked ready to go off on an African safari - explorer outfits on and ready to go, sun hat included. Before they went, some of the others began to give them some extra necessities for their trip. Opening up Fluttershy's bag, Rarity levitated a pair of scarfs for her and Connie.

"Here's some wraps, in case you two get cold," Rarity said, levitating the scarfs in the handbag, and closing it up. Applejack came over next with a basket of apples.

"And I packed you a basket of nice fresh apples in case y'all get hungry," Applejack said, placing it next to Connie.

"Have a great time," Steven said with a smile.

"Oh, we will. And I hope you have fun with Cadance, Twilight," Connie said, as the train whistle went off. After Connie giving Steven a quick goodbye hug, Fluttershy and Connie went on the train, just as the conductor gave the signature "All aboard!". After the two got on, the two looked back form the final train cart, looking back at their friends as the train went off.

"Goodbye! Goodbye, everypony!" Fluttershy said, waving her hoof.

"By everyone, be back soon!" added Connie, waving her hand. They both heard the others giving their goodbyes.

"Have fun, you two!" Pearl said.

"See ya later!" added Amethyst.

"Connie! Fluttershy!" Pinkie began to gallop after the train. "I'll never forget youuuuuuu!" Soon, the train went off out of sight, as Pinkie came to a halt. However, seconds later, a red balloon suddenly came into her view point ...

"Ooh, something floaty! La-la-la-la-la!"

Rather quick ...

Back at the train station, everyone else was still around when Pinkie came back.

"Oh, I'm a bit nervous about Cadance's visit."

"What could you be nervous about, Twilight? Cadance just loves you to pieces!" Applejack pointed out.

"I know, but I really want her visit to go without a hitch!" 

"Why wouldn't it?" Steven asked. 

"Well, the last three times we've seen each other haven't exactly been worry-free." 

"The fate of Equestria has hung in the balance during most of your visits with her," Rarity cleared up. 

"Exactly. Cadance and I haven't really had a chance to just enjoy being friends again. Which is why it is so important that this visit be about the two of us having some real quality time together."

"I'm guessin' you've got a plan that'll keep it that way," Applejack assumed. Twilight nodded, and showed them something on the train station bulletin board: a poster with a unicorn on it, his long beard swirling around the head.

"The timing couldn't be more perfect. For one day only, right here in Ponyville, the Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum! Cadance and I can spend the whole day looking at Star Swirl the Bearded artifacts!" Twilight explained.

"Sounds like a perfect drama-free way to spend the day with Cadance," Lapis commented.

"Not counting the drama surrounding which of the bells from his cloak they've chosen to put on display. Spoiler alert: it's this one!" Twilight said, pointing to one of the bells on Star Swirl's hat. However, Amethyst started to cough a little bit.

"Uh, sorry. Something in my throat... like a big ball of 'lame'!" Amethyst said, getting a glare from Pearl.

"I think it sounds delightful," Pearl retorted.

"Yup, definitely sounds like you two will have some real quality time together." Applejack added.

"Exactly. Just quiet time."

As if she jinxed on the idea, the next train soon arrived, the screeching brakes making most of them cover their ears in pain. It was indeed loud brakes, like scratching on a chalk board. Garnet was the only one who didn't really cover her ears, yet she gritted her teeth a little bit. The train looked like it had ice on it, the snowplows up front shining with crystal--like material, along with the rest of the train. The sight of such a train surprised many of the Gems there. When the train fully stopped, suddenly trumpets went off, giving off the arrival of this 'Cadance' in question. The cart doors opened up, with a red carpet and two guard ponies, both Pegasus, one crystalline in skin (surprising the gems even more), as the pony walked on out. She looked a little taller than Twilight was, with pink fur and her smooth mane and tail a color of light yellow, hot pink, and deep purple. The newcomer also had a pair of wings and long horn, making her an Alicorn like Twilight Sparkle. Upon exiting the train, Cadance bowed in front of Twilight.

"Your Highness," Cadance said.

"Your Highness," Twilight replied, repeating the gesture along with the others. However, Cadance giggled afterwards.

"I'm teasing, Twilight. We're sisters-in-law, we don't have to be so formal," Cadance joked, as she nodded to the guards. The two went back inside, the carpet rolling back in the train, and soon the train went right on its way. Cadance looked to the Gems, but not in much surprise as they would expect. Instead, most of her attention went to her sister-in-law.

"Knowing you, you've made some plans."

"Boy, have I! Hang on just one second," Twilight insisted, as she went back to the others. "You guys-"

"Now, now, don't you worry about a thing! We will make sure that nothing – but nothing – interferes with your visit," Rarity promised.

"Go on, have a hootenanny with your kinfolk," added Applejack.

"You really are the best friends a pony could ever have. Coming, Cadance!" Twilight said. Soon enough, Cadance and Twilight were both off to the Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum, with the others looking onward. While some of them were a bit interested in this festival (Pearl especially), they didn't want anyone bugging them as they spent their day together.

"Two sisters-in-law bonding. Well, I for one am gonna make sure that nothing spoils their day!" Pinkie promised...

Again, as if she jinxed it, something oddly began to appear on the horizon, spinning in the air like some odd cyclone or some UFO or something. Before anyone could realize what for what, the thing suddenly flew by them, missing them as they ducked, before landing into a tree. None of them had any clue what in Celestia that was, as they looked to the tree.

"What is that?" Fulgurite wondered.

"No, not a "what", but a "who", dear," somepony replied, a few sniffs from the tree. That got rainbow a bit nervous.

"Oh no! That sounds like -" Before Rainbow Dash could finish up her sentence, suddenly a loud sneeze shot out, making all the leaves suddenly burn off the trees in a blue flames. Upon all the leaves removed, it revealed to be a pure blue, sick-looking draconequus.

"Discord!" they all gasped, not expecting him to suddenly show up. The draconequus didn't look too good, yet the ponies seemed a bit annoyed with him showing up.

"What in tarnation are you doin' here? And why the jumpin' June bugs are you blue?" Applejack asked, not as amused.

"More like a shade of cerulean, to be precise," whispered Rarity. Either way, Discord began to slither down the tree as if he didn't had any bones, landing in a coiled pile on the ground. This indeed didn't look like behavior for anypony who was healthy.

"Oh, I've changed, surely you remember? I was reformed by lovely little-" Discord suddenly looked ready to sneeze again F-F-Fluttershy-" Then, another sneeze shot out from his mouth, shooting him back comically. While no one noticed, his sneeze caused a nearby house to suddenly start to float away...

"What are you, sick or something?" Fulgurite asked. 

"Well, of course I'm sick. The blue skin? These sneezes? Could somebody find me a fainting couch?" Discord asked. Oddly, many of the ponies looked to Rarity. 

"What?"

Pinkie was already on it, moving over a ton of luggage from the Train Station so Discord could lay down.

"How charming, thank you. I can't stop sneezing and wheezing. In short... I need help!" Discord whined, giving the others puppy eyes. They weren't buying it.

"Wait, maybe I can help!" Steven said, going over to Discord. Steven readied himself, licking his hand, and placing it on Discord. However, Discord instead looked like he was getting electrocuted by the sudden touch, making Steven step back. Rainbow rolled her eyes on that reaction.

"If you're so 'sick', why have you come here instead of, y'know, staying home in bed and getting over your weird illness?" Rainbow pointed out. Discord sneezed, and got out a hankie for his nose before answering.

"Because this condition has left me helpless, simply helpless! Why, I can barely lift a spoon," discord said, a small spoon popping up in his paw, only to drop it by mistake, and a ice pack on his head.

"That so?" Asked Garnet.

"I came to find the one pony who truly understands me and could nurse me back to health." Discord lifted up Pinkie for a second. "Where is that dear, sweet Fluttershy?" Suddenly, he lifted the leafless tree with no effort, still with no luck. "I need attention! I need some care! I need-" Garnet took the liberty of putting her hand over Discord's mouth, to get him quiet for a minute or two. So much for 'barely lift a spoon'.

"She just left," Garnet stated, letting go of Discord's goat lips.

"Oh, of course, her trip to see the Breezies. Ah, yes, I had forgotten that was today."

"How do you know about her trip?" Applejack asked. 

"Well, she told me about it in her last letter." Discord replied, showing the group his letter from Fluttershy in question.

"You and Fluttershy write each other letters?" Pinkie asked in wonder.

"Well, of course we do! We're friends! It's just such a shame that today of all days is when I really need her. Oh, well, I know what to do," Discord said, suddenly in a hospital gown, with one of those liquid bags next to him. Suddenly, Rainbow was pushing Discord back to the train station, ripping off the stuff.

"Good thinking. Head on home, (puts a fedora on his head) put your feet up. (suddenly gives him some luggage) I'm sure eventually you'll have the strength to make yourself soup or something." Rainbow began to fly back to the others, only for blue Discord to pop up back over there.

"Oh, no-no-no-no-no-no! I mean, while she's gone, you ponies can take care of me!" Discord revealed. Then, he popped up next to Pearl and Lapis.

"Isn't that what friends are for, taking care of each other?" Discord chuckled a little bit, his arms getting everyone into a group hug.

"Let the healing begin!"

"Not it!" Fulgurite suddenly said, getting herself free and running off out of sight as fast as she could.

"Well, that's some way to treat a suffering friend," discord scoffed, another sneeze passing him. Suddenly, Pinkie hugged him.

"Don't you worry, Discord! I'll give you cuddles, and read you stories, and tell you all about me! I was born on a Tuesday-" Before Pinkie could continue, Discord disconnected for a split second before placing the pink mare up in a tree like a hanger.

"Oh, you're so sweet to offer, but Pearl and Lapis already volunteered to be my own personal nursemaids," Discord chuckled.

"We did?!" the Gems gasped.

"I so hope you don't mind, Pinkie Pie."

"As a matter of fact, I most certainly -" Suddenly, Discord brought back the red balloon, her attention putting to the balloon instead. "HEY! Who keeps throwing away these perfectly good balloons?" Pinkie wondered, hopping away to follow the balloon. A bit of a quick one, but, two were out already.

"That joker's up to something, and whatever it is, we're gonna keep it as far away from Twilight and Princess Cadance as possible," Applejack whispered to the others, them glancing back to find him on a hospital bed, with a ECG next to him. A bit over-the-top, but, it was the point alright.

"Hold on, he's cool. What'd he do?" Amethyst asked, arms crossed.

"You didn't go through what we did with him. That living puzzle's got something in that goat head," Rainbow hushed. Another glance, showed Discord all blue, on a death bed ...

"We get the point already!" Pearl said, annoyed with Discord act.

"You're right. We promised we wouldn't let anything ruin their visit... although I do so wish that "anything" had turned out to be something else!" Rarity whispered back. Suddenly, Discord popped up by the group.

"Did I hear you two talking about Princess Cadance's visit with Princess Twilight?" Discord asked.

"... Maybe?" Applejack said.

"Fluttershy had mentioned that those two were getting together today. Mm-hm. How wonderful for them both. It is so rare that those two get to see one another. I don't know about you, but I sometimes wonder how close they could actually be. All those years apart before being reunited?"

The others seemed a little unsure about this.

" And if they're not, this rare opportunity to focus on their friendship will certainly bring them closer. Unless..."

"Don't even think about it! They mustn't be disturbed!" Pearl cleared up. Discord picked her up by her cheeks, the expression making Amethyst giggle to herself.

"Disturb them? I wouldn't dream of it. Not when I have such dear friends of my own who have already offered to take care of me. And at such peril! This flu of mine is highly-" Discord suddenly let out another sneeze at them, getting on everyone but Rainbow, Pearl, and Garnet. It resulted in Lapis, Steven, Rarity, Amethyst and Applejack turning blue in skin color. "-contagious." The second after, those 'infected' sneezed, and were out of the picture. All that were left were Garnet, Rainbow Dash, and Lapis.

"Oh no, I got you all sick. Whomever shall I turn to now in my time of need?" Discord wondered aloud, turning to the only three left. They already knew what was coming in the end of it.


~~~~~~


Further away, at the area in question, Twilight and Cadance were both having their own fun at the Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum. Other ponies, dressed up like Twilight's outfit of the pony in question, also browsed the various objects. Only one who wasn't dressed up was Cadance herself.

"A whole day to celebrate Star Swirl the Bearded. What could be better?" Twilight commented with joy. 

"Absolutely nothing," Cadance replied. A gasp escaped her as the two saw a old candle on display nearby in a glass box. 

"Is that the candlestick he used to light the way when he was exploring the caverns of Maretania?"

"It sure is!" 

"Oh, I can't believe I'm getting to see it in real life!" Cadance replied. However, their time together ended up messed with, when the candle suddenly spun in place, and revealed a much smaller, blue discord sitting in there! Twilight and Cadance gasped, as the draconequus got himself out of the glass box, still sickly in appearance.

"Discord! What are you doing here?!" Twilight demanded, not happy to see him. Out of all the ponies she could've bumped into, it had to be Discord.

"Oh, dear, dear Princesses, I'm sorry to say that I'm sick. *HACKS* Blue flu."

"Blue flu?" Cadance asked. 

"Ah, I fear I've already given it to poor Lapis, Steven, Applejack and Rarity," Discord said, another sneeze escaping him. However, Cadance thought ahead, and a shield formed around them both.

"Magic health bubble."

"Good thinking."

"Indeed. How would Twilight nurse me back to health if she were sick too? You will be letting me stay at your place until I'm all better, won't you?" Discord asked, looking hopeful, as his face pushed on the bubble. Twilight looked simply angry with it, not to mentioned shocked. 

"Stay? With me?! Uh, now is not really the best time, though I'm sure you already knew that..." Twilight said, catching herself after her exclamation.

"But taking in the sick and the desperate - isn't that what Fluttershy would do? Isn't 'helping' something that friends do for friends? Unless, of course, you're really saying that you're not my friend," discord accused, looking a bit grumpy in the face. Twilight didn't want to be taken off as cold-hearted by that point.

"No, that is not what I'm saying," Twilight said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, how elated I am to hear that. Shall the three of us head back to your place? I don't want to get anypony else sick, and the Gems already agreed to lend a helping hand in my time of need."

Twilight just sighed, yet she knew that he was lying about that one. 

"Guess we don't have much choice." With that, Twilight and Cadance started to head off from the place. However, Discord ended up laying on the ground.

"Carry me?" Discord asked. 

"It isn't far, I think you can manage," Cadence said, continuing their walk. All Discord did was crawl like an inchworm to go off.

"Oh, poo."


~~~~~~


Sometime later, the draconequus was back in Twilight's house, off right into bed with him. He made himself comfy in her bed, as the others looked him over. As he said, Garnet, Rainbow and Pearl were there too. Pearl fluffed the pillow, as Twilight levitated the blanket over him. They weren't as up for this as Cadance and Twilight were...

"Need anything else?" Pearl asked in a sigh.

"Just knowing that I have such good friends like you to take care of me has made me feel better already. I'll be fine here on my own." Discord said, looking through one of Twilight's books. They turned to go, but, before they could ... 

"Oh, just before you go, just a little small request," discord said. Twilight and Pearl groaned, yet, Garnet was there to set them straight.

"It'll be fine, just go with it," Garnet said, as she turned to Discord. The others weren't too sure on that, but, what can they do?..

"What do you need, Discord?"


... So it begins ...



A little glass of water please (pulls a hankie from Garnet's ear) A fresh pressed hanky if I sneeze (gets a tea cup with bees flying out) Some tea with honey from the bees (gets rid of it) Whenever you can brew it.

"I'll get your tea," Cadence said.  

And while I get a little rest (the bed opened to show a bed, which opened to show a bed, which showed a smaller discord) A teeny tiny, small request (opens a bottle to show a huge fish pop out) Some codfish oil for my chest (the fish sings with Discord's voice) Poured from a crystal cruet. 

"A crystal cruet?" Pearl asked. Discord began to sing a little quicker. 

My goodness, I'm a nincompoop (multi-color flowers marks pop up on him) Because I fear I've got the croup (Garnet, Pearl and Cadance began putting a pumpkin in a cauldron) I need a vat of pumpkin soup (Discord grabbed the pot, and out poured a ton of flowers on then) And scarves made out of zinnias. Did I say zinnias? (the flowers turn to silk) I meant silk (Discord pulled them away, making everyone spin around) Or something shiny of that ilk (Discord suddenly swimming in a pond of milk, a cow chilling in the background) And then I'll need some nice warm milk (pops up in some other place, with a pastry) And pastries from Abyssinia. (Discord's face showed on his stomach) And since my stomach's feeling crummy Why not give my aching tummy Something soothing, something yummy (tons of noodles poured down on all of them)Piled up with noodles? (they all show up in a diner, Twilight as a waitress as others were dressed as waitresses) Add a slice of homemade rye With stacks of Swiss way up high, Served with sides of sweet mince pie More basil; I need oodles!

"Anything else?" Pearl groaned. Suddenly she and Discord were in a black room, spot light on them as they did a dance together. 

I'll be grateful for your charity Until the bitter end Because I've heard that tenderness Is what you lend an ailing friend 

"Tenderness, isn't that right, Pearl?" discord asked.

"Right, but-" they all pop up back in Twilight's room.

"So, who's ready for my big reprise?!" 

"NO!" Rainbow yelled.

(Discord in a land full of crackers) I'd like that glass of water please (they all show up wearing black robes, like wizards would, in a mideval setting) Some magic spell to cure disease (shows Discord sneezing a house away) A firm "gesundhoof" when I sneeze (takes Twilight's horn, which turns into a bouquet) A fresh bouquet of roses (Discord in some hillside, a tuba-playing pony in the back) Some lozenges will soon appease My wheezing when I start to sneeze (pops up back, switching around Pearl and Rainbow's hair) A wig to keep me from the breeze (Discord shoves his feet to the screen, his feet covered in sheets) And blankets for my toes-es! (suddenly he pops up with Garnet, Rainbow, and Pearl in an airport, Discord holding a pair of tweezers) Take tweezers out of my valise (ends up back in Twilight's room, Rainbow and Twilight massaging his knees) And then massage my knobby knees (Cadence and Garnet grate cheese over a huge bowl of peas) A bowl of peas, some extra cheese (Tiny Discord cuddling a fluffy dog) A cuddle with a Pekingese (Discord in a theater with a singing harp) A singing harp who's named Louise (a goat skiing down a hill) A goat on skis, (Discord on the trapeze) a new trapeze (shows him riding a chimp, working on a flea circus, and hugging a twilight doll) And more and more and more and more of theeeeeeesssse!

"And just because I oughta."

Make sure I'm drinking in the right (Discord drinking from a water tower) Amount of fluids day and night (Discord looking to the night sky) I wish I may, (Discord rubbing a magic lamp) I wish I might (Uses a measuring tweezers to pick up Garnet by her cube head) Have just one little thing (Discord flicks a coin into a well) Oh, would you please finally bring Me (Suddenly, Discord held a glass of water above them, looking like a title of Star Wars) that tiny glass Of (the rooms fills up with water, and drained out) water?!! 


discord laid back down in the bed, couching a little bit into his talon before looking back at the bewildered crowd. Garnet just stood there, her teeth gritted together. As for Pearl ...

"O-o-oh, Gimminee?! Yahuhuhahahehehetseyahutsui, Ahu-Aaaw.."

The thud heard on the floor was clear that Pearl saw more than her mind could take, a passed out Pearl on the floor. All Garnet did was shutter in discomfort, as Cadence finally gave him his glass of water ... only for him to drop it in the ground.

"Oopsie," Discord said with a grin.

"Alright, I had enough of this!" Rainbow snapped, flying off with Twilight, as Garnet helped out Pearl.

"How did you even catch this flu?" Cadance asked. Discord then started to wash Twilight's window.

"Inadequate hoof and claw washing?"

Not the best excuse, but, no one bothered to call him out on it. Soon, Twilight was trying to look through the books for something to work.

"There must be some way to just cure you! There has to be a spell or remedy in one of my books!" Twilight said.

"There is one way..."

Everyone looked to Discord with anger.

"And you didn't think to mention it earlier?" Rainbow scoffed. Discord didn't take the anger to mind. 

"Slipped my mind. On a hill at the very edge of Equestria, there grows an exquisite magic flower. Pick the flower as it drops its petals at sunset. Then you can make a magical soothing elixir to cure the blue flu." Discord explained, the flashback playing out as the words say until he snapped his talons, ending up back in the room.

"I suppose you have a good reason you didn't bother to get this flower as soon as you realized you were sick?" Garnet said, Pearl starting to come back around.

"Well, I couldn't travel that far in my condition. By the time I got there, I'd be too weak to even attempt to retrieve the flower." 

"So where exactly are we headed?" Twilight asked. Discord popped up in a explorer's outfit, holding a map of Equestria. 

"Well, you'll want to head north, turn left, th- Oh... You know, it'd be much easier if I took you there myself," discord said, turning the map into a hat, and placing it on Twilight's head. 

"I thought you were in no condition to travel," Cadance pointed out.

"I'm not. We'll need to make some arrangements."


~~~~~~


O, that draconequus: Discord's idea of arrangements had everypony/everybody in a different scenario. After morphing her body, Garnet, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Cadance were pulling a huge, pure gold chariot. The only one that wasn't pulling was Pearl, sitting next to Discord like she was his queen or something. They knew it was going to add up to something, but, not this.

"How're you holding up?" Twilight asked Cadance.

"To be honest, I'm a little out of practice when it comes to flying," replied Cadance.

"Well, then lucky for you. We're here," discord announced, the chariot descending over at the edge of Equestria. The area was dry, lining along a huge canyon, a few rock formations scattered along the way. They landed the chariot along the Equestrian side of the canyon, Garnet turning back to normal.

"It's just at the top of that hill," Discord said, pointing a claw to a tall hill. They couldn't see what was at the top of it, so, all they could do was start to climb up it. It was a deep bummer, but, what other choice was there? It took a bit, but everypony/everybody (besides Discord) got to the top of the tall hill. When they did, they saw the flower ... a huge, gigantic, tree-sized flower! Well, flower's a flower, as everyone tried their best to get the gigantic flower loose. They kept pulling and pulling, the unicorns with their magic, and everyone else with their strength, but eventually they all finally pulled the plant right out of the ground. At first, it was good to get that thing free ...

*ROOOAAARRR*

Suddenly, out of that same hole, something quickly shot itself out. The creature was huge, a giant worm-like beast with three jaws, and a number of root-like tongues! It quickly attacked the fliers, all of them getting out of the way fast. Garnet and Pearl got their weapons ready, as the giant worm leaped out of the ground, and grabbed Cadance!

"Get your coils off my sister-in-law!" Twilight yelled, shooting at it from the air. It managed to release it at one point, but grabbed Twilight! Rainbow took action, and kicked the things right in the eyes, releasing her as it landed by the hole. Garnet and Pearl kept the creature in place, punching and shooting at it as Cadance and Twilight got to work. As Pearl, Rainbow, and Garnet forced it back underground, Cadance and Twilight closed off the hole with some huge rocks.

Crisis obverted.

When all was said and done, they all helped in carrying the flower back down the hill.

"Are you okay?" Twilight panted. Everyone was okay at the end of it.

"Then let's get Discord back to Ponyville, make that elixir, and finally get a chance to spend some -" before Twilight could finish, everyone looked ahead and saw discord off of the chariot ... not blue ... and dancing?

"To the ends of Equestria! To face such great danger! And she did it for me! She did it all for me, for me, for me!" discord laughed while dancing around, sliding at the end in an Elvis-like fashion ... However, he lifted up the glasses to see everyone looking at him, very angry with him.

"You ... were ... FAKING?!" Rainbow Dash yelled, right in Discord's face. However, despite their anger, Discord kept calm.

"I was! But I had a very good reason," discord said, putting Twilight down.

"We're listening," Twilight said.

"and it better be good," added Garnet, her weapon at the ready.

"Well, I was in my thinking tree (suddenly ends up in some large tree) that's where I do most of my really deep thinking (the tree disappears) I was there, and I said to myself, I said, "Discord, your friend Twilight says that she's your pal, but she never writes and she never pops in for a visit."" 

"I don't even know where you li-" Twilight's lips were shut by Discord as he continued.

""Now that she's a princess (the crown pops up on his head), maybe she's decided that she's too good for you."" 

"I have never considered myself t-" 

"But how was I supposed to know for sure that I'm truly still friends with one of the most important ponies around?" 

"I'm not more-" 

"By seeing if you would go to the ends of Equestria for me, of course. Which you did, literally. Congratulations, Twilight, you passed my friendship test!" Discord than gave Twilight a heart necklace, with himself and Twilight on it. Still, Twilight was very upset, though Garnet began to think over the true reason behind it, removing her gloves.

"Why the angry eyes? You love passing tests. It's not because my little exam put a damper on your visit with Princess Cadance, is it? Made it so that there was no time for you two to focus on your friendship?" Discord said. But then ...

"You didn't put a damper on our visit at all," Cadance suddenly replied, catching almost everyone off guard.

"He didn't?" everyone asked.

and at the same time:

"I didn't?" Discord asked.

"Spending the day at the Star Swirl the Bearded exhibit would've been more relaxing, but to be honest, relaxation is the last thing I need."

"It is?" Asked Twilight, landing by her sister-in-law. 

"Don't get me wrong. Life in the Crystal Empire is wonderful, but it's become a little... predictable. I enjoy a little excitement now and then. Getting to face all these challenges today was just what I needed. And facing them with you just made me realize even more how lucky I am to have somepony like you as a friend. We may not see each other very often, but I know you'll always be there when I need you. Just like she was there for you, Discord," Cadance explained. However, Discord actually looked a bit annoyed with the result. 

"Yes, she's a real sweetheart. We're all so lucky to have her in our lives," discord griped. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Everyone got back as, all of a sudden, the giant worm shot out of the ground! Discord hung onto Garnet with worry.

"What in the world?!"

The giant worm then gave a loud, snot-filled sneeze right at them. While the stuff missed the others, Discord was covered in it. The worm dragged itself back underground, green goop trailing back as it sickly got itself back underground. Just second after, the effects quickly kicked in: Discord's body turned light green, with darker green spots showing up all over him.

This time: it wasn't an act.


~~~~~~


"I don't want to go saying you got what you deserved..." Lapis said.

"Well, I have no trouble saying it. You got what you deserved!" Rainbow added. They were at Fluttershy's place at that point, Discord in a decontamination bubble he conjured up so he wouldn't end up getting anypony else sick. Steven, Rarity, Applejack, Steven, and Amethyst had got cured of their fake disease, and Fulgurite had come back when everything was over. Fluttershy and Connie had returned from their trip as well.

"Now, now, he's learned his lesson. Isn't that right, my little patient?" Fluttershy asked, sticking her hoof through a sealed off opening to rub Discord. When karma gets somepony, it sure can hit hard.

"I'm so glad that you're back from your trip, Fluttershy. Just your presence here is making me feel so much better. I was just wondering, could I trouble you for just one more thing?"

"No!" Pearl, Rainbow, Twilight, and Garnet said.

"What? I was simply going to ask for a teeny, tiny glass of water."
> Party for Two
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One town, isolated in the desert of Equestria, was having the time of their lives. With the nighttime dim blocked away by festive lights, the town of ponies was partying like there's no tomorrow, everypony and in this case, a group of buffalo, were having what seemed to be a party more suited for a grand city celebration than one for the country town like that. Still, they all had it, and couldn't be happier. Great spotlights, balloons, streamers, the whole kafuffle was used here, and used well over-the-top. It was a happy place.

Standing further away, one pony was looking on with silent pride over the exact accomplishment that was his party for everypony else. The pony was a bit thinner and taller than any normal pony, wearing a black cowboy hat and grey poncho. Despite the serious appearance, this brown maned, orange stallion, was responsible for such an extravaganza. On his back, sat comfortably a rubber chicken with a small bowler hat, as the stallion gave a sigh.

"Well, Boneless. Looks like our work here is done," the pony said, referring to the rubber chicken. The chicken only slumped over as the stallion began walking away from the town.

"Yep, those ponies never partied so hard. Thanks to me: Cheese. Cheese Sandwich."

All of a sudden, Cheese Sandwich stopped, feeling something go through him. His body rippled, going from his next, to his hooves, to his flank, which his cutie (a cheese sandwich) started to work like an accordion, stretching the melted cheese. Cheese then leaped up in the air. 

"Woo-hoo-hoo! That was a doozy!" Cheese exclaimed, goofier than his looks say, landing gently when the poncho opened up. The jump ended up making him loose his hat, so, he put the cowboy hat icon right back on his head, acting serious again.  

"Well, Boneless. Looks like our next party is gonna be in ... Beach City."


~~~~~~


Indeed, while going through Ponyville, a particular happy pink pony was happily trotting through town, getting a number of stuff for her latest party fiasco. This party was indeed a special one: for this one she planned for the Gems rather than the ponies in ponyville, getting some special stuff in order to get things all set. Pinkie hopped over to the market, the area as busy as it usually is, and began her shopping trip at a stand selling streamers.

"How's it going today, Pinkie?" The vendor pony asked, glad to see her. Pinkie bounded over in her usual happy behavior.

"Great, thanks! Got any streamers today?" Pinkie asked. Sure enough, he gave Pinkie the best streamers he had. Pinkie gladly paid her ten bits for all the streamers.

"You betcha! Big party planned?" 

"Don't you know it!"

After her stop with one vendor, she happily popped up by a few more, gathering up supplies for her big party coming up as she goes along. Her saddlebag she was using was filled up with not just streamers, but also stuff like paint brushes, party hats, blowers, balloons, and other things that have to do with a party. It took about a good twenty minutes worth of quick grabs, and fast payment, for the pink mare to have everything she needed. And good thing too, Pinkie's own excitement couldn't be kept waiting any longer. With a big smile on her face, and a hop in her step, Pinkie got the magical key out of her pink mane, and after hopping out of the market, got the key opening up the door on the ground, and with a giggle and a hop, Pinkie Pie went right through the portal, keeping her key with her. However, the exact spot as to where she had left the portal open wasn't too good - left open by mistake after she hoped through...

Few seconds later, the other end opened up with Pinkie landing perfectly on her hooves, all her stuff with her. Where she landed: at Beach city shoreline, right over by Steven's house. Some of Pinkie's pals were already there: this party pre-planned. The Mane Six, the Crystal Gems, and Steven's pal, Connie. Someone else was there too for some fun, someone that the Mane Six had only recently gotten to know of: a large, pink furred male lion. He was resting nearby, Pinkie happily giving him a party hat to wear. Lion didn't bother too much and allowed Pinkie to put on the pointy hat.

"Is that everything, Pinkie?" Connie asked.

"Yes indeedie!" Pinkie beamed, getting all the stuff out of her hooves. Suddenly, everybody/everypony was caught in a fast-going pink tornado. Seconds later, everything was suddenly up along the place: the house having decorative flags, streamers and balloons, everyone there with party hats for each one of them, the table having all the party plates, plastic forks, cups, and dessert for the center as if it was for a birthday.

"Wow, that's fast," Steven beamed.

"Nah, but, pretty neat," Fulgurite said. Leave it to the speedster to not be too impressed with the speed of Pinkie Pie. After everything, Pinkie's tone suddenly shifted, a bit too quickly as Pinkie went over to Steven - who decided the party in the first place.

"Steven?"

"Yes, Pinkie?" Steven asked getting up.

"You realize that, by enlisting me as your party planner, I guarantee that this is going to be the funnest, most fantabulous, superbial party in Ponyville?" Pinkie asked, oddly calm and serious about the matter rather than being all bubbly. Her behavior was enough for Steven to fall back onto the sand, Pinkie over him.

"Uh...yeah? I guess." 

"No guesses! Parties are no picnic."

"Oh, I like a nice picnic party," Pearl suddenly said. All Pinkie did was growl like a dog to hush her.

"Parties. Are. Serious! And you have my certified Pinkie Party (does her 'cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye' promise, using a real cupcake as an example) Promise that you will have the best party ever!" 

"Okay."

Suddenly, Pinkie was back to her bubbly self.

"Great! Now, who's ready to join this super-duper party pony to plan this super-duper pa-rty?"

"I am."

That voice was sudden, and no one knew who said that. They all looked to where they heard it. It was over by where the portal used to be, and then they saw another pony there, leaning on a rock, acting all shady. It would look as if he was a deep threat, if it wasn't for the party blower in his mouth. Course, how'd he got there was a wonder, as none of them remember bringing him back around.

"Who are you, stranger?" Pinkie asked.

"Name's Cheese Sandwich. I plan parties," he replied.

"What an amazing coincidence! I'm Pinkie Pie, and I'm planning a party!"

"Oh, it's no coincidence, my little pony. My cheesy sense was a-tingling, telling me a party was in the works." 

"A cheesy sense? Ah! Double amazing! I have a Pinkie Sense!"

"Yes. I sensed you did. And I happen to be the premiere party planner in all of Equestria. If there's a party in need, there I'll be. Be it wingding, hoedown, hootenanny, or shindig, I'm your pony." That information seemed like an interesting reputation to follow by, though his behavior seemed a bit off for a party pony... 

"A pair of party pony planners in Ponyville?! What can be more perfect?!" Pinkie beamed. 

"Two big parties, that's what! This parties not only for Beach City, somepony's got a birth-iversary today!"

"Excuse me?" Lapis asked, a little confused.

"Surprise! This party's celebrating Rainbow's birthday!"

"AND anniversary for when I moved to Ponyville! So, what do you say, party planners?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh, I think we can do it!" Pinkie said with a smile. But ...

"Oh, I don't think so."

At first, that seemed pretty surprising. However, Cheese Sandwich suddenly removed his poncho and hat, showing him in a yellow t-shirt, and a much happier grin and attitude! This party pony's ready to go and will be happy to let everyone know!


"I know so! After all..."

The super-duper party pony–that pony is me! I always knew that was the kind of pony I would be.

"Me too!" Pinkie beamed out. Cheese Sandwich hopped up on the table, giddy as ever.

"Come on, ponies! Who here likes to party?" Cheese sandwich slid over to Pearl with a big grin. "Ha-ha! You do! I can tell!" (Comedic gag of pulling down the screen, showing a smaller colt hopping around in a giant cheese wheel)

When I was but a little colt, I just wanted to play! 

Pinkie; "Like me!" 

But everypony told me, (other ponies pop out of the cheese wheel) "Cheese, that fun just wastes the day" 

Pinkie; "As if!"

(Cheese switches the screen and pops up by some bummed out ponies) But when I threw a party, and I busted out some moves 

Pinkie; Uh-huh! 

(cheese gives them party hats) The ponies finally saw the light and got into the groove! 

Pinkie; You know it! 

The super-duper party pony–that pony is me (pulls the screen back up, ending up back in the party) You'll never meet another party pony quite like Cheese! 

Pinkie; Uh, Pinkie?

(shows Cheese with a ton of partying ponies on a giant floating pizza) My parties are all off the hook I never plan them by the book (Cheese ends up at a normal party, him coming in upside down) I start out fun, then whoopsie-daisy (the whole room is upside down to him, the cake landing on his head) Everybody just gets crazy! (Shows some fillies with their mom bring a stack of hay) Bored of snacks made by your mom? (Brings in a party bomb) How about a giant party bomb?! (Shows a pig piñata sitting out cake) Huge piñatas filled with cake (jumping off a diving board into a punch bowl) Or dive into my fruit punch lake! (Cheese ends up on a dance floor) The super-duper party pony–that pony is me You'll never meet another party pony quite like Cheese (He is at another party, giving a colt a huge hippo as a birthday present)

"C'mon, kid, take it for a spin!" 

"Golly! Thanks, mister!" 

Oh, when I throw a Cheese party, (pulls in Pearl with his tail) be sure to not be lame! (Slams a pie in her face) And miss my pie fights, (ties kites to her nose) wacky kites, (explodes a ton of streamers at her) and streamers in your mane! (Shows a soda, Hawaiian shirt, and him in cheese fondue) Fizzy drinks, Hawaiian shirts, and brie fondue delight! (He ends up back at the party, playing an accordion) You know that with Cheese Sandwich, you'll be partying all night!

"C'mon, everypony! Let's party down with Cheese!" Rainbow beamed.

"You're really a certified party pony?" Fluttershy asked.

"That's right! That's my guarantee!" Answered Cheese.

The super-duper party pony–that pony is me-e-e-e-e

Poor pinkie seemed to be ignored, many of her friends checking out Cheese sandwich, both from Beach City and Ponyville, leaving her behind. The only one paying attention to her for the moment was Lion, who gave her a lick. Though, it didn't help too much...

But what about the super party pony named Pinkie...? 



~~~~~~


As Steven's part of the party went on without any hitch for Rainbow's birth-iversary. Throughout the whole time, at least it felt that way, Pinkie was pretty much forgotten about for the time being. Sure, a few more subtle friends (Lion, and Garnet) knew Pinkie was bummed out, yet everyone else seemed to be having more fun with this sudden new pony arrival.  Eventually, as the party itself was going along with a ton of fun, it was beginning to go off back to Ponyville, Rainbow opening the door back to their world.

"Yeah! Hah, now that's what I'm talking about! I'm so stoked you're here, Cheese Sandwich!"

"Yeah. You sure did come on the right day." 

"Your party sounds simply divine." 

"We're so lucky to have you here."

These sorts of compliments made by the others for Cheese were more salt on the wounds for Pinkie, who was hanging out in the back letting everyone else speak and go through. Then ...

"I mean, Pinkie Pie's parties are fun and sweet and all, but now this party's gonna be -" 

"Epic?" Cheese asked, filling the word for Rainbow Dash.

"You said it! Oh, yeah!"

"Feels gouda!" Cheese said, going through the portal. Before Rainbow could, she saw Pinkie looking bummed in her state as well.

"Uh, heh, no offense, Pinkie."

"Uh, n-none taken," Pinkie replied, smiling as Rainbow went through. Pinkie was far from fine though: everypony and everybody simply loved Cheese, and Pinkie was left in the dust. As she sat there, Lion went over to her, a paw resting on her head. Pinkie looked up to Lion, who was a lot larger than her, mind you. Pinkie didn't bother going through when the portal closed, physically telling Lion that she wasn't going to the party. Even if she had the key with her, she didn't feel like she was needed here ...

Lion had other plans.

Getting up, he suddenly gave a loud roar, and, right where the portal used to be, another portal opened up. Pinkie didn't had time to react, as Lion suddenly grabbed Pinkie by her mane, threw her onto his back, and suddenly rushed through with her! Pinkie could only hold on as they flew through the portal. At the other end of it, Lion landed firmly on the ground, skidding a good five feet before stopping. They were, in fact, in Ponyville! Talk about a surprise from a magical lion. Once more, the lion was at Pinkie's house, dropping her off by the front doorstep. Pinkie, though, didn't feel much better, as she just sat down grimly. Nopony was there except for Lion at that moment, as he sat down next to her, not saying anything. For a few minutes, it'd been like that, until ...

"Pinkie."

A familiar voice startled the saddened mare, as she suddenly decided to try something else. She didn't want to show that she was upset with Cheese doing this for them, so, the pink mare instead got out a watering can, and began to water the flowers around the bakery, a big smile on her face. The person who spoke was, actually, Garnet.

"Oh, howdy-do Garnet?"

"You're not coming back?" Garnet asked, the question more similar to a teacher's learning than a legit curiosity. Pinkie was undeterred by it, knowing what Garnet meant by that, as she continued watering her plants with her fake grin.

"That's okay," Pinkie replied, chuckling, "Cheese obviously has what it takes to do it all by himself. Heh." Garnet simply looked down to the pink mare, arms crossed. 

"Really?"

"Yes, indeedy!" Pinkie replied. However, the water eventually ran out from the watering can, as Garnet thought for a moment. With a sigh passing her lips, Garnet turned, and left Pinkie with that. 

"After all, if Cheese really is the super duperiest partying-est pony of them all, maybe that means... I'm... not," Pinkie sighed, Garnet not hearing that, as Pinkie began to walk away.

Pinkie, feeling sad for everything that happened, walked through ponyville with a sigh, Lion following her from behind like a noble pet. Still, Pinkie wasn't in the mood, and simply ignored him as she continued walking, ears back and mane slightly deflated. In just a few short hours, she suddenly turned from the best party pony, to an average second-rate to Cheese Sandwich. Even if nopony said, it sure felt that way to her ...


For all my life, all I've wanted to do was make my friends want to smile true. (Pinkie stopped at a river bridge, looking down at her reflection, with Lion nearby) But maybe I was wrong, And Pinkie Pie shouldn't plan parties at all... 

Pinkie went even as far, as to try other jobs apart from partying...

She tried a surgeon...

I'll try to get up on my hooves. 

She tried a mail mare...

And try a different task.

She tried a builder...

I'll find something new to do There's gotta be more to me than planning a party or two...

But none of those worked.

 (puts her party cannon in her closet) I put away my party cannon, (gets the air out of her balloons) I deflated all my balloons. The bubbles all burst, now what is next for you? For you...

Then she noticed something else along the wall leading up to her room. Of all her past parties, she had a number of pictures from her past success, her parties as spectacular, and hadn't diminished since her very first. The first one she saw was of her with a bunch of other ponies, when she was just a filly. 

"Oh, I remember this one: my first party ever. My whole family was there." Then, looking over, she saw one with Twilight, while she was still a unicorn. "And that's Twilight's welcome-to-Ponyville party. She didn't even expect that one," Pinkie giggled. Then she saw one of her having a party with a small, baby alligator. "Oh, look at Gummy! He just looks so excited for this birthday party!" The next picture was of her, her friends, and with a particular Alicorn, and unicorn stallion. "Hmm. Shining Armor and Cadance's wedding sure was special, especially once I got a hold of the music."

Oh, look at those happy faces, All the parties that I had thrown! I made them laugh, had such a blast A smile that's all their own! They loved seeing me, the real Pinkie (she goes out on a balcony, an epic view of all of ponyville) Show them the time of their life like they've never known, Like they've never kno-o-own

Lion then went over to her, sitting down by her, looking down to the mare. Bringing her back was just what she needed. She knew what she had to do now.

"Thank you, Lion!"

I've got to get back out there, (Pinkie bolted and got her things, as Lion waited outside for her) have to show them that I've tried, For there's only one great party pony (wears a present box, with some funny glasses, clown nose, and other funny stuff to prove the point) -- that is Pinkie Pie. (she made a cheese sandwich) Won't let Cheese Sandwich beat me, (squishes it in her hooves) won't let him get me down For I am Pinkie, the bestest party pony around!



~~~~~~


Meanwhile, the others were still helping out with the big celebration. Since the party moved from Beach City to Ponyville, the ponies of the town were helping out a lot more with what was planned for Rainbow Dash, who couldn't be more excited if she tried. Cheese Sandwich was doing pretty well for the party, to say the least of his amazing efforts. So far, there was a ton ready for the event: a huge stage, a skylight with Rainbow's own cutie mark, and much, much more. At one point, Cheese Sandwich had actually made a full-on ice sculpture for Rainbow Dash!

"AWESOME!" Rainbow said upon seeing that.

"Not bad, Cheese, this is incredible!" Amethyst added in, amazed that he was doing all of this for one party. In fact, all the Gems were impressed by everything.

"All in a day's work for Equestria's party pony," said Cheese, giving Rainbow a playful noogie, with the Pegasus laughing. However ...

"FREEZE, CHEESE!"

Suddenly, everyone turned and saw Pinkie standing there, looking at Cheese Sandwich with a surprisingly angry glare. Lion went over and joined the Gems for what Pinkie had in mind ...

"I challenge you ... TO A GOOF-OFF!"

Everyone was a bit surprised on Pinkie's decision (showing it or not).

"Oh, no! Not a goof off!" Fluttershy stuttered.

"What's a goof off?" Fulgurite asked.

"I have no idea, hehe." 

"This Cheese has stood alone a long time, Pinkie Pie. You think you can out-goof me?" Cheese asked, acting all serious again.

"Oh, I don't think so. I know so! And the stakes are high, Cheese Sandwich. Whoever wins will be dubbed the ultimate super-duper party pony and headline the Rainbow Dash birth-iversary bash!" 

"And the loser?" Connie asked. 

"Doesn't!" 

A gasp escaped many of her friend's lips, though Garnet and Lion seemed to know the outcome of this already ...

"So, are you in, Cheese? Or are you... boneless?" Pinkie mocked. Cheese was angry from that.

"Nopony calls me boneless. Right, Boneless?" Cheese asked, his rubber chicken only slumping over in response again.

"Then the goof off is on for high noon!" Pinkie announced. 

"Um, Pinkie? It's already 3 o'clock," Twilight said. 

"Oh. Oh, well then. Make it 3:10 to goof off!"

Her friends seemed a bit unsure with this surprise challenge. This pony was so kind, so giddy with everypony she met, and when somepony suddenly came around like this, she suddenly was ready to challenge them for the title? It could be an act of ego, or an act of title, but either way, it wasn't going to end with any talk...


~~~~~~


ten minutes later, the events began to unfold. With the Crustal Gems and the Mane Six along the crowd of ponies, the two challengers stepped forward, like a cowboy showdown. Pinkie arrived, with a large cowboy hat with an arrow through it, along with some blue cowgirl boots on her four hooves. Cheese sandwich meanwhile had on a winter hat, a purple fish on top of it, his front hooves with elephant slippers, and the back hooves with different colored socks. The two were making some funny faces at each other, as Twilight got in position between them. Garnet and Lion sat down in the crowd, everypony else waiting for the showdown to begin.

"All right, everypony. According to my official goof off rulebook..." Twilight began, holding a book to her with her magic to read over what to do. 

"She actually has a goof off rulebook?" Fulgurite whispered to Spike. 

"Are you kidding? Twilight can find a rulebook for everything!"

A quick 'shh' from another pony got them quiet as Twilight continued.

"The two competitors have free range to goof about -- be it by singing, dancing, playing, prancing, joking, or performing -- to make the judge chortle, chuckle, giggle, guffaw, hoot and holler, whoop it up, and party down. The funnier, sillier, wilder, and goofier, the better. Rainbow Dash, since the winner will be headlining your party, you are the judge."

"Heh. Big tense competition on my birth-iversary. What could be better?" Rainbow replied, though didn't appear like she wanted to. The Pegasus just wanted a great party, she didn't want anypony to fight over it. 

"Cheese Sandwich, Pinkie Pie, are you ready?" Twilight asked. 

"I was born ready!" Pinkie said.

"I was ready before I was born!" Cheese added in. Confusing, but there wasn't much time for logic. 

"Then... Let the goofing begin!"


Oh boy here we go.

Cheese pulls out his accordion and starts dancing, though Pinkie began singing first, having a fake mustache, dancing on a bouncy ball, juggling cupcakes.
It's your birthday party, a very special day I've got a song, it won't take long, I just wanted to say (starts tossing cupcakes to Rainbow, who ate them up with each toss) Happy, happy, happy, happy Happy, happy, happy, happy Happy, happy, happy, happy birthday to you!

Cheese turn: rolling in on a gigantic cheese wheel, while playing his accordion before hopping off by Rainbow. 

If you wanna be the life of the party But you're feeling just a little uptight Call the doctor, beg and plead "Doctor, tell me what I need" (wears cheese shoes, taking a bite out of each). Try to put a little cheese in your knees! 

Pinkie got Rainbow with a hook, and got her in the air for her turn, the mare in a balloon, bubbles and balloons all over.

Bubbles and balloons, bubbles and balloons What's a birthday party without bubbles and balloons? Star-shaped or trapezoid, look what I can do Only Pinkie Pie can make a bubble shaped like you!

Rainbow was then drawn down by Cheese, who had a makeshift cheese float for her. 

'Cause I like to make you smile, smile, smile Yes I do It fills my heart with sunshine all the while Yes it does 'Cause all I really need's a smile, smile, smile From these happy friends of mine 

"That's my song!" Pinkie snapped. 

"What do you mean? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"THAT'S IT!" Pinkie jumped from the hot air balloon, landing with her party cannon in place.

Roll out the party cannon When you hear the party cannon song Ka-BOOM! 

In response, Cheese brings in a party howitzer!

Why should you compromise? Try this one on for size 'Cause nothing quite says cheer like the ringing in your ear of the cheese supreme cannonball surprise!

Rainbow was shot by a ton of confetti, and a bunch of pelicans that flew out, as Pinkie came back with a giant piñata brought in by crane, with her talking Spanish 

¡Dale, dale, dale No pierdas el tino! Porque si lo pierdes ¡Pierdes el camino! 


Suddenly, to their surprise, one of the pelicans that Cheese flied out of the howitzer and bit the rope off of the crane! That quickly resulted in the huge piñata falling onto her! The others were surprised, though Rainbow wasn't too hurt from the collapse. After that happened, Pinkie Pie then noticed the true look on the Pegasus. She wasn't having any fun with the party at all. Sure, it started hunky dory, but now...

Then, it hit her like a freight train.

"Rainbow's not having the best party ever! I... I broke the Pinkie Party Promise!" Pinkie realized. She thought she was doing right, but now, she realized how much of a mistake she did. 

"Stop! The goof off is off!"

That announcement made everything stop altogether, looking to her in confusion...

"But I haven't named a winner," Rainbow said, after getting herself out.

"You don't have to. I forfeit. Which means... Cheese Sandwich wins." 

"But, what about you, Pinkie?" Lapis asked after everything.

"I... I don't."


~~~~~~


Sometime later, with the plans still going off underway, Pinkie herself had gotten her stuff altogether. It was a bit extreme, but Pinkie felt it was what she felt was needed (and she was sure, this time). All of her party stuff was with her, as she readied herself to go. Before she could though, the Gems and Ponies noticed what she was doing. While the Gems didn't rush up at first, Rainbow quickly went right over to her.

"Pinkie, wait! I'm sorry I got all swept away by Cheese Sandwich," Rainbow quickly said before Pinkie got a chance to leave. 

"We all are," Connie said, with everyone with her in agreement, feeling sorry. Even after that, Pinkie just gave a saddened sigh.

"No. I'm sorry I let my pride get in the way of you having the best birth-iversary ever. Cheese Sandwich really is a super-duper party planner, and he'll be a terrific headliner. I should've been a big enough pony to admit that and let you have your day," Pinkie Pie said, still ready to go. Still, Rainbow quickly stopped her.

"But don't you get it? You're both super-duper party ponies. Sure, Cheese Sandwich is a great guest party pony, but you're Ponyville's permanent party pony. Nopony could ever take your place, and we could never have a party without you," Rainbow said, hugging her favorite party pony. Even if Pinkie didn't win the contest, she felt that she wasn't going to be replaced for the moment. However, suddenly, somepony else came over to talk to her. Soon, everyone then saw the supposed winner of the goof off, Cheese Sandwich, come over to Pinkie Pie.

"Rainbow Dash is right. I never meant to take your place in Ponyville. I just wanted to show you what a great party pony I am, Pinkie," Cheese admitted. That news wasn't exactly expected by anyone...

"Why me?" 


"Well..."

I fear I told a little fib about my pony past I hope that when you hear the truth, you will not be aghast I wasn't quite the super party pony like I claim (It shows Cheese sandwich as a little colt, but a lot shyer than his original claim) The fact is that I was so shy, nopony knew my name. (Cheese went away from his old home, as a runaway...until he stumbled down a hill) I stumbled into Ponyville one afternoon by chance And found the biggest ever celebration party dance Everything was perfect, cheer was filling up the place And I saw that everypony had a smile upon their face (jump ahead to the future) I vowed that day to change my life, the past I did set free For now Cheese Sandwich was a party pony full of glee A super-duper party pony -- that's what I became I traveled all Equestria, and all did know my name But that never would have happened on my own, I'll tell you why (jump back to the celebration, him still a colt) For the one who threw that party, it was you, Pinkie Pie.


"Me?"

"Yeah!"

"So, I was the pony that threw the awesomely spectacular party that inspired you to become an awesome spectacular party thrower?"

"Swear on Camembert!"

The revelation was all that Pinkie needed to feel a whole lot better. At the least, she wasn't getting replaced by anypony. Before they got any further, Rainbow quickly got in between them.

"Enough with the warm fuzzy stuff, you two. It's my birth-iversary, and you gotta throw me a bash!"

"Yeah!" 

"Let's go!"


~~~~~~


Later on, that night, the party was in full swing. It was much more epic than originally planned, but, with Cheese sandwich and Pinkie Pie working together than against each other, the party ended better than anypony/anybody could ever imagine. So much was going on for the event, mixing Pinkie's and Cheese's party tactics for the whole thing. From Pinkie's decorations to Cheese's special additions, made this the biggest birthday party Rainbow Dash has ever had. And it wasn't just her who were having fun, the Gems and ponies were enjoying their time as well. While Amethyst and Fulgurite were on a party roller coaster for instance, Connie and Steven were enjoying some fun with Cheese's party hippo ride. Despite everything earlier, the party ended beautifully. Nearby, on a performance stage, both Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie were on stage.

"All right, everypony! It's time to celebrate the birthday -"

"And anniversary," Added in Pinkie.

"Of Rainbow Dash!" they both announced, a huge present thrown in the air, and opening to show Rainbow Dash herself flying out.


"Hey, everypony! Who's ready to get their party on?! Hit it!"

Get your hooves up, party's starting out right now (Cheese rolls by on his giant cheese wheel) Everypony, everypony get down (Rainbow was by her birthday cake, a lot of candles on it for her to blow out. An easy task) Time to make a wish, better make it right now It's been a year and today is your birthday party! Make a wish, it's your birthday (Rainbow eats through a large pizza with Amethyst) Make a wish, it's your birthday party (Rainbow hits directly on a piñata) Make a wish, it's your birthday (Rainbow was happily bouncing on a held banner of herself, her friends holding the ends of it) Make a wish, it's your birthday party!


Indeed, everything worked out splendidly. For Rainbow Dash, it couldn't gone better. So much fun stuff for not just herself, but, her friends, all thanks to two of the best party ponies she ever knew. As everyone was having fun, she went right over to Cheese Sandwich.

"Cheese Sandwich! Oh, I gotta tell ya, you and Pinkie have totally made this the best birthday/anniversary super combo ever! Hah, it's totally-"

"Epic?" cheese asked with a grin.

"Yeah, it is!" Rainbow beamed. Cheese put his own cowboy hat back on, the same one he arrived to them with.

"That's all I needed to hear, little filly." As Pinkie finished up her song, and got down from the stage, Cheese stopped by, and placed a large box by her. Upon opening it, Pinkie looked surprised to see that it was boneless, Cheese's rubber chicken! "Just a little memento of my visit."

"You're giving me your special rubber chicken friend?"

"Oh, he's not the only one," cheese said, putting a second rubber chicken on his back. It looked just the same, except for a number two written on it. 

"Well, Boneless Two, another job well done. But it's time we mosey along. Another town, another party."

With that, towards the setting sun on his open road, Cheese Sandwich began to set off once more, with his cowboy hat and poncho worm by him as he went. The Mane Six, and Crystal Gems all watched him go with a nice grin. As they watched him go, Lion nuzzled Pinkie, Pinkie smiling at the lion that helped her out when she needed it.
> Puppy Love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While summer was usually the main time for sunshine, clear skies and calming waves. As with everything, a little rain must fall ... Literally. For that night back at Steven's house, thunderstorms were forecasted, giving freshwater rain to Beach City. It'd been a rather uneventful evening, though they'd kept themselves busy with other activities as of late. For the moment, even right before bed, Steven was a bit up and about thanks to the thundering storm going on just outside. He kept himself busy with some late-night reading, looking over some of the Daring Do books he'd got thanks to Twilight and Rainbow. The only other thing with him for the moment was Lion, who was already fast asleep at the foot of his bed. After going through the latest chapter for the night, Steven placed the book by the side of his bed, next to his alarm clock, before looking outside as he heard another thundering boom from the night storm. Looking out, he couldn't see very much on what was outside, though he did see one thing: the sparkling water wings of Lapis Lazuli. It wasn't the first time Steven saw Lapis outside in the rain since first meeting her, and he knew she'll be back inside at some point. For Lapis, being a water Gem, the feel of the rain was refreshing after a long time of sun, especially on her water wings. Like a bird drying his wings, but only in reverse, Lapis took in the water in her wings with a smile, refreshing smile. Steven, although not seeing her too well, could tell that Lapis was enjoying it, and didn't want to bug her on it. So, with a tired yawn, Steven got under his covers, and went right off to sleep. As for Lapis Lazuli outside, she felt ready to head in after a few more minutes, her body soaking wet from the fresh rain. While it would annoy some people, Lapis felt pretty good with it, adding the rain to her water wings before beginning to go inside. Lapis went back in with her body refreshed. Upon entering, Lapis made sure to dry off; the water entering her Gemstone, before heading off back to her room. Steven wasn't awakened by Lapis' entrance, so, nothing really seemed to be bothering, as the night storm raged on ...

For the next morning, the storm had passed through the coast, and Steven woke up to a nice morning. Lion was still by the foot of his bed still asleep, even with the sun shining in his face. Steven still felt ready for the day and did his usual morning routine. After finishing up, and getting dressed, Steven happily went off outside. He didn't have very much to do today, so, he figured a visit to the Big Donut for a morning cookie cat.

"Good morning world!" Steven called, breathing in the morning air. After putting on his dry sandals, he went right out to the beach, humming a little tune as he went off down the coast. As he went, however, he was whistling his tune when, all of a sudden, something fell on his head from above him. It was nothing more than a rock, though after he picked it up, another rock fell down on his head. Steven looked up from his spot, thinking it might be an annoying seagull or something, but something else showed up. It was hard to tell, but he could've sworn he saw a sort of canine up on the side of the cliff! He heard some barks, and howls from where he was, just loud enough so he could hear. Steven couldn't believe it!

After just a minute, Steven got the Gems outside, looking up to see the small pup on the side of the cliff, obviously stuck. It was too high up for the dog to climb up, and too steep for him to get himself down. As for help, Steven quickly got the only Gem that can get up there easily: Lapis Lazuli.

"Up there, look!" Steven said, pointing up to the dog on the cliff.

"Oh my. Don't worry, I'll get him," Lapis said. Her water wings came out of her Gem, and she immediately started flying up the cliff towards the dog. The little canine wagged his tail on seeing some help, as Lapis got to the cliff where the dog got himself stuck. When she got there, she got a better view of the dog. The dog had white fur, soaking wet from the night storm, about the average size of a large dog. However, some details made the pooch different from normal dogs. For example, its right leg and right ear were actually a sky blue. And once more, on the forehead, Lapis saw something amazing ...

A Gemstone! The gem was in the shape of a diamond, shining in the light. Lapis couldn't believe her eyes!

"Lapis! Is he okay?!" Steven called from the beach, reminding Lapis what she was doing.

"I think so," Lapis called back. The dog barked down to the ground before Lapis tried to go for him. With a gentle hold, Lapis began to carry the dog back down, safely down onto the sandy beach. The dog was happy to be on the ground, running around the place for a bit. His fur was wet, and slightly dirty, though the pup was happy none-the-less that he was down from the cliff face. Still, the Gemstone on the dog's head was something worth noting. Sure, it was kind of understandable with Steven being a half-Gem, but a dog with a gemstone? The pup sat down, panting, looking to his saviors with the Gemstone shining back at them. It had a dull blue color to it, and reflected their faces as they looked it over a little closely. It was obviously indented into the dog's cranium, no signs of any transplant, surgery, or it simply being glued or painted in. The dog was a bit confused by their behavior, and the two were so distracted, they didn't even hear someone come over.

"Looking at something, you two?"

The two turned around to see Garnet standing there, revealing the dog sitting in between them. Garnet didn't need any more time to see the Gemstone on the dog's forehead looking back at her. Intrigued, Garnet kneeled down to get a better look, going as far as to even remove her shades to get a clear view, in case the shades were messing with her eyes for the moment. On her face, the Gem had not two, but three eyes, much to the pup's shock. It was enough to make the puppy back up, Garnet taking the view in of this dog with a Gemstone on its forehead.

"Where'd he come from?"

"We found him on that cliff up there, must've fell during the storm," Lapis said, pointing up to where Lapis got the pooch. The dog got back up, panting again, as he scratched his light blue ear with his back leg. As Garnet was thinking on what to do, the other Gems then noticed them outside with the dog and came out to see for themselves.

"What's going on over here?" Amethyst asked.

"We got a situation," Garnet said, pointing to the pup. They were surprised to see the Gemstone on his head.

"Is that ... a gem?" Pearl wondered, touching the dog's gemstone. Upon doing so though, the dog suddenly yelped, moving away, and scratching the Gem as if he'd just got a headache. Many of the Gems weren't sure what to do about this sudden new pup showing up, as the puppy stopped after a bit, saw his tail, and tried to catch it. However, Steven immediately got an idea, starts in his eyes as he looked to him.

"Can we keep him? PLEASE?!"

"No," Garnet said, almost immediately.

"AWW, why not?"

"Steven, I seen many people taking care of dogs for thousands of years. It takes a lot of work, lot of care, and we already have plenty to do as it is," Pearl explained, as the dog nearby stopped spinning after his own tail, dizzy enough to fall in the sand.

"I can take care of him, really! I took care of Lion."

"Steven, Lion is uh ... more self-reliant, than a dog is. Compared with all of the missions we have to do; we don't have much time to take care of a dog."

"But we can't just leave him, look at him," Steven said, hugging the dog as the dog licked Steven's face in response. Even if the dog was half-Gem, they couldn't just ditch the pup but, they couldn't keep him either with what they do anyway.

"He's got a point there, guys. He doesn't have a collar, or anyway to say who he belongs to. We can at least keep him until we figure out who the owner is," Lapis said. The others looked to the pooch, Steven not letting him go. It seemed only reasonable for the dog to stick around, at least until the owners were found...

Next thing they knew, the dog was inside the Beach House, sitting in the empty bathtub, with Steven, and Lapis around him. First order of business for the dog: cleaning the dog. Lion was watching from up in Steven's bedroom, not expecting a dog to be in the house. With his messy fur, although short, was covered in sea salt, rain, dirt and sand. For the first minute or so, it was a bit of a task to get the pup clean, the task left for Lapis and Pearl to do, while the others waited outside the bathroom. Lapis, because of her water-qualities, and Pearl, for her talent for cleaning up. The pup waited for something to happen.

"Okay, stay still," Lapis encouraged, as Pearl turned on the water. However, the water didn't turn hot right away, ice cold water immediately going on the dog's head. he tried to get out, but Lapis and Pearl tried to keep him still. Eventually, the pup wiggled free, and hopped out of the bathtub.

"Back in the tub," Pearl demanded angrily. However, he didn't want to get in the tub with such cold water. Pearl tried to get the pup into the tub again, but he wasn't going to cooperate, shaking himself free from her grip. Time and time again, he kept on causing trouble for Pearl, her anger boiling.

"In the tub!" Pearl yelled, picking him up and ready to throw him in the tub!

"Pearl, stop! Let me try," Lapis insisted. Pearl, angry, just settled the dog on the floor, and Lapis tried her best.

"Come on, it's okay," Lapis insisted. However, the pup refused to move, giving Lapis a bit of a cold shoulder. Lapis stayed calm, though didn't appreciate the tone.

"Please, just get in the tub for a few minutes," Lapis said, being friendly to the dog. The dog instead turned around, and had his back to 
Lapis. Both of the Gems were starting to lose their patience with him, Pearl turning the water to hot rather than cold.

"Now try it," Lapis said, the dog seeing the steam from the water. the dog tested the water with his front paw, only to find the water boiling hot! It didn't help the mutt out. Both girls got hold of the mutt, and tried to push him into the water, but the dog got his legs fixated on the rim of the tub, robust and sturdy, too firm to move. After Pearl and Lapis tried pushing the dog in the water. Suddenly, the dog bolted up, the two gems falling forward into the tub, and the mutt landing on the bathroom floor as the two were wet in the tub together. They couldn't tell, but it sounded as if the dog was laughing at them in a doggy way. They both had enough of this.

"You want to play, huh?" Lapis groaned. Lapis, rather than getting the dog to the bath, worked her water wings so the bath would come to the dog. However, that was quickly forfeited when the dog did something else. He did jump into the tub, but he grabbed the showerhead with his teeth, and blasted the cold water at Pearl and Lapis, full blast. they both ended up on the floor, soaking wet, but they didn't give up. From outside in the main room, it sounded like a fight was going on in there, banging coming up time and time again. Steven, Amethyst and Lion were watching Steven's TV, feeling the bangs from the bathroom under them. That went on for a few more minutes until, finally, the three got out of the bathroom. Pearl and Lapis were soaked, head to toe, as the pup came out squeaky clean, all dry. The two, by the look on their faces, didn't had any fun time ...

Next came the second objective: feeding him. None of them really fed a dog before, so, they didn't have much answer at first. Steven ended up pacing back and forth thinking on what a dog needed for food. The Gem hound waited for some food to eat, feeling his stomach rumble, and his empty bowl in front of him.

"Okay, let see ... What do dogs like to eat?" Steven wondered, trying to think. The pup waited for a bit, wagging his tail eagerly. The other Gems thought for a moment before they figured anything out. First one to come up with something was Pearl, as she got the bowl, and began to make some food for the dog. Despite the whole bath thing, at least feeding didn't sound like too much trouble ... maybe ...

"Now let's see ... potassium ... some of this for calcium ... some iron ... and there you go!"

Pearl, of all the nerve, placed a bowl full of leaves, chalk, and some nuts (and not the seed kind). The dog had a look of bewilderment, that anyone in the right mind would actually consume this stuff ...

"Food of high vitamin, for a healthy growing animal," Pearl said, proud ...

The initial response was the bowl being chucked at her head. While funny to look at, it was clear the dog wasn't that desperate for food, especially if it involved bolts and lettuce leaves. Next one to try it was Amethyst.

"You kidding me, dogs don't eat that kind of stuff! You said you saw people take care of them, didn't you?" Amethyst said.

"Not too much! Like you know any better anyway!"

"Yes. I do."

Next thing they knew, the dog's empty bowl was filled with a garbage bag Amethyst got from the dumpster. The garbage was full of tin cans, rotten fruit, and who knows what else. Seriously? The dog backed away, a bit scared, as the others tried to get the smell out of their noses.

"You can't feed a dog trash!" Pearl snapped, pinching her nose so she wouldn't smell it.

"What, I see dogs eat from garbage cans before, obviously there is something they eat in there!"

The dog's response from that was getting the garbage in the bag, grabbing the end with his teeth, and throwing the garbage bag at Amethyst. While amethyst was in the right direction on that, there are limits. While Pearl and Amethyst had to deal with the garbage, the dog waited for something else to be fed to him and see if it's actually tangible. Lion, among the others, was starting to get a bit annoyed with this pooch. For one thing, he's a dog ... go figure. And second, he hadn't been in this place for more than an hour, and he'd already caused a battle in the bathroom, and was getting picky over food. Next one to try: Fulgurite. Among the arguing, she saw the skeleton of a fish in there, and thought that's what the dog can eat.

"Hold on, I got an idea, be right back!" Fulgurite said, getting up, and going outside. After a little bit, Fulgurite came back. She was a little wet, but she had a live, shaking sea bass in her grip.

"Try this, pup!" Fulgurite insisted, forgetting for the second Lapis was there. The dog found the fish a little more tangible than the other option, but he'd prefer an already dead fish at the least, not only that still had fight in it. in fact, the fish kept whacking the dog every time it tried a bite. Soon, Lapis had enough of it, taking the fish away from Fulgurite.

"Are you mad, you're not feeding him a living fish!" Lapis yelled, getting the fish in her water wings so it can breathe.

"Why not, I'm sure this dog has eaten at least one fish."

"No!" Lapis retorted, keeping the fish away from her. Fulgurite, though, tried to get the fish with her hair grip, though it wasn't easy. Seeing all this, the Gem dog laid down, not any closer to any meal. They tried a live fish, garbage, and whatever the heck Pearl was thinking, but nothing seemed to really come through too well. Finally, Lion had enough of their fails, and decided to work out in his own paws. After a little bit, the dog was suddenly barking, getting everyone to be quiet, and look over. Lion then dropped an open back of Steven's potato chips, which the Gem dog happily took over what everyone else had to offer. not the exact food for a dog, but at least he's eating something. When the dog was finished, the bag was still on the dog's muzzle, which was quickly shaken free.


~~~~~~


For the whole day, things were pretty much busy when it came to the dog, and what they had to do. While feeding was handled with less difficulty, and bath time was out of the question, the next main thing that Steven worked out was making signs for whoever the owner was for the dog and put them around town. Steven was in charge of that, the others a bit busy cleaning up the mess Amethyst brought in with the garbage. Along with that, since they needed the dog out for a bit, they got Steven to get the dog for his walk. Course, the dog didn't fancy the collar and leash attachment, though at least he can roam around a little bit. So far, his stops around town were pretty enjoyable, and the dog didn't try anything crazy.

As night approached, Steven had put up about fifty different posters around town with the picture of the dog, the dog in question enjoying the walk around town without much trouble. Upon their return, the place was cleaned up, mostly by Pearl, and for the moment no one was there except for Lion, who was resting on the couch when Steven came back. Steven was tired, giving a yawn, as the dog got the collar and leash off himself, sticking his paw to open the collar wide enough to get his head out. He'd done that while they were walking if he knew where else to go.

"We're back, Lion," Steven yawn, heading upstairs to his bed as the pooch sat down by Lion. The pink cat didn't bother too much with the Dog, as the pup sniffed near his face. Lion shook his head, the mane ruffling against the Dog's body to get him to back up. Steven went right off to bed, getting his PJs on, and got himself to bed. Lion went over to the bed, laying by the foot of it. While Steven needed stairs, Lion just needed a reach, and pulled himself up to the second floor. The dog got himself up the stairs, as Steven went to sleep. Even after an hour, the dog didn't feel tired yet, and still wanted to play. While Steven was sleeping, the dog nuzzled his face to wake him up.

"No, no, time for bed," Steven said, turning away. all the dog did was move around the bed, and tried to wake him up again Steven groaned, and turned away again. Before the dog could try again, he looked outside through the window, seeing some birds going around the night sky. He also looked to the beach, seeing some odd bit of something there too.

You can guess what the dog did for most of the night ...


~~~~~~


Next morning, the dog was finally found asleep, and quiet. However, by the look on Steven's face, it wasn't for a long time. Steven's eyes had the pure look of exhaustion on them, as the tired kid crawled out of bed. Lion was no better off, giving a good lion yawn from a rough night thanks to the dog. When the Gems started to come through, they easily saw Lion and Steven both trying to wake themselves up, the dog sound asleep for the moment.

"Gees, you alright dude? What's with your eyes?" Amethyst asked.

"The dog kept us up all night," Steven replied tiredly, with Lion giving a tired moan, before going asleep himself. Even if Steven wanted to keep the dog, he wasn't so sure anymore. At least there was a moment that it was quiet enough that it wasn't too much trouble.

"Don't worry Steven, I'm sure someone will call, and have him back home soon," Lapis encouraged. Though, she hoped someone was going to call, and get the dog a better home than where he was for the moment. If that kind of drama yesterday was going to be a regular, then it might not be something anyone can get used to by this point. While everyone was simply going through their morning, the dog actually did wake up at a point, looking outside from Steven's window. At first, it seemed a little bit calm, but the dog, all of a sudden, began to bark up a storm, waking up the tired Lion and Steven. As if a full night of barking wasn't bad enough, they had to deal with morning barking.

"Someone shut him up!" Amethyst said, covering her ears while the dog kept barking like mad, trying to get their attention to outside. Lion growled, his paws over his own ears as the Dog went to the door, trying to open it.

"We'll let you out later," Lapis assured through gritted teeth. The dog growled, seeing they're not getting the hint. Garnet, the only one not annoyed by the barking, looked where the dog was trying to get their attention to. When Garnet looked out, she quickly saw what the dog was barking at just outside. Sighing, Garnet opened the door, the dog rushing outside seconds after. Garnet then moved outside, and saw what the Dog was getting their attention for ...

"Gems! Outside, now!" Garnet said, getting the others up, and they then saw the dog begin to dig in the sand. The place the Dog was digging was, to their own surprise, glowing! It wasn't over-the-top, giant beamer light, but more of a small glow, just enough for it to be noticeable from where they were. While most of them were curious, Steven was a little too tired to notice at first. Soon, the Gem hound dug up what was causing the glow, and picked it up with his teeth, bringing it over like it was a ball or a stick. What he really got in his mouth. looked like a sort of egg-shaped object, a little bigger and rounder than an actual egg. As for color, it was a bit wavy in colors, like when someone would smear colors together, but not enough for a true mix color. The colors they saw looked like a mix of blues, purples, greens and whites. The glowing parts were the areas of pure white, the other colors remaining inactive comparing. The dog sat down in front of the other Gems, tail wagging, and set the object down gently on the ground in front of them.

"What's that?" Steven asked, though his enthusiasm wasn't as high as it was normally, rubbing his eye from the light. Garnet picked up the thing, unsure of it herself. None of the gems ever saw anything like it before, as the Dog simply barked happily on finding it.

"Not sure," replied Garnet, looking it over. The dog gave it a quick sniff, and all of a sudden, he took off! None of them knew why he raced away, but the dog didn't go far before he started to sniff the ground again. It was a little bit out of nowhere for the time being, but, the Gems more focused on the object the dog already brought rather than what the dog was still doing. Before they could even go inside, suddenly the pooch ended up barking loud again. When they saw him, he was trying to pull something out of the sand, pulling and yanking until it got free. The object he got that time looked similar to the first, only in a larger disk shape, with a few indents in it. That time, Lapis flew over, and got the disk piece from the dog too. The other Gems went over, looking at the disk piece, realizing that the glass egg actually fit inside the indents. Before they even reacted, the dog was already at another spot on the beach, barking for them.

"How's he doing that? Gems don't have any scent to them," Pearl wondered.

"Being half Gem, probably. You think there's more parts on this beach?" Fulgurite added in.

"We're going to find out."

After a few minutes, the dog had been running up and down the beach, digging up other objects that matched up to the previous items. Throughout the morning, the dog gathered up about five other eggs, a pointed robe like piece, and a much larger, half-cut rounded piece about as big as a volleyball. After getting everything together, and with Fulgurite getting the whole thing put together properly, it looked like some odd sort of odd artifact, or some weird plant made of glass. The dog sat down by Lion, who was still asleep from a whole night of barking. They didn't know how the thing worked, how it got there, or why the dog got them in the first place. Either way, it was there, it was put together, and nothing seemed to happen apart from the glowing one egg piece.

"So ... now what?"

"Hold on, maybe it's not on," Fulgurite pointed out. Apart from the one part, the object didn't look anything but active. Nothing seemed to give it any power source either, but, Fulgurite decided to try her own power to it, her hair stretching, connecting to two of the eggs on the object. Soon, electricity suddenly flowed into the object, and it quickly began to become more active, white light signifying the energy in it. Soon, all six egg objects glowed bright, and the rode piece suddenly shot something out. It didn't harm anything, and instead showed a sort of hologram. The hologram itself showed, yet, another Gem! At least, it appeared to be, the exact appearance of it harder to tell.

Captain's log: Our establishments on earth had gone far worse than any of us had expected. It started off fair enough, but recently, it began to act more, and more viable, to the point where we can't even make any more Gems off of it. We're still able to make more here at Home, but we're unsure of what to do about Earth at this point. I'll update this once we've come up with a solution. End log.

After that, the message was basically blank, as Fulgurite removed her hair from it, as such, stopping power. It was clear it involved the Gems somehow, though what exactly that meant was still up for debate. Nearby, the dog went over in between Steven and Amethyst, sitting down in sight of them all.

"What was she talking about?"

"We'll work it out," Garnet said, looking to the dog in question, kneeling down. The dog was a little calmer when Garnet rubbed the dog's head.

"Good dog," Garnet said. He happily replied with a good lick on her face. Garnet didn't expect the lick, but, she took it anyway. Without the dog getting it in the first place, they would've never known a message from another Gem was right under their feet...

Seemed he was gonna stick around for a while longer.
> The Warp Zone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a while for the Gems and Ponies. Since upon first meeting their new little dog friend, the ponies had been a bit interested in meeting the fella. Steven himself had actually given them a message some time ago, and that day, the group actually met up outside of the Beach house. Instead, they all were in a large, flower meadow in Steven's dimension. It seemed like a good spot for their new pet pup to go around and play in the flowery Eden. Of course, it wasn't the only main reason why the ponies came around, as the Gems got their attention to the odd machine their pet dug up outside the Beach House. As some of the more energetic ponies (Pinkie and Rainbow) played with the Gem dog, the other ponies watched as Fulgurite helped replay the same message from the machine to them, letting them see themselves. 

"Can you make anything of it?" Twilight asked, after the message was replayed.

"Been thinking on it for a bit, though I'm not sure when this message was done exactly. Thousands of years ago, I guess," Garnet admitted. Although to her the main time of when was very long ago, the exact date of when was never said, so, she couldn't pinpoint anything. As they were trying to put two and two together, the gem dog suddenly rushed by, with Pinkie happily chasing after him. The run-by nearly knocked the machine over (not to mention Fulgurite). Compared to the ponies, the dog was just slightly taller than they were by a little bit, though that didn't bother who was playing with them. Despite being a pony, Pinkie was playing much like a dog would, to the Gem dog's own fun.

"Be careful, you nearly broke the message," Pearl advised.

"Y'all know who he belongs to yet?" Applejack asked.

"No one said anything yet, so, we're stuck with him for now," Lapis said, as the dog decided to have some more fun with Lapis. The dog sat down on Lapis' skirt and gave her a friendly lick on the face. She didn't mind getting wet honestly, but saliva was an exception as she felt it go on her face. Lapis sighed and got her out from under the dog's paws.

"Come on, Lapis, Blue's not that bad," Steven said nearby, though he sounded a bit funny.

"Blue?"

"Yeah, he needed a name," Steven insisted, as the dog went over, and sat down next to him. Still, Steven didn't look at his best. Since they were in a flower field, the pollen was starting to get at Steven, his eyes red and watery with his nostrils flared up from the pollen around him. Steven sneezed and rubbed his nose for the seventh time since showing up. He didn't cover it too well though, noted by Pearl nearby. Obviously, this flower meadow wasn't doing too well for him.

"You ready to go back, Steven?" Pearl asked.

"No, no, I'm fine, really," Steven insisted, though it was clear that he wasn't fine. So, Pearl got up, and looked to Garnet.

"Garnet, I'm gonna bring Steven back. Seemed this place isn't doing so well for him."

"Very well," Garnet agreed. Beaten two to one, Steven got up, as Blue rejoined the playing by the other ponies. However, before they could go, Rainbow suddenly flew over to them.

"Hey, you two heading back too?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Pinkie wanted me to get something from the Beach house," Rainbow said, standing on the warp pad where Pearl and Steven were standing on. Soon, the portal activated with Pearl, leaving the others there. The warp was a lot similar to the portals used by the keys, though having a much lighter blues than the types used before. And, unlike those, they weren't tumbling through time and space to get there, rather standing like an elevator while going through. Rainbow, Pearl, and Steven were going through the warp, though the allergies Steven picked up were still in effect, Steven sneezing again.

"Steven, make sure you sneeze in your antecubital fossa, please," Pearl insisted.

"My what?"

"Your ... this thing," Pearl pointed to the part of her arm where she was talking about. However, before Steven could react, another sneeze began to build up in him.

"Steven, your fossa!" Pearl insisted. Suddenly, before Steven could, he sneezed good and strong, enough to propel him away! Rainbow and Pearl were surprised, as Steven's chest and head suddenly got itself out of the warp stream! Rainbow Dash grabbed him before he could float out, though was hard to move him back. During the moment, Steven could see what the warp area looked like outside. It looked pretty much empty, large lightning clouds circling around the area. Steven himself could only see that, and their warp stream at first ... until he saw another stream go by, something zooming by from within it. It wasn't until afterwards when Rainbow got enough strength to get Steven back in. And just in time: seconds after, they arrived back in Steven's Beach House. Of course, Steven was suddenly curious, and Pearl worried over him.

"Steven, you alright? It's too dangerous to move outside the warp stream!" Pearl said, trying to see if being exposed outside had done any damage to him. After checking, Rainbow went into the beach house, looking around some of their stuff for what Pinkie wanted her to get.

"Guys, I saw something outside the stream!" Steven said.

"What?"

"Something warping!"

"Steven, that's not possible. Only other Gems are able to use and activate these warps, and the only Gems here are you, me, Garnet, Amethyst, Lapis and Fulgurite. Last I recall, it was just you, me, and Rainbow Dash that came back."

"But I did, honest!"

"Steven, no other creature has used these portals for hundreds of thousands of years besides us. Perhaps your vision got blurry from the pollen, that's all," Pearl said, thinking that calmed him down. Steven wasn't too sure on that just yet, but his eyes were a bit bugged by the pollen anyway. Soon, Rainbow finally found what Pinkie wanted to grab: a Frisbee they brought for meeting Blue.

"Alright, got it, let's go," Rainbow said.

"Wait, Rainbow, don't you believe me?" Steven asked, before Rainbow could leave.

"I dunno, I'm not a Gem. Sorry, sport," Rainbow replied, before leaving him on that with Pearl.


~~~~~~


For the rest of the day, and through the night, the thought of what Steven had seen in that other warp stream was starting to get to him. It was to the point when he couldn't even sleep that night, he was so wrapped up in what could or could not be. Of course, this kind of behavior hadn't gone unnoticed by his friends, being told of what he said by Pearl. However, Pearl still felt that Steven saw nothing out of the ordinary and treated it as nothing more than a fluke. Far as they were concern though, it could've easily been a case of mistaken identity, or just the pollen messing up his eyes when he looked. As for Steven, he could've sworn on his own Gemstone that he did see something odd outside the warp stream, and although Pearl made it clear that nothing else could use them, he wasn't so sure. On one hand, Pearl had been around way longer than him, but that could also make Pearl a bit oblivious if anything new could activate these warp pads. The only thing Steven submitted was the idea that someone used their magic key. Only reason being was that he'd recognize the shape of whatever was in the warp stream if that was the case, plus it would've looked different from a regular Warp. However, the warp he saw was of the regular warp, and not the key, so, the jury was still out in his mind.

The next morning, Fulgurite was the first to go into Steven's part of the home from the back. First thing she was greeted to was Steven asleep. However, Steven was more passed out, laying by the front door with a water gun at the ready. Confused, Fulgurite went over to Steven, kneeling down to his level. Next to him, Blue was fast asleep as well. Weren't humans supposed to sleep in a bed?

"Wake up, Steven," Fulgurite said, trying to wake him up. Seconds later, Steven suddenly gave a loud scream, and shot his water gun at her in a panic. His scream was heard by the other Gems, only to find a wet Fulgurite, and a alert Steven nearby with his water gun aimed to shoot.

"What was that for?" Fulgurite groaned, shaking her head to get the water off.

"Sorry. I guess I, I just didn't ..."

"Didn't sleep?" Garnet concluded.

"Maybe."

"Steven, I already explained, nothing can use these Warp Pads but us. There's nothing on earth that can use them but us, you understand?" Pearl said. However, Steven wasn't too sure about that, and didn't say anything to her, looking away. "Steven, nod in agreement if you understand," Still nothing ... "Nod in agreement -"

"Steven, Pearl. I'm confident Pearl is right, but it couldn't hurt to check," Garnet stated. Steven felt a bit better from that, and got up, getting Pearl's hands off his shoulders. Guess their schedule had to be delt with later.

It took a little bit, but the Gems then began to look around to figure out if anything out of the ordinary was indeed going on. For some extra eyes, the Mane Six joined them in their bit of search upon requested by Steven himself. The Mane Six, and Crystal Gems spent the day looking around in different areas to see if anything indeed used the Warp Pad yesterday. No matter how many areas they looked over, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. They looked through Rose's Garden, the Flower Meadow, the huge storm Geode, and a number of other spots up and down, all over the place, but with no luck. The more areas Steven had everyone look, the less patience some of them had for Steven's paranoid state. The group eventually finished up looking through another area, gathering up by the warp pad.

"Nothing around here," Lapis said.

"We looked all over, there's nothing out here to find," Pearl groaned. Steven didn't look very convinced by that statement, as everyone else. Pearl groaned, hand to Gemstone.

"Steven, I keep telling you, nothing on Earth can use the warp pads besides us!"

"What if it came from space?" Steven retorted, angry in tone. That did sound like a possibility, but Pearl was too angry to really accept that option yet.

"I-...Don't appreciate your tone," Pearl said, trying not to lose it.

Their final stop, to prove Pearl's point more than to look for anything. Where they all ended up was an area full of warp pads of different sizes. The area was large, flat, with six spired pillars around the circular island, the island itself in the middle of the ocean. The warps varied in size, depending on where they end up, which as far as the ponies knew, could be anywhere. The Mane six looked around a bit as Pearl went over to the largest Warp pad, right in the middle. The largest one of all of them, that one had some damage to it, and a small sticker of a crying waffle placed on it too.

"These are the warps that once connected us to other planets. If something tried to come from space, it would be through here. But wait! This warp pad is broken, marked inactive by the very depressed cartoon breakfast sticker you placed here yourself!" Pearl explained, pointing to the sticker in question, which was on a large crack in the Warp Pad. However, Steven didn't agree himself.

"It didn't have to be the main warp!"

"Steven, I've had enough of this! Nothing, I mean nothing used the warp pad, and you know it!" Pearl snapped, 

"I know I saw something warping!"

"And I know you didn't!"

The two began to bicker amongst each other for a while more, to the surprise of everyone else. Obviously, this was getting very out of hand, thanks to Steven's own fear. The ponies were thinking over what was going on. They didn't know any more than anypony else, but Twilight knew that it was important to take a friend's thoughts into consideration at least, and Pearl wasn't doing that in the slightest. Finally, Rainbow got in between them, pushing them back with her hooves.

"You two stop it! This is getting nowhere, and acting like spoiled colts isn't helping anypony," Rainbow snapped, mostly to get them to quit fighting.

"What do you know about the Galaxy Warp?" Pearl asked, a bit angry that they went all over the place just because of something she thought was impossible. Twilight finally intervened.

"Pearl, listen! I know you don't believe in Steven, but it's important to take your friend's thoughts into consideration, even if they don't sound too believable. But, if it makes you feel better, perhaps some of us can keep watch here in case something happens," Twilight decided, remembering her own experiences with such situations before. Pearl, pinching the bridge of her nose, gave a long sigh. She still wasn't convinced that something was indeed going through the portals, but the least she can do was stop berating Steven.

"I'm still sure nothing's using the portals."

"Okay, okay, you can have a break. I'll hang out here in case somepony tries anything funny," Rainbow decided, landing by the main warp pad. Fluttershy, suddenly, went over with her too.

"I'll stay with her ... I-If you don't mind, that is," Fluttershy said. The Gems took a second to consider the decision. Eventually, they decided that was the main choice. If somepony were to watch over things, then Steven can at least calm down a little bit knowing something was indeed keeping an eye on things, and this place was the best spot to do just that. If something was using the warp pads, the Galaxy Warp was the perfect spot for them to use it, with so many in one place. Pearl simply nodded in the end of it.

"You two sure you don't want to come back with us?" Rarity asked.

"Eh, no big deal, didn't had much planned anyway," Rainbow replied. Seemed it was going to be the main choice, as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both remained put. Little by little, the others began to go off to leave them to it, Steven staying the longest. In the end, though, Steven can reply on Rainbow Dash to tell him if she really did see something out of place. So, with a goodbye, Steven finally left on his way back to his home, leaving Rainbow and Flutters to it.


~~~~~~


For the next long hours, Rainbow and Fluttershy kept their watch over the warp pads and waited for something to come around. Rainbow Dash kept her watch like a guard pony, pacing back and forth between the many portals, keeping a strong eye on them as she flew little off the ground. Fluttershy kept her watch as well, though didn't pace around as much as Rainbow did. In fact, the main reason Fluttershy was there in the first place, was to aid Rainbow Dash in her job, not much thought on her own needs. Hour in, hour out, the watching continued as the later nightfall began to come around again. Even if they were both getting tired, Rainbow's loyalty and promise kept her there ... Despite her own annoyance that nothing was happening. As for Fluttershy, the yellow Pegasus settled down next to the main warp pad, pretty tired herself. Rainbow promised her that she'll keep going, and allowed her close friend to relax, and sleep. Rainbow kept going around for another hour (at least it felt like that) before the sky-blue Pegasus began to tire herself. Eventually, Rainbow settled down nearby Fluttershy, and also drifted off to sleep...

The two Pegasus were unaware of what was coming their way. At first, it was little more than a small bother, and wasn't enough to wake them up. However, as Rainbow gave a loud yawn, suddenly she was abruptly stopped once something for into her mouth! Rainbow's eyes bolted open, as she got up to her four hooves. An odd, spherical object somehow got its way into her mouth, before she spat it out. The weird object looked like a ball, though it suddenly had stick like legs, not connected to the body as it began to move to the main warp pad.

"Psst, Fluttershy, wake up," Rainbow said, nudging her awake. When Fluttershy did wake up, the two found themselves accompanied by fifteen more orbed walkers! Rainbow readied for any sort of attack, but all of them simply ignored them, going around to the main warp pad. Rainbow and Fluttershy weren't sure what to make of these sudden random arrivals, but, looking to another smaller portal, the pad suddenly activated as more show up, and join in. These must be the odd objects Steven was talking about! But whether they were friend or foe was still put to question, as they saw them go to work on the main warp pad. What occurred was that the Warp Pad was being not damaged, but fixed! About nine to ten of the odd orbs were using a sort of odd goo gun, filling in the cracks as it solidified and mended like super glue, molded into place as if the marks were never there at all. Course, WHY were they doing this, or what was making them do so was again, put to question.

"Steven was right," Rainbow realized, watching the amount of small robots continued their work.

"What're they doing?" Fluttershy asked. But, Rainbow Dash was just as clueless as she was. In no time at all, the orbed robots had fully mended the main warp pad, good as new. It was pretty impressive to say the least of it, though that wasn't the only thing. After mending the main portal, the orbs moved out of the way, giving the warp pad a full view. And then, right in front of them both, it activated! The only question as: who activated it?

Fluttershy moved back in worry, as Rainbow readied for whatever was ready to come at them. Most likely it might be a Gem, since as Pearl said they were the only species to work these things, but, can't hurt to be careful. The warp then revealed someone else standing there. The individual was fairly tall, about the same height as Lapis, her hair then matching Pearl's height. Her yellow-green hair was shaped in a smooth triangle. She had a lime-green tint to her skin, with the Gemstone being a similar color. She wore a duller green suit, and her arms and legs were a bright neon-like green. Her chest and knees had a yellowish diamond mark on them. She didn't appear to had any hands, per say, and more like five floating fingers, similar color to the skin on her face. She had a sort of visor over her eyes as well. She didn't seemed to notice the two Pegasus just yet, instead looking over at a screen in front of her, made up of her four fingers on one of her extensions. The language on the screen wasn't of their language, so, the ponies couldn't make out what it was about.

"Log date: 312. This is Peridot, performing Earth hub maintenance check," she said, working with her screen a little bit. Rainbow and Fluttershy didn't try anything just yet, remaining put as Peridot worked her screen. She took a moment to check the orbs around her, and only then did she see the two Pegasus standing nearby. Fluttershy coward behind Rainbow, as Rainbow stood firm, eyes looking right at her own. Peridot didn't seem too surprised, but was enough to get her to stop what she was doing, and stepping off the Warp Pad towards them.

"Identify yourselves," she said firmly, looking at them in an almost disapproved look. To their surprise, she also worked her right arm into a firing gun, ready to shoot! Fluttershy got even more scared, hooves over her head, but Rainbow wasn't as easily intimidated.

"Hey, put that away!" Rainbow demanded, flying up to her. Peridot just sighed, and shot at them! Fluttershy prepared for the pain, but Rainbow got her out of the way before it landed at them, a small explosion resulting from it like a cannon fire. Fluttershy moved away to a safe distance, as Rainbow rushed at Peridot, right in her face.

"You looking to start something?!" Rainbow snapped, mainly for her nearly blasting her and Fluttershy to pieces. Peridot wasn't so easily intimidated, as she turned away, and looked over her screen from her left hand again. Her right hand suddenly made a five-way scanner and went over Rainbow Dash before she did anything. After a little bit, Peridot only got three question marks on her screen.

"Not native to Earth? Identification, if you may," Peridot stated, not ready to shoot that time.

"Why should I tell you after you nearly blasted my friend?" To answer her, her scanner hand turned back into a gun, ready to shoot Rainbow in the face. Angry, Rainbow Dash whacked her fingers off with her hoof.

"Knock it off, will ya?! Maybe if you don't blast me, I will tell you, get it?" Rainbow said, though she wanted to kick her in the gut for threatening to pulverize her. Peridot rolled her eyes, her gun being removed. She didn't arrive to Earth to just blast these two.

"There. Now, if you may?"

"Rainbow Dash. And why are you here?" Rainbow asked, front hooves crossed, as she got to the point.

"Rainbow Dash ... and had these 'Rainbow Dashes' replaced the human race as of yet?" Peridot asked.

"Nevermind that, why are you here?" Rainbow asked again, glaring at her.

"None of your concern," Peridot said, walking away from Rainbow Dash, and continuing to fiddle with her screen. Her ignorance made Rainbow a bit more annoyed.

"Oh, I think it is, you little -"

"W-Wait!"

Both of them stopped when Fluttershy finally got the courage to speak up, flying in between Rainbow Dash, and Peridot, before anything can get violent. Peridot was taken aback by the sudden coward's bravery just pop up out of nowhere.

"Rainbow, please don't," Fluttershy insisted.

"But she nearly blasted you!"

"And probably for good reason," Fluttershy said. Good reason?! What good reason was there to blast anypony?! At least, that's what Rainbow wanted to tell her, but being close friends and all that, it was best to probably not argue with her, especially now. Fluttershy looked to Peridot, with a much calmer appearance than what Rainbow did. The new Gem crossed her arms.

"I'm so sorry, miss Peridot, mam. We are friends to Gems, really, we just didn't expect somepony like you to -"

"I'm not a pony," Peridot corrected.

"Oh, sorry. *ahem* somebody like you to come so suddenly. We don't mean any harm, really, but if you don't mind, we'd like to know why you came to Earth. I-if that's okay, if you don't want to, we understand." Fluttershy didn't want to act like she was forcing Peridot to talk her mind, if she didn't want to say, so be it. Though, Rainbow didn't seem too thrilled on letting her just run off so quickly, after what she just did. From what she could assume, Peridot was going to simply ignore them and go ...

"If you must know, I'm here on a maintenance check of Earth from our last experiences here. It won't take very long, and if it all goes well, I can be done in a few earth days," Peridot replied. That was ... interesting.

"You're not here to hurt anypony?" Rainbow asked, still suspicious over her. Peridot was still a bit bother by the pony thing, but, she shrugged it off as a language barrier of sorts.

"So long as no one interferes with the progress, then negative. I'm here strictly on check - go in, check status, and leave," Peridot replied, taking a second to look away from her screen. While fluttershy was glad Peridot wasn't there to harm anypony, Rainbow Dash still felt that they needed to keep an eye on her. Anyone that will so easily shoot someone after refusing a simple question can't be so easily trusted so fast. But, if Fluttershy was going to go that far so fast, then she might as well let her. She made friends with Discord after all, and Discord's far worse power-wise, not to mention with everything else. If she can make friends with a draconequus, maybe Peridot wouldn't be so bad ... underline, maybe.

"Now, if you don't mind, I need to finish my work," Peridot said, beginning to walk to another Warp Pad. However, Rainbow Dash flew in her way again before she could go away, moving her screen away so she can look at her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You think we're just going to leave you after that stunt you pulled?"

"Yes," Peridot said bluntly. Rainbow, hoof to forehead, gave an annoyed groan. Seemed wherever Peridot came from didn't had much for consideration towards others.

"Look, I know you say your not going to hurt anything, but, I can't have you go off so soon."

"So, that means your authorized to come with me then?" Peridot asked, eyebrow raised, and arms crossed. A little bit of a jump, but that didn't sound like a bad idea. At least one of them can go with her, make sure she wasn't lying, and tell the others once they were finished. After glancing at one another, Rainbow went over to Fluttershy, moving them both away so they can talk in private. Peridot wanted to just go, but she needed to check on the status of the other Warp Pads around the Galaxy Warp, with the smaller orb things nearby and trying to maintain them as she went.

"Hey, Fluttershy. I'm going to go with her," Rainbow Dash whispered.

"W-what? Why?" Fluttershy stuttered.

"Did you hear her? We don't know what she's really doing - best for somepony to keep a sharp eye on her while she's doing whatever. You can go back to the others."

"B-But what do I say?"

"Just tell them I'll be gone for a while, still checking on things for Steven or something like that. I'll be back the second I'm done, I promise you that," Rainbow promised. Fluttershy wasn't sure if this was such a good idea, what Peridot will do to her, nor what the others will think when she'll tell them. Still, when it came to the situation, somepony on watch can work well, and compared to the two of them, Rainbow had the better eye, and better focus than she did. With a gulp, and a nod, Fluttershy could only agree to Rainbow Dash's decision. As for Rainbow herself, her choice she knew might give her on the edge of things for the Gems back home, yet, if something bad does happen, she knew Fluttershy wouldn't be strong enough to get herself out, or to stop whatever would happen.

"... Okay... Please, be careful ..." Fluttershy finally said, through quiet breath. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy gave each other a hug, before they went off on their separate ways. Since, as Pearl said already, nothing can activate the Warp Pads aside from Gems, Fluttershy resorted to her magic key. Rainbow looked back to her one more time before Fluttershy went through the portal made by the yellow Pegasus, leaving only her and Peridot. When Rainbow found her, Peridot was still working on checking the currently inactive Warp Pads. While Rainbow and Flutters discussed the decision, Peridot had checked about three of the many, all of them inactive and not working, no matter what she did.

"Must be a problem with connection with some of these. Got to handle that sometime," Peridot told herself, before Rainbow flew over to her.

"Okay, Peridot, I'm sticking with ya for your maintenance trip. We going to go yet?" Rainbow asked. Peridot got off the other Warp Pad and began heading to one in particular: the one that they used to arrive in the first place. Rainbow could assume that Warp Pad strictly connected to Earth, and the Warp Pads to Earth only. So long as Peridot didn't mess up on her, Rainbow should be heading to where they're supposed to.

"Now then, all Flask robonoids accounted for, Homeworld Warp in working order, no extra surprises upon arrival. Proceeding to current destination," Peridot concluded. With that, with Rainbow by her side, the two teleported away from the main hub. Where exactly they were going to go was completely unknown, but, so long as Rainbow Dash had her magic key with her, she shouldn't have too much problem with getting herself out, or even get some reinforcements if needed.

The risks were starting to grow...
> Defective Pearl
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The young yellow Pegasus, since leaving the Galaxy Warp, had been a bit troubled thanks to Rainbow's decision to go with Peridot. Since her key got her back to Ponyville rather than back to the Beach House, she didn't exactly meet up with anypony for quite some time, few days as a matter of fact. Fluttershy still wasn't too sure if she should exactly tell them right up what Rainbow was doing or cover for her, even after so much time to think it over. If Peridot was true on it taking a few days for her to check through everything, then Fluttershy had to think of something soon before everypony else began to suspect something was wrong. Besides, Peridot might be a tougher Gem than she appeared to be, and her remorse wasn't too good far as she knew either. Since coming back to her cottage, she'd been rather quiet, hoping Rainbow would be done with whatever the hay they were doing when it came to 'maintenance' or whatever. She just hoped to Celestia that she'd be alright at the end of everything, and everypony can go back to normal, otherwise she'll be in an even more nervous wreck than Steven was for finding the robonoid in the warp stream.

Speaking of which, the Gems themselves were beginning to get a bit unsure of what happened to Rainbow Dash since she agreed to watch over the Warp Pads. They didn't exactly check on her for a while, being a bit busy with other things, though Rainbow had been a bit too quiet lately the past two days for their liking. The same thing can be said for Rainbow's original friends, the Mane Six. They knew Rainbow much longer than the Crystal Gems did, and Rainbow wouldn't simply shut up to them for two days straight. At least one message would be fine, so they knew what she was actually, and Fluttershy didn't give them much to go on either. Yes, Fluttershy tried to give them something for Rainbow's sake, though Fluttershy hoped it was good enough for the Crystal Gems in Beach City, otherwise Fluttershy had a lot of explaining to do. For the time being, it seemed to go through reasonably well, enough so they didn't question her any further, giving Fluttershy less pressure and more time to calm her nerves as best she could...

One. Two. Three days go by since their last visit to the Gems, and still no sign of Rainbow's return, making Fluttershy more and more nervous. It got to the point when she'd paced around in her own home, her mind thinking over what could or couldn't happen to Rainbow Dash while she was with this new Gem that the others never told them about. The idea became even more critical when they decided to visit the Gems that day. Fluttershy was a good pony, but she wasn't ready to just pop back there just yet, afraid they'll confront the shy mare about Rainbow Dash. While Fluttershy kept pacing at the point, her hooves in their pattern on the worn-out floor, a knock came at her door. Fluttershy's mood suddenly grew happy, thinking it might be the rainbow Pegasus in question, as she went to open the door. However, instead of Rainbow Dash being there, instead it was Applejack of all ponies.

"Mornin' there Fluttershy."

"Oh. Morning," fluttershy said, calmer and a little bummed out.

"Me and the girls are ready to head off to Steven's place. You gonna come?" Applejack asked. Fluttershy tried to think for a few quick seconds before she got her excuse ready and up fast.

"Oh, I'd love to, but I have so many animals to take care of lately, I don't think I can make it. Sorry," Fluttershy explained. That was a pretty believable excuse, for Fluttershy at least, as her talent involved animal care in the first place. Understanding the details, Applejack nodded to her.

"That alright, sugarcube, I get it. Must've got plenty on your hooves with the animals you handle, eh?"

"Yeah, that's true."

"Well, have a good day, Fluttershy," Applejack said, and the cowgirl pony began to trot off, as Fluttershy waved a hoof goodbye, and closed her door with a smile on her face. Seconds after she closed the door, her mood quickly turned to a guilty frown. She felt bad for flat out lying to her close friends just so Rainbow can keep her eye on Peridot without trouble, as she had her back to the door, and sat down on the floor, her front hoof scraping the floor. 

It'd will be sometime until Rainbow comes back. And a tough time at that ...


~~~~~~


As noon approached, as they said, the rest of Fluttershy's friends had arrived later at Steven's house for some fun with Steven. In this case, since the weather was so well, they've decided on a game of volleyball. It was nice weather to have them play, a bright blue day with a nice sea breeze blowing from the ocean, and with plenty of room to maneuver, space wasn't a problem either. After some time setting up the net, and making up the teams to play, the game went off with no trouble. On one team was Pinkie, Steven, and Amethyst. While on the other: Applejack, Lapis, and Fulgurite. Garnet, Lion, Rarity, Twilight, Blue and Pearl were watching from afar as referees for the points in the game. Magic wasn't allowed in this game, so, Twilight and Rarity didn't feel like they could do a good job with it. It was a little strange with Rainbow and Fluttershy staying out of this since they last saw them three days back, and it got Garnet mostly thinking over what's what for them. Then again, Rainbow never said how long she was going to be looking around for, but, considering where she agreed to guard, she should've been done by now ...

"Heads up!" Amethyst suddenly said, whacking the ball high in the air. The call got Garnet back to the present, as she watched the game play out. For the first minute, both teams kept the ball from landing on their side of the field. The speedsters were often the ones saving their team from losing points (Pinkie and Fulgurite), while the muscle provided the strong hits (Amethyst and Applejack). The third were extra, well-rounded players to help keep the teams focused (Lapis, and Steven). For the time being, both sides kept up with each other.

"Incoming!" Applejack called, throwing the ball in the air, and using her epic back kick to launch the ball skyward.

It was here when the minute passed. Pinkie got the ball in her hooves and hitting it back right to Amethyst. The Gem jumped up in the air, both hands locked together in a fist ball, and hitting the ball with all of her strength. The volleyball rocketed down to earth very fast, enough to make the others bolt aside as they got their point. A rather fun game really at the end of it. Amethyst, Pinkie, and Steven celebrated their victory, as the other team took the time to relax and regain some energy. Or at least, let Applejack regain some energy. After all, she wasn't a literal rock like Fulgurite and Lapis were. When they were done, Steven went over to Amethyst.

"That was awesome, Amethyst!" Steven said in glee.

"Yeah, you jumped up, and WHACK!" Pinkie replied, mimicking what Amethyst did to win them the game.

"Just all part of being me," Amethyst said, getting a little bit egocentric.

"Man you're so cool! Wish I can be as great as you!" Steven said.

"Well, Steven, first thing you need: you gotta prepare yourself for anything ... Like this!" Amethyst joked, playfully fluffing his hair as she held him in place. Steven laughed from Amethyst's sudden assault on his hair, the purple Gem acting like an older sister. Pinkie happily hopped in, knocking them both to the ground as the pink mare did a tickle game with them. As they all played around, Pearl then began to head back to the Beach House, looking to Amethyst and Steven a few more times as she went. After hearing Steven say that to Amethyst, something suddenly got into Pearl's head as she stopped by the door. Pearl could still see the others playing around on the sand as if they were siblings. The only one to see her really go for the moment was Applejack, Garnet, and Twilight, though didn't go up at first. With a rough sigh passing her lips, she opened the door, and went inside the Beach House. As for the state of the house itself, it didn't look too well-maintained with some of Steven's clothes scattered about on the floor.

"Steven ..." Pearl sighed under her breath, as she started to pick up one of Steven's gold star shirts. However, once she did ...

"Afternoon, Pearl."

Suddenly, something quickly popped up on the shirt Pearl was holding, Pearl getting spooked, and dropped the shirt, as if it shocked her or something. A little bit later, the same figure fully appeared in front of her, wearing Steven's t-shirt. The figure it turned out was none other than Discord, spontaneously appearing soon as Pearl was inside the Beach House by herself. Pearl tried to calm herself, realizing who it was.

"What're you doing here?" Pearl asked, continuing to work on cleaning up Steven's mess on the floor.

"I was going to ask you the same question, actually. Cleaning up another's mess again, per usual, I see," Discord asked with a grin, as Pearl continued.

"Just got bored with the game, that's all," Pearl said, though Discord knew that the gal was pretty much lying to him, as she got another shirt and folded it up. The draconequus fluttered over by the window, opening the blinds so Pearl can see the others outside, playing another game of volleyball again.

"Is that so. And I assume they ordered you to clean up too."

"no one told me to do this, I decided to!" Pearl cleared up, getting angry with Discord, getting in his goat face. However, Discord disappeared, and popped up by the kitchen, laying down on the counter as if it were a couch.

"Oh, I'm sorry. How silly of me, of course you're not upset that they treat you as a personal housemaid," Discord said, snapping his lion paw fingers, suddenly having Pearl in a French maid outfit, accompanied by a feather duster. Annoyed, and embarrassed, Pearl set the duster down, and took off the outfit over her original outfit.

"I'm nobody's housemaid!"

"Course you're not, sweet, sweet Pearl. Yet seems not everypony's giving you any satisfaction, after all you do for them." Discord aimed a talon thumb to outside, where Pearl easily saw the others, and was reminded about what Steven said to Amethyst. Her face turned a blushed blue in response, for she knew Discord had figured her out already, as Pearl sat down by her folded clothing, giving a rough sigh.

"Aha! Got it, didn't I?"

"Quiet, Steven shouldn't look up to someone as wild and annoying as her ..." Pearl slumped down on the counter, Discord looming over her, a talon poking the back of her head. Pearl got up straight, feeling the talon hit her rather hardly, as she looked ahead.

"Now, now, it couldn't hurt to act a little differently, would it? Have some fun instead of being a doormat, eh? Let's try something new, shall we?"

Pearl's ears took each of Discord's words in, and her eyes began to look a bit funny, stripes of yellow, green, white, and blue appearing over them both in overlaps like neon lights...


~~~~~~


For what was going on outside, Pearl still didn't show up for the rest of the day, as the others kept going on with their play date for a few more hours. They did stop Volleyball, and were playing around in the ocean with each other, a little distracted to notice that Pearl was gone from the Beach. Still, those who saw Pearl go in wondered what was taking her. So, after a little bit, Twilight decided to check on her herself to see what happened to Pearl.

"Hey, Pearl, it's been a few hours now, you alright?" Twilight asked, opening the door. However, not only did she find Pearl gone from the Beach House, but she also left the Beach House a mess! It wasn't as dirty as it was before, while before it was just a few shirts scattered, suddenly the place was even more of a mess. The bed Steven had made was in complete disarray, the TV fell onto the couch along with the console, books were left on the floor with Steven's shirts, a few bottles were even left empty on the counter (no, not beer bottles, more of soda bottles really). Looked like Amethyst's binges, mixed with a rampage by a drunk. Twilight didn't know what to say, or how to react to this sort of thing in such short time, as Applejack and Garnet caught up with her, seeing the same scenario.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack said, breaking the silence as the three went in for some clue. Looked like an attack happened, but nobody/nopony heard anything go on from outside. Twilight started to get the books up, nice and neat, with her magic, as Garnet got the TV back in place.

"Pearl would never do this," Garnet said, the TV and console back in place as they found it that morning. Of course, some questions were brought up: where'd Pearl go? What made this mess? Most importantly, how'd they not notice anything?! As the three only got a little bit of the mess handled, some of the others went in: Amethyst and Fulgurite in particular. The two Gems couldn't believe how much of a mess they missed.

"Geesh, did a storm go through here or what?" Fulgurite wondered.

"Not sure, but Pearl's missing," Twilight said.

"What?! Who's gonna clean this up now?" Amethyst asked in surprise. The question was both tactless, and dumb to say. Both Twilight and Applejack looked to them in disapproval, as they glanced to Garnet, having a similar feeling towards them...

"Good question," Garnet replied. Before answering them, Twilight, Applejack, and Garnet walked out to tell the others what was going on, leaving Fulgurite and Amethyst to the huge mess in front of them. Out of all the Gems, Amethyst was the least likely to clean up, often leaving it to Pearl to do. But, since she's not around, it's now up to them to clean up ... Much to their dismay ...

"You do it," Fulgurite said.

"No way, you do it!" gripped Amethyst. Soon, Garnet opened the door.

"You both do it," Garnet said, to get them quiet and to get them both started. So much for getting out of it.


~~~~~~


Beach City had been rather, more or less, normal. Along the coastline of the town, Connie and her mother were over by the market, her mother buying some more clothes for Connie. While it wasn't the first time Connie had to go with her mother, it wasn't anything exciting either, as Connie looked over some clothes herself. It was a hobby she usually ended up doing because her mom said so. For the moment, her mother was busy looking over some clothes, and Connie was looking around at another part of the store, at some extra knickknacks nearby the exit. Connie didn't enjoy it too much, not enough to hate it, but just enough when she'd be happy to do something else at some point.

"Oh, Connie, you'd look so gorgeous in this," her mother said at one point, showing her a nice blue dress. However, Connie personally wasn't sure she liked it, yet she just nodded anyway. She didn't want to argue with her mother about what she's buying for her. Her mother added the dress to her cart and continued on. Connie went back to looking over the knickknacks, when she took the moment to glance outside, to across the street. She saw a café just across the way, a few tables outside for others to sit down. What caught Connie's attention though was one of the people in particular. While most of the person's face was covered by a newspaper, she had her feet on the table, full view for Connie. Bizarrely, whoever was there had on oddly familiar ballerina-like shoes ...

"Wait ... no, is that? ..." Connie wondered, looking off outside from the window. Soon, the newspaper was eventually removed as she got bored of what was being read out. The gal had a complete punk look: black leather jacket, rugged blue jeans with a shirt underneath showing Beach City on it. She had a sort of bandage over the bridge of her nose. Connie was left with her eyes wide and mouth agape as to who she was indeed seeing. So much of a shock, she had to go and see herself.

She looked back to her mom, and she was too busy with shopping to focus too much on what she was doing. So, quietly, Connie managed to get herself outside, as the other girl got up to her feet, puffing out a smoke cloud, before beginning to walk away. With her mom distracted, Connie had a small window of opportunity to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her or not. She didn't have too much trouble, as the girl went across the street. Connie saw her lean on the wall, in a small box in her hand.

"sup?"

"P-Pearl? What on earth happened to you?" Connie asked, flabbergasted at Pearl's complete transformation. Pearl, unlike before, seemed to ignore Connie's shock, as she then pulled something else out of her small box: a cigarette! She got it right in her mouth, lit it up, and puffed out a bit of smoke right in front of her. The only way Connie knew this was truly Pearl was the huge Gemstone on her forehead, exact match and all.

"Got a problem with me, or something?"

"Well, a bit, when did you turn into ... well ..." Connie wasn't sure how to say it exactly, but Pearl was smart enough to know what she meant, and she just rolled her eyes. She then gave another puff of the cigarette, and a smoke cloud ended up in Connie's face, making her cough a little bit.

"I'm living my life how I want it to."

"But what happened? Wearing punk clothes, smoking, this isn't like you."

"Things change kid, roll with it," Pearl bluntly advised, some of the burnt bits of her cigarette being tapped off near Connie's feet. Connie was even more shocked that this kind of stuff was coming out of Pearl's mouth, of all Gems! Even more shocking then when she found her covered in poison joke. Connie tried to comprehend what she was seeing correctly, as Pearl kept smoking without much care. To make things a bit more worrying, Connie looked inside, and noticed her mother ready to go out! At this time?!

"That's my mom! Quick uh ... Look presentable," Connie insisted, completely freaked out over what her mom would think. Pearl didn't think she needed to be changed all too much. Pearl looked at the cigarette in her mouth, and all she did was spit it out into the street, away from Connie ... And that was it.

"Better?"

"No, not better! get the rest of that off," Connie pleaded, trying to get the jacket and stuff off Pearl. Annoyed, Pearl pushed her back, strong enough to knock her onto her back, that being seen by Connie's mom. Pearl just looked annoyed as Connie's mother rushed out to her aid. She helped get her up to her feet, and then stared daggers at Pearl.

"You leave my daughter alone!" she yelled, Pearl lighting a smoke again. At this point, she could care less.

"Knock it off, she kept bugging me."

"Don't change the issue on me, my daughter would never bother anybody!" The angry mother snapped. Pearl suddenly acting like her hand was Connie's mother.

"Nag, nag, nag," Pearl said, mocking her even more. "Go be paranoid somewhere else," Pearl advised mockingly, blowing a smoke cloud at the mother's face before starting to walk away. Connie and her mother weren't sure what to make of it, though her mother immediately got Connie moving again to the car. Connie didn't know what they were going to do, but it couldn't end very good for her. As for Pearl, the new Pearl kept going off on her way down the sidewalk. Guess the changes Pearl went through were far bigger than anyone would think ...

As the day continued on from there, both sides were basically continuing their little venture. Pearl didn't have many plans to do, and was basically wandering Beach City and the outskirts, many spots where the Gems and Mane Six managed to miss her. The other Gems close to her couldn't really think on how she would just disappear so quickly, and so suddenly. Amethyst and Fulgurite didn't join until after they finished cleaning the Beach House, but their extra help didn't seem to work out very well as the day started to come to a close. Even with everyone trying to find her, Pearl seemed to disappear from Beach City after they were done playing volleyball. Garnet, Twilight and Applejack knew they should've spoke with her instead of leaving her alone. First Rainbow was gone, and now Pearl left?

"This is going nowhere. Where'd she go?" Twilight wondered, flying back to the others.

"We tried everywhere in town, there's no sign of her anywhere," Lapis grimly said.

"How could she just disappear like this? Anypony notice anything before she left?" Rarity asked. The others weren't too sure of what exactly set her off, even for those who saw her leave. Garnet thought over a little bit more, but, before she could say anything about that, Amethyst then began to go off.

"No idea, I'll look over here," Amethyst said, beginning to go away to find Pearl. The others continued looking in other spots, though Garnet stopped once she thought of something, as she watched Amethyst go off. She wasn't sure who was going to find Pearl ... But it might be best if Amethyst found her...

Further away, outside town, Pearl was basically wandering around along the highway. By that time, not too much was going on, not much traffic on the road so that wasn't an issue. The sun was just barely peaking from the horizon, nighttime approaching, and the flame from her cigarette more visible, as she gave another huff. She'd gone through about three of them by that point, close to starting her fourth. As she continued, she then noticed something further ahead of her: a lone bar, not too far from Beach City. It didn't appear like it had much competition honestly, and it seemed to have a good number of humans in it, seeing plenty of cars and even a few motorbikes. So, with a shrug, Pearl began to go off to the bar. Not too long after, Amethyst started to come back around the same area just a minute after Pearl went in, the Gem just catching someone similar to Pearl, but only a second. Amethyst wasn't too sure, but she followed anyway.

Inside the bar, it was a typical sports bar with many different, rugged humans in it. Clearly, at least for the moment, Pearl would fit right into this kind of crowd. So, after walking right up, Pearl opened the door wide open, and went right in.  The men and women inside the place didn't look exactly like Pearl, but enough for Pearl to fit into the crowd as she sat down at the bar. Pearl gave a bored yawn, as she lit another cigarette. Amethyst peeked in through a nearby window, trying to see where she went. From where she was though, Pearl had her back to her, so, she couldn't recognize her as easily.

"Can I help you?" The bartender asked Pearl. Pearl took a moment to puff out a cloud of smoke before answering him, unaware Amethyst was at the window. Pearl looked over what was available, and then she noticed one with a blue, thorny rose on it. Not knowing much about what kind of drink would work, but heck with it.

"Give me whatever that is. Large," Pearl sighed, pointing to the type of drink. The bartender nodded, got her a glass, and filled it with the drink in question. Some of the other people looked over to the new arrival with some interest, being a good-looking woman by appearance alone. As Pearl got her drink, someone sat down next to her, some intrigue in her.

"Hey, babe~ A fine girl, aren't you~?" he said, trying to act slick. Pearl rolled her eyes at the human's flirtatious compliments. She was a Gem, and she wasn't interested in any human male.

"Don't try your luck," Pearl said, ready to drink. Before she could, the flirt suddenly got his arm around her, making her stop.

"Now don't be like that, babe~ A lovely rose like you should be happy to meet a guy like me~"

"And here's my mood to that," Pearl groaned, as she slammed her free hand over his face, and pushed him away, enough so he fell on the floor. Obviously, he had too many drinks. Amethyst could see who it was a bit better once Pearl turned her way, the Gem completely baffled! In fact, she took a moment to rub her eyes, and relook, only to see Pearl there still. Why would she even be here? As for Pearl, she didn't notice the other Gem outside, as she turned back to the bar table, taking her cigarette out for a second.

"Humans. So desperate for some things," Pearl commented, until she got the large glass, and sucked it all down fast. Everyone at the bar table was impressed and watched Pearl gulp the whole thing down in just six seconds flat. The normal buzz that kind of drink was supposed to give someone didn't seem to effect Pearl much, if at all. After she did that, she then heard something else go on: banging of fist in arm wrestling. Amethyst finally then decided to go into the place to see her. Amethyst knew it was Pearl, but her behavior was unsure. Amethyst went over to her, not wasting anytime to get to her, but Pearl already went over to the arm wrestlers in question, seeing their strain. While she watched, Amethyst got to her.

"Pearl?"

"Not now, squirt," Pearl immediately said. That escalated quickly, and Pearl didn't seem to care!

"Who're you calling -"

Suddenly they heard another slam, as another man was beaten in the game. Pearl then noticed that people were actually betting on who'll win for each time, some money already in a nearby bucket. On seeing that, and giving another puff of smoke, she got an idea, and started to move over to the open chair, as the winner felt the pride go through him.

"Hey, don't ignore me over here!" Amethyst yelled, but Pearl focused more on her own idea. Guess her focus on herself, compared to the focus on others was switched too. The crowds quieted as Pearl invited herself in, arm at the ready. It seemed simple enough by what she saw.

"Oh, another one?" The man mocked, getting himself ready. Everyone placed their bets on the other guy for this arm-wrestling match, since he was a lot bigger than Pearl. Amethyst watching aside but wasn't done yet.

"Hey, Pearl, HELLO!"

"Here, eat a bottle," Pearl said, shoving an empty bottle in her mouth to shut her up. While she did literally eat the bottle to get it out, the ref counted it down.

"Ready ... Go!"

Then, the thud came in just one second. Literally one short second. The thud silenced everyone, as Pearl smirked to the man, his hand under her own. Pearl removed her cigarette, too short to continue anyway. Since no one betted on Pearl, everyone lost their money. So, since it was free money, Pearl happily took the bucket, and started to go off out. She wasn't planning to share her earning with anyone, as Amethyst followed her out after eating up her bottle. Pearl gave a lazy salute before heading out the door.

Outside, Pearl began to walk off with her money, as Amethyst caught up with her. It was a bit darker now, the sun gone and the moon starting to come around.

"Pearl, stop! What happened to you?" Amethyst asked urgently. Pearl groaned.

"You too? I can control my own life, thanks," Pearl said, ready to pass her. However, Amethyst wasn't ready to go off just yet.

"I'm not letting you go so easily; we've looked for you all day!" Amethyst retorted.

"Why should you care? Go back and hang with your little boy or something," Pearl gripped, stepping past her. Suddenly, Amethyst realized what she was talking about from earlier...

"You're jealous, aren't you? That's what this is about?!" Amethyst assumed. She got it from Pearl reaction, her eyes staring back daggers.

"Jealous, jealous of what?! Some little, loud, wild midget who can't listen to anyone for her life?! Well guess what, I'm not bothering with you, or any of the other Gems anymore! I can get appreciated without you, so there!" Pearl yelled, not sugar coating anything as she told that to Amethyst. Amethyst was angry at her, but when she said she could get her own appreciation, that seemed to change the mood a little bit, but not enough to remove any anger.

"Wait, what?"

"Every day I workday in, day out, and none of you care either way! I clean the house, complete missions, clean up your messes on a daily basis, you'd think someone would at least show some appreciation to me, even a little bit, and what do I hear after everything? "Oh Amethyst, I wish I can be as great as you." What did you do that I didn't, huh?! I work ten times over to keep things going well, and all you did was goof around! You're a complete pain to live with, and here I hear a clod like you getting appreciated more than me!! WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?!"

A long silence stretched on after Pearl finished up her thoughts, letting the words sink into Amethyst. So that was the reason? She left because she no longer felt appreciated for everything she's been doing. Amethyst could feel tears go over her eyes, as Pearl sighed, and turned away. The Gem was ready to go, and just leave her at that, but Amethyst looked down to her feet, feeling her tears as she heard Pearl go away. Suddenly, it was Amethyst's turn, as she was crying.

"FINE! I've wasted enough of my life anyway looking for you today! And just so you know, I only was looking for you because I cared!!"

That made Pearl stop, further, hearing Amethyst wail a bit.

"Yeah, you heard me! *sniff* The most irritable, annoying Gem in your world, and I spent all day looking for you because I cared about you! I know I acted like a clod all the time, but guess what? I'VE BEEN JEALOUS OF YOU!"

Amethyst took a moment to get the tears out as Pearl turned around. 

"That's right! I see everyone look to you for help at least once, and I feel so worthless sometimes that no one comes to me for help! You think I enjoy not being relied onall the time, DO YOU?! But, if you're just gonna run off, then FINE! GO AWAY! I don't want to see your face again! And take this with you!" Amethyst finished them up when she pulled out Pearl's magic key and threw it at her. Pearl got it in both of her hands. Pearl took a minute to think over what she said, feeling a bit odd for some reason ...

"Well? ARE YOU GOING OR NOT?" Amethyst managed to snap through tears, but Pearl didn't answer her. Pearl's thoughts returned to her, as the cigarette fell from her mouth. So, even after everything, that's what Amethyst felt after all that time? Pearl saw her act reckless, lazy, and everything like that, and she thought she preferred that over doing any work. But now ... Something dawned to her. She got jealous for what someone else did and forgot for a bit of her own virtues during all that. She shouldn't forget who she is over what someone else did. While the appreciation wasn't as mended, the jealousy was perfectly fixed ...

All of a sudden, something began to happen, as light started to form around her, surprising Amethyst! When the light went away, Pearl looked back to normal, with her normal clothes on and normal appearance. Her eyes weren't as deadly as they were before. Amethyst, though unsure of what happened, still was hurt over what Pearl had told her. Be it from a messed-up mind or not, she told the truth to her full force, with no sympathy, and a change wasn't going to get rid of it so easily. Amethyst looked away, as she heard Pearl walk back over to her. Amethyst looked up to a much more caring face of Pearl's own, one that Amethyst herself was more used to...

"Amethyst ... I'm so sorry ..." Pearl said. Amethyst, recognizing the tone in voice and comfort in her words, that the Pearl she knew was back to her. With tears still, Amethyst hugged Pearl good and tight, as Pearl returned the caring hug to the other Gem...

"Come on, Amethyst. Let's go back home," Pearl decided, cheering Amethyst up. With that, the two started heading back home...

From afar, another Gem watched from further away, sitting down comfortably as she was watching. Garnet. While she could've helped out with them, seeing them figure out the problem themselves was not only more satisfying, but proved that both learn without being told directly. Garnet gave a smile as she saw them, as something else landed next to her. Unlike Pearl, Garnet didn't get surprised from seeing Discord land next to her.

"You were involved, I assume?" Garnet asked, though not sounding upset.

"With good intent, I assure you," Discord replied, conjuring up a cup of hot chocolate.

"I know," Garnet replied, Discord actually a little surprised.

"You, you knew?"

"Don't act so surprised, Discord. I've figured you out already: even if you act annoying, you teach lessons onto others through experience rather than words. You did that since we first met Twilight and her friends, and you've done that now. Why else would you change Pearl?" Garnet explained. Suddenly, Discord ended up in a jack-in-a-box, him popping out with confetti.

"Surprise!" Discord said, telling Garnet that she had gotten it.

"You are smart."

"Thank you. And one thing," Garnet said. One hand turned into a Gem weapon fist, and bonked Discord on the head good and hard. "That's for making everyone worried," Garnet finished, still in a calm tone.

"Fair enough," Discord said, rubbing the cartoony bump on his head, between his horns.

Guess some deeds don't go unpunished.
> The Runaway
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

For Connie, the night after meeting up with Bad Pearl had left its mark: both her mom and dad very angry at her for what happened. Even if it wasn't her who ended up hurting someone, she did end up getting in trouble for a number of other reasons. At her home, both of her parents got her in the living room, the girl looking to the floor as both parents berated her for what happened.

"What did we tell you, young lady?" The mother began, firm in tone to get her point across.

"Mom, I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't remove what happened, Connie. Not only did you leave the store by yourself, but you also talked with a total stranger, and look what happened," her father said, pointing to the bruise on her arm, getting it when Pearl knocked her down.

"B-but -"

"But nothing! This is why we don't go back on any rules - to avoid anything like this happening!" Connie could feel the words hit at her each time, but that wasn't the only issue: as the parents were talking to her, her father caught something in her pocket that looked out of place. Before Connie could react, her dad grabbed it, and it turned out to be Connie's magic key! Was bad enough Connie found Pearl turning all punk, but now her parents had found her key, something she tried to keep quiet from her parents since she found it!

"Where'd you get this?" Her father asked firmly, showing Connie the key with her signature face on it.

"Uh ... I uh ..."

"Okay, that's it. Go to your room, young lady," her father decided, putting the key in his own pocket, and pointing to the stairs.

"But Dad!"

"No buts, Connie. Room, now," her mother instructed.

"If you'd just listen to -"

"Connie!" her father yelled, telling her they weren't going to listen, no matter what she said. Connie sighed and didn't had much choice. As Connie sadly went upstairs. As she went, her mother added "And there better not be any lights on in there!" Connie flinched on hearing it, but could only agree as she went, that time without her special key with her. That kind of behavior was something Connie had to deal with for a long time, and something she hoped wouldn't last too long for her. Although, it didn't seem like it'll be over anytime soon. The parents waited until they heard Connie's door shut, knowing she was in her room by then.

Connie's room was very well-managed, as instructed by her parents. Connie had the basic necessities: a bed by the window, a small lamp nearby for reading, usual stuff. She also had a bookshelf by the door, and her closet across her bed. Connie, feeling sad, just laid down on the bed. She didn't go to sleep right away, as she placed her glasses by her lamp, which she turned off. Connie didn't think she disserved to be punished for a mistake, enough to be removed of her magic key.

"Why do they treat me like this? Every time I do anything, they always keep me locked away like some delicate jewel," Connie thought aloud, looking up at the ceiling.

"Wish I can talk to someone who understands me ..."

Back downstairs, both parents were thinking things over on what punishment seemed fitting for this.

"What are we gonna do with her?" the mother wondered in a sigh, as the father looked over the key. The key was indeed peculiar, and they for sure don't remember giving it to her. Though, how Connie's face ended up on the handle was especially confusing, if not suspicious. Did Connie get it custom made while they had their back turned? As her father looked over the key, suddenly they both heard laughing, pretty loud and out of nowhere.

"Go to bed, Connie!" her mother called, but the laughing didn't cease. Both parents followed to the source of the noise ... The key! The handle began to move, as it laughed with Connie's voice! Before the dad could even comprehend what, he was seeing, the key popped out of his hand, and hopped in place on the coffee table in front of them!

"What in the world?" the mom gasped, trying to get the key. However, every time either one of them tried to confiscate it again, the key would bounce around and avoid being grabbed. The live key bounced around like some wild bouncy ball, bouncing off the parent's heads a number of times. At one point, while it hopped around in the kitchen, the mother finally got a grip around the handle with both hands.

"Got it!" she announced. However, she felt something tickle her hands, as she began to giggle ... Which turned to laughing. Her husband watched as his wife was laughing like mad, the key being released, as it continued to tickle her, spinning like a fan blade as it tickled her stomach. After the mother was on the floor laughing for a bit, the key bounced off, and rolled off to upstairs, with the father going after it. Before either parent could get it, it slid under Connie's door, and got back in her room. Connie wasn't aware of what was going on yet as she just laid there, not changing into her PJs for sleep just yet. Though, that might've been a virtue for her, as the key bounced on her bed, getting her attention. When her parents got to the door, and tried to open it though, they got another surprise when they found the door locked!

"Connie, open the door!" her father yelled, trying to open the door. However, the key then hopped over, stopping right next to the door. The key hopped in the air, and inserted itself into Connie's wall, making the magic portal open up for her. Connie didn't know where this could end up, but considering she was still hearing her parents angry at her, she was faced with a decision. Stay and face her controlling family, or try somewhere else ...

"Open this door right now!" her mother demanded. Eventually, Connie made her decision. Just a bit after she did decide, the door finally unlocked itself, the door swinging into the portal opening, immediately slamming the portal shut. Both parents went right in ... Only to find their daughter missing...

Connie chose flight.


~~~~~~


Things had cooled down for quite a bit for the Gems. While the argument (and revelation at the end of it) was a bit harsh, it ironically got the two hanging out a little bit more despite the harsh truths. That seemed the case, anyway, as many of the Gems sometime catch the two together doing a few things. The behavior still wasn't too changed around, Amethyst and Pearl acting like they usually do, but they didn't argue as much as they used to, which was pretty good.

However, even if she was discorded, Pearl hadn't forgotten her experience as being the typical 'bad girl', thanks to Discord. While she felt that, compared to what she could've done, she'd gone off rather easily, she remembered what happened with Connie. The first meeting with her mother, and it happened to be when she was a complete clod to her by Discord's messed-up methods to prove some point to her. She could only wonder what Connie ended up going through after that kind of first appearance ...

For one morning, Steven was in his room and reading a few more books he'd recently been getting hooked on. The book franchise he was looking over was called "the no home boys", and Steven had been reading them over for the last couple of days and was well invested in another part of the book when Lapis came in to see him. Steven laid down by the rim to the couch under him to see Lapis.

"Morning, Steven."

"Hi Lapis. Hey, check out this new story I got," Steven said, showing Lapis the book, he was looking at. Lapis took a second to read over the title.

"The No Home Boys?"

"Yeah, it's awesome! It's about these two boys as they travel with each other through the countryside. Living with no home as they ride trains, go down rivers, go pretty much everywhere together," Steven said, summing up the synopsis for her. Lapis took the thought in, looking over the title and picture of two boys, walking along with tied wraps on sticks.

"Sounds like something the Crystal Gems would do," Lapis thought, though by mistake it came out aloud, catching Steven's attention.

"They ran away from their home? Where'd they live before?" Steven asked, interested in the story. However, Lapis wasn't too sure at first on how to put it. But, after a little bit, Lapis sat down, and patted the spot next to her so Steven can sit down. Steven fell from his spot, landing on his rear on the couch before Lapis could begin.

"You see, Steven. Many of us Gems come from a different planet, called Homeworld," Lapis started. She used her water from her Gem to make a sphere of Homeworld, as best she could.

"Homeworld is our original home. Thousands of years ago, Gems had managed to find another planet, Earth. During this time, a group of Gems, the Crystal Gems, had decided to go against Homeworld and their purposes for Earth. Upon this decision, the Gems that fought for Earth had agreed that they must stay here. Even if it meant they can't go back home."

"What did Homeworld want to do?"

"Uh ... well, it's hard to explain. They tried a number of things here, though I guess from that message Blue got for us, they're no longer doing anything to benefit Homeworld anymore," Lapis explained. That only got Steven more curious.

"You think we can see one of these places?" Steven asked hopefully. Lapis needed a moment to think on where Steven could go that wouldn't harm any Gem or get her and him into trouble. Her memory of those times was a bit sketchy, since she'd been trapped in a mirror for as long as she had been. However, she does remember one place in particular that could be a spot for Steven to see. So long as it wasn't active still to her knowledge.

"Well ... There is one place, but I don't know ..."

"Come on, please?"

"Steven, I don't know if it's safe or not ..."

Suddenly, While Lapis was thinking, turned away, an odd pop was heard. When Lapis turned back to the Half-Gem, his eyes were suddenly wide, sad, and completely cute like a sad puppy! Steven's eyes weren't normally like this, as the kid learnt how to transform his eyes with his Gem magic. Lapis was surprised, though felt a little guilty.

"Steven."

Steven didn't change his sad gaze, a small tear under his left eye.

"Steven!"

Still not changing. Finally, Lapis sighed and gave in to Steven's guilt trip stare.

"Okay, okay, we can go."

Steven blinked, his eyes back to normal, much happier, as Lapis got back up to her feet, and Lapis went to outside to get ready. Steven wondered why they weren't taking the Warp Pad, but then remembered that many of the Warp Pads don't always work, proven last time he was at the Galaxy Warp. So instead of asking, Steven got right out there to join Lapis, as the girl got out her set of large water wings, ready to go. Lapis looked to Steven, a visual invitation, and Steven happily piggy-backed on Lapis, holding onto her shoulders. With a smile from her as well, Lapis and Steven went on their way as Lapis flew off from the Beach House.


~~~~~~


While things for many had changed, some things plainly hadn't changed: Rainbow Dash was still going around with Peridot from place to place, going around in different areas of Earth to check in. Rainbow no longer had such an urge against Peridot, though she wasn't ready to fully befriend the Gem just yet. Same goes for Peridot. While Rainbow may had been annoying the first time around, but the Homeworld Gem got more used to having her tag along. That, and Rainbow still kept to her promise that she wouldn't interfere, and she was still keeping to that, which Peridot did approve of. At one point in their round-about trip, Rainbow and Peridot were done in another spot: along a very tall tower of pillars. A new Warp Pad needed to be made from scratch, the previous one crumbled under a rock.

"Communication hub seems to be damaged over the thousands of years," Peridot concluded, leaving some robonoids to begin repairs on the structure.

"You're not spending hours here this time?" Rainbow asked.

"The robonoids can handle the repairs themselves for this spot," Peridot said, as a few were working some pillars in place, and fixing some of the cracks. Rainbow was a bit 50/50 on this: while her main mission was to make sure no one was going to be hurt, she was learning a bit more on some Gem tech than expected.

"Okay, anywhere else left? We been through here, that spire place, that weird island with the smiling fish. Are we done yet?" Rainbow asked annoyed. Peridot glanced down at the Pegasus before bringing up her screen.

"One more location should suffice the maintenance," Peridot stated, looking over the status on her screen.

"And where's that, might I ask?"

"You requested that ten times currently," Peridot sighed, before activating the Warp Pad again with Rainbow Dash. When they ended up next after checking that spot, Rainbow and Peridot both looked around at their new surroundings.

The area they stopped at that time was that of a large canyon, stretching off through the area. The place looked like the life was drained out if it: with dull rocks and grey canyon walls. The walls all around them were covered in holes, perfectly made for a small person to fit inside. A few odd machines were gripping the walls and ground as well, a sort of odd tripod with something like organs in the middle of a see-through base, and a large diamond at the top. The sky itself looked lacking life, a light grey haze covering the area above them. Peridot gave a rough sigh, removing her screen before she stepped off the Warp Pad, Rainbow looking around. It did not appear like anything was ever going on there for many years, not a single sound being heard a part of their own activity. The Pegasus wasn't liking this kind of place.

"Not as excellent as it used to be. A quick check at the prime control center and we'll be done here," Peridot said, walking off. Rainbow trotted over with her and walked by her side as she looked at every hole, and every odd machine. From what she saw so far, this place was more ominous than the other areas they've been to. Peridot seemed more disappointed than worried over the place. As she said, it was a lot better before, as she recalled. In spite of that, Peridot and Rainbow Dash began to go off away from the Warp Pad.

"Geesh, looks abandoned for years," Rainbow commented.

"5,000 years if I recall right."

"So, what was this place for, anyway? Training ground? Mining?"

"Gem creation." Rainbow suddenly stopped on that reply. They created Gems here?! She had a completely different view over every other hole on the wall after Peridot said that. After a bit, Rainbow went over to Peridot again, catching up.

"By Gem, you mean like you, right?"

"Naturally. Gems were made here by the hundreds, centuries ago, until some rebel Gems drove Homeworld away from production. Apparently, it left everything in disarray ever since then," Peridot said. Along with being used to company, Peridot was also a little more used to tell Rainbow Dash a bit about what the stuff is and what happened to the areas to ease Rainbow's curiosity. Soon, Rainbow flew over near some of the odd machines stuck to the walls.

"And what about these thingamajigs?" Rainbow asked, tapping the glass area of the object.

"Injectors. They're made as apart of Gem production. The Injectors can drill in and implant a premature Gemstone about five to six meters into the surface of the earth, giving it life-substances and life-force from the surrounding area to speed up the process. After a gestating period of two to three earth weeks, the Gem is able to mature, and mature as a fully developed Gem," Peridot explained, feeling the leg of one of the Injector machines. Rainbow was a bit lost in what she was talking about.

"... So, you were planted, and you just pop out from holes in the dirt?" Rainbow asked. Peridot rolled her eyes at Rainbow's simpleton response to all that explanation.

"Perhaps its better if I just demonstrate. Apart of my maintenance either way," Peridot decided, pulling out something from a compartment opening up from her arm. Soon, she pulled out an actual Gemstone! Rainbow looked to the type of Gemstone Peridot had with her. The Gemstone in particular didn't seem to have much color to it, even a little translucent. Just slightly, it looked like it had a five-point star on it. Rainbow gave it a better look over. If Rarity were here, she'd be ogling over it by now. Peridot looked away before walking off, the Gemstone in her five fingers, with Rainbow flying by her.

"Now, we need an operational Injector, a proper area for Gem growth, one of these has to work somewhere," Peridot said, beginning to go off. Rainbow flew up higher in the air, looking around to see which one will work. Soon, she then noticed one on the very top of the canyon, isolated from the others. While Rainbow can get to it easily, she wasn't sure how Peridot was going to get there. Peridot waited until Rainbow stopped by the one, she was talking about, and her free fingers suddenly extended, and began to spin. Soon, her finger helicopter began to lift her up to the where Rainbow was, impressing the Pegasus.

"Anything those fingers can't do?"

"They can't make new Gems," Peridot said, opening up a panel on the side of the base, and working with some buttons on the machine. This Injector hadn't worked since the Gems stopped making any more, but after some work, Peridot actually managed to reactivate it. A slot opened up for the Gemstone to fit in, and Peridot and Rainbow watched as the drill began to work its magic. The drill dug into the earth, some debris nearly hitting them both, as the Gem was being processed through the organ-like parts of the machine. They both can actually see the actual dent in the machine where the Gemstone was going through, as the hole was finished. Soon after, the Gemstone was injected inside at a particular spot. Once in place, smaller drills worked their way within that same hole, and covered the Gemstone with dirt. The larger hole itself was covered with dirt soon afterward, the Injector relaxed, as the process was complete. The area didn't look too much like the rest of the canyon, though had some more color in it, and as such, more life.

"See the Injectors still work properly, even with backup power," Peridot said. The two flew back to the ground, leaving the one Gem to germinate in its spot. Rainbow wasn't too sure what the Gem will turn out to be, but she had to wait for the next two to three weeks, if Peridot was correct. Upon landing, Peridot continued to go around the area...


~~~~~~


As the portal opened up, the runaway girl Connie had ended up finishing her portal traveling. She stumbled a little bit upon landing with her magic key in the dirt. Where did that key brought her was completely up to guess, as Connie instinctively got her glasses off the ground, as the portal closed behind her. Her bruised arm took the brunt of the fall, making it hurt even more, as her magic key moved around on the dirt. Connie took the moment to look around as the key continued to work out the details of the place. She had ended up in what appeared to be an underground cavern, a trail leading to outside through a small tunnel. While no true light from outside can be seen, there was some illumination coming from the center of the cavern, which had a large natural pool. Some smaller plants were around, like mushrooms and small bushes, but as far as plants go, that was about it.

"Where am I?" Connie wondered, as the key landed by her feet after it was done moving. Somehow, the key written out a sort of rhyme in the dirt next to the pool, including an arrow pointing to the pond. Connie wasn't too sure why the key brought her here, but at least here it gave her time to think without her parents barging into her life while she was. She moved over to the pool, looking over to the words her currently inactive key made out for her. She wondered a little bit on what the words meant ...

Then she remembered what she said in her room: ''Wish I can talk to someone who understands me.'' That meant here? Can she really talk to somebody here? She might as well try it, see what happens. So, she looked down into her own reflection in the water, before clearing her throat.

"And into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared..." Connie got down to her knees, looking deeply into the pool. "... And solemnly swore not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly marred."

Upon completing the rhyme, Connie waited for something to happen, but then something compelled her: she reached out with both hands into the water. Upon doing so, instead of feeling just the cold water, she got a hold of some arms! Connie pulled upward, getting to her own feet, only to pull someone else out of the pool! The figure looked to be an exact copy of Connie, from clothing to exact expression...

She basically summoned a doppelganger of herself!

At first, Connie was a bit shocked at what she just did, her double looking around in some confusion at seeing herself in the same place. the real Connie didn't know what to do about this sudden new arrival either ...

"... Uh ... Hello?"

"... Hi ..."

Basic start up, but how to proceed. Both sides were a bit confused on everything, though the real Connie felt it was a bit harder to come around.

"You're ... You're me?" The doppelganger asked. Connie could only sigh.

"I guess so. Needed someone to talk to, really," Connie admitted.

"About mom and dad, right?"

Connie would ask how she knew that, but then again, she was a copy of herself, so, perhaps history copied to the doppelganger too. Connie only sat down, as her double did the same, listening to her.

"Right. We both know that they treat me - they can't trust me."

"They are controlling, I know."

"I just tried to figure out what's wrong with Pearl, is that too much to ask? And we both know that they can't even listen to me! *sigh* I don't know, I just need some time away from them for a while," Connie decided.

"Sounds good for a little while," her double agreed. Since they thought the same, for the most part, agreement wasn't going to be of any trouble. Connie picked up her magic key, and got to her feet alongside herself, both agreeing with the idea. It was short, quick, and summed up the issues, but the two started to go out the only exit to the pool.

Looks like Connie was going to spend some time with herself. Literally.


~~~~~~


Back with Rainbow Dash and Peridot, the status look over was doing fairly decently for the most part. Apart from that one part with showing how the Injector works, Rainbow and Peridot were basically roaming around to see what's what and check the status on the place in general. As far as Rainbow was concern, Peridot was done hours ago, but the Homeworld Gem was for sure she had more to check while they went through the area. Eventually, the two ended up heading over to another particular area, further away from the Warp Pad they came up in.

"Prime area inactive," Peridot said eventually, working her screen (again), as Rainbow began to move off ahead of her.

"You needed to run around everywhere to figure that out?" Rainbow commented, getting bored with looking around the place again.

"I do. Let's move on," Peridot said, moving to another area of the place. They then stopped at one part of the place, as Peridot waited a little bit...

"Uh ... I know you might be more "official" for this Gem stuff, but there's nothing here," Rainbow said. However, Peridot ignored her, working at her screen once again. Upon working a few buttons, the area in front of them suddenly outlined a square area in front of them! Soon, after a little bit, the area suddenly popped out in midair, looking like a silver, upside-down pyramid. To Rainbow, this Gem's got too many surprises up her sleeves. When the pyramid settled down, Peridot moved onto it, and the pyramid began to go down a pre-made shaft, Rainbow quickly following her inside it. As the two went down, the entrance sealed off and it appeared that there was nothing there.

However, almost as if on cue, it was then two figures suddenly arrived, flying into the area: Lapis and Steven. It was a rather long flight from Beach City to the place, but they managed to get there none-the-less. However, the sight of the ominous place was a bit different from what Steven was used to.

"This one of those places?"

"Yes, it is. The Gems call it the Kindergarten," Lapis said, looking around. Steven looked a little confused on that name.

"You mean they teach little Gems here?"

"Huh? Oh, no. Actually, Homeworld used to create other Gems here," Lapis corrected, Steven amazed. Judging by all the holes on the walls, a ton of Gems were made in such a place, though seeing it quieted down seemed a bit bummed out to Lapis, knowing that the place was no longer birthing more Gems.

"That's amazing!" Steven beamed, going over to one of the hundreds of holes. The holes size wasn't too big, in fact, looked like he could fit in himself, though Lapis was too tall for this to be her own hole.

"Are all Gems made here?"

"No, no, Homeworld was where the race originated. It's just not as easy during the last thousands of years. It's a lot like an Earth Garden: you only have so much room until you need to find more," Lapis explained. Steven can kinda understand, though that does raise another question: how many Gems are there at Homeworld? How many Gems are there alone for that matter...

Meanwhile, not too far away, Peridot and Rainbow Dash had finished riding down their elevator, waiting until it attached to an underground area. The place they ended up in wasn't what Rainbow Dash expected to show up in such an old place. The room was simply huge, shaped in a green hexagon. Near the back, it seemed to have a large Gem-like object in the back. Outside the room, Rainbow saw a ton of pipes leading away, perhaps as a power source to the place. Rainbow moved in, as Peridot readied to check the status from the room. However, there didn't seem to be any buttons, levers, or anything of the sort.

"What kind of Place is this?" Rainbow asked.

"Kindergarten Prime Control Room, main power source. Keeps track of all the data associated with the Kindergarten," Peridot said, moving into the room. Rainbow readied to go in, but Peridot made Rainbow stop.

"I'd appreciate you staying where you are," Peridot insisted. Rainbow sighed, and sat down at the edge of the room, as Peridot went towards the center of the room. Unlike before, Peridot instead stomped on the ground, and a door opened up, bringing out a control panel to her. Rainbow didn't know what she was trying to do but was ready in case something bad would come around from this. Peridot worked with the buttons for a little bit, until a large screen finally got itself up and running.

"So, you can control what can go on up there?" Rainbow asked, though she wanted to fly over to her.

"Correct. The machines are all operated and powered from here."

"Wait a minute, how'd that other Injector thingy work outside?" Rainbow asked suspiciously. All Peridot actually did was shrug and went back to checking the files of the Control Room, Rainbow having hoof to forehead, as she sat back down.


~~~~~~


Back at the surface, Lapis and Steven both were still going around the Kindergarten, Steven learning as much as he could about the place. However, as Steven and Lapis were looking over one of the machines, suddenly they heard a familiar sound nearby: the sound of the Warp Pad. When they looked, Lapis and Steven not only saw a working Warp Pad by a bunch of red crystals, but they also had company.

"There you two are!"

The voice came from Pearl, who had arrived to the Kindergarten looking for them. Lapis and Steven weren't sure if she was glad to see them, or mad to see them here.

"Garnet said you'd be here, but I didn't want to believe it. Lapis, what were you thinking bringing Steven to a -" Pearl changed her tone to gritted teeth. "- Kindergarten!?"

"What's wrong with bringing him here, it's not a bad place really," Lapis said, looking around. To her, the place where more Gems were basically born didn't sound all that bad, but Pearl begged to differ.

"Were Gems really made here, Pearl?" Steven asked. However, that question made Pearl even more angry, turning to the only Gem who could bring him here.

"How much did you tell him?!" Pearl yelled, obviously angry.

"Pearl, Gems were made here, how's that bad?"

"Look around you! This is a horrifying place, what makes you think bringing Steven here was a good idea?"

"I didn't, he wanted to!" Lapis cleared up, more to show that it wasn't entirely her fault. Pearl glared at Lapis, trying to calm down a little bit, pinching the bridge of her nose. Steven looked to Lapis in some worry, Lapis slightly feeling guilty to say Steven wanted to go here.

"Pearl?"

Pearl just sighed, and kneeled down to Steven's level, both hands on his shoulders.

"Steven, I'm sorry. I never wanted you to see this horrible place."

"But what's so bad about it? Gems were born here, aren't they? ... Is that bad?" Steven asked. Pearl didn't want him to learn anymore things about the place, but, for this question, she had to clear some things up. Pearl straightened herself up and looked down to him.

"... Well, no, not technically. But Gems drain life forces from the Earth while they grow ... Well, this is just a taste of what could've happened if they continued ..."

Lapis and Steven both looked at each other and looked around for a bit. That was something none of them really knew about, and seeing the barren landscape seemed to prove the fact even more. If this was just a small taste of what could've been ... Well, Steven didn't want to think about that.

"I'm sorry, Pearl," Steven said finally.

"Steven, I know you're young, and you're wanting to know more about Gems but ... Let's just wait on subjects like this until you're more ready, okay?" Pearl asked, calmer and caring that time. Steven didn't say much, but eventually nodded in agreement. He can afford to wait if it makes the others feel a bit better on it...

As all that was going on, Peridot was still looking over the files to the Kindergarten, as Rainbow watched on in boredom. It was like looking over a slideshow, only Peridot wasn't blabbering on about each one of the documents. Not like Rainbow could read it anyway, many of the lettering and language a bit unsure of to the Pegasus. The documents in question did intrigue Peridot a little bit, not seeing such stuff in quite some time. While the writing was a bit wonky, some did come with pictures of some things. Some of these included other gemstones, injector status from the surface (one of which shown a recent completion), locations of other Kindergartens on Earth, and other things of that nature. Rainbow could've sworn she noticed some odd figures on the screens, yet couldn't make out what or who they were. As Peridot was looking it over, something did nag at her a tiny bit, and she looked back to Rainbow.

"Excuse me. What was that object your friend used? The 'Fluttershy' I think it was," Peridot asked. Rainbow immediately gave a rough look to her.

"Hey, I'm not saying anything," Rainbow Dash firmly retorted. Peridot gave a little groan.

"I've been telling you about our own mechanics for the last four earth days, I'm sure it would be only fair," Peridot said with some annoyance. Rainbow rolled her eyes, but knew she was right. With all of Rainbow Dash's questions, the least she could do was answer hers. So, taking it out from the feathers in her right wing, she pulled out her own Magic Key, and showed it to Peridot, who looked it over intently.

"Here. This is a magic key I got a while back. It's like my own ticket back to my home."

"Magic key? Where'd you obtain it?"

"From a package I got from a *ahem* ''friend'' of mine. He thought it'll help me out when I needed it ... for some reason," Rainbow explained, mumbling to herself at that last part. Along with the other ponies, Rainbow did end up getting her magic key like the Gems, though only at a later date, and not through some crazy act either like the others did. Of course, by friend, she meant Discord, though she didn't entirely trusted Discord with giving her a random magic key, not to mention doing the same to the rest of her friends. As for Peridot, she felt satisfied enough for that answer, not interested on where Rainbow came from, as she went back to studying up the files left over. Rainbow put the key back under her wing, and remained there as she finished up.

"Let's see now ... Kindergarten status is inactive, files backed up - thank goodness. Status on the -"

Before Peridot could finish, suddenly they both heard some sort of thud come from nowhere. Peridot turned back, still seeing Rainbow on her feet, looking around as well.

"I thought we agreed you didn't interrupt my maintenance."

"I didn't do that."

Before it could go any further, more banging could be heard. Suddenly, from above, something big fell down, nearly landing on Rainbow Dash! Rainbow managed to fly out of the way, but the thing that landed got Rainbow's nerves sky high. The thing looked like a stitched-up project gone wrong, with multiple limbs attached to the wrong place. Five orange, large fingers were on top of a rounded violet head, with one large eye and no nose or mouth, looking like frills or head feathers. Its forearms, the left green, and the right violet, pulled its body up as its back legs dragged behind at first, also having hands rather than feet. Its back was lined with some sort of small toes, which moved like regular ties would. It looked about as large as Garnet was tall. It also had a long tail made up of one muscular purple arm. Peridot looked mildly surprised while Rainbow was freaked out over seeing this thing show up.

"W-What the hay is that thing?!" Rainbow asked, nerves a little affray. It stared at them both with its large eye, as a mouth started to open up on its neck. Upon fully separating, it gave out a loud, blood-curdling roar, its tongue having the extra eye on it. The roar resembled a mix of human screeching, and lion's roar. Peridot and Rainbow covered their ears, not wanting to be deaf, as the roar was so loud it reached the surface, being heard by Lapis, Steven, and Pearl. However, the sound was very muffled, and barely caught by the three.

"Did you hear something?" Steven asked.

"Not sure. Let's get out of here," Pearl said, the three heading to the portal. Steven, Lapis, and Pearl stepped onto the Warp Pad, and without hearing anything else, went off back to the Beach House.

Underground, Rainbow and Peridot were forced into fighting the huge beast, the creature in a full rage. It first targeted Peridot, charging with all its rage, but Peridot easily maneuvered away from its grip. Rainbow, despite her shock, attacked the beast by flying right at it, though the monster only had to whack her away with the fist on its tail, knocking the Pegasus away. Peridot shot at it from a higher vantage point, ala finger chopper, though that only enraged the creature more. Rainbow looked, and saw Peridot flying out through the tunnel, and quickly followed. The beast, using all five hands, climbed up after them. Despite their speed, the beast kept up with force, constantly swatting at them. The two got themselves out, back to the surface of the Kindergarten. However, the monster got itself out, just catching Peridot in its mouth! Rainbow turned back, to see Peridot setting her finger on the skin, and electrocuting it to let her go.

"Any clue how to beat this thing?" Rainbow asked, both high enough so it can't reach. Peridot looked down at the enraged beast before answering the Pegasus.

"Just have to make it retreat into its Gem."

"That ain't no Gem, sista!" Rainbow yelled, the beast suddenly reaching just high enough to grab Peridot! The Homeworld Gem was slammed into the dirt, the beast on top of her, as Peridot struggled in the dry earth. Rainbow wasn't sure if she should at first; this Gem had tried to attack them days ago, and Rainbow knew she wasn't the friendliest Gem she met ...

But her morals were bothering her.

As Peridot was staring eye-to-eye with the Gem beast, Rainbow Dash flew up higher and higher. Soon, she easily had gone up a good fifty feet, her wings keeping her steady as she locked onto her target like a hunting falcon. After judging right, Rainbow Dash began her falcon dive, her pointed wings folded back to reduce any drag behind her. Peridot could see Rainbow Dash flying in fast and braced herself for the oncoming impact. As for the beast, it was too focused on Peridot to notice anything. A loud cry echoed out of Rainbow, and all over the canyon as she made a direct hit on its back. The impact caused a giant cloud of dust to spread out, Peridot trying to see clearly through the area. As it cleared, Peridot sat up, and saw Rainbow Dash standing with her wings spread, and an odd Gemstone at her hooves. The gemstone looked like it was glued together, multiple types joined up. Peridot took a moment before getting up and getting the Gemstone from the ground. Rainbow looked up to Peridot as she did that.

"An impressive attack," Peridot said, putting the Gemstone in a compartment in her arm.

"You're welcome," Rainbow replied, shaking off the dust blown around. Peridot them went over to the empty Warp Pad, having all of the information she had for the maintenance check of Earth. Rainbow calmed down and looked over to her.

"This concludes the maintenance check. I believe our deal has concluded, and expired," Peridot stated. Rainbow just groaned: this Gem wasn't gonna be thanking her after all ...

"Though, I do appreciate the recovery," Peridot added while looking at her screen.

Close enough.

"Well, alright then, Peridot. Guess I'll be going," Rainbow decided, getting out her key, and getting the portal open on the ground. Peridot looked to the portal with some intrigue, though looked back at her screen once Rainbow looked back at her ...

"Well, see ya, Peridot."

"Likewise."

With that, Peridot teleported away, and Rainbow Dash finally went through her portal.

Rainbow was finally going back.
> Slice of Maud Pie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sugarcube corner was as busy as ever for the day, Pinkie Pie busy going about in the kitchen, baking up sweets by the dozens on her latest order. For the moment, she was working by herself, with her little pet with her. Her small, toothless alligator, Gummy, just sat there with an eggbeater in his mouth while Pinkie got busy with, pretty much everything else. Gummy's contribution (Pinkie would consider it helping anyway) was to beat up some eggs in a bowl, which Gummy had the eggbeater put in correctly on the right end. However, the pet gator wasn't doing anything aside from standing there and doing nothing. As for the pink mare herself, Pinkie Pie was going at lightning speed only matched by Fulgurite in Beach City. Pinkie was all over the place, getting different items, mixing them up, and basically doing a day's work of cooking in just an hour or so. Still, Pinkie Pie was as happy as ever. Soon, getting the eggs (which were beat somehow) from Gummy, Pinkie got the mixture done, got it in the oven, and got it all set.

"Thank you, Gummy, I couldn't have done it without ya," Pinkie Pie said, kissing Gummy on the cheek, the reptile not reacting to any of it. As she waited for the yummy treats to bake up, she then heard something just outside her door, the distinct sound of the mailbox opening and closing. Seconds after the mail mare gave the mail over to the box, Pinkie was suddenly right at the door, swinging it wide open with a big grin as she got to her mailbox, getting out the mail inside. After thanking the mail mare and going back in, Pinkie began to rush on through each mail bit, leaving the un-interesting bits on the counter. Soon, however, the mare found a particular letter that piqued her interest. Quickly, the mare tore off the envelope, and quickly looked over the letter and what it had to say. After some quick skimming through, there was a bit of a pause.

Soon, Pinkie was grinning ear to ear at the news that was brought to her. The news was beyond happy for her, and then ...

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

The joy-filled scream from Pinkie Pie, for the brief moment, went all around Ponyville, time stopping for a moment to hear the over-joyed screaming from the pink mare. Any louder and all of Equestria could've heard her! For those that did hear, their reaction was mainly of surprise. Of course, that kind of screech had gotten to her friends, as after a few minutes, Twilight was already through the door.

"Pinkie, you alri -" Twilight was quickly cut off when she saw the pink mare hopping around in circles out of pure joy. The second she noticed the alicorn at her door, Pinkie bolted right over to the startled friend, shoving the note right into her face, getting it stuck on her horn.

"Isn't this the best news ever?!?!" Pinkie beamed, as Twilight got the letter off her horn, and read it over.

"Dear Pinkie: coming over for a visit. Be there soon. Maud... Who's -"

Pinkie suddenly made a huge gasp before continuing.

"OH, everypony will love her! The Gems, I must get them!" Pinkie said, suddenly rushing out the door. Twilight barely had time to react, the letter being blown out of her hoof by Pinkie's own rush. Twilight needed a moment before she turned around, just to see Pinkie opening the special key portal, and jumping through it before Twilight could say or do anything. Oh well, if this was something from Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle could assume it'll be explained later...


~~~~~~


When it came to the state of everypony for the time being, things seemed to have calmed down a bit for both sides. The events back at the Kindergarten were a bit calmer than they hoped for, nothing bad happening while there and not too much punishment for Lapis and Steven for running off to such a place. Much of the Crystal Gem team hadn't had too much to do in terms of missions lately (aside from Pearl going off to get Lapis and Steven that is). Apart from that, the residents of Beach City were in a bit of trouble over one thing: Connie's disappearance. It'd hadn't been long enough to get everyone in Beach City aware of what happened, but Connie's parents were going all over town, trying to figure out where Connie had gone off to. While they did connect the key to the disappearance a little bit, they didn't connect exactly why she chose to run off entirely. To them, they thought that either A.) she was teleported somewhere against her will. Or B.) Connie decided to forget her parents and just run off. Both parents had chosen A.

That aside, the Gems had quickly got the message from the overly excited Pinkie Pie once she showed up in the Beach House. From what they were told, this Maud sounded like a fairly good mare, and somepony Pinkie really wanted all of her friends to meet. Amongst the many pals, Fluttershy seemed the most willing to not go. Reason being was that Rainbow Dash was still gone (in her mind), and as before, wasn't sure if she would handle it when it came to where Rainbow Dash actually was. Unlike before though, Pinkie Pie didn't bother with waiting around and letting her stay at her cottage. Instead, Fluttershy ended up coming along anyway, in spite of her worries.

The meeting place was going to be at a picnic in Equestria: a nice spot just outside of Ponyville. Pinkie Pie also mentioned that Maud also had a pet with her, so, the others brought along their own pets to see her. Steven brought Blue and Lion, Pinkie Pie brought Gummy, and other pets were brought around. Fluttershy brought her white rabbit, Angel. Rarity brought her small cat, named Opalescence. Applejack brought her pet collie, Winona, and Twilight brought along a young pet owl, named Owlowiscious. Many of the pets were playing around nearby as everybody/everypony waited for Maud to show up. Pinkie was gone for the moment, heading off to get her and bring her back. Amongst all the pets, Lion and Blue were the largest of them all, many of the Mane Six's pets pocket-sized versions of animals from Steven's world (proven when comparing Winona and Blue together). Rarity had on a peculiarly odd hat - something to show Maud about her fashion sense her arrival. Questionable to say the least on the exact kind of fashion she chose to wear: a huge hat with a bunch of glass rocks on it. She'd normally go and use actual crystal stones, but, for the sake of comfort for the Crystal Gems (even with Amethyst's opinion before), she went on and improvised. As she sat down, one of them ended up falling into the picnic basket they brought along. Though, none of them seemed to bother too much with that.

"I wonder if Maud is as great as Pinkie said," Lapis wondered, as Fluttershy settled down next to her.

"Yeah, me too. Sure, hope we give a good impression," Fluttershy added in. Of course, to her, being without Rainbow just left her even more quiet than usual. She hadn't uttered a word apart from that sentence since even remotely showing up at the spot. Then ...

"You okay, Fluttershy?" Pearl asked out of the blue. That was just the thing Fluttershy didn't want to be asked by anypony.

"Yeah, I'm fine, really," Fluttershy got out, trying to relax. However, with her ears tucked back, and mane over her face, it wasn't too convincing to her really. Lapis also noticed Fluttershy's timid reaction.

"Fluttershy, it's okay to be nervous for someone new is coming along, we all are," Lapis said.

"I'm not," Amethyst suddenly said, upon hearing her. Lapis didn't want anyone to say that, for Fluttershy's sake of being comfortable, but it wasn't Maud Fluttershy was so worried about. The yellow Pegasus looked back and forth at the others, shyly stroking her own mane with her hooves, yet, before she could say anything ...

"Hey, guys!"

Everyone there then took the moment to look up, seeing two figures fly in. One of the figures made Fluttershy feel a lot better, up on her hooves with a smile on her face: Rainbow Dash! The rainbow Pegasus had taken a day or two to settle back into her home after her nearly weeklong mission with Peridot (something nopony knew about yet). Alongside her was her pet: a tortoise named Tank. For him, he had a little suit to help him fly and keep up with the Pegesi, let along Rainbow Dash. Soon, the Pegasus settled down by Fluttershy, the yellow Pegasus much calmer and happier now. At least here she didn't have to come up with anymore fibs to keep Rainbow out of trouble with Peridot.

"Nice to see you," Fluttershy said, feeling much better.

"You too, same with the rest of ya."

"Where've you been? You been gone fer nearly a week," Applejack asked.

"Eh, just checking things out for Steven. Didn't find anything out of the ordinary," Rainbow said, helping herself to some of the goodies they brought. In this case, it was some good Apple Bettys again, and Rainbow happily took one. Throughout her trip, she'd had to go with mainly normal horse food: grass and the occasional scrub when she could, so, having some treats from Ponyville was a great relief for her. Before that subject could continue though, suddenly Pinkie popped up back after Rainbow was done explaining, not even giving her time to swallow.

"She's here!" Pinkie beamed. Rainbow coughed a little bit but swallowed before turning to the happy mare. Pinkie then got their attention towards the path she came from, where they did indeed notice somepony walking over. However, Pinkie was a lot faster apparently, and they just barely saw her far away.

"I kept Gummy with her in case she got lost," Pinkie added, eagerly waiting for her. However, she didn't seem to really be moving anywhere fast. In fact, her main speed was a calm walk, to say the least. In fact, at first, they weren't sure if she was even moving at all.

"We're over here, Maud!" Pinkie yelled as she got closer, o so slowly. Eventually, the pony in question stopped a few feet away, now a better sight. The pony looked pretty dull, with grey fur and a dull purple mane. Both her mane and tail were smoothed out, squared at the end. Maud also had on a dull blue vest, a dark belt around her waist. Her expression was lacking much emotion, a deadpan look in her blue eyes. Rather than saying hello at first, she looked down, and then saw one of the rocks on the ground. She leaned down and gave a sniff of it.

"Hm. Sedimentary," She stated, about as deadpan as it can get. Of course, this odd change of tone wasn't anything like Pinkie had stated. Maud picked up the rock on one hoof, the others a bit unsure how to react to her.

"You must be Maud. It's nice to meet you. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy -" Twilight said, trying to get rid of the awkward moment. However, Maud went over to the Gems, looking them over a little bit. It was Steven's turn to talk.

"Uh. Right, I'm Steven. This is Pearl, Amethyst, Lapis, Fulgurite, and Garnet," Steven introduced. Yet, Maud didn't reply apart from a small nod ...

"Uh, so, Pinkie told us you have a pet, too?" Fulgurite said, trying to keep from any awkward pauses.

"He's in my pocket," Maud stated, again deadpan.

"Really? What is he, a baby bird? Or many a cute mouse?" Fluttershy asked, excited. Maud got her "pet" from her pocket, which turned out to be just a small pebble. The excitement was stopped dead on seeing it.

"His name is Boulder," Maud said. So much for that. Rarity than tried her luck with her.

"So, Pinkie also told us you have a love for fashion like I do?" Rarity asked, showing her the hat she was wearing.

"I like expressing myself through my wardrobe."

"I see. A-And what is the frock you're wearing now saying?"

"... It doesn't talk. It's a dress," Maud stated, walking past the speechless Rarity. When she asked that, she didn't mean literally. Placing the rock down next to her, Maud pie settled down nearby Applejack, ignoring the effect her blandness was doing to the rest of Pinkie's friends. Maud looked to the basket, noticing the crystal-like rock inside. As she went over and grabbed it.

"Oh, wait, Maud that's not -" Pearl tried to say. But Maud had already chewed it up in her mouth. Maud swallowed it, not showing much pain or stress from grinding up the item in her teeth. The surprise from many of the Gems and Ponies was easily shown, though Maud ignored them as Pinkie bounded up by Maud.

"Oh, this is gonna be the best week ever!" Pinkie beamed, hugging her otherwise, emotionless guest. Unfortunately, not everyone shared Pinkie's own enthusiasm to Maud. If she was going to stay for the week, then, who's to say what her visit will actually effect?


~~~~~~


As time went, Pinkie and Maud both went around Ponyville themselves. The other Gems and Ponies had their run about with her, and agreed to hang later on, giving Pinkie and Maud sometime to catch up. While Pinkie was extremely giddy about her being here, Maud just simply walked along as if she didn't even notice Pinkie was there. It wasn't that she was ignoring Pinkie, more or rather she was just acting the way she would normally. Occasionally, Maud would sniff the ground, checking for what kind of rocks were in the area, but that was about it.

"I'm so, so, so, happy you can visit me, Maud! Oh, we're gonna have so much fun together, I got so much stuff for us to do!" Pinkie went on and on about some of the stuff she had in mind, but Maud didn't react too much to everything. She kept observing Ponyville as they went, seeing other ponies doing whatever they do. As she continued to look, she noticed something else a bit different. Off across the way, Pinkie not noticing. To Maud, it didn't seem too odd, but not much of anything would change her expression. Off ahead, she saw two girls talking to each other, about the same age and even same appearance. Twins, perhaps? The grey mare started to move over to them, as Pinkie was going along about their plans. The two were both humans (on basic terms), though one of them was a bit new to everything while the other had been around for a while longer. Although it seemed alright, Maud had an odd suspicion when she saw one of them. However, Pinkie was already there, in between them both.

"Connie!" Pinkie beamed, startled them both.

"H-Hi," they both said, completely in unison. Maud only barely raised an eyebrow at seeing the mirror double in front of her, though Pinkie took it all in her stride.

"OOO, you have a double now? Magic Mirror Pond, right?" Pinkie jumped to, nudging the real Connie.

"Wait, what? How'd you know?" The doubleganger asked.

"My Nana Pinkie told me a story about it. "And into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared, and solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly marred"!" Pinkie recited, much faster and enthusiastic than when Connie did it for her own double to show. Obviously, Pinkie had gone to that pond before if she remembered the rhyme so easily. However, both Connies were unfamiliar with Maud Pie standing nearby.

"And who's this?" The real Connie asked.

"She's Maud, she's staying here for this week! We're gonna have the best time ever!" Pinkie announced, hugging the guest. Maud wasn't really enthusiastic as much as Pinkie, something that was easily caught by the duo. When pinkie let her go, both Connies were ready to go, when Pinkie got another question for them:

"What brings you here?" She asked, hopping backwards as they were walking. Maud just hanged out behind them as the two Connies glanced at each other. They both knew why they were gone, though, they weren't sure if telling Pinkie Pie would either fix anything or cause anymore trouble. Eventually, the doppelganger decided to talk.

"We're taking a break."

"You mean I am," Connie corrected, Pinkie stopping her hops as Maud stopped behind them both.

"It's my parents, they ... well, they got mad at me, and ... Well, I had it!" Connie admitted, the exclamation at the end taking Pinkie off guard. While they weren't sure what happened, it was clear Connie herself had enough of her parents and didn't want to deal with them for now. The girl calmed down, some help from her doubleganger, before Maud came over to Pinkie again, reminding the pink mare what she was doing in the first place. Pinkie made a gasp, and immediately started to bound off again. Maud turned to them both as Pinkie left.

"They'd miss you by now," Maud stated, and she began moving away. That was one idea both Connies considered ...


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, Maud was basically doing a number of other things with the others as the days came and went. The Mane Six, which mostly delt with Maud since the Gems didn't live in Equestria, tried their best to go along with Maud, and try to make some friendship with her, though her own behavior was making the task more difficult. Pinkie didn't seem too bothered by this, still happy that her friends were liking Maud as much as they had ... which in her mind was a lot. However, just because the Gems didn't live in Ponyville, didn't mean they didn't delt with Maud time to time.

One example: Rainbow Dash, Maud, and Garnet were hanging out nearby the lake, Rainbow insisting to them to show off their strength in a game of rock toss. One rule: see who can throw/knock their rock the farthest. Garnet only agreed because of how insistent Rainbow was. As Rainbow got into position by the lakeshore, she got one large rock, almost as big as her, and gave it a good hard kick. The kick sent the large rock flying off, and landed all the way on the other side of the lake.

"Ha! Your turn. Now, don't be disappointed if you -" Rainbow was quickly cut off when Garnet did her turn, her rock making double the length with one arm. Rainbow was impressed with the throw ... But then Maud did her turn. Her rock flew past Rainbow, over the lake ...

over the nearly hill ...

And did an explosion resembling an A-bomb!

Rainbow hovered in midair, eyes wide, and even Garnet moved her shades away , showing some surprise in her three eyes. The explosion made the lake turn into a tidal wave, sweeping Rainbow into the lake. Garnet and Maud were still on the shore. Maud though, didn't seem to care all that much, and went to the lakeshore, kneeled down, and got a drink from the cool water. The two didn't say anything at first ...

"Well ... Guess you win this one, Maud," Rainbow said, a bit disappointed to end up last in her own game. But ...

"I'm not really into winning," Maud replied. Rainbow had her mouth agape, both her and Garnet unsure how to respond to such a pony ...

...

Next pony to try sometime later, was Twilight. For the time being, Twilight was busy going through her books at the library, with going through some of the books. Maud went into the library, Pinkie with her for this one. Twilight got one books out of the bookshelf, as Pinkie hanged out on the library latter. Maud still had the same expression looking around the place, browsing the bookshelves around her before Twilight spoke to her.

"Pinkie told me you love poetry, Maud. Have you heard of Quilland Ink? Or Flourish Prose?" Twilight asked, opening up the book in question.

"I prefer my own poetry," Maud replied, still deadpan. That got Twilight a bit interested.

"Oh! I'd love to hear some," Twilight insisted. The quiet pony cleared her throat before she began to recite one of her poems...


Rock. 
You are a rock. 
Gray. 
You are gray. 
Like a rock. 
Which you are. 
Rock. 


Twilight didn't even bother to ask for anymore ...

...

Maud's next visit was away from Ponyville, and actually off to Beach City to check out the Gems, insisted by Pinkie Pie. While there, Fulgurite and Steven both were playing around with Blue, Maud on the sidelines as Pinkie joined in. While they were playing, Maud seemed more interested in the type of stone buried in the sand than to play with the dog. As she dug, suddenly Steven went over to her.

"Hey, Maud! Wanna play?" Steven asked, showing Maud the stick they were playing with. Maud moved out onto the sand, Steven assuming that was a yes, and went out to join her. Blue was ready for anything, and Steven threw the stick towards Maud. The mare simply moved her tail, and whiplashed the stick away as she looked through the sand. It happened a few more times until Maud's tailwhip launched the stick into the rock wall nearby the house. Seemed obvious she wasn't interested, as she found a smooth stone in the dirt.

"Sandstone."

Steven wasn't doing any better than the others did already ...

...

Next stop for Maud: Sweet Apple Acres. When they got there, Applejack was working on some home cooking, at the point being assisted by Pinkie and Maud for a bit. As they continued with the cooking, eventually Applejack got it all worked out for her batch. Her work was an apple pie, cooked to perfection. As for Maud ... A pie tin with a rock in it. Not her best quality really, and Applejack didn't want to have any of hers.

"Uh ... Fine treat you made, sugarcube. Y'all wanna try mine?" Applejack offered. Maud nodded, and then went on ahead to try a bite. She got a small bite of Applejack's apple pie, and took a bit to chew and swallow.

"Tastes like apples."

"Uh ... Thank you," Applejack said. As with everypony before, the visit couldn't happen without one long pause somewhere.


~~~~~~


This sort of trend continued on for the next couple of days since Maud first arrived. Ever since Maud showed, the others, be it Gem or Pony, tried to work out with the mare but it always seemed to end in some awkward silence. It was hard to befriend a pony without emotion to work with, or any common interest to bond to. In the end, Maud was simply too deadpan to actually make any sort of friendship with. Upon that note, some of Pinkie's friends then decided to visit Pinkie on the matter. Even if they act it out, they couldn't really hide it all too well, so, it was only necessary to tell her. Soon, a knock on the sugarcube corner door got Pinkie right outside to see them. Those there for the moment were both the Gems and the Mane Six altogether. Maud wasn't around for the moment, so, telling her the truth wouldn't be as hard to do.

"Hi guys! Wanna make some friendship rock candy necklaces?" Pinkie offered, holding out one of her own.

"Maybe later. Is Maud with you, might I ask?" Pearl asked.

"No, she's out rock collecting, but it'll give us a lot of time for everypony to make their necklace!" Pinkie replied. However, they all didn't seem to really be as happy as she was, the mood turning in a different direction for Pinkie.

"What's wrong?"

"Well ... It's uh ..." Amethyst tried to get the words right, but wasn't sure how.

"Uh, with all due respect, mind you, but ..." Rarity tried to help, but, her words weren't as good.

"It's nice that you're willing to let us in with your bonding ritual, yet ..." Pearl, although trying, couldn't get it out.

"Yet, what?" Pinkie asked. Eventually, Applejack and Garnet finally got it out.

"Look sugarcube. We've all tried real hard to get closer to Maud, but ... some ponies, maybe, don't click the way others do," Applejack said. However, the pink mare, although dulled down, still wasn't sure what she was getting at by the look on her face.

"Pinkie, we can't bond with your friend. Maud just doesn't have anything any of us can befriend with. I hope you understand," Garnet concluded. The news felt a bit rough to swallow for the pink mare, her mane deflating a bit. The news was out, and Pinkie could only let it sink in.

"Oh. Okay. If anypony needs me, I'll be in here trying to figure out what to do with two hundred pounds of rock candy," Pinkie said, as she went back inside and closed the door. The news, again, was hard to swallow for the earth pony, but it had to be said. After all, Maud would've told Pinkie Pie anyway. As the others decided to go, Pinkie took a little bit of time to think over what to do, noticing Gummy standing nearby her.

"Oh, Gummy, if only I can show them all a good time, then they can all be friends," Pinkie sighed. Gummy looked up to her, flicking out his tongue, when Pinkie suddenly had an idea flash in her head, her mane poofing back up as happiness got back to her after such a short time. She had a plan.

(next day)

"I call it  the "Pinkie-Rainbow-Rari-Twi-Stevie-Pearl-Ame-Garn-Fulgu-Lapis-Apple-Flutter-Maud fun time"!" 

The pink mare had gotten everypony together for one more attempt at getting everyone to be best pals. However, her idea per say looked more like a obstacle course than a playhouse (which Pinkie planned). How she got everything and everything set in one night was anypony's guess, yet here was everything. It looked like a ton of tunnels, slides, areas, and other things that at first didn't seem to really fit in altogether. A rock pile here, a ton of applesauce there, an area with lots of bubbly soap water next, lots of mannequins, and other stuff that seemed out of place. So much of the group seemed a bit confused on what the hay Pinkie was trying to do, despite being told they couldn't work it out before, Garnet especially. Of course, the name was a bit perplexing too.

"Excuse me?" Pearl asked.

"It combines everypony's interests into one giant activity that we can all enjoy together and that will totally bring all of my bestest friends together as bestestest friends! You'll need these," Pinkie said, standing by a mannequin with a costume. Pinkie got her own outfit on, but everyone else was still clueless as to how all of this really came down to it. For one thing, the Gems never seen something like this before, and the ponies were almost as clueless. Garnet sighed.

"Pinkie, I know you're meaning well, but -"

"No, no, no, I got it all figured out! Allow me to demonstrate," Pinkie said, as she quickly began her little obstacle course with everyone else watching. Pinkie raced through one of the tunnels first, which was full of Applesauce.

"Food tunnel for Applejack and Amethyst."

Soon, Pinkie jumped out, and landed into a pile of clean fabric and water soap.

"Shiny clean stuff for Rarity and Pearl."

Pinkie slid through, squeaky clean, and soon headed to a wall of books.

"Books for Twilight."

Next, Pinkie hopped off, and got to the next spot: which was with Fluttershy's animal friends, including a lot of fish.

"Critter time for Fluttershy and Lapis."

Next, she went right through a large pile of sweets.

"Cupcakes for yours truly."

Then, pinkie rushed on to the last tunnel, but didn't go down it just yet.

"And its a race for Fulgurite and Rainbow!"

Even when everything was explained through, the idea of everything simply put altogether like this wasn't really making much sense. Plus, they weren't sure if Pinkie had gotten everyone for this activity. However, one thing that had gotten them a bit concern, was the huge pile of rocks at the end of it, especially the conveniently large one right at the top. A bit obvious by that point on what could happen if Pinkie wasn't really careful. When she did get to the pile, she started to climb it.

"And a rock slide for Maud!" Pinkie said, starting to climb it. However, as she was, that large rock on top started to sway a little bit, a bit dangerously as Pinkie kept going. As she was, her hoof accidentally got itself stuck in between the rocky pile! Garnet was already rushing towards Pinkie's aid, the pink mare struggling in her bind. The huge rock on top of the pile started to tumble towards her, Garnet already in the way between Pinkie and the oncoming rock. All Garnet had to do was give one punch, and the rock was turned to rubble. Pinkie quickly got herself free after the demonstration. While that one moment wasn't planned, Pinkie was truly hoping that it'll be enough to get everybody/everypony together. However, when she looked, Maud then began heading over to her. After seeing everything, Maud could already guess what this was all about, and it could be time for her herself to set it straight.

"I know how important it is to you that your friends become my friends, but I just don't think it's going to happen. I think it would be best if I just go back to the rock farm and spend the rest of the week there," Maud revealed. The news was a bit bitter, even more so than when Garnet and Applejack told her their thoughts on the friendship idea. Soon, Maud then turned to everyone else standing nearby. 

"It was nice to meet you all. Makes me happy knowing Pinkie Pie has such good friends," Maud finished. With that, the grey mare then began to walk away from the situation. The others there watched her go, as Garnet got Pinkie out of the rocks. It felt bittersweet, to say the least...

It wasn't the only unexpected surprise though.

The area Pinkie had chosen was a bit isolated from Ponyville, and closer to the wild forest nearby. The noise from all the work Pinkie had done, not to mention the rockslide from moments ago, had attracted some unwanted attention. Within the forest themselves, a group of creatures had arrived, starting to encircle the group. One of these creatures got on top of the rock pile, in full view of everybody/everypony present, including Maud. The creature looked like a dog, sounded like a dog, but it was entirely made up of bark, wood and logs. A Timber wolf. The Wooded creature snarled a bit, looking down at the group as more subordinates joined up, and revealed themselves to them.

"Where'd they come from?" Lapis asked, as the others got their weapons out. The beast stalked the group, looking about ten Timberwolves in total. However, a pack of ten compared to a group of twelve seemed like the wolves were more of an inconvenience than most. As each wolf tried to attack, one slash, punch, kick, or magic blast was all it took to shatter the wolves into a bunch of spare wood.

"That was easy," Garnet said.

"Don't count your chicken before they hatch, look," Applejack said, pointing to the wood. The wood began to come alive, and one by one, the Timberwolves reconstructed themselves! In no time at all, the Timerwolves were back in action, and even five more appeared from the forest! Seemed this fight wasn't gonna be as easy as they thought it was, the creatures circling them all. Some of the Timberwolves accidentally wrecked Pinkie's course, with Pinkie looking furious.

"You wrecked our fun time!" Pinkie yelled, charging at the wolves. The commotion got to Maud, the mare turning around to find the wolves all over the group! Even if they can easily beat up the Timberwolves, the fact they can regenerate made it a tiring battle for them.  Be that as it may, no matter how many times they tried to pummel the beasts itself, they will simply regenerate and hop back into the Frey. Maud nearby turned around and saw the fight going on, Pinkie and her friends getting pummeled.

"UGH, what's with these things?!" Amethyst groaned, taking her whip and wrecking three Timberwolves, only to have them regenerate back to normal seconds later. Seeing this just made Amethyst more annoyed with the scenario. Garnet punched two more, though she knew it wasn't gonna do much as it began to regenerate.

"Twilight, get us out of here, that'll be great!" Fulgurite said, her hair electrocuting another five. Twilight tried to get the spell to work, but one of the Timberwolves landed on her, it's heavy paw slamming on her horn! Pearl blasted it off of Twilight with her spear, though the distraction gave the wolves sometime to get their act together. One wolf managed to pin down Lapis, ready to bite her head off, but that wolf was easily pummeled into twigs. However, it wasn't any of the Mane Six, or Crystal Gem who did that. No, the pony who got her was Maud!

Maud quickly went to action with all she got to face the Timberwolves. One by one, Maud made short work for the other nineteen, a lot quicker than what the others did as the Timberwolves targeted her. Seemed almost each movement took down a wolf when it came to Maud. Four wolves rushed at her at one point, but Maud made short work of them; slamming on in the dirt, kicking another's head off, whipping her tail to one in a turnaround as she jumped and landed on another. The sheer power and skill she used on every Timberwolf was enough to marvel at. Even if a few regenerated, Maud didn't even give the others the chance to; grabbing some large rocks and throwing them at the wood piles. For those that remained, the numbers were starting to dwindle a bit, to the point when the group outnumbered the pack. Seeing the odds, the wolves turned around and ran off.

With the fight over, while the other Gems helped the injured out, Maud looked back to the pony that got them there in the first place: Pinkie.

"You okay?" Maud asked, actually showing some worry over her. Pinkie got up, and nodded to her. Maud helped Pinkie up to her hooves, before turning to the rest of them.

"Thank you," Garnet said. Maud just nodded in response. Maud turned off, and began to go again...


~~~~~~


The effect from Maud's stay wasn't all too bad as it turned out. With that simple sentence, and a lot of thinking, Connie had come to her own decision on this running away deal. It did give Connie some time with herself, though her parents would probably end up worried sick about her by this point. She'd forgot to ask about Pearl, or if she was better, but those issues were pushed aside and Connie got to thinking on how her parents will react once she got back home. After getting the portal open (outside the house rather than inside), both Connies went through. However, the portal didn't close off just yet, the doubleganger keeping the portal open as Connie fully went through. The brunette looked on to her own home: the same place she disappeared from, as she turned to her double.

"Alright, Connie. I'll see you later," her double said. It was probably for the best for her double to stay in Equestria for the time being. Connie waved goodbye as the doubleganger then went back to Equestria, as the real Connie watched the portal close. Connie wasn't sure how her parents will react, but she knew she had to face them. So, with a sigh, Connie went to her home, and through her door ...

Back in Equestria, Maud was also readying to head home too, her saddlebag with her for the trip back. Over at the train station, the bland pony waited amongst the pony crowd as the train rolled in for her to go home. Before she could get onto the train though, somepony else then arrived: Pinkie Pie. The pink mare rushed over as fast as she could, and stopped right by Maud. She did feel a bit sad on trying to get her to be friends with her friends when they're not doing so well to begin with.

"Maud, wait! I'm sorry about everything, I just wanted to give everypony a good time with you," Pinkie said. Maud turned to her.

"Pinkie Pie, you did a good job, but not everypony can be friends with everypony else. It's good you have such special friends."

"Ok ... Before you go, I got something," Pinkie said, getting something from her mane: a rock candy friendship bracelet. It was the least Pinkie could do before Maud would go. Maud looked to the friendship bracelet, taking it in her own hoof with Pinkie standing there with a more comforting smile. Maud sighed in content, and got in her own saddlebag, pulling out something for the pink mare to have: her own friendship bracelet. Pinkie felt better and got the bracelet, which matched hers at first. However, when she looked, she noticed something else with the rock candy on it: the shape of the rock candy slightly matched the cutie marks on her and her friends! After that, she actually had a second friendship bracelet that Pinkie could bring back, only instead of cutie marks, it was of the six types of Gemstones the Gems possess: Rose Quarts, Garnet, Lapis, Fulgurite, Amethyst and Pearl. This was a surprise for Pinkie Pie, considering Maud herself said that she couldn't be friends with the Gems and Ponies as well as Pinkie would hope.

"I thought it would be fair. You know, they did save you," Maud said with a small smile. Pinkie, however, was more overwhelmed with the sweet gift, and gave Maud a big hug. However, it was short-lived, as the train whistle went off. Pinkie knew Maud had to go, and the grey mare went onto the train. Pinkie wasn't as sad as before, but at least she was satisfied that Maud started to like them in some way. Standing by the train station. Maud looked back from the train cart window, waving goodbye to Pinkie Pie. After a bit, Pinkie stayed put as she watched Maud Pie disappear over the next hill along the tracks. She looked to both bracelets made for both the Gems and for her pony group. While she can accept the fact that Maud and her friends might not be as close as she wanted, at least she was happy that Maud didn't dislike her trip because of it. So, Pinkie bounded off to show her other friends what Maud had for them.
> Sombra del Diablo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As for the cooling day to go by, a train continued on heading north until it stopped by another, isolated station. It'd been a bit since things had calmed down for not only the Crystal Gems, but, for their friends too. Things chilled out, calmed down, and that day the group were heading to another area for a surprise for the Gems to see. The area they stopped at was a bit colder than Ponyville, even a small hint of white snow in the taller hillsides, as the group got themselves out. However, not everypony could make it for this one: Applejack caught up in her own work on her farm, and Fulgurite on a solo mission assigned by Garnet herself. Everyone else went along, getting off the train as they guided the Crystal Gems out of the train cart. However, the group were blindfolded for the surprise before they arrived, an idea Pinkie and Steven both decided to do (although Steven also was blindfolded).

"Is this really necessary?" Pearl asked, feeling her blind fold over her eyes. Pinkie though quickly stopped Pearl from moving the blind fold.

"Almost there," Pinkie said, moving them forward. The group helped everyone off the train station platform, until they got into the right place. The Gems felt cooling, yet soft grass at their feet, and soon Pinkie quickly got the blindfolds off of their eyes. It took a moment to adjust, but, what they ended up seeing in front of them ...

In front of them, was an extremely shiny, clean, and very beautiful castle just ahead of them! A tall tower of silver crystalline beauty as it shined off of the mid-day sun. The arch that lead to the castle was where they were at: three magic-filled diamonds in midair alongside red velvet crustal pillars. They could see other homes around the area, also made up of crystalline material, adding just as much beautiful viewing for the Gems to see. As for the Gems, they seen beautiful areas back in their world, but this was diffidently a surprise to behold for them.

"This is the Crystal Empire," Twilight announced. The Gems were simply amazed by the Crystal Empire, and its appearance. Not that they didn't hear of it before, but this was their first viewing of the area, Pearl moving ahead first to get a better view of it. She never seen such a place before outside of Gem culture, and to think such a place existed was an astonishment in and of itself.

"Oh ... Oh my ... Such a ... Amazing, I ... Don't know what to say ..." Pearl said, a smile forming on her face.

"DANG! Look at this place! is that ALL crystal?" Amethyst asked.

"It's the Crystal Empire, you bet it is!" Rainbow replied with a wink and a smile. Garnet took off her glasses, her three eyes just staring off to get a full picture.

"Incredible," Garnet said, though seeing such a place was a great surprise for everyone.

"What're we doing standing here for? Come on, let's check it out! WOOO!" Steven insisted, already starting to run off towards the empire with Lapis, Amethyst, Rainbow, and Pinkie. When Rarity looked over to Pearl, she even caught a tear coming out from Pearl's eye.

"You alright dear?"

"Oh, I'm fine, more than fine. Come on Garnet!" Pearl said, heading off to join the others. The rest of the Mane Six, and Garnet began to head off themselves. What a trip for the Gems to end up in.

It didn't really take too long before the group ended up arriving in the Crystal Empire. As far as locations go, the Crystal Empire seemed to be an excellent spot for the Gems to go to. As the group continued going through the empire, the sights of so much crystalline uniqueness were a lot to note. Not only were they seeing a lot of crystal-made buildings, but also a lot of the local ponies were also crystal-skinned. Since the ponies knew some whereabouts on where to go, visiting the place a number of times before, the pony group played tour guide again to the Gems, bringing them about the place with how much knowledge they knew of the empire. With so much to explore for the Gems, their afternoon was spent more on sight-seeing, learning, and trying new things within the Crystal Empire. If this wasn't in Equestria, this place could've easily been a highly respected area in Gem culture. Heck, it can be a landmark of all time, yet, this place was for Ponykind, not for Gemkind, despite its Gem appeal.

Throughout the afternoon, the Gems did a huge exploration over the entire empire, seeing the sights practically everywhere. It was simply marvelous, and also the area seemed to have something for everybody. Amethyst and Steven enjoyed the jousting that occurred there, while Pearl and Lapis had their fun time over by the Crystal library, learning about the empire through there. Of course, with all of this stuff going on, there's bound to be some stuff worth taking back home. It was a nice time for a lot of them to do, and as sunset began to come back around, the Gems began to head on back to the train, outside of the empire. It was a lot of fun, and Steven had gotten some souvenirs for the trip back home. The Mane Six joined them on the way out, as Steven was looking through his stuff he had in a recently bought saddlebag (no handbag in the pony world).

"Did you like your surprise?" Pinkie asked, as they walked along the path.

"You bet! Hey Pearl, look what I got for you," Steven said, pulling something out from the saddlebag. In his hand, he gave Pearl a Crystal Empire snow globe, having the main castle inside of it.

"Aw, that's so sweet," Pearl said, looking at the snow globe Steven gave her as the half-Gem smiled happily. It was indeed a sweet little gift for Pearl to have. Garnet then pulled out her key, opening up the door for them to get back to Beach City.

"What other things did you get?" Lapis asked.

"Well ... dun-dun-DUN!" Steven then pulled out another fancy trinket: a crystal-lined necklace, which Steven gave to Lapis. The Mane Six were glad that their trip went on without any trouble, and everyone having a good time visiting. With their door opening up for them to go, the Gems started heading back. With the Mane Six heading back to the train station, and the Gems heading back to the Beach house, it all seemed like a nice ending to their day...


~~~~~~


Back at the beach house, Steven was pretty much satisfied and happy. Late in the day, and everything quiet, Steven happily put his little trinket next to his kitty alarm clock. The one Steven put was a little plush of the Crystal Empire queen (an alicorn, obviously). It was a good day, as he laid in his bed. However, before he could go to sleep, he glanced to the front door, and noticed the main picture of Rose on the wall. Steven felt his own Gem, which matched her own...

"Goodnight, mom," Steven said. When it came to Rose, he personally never met her before, but she was no less important to him. Sharing her Gem on his own stomach - the same spot Rose had her Gem by the look of the picture. With a sigh, and everything calming down, Steven went right off to sleep. Alongside his bed, Blue was also asleep by the foot of the bed for company, but other than that it seemed that no one else was around. As they were asleep, they weren't aware of what was coming their way.

Settling down, the moon was temporarily blocked off by the seaside clouds. As it did, the light from the moon was blocked off to the beach house, as such, no light going inside. With the light away, and leaving Steven in the dark, he was left defenseless. Nearby the screen door, leading outside, the weakening light revealed a sort of odd shadow. However, the shadow didn't connect to anything in the room, as it began to move around the place on the walls as if it was in the room. Almost seconds after appearing in the room, Blue's ears picked up the faintest sounds of something moving. While he couldn't see anything, technically, his senses told him otherwise, as something began going up Steven's stairs. Blue got up, growling a tiny bit. However, the second he did that, the shadow turned, looked right in his eyes, and disappeared fast out the door. Blue rushed to the door, beginning to bark a bit to wake Steven up. While it did work, Steven didn't see or think anything was wrong.

"What, Blue? You want to go out?" Steven asked, getting up. Thinking whatever that was, was still outside, Blue rushed out of the door the second it was open. Steven, too tired, kept the door propped open and went back to bed. A few minutes later, when Blue looked back, that same shadow appeared inside the house. It removed the prop as Blue rushed to the door, seeing it shut. Being a dog, all Blue could do was bark like mad, hoping it'll wake Steven up. Unlike before though, it wasn't working, as the shadow crept up the stairs, barely making a sound. Steven was fast asleep by the time it stood forth by his bed, black as the shadows themselves, maybe even more so. Two green eyes opened up, looking down at the half-Gem. A forelimb gently touched Steven's free arm, Blue frantic for trying to get in by scratching the doors and barking his head off. A mouth, with sharp vampire-like fangs opened up over Steven's head. Blue was in even more of a panic, forced to watch the whole thing happen.

Steven himself suddenly woke up, eyes wide open. However, when he did, he wasn't exactly at the Beach House. In fact, he wasn't exactly anywhere: just left in some sort of space-like place with no floor. Steven was still standing though, still in his PJs, and he seemed to be alone at first.

"Hello?! Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet?!"

"Salutations."

Steven looked to his right, as he saw something coming towards him from the starry abyss around him. It looked like a tall unicorn, dark fur with a black mane and tail that seemed to look like fire. He had on a fully armored outfit, with a red cape, and silver armor like a metal knight. His eyes were of red, like a vampire, with a small hint of fangs from the upper mouth. With a few steps forward, he looked at Steven with a serious expression. Steven didn't recognize him at first, as he moved forward to him, though Steven got a bit spooked.

"Oh, let's not get carried away, I'm not here to hurt you."

"You're not?" Steven asked, though was still wary.

"Not entirely. Course, I can't hurt you as much as you hurt your friends. Isn't that right?" He accused, a small smirk forming on his face. While he didn't want to hurt him, he didn't seem very friendly.

"Huh? I didn't hurt anyone," Steven said, a bit confused, as the unicorn started to circle him.

"Now Steven, let's not lie to each other. Your so-called 'friends', the Crystal Gems, correct? Your whole existence has been putting up to shame, hasn't it? Almost like they prefer your mother over you." He was going off what he knew, as it was of what he gathered while seeing them at the Crystal Empire, without anypony noticing of course. But, since Steven was just a kid, he didn't immediately trust this unicorn so fast... but ...

"W-What?"

"Don't act like you didn't notice anything. Always talking about her triumphs over yours, saying how wonderful she was before you came along. And who, might I ask was responsible for making such a noble and loving figure to cease to be, hm?" The unicorn, looking into Steven's eyes with his eyes turning green, then lifted up Steven's shirt from behind him, enough to show Steven the Quartz Gem. Steven knew what this unicorn was talking about, feeling his heart getting messed with by this thing. Steven felt a bit uneasy with himself, looking at his Gemstone as the unicorn moved back to let him think on it. The Gems do talk more about what his mother accomplished than what he did. However, the effect from the eye stare was taking its toll, as a small hint of purple smoke seeped from Steven's eyes, turning the same green color as the unicorn did.

"...N-No, that's not true," Steven said, tears starting to come down. However, the unicorn went over to him again.

"Simple denial will not cover your existence," he stated. Steven felt more tears over his eyes, as he began to cry a little bit. In the real world, his eyes were still showing the effects, and tears were slowly coming out. The unicorn moved over to him, gently rubbing his head, as Steven hugged him tightly as he sobbed.

"There, there. Truths can be harsh, I'm sure ... However, I do believe of one place where you can do the right thing."

"*sniff* R-really?" Steven asked in between tears. The unicorn nodded, his front hooves wrapping around him. Steven felt hurt still from his points; it made too much sense to him.

"There's a cavern, outside of Beach City. If you want the Gems to remove all this hidden hate, then I suggest you go there. You'll find a spring, where Gems of any state can be reborn from any situation. If you alone go there, you can free Rose from her ... inconvenient state," he explained, a hoof on Steven's stomach. But, going there alone? ...

"By myself?"

"You wouldn't want any more of their shame to go with you, do you? It can be a surprise, if you will. A wonderful surprise on their front step, to see not only you, but, your loving mother brought back to life, all thanks to you. You want to make them happy, do you?"

That changed the mood quite a bit. There was a chance Steven can bring back Rose for the Crystal Gems? Steven could see it now: Steven coming back home with his mother all well, and the happy faces on the Crystal Gems to see that sweet Gem arrive back after so long. His dad would be very happy too, of course, and it would give the Mane Six a chance to befriend Rose too. Course, all of these thoughts came with a whiplash, Steven's eyes still green and purple smoke. As if sensing Steven's decision upfront, the unicorn moved away from him. However, Steven didn't know where this copse was.

"W-Wait! Where's this place?"

"Go outside Beach City to the east, pass the first three farms along the road, take a left at the nearest lone oak, keep going until you see the first sign of mountains. Find a cave by the mountainside, and you made it. If you see any other houses pass there, you've gone too far. I hope I assisted enough for you?" He explained, before beginning to disappear into the stars around them. Steven just nodded, though the fact that the Crystal Gems were disappointed in the first place was a bit hard for him to take still...

Steven woke back up. It wasn't morning yet, and no one was around. Blue wasn't at the door either for some reason, so, he couldn't do anything. Steven, however, knew what he was going to do. With a mix of shame and determination, he got up, got his clothes on, and wrote a small list for him to follow regarding direction.


Go east
3 farms
left of oak
mountain cave


Four different directions, and they all head off to the same spot altogether. Blue could barely see what the list said, but he still couldn't do anything ... Still, his own shame and despair over the unicorn's hard truth had Steven left something else for the others to get to see ...


~~~~~~


The next morning came around, but with Steven no longer there. The first Gem to go into the main room was Garnet, wanting to wake Steven up for the day. However, when she got in the room, she began to sense something was wrong: she can't sense Steven around.

"Steven?" Garnet said, waiting for a reply. However, her voice went unanswered. Garnet moved in a bit, but then noticed something on the counter, Steven's magic key on it. Garnet wasn't sure what was going on, and she went to the letter, picking it up. At first, Garnet seemed a bit unmoved, but when she read everything off, the situation got much more serious.


Dear Crystal Gems:

I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for being the reason mom is gone, and I know you don't tell me, but you guys are disappointed in me. You wish I can be Rose, but I'm not. But I can get her back, I know it, then you won't be ashamed of me anymore.

I still love you:
Steven


...

As the sun got higher, Garnet quickly got the other Gems and the Mane Six altogether, getting a search party under way. Fulgurite, Lapis, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle had gotten the most looking, mostly because they could cover the most ground in a shorter time than the others could, though that didn't mean they didn't search around either.  Throughout the morning, worried sick, everybody/everypony looked high and low for Steven, looking everywhere they could, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Only one clue was that his bike was missing, and Blue was still outside when they started looking, but that was about it as far as any clues would go. For the letter, they could get an idea to why Steven left in the first place, but where he went to do so was still a mystery.

The search continued on for quite a while, and still no sign of him all and all. To increase their chances, they need more eyes looking for him. Even if twelve were already doing so, it could help to get some more people aware of the situation, and lending a hand. For one spot: Amethyst and Pearl decided to check another spot: Connie's house. Pearl was a little bit unsure about it: with her discorded self being the first time they met her, but Amethyst agreed to do the talking for her. Amethyst knocked on the door a bit, until Connie's parents opened up the door.

"We're not interested in any sales, thank you," the dad made clear, thinking she was one of those saleswomen that goes door-to-door. However, Amethyst didn't had any clue on what he was talking about, and got to the point.

"What? No, no, listen, have you seen a small kid go through here? About ye tall, brown hair," Amethyst said. However, the parents were a bit untrusting of them, especially when they saw Pearl standing close by. However, they did see she looked a lot different from before, from appearance to behavior.

"Hold on, have I seen you somewhere?" The mother asked, referring to Pearl in question. Pearl looked worried, but, Amethyst could see her worry, and quickly got up an idea to fix things.

"Oh, just a relative visiting, but anyway, had you seen anyone like that? He's short, funny, has a Gem on his stomach." The excuse for Pearl's behavior before was easily fixed, though, Amethyst's lie made Pearl a little uncomfortable. Oh well, at least she can start off a bit differently with them.

"Steven?" The mother asked, the only kid she knew of that fit the description.

"Yes! You seen him?!" Amethyst asked, hopeful. Both parents however looked to each other after Amethyst asked.

"I don't think we did. Why?"

"Steven's missing, that's why," Amethyst said. Both parents immediately got worried over little Steven. They already had to deal with Connie running away, and they could relate to their worry over where Steven was. Speaking of Connie, things had calmed down, and they weren't as mad at Connie as before. Connie in question was overhearing what Amethyst was talking about from inside. She heard just enough to know Steven was gone...

"Oh my goodness, that's horrible!" The mother gasped.

"You think? Sure you didn't see Steven?"

"No, we'll try to look for him."

"Thanks. Come on, let's go," Amethyst said, beginning to go with Pearl as Connie's family got ready to look around.

As for Garnet, she headed over to the 'It's a wash' car wash, trying to find Steven. When Garnet showed up, she saw Greg cleaning up his van, scrubbing it down with a sponge, as Garnet went over.

"Oh, hey Garnet," Greg said.

"Hello. Greg, listen, it's about Steven," Garnet began.

"Steven? Oh, how's he doing by the way?"

"That's just it. He's gone. He ran away."

"Wait, what?" Greg asked, stepping back. However, that got him tripping over a water bucket on the ground, getting him wet a little bit.

"Ran away?! Where'd he go?!"

"Don't know, we're all trying to look for him. Could use some more help," Garnet explained. Before it could go any further, Lapis soon came back around, landing gently on Greg's van. Alongside her was Twilight.

"Anything?"

"No sign of him," sighed Lapis, as she landed on the ground in between Greg and Garnet.

"Don't you guys have any clue?" Greg asked, completely worried.

"Not much except a note this morning," Lapis answered. As they were talking, something else was coming their way. As they discussed a little, Blue suddenly showed up. The dog was helping too in his own way in the search, but soon the dog went back to Garnet with Steven's magic key. Blue knew what happened in a way, and tried barking a bit, but since he was a dog, he can't tell them. The pup dropped the key by her feet, pushing it with his nose.

"Don't worry, Blue, we'll find him," Twilight assured the dog. Blue gave a snort, annoyed that they aren't getting it. Rather than keep barking (since that did wonders last night ...) Blue grabbed Greg by the shirt, and began to pull him away.

"Hey, stop it, let go!" Greg said, trying to get him to stop until he was facing the beach.

"Sorry about that," Garnet said, as Blue ran out to the beach, working out stuff with his paws to make a picture in the sand. For a dog who never had any lesson, he did a decent enough job on the pictures to get the point across. First picture he got out was what seemed to be three houses in the sand, then some triangles further away, then a tree in between the spots. Garnet, Lapis, Twilight, and Greg looked at Blue's pictures, as Blue then made an arrow going through each spot. He then gave a bark as he pointed a paw by the mountains. Garnet took a moment, looking over the make-shift map, until they got to the point right away. Garnet and Twilight nodded, as they turned to Lapis and Greg.

"Greg, get the van ready, Twilight, Lapis, get the others back here. We have to go."


~~~~~~


Farther away, still influenced by his dream unicorn, Steven kept going on his bike along the country road, still following his instructions. He kept following the road east, though the farms were few and far between. Made sense, he guessed; if this place is a Gem landmark, making it right next to human civilization wasn't the best idea (aside from the Beach House cave, that is). After all, it took nearly a day to reach the closest Kindergarten. So far, Steven had past at least two of the farms the unicorn had mentioned and reaching over to the third. Even if he wasn't on a mission, the ride was actually quite calming, though a little cool for a summer day. Peddling forward, Steven began to look around a bit after passing the third farm, though, didn't see any oak at first. In fact, he didn't see any tree at first. All he saw on the road was open grassland and fields. The road ahead of him curved away, but he then saw a dirt trail he can take. He stopped once he went off the road, and onto the dirt trail, looking at the list.

Go east
3 farms
left of oak
mountain cave

He didn't say to follow the road the whole way, just to the east. So, shrugging, he began to ride down the dirt trail. With the opened field around him, he had a good view of everything around him. After a few more minutes of going along the trail, scrubs and small pine trees started to come up around him, giving some shade to the bright sun. And a few minutes after that, Steven then saw the said oak tree along the trail.

"There you are," Steven said to himself, looking at the list again, and crossing off the next step.

Go east
3 farms
left of oak
mountain cave

Only one left. Looking to the left of the tree, he did start to see a hint of mountain range not too far off from where he was. Must be the right spot, and lucky for him a second trail curved in the right direction. So, with a smile, he began to head off along the trail.

Further back, the others were trying to catch up to him, using the van to close the gap much faster. Those that could fly (aside from Fluttershy) flew alongside the van as Fulgurite and Lion ran alongside. Wherever Steven was going, he sure had gone a long way if he made it past three farms, over six miles last they checked.

"Can you guys see him yet?!" Amethyst called from the van.

"No, I don't think so!" Twilight called. As they continued, Blue looked out from the window, sniffing the air before barking loudly again. Lion also got the scent and began to run away from the road. Ahead, they saw the same dirt path Steven went down, the bike marks in the dirt still evident. Greg stopped the van nearby, as Lion roared for their attention. Blue actually jumped out the window once they stopped, and sniffed where the tire tracks were. They seemed only a bit fresh but was enough to get a scent out of it. The other Gems and ponies got themselves out, heading over to see what they found. After getting it though, Lion and Blue started running off ahead along the trail.

"Lapis! You, Rainbow, and Twilight fly ahead and follow Lion and Blue! We'll meet up with you," Garnet called. Without a second to loose, the three started flying off ahead, everyone else running on the ground to catch up. Fulgurite catch up easy, though Greg needed a bit to catch up with the other Gems, never mind the animals.

Further away, Steven was still going along the trail as best he could. He began to near the mountain range as he continued onward along the dirt path, with the mountains gradually towering over him. Steven took a moment to stop, the trail going along the mountainside. Steven kept his eye open for any signs of any cave around the place, not having much luck at first. While going along though, he then saw something up ahead that got him excited: a lone cave entrance. Steven stopped for a moment to look over the list.



Go east
3 farms
left of oak
mountain cave


That was everything. Parking his bike outside, Steven got off and began to head on inside. If there's any chance Rose can be brought back, then this would be it. Steven felt his Gem one more time, before he began to head off inside.

The cave itself was fairly sized, and not too cramped around him as Steven continued through. While light was starting to diminish from the entrance, it never got too dark to when he couldn't see where he was going. The ground underfoot was smooth, cold, and dried out to pure rock after five feet down. Steven didn't know what he was getting himself towards, but, it'll be worth it in the end. Then, as he made about thirty feet into the cave passage, he began to see a new light show up ahead. Then, Steven ventured to the other end of the cave; a gigantic opening into a huge cavern. The area itself looked large enough to fit a hot air balloon inside, and with crystals lining up around the corners of the cavern, it told Steven that he found the spot ... maybe. There was a deep opened area, yeah, but, there was no water. Not a single drop was shown within the pit, which Steven thought was where the spring was ... Then he heard footsteps.

Or rather, hoof steps.

"Where's the spring?" Steven wondered aloud.

"How nice of you to make it."

Steven turned around to a corner of the cavern, by a lot of darkened crystals to see the very same unicorn he saw in his dream! A surprise alone to see him outside of dreamland.

"Oh, you. Where's the spring, isn't this where -"

"What spring?" He said. Immediately, Steven no longer felt like he was accomplishing anything, or felt any safe. Soon, the unicorn quickly charged at him, grabbed him by the arm with his sharp teeth, and threw him into the pit! Steven tumbled a little bit, landing on his back into the pit, as the unicorn stood up on the rim with a disapproved look on his face.

"You lied to me!" Steven yelled from the bottom of the pit.

"Call it a habit. Course, it's easier to lie to small kids; especially ones with something in their past to work with," the unicorn replied smugly. Steven looked down to the rose Gem, the only thing that could've given the unicorn anything to work with. Steven realized he'd been tricked, and he was all alone for there. The unicorn turned away; his horn glowing as more dark crystals formed up around Steven. The half-Gem tried to get out, but the unicorn wasn't going to help him. On top of that, the sides were too smoothly edged in to get a proper grip.

"How could you?!" Steven asked, feeling hurt all over again, maybe even more so then when he first met the unicorn.

"I already did, so, why explain again. Typical," the unicorn scoffed, as he focused his magic some more, his horn glowing a deep velvet red. Steven quickly got out another Gem tactic: a bubble shield, just as he fired at him. The beam launched out of the horn bounced off easily, and slammed into the far wall. The unicorn tried again, but the bubble shield seemed to be making each attack pointless, as they kept being launched to the wall, making indents in them. Steven kept trying to get himself out, but, the unicorn blasted too frequently for him to move around much, especially in his bubble shield. While it seemed fruitless, Steven was straining more and more from each blast, as the unicorn could see that. He prepared for another blast at Steven, but then a thought crossed his mind as he looked around at the crystal spires around him. Before he could try ...

"Steven!"

The sound from one of Steven's friends was luck; both good and bad. While it told the unicorn friends were coming, it distracted Steven for that one moment. The unicorn blasted his beam at the spires around them, intensifying the power, and Steven's sudden own shield was not enough to fully block the attack, the bubble popping, and Steven getting the full hit of the blast! And not a moment too soon for the unicorn; seconds later, the fastest of Stevens friends (Rainbow, Lion, Lapis, Twilight and Blue) soon arrived to see Steven hurt in the pit. They quickly saw who was responsible nearby, Rainbow and Twilight personally beyond shocked by who they saw.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't our little princess and her brigade. Come to watch?"

"Sombra? Y-You're supposed to be gone!" Twilight yelled. The unicorn, Sombra as it turned out, stopped his own magic beam, and turned to the others, seeing Blue and Lion growling at him.

"Well it's clear I'm not. Wouldn't matter anyway, already began," Sombra said with pride, looking to Steven, still in pain as if being electrocuted. The others tried to reach him, but the magical field around him launched them back with harsh force. Sombra sat down, and watched Steven's suffering within the blast. Steven looked to his friends, tears pouring out of his eyes, as he began to feel a bit different ...

As it was happening, Lion then charged at Sombra, but the unicorn simply moved aside in a smooth dodge, the angry creature surging past him. Blue tried to attack too, but Sombra grabbed him by the foot, and threw Blue at Lion. Twilight went on and tried another approach: using her magic to stop the beams. Sombra calculated that and raised a second black crystal to stop the Alicorn. Rainbow and Lapis also tried to break the crystals, but it seemed far too sturdy to be broken for the moment. That would explain why Sombra wasn't too worried about their attempts to save Steven. Steven meanwhile could only watch his friends try to save him, as the dark beams began to change him bit by bit. It was a rather long process, which Sombra also knew, considering he wasn't a 100% Gem. His own body started to change before everyone; a light of pink, dim yet shimmering, began to show from his own Gemstone.

"Steven!!" Lapis yelled. But to Steven, the screams were starting to diminish as he felt weaker and weaker from the effects of the dark crystal beams. As for the sharp pain, that dulled down to soreness all over his body, as his eyes started to close a little bit. They kept trying to break the spires, but eventually they found it will not do it in time.

"Sombra, let him go!" Twilight demanded.

"Why? This is getting amusing," Sombra said, finding a comfy spot nearby to watch the spectacle. Angry, Twilight launched a huge attack beam from her horn, only for Sombra to bow, and slice the beam in two with his own horn! The catch: he didn't even use any attack or even went any fast, he simply bowed like he was getting a drink from some imaginary pond, his horn's own durability making short work of it. His horn glowed red again, as his own beam blasted at Twilight. She got up her own shield, but the shear force of the blast forced her to back up. Blue suddenly charged up, finally getting a grip on the back of Sombra's neck, forcing Sombra to buck like a wild horse to get Blue off of him. Lion got up, and roared at Sombra. The force of Lion's roar launched Sombra back to the far wall, though it didn't do much damage to the unicorn himself. Sombra charged up again, ready to shoot as Lion, but then something else started to happen to Steven that halted the fight for a moment.

Steven, within the beams, began to have his whole body give off a sort of pink glow, dimmed by the aura from the magical blasts. Suddenly, everybody/everypony was exposed to a sudden blast of energy. The force finally cracked the gem spires, but injured everyone else there. The only one uninjured was Sombra, whom ran off and teleported away with his own magic before Lion could get him again. The blast made a large cloud of dust a debris to form up, making them unable to see what happened to Steven ...

Only then did everyone else arrive.

"What happened?" Pearl called.

"Y'all alright?" added Applejack.

So much of the group weren't aware of Sombra's involvement, and for those that were, were more worried over what happened to Steven. What caught everyone off guard was a small groan coming from the pit. However, it didn't sound like Steven in there ...

As the cloud cleared, only then did they all see the horrid realization. laying in the large pit, barely moving, wasn't the Steven they all already knew. Something else was in there: a creature about as large as Lion, though with some differences. It didn't had an actual face, replaced by a mirror with two lines resembling a sad expression where the eyes should be. The body had a feline-like appearance as well, with the tail and mane made up of green and pink flower pedals. The gemstone was hidden in the end of its tail, and it also had on a sort of chest guard. Everyone there was simply shocked, as silence befell over them all. The ponies were surprised as any, but the Gems felt it even worse...

That creature was Steven!

"... N-No ... No!"

The noise of Garnet's gasp caught Steven's attention, and he climbed out. Normally, he'd be happy to see them. But now, he no longer recognized them. Whimpering, Blue moved over to Steven, but the corrupted half-Gem suddenly started to flee up to the opening above the cavern. Steven was extremely fast, and none of them could get him in time. Not even Rainbow and Fulgurite, who got the closest. As for the others, they were just trying to comprehend what just happened ...

"Oh no ... Steven ..." Pearl was the first to start crying, on her knees at the sight of her beloved Steven turning corrupted. Blue joined in her crying too, howling to the heavens. Fluttershy ended up crying too along with Pearl, but eventually ...

"How could this happened?! We were supposed to protect him!" Pearl sobbed, tears pouring down her face. Garnet, while not showing anything, took it the worst. Out of many of the Gems, she was the most experienced out of all of them, and from that, seeing Steven end up corrupted was a devastating blow to her. They've faced corrupted gems before, but how were they going to deal with something like this? ...

The crying wasn't helping her out.

"Stop it!" Garnet demanded, catching them by surprise.

"Crying isn't going to help anything! We have to get him back."

"B-But he's -"

"I know what happened, but we can't leave him alone. Go outside and fan out, he couldn't had gone far!" Garnet ordered. The others were still on the part when Steven was turned corrupted, but they don't have much other option. Those on the ground raced out of the tunnel while those who flew went out the skylight. Garnet still needed a bit, a small tear dripping out from behind her shades, before beginning to go out herself.

She needed some time alone ...
> Corrupted Rose
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

How could such things happen? The feelings throughout most of the Gems and Ponies upon being witness to the events was, for a lack of a better word, hard. When it comes to both sides of the coin, each one had their own surprise: the Mane Six for seeing Sombra alive, and the Gems seeing their poor Steven corrupted. They weren't sure how Steven was going to react to seeing them, but they didn't want to bubble him. For one thing, it wouldn't fix the corruption, and secondly it could easily kill him if they tried that. As for the ponies, the fact Sombra was somehow not only back, but knew how to corrupt Steven was a horrifying thought: they hadn't seen him in quite some time, and last time they did he was supposed to be gone for good.

Speaking of Steven, the corrupted Gem was actually traveling very fast, and was long gone by the time the group tried to look for the half-Gem. With the moon in the sky, he kept moving about in the night, roaming around the countryside while trying to avoid any trouble. With his new form, it did cause some problems for Steven, especially the lack of any face. Without a mouth, he can't eat anything, and if he can't eat, then he's in big trouble. As for interacting with any Gem, Steven didn't want to be confronted by anyone like that - much to his friend's dismay. At least the nighttime wasn't anything harsh, with clear skies for the Gem to travel around through the fields and open spaces without too much trouble. For one thing about being turned into a large cat, Steven could move much faster without the help from the others., which was how he eluded capture for so long.

Steven had been traveling around on his own for the whole night, not knowing that the Gems and Ponies were looking around all over for him. It was just minutes before dawn, and Steven continued on along the landscape. Steven took a moment to rest by a bunch of shrubs, with his own flower petals making a great disguise by the shrubs for the night. When he began to stir after an hour, the corrupted Gem looked off from the horizon. In his sights, surprisingly enough, was actually where he began: Beach City! Steven started to bound down from the tall hill towards the city. Since it was so early, it didn't appear to be having anyone around to see him.

Much of the streets were a lot quieter as the lion-sized half-Gem roamed around looking for something to eat. He didn't have much to eat since leaving, and on that note, he was starving. Even with no mouth, a small groan, sounding close to how Steven originally sounded, Steven began going off through some outside cans to see if there's any food to eat. While Steven did see food to him, his mouth-less face made eating unable to be done correctly. All that did happen was some scraps smeared on his mirror face. While Steven got the garbage off of him, he continued to roam about in disappointment. He needed to get something soon...

Steven began to catch one place in his sights, the back door propped open a little bit. Steven, noticing the sun getting higher, started to go inside. Being a lot bigger than normal, fitting through the door wasn't as easy, but he had just managed to get himself inside before the sun peeked out from the ocean horizon. And to think though: as Steven did go in, the workers from the building had just arrived to begin their own workday. Steven could hear the people coming in, some bickering here and there, as the Lion Gem stayed put, moving back a bit. in the dark, Steven waited for whatever was out there, in the corner with nowhere to escape. He'd go for the door if it didn't close behind him already. Soon, after what felt like forever, another door opened up with someone else coming in. Steven couldn't tell who it was at first, until the lights were turned on.

Standing there was Sadie, a friend the old Steven would be happy to see. However, the lion gem was unsure of how to react to seeing her, even though he was a lot bigger than she was. As for Sadie herself, she was left simply speechless, eyes fixated on this sudden creature in the corner of the room. The immediate reaction was to run, though Sadie didn't know what to make of it, unable to realize it was Steven standing there.

"Yo, Sadie, got the doughnuts yet?" another voice called. Sadie didn't answer at first to the other voice. It was a voice of another friend the old Steven easily knew. Soon, someone then went in to see what the trouble was. The person who entered was a boy, a bit skimpy and taller than Sadie was. He had a tint of orange in his skin, ginger hair too with a similar working uniform to match Sadie's. One key feature was the large gauges in both of his ears making his ears look like rings on the side of his head. When he came in, Steven became more worried for the most part, staying perfectly still with the mirror staring right at them both.

"Hey, didn't you hear -" He began to say, though he was cut off when he saw the thing standing there. Unlike Sadie though, his reaction was more immediate, a scream startling Steven as the lion Gem tried to scramble over some boxes to keep his distance from them.

"W-What the heck is that thing?!" He got out. Steven tumbled towards them, the guy freaked out and bolting away. Sadie however tried to grab some sort of defensive weapon, and got the only close thing at hand, though it ended up being a packaged éclair of all things. Steven didn't seem threatened by the object, and in fact got it out of her hands and tried to eat it. But, as before, Steven only pushed it around, having more trouble than ever. As Sadie started to calm down, she began to think over a little bit as her fellow employee peeked from the corner of the door. When they both looked at the creature's tail, they both saw the familiar Gemstone on the end of it. Sadie, having a calmer mind by that point, tried to make sense of it as Steven sat down in dismay, a whimper being heard as the uneaten treat remained where it was.

"Wait a minute. Lars, doesn't that Gem look familiar to you?" Sadie asked. Lars, the employee cowering, was just trying to get his nerves together. He didn't care on what looked familiar on the thing, he was terrified of it. It didn't help that Steven turned to them. As he did, Sadie and Lars both noticed something odd with the image itself. Rather than a regular reflection, the mirror itself showed a very faint image of someone else inside ... a human head ...

"Wait ... S-Steven? ..." Sadie managed to say. Upon hearing that name, Steven turned to them, giving off a few more whimpers. Even if most of his memory was lost in the corruption, some things hadn't changed in his mind, like his name. However, realizing this thing indeed was Steven just left less fear, and more shock. Unlike the others, Sadie and Lars weren't there when Steven got corrupted, and as such, didn't know how he'd came to be this way.

"Uh ... I'll be over here," Lars said, quickly going away from Sadie as she dealt with Steven. The corrupted lion creature laid down as to not intimidate Sadie as much, wagging his tail. Seemed easily apparent that Lars wasn't going to help the situation.

"What happened to you?" Sadie wondered aloud, as Steven rolled onto his back., scratching it for a bit until he rolled back onto his stomach. Speaking of stomach, they both heard a loud growl coming from Steven's own stomach, making another whimper come out of him. Poor Steven needed to eat, somehow, and Sadie could tell that. But how can something eat without a mouth? Sadie needed to think it over (not to mention clean up the mess Steven made).

"Oh boy. Ok, think, think," Sadie said, trying to come up with an answer. As she was, Sadie picked up the treat. Steven didn't damage it very much and looked pretty fine but being pushed around on the floor and all, Sadie didn't want to take a chance with it. However, when Sadie went to throw it away, Steven got in the way. Sadie stepped back, unsure of what Steven wanted, but then a paw suddenly got the treat in Sadie's mouth. Surprised, of course, but Sadie took a bite anyhow. However, when she swallowed, she noticed something with the reflection within the mirror face that seemed to get her answer. She looked at it, taking another bite, and noticed the same Steven head vision actually ate the mirror image of the éclair she was eating. In short: in order for Steven to eat, he needed a reflection of someone eating to do so. Sadie ate up the éclair to help Steven out.

"There, is that better?" Sadie asked. However, since Steven was a lot bigger, he needed a lot more food to satisfy him. To get the idea across, Steven found a large box of cookie cats (Steven's favorite) and moved it over to Sadie. The box had A LOT of cookie cats inside ... And Sadie will have to eat them all up in front of Steven in order for it to work.

"Uh ... I don't know if I can ..." Sadie said, unsure of it. Steven slumped and whimpered again; one éclair wasn't going to be enough for the starving creature. Sadie had a number of reasons why she should, but Steven's state of hunger she had to handle regardless. Besides, she didn't know how long it'd been since Steven last ate (his old self not packing any snacks when Sombra sent him off).

"... Oh boy."

...

forty minutes later, Lars was still at the front desk, listening on his iPod and headphones as he worked out some fancy cross puzzle for the time being. Since it was early for them to arrive, not many customers were stopping by, if at all. The thing was though, Sadie and Steven had been in the back for a pretty long time.

"Hey, Sadie, you done back there?!" Lars called. However, he only heard a bit of a groan from the back. He wasn't so sure what was going on back there, but he might as well check on her and Steven (despite ditching out on her earlier). After his song finished, he got up and looked into the backroom. What he ended up seeing was corrupted Steven sitting, content and no longer hungry. As for Sadie, she was sitting on a chair, with her face covered in crumbs, and her stomach 'pregnant-on-final-month' shape, and full to the brim with Cookie Cats. Sadie was in a bit of a daze she was so stuffed up. Lars also saw the empty box of what used to be full of Cookie Cats. Lars didn't know how to react at first, but eventually he got his senses back.

"What the heck, Sadie?!"

"*urp* Fed Steven," Sadie managed to get out. Lars, of course, didn't think that made any sense what-so-ever. She fed Steven, so she ate up all their Cookie Cats.

"Then why'd you - you know what, never mind," Lars decided. He was sure that some sort of weird magic stuff was involved for this, and he didn't want to try to put the pieces together for himself. Steven eventually began to head for the door, pawing at it. Since Sadie was too stuffed to move, Lars was tasked with opening the door for Steven. When all was said and done, Steven simply went right on out to roam again, leaving Lars to figure out what to do for the rest of the day ...


~~~~~~


As Steven was still roaming, the Gems eventually were the only ones still searching for Steven. While they tried their best overall, to their surprise for most of the search, not many clues were found nearby.

While the others kept looking, Garnet had actually got back to the Beach House before everyone else, needing a breather. Garnet was supposed to protect Steven on the name of Rose, and not only had she lost him, but she didn't stop his corruption either! She went right through the back door into a different room, not bothering with anything by the Warp Pad or the main room. The room she was in looked like a storage room of sorts: although it had a lot of Gems in bubbles, other corrupted Gems no doubt. She needed a bit to calm down before she could continue looking.

"How could I let this happen?" Garnet told herself, pacing back and forth. However ...

"It's not your fault."

"Don't start, were supposed to protect him!"

"I know, we tried our best."

"It wasn't good enough! Now he's corrupted like every other Gem here!"

"Stop it, you're overreacting."

"This is Steven I'm talking about! Don't you get it?!"

The whole time, as in talking to herself, it seemed Garnet was having a full conversation with herself, becoming less and less in control as it went on, to the point of shaking. Her body, suddenly, started to glow! In one quick flash, two figures suddenly appeared from the whole. One of these was pure blue, her light hair covering her eyes. She also had a large, formal blue dress on as well, giving a sort of princess look. The other girl was all red, with a red headband on her forehead. Both Gems were rather small, about Steven's height, and while the blue girl was calm, the red girl was still fuming.

"Sapphire! He's corrupted now, don't act like it's no big deal!"

"Getting angry won't help anyone, Ruby."

"Do you even have an answer?!"

"It'll be alright," Sapphire said calmly.

"Don't dodge the question, Sapphire!" Ruby snapped. Their bickering was more one-sided: Sapphire completely calm while Ruby blew her top off. It wasn't the best conversation these two had together, but their crazy bickering wasn't left unseen. Just hiding off in the shadows by some of the bubbled Gemstones, something wandered into the light. Among many things, Ruby and Sapphire both only noticed once they heard his laugh.

"Having a fun chit-chat?"

Both gems turned and there they saw the dark unicorn, Sombra, standing there with a toothy smile. Neither Gem even noticed Sombra in the room in the first place, and they were off guard when he did appear. As for Sombra, he was looking around at the fallen Gems like it was an art gallery.

"How'd you get in here?" Ruby asked.

"Left your door open, so I invited myself in. An impressive collection you've got going here, like you're starting up your own jewelry store," Sombra said, holding one of them with his hoof. The insult in that 'compliment' was easy to catch, considering both Gems knew what was actually in the bubbles Sombra was browsing through. The one Sombra had on his hoof was a watermelon Tormarine Gem, hovering inside the bubble.

"We're not selling anyone, how dare you think that!"

"Come on Ruby, look at these lovely designs on these. Make a great necklace. Just missing one Rose Quartz right in the middle. Sure, Steven would be a nice contribution," Sombra pointed out, moving some so they'll go around his neck like a necklace. Ruby got the bubbles away from him.

"How do you know about that?" Ruby asked, teeth gritted, as Sombra moved her aside and went over to Sapphire.

"I'm pretty sure you can put two and two together. Which one of us has the corruption magic?" Sapphire and Ruby both don't have that kind of magic in them, and the tension was raised as they both looked to Sombra. The unicorn laughed as he sensed that they got it already.

"You monster!!"

"Why thank you, dear Ruby. I'm only surprised you two hadn't found him by now. Oh well, not like you'll get him back anyway," Sombra mocked. Enraged, Ruby charged at him, only for Sombra to rear up, and whack her away with his frontal hooves. The hit sent her tumbling, a bruised hoof mark on her face. Sombra stood on top of Ruby, both hooves on her arms. Sapphire was angry, but she was still calm.

"Why would you corrupt Steven? Why not Garnet?"

"It's more amusing to corrupt a young mind then one that has experience. You should know that as well as anypony, snowflake," Sombra said. The news only got them angrier; Sombra, to put it simply, corrupted Steven just for the heck of it! No gain, no benefit, just for fun! Ruby, boiling in rage, struggled to free herself as Sombra bowed, and sank his teeth into her head! Before Sapphire could do anything, Sombra gripped Ruby's neck, and threw her away from them both. Ruby got to her feet, as Sombra stood just feet away.

"Stay away from her!" Ruby yelled, getting in the way. Sombra just sighed.

"Dumb brat, aren't you?"

"Quiet you! You take one more step and I'll -" Sombra took his step, his large grey hoof slamming on Ruby's feet. Ruby cringed on the pain, as Sombra suddenly reared up again, his horn aimed like a sword right at her! Sapphire moved back, and Sombra stabbed Ruby right through the head! Suddenly, an explosion of smoke covered the area, and only a small Ruby remained on the ground. Sombra only picked up Ruby's gemstone and hid it away in his red royal cape.

"Well that was easy. Then again, nopony can defy the king without any danger," Sombra said, moving over to Sapphire. The small Gem felt a sense of worry, seeing Ruby poof after one attack by this unicorn. Sombra sat down as he was inches away, a hoof moving Sapphire's hair away from her eyes so he could see her eyes ... Or eye, as of were.

"What's the matter, Sapphire? Too much to take in?"

"Your days are numbered, Sombra," Sapphire warned. Sombra huffed, and turned away, his black tail nearly whacking her eye, as he neared one of the gem bubbles.

"You'd think that. Your talking to a king who'd been banished to the North Pole for a thousand years, and blasted to pieces. I'm sure I can handle whatever you gems have for me. Speaking of which," Sombra explained, pulling back out Ruby's gemstone. His horn glowed, and he did a quick zap at it, turning the gem from red to a dull grey. Sapphire didn't like where this was going, as Sombra dropped Ruby's gem onto the ground. The gem began to glow, and the body of Ruby started to form back into shape. However, as Ruby formed back together, she didn't appear all red like before, instead her body grey, and clothes black to match the Gem. Ruby got herself up, Sapphire unsure what Sombra had done to her, taking a step back. Ruby came to her senses, and turned to the horrid unicorn.

"I'm gonna enjoy this," Ruby growled, her fists ready to beat him up. Sombra sat down and waited for a hit to come. Ruby ran at him, her fist ready to hit him in his mouth. But, just inches, her fist suddenly stopped right in front of him. It wasn't the fact that she didn't want to hit him, but she literally couldn't move her fist any further! Ruby tried to get her attack moving, but her arm was too stiff to move.

"A bow would be lovely, Ruby."

"HA! Why would I ever -" suddenly, Ruby's body moved beyond her command, and she ended up bowing in Sombra's presence. Her mind kept screaming for her to stop, but her body ignored her sense of judgement.

"Now, try a triple flip," Sombra commanded, his hoof making a circle in the air. Ruby suddenly ended up spinning in the air, three times, before landing.

"S-Stop that!"

"Let's see ... Use your headband to wipe my horseshoes clean," Sombra instructed. Ruby got her headband off, starting to clean his horseshoes like a shoe shiner would for money. Sapphire knew she wasn't doing this on her own accord.

"What did you do to her?"

"Altered her Gem magic, of course. Not mind control in main terms, but, I can get her body to do what I please," Sombra said. Sapphire herself was simply speechless, as Ruby finished cleaning. Sombra's grin grew as an idea came to him ...

"Ruby?"

"What now?"

"Surely you'd rather have Sapphire with you. slay her."

Sapphire took off seconds before Ruby did, much to Ruby's own defiance over her own body. Sombra simply followed the slayer to her victim. To Ruby it was a nightmare; her body was trying to slay Sapphire, and only her own mind was aware of what she was doing. Sapphire could only dodge her as they got to the Beach House and moved to outside. Sombra, rather than leave, decided to stick around and watch the most unexpected battle in a millennium. After all, what're the odds that Ruby would actually fight Sapphire?

"Sapphire, it's not me!" Ruby said in a silent plead, as her body continued fighting Sapphire. One thing that Sapphire had going for her was a much higher speed than Ruby, making avoiding Ruby a much easier task to handle. Still, the fact that Ruby was basically trying to shatter her was a sad and shocking thought come to life. It made matters much worse that Ruby knew she didn't want to, yet her body was under Sombra's command despite her mind. Like a slave forced to do the order no matter what thought. Sombra's only annoyance with this outcome was that Sapphire was too fast, and Ruby's fists weren't enough.

"Hey, try this!" Sombra said, summoning a sword-shaped Crystal, tossing it to Ruby. Ruby caught it in mid air, and immediately started after Sapphire with her weapon. The sword was double in size to Ruby, yet she wielded it with horrifying effect, something Sapphire knew of. Sombra got himself comfy on the front deck, having a pretty nice view of the fight itself. Despite Ruby and Sapphire fighting, the unicorn's attention turned away when Sapphire did another trick: she took a deep breath, and then she gave a loud screech. she made a one-note scream. The sound slammed hard to Sombra and Ruby. The sound wave went all over Beach City, or at least got that far, before Ruby knocked her down with an uncontrolled punch to the temple. The time it lasted; two seconds. That made her stop, and for Sombra to regain himself a little bit.

"Some lungs, but it won't help you out very much," Sombra growled, shaking his head to get his hearing back into shape. Sapphire sighed roughly, feeling a bit colder. However, as Ruby's body readied to charge again, Sombra glanced along the beach, and began to notice something coming their way: some of the ponies and Gems coming back! Guess that screech was a warning call, he guessed. The first to arrive was Fulgurite, but she didn't see Garnet around: only Sapphire and Ruby.

"Who called?" Fulgurite asked, just as Ruby grabbed Sapphire by the neck. Fulgurite got to action as soon as she saw that, not giving Ruby time to think or explain herself. Fulgurite's hair launched out, and quickly pinned the Gem down on the sand. Sapphire rubbed her neck from where Ruby grappled her. It even showed some slight scorch marks, as if Ruby's hands were on fire. Fulgurite kept Ruby down.

"Back off you black gremlin!"

"What'chu call me?! I'm not doing this!"

"Oh, aren't you?" Fulgurite growled, keeping her down. Sombra looked down at her, and noticed other Crystal Gems and Ponies arrive on the scene.

"Ruby, dear, I'd like some hair, well-done, and crisp," Sombra said with a sly tongue.

"Shut up, horn head!" Ruby screamed, yet her arms still gripped Fulgurite's hair, beginning to fry it! Fulgurite began to freak out, seeing her hair catch on fire. Ruby pulled her hair out as she did so.

"HEY! OFFOFFOFFOFF!" Fulgurite said, quickly getting in the water to stop the fire. Her hair, although a bit shorter on one side, stayed on her head, as Ruby got up to her feet again. Soon, Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Lapis arrived next from the sky, the others further back and on their way. If Sapphire's scream didn't get their attention, Fulgurite's screeching sure did. Ruby went over to Sombra, giving him black hair, which Sombra ate like it was crispy hay.

"Ugh, birds," Sombra groaned. He knew they weren't birds, but, they were just as annoying to him. When they saw Sombra, Rainbow did a falcon dive towards him, only for him to dodge at the last second. Rainbow crashed through the wooded front deck, as Sombra landed on the beach.

"What're you doing here?!" Lapis asked.

"Oh, just visiting, making friends," Sombra remarked, moving over to Ruby. Ruby wanted to hit him, yet her body refused to comply with her thoughts. Only Amethyst and Pearl knew who Sapphire and Ruby were, yet the others weren't sure who was who, and thought Ruby was an enemy.

"I know that's a lie," Rainbow said, pulling herself out of the deck.

"What did you do to her, Sombra?" Twilight demanded, wings raised and horn glowing, ready to shoot the unicorn at any moment. Even if she never knew Ruby, she knew that Sombra must've done something to her. He wouldn't go somewhere to quote-on-quote "make friends". Sombra wasn't too worried, actually starting to stroke Ruby's head gently with his hoof - a gesture that made Ruby stiff.

"Just some alterations, as all. Just like little Steven," Sombra revealed.

"WHAT?! You corrupted Steven?!" Pearl yelled, readying her spear in rage. Amethyst got out her own weapon as well, equally angry.

"Ah, ah, ah. You hurt a hair on my head, and I'm taking this fine Gem down with me. You do care about her, don't you?" Sombra asked, bowing his head so his horn just gently touched her chin. However, it wasn't as big of a threat as it should be, Ruby being a Gem and all, but the threat was still there.

"Change them both back, NOW!"

"Now, I can change Ruby back, no problem. Steven is another matter though. You see, both our worlds have our own rules - as vague as some boundaries are. I'm sure you don't know for a fact how to actually save him, otherwise why would you have all of those other gems locked up in your basement, eh?"

"Wait, what?" Fulgurite asked, though the two were too angry to answer.

"You're the one that messed him up, you fix it!"

"And you think I know how? Corruption is universal. Revival is precise in instruction. And I don't see you clods having any instruction, now do you? Besides, if I ignore it long enough, I'm sure somepony else will do it,"

"But none of us know how!" Lapis said.

"You catch on fast, don't you?" Sombra mocked, laughing as he turned to Ruby.

"Come along, Ruby" Sombra said. As much as Ruby didn't want to, her body followed Sombra as he went away. Pearl, Lapis, and Amethyst charged at him, Twilight shooting magic at him. Thinking quickly, Sombra did a 180-spin, knocking the trio into the beam! Holding onto Ruby, Sombra started to turn into shadow, and disappear.

"HELP!" Ruby called, before she disappeared along with him. Sapphire was so close in getting her, but Sombra was too quick for them. No sooner after it began, it was over: with one half of their Gem leader gone to the shadow king. Sapphire just stood aside, a saddened sigh escaping her lips, before she was confronted by whoever was there.

"Don't worry Sapphire, we'll figure out how to get her back," Pearl assured.

"I know you will," Sapphire sighed.

"You know her?" Fluttershy asked, unaware of the fusion effect Garnet was originally in. Sapphire was, in comparison, about the size as the ponies, or maybe even smaller. Sapphire, wiping a small tear from her one eye, looked over to them. The ponies weren't aware of the fusion Garnet was in before now, and without Ruby, Garnet wasn't going to come back until then.

"Sorry for this being our first time meeting," Sapphire sighed. The blue Gem looked up to the other Gems and ponies.

"Where's Garnet? Didn't she come? Where is she?" Pinkie asked, trying to look around for Garnet.

"You did. In a way. Me and Ruby were Garnet before Sombra appeared ..." Sapphire said. The ponies were aware of the fusions, since they've seen Tanzanite back in Equestria, but they didn't expect Garnet to be one. Now, Garnet wasn't around, and Ruby was taken away from Sapphire. If they don't, not only Garnet would never come back, but Sombra would end up with a tough little minion for as long as he was around.

"Sorry that it couldn't gone better. It'll be alright, Sapphire, really," Twilight assured her, a hoof on Sapphire's shoulder. Sapphire knew that it'll be alright, but, it'd still hurt to watch Ruby do all that against her own will. It was worse that she was fully aware of what she did; at least with mind control you get the satisfaction of either forgetting everything, or just don't remember what happened. Sombra had full control of Ruby, yet kept her memory fully in tact.

It was like he had Ruby on strings, the Gem as his puppet, Sombra the puppeteer ...

Then the thought turned back to Steven. Even with this news, he was still gone, and they apparently didn't find him yet. Sapphire sighed, and looked to everyone.

"Don't worry about me. Keep looking for Steven," Sapphire concluded. Everybody/everypony looked at each other. They didn't know where Sombra actually went with Ruby, so, the best they could do is handle the current problem and try to get back to it later. After all, with nothing to go on or hinted, there was nothing they could do. The Crystal Empire might be a shot, but there was no way for Sombra to go back without the magic key, and they were for sure not to give any of those up. Sapphire just kept quiet as they began to head off, thinking it over for a bit with her one eye closed.

While in someone's mind, images pop up, sure, but in Sapphire's head, her visions were far more important than most. In her mind, she saw a number of things go through her head, the possible outcomes, solutions, decisions. One of these was of her seeing a few figures standing before herself and her friends, one a large and human-like, one a more demonic looking beast, and one of a large alicorn ...

"We'd better be ready ..."
> Equestrian Games
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The situation was starting to become a bit more stressful when it came to the Gems, the Mane Six and Sombra. Day in, day out, there was more of a risk to the large unicorn causing more trouble, and they don't have Garnet with them for the moment either. First Steven became corrupted and disappearing, and now Ruby's gone, and Sapphire remained. For one thing, the ponies, along with some of the newer Gems of the group, were a bit new to having Sapphire alone around instead of Garnet. As for Steven, the clues as to where he ended up was, for a lack of a better word, shocking. Such a big creature, and with many eyes around Beach City, and still no sign of him anywhere. They could only wonder how such a large, corrupted Gem simply disappeared out of the city. While every Gem was still a little bit busy in one endeavor, another thing represented itself.

The Equestrian Games.

Even with Steven still gone, and things still edgy, Rainbow Dash still had to be off on her way to the games, being a goal she'd been waiting to do for a long time before Steven went missing. On the train there, Rainbow Dash sat down by the window of her train kart, some other competitors were still getting themselves ready, though Rainbow Dash didn't feel as up for it, looking out her window at the passing scenery as they neared the Crystal Empire: where this year's games were being held. Nearby, her two teammates, April Showers and Sunshower Raindrops were both hanging out with Rainbow Dash, though April did notice that her teammate did seem a little bit out of it.

"Hey, you alright?" April asked. Rainbow got back to her senses.

"Huh? Uh, oh, yeah, I'm fine, never better," Rainbow said, regaining her attitude. Sure, she was bummed out, but she needed a good front for her friends to do better in the games.

"Great, cuz we're almost there! We'll show everypony what Ponyville's got," Sunshower said, full of enthusiasm. Rainbow only wished she had the same sort. Sure, she had enthusiasm for the games, but some of it was indeed blocked by some worry. Course, if somepony did find out not only about Sombra's return, but saw what he'd done so far, worry was almost a guarantee. Yet, she'd signed up fully to get herself going on these games, so, she can't ditch it now. She could only hope that her friends could at least come for this.


~~~~~~


After what felt like forever, the train had finally arrived at the empire in question. At least Sombra (for the moment) wasn't going after the place again, as it still appeared very great and bustling with activity from the crystal ponies. Rainbow, April, and Sunshower began to head off on their way, walking along through the empire, along the streets leading to the main sign-up. As they went through, Rainbow hovering all the while, the rainbow Pegasus was just hoping that her friends do show up and hoping that everything works out for Steven and all. Sunshower flew over to Rainbow Dash, poking her head to get her back.

"Yo, come on Rainbow, we got this, why so glum?" Sunshower asked, trying to lift Rainbow's spirits. Rainbow landed; if she was going to keep zoning out like that, she at least needed to get them on the level so they wouldn't have too much trouble.

"Listen guys, things had been a bit rough for me, and I'm just trying to relax a bit, okay? Don't worry about a -" Rainbow was still moving on ahead and wasn't exactly paying attention on where she was going until she bumped into one of the crystal ponies going about his business. When Rainbow looked, she actually jumped, thinking she'd just walked into Sombra, but some differences were noted. The crystal pony was black, with a black mane and tail, but he didn't look like and rough ruler honestly. His cutie mark was in the shape of a target, but other than that he seemed to be an ordinary male crystal pony. The item dropped was just some food from the market, which ended up all over the place on the ground. The pony gave a rough huff, as he began to pick everything up.

"Eh, sorry," Rainbow said. The crystal pony just got his stuff together, placed them back in his saddle bag, and started to head off. Not a word, not a smile, and he simply moved off. That seemed a bit off for the happy crystal ponies everywhere else: he stuck out completely like a sore thumb. Rainbow wasn't too sure about this pony. Aside from appearance alone, his behavior was simply out of place for all she knew. Every other pony appeared happy-go-lucky and cheerful, and he was simply the opposite. Course, maybe it was mostly from what he looked like, but Rainbow wanted to put two-and-two together before their turn at the games.

"Let's get going then. Coming, Rainbow?" April asked, Rainbow began to fly again.

"Eh, I'll be with you in a bit; sign us up, I promise I'll be back soon," Rainbow said, taking off before April or Sunshower could ask. Rainbow had kinda disappeared after a bit, so, following her wasn't an option. So, with a sigh, April and Sunshower both went off to sign themselves in.


~~~~~~


Back in Beach City, the town was still on the edge of things; Steven still missing. Soon, everyone started to get more involved in looking around for Steven, though saying he'd turned into some freaky creature might not be a good idea to pull off. Still, the Gems didn't count up on where Steven would go in all terms. Unknown to them: Steven himself had high-tailed it out of Beach City soon after encountering Sadie and Lars, and he'd been gone for quite some time.

Out on the open plains, Steven kept wandering around for a bit. Without anyone eating to mirror, Steven had nothing to consume, as he continued onward through the quiet land. Even while wandering around, his moving about had lead him into dangerous landscape. He wandered so far, he began to reach an ominous, yet oddly familiar area of the world, as the colors of grass began to fade away. As he kept going through the darkened area, one of his back paws stepped on a branch, which literally disintegrated under paw. Soon, the corrupted lion ventured into the area in search of food. As he kept going, some of the area began to take shape: large cliffs forming up into a canyon around him, with signature holes, and machines all around the area.

He ended up back in the Kindergarten!

Steven continued to wander a bit more within the Kindergarten, not finding much of anything to even consider eatable, or even anything lively for that matter. All Steven heard was the sound of his four paws walking along the ground, and his own growl making echoes all over the place. The place hadn't changed all that much since Steven last past through here weeks ago, yet this corrupted Steven couldn't remember anything from that trip. As he kept going through, he started to feel a little bit uneasy, yet his own instincts kept him going along the trail for a while longer. For the time being, it seemed to be rather quiet until something ahead soon caught his attention. It sounded much like the Warp Pad at first, but then he heard what sounded like helicopter blades Steven his off behind some rocks as whatever it was came up into view. Flying above him looked like a Gem, though not one he'd recognize from before or during his corruption. He watched the Gem hover nearby one of the machines, looking over the status on it. After a little bit, she landed on the ground.

"This is Peridot: Data on Gemstone is showing signs of activity. Should be fully active in a few days time," she said as she worked out her screen. Seemed her last example to a particular Pegasus meant she had to come back to Earth to keep track of her little Gemstone in the Kindergarten. Steven, being an animal with no true threat towards himself, began to move out of hiding, as Peridot looked over the screen in front of her.

"Status on Experiment Gem activity going successfully, some had even emerged early -" Peridot glanced away from her touchscreen and shrieked when she saw Steven sitting like a curious pup. Steven didn't do anything apart from tilting his head in confusion. Experiment gem activity? What did she mean by that? As for Peridot, it was a basic stare-off with her and Steven. For the next fifteen seconds, not a word was spoken, Peridot making sure nobody else was around for any extra surprises. She didn't want to be in another inconvenient tussle like last time. Yet, Steven was the only other thing there, and Steven didn't want to harm her exactly. In fact, Steven went over to her (despite Peridot aiming her blaster at him) and rubbed against her like a household pet. Peridot wasn't sure how to react to this sort of behavior, but at least it wasn't hurting her, though she noted the gem on the end of Steven's flower tail, which was in front of her face at one point. Peridot tried to ignore Steven to get to her own work, but Steven peeked over her shoulder, leaning against her back. Peridot couldn't focus like this.

"Uh ... Recording log 3 ... 4 - Get off me!" Peridot suddenly said, pushing the corrupted Gem away from her. Steven whimpered, but Peridot ignored him, as she continued her own work. Steven though didn't leave her just yet, looking at her touchscreen to see what's what. Peridot tried to turn her screen away, but Steven kept trying to see. Eventually, Peridot decided to fly away, hovering high enough with her finger chopper so Steven couldn't reach her. Soon, Steven finally got bored, and noticed the funny disk not too far away (Warp Pad). Curious, Steven went right over to it, getting onto it like a curious kitten. Steven's tail swished about while he looked it over, though his Gemstone caused a sudden reaction onto it. In short, the corrupted Gem was teleported away! For Peridot, she had gotten time to finish things up on her second trip.


~~~~~~


Whilst Steven's world was going along, the stuff going on back at the Crystal Empire seemed to go along its merry old way, with the excitement that the Equestrian Games was about to start soon. April and Sunshower both soon went on over to the main area, which was a large stadium within the empire for the competitors to begin. Sunshower was the one that signed their group up, showing their medals as a way of proof that they're qualified competitors. April though was a bit troubled over one thing: Rainbow. When it came to why she flew off, it was no complicated puzzle - she got curious over the black crystal pony, but just before the games could begin? Seriously, some timing to fly off and do something else, and to check out somepony else no less.

"You think Rainbow will come back in time?" April asked eventually, as Sunshower went back to her teammate.

"No sweat, Rainbow's faster than any of us. Besides, the air relay won't be for a while, so, she's got time on her hooves before she needs to come back," Sunshower pointed out, which was true. Course, asking the pony in charge of prescription helped too. Still, April needed to know exactly how much time Rainbow Dash had before it was their turn, so she went over to the counter.

"Uh, when is the aerial relay race? After how many other events, that is?" April asked. The counter crystal pony looked at his list, containing the names and events of which pony would be competing.

"Well, the aerial relay is after the iron horseshoe toss, the tag team race, four hoof long jump, and uh the hundred-meter gallop. You've got quite a bit before you ponies go, why?"

"Oh, well I guess I might as well: one of our team members didn't arrive yet. She'll be around soon though," April clarified. However, if Rainbow would show up in time was her own guess - four games can go quickly if there were no delays to any of them. Besides, their own victory needed to work itself out with Rainbow, not without, and there's no time for any replacement pony to step in. The advisor worked out the names, and circled Rainbow's name amongst the list he had, adding a question mark just in case if Rainbow wouldn't show up in time. After getting themselves in, Sunshower and April began to walk off towards where the other competitors were.

"Oh, I hope Rainbow does show up in time for the games," April said on worry. Still, while April was more level-headed, Sunshower was more confident in Rainbow Dash.

"Don't get your mane in a knot, Rainbow will be back soon enough," Sunshower assured, as they went along. April sighed, taking a glance back outside. She knew Rainbow was fast, though she hoped Rainbow could be fast enough to catch up to them.


~~~~~~


Speaking of Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus was still keeping her eye on the peculiar black crystal pony. The crystal pony himself wasn't completely aware that he was being followed, Rainbow taking every chance to spy on him and keep out of sight. Be it behind a barrel, creeping around the many buildings, or hovering just out of sight, Rainbow kept a good eye on this pony. Even if this pony wasn't Sombra, he could easily be a worker under his command. After all, Ruby seemed to follow a similar color scheme to him, though lighter in overall color. The pony kept going along through the Crystal Empire for some time, further and further away from the more populated areas. It even got to the point when he started leaving the empire itself! Now Rainbow was for sure that the pony was up to no good - why would a crystal pony like him leave the Crystal Empire anyway? Rainbow quickly hid behind a roof side as he looked around. After a quick look, he quickly started to gallop away quick. As he did, Rainbow started to fly after him, keeping just out of sight from the black crystal pony. Along the brightly colored tundra plains and areas of snow, it was easy to track him as he began to near the mountains.

The pony began to gallop up the mountainside, surprisingly quick for a pony to scale such a mountain. Rainbow, having wings, began to scale the mountain after the crystal pony, the crystal pony galloping as if gravity wasn't affecting him. Suddenly, the incline quickly ended when the pony went into a mountainside cave. He took one more glance back before he slowed down. He rounded the corner within the cave when Rainbow landed. The cave was oddly well-maintained for a cave in the mountains, as she went along inside. The cave was pretty large, though not by much compared to her. She only went in just a little bit and peeked around a corner to notice the same pony nearby a fire within the place. However, Rainbow then saw somepony else there. Scratch that - somebody.

The girl nearby looked rather young, with a green kimono for clothing. She had the look of a Japanese women, however with her hair and skin having a strong sea green color to it. From experience to Rainbow Dash, that kind of look only meant one thing, as the girl looked to her companion. To her surprise, the crystal pony suddenly began to shift and manifest into a human shape! He was a lot taller, close to Garnet's height. His body was covered in a sort of knight armor, his skin a dark grey and his hair black. Rainbow immediately knew what they both were by that point.

More Gems.

"Everything okay, Jade?" the male Gem asked. Jade looked over to him as he sat down by the fire. Rainbow also noted some crystals around them.

"Thank you, Flint," Jade said, as Flint gave her some bread, he got from the Crystal Empire. Even if Gems don't need to eat, it was nice to get some treat time and time again for Jade. Rainbow kept an eye on the whole thing, doubting her own theory on him being a part of Sombra's evil crew. When she took a hoofstep forward, her hoof knocked some rocks forward by mistake, catching both of their attention. Jade felt a little bit worried, but Flint reacted with more threat. Rainbow moved back, hoping she didn't get anypony's attention, but when she took a quick look, she immediately noticed that her vision was nearly all grey. That was because she was staring right at the leg armor from Flint, who then had some sort of weapons at her: a pair of gun-like objects aimed right at her head. Rainbow quickly got airborne, wings spread out, as Flint ready to shoot.

"Hold it!" Rainbow shouted, though if it was anything like her encounter with Peridot, he wasn't gonna relent. Rainbow ended up dodging energy bullets, the Pegasus landed in sight of Jade by the fire. Flint aimed again, Rainbow scratching the ground with her hoof like an angry bull.

"Why'd you follow me here?" He demanded, his tone emotionless and firm. Rainbow tried to think, something that wasn't her best strong suit, especially when under pressure. Jade got up, about as tall as Rainbow was, as the Pegasus scrambled in her mind to find an answer for the seconds.

"I'm not here to hurt anypony, really," Rainbow got out, a bit quickly to get to the point. Flint however didn't place his weapons away.

She felt a strong sense of Deja vu from this: the encounter with Peridot mirroring this one. Only here, Fluttershy wasn't really involved, and he didn't come from any Warp Pad. The fact he was in Equestria with Jade was enough of a puzzle; only the Crystal Gems had the fancy keys as far as she knew. As for Flint, he gave a rather rough sigh before moving the weapons away from aim (though he kept them out just in case).

"Then why are you here?" He demanded.

"Uh ... Checking?"

"On what?"

Rainbow tried to think straight, but eventually she just got it out of her system.

"I thought you were an evil minion and I followed you so I'm sure, alright? You here to cause any trouble?" Rainbow asked, though Flint didn't look willing to talk. Like Rainbow though, Flint had his own protection over Jade in mind rather than like Peridot and her studies and check ups.

"E-Evil minion?" Jade said, first thing she said the whole time. Rainbow noticed that Jade's behavior reminded her of another Pegasus she knew ...

"Things had been a bit rough for me lately. Look, you two are Gems right?"

"You ... Know about Gems?" Flint asked, though his guard wasn't lowered for any moment. Rainbow wasn't sure if saying that was a good idea or not, but she might as well roll with it.

"Sure, I do. Some of my friends are Gems; Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, Lapis, Peridot - sort of -, plenty of them," Rainbow said. Flint took Rainbow's words with some salt, not finding that information any easier to swallow and take in. Eventually, Flint got his weapons lowered, and sat down by the fire. Rainbow wasn't sure if that was an invitation or a shunning, but Rainbow still had questions. An obvious one: how'd two Gems even get to Equestria anyhow? Far as she knew, their worlds are dimensions apart.

"How'd you know what our kind was?" Flint asked.

"Well, I've met them a while back, been at pretty cool levels with you Gems for a while now," Rainbow said, sitting down by the flame. The Pegasus was ready to either bolt or attack if provoked.

"Oh, are you?" Flint noted, a bit rough in tone.

"Uh ... yeah, I am. Now, you two, what are you two doing here?" Rainbow asked, curious rather than rough in her tone. Oddly, it didn't seem to make anything better for herself and Flint ...

"That's none of your business, pony," Flint replied. Rainbow, looking at the weapons Flint still had out, didn't want to be pumped full of energy blasts, so, she decided to let him slide that time.

"Ok ... how are you here then?"

Still not much response from Flint. Jade had finished her bread by that point, but still kept quiet around Rainbow Dash. Being around Fluttershy, Rainbow knew how to handle ponies/people like this. So, she gave a gentle grin towards her, trying not to look threatening, yet Flint didn't seem like the Gem to take chances.

"So, you're an ally to Homeworld," Flint assumed, readying to use his weapons on Rainbow's answer. The mention of that name made Jade a bit worried on the fact, but Rainbow Dash got herself a good answer that time.

"Eh, no I'm not, never been there. That where you two came from?" Rainbow asked, head tilted in wonder. Flint took a moment to see if Rainbow was really curious or calling a bluff. However, she did seem truly confused on Homeworld. Sure, Rainbow had gotten some bit of information on homeworld from her time with Peridot, but not too much apart from their involvement on earth (not saying her brain didn't get plenty of info from that anyway). Flint and Jade looked to each other before Flint answered.

"All Gems come from there. We call it Homeworld for a reason," Flint said.

"All of you? But you two are here, aren't you?"

"We came from Homeworld, but we arrived here ..."

"Arrived? Wait, you're from another dimension, aren't ya?"

"Another planet. Now, you satisfied yet?" Flint asked. Rainbow knew this wasn't the best conversation, so, she just got up.

"Alright, I know when I'm not wanted," Rainbow said, started to go. However, Flint got out his weapon again.

"Not a word to anybody," Flint concluded. Far as he's concern, any Gem couldn't be worth their time, and if Rainbow did talk on about their true identities to anypony, then they'll be all over them. Rainbow nodded, getting the hint, before she went off outside. Besides, she had a game to catch up on.


~~~~~~


Back in the Crystal Empire, the games themselves were, by all means, beginning to start. So many of the seats were filled up all over the stadium, everypony can't wait for their teams to show what they're made of. Out on the field, the many teams were out there, ready for the games to start. So many of the teams were altogether in the arena, waiting for the signature torch to be lit - a main ideal for the games to start. thousands of ponies from all over Equestria, the crowds awaiting in anticipation for everything to begin. The place also had a sort of Royalty seating area, a number of royals sitting down waiting for the event to begin. Like the other ponies, they've come from all over. Among those there included the princesses of Equestria themselves: Celectia and Luna. Other included Cadence, and a spot was open for Twilight Sparkle to have a seat. However, it was still bare for the time being, no other alicorn present.

"Strange. Twilight should've been here by now," Luna said, looking to Celestia. They both knew, for the most part, of Twilight showing up for the games themselves. Knowing how much she's strict on schedule, she should've come by now. Instead, though, another pony, a Canterlot unicorn guard, ended up coming over to them both, a letter levitating by him.

"Message from princess Twilight," he informed, bringing the letter over to the princesses.

"Oh? Well, thank you," she said, bringing the letter over with her own magic. The guard nodded and moved off back to his own post as Celestia and Luna both looked over the letter.

Dear Princess Celestia:

I know this is sudden, but I'm afraid I can't join you at the games, something important had come up, and I can't put in any time to come back. I'm sorry about that, I hope I can make it up to you soon.

your faithful student: Twilight Sparkle

A rather interesting letter, all the same, and some odd notes were brought up. For one thing, this was Twilight that wrote the notice; a unicorn that wouldn't ever disappoint the princess, and a pony that was closest to her during her studies. Also, what was exactly important for her to abandon the games themselves to do? She may not be a part of them, yet she'd at least show up for a bit, so she'd see her friends compete...

Back at the main arena, for April and Sunshower amongst the group, things were getting edgy: Rainbow still didn't show up just yet from her little fly off from earlier, and they felt a bit out of place for being down one player. The other ponies to represent Ponyville also noted this, making the situation less durable.

"Rainbow, where are you?" April wondered quietly, looking around at the other teams for the aerial relay. She noted every single team was ready to go, all members present. Giffinstone, Manehatten, Cloudsdale for sure, they all had their teams altogether, though they both did see that the batpony team had switched one of their members, Loli Beats waving to them. April waved to her but turned to Sunshower.

"It's going to be fine, Sunshower, she'll arrive, really," April said, though she was a bit worried all and all.

"Uh ... Okay," Sunshower said, eyebrow raised from April's worry. Sunshower had full confidence that a pony like Rainbow wouldn't ditch out on something this important. April sighed nervously, looking around the sky for some point when Rainbow would fly in. Soon, much to her delight, she then heard somepony come in from the competitors' entrance: Rainbow Dash. Thank Celestia for that!

"Rainbow, there you are," April said, with a sigh of relief.

"And you were worried she wouldn't show up," Sunshower commented, nudging her on her shoulder.

"Sorry I was long. What'd I miss?" Before anypony could answer her, the grand equestrian torch was suddenly lit up, the flames launching upward for the games, as the ponies cheered on the event, as another pony went out to address; a white unicorn in Canterlot guard uniform.

"Let the Games begin!"


~~~~~~


For some time, the Games themselves had gone along with many a time for their different events to go underway, many ponies on the edge of their seats for which teams will take home the gold.

First event for the moment went on fairly well: the Iron Horseshoe Toss. Straightforward enough, the competitors basically were judged by overall length from their teams. When it came to support, most of it actually fell on Ponyville, but mainly because the team for that event had a white Pegasus with them that had muscles to rival five oxen! While the other teams proved a good challenge, it was really Ponyville who'd gotten the upper hoof, and won thanks to said Pegasus. While a pony from Appaloosa had gotten at least a good sixty seven total feet, Ponyville's highest was thirty two, giving them the total of seventy four (guess who got that high winning score).

For the next event, the Tag Team race (no need to explain how that worked), it was Appaloosa who'd won it by a mile. Although the teams from Cloudsdale and Transylmaneia were fast and got some good competition, Appaloosa had the advantage for Earth Pony raw power, and being overall used to galloping rather than flying. So, they got the win by a hair.

With the Four hoof long jump following, that was actually won over by the Manehatten team, but only by a very little bit (as in two points over Ponyville and Appaloosa).

As for the meter dash, there was actually some stalling on it due to it being won by both Appaloosa and Cloudsdale; a tie as of were. that was easily fixed though with a tiebreaker race, Cloudsdale winning by a hair.

Then came the aerial relay.

All the ponies got themselves positioned where they're supposed to be. In Ponyville's case, it was April, then Sunshower, then Rainbow Dash. For this fly about, it was a bit longer than the tryouts made it to be, many of the flying rings positioned practically all over for the event to go on. April was as ready as ever, though Rainbow took the moment of hover mode to think a bit on what was going on, even more so that she had a view of the royals, and noticed Twilight not seated. It was only another reminder of the predicament back in Beach City, and with Steven still corrupted, Sombra running around, and so on. Even if nothing bad was happening in Equestria per say, her friends were still going around back in the place. She could still remember plain as day the images of Sombra fighting them, and Steven's corruption right in front of her. The fact she couldn't do anything to stop it was a bit worse on her part.

Rainbow's thoughts kept her so distracted that she didn't notice the air rifle going off for the ponies to begin. April, at first, was making pretty good speed, but the other groups were pretty well in their field as well, with Griffinstone taking lead as they reached their second members. As they did, Rainbow still was distracted, as everypony focused more on the race itself. Without her friends to support, her mind ended up in a bit of a wrap-about, until.

"Rainbow!"

The voice suddenly snapped her back, when she saw Sunshower flying towards her. Rainbow snapped back into line, as she grabbed the horseshoe from her, and flew on ahead with the front ponies. Loli Beats, Spitfire, Grieva, and Rainbow Dash were in close ranks with each other for the first while, though Rainbow tried her best to at least focus on what she was doing, nevermind keep up. Rainbow was even in a good frontal lead for a good while, just a little bit in front of everypony else, but the flashes of what happened before were still in her mind, almost like a curse, as she tried to go on ahead, and stay ahead.

It was so bad; a small tear suddenly escaped her eyes ...

Something the competitors could see flying next to her.

The distraction finally pulled Rainbow back, Spitfire taking the gold while Rainbow slowed her flying in the air. The winners were given applause, but that was just the cover-up for Rainbow's decent to the ground. Despite that, Rainbow felt her tear move slowly down her face before finally dropping off of her face, and it was noted by the teams that noticed, yet Griffinstone didn't bother with it. The Wonderbolts landed nearby, Rainbow with her wings stretched to the ground and head lowered. Course, April and Sunshower flew over to her. The thoughts were simply a burden to the Pegasus.

"Hey kid, you alright?" Spitfire asked, taking off her goggles for a moment. Rainbow, realizing who was talking to her, tried to wipe away the seeping tear. Should she really tell them about Steven's world, and what's going on back there? She just spat it to two random Gems, but not only did they threaten her into saying it, but these ponies were unaware (as much) of what was going on. The Pegasus looked back at them.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just got something in my eye that's all," Rainbow Dash said, hoof pointing to her eye.

"Rainbow, something's wrong, what is it?" April asked, knowing that Rainbow wouldn't have something in her eye slow her down.

"I thought I'd told you already, mane," Rainbow said, getting annoyed with this attention. She messed up one time, and everypony ends up all over her about it! Annoyed, Rainbow started to go away in a huff, back to her group and the Wonderbolts. The rainbow pony had too much negative on her mind to think straight.


~~~~~~


Sometime later, Rainbow Dash had actually ended up outside of the stadium, needing some fresh air. Her friends weren't around to talk to, the competitors weren't helping either, or everybody in Beach City was still having their trouble. She felt like she wasn't supposed to be there, she should be looking for Steven instead, make sure he's okay. Sure, she knew well he's corrupted, but if he was still around that'll settle her nerves. She ended up pacing about in front of the place, her hooves making their pattern in the dirt. Eventually, the Pegasus was caught off guard by somepony else coming about towards her. Rainbow actually walked into her, only then realizing who it was, seeing her lighter rainbow mane flowing in some imaginary wind, and gentle expression.

"P-Princess!" Rainbow said, jumping back for a second on seeing her. Celestia herself looked down at Rainbow Dash, understanding her surprise on seeing the princess of the sun.

"Afternoon, Rainbow. Is everything alright?" Celestia asked. Rainbow needed a bit to realize what she meant, surprised to see the royal away from the booth without any guards about her.

"You too? I just got something in my eye, that's all really," Rainbow insisted, but Celestia knew better than that, her expression telling Rainbow that. She had to tell her, nothing to say not to.

"Things had been a bit edgy lately," Rainbow admitted. Celestia gently moved closer to her, the Pegasus sighing a bit.

"Care to share your troubles?"

"You sure? I don't know if you'll believe me," Rainbow said, dropping the royalty treatment for the moment. Celestia didn't mind that much, knowing Rainbow meant well. Celestia thought for only a little bit before she answered.

"It's about your friends."

"Well, Twilight and the others -"

"Your Gem friends."

Rainbow stopped; so, Celestia knew about the Gems now?

"Wait, how did you know about that?"

"They've visited a number of times, yes? It goes around after a while. Now, is it something with them?" Celestia asked. Rainbow looked away, as Celestia's wing rested on her back, the Alicorn keeping a motherly ear to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow looked up to Celestia; she might as well talk.

"In a way. One of my friends, he's named Steven. He'd gone missing sometime ago, and ... Well, he got corrupted."

"Corrupted," Celestia repeated.

"It's this odd state Gems fall into. And now, he's stuck as one ... I tried my best ..."

"Ooohhh. I see," Celestia asked, getting a better idea on Rainbow's situation. All Rainbow did was nod, but she felt like Celestia needed to know about the other issue.

"He ran off after that. And what's worse, we have a deadlier problem to deal with on top of that. He already took another friend away," Rainbow said, looking down at her hooves.

"And who's that?"

"Well ... King Sombra." That's when Celestia got the full, and scary picture; an enemy they thought gone for good came back, and he corrupted her friend and took another away from her. Rainbow moved off a little bit from Celestia's gentle hold, letting the princess have the info settle in.

"I wanted to do these games, but I feel simply out of it now ..."

"I see then. Then you go."

"You sure?"

"As true as I'm standing here. I'm sure they'll need you. I'll be sure to tell your team what you're doing, I promise," Celestia promised. Rainbow Dash could rely on her own God to get that message through for her. So, with a nod, Rainbow began to head off, away from the stadium. She achieved her goal; they qualified, they participated, and now Rainbow was free to head back to help the others. For Celestia, not only did it explain Rainbow's troubles, but also why Twilight wasn't present. It was something she had to look into.

Rainbow Dash, free, didn't stop her gallop until she was in a more remote area of the empire. After that, she got out her magic key, and looked for a good spot where she could go through, finding a good spot on the side of one of the crystal cottages. Good thing the games were still under way, otherwise the streets would still be full of crystal ponies. So, with no time wasted, she got her key working, and the portal to open up. With determination, she went right on through.


~~~~~~


Back at the Beach House, things had been a bit quiet. The only ones there for the moment were Lion and Blue, Lion outside the door while Blue was hanging out with him. Everybody/everypony else was still going around, though it'd been plenty long already. Blue was trying to play with Lion, but Lion wasn't as up for it like he was, even with at least five sticks brought over to him for fetch. Lion couldn't bring himself to play anyway, with what had happened. He didn't know if Blue was either stupid or let it by and moved on so quickly. As they were there, they both heard something go on inside the Beach House. Looking inside, the two noticed the signature door portal open up inside, Rainbow Dash landing in the Beach House.

"Alright, where are the others?" Rainbow said to herself, looking around. No one was there for the moment from where she was, so Rainbow started heading for the door, Lion and Blue both looking to her. Rainbow got out, but she didn't had time to catch up, and flew off to see where the others were. Blue rushed off to join her, but before Lion could go, he then heard something else inside. Soon after the door portal finished up, the Warp Pad suddenly went active. Looking inside, to his surprise, he saw the corrupted gem coming in from the other portal!

Just arriving after his little trip, Steven jumped right out of the Warp Pad second after landing, a little frazzled by the crazy warping. Lion, not saying a word, only watched as Steven began to look around his 'new environment'. Rather small to Steven, but it didn't sense any sort of danger inside of it. Lion couldn't get himself inside, since the door was shut, so Steven was alone and able to explore a bit. Steven's newfound curiosity got him into the kitchen, looking at his own reflection on the fridge. The reflection of Steven's mirror on the reflection gave off a sort of infinite effect, Steven shaking his head from getting a headache. Turning away, his tail knocked the door open, showing a good amount of food inside. Steven tried pawing at a jar of pickles, and eventually knocked over one of the milk cartons, which spilt onto the floor. Steven tried to have some, but could only move his mirror face on the floor, getting his petal mane wet with milk. Eventually, Lion somehow got the door open, catching Steven's attention. Lion didn't want him to run away again, but Steven was more curious than frightened over seeing Lion, head tilted. Lion was more curious over the reflection in the mirror though, sitting down right in front of him. Steven was bigger, but Lion still beat him in height thanks to his large mane. Lion and Steven had a stare-off for a good five minutes, both a bit confused overall on each other, until Lion looked down at the spilt milk. The milk started to go on Steven's Gem tail, Steven feeling a bit cold and moved away. Lion watched him bring his tail to the front of him, and he started moving his paws, grooming his own tail. Lion wasn't sure if he should go off, in risk of Steven running off again on them. So, Lion stayed by the door, sitting so the door was almost completely blocked by his body and mane, and then gave off a good loud roar, aimed right to the sky. The others couldn't had gone very far (Blue and Rainbow anyway), and Fulgurite and Sapphire can move very fast themselves, so someone should come over. As Lion figured, the roar got Steven spooked, the corrupted Gem jumping back away from Lion, his tail swishing around wildly. Lion turned around, and sat down in the only exit Steven had.

The roar, luckily for Lion, had gotten some good attention from the rest, Rainbow being the first to loop around and come back. Fulgurite too got herself back very quickly, seeing Lion still in the way.

"Found something?" Fulgurite asked. Lion moved to the side, only for them to see Steven standing there. The corrupted Gem backed away as they went in, yet Blue was overjoyed to see him again, rushing towards him. Steven reared back, tumbling over his back paws, before Blue landed on his and licking the mirror face. Steven shook, getting Blue off of him, and he quickly jumped right to the upper floor of the Beach House. Steven tried rushing out the window, but the glass made him stop, hitting head long right into it, making him tumble onto the bed. Fulgurite quickly rushed to the window, making sure he didn't run at it again, her hair stretching out to cover it.

Steven had settled down comfortably on the bed like a kitten would, a small bit of roses growing around him, despite not being on dirt, when the others eventually got themselves back around.

"Well, at least he's here now," Fluttershy said, hovering by him.

"But what're we going to do? Kid's corrupted and Sombra's still running amok," Amethyst said, as Steven began to stir again. The lion Gem looked down to Amethyst and Lapis, who were sitting next to each other. While Amethyst was just a bit unused to it, Lapis couldn't even look at him directly in the face. Since she was stuck in a mirror for thousands of years, she had a bit of a rough feeling on them, and the fact that Steven's face had a mirror instead didn't help her out either. Lapis had her hand to block her vision from Steven's face, trying to relax a little bit.

"W-Well, let's try to keep him here," Lapis said. Steven fell down onto the couch, pushing the two away from each other. Sapphire went over to him, the corrupted Gem looking at her directly in the face. Pinkie saw her own reflection too, and actually started to make some funny faces in the mirror, seeing how silly she looked in it. The others heard a content purr pass through Steven, liking Pinkie's happiness. Sapphire gently petted Steven, the Gem rubbing against the small Gem.

"He's not violent, at least," Applejack said, Steven's tail accidentally hitting her hat off. Twilight got Steven's attention next, the large Gem gently nuzzling her, a pink petal staying on her head.

"We'll figure it out, I promise you. For now, let's make sure he doesn't run off on us again," Twilight assured, as Steven settled down back on the couch. None of them could tell what the future held for Steven, but at this point, they could only hope for a miracle...
> Peridot's New Groove
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


--Data Log 352-1--

Current activity on planet Earth had proven inefficient for Homeworld. A new species had evolved over the last 5,000 years since Homeworld's last attempt, though they hadn't replaced the human race as of yet- a supposed ally to the humans could be the only explanation for their sentience. I'll be arriving to Homeworld shortly.


The Galaxy Warp, mid-day, and the Homeworld Gem, Peridot, had finished up her second visit to planet Earth, getting herself out of one of the working Warp Pads. Since her last visit, the warps had remained unaffected, and still in operation. Unlike before though, she didn't have her robonoids with her, so she was alone for the time being. Heading along towards the Galaxy Warp, Peridot removed her touchscreen, finishing her other report. She'd been going about Earth for a while, though her own personal curiosity over these new creatures was getting over to her for quite a bit. As Peridot went over to the main Warp Pad, she was unaware that she was actually being watched nearby.

Hidden behind one of the bordering rock columns around the Galaxy Warp, a pair of peering eyes looked on from the corner, seeing Peridot nearby. The Homeworld Gem didn't notice anything odd as she neared the main Warp Pad. So, a talon reached out from the hiding spot, and something else was dropped onto the ground, catching Peridot's attention. The talon and eyes disappeared, yet the item stayed on the ground. The item, actually, appeared to be a golden key, with Peridot's smiling face for the handle. Peridot wasn't sure if she recognized anything similar or what. Peridot went over and picked the key up with a sort of levitation beam from her hand, in case it might react from actual touch from her floating fingers. It looked in peak condition, not a scratch onto it.

"Peculiar," Peridot noted. The key only became more peculiar when the key winked at her! Peridot looked at the key skeptically, as the key began to react and move about from within the levitation beam. Peridot kept it under control at first, but suddenly the key somehow got free, and landed nose first into the ground at Peridot's feet, making the signature door portal open up from under her. Peridot quickly deployed her helicopter fingers to avoid falling in, and she flew aside before landing. The portal did get her attention quite a bit, but not enough for her to jump in. Instead, she picked out the key, and gave it a quick scan. Her screen though revealed it to be unfamiliar to her knowledge, or to earth knowledge. Much like Rainbow Dash when she tried to look her up. Could this come from the same place Rainbow did? If that was the case, it could make for some great study for Homeworld to learn, maybe a better spot than Earth had been for them. Before she tried, she gave a quick look to be sure she wasn't being tricked into anything threatening her or her work. But as before, she didn't seem to be in any danger, nor able to see anybody else around to set this up for her. She then got another idea: she her fingers in chopper mode, and she began to descend into the portal gently, looking over the portal area.

"Must be a primitive form of Warp Steam," Peridot told herself, noting a similar appearance to the Warp Pad. However, she wasn't going to cheat her way out of that one; the key falling and the portal shutting on her! The force began to affect her, and she was soon starting to fall downward despite her helicopter fingers. Eventually it became too much, and she began to plummet! Curling up in a protective ball, Peridot waited for the impact, as the other end opened up. Since she was falling, and the portal opened upright, Peridot ended up rolling on the ground until she slammed into something hard. She landed upside-down, to see the portal close and the key in front of her.

She found herself in a completely different place. The area was more colorful than Earth was, more primitive feeling as well. Peridot got herself on her feet to see that she was in a clearing amongst a forest, the trees slightly different from what she saw before on Earth. Soon, she got out her touchscreen to give an extra on her current position. Her screen loaded for a bit but came up empty.

"Seems I ended up in a ... Unfamiliar planet. Earth-like in structure, calm weather, firm ground structure," Peridot noted, adding the notes in her touchscreen data base. She looked around a bit more and noticed some birds nearby. She gave them a quick scan, recognizing it simply as some blue jays in the trees. However, nearby she noticed something else: a raccoon. The raccoon noticed Peridot but didn't run away at first as she approached - a good thing to note. She gave it a quick look over at the scanner, seeing what animal it was, and noticed that it was at least a foot shorter than a normal raccoon at Earth.

"A change in size in comparison," Peridot noted, as the raccoon suddenly heard something, and moved away. Peridot was a bit busy with her work to notice anything else, adding the last bit to the data base.

"Okay, a good start. Now where to -" Peridot suddenly heard a sort of low hissing sound right behind her. Not exactly like a snake, but still a hissing noise all the same. Peridot turned and found herself staring right at a reptilian set of jaws and huge teeth. The crocodile was simply gigantic, large enough to swallow her in one bite easily. Peridot, eyes locked in front, got a scan out. While it appeared to be a crocodile, the touchscreen data came up empty again.

"Convergent evolution, perhaps," Peridot figured, as the beast hissed, mouth wide open. Peridot started to back away, activating her helicopter fingers before the beast could snap its jaws shut on her. Peridot thought she was safely away, but the beast suddenly reared back, and almost got her! Peridot flew off from the forest soon after that.

Peridot continued flying for a while more, until she was sure it was safe to land. The fly off from the forest had got her in a more opened area of wherever she ended up. It still had a more colorful charm to it, and as Peridot was flying, she figured out the air was much cleaner in comparison. The clouds didn't hold any evidence of smog, or even much smoke for that matter. The clouds, at least there, didn't seem to really be moving. And not in the same way as little wind, but they literally didn't budge while she was flying. That, to her, was a surprising conclusion, and she quickly got that information amongst her data. However, before she could continue ...

"Hey, you missed a cloud over there!"

"Sorry."

Peridot looked up and noticed two creatures flying above her. They looked like Pegesi, or "Rainbow Dashes" as Peridot still called them, though they didn't have the same look as Rainbow Dash did. One of them was actually a dull grey, with a shagged mane and tail of a light yellow, and she couldn't exactly see who gave her the order. What was intriguing apart from that, was when that same creature started to push the cloud directly, her hooves out front and pushing it with little effort. It was indeed a head scratcher for Peridot, as it got her flying away towards another stray cloud, closer to the ground. She tried to move it like that Pegasus was doing, but her arm only went through it rather than push it. She looked back, checking how that other pony did it, but she couldn't get it. Second time she tried, it only got rid of the cloud. Groaning, she landed back on the ground, getting her notes out again.

"Clouds seem to take on a physical shape, and able to be moved directly by the Rainbow -"

"Hello!"

The voice suddenly made Peridot jump on hearing it, seeing the same grey Pegasus that was just moving the cloud. She must've spotted her when Peridot tried to move that cloud earlier. She was flying upside-down, her wings keeping her up, and she had a unique sort of wall-eyed stare to her. Peridot took a moment before she answered.

"Greetings."

"Were you trying to move that cloud?" She asked, pointing a hoof to where the cloud used to be.

"Perhaps," Peridot replied, getting out her own scanner on the Pegasus again. As with Rainbow Dash, the scanner wasn't as familiar with the animal. Unlike before though, some information did come up from Rainbow Dash's last visit with her, saying the creature as a sort of Pony - a Pegasus actually. Peridot compared the Pegasus to a pony from Earth. However, comparing this creature to a pony from Earth, they were a lot smaller than she thought. She was at the same height as a pony, but she was very compact in length.

"Half the size compared to Earth's species," Peridot noted, adding it to her notes. The Pegasus looked at the touchscreen, completely confused on seeing such futuristic techno stuff being used. She hovered so she could try to read it, but the language was weird to read for her. Peridot finished up the writing before the pony spoke.

"Are you from the future?"

"Well, my planet is more advanced than yours, I'm sure," Peridot stated, her touchscreen going away as the pony looked more surprised.

"OOOO, you're an alien?!" she gasped.

"Is that what you creatures call an extraterrestrial visitor?"

"An Extra-ter-what now? Is that a movie or something?" She asked, tilting her head. Peridot simply groaned.

"No, no. You know, another sentient being from another planet."

"What do scents have to do with -"

"No! A - ... smart thing visiting off planet," Peridot corrected. Suddenly, the pony seemed to understand, but that only got Peridot more annoyed.

"OH! I get it now! Welcome, welcome! I'm sorry," she said, a little embarrassed.

"That she got?" Peridot thought. She didn't expect this sort of species to be that simple in thought, at least compared to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow knew enough to know what sentient meant, but this pony wasn't as good on brains. Got looked to her touchscreen again, adding more info on the stuff she gotten from talking to this Pegasus.

"Guess some subspecies are more ignorant than others," Peridot noted.

"So, what brings you to our planet?" She asked, smiling to her. Peridot took away her touchscreen, needing a second or so. Course, she didn't decide to come here exactly, more it was a true accident, but study and exploration was something she could do before just jumping back herself.

"Exploring a bit."

"Goodie! Say, Cloudsdale isn't too far from here, want to come for a visit?" She offered. Talk about jumping for it; one mention of exploring and she's already being invited to somepony else's place. Could be a good place to try to get a better idea of how the Pegesi go about their day. Peridot removed her touchscreen and got herself hovering with her helicopter fingers.

"Lead the way."


~~~~~~



--Data Log 352-2--

It'd been two Earth hours since first arriving in this new area. I've never planned on ending up here, yet by the appearance of the landscape, it can be a good area of case study. Luckily for me, their time zone has an uncanny resemblance to Earth, though I'd feel that their closest star hasn't moved. My escort, identifying herself as the "Derpy Hooves" subspecies, is currently bringing me to this Cloudsdale. I have yet to see any sort of human activity, but ill keep my vision sphere out for any sort of sign.


Soon, the Homeworld Gem and grey Pegasus both continued flying, starting to near Cloudsdale. The great city in the sky was entirely made of cloud, a few waterfalls pouring from the lower clouds in multiple areas. One of these was actually rainbow colored, which reminded Peridot of the first Pegasus she'd met upon arriving to Earth. The Pegasus she was with, Derpy, began to fly off closer to Cloudsdale with Peridot hovering around nearby her. While it wasn't the first time for Peridot to see such a large place, it was the first time she saw one made purely of clouds. They continued to fly through around, Peridot seeing more Pegesi of different colors, appearances and cutie marks. Main similarity was that they all had wings, some broad, some pointed.

"Are all of your species able to maneuver on cloud surfacing?" Peridot asked at one point.

"You mean walk on clouds? Yeah, only Pegesi can do that," Derpy said, landing on a cloud to show her. Peridot tried herself, but all that did was made her fall right through. She quickly got herself flying again and wanted to figure this out for herself. She got out her touchscreen, quickly making a scan of Derpy's hooves before she got to flying again. Her scanners show that the pony hooves had some sort of strange aura between the hoof and the cloud surface, though she couldn't entirely make out what the stuff actually was.

She kept that in her files for later, but then her attention reverted back to the rainbow waterfall again, and she wanted to figure that out too. Derpy caught her gaze, and fluttered over with a smile on her face, nudging her along.

"What's that?" Peridot asked.

"That's rainbows! It can overflow sometimes, and we have to drain it somehow," Derpy explained, as Peridot looked into her touchscreen. She got rainbows in it (aside from the Pegasus name), but the description of it for Earth differed from this type of Rainbow. One rainbow was just reflecting water droplets from the sun, but this rainbow seemed to be more liquid than it should be.

"Drain?"

"That's right," Derpy said. Suddenly, something seemed to click, as if she just remembered something. "Oh yeah! I gotta show you the Weather Factory, you're gonna love it!" Soon, Derpy got Peridot flying off with her, pulling her by the arm to get her moving.

Soon enough, Peridot and Derpy ended up at the place in question: the Weather Factory. The area they were in had a number of rainbow pools, the colors in rings around the center. As a part of priority, Derpy and Peridot had to wear worker uniforms, which consist of a white coat and helmet. It was a bother for Peridot, putting on a coat with hole at the front instead to the sides. Derpy had no such problem, yet Peridot felt odd with her arms jutting forward like some mummy. Still, at least she can work her fingers correctly without her free moving arms and shoulders.

"Is this really necessary?" Peridot groaned, feeling both uncomfortable and awkward.

"Only until we go. Come on, look at the beautiful rainbow!" Derpy insisted, pointing to one of the rainbow pools. Peridot got one finger to work into a sort of flask, scooped up some of the rainbow, and gave it a good look over.

"So, your kind are able to create pigment in liquid materials?"

"Uh, well, not pigs, colors. We take water, and mix colors into it."

"Same thing ..." Peridot thought, rolling her eyes before adding the liquid rainbow information into her database, yet it was a bit hard in her stance to work with.

"I assume making these liquid rainbows isn't the only thing you do?"

"Oh, I wish it was that easy; we have to move clouds, get it to rain and snow, making sure no clouds stray away, lots of things. Our duty as Pegasus after all," Derpy said.

"I see ... Can I take this off yet?" Peridot asked, groaning as she tried to get comfortable in her forsaken coat.

"Not while we're here. Can't be too -" Derpy then accidentally walked into somepony, her cap falling in front of her. "- careful."

"Excuse me," the worker said, as he continued off, Derpy putting her helmet back on. Peridot just sighed, but at least she's learning as time would go.


~~~~~~



--Data log 352-3--

Just moved off from Cloudsdale. This world has a sort of unique set of rules compared to Earth or Homeworld. Their star had moved rather dramatically over the last hour, despite being dormant for the previously mentioned hours beforehand. The species known as Pegasus have the ability to manipulate their planet's weather patterns - an ability far stronger than I first anticipated from this planet's creatures. I'd yet to see any sort of human beings as of late, and I've come to the conclusion that, in the region anyway, they've either replaced humanity or humans had moved away.


Peridot had flown around for a while more, giving her a large view of the situation around her. The grassy fields, the scattered oaks and spruce trees told her she might be further away from some actual civilization on the ground. Cloudsdale was behind her, and Equestria was ahead of her. Pegesi weren't flying about with her, giving her time to look around in peace. The area around her was open, calm with the occasional rabbit hopping about. As she flew, she could've sworn she saw a herd of wild deer, prancing along the open field under her. Alongside her, Peridot notice a number of birds go along their way through the clouds around her. Even if Peridot didn't care for Earth too much, this place was different for her - in a good way, of course.

"Not much evidence of human activity on the premise," Peridot told herself, landing to get a closer look. She could feel that the area wasn't as polluted as Earth's own plains were, with the grass soft and healthy underfoot. The animals around her seemed curious of her presence, some coming out to see her. From the underbrush came out a few animals, including a raccoon which went right up to her. Peridot didn't appear too interested at first, yet the fact these creatures just went right up to her got at least some attention. Perhaps the locals made them used to company? Still, Peridot kept to her study, walking for a change as they followed her in curiosity.

"Seemed these Pegasus creatures took better care of these animals," Peridot though, noting their lack of fear. At least, that fear wasn't shown until they all suddenly looked off towards the forested area behind her. The animals started to scatter; Peridot unsure what was going about. With a sigh, Peridot readied her blaster, ready to shoot whatever was in there. With a few rustlings of the bushes, and a couple of steps, a large figure began to head its way out of the forest, to face this newcomer to its territory. The creature, at first, looked like a large lion but with a scorpion tail, and a set of bat wings. Peridot stood tall enough to state it face to face, but it was still bigger than her by quite a bit. With its wings raised and spread, it gave a rather impressive threat display, wings flapping, and teeth barred. Peridot wasn't really impressed, and just aimed her weapon at it. The beast growled at her, and all Peridot did was blast it in the face. It didn't do very much, but it did make the animal very angry at her, charging at her and roaring at her.

"Get lost, you freak!" Peridot said, trying to shoot again, but the beast whacked all of her fingers away from her, scattering them all over the place! Suddenly, Peridot turned from neutral to freak out, losing her only main source of protection to her hands. The lion monster stared her down, teeth sharp and the mouth into a strong growl.

"Eh ... did I inform you as 'Freak'? ehehehe ..."

Her main response was a stronger roar, strong enough to actually make her fall onto the ground. Soon as she did, the lion's large paws slammed into her arms, keeping her down. With her fingers scattered, Peridot couldn't exactly do anything, and was at the mercy of the angry, and slightly burnt creature. Another roar screeched at her, Peridot cringing, and waiting for whatever the beast was going to do to her...

Suddenly, the beast and Peridot then began to hear something nearby, like a sort of musical symphony nearby from a flute. Peridot didn't have any clue where it was coming from, nor what it actually was, but the animal started to listen closely to the notes, as it moved off of Peridot and began to calm down. Peridot took the moment to rush away, trying to find her fingers, as the beast started to move away. The flute music soon stopped after a while. Peridot scrambled to get her fingers back to her arms, but during it, she only got about three fingers.

"Stupid thing, where are they?" Peridot groaned, looking around as best she could. However, finding green fingers amongst green grass wasn't the easiest thing to really do. As Peridot kept looking around, the rest of her fingers she didn't manage to find over the last twenty minutes was already gathered, and Peridot found someone bringing them over to her.

"Looking for these?" She asked. Peridot looked up, and in front of her was a human girl, brown skin. she was wearing a faded, pink-red cape with a buckle holding it together, a black eye-patch, along with a black dress with white wrappings on the arms and a gray pouch around the waist, pale baby blue stockings, and grayish-black boots up to her knees. While Peridot found at least three fingers herself, she'd found the other seven with little trouble, even with a patch over her eye. Peridot got her fingers in the right place, before getting up. For height, she didn't seem any taller than the ponies around the place. Catch was, she appeared to be a human in an overall sense - same body structure and everything.

"Thanks ... Human?" Peridot wondered, getting out her touchscreen.

"Much obliged," she said, giving a small bow to Peridot. Peridot shrugged that off, and quickly added in an extra human note in her data. As Peridot was looking over her notes, the newcomer took notice of Peridot's gemstone. For Peridot, she wasn't sure if this thing was a human, considering everything she'd seen so far wasn't human at all (physically, anyway). After the quick add-in, Peridot redirected her own attention back to her.

"Are you okay? That Manticore got you pretty good," she asked.

"Negative. So, that's called a Manticore then. Was that you who did ... whatever you did?" Peridot asked, looking back to the forest.

"If by that you mean, did I calm it down, then yes," she stated. Then, she showed Peridot what she used; a sort of silver flute, with a mark along the back that looked like part of a plant. Peridot made a quick scan of it, reading out a strong magical aura around it, similar to the aura of the Pegasus but stronger and more concentrated within the flute than in the hooves of the Pegesi...

At least, it seemed like the flute at first had a lot of magic.

"Interesting," Peridot said to herself.

"It's not that hard, really -"

"Can I scope that?" Peridot asked, cutting her off as she got her fingers out, ready to grab it. The girl nodded and gave the flute to her. Peridot kept it in midair, and scanned it again, away from her. That time, though, the magical aura wasn't as strong as before. The readings were less strong as before, yet the flute still had some aura inside of it in spite of it.

"That is a Calmer's Flute, it helps to calm nerves of those who hear it. Rather cool if I do say so," she commented, as Peridot looked back to her. Before the girl could do anything, the Homeworld Gem scanned her, and did a comparison on the levels. While the Flute itself had just a bit of magic, the human herself was the one with magic. A LOT of magic! A very powerful, strong aura of magical properties covered her entire body from head to toe like a full body suit, according to the readings and images shown from the scan. It did surprise Peridot, looking to her with a different view from just some simple human like before. From what she saw, she wasn't a human, but a being purely of magic!

"... Identify yourself ... Please," Peridot said, a bit more frazzled than before.

"Me? Oh, Connie the Second, but just Connie is fine. And you are?" She asked, acting friendly to Peridot.

"Uh ... Peridot," she answered. Connie extended her hand to her in friendship, a smile on her face as well.

"Nice to meet you," Connie said. Peridot collected that time, the friendly gesture, and shook her hand. If she can sooth a beast like the Manticore, she figured, she might as well try to keep herself under better control. Connie then looked up to Peridot's Gemstone.


~~~~~~



--Data log 352-4--

Had my first encounter with a true Human individual since being teleported by the primitive key warp pad, despite identifying herself as something called a 'Doppelgänger' or something of the sort. I could only assume that's a sort of subspecies of humanoid creature that'd evolved during the 5,000 years as well. The previous theory on human extinction within the region became too precarious because of this. She'd been my escort and informant for a few hours now, the star moving far more quickly than anticipated. By the point I'm imputing this, the star had already made it halfway around the planet, the planet's moon risen. The Connie had given me a place for sanctuary for the time being until the star had come around again.


Away from the forest, and onto the more open plains, Connie and Peridot had settled down by a freshly made fire, out in the open. Connie, not exactly settling down anywhere yet, had grown used to it. Peridot was fiddling around with her touchscreen, adding more information as Connie sat down by the fire, seeing the key that got Peridot in Equestria in the first place by the ground.

"Peridot?"

"What?" Peridot asked, removing her touchscreen for the moment.

"That key. Did that get you here?" Connie asked, Peridot picking up the odd key by her. Must've ended up dropped once she opened her touch screen.

"I never intended to come here, but apparently this object is self-aware," Peridot explained, letting Connie look the key over. Connie, even a Doppelgänger and never having one herself, had seen this before with the real Connie back in Beach City.

"Wait, wait, where did you get that thing?"

"It appeared before I got the chance to get back home. Just a primitive Warp device used by lesser Gems, I assume," Peridot concluded, tossing it aside. However, when she did, the key came to life again, and made a U-turn, and hit her in the back of the head. Peridot turned, ready to shoot, only to find the key again.

"Peridot, that's no ordinary key, you know that don't you?"

"Course I do, it warped me here -"

"No, no, did you see who gave it to you?"

"Negative. Like I mentioned, it just appeared by me. Reason?" Despite that, Connie still felt that if Peridot had gotten her magic key like the others, then maybe she was needed for something in the future. What entirely remained to be said, but it was still worth noting.

"You sure you didn't see anything around once you got that key?"

"I don't like repeating myself," Peridot stated. Though, just for the sake of it, Peridot then went on and scanned the key in question. When she did that, to her surprise, the readings of that same magic aura were practically pouring from the key. Not in the same amount as her doppelgänger, but it was still a lot for such a small object. Course, it probably needed a lot of power to open portals really.

"Well, know anyone else that has something like that?"

"The Rainbow Dash had obtained one, along with a Fluttershy, yes. Said it was like 'a ticket back home'," Peridot explained, remembering Rainbow Dash from her first maintenance check on Earth.

"You must be a part of their group then!"

"Excuse me? What group?"

"The Crystal Gems, who else?" Connie answered, thinking since she was a Gem, she could've been originated here. That made Peridot stop in her mind tracks. That name rang some sort of bell in her head, but she couldn't place exactly what that was at first. The fact Connie knew of any other Gems aside from Peridot was enough to pique her interest.

"Crystal? Gems? ... Elaborate."

"You never heard of them? They're a group of Gems protecting planet Earth from Gem Monsters that keep coming around."

"She must mean the corrupted gems," Peridot thought, before saying "And what figures make up the Crystal Gems?"

"There's a lot of Gems in their group: there is Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, Lapis, Fulgurite, and Steven mainly. They're a lot of fun," she explained. Even if she herself hadn't met either one of them, the doppelgänger still retained all the knowledge from the real Connie until she and her split up. These names weren't ringing up as many bells as before, but it did help her out still on information alone. A group of Gems she never heard of before, something Homeworld should know about.

"Well, I appreciate the information, Doppelgänger," Peridot concluded, getting up. "I think I should be going on my way."

"You sure?"

"I'll be fine," Peridot insisted, her fingers started to work to chopper mode again. 

"Well okay then, see you later," Connie said, and waved goodbye to Peridot, as the Gem flew off on her way. First Derpy, now Connie.


~~~~~~



--Data Lod 352-4--

My own investigation on this planet had paid off more than I hoped; for I've discovered that a group of Gems had been living on earth, hiding from Homeworld, for thousands of years. They're referred to as the Crystal Gems from what I recall and made up from a variety of Gems. As for studying, this planet ruled by this small equine species holds more potential value than we'd first realize.


Peridot, after spending just one day within Equestria, felt that it was time to go back to Homeworld. The Homeworld Gem herself already had gotten the key working correctly (doesn't take much time to figure it out in her case). With a click, and an opening of the door, Peridot got herself back to point A; the Galaxy Warp. Not where she originally wanted to get to, but at least it was by the main Warp Pad. It was nighttime, the moon fully illuminating the area.

"Alright, studies checked, Kindergarten secure, gemstone gestation going smoothly. Alright, let's -" Suddenly, as Peridot was about to step onto the main Warp Pad, she then noticed that the moon's rays was started to dwindle away, as a dark cloud loomed overhead. A minor distraction to say the least for Peridot, but the cloud moved down towards her, beginning to cover the entire area around her. Peridot, as quickly as she saw it, soon wasn't able to see anything beyond the Galaxy Warp, as something began to step into view Peridot readied her blaster, in case of an attack. The shadow began to decimate as strangely as they began, but unlike before, the shadow covered the main Warp Pad, so she wouldn't be able to get herself back to Homeworld. An extra shadow kept the other portal open for the time being, and soon she saw somepony else standing nearby.

"Salutations, my dear," he said, rather formal for somepony looking like a tyrant of a king.

"Identify yourself," Peridot demanded.

"Sombra, my dear Gem. Planning on leaving so soon?" Sombra asked, walking over to her. Peridot tried to activate the Warp Pad, but the shadows over it somehow made the pad unable to work. Sombra chuckled a little bit.

"Now, why would you go off so quickly? After all, the Homeworld can care less if you return or not."

"How do you know about Homeworld? I don't remember informing you on anything," Peridot stated, surprised he knew what Homeworld was anyway, and angry for him thinking they could go on without her.

"I'd never said it was you who had to inform me anything. Still, it won't change much for you, now, would it?"

Annoyed, Peridot shot a blast at Sombra, but Sombra easily dodged it in his shadow state, and was soon circling around her.

"Don't act like you know anything; I'm proud to be in my position to Homeworld."

"Are you? All they see you as is just a toy, a tool in their little arsenal. Won't be surprised if they replaced you by now," Sombra pointed out, whispering to her by that point. Angry, Peridot jumped back, and shot three more blasts, each one missing or barely doing anything.

"I admit, there's other Gems like me operating at Homeworld, but they gave me the task to come here! They trust me to -"

"What? Check on a planet they could care less for? They only got you here so you're out of the way, get another Gem in line so when you do return, they can easily turn your precious parts into scrap and have their newcomer do a better job than you'd ever do," Sombra explained, not even trying to sugarcoat anything for Peridot. The unicorn was following on clever lies and half-truths at that point, but it did seem that it was working by the look on Peridot's face.

"Don't bother yourself; once they read my reports, they'll reconsider their choices, and keep me as their prime kindergartener and study." Much to Peridot's annoyance, Sombra chuckled on hearing her being a prime Kindergartener. To him, that was where baby fillies and colts go for school, not where Gems are created from rock.

"Oh dear me, and here I thought being a rock was a metaphor, but no, you really are as naïve as one."

"How dare you!" Peridot readied to shoot again, but Sombra's front hooves slammed into all of her fingers, keeping them down as he stared her in the face. Sombra would normally use his fear magic on her by that point, but he'd wanted to keep her mind intact and keep things subtle for the moment. Besides, Peridot wasn't a Gem for Earth's side anyway.

"Now now, I know the truth can hurt, but -"

"Quiet you! Homeworld would never betray me; every Gem is important to the Homeworld, including me, and they would've easily notified me about my execution if that was the case, but they didn't did they? My role will not be replaced, I am no traitor, and you have no say on the matter!"

There was a silence for a good while, Sombra looking just a little bit disappointed in the result. As angry as Peridot had gotten, Sombra could guess she was a harder one to crack open, unlike Ruby and Steven before. Plus, it was a bit ironic on her part; freaked out on seeing the Doppelganger but calm in the face of Sombra. However, he still was left with a smile, as the shadow around the Warp Pad began to recede ...

"Well ... See you've picked your side then ... I do have one more question for you?"

"And what would that be?"

Sombra's smile grew more devilish before he answered.

"Exactly how are you gonna get home?"

"... The Warp Pad?"

"What Warp Pad?"

Peridot was a bit confused, but when she turned around, the result was shockingly clear. The shadows Sombra covered the Warp Pad with had literally eaten away at the Warp Pad, almost like acid, and Peridot was simply looking at a large empty space. The only thing left was Steven Crying Breakfast Friends sticker on the ground.

"W-What? No!" Peridot gasped, realizing what the heck happened to the Warp Pad. It was her only main way back home, and Sombra had disintegrated it right behind her back! As for the devilish unicorn, he gave a personal nod at a job well done, before starting to head to Peridot's key portal.

"Ta Ta, dear Peridot," Sombra said. And with a bow of his head, Sombra went through Peridot's portal back to Equestria, only then did the portal close up before Peridot could do anything. Not like she would, for she was simply sitting where the main Warp Pad used to be. How could she not notice the Warp Pad being destroyed right behind her?! With all this information, and Sombra had simply cut off her only way to get her back home. If Sombra was telling the truth or not no longer mattered.

Peridot was stuck on Earth...


~~~~~~


As for Sombra, the unicorn soon landed back on his own Homeland, his four hooves feeling the fresher grass underhoof, and the moon still high above him as the night was in full swing. The portal was about to close, but Sombra quickly placed a durable stone to keep it open for him. As he sat there, he didn't immediately rush off just yet. Instead, he conjured up something in front of him; a few darker versions of Peridot's finger studs that he stomped on, as he started to work out a message for Homeworld. He only got enough fingers to make out the screen, and his large hoofs couldn't type in the message so easily. So, with some extra magic, he got a branch, dulling out the end so he wouldn't rip up the board, and started typing the message.


--Data Log 352-5--

I've tried my best to get back to you, but there had been some complications. I've been ambushed by these clods called the Crystal Gems. These traitors are still alive on Earth after all this time. still forbidding us from recolonizing Earth, still despising Homeworld the same as before, if not more so. They've tried to capture and harvest me like so many others that were left, as it turned out, but I've managed to avoid them for the longest time. I need assistance here on earth before they find me out, please hurry!


Sombra stopped there, and was about to send it off, but began to reconsider the exact message written out. It seemed a bit unsettling, sure, but Sombra felt that it needed something extra in it to really finish off the message itself. So, he decided to edit the message. So, it came out like this:



--Data Log 352-5--

I've tried my best to get back to you, but there had been some complications. I've been ambushed by these clods called the Crystal Gems. These traitors are still alive on Earth after all this time. still forbidding us from recolonizing Earth, still despising Homeworld the same as before, if not more so. They've tried to capture and harvest me like so ma


"There we go," Sombra thought with a nod. A little bit of speculation within a sudden cut off of a message was the icing on top of this cake. With the message complete, Sombra worked out, and soon got the message out to Homeworld himself, rather then go to Homeworld to do so.

He was sure they'll get it.

"Oh, things are going to get interesting."
> Kings and Queens PT1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


"Is he friend or is he foe?", the pony wonders. 
I can assure you... I am no friend...
And I will take what should have been mine long ago...



~~~~~~


One would think Sombra would've left well-enough alone with what he'd done. but Sombra's plans knew no limits. Now that he returned to his world, he had some business to take care of, involving the highest authority and some little mixed-up identity crisis. All works out, then Sombra was one hoofstep closer.

After some nighttime galloping through the open plains and forests, A large city started to appear within sight. The kingdom-like appearance did give off a strong sense of royal status from within it. The entire settlement was edged on the side of one of the mountains, a bright kingdom castle evident for all to see from ground level. In this case, the unicorn easily saw the castle from a good mile away, looking up with a grin on his face. When he was sure nopony saw him, Sombra then began to conjure up something from his robe and landing it onto the dirt: a back gemstone. Soon, the gem suddenly started to regenerate, and in front of him, regenerated Ruby!

"I have a little job for you, Ruby," Sombra began.

"Save your breath, you demonic clod," Ruby growled. Sombra just sighed before continuing, aiming a hoof to the castle.

"Over there is Canterlot, Ruby. The princesses ruling won't be active for a good while, so if you'd be so kind as to sprinkle some of this corruption -" Sombra explained, pulling out a small bag of ash. "- in the presence one of the princesses, then I'd love that." Ruby would refuse, but her hands and arms grabbed the ash bag from Sombra. As much as she didn't want to, she was committed to the plan, no matter if she accepted it or not.

"Now, be off then."

"I will not! You can't *grunt* make me!" Ruby yelled, trying to force her body to stop moving. It was the first time Sombra saw Ruby trying to defy her own body, and actually get somewhere, but he knew it was a losing battle anyway. Despite her struggle, her body eventually won her over, and Ruby began to run off towards the castle. Sombra sat down, as Ruby went off to do his work.

At the castle in question, the main throne room was filled with some tension between the for-mentioned rulers of Equestria; Celestia and Luna. Since Rainbow's reveal to Celestia over the return of Sombra, the two had sat down and tried to discuss on what exactly to do. If Sombra was still around, even after a defeat and even a death upon him at the Crystal Empire, who knew what he was up to? All day, the two kept trying to discuss and plan, but without much lead on what to go on, they've decided in the end to pick it up in the morning. Luna and Celestia both walked along the halls until they got to Celestia's room.

"Sister, we need to do something for this, we can't just -"

"Luna, I know I know. Listen to me, for the moment we don't have any lead on his where-a-bouts, so we can't move forward until then."

"Then what do you suggest we do? Just stand here until he just appears?"

"Of course not, we'll bring out a search party tomorrow morning, try to find any clue to where he is. We'll work it off from there."

"You sure this will work?"

"Luna, we both defeated him even without the Elements of Harmony. And after that, Twilight was able to do so herself, remember? I'm sure it won't be too dangerous when we do find him again," Celestia assured her. Luna still was a bit unsure about it, not as confident as Celestia was. Still, Luna nodded and began to head off to her room herself.

"Goodnight sister," Luna said as she left.

"Goodnight."

Luna sighed to herself as she continued walking.

"At least I was myself when we defeated him," she thought.

As the two parted ways from there, Luna ventured back to her room down a few more halls. While she went, she had her mind in tangled knots, especially with such a unicorn even seeing the light of day once again after the supposed number of years from the royal sisters defeat upon him. As Luna closed the door, the Alicorn had a bit more on her mind than just the unicorn's return, the risk it had, or who was able to handle the problem. Something else that different the encounters between the two was a strong representation that Luna herself couldn't bear to say. Sombra knew how they acted for a while, Luna sensing that was the case for quite a while. The princess sat down by the door, thinking a bit more. They had many pros, Yet, Luna had one factor wrong with her that, if tapped, could end everything for her ...


Nightmare Moon

(Drjekall&Hyde Confrontation parody)

It's over now, I know inside ...
No one will ever know.
The sorry tale of Nightmare Moon ...
And those who died.
No one must ever know ...

Luna started to move away from the door, the memories flowing into her head about Nightmare Moon. Sure, Sombra might not be related to that issue, but it was still an issue Luna knew all too well over. Nearby, hiding just out of sight, Ruby had finally made it to one of the princesses (against her will). She'd snuck in through the shadows, easier thanks to the new black tint in her skin Sombra gave her, and now the two were stuck in the same room together ...

They'd only see the tragedy.
They'd not see my intent.
The shadow of Night's evil ...
Will forever kill ...
The good that I had meant ...

Soon, Luna was at her window, staring up into the night sky. It was the same sky Nightmare Moon would've kept up for eternity if Luna remained that way ...

Am I a good mare?
Am I a mad mare?
It's such a fine line ...
Between a good mare and a ...

She couldn't bring herself to say the last words to it, as she bowed her head in shame. While she was, Ruby ended up releasing the dark ash into the room, Luna not aware of Ruby in the slightest. After she did, the ash silently started to form something upon sensing Luna there, into a larger Alicorn-like shape. Ruby wanted to warn her, but her own body worked against and kept her mouth shut as the second alicorn moved into sight ...

Do you even think? That I would ever let you go? Do you even think that I would set you free?

Luna turned around to see the very Alicorn she herself had dreaded, and yet, was herself ... Nightmare Moon herself!

If you do, I'm sad to say, it simply isn't so. You will never get away from me.

Luna flew in Nightmare's way, wings spread in anger. All Ruby could do was watch in forced silence as the two confronted each other.

All that you are is a face in a mirror! I close my eyes, and you disappear.

I'm what you face when you face in the mirror, long as you live I will still be here!

Luna's horn started to light up, ready to fire. She didn't want her returning, never again, and she was going to make sure of it.

All that you are is the end of a nightmare, all that you are is a dying scream! After tonight, I shall end this demon dream!

Luna fired, but the firing shot barely made an effect on Nightmare, the alicorn just bowing so her horn will slice up the shot. Her own firing shot proved more effective, sending Luna back to the wall!

This is not a dream, my dear and it will never end! This one is the nightmare that goes on!

Nightmare was soon right in front of an injured Luna, a hoof lifting her head by the chin, so they were eye-to-eye.

I AM HERE TO STAY, no matter what you may pretend! And I'll flourish long after you're gone!

Luna got herself away before Nightmare Moon could finish her off.

Soon you will die, and my silence will hide you! You cannot choose but to lose control!

Luna shot again, but with Nightmare Moon dodging with one beat of her wing, the shot being launched outside. Nightmare landed nearby Luna, right next to her with wing around Luna.

You can't control me, I live deep inside you, each day, you feel me devour your soul!

Luna broke away, walking away from Nightmare with her horn glowing.

I don't need you to survive, as you need me, I'll become whole, as you dance with death! And I'll rejoice, as you breathe your final breath!

Suddenly, Luna turned back once she heard a maniacal laugh, and a loud explosion of magic. Soon, she ended up in a spiraling cloud wall of dark magic, Nightmare Moon showing her full power.

I LIVE INSIDE YOU FOREVER!

"NO!" Luna gasped.

WITH DARKNESS ITSELF BY MY SIDE!

"NOOO!"

And I know that now, and forever, they'll NEVER be able to separate Luna from Night!

Nightmare Moon suddenly flew at her. Ruby, still hiding, couldn't see what was happening, but when the cloud cleared, only Luna was standing there. However, as Nightmare was gone ... she never left Luna behind her.

Can't you see it's! Over now! It's time to die!

Ruby then saw Luna's eyes suddenly change to match Nightmare Moon's! Nightmare was possessing Luna...

No not I, only you!

If I die, you die too!

You die IN ME, I'll BE you!

Darn you night! Set me free!

Can't you see, you ARE ME!

NOO! Deep inside -

I am you, you are Night!

"No, never!"

"Yes Forever!"

"Darn you Nightmare, take all your evil deeds, and rot in Tartarus!

"I'll see you there, Luna!"


Soon, another magic cloud suddenly spun in place, Ruby having to shield her eyes in case something would end up flying at her. When the cloud disappeared, it revealed Nightmare Moon standing there, but Luna was nowhere to be seen.

"What have I done?" Ruby thought, as Nightmare Moon spread her wings, and flew out of the window, leaving Ruby alone in Luna's room. Ruby's body went into action, and she quickly got herself out of there. All the conscious of Ruby could do, was shed a few tears as to the criminal act she committed...

As for Sombra, he saw Nightmare Moon fly away from Canterlot, still laughing, and not seeing Sombra sitting there. The unicorn gave a satisfied grin, his teeth showing, as he pulled out his own touchscreen again. Before getting to Canterlot, Sombra had made a list amongst his goals and motives for the moment, and the first on that list simply said, "Nightmare's return" With his stubbed stick, he happily made a cross mark through the goal, one of a few left as it turned out. He had to wait for Ruby to come back, but with his little distraction flying around and ready to do her own thing, he could afford to wait for an hour at least.


~~~~~~


Within Beach City, the Crystal Gems having even more issues than most. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, they've ended up going through some rather tough hits thanks to the demonic unicorn. For the moment, Steven Universe's corruption had been kept from hearing and knowledge from the rest of the city (for those who hadn't ended up finding out anyway). For the Mane Six, while the corruption didn't affect their world as deeply, it was still a problem that was getting to everypony. And, if that didn't pose a threat to Equestria, Sombra's return will. With all these problems caused so far by one unicorn, the situation was becoming more and more critical the longer they go without any sort of solution. The Gems insisted that the Mane Six go back to their own world, and they'll let them know if they need any extra help.

On personal levels, Sapphire was also having her own troubles when it came to separation. With her counterpart still within Sombra's grasp, Sapphire felt more or less incomplete, even if she tried not to show it in front of her peers. To the young snow Gem, that wasn't the only issue that plagued her mind; with that vision she'd gotten for some time. It was something Sapphire'd grown worried over, despite not knowing for sure what the figures exactly were. The tall human, Alicorn and beast were edged into her mind, and she knew it was only a matter of time before it would play out. And when they do, the Gems and Ponies needed to be ready for it, regardless of the current situation.

For the moment, the Gems were within the Beach House, keeping Steven from running away, despite the corrupted creature being calmer within their presence. Sapphire was with Steven, keeping him calm for the time being, with Amethyst enjoying some bought donuts from the nearby Big Donut, and Pearl and Blue by Steven for the sake of being with him. Steven was watching Amethyst eat, satisfying his hunger thanks to her.

"There, there Steven, you'll be alright," Sapphire promised, sensing Steven feeling of sadness. His memory was being put back piece by piece, and he began to remember himself as a human at some point, enough to spark some dismay anyway.

"UGH, this is so boring. Can we do something else?" Amethyst asked, after finishing off the donut box (including the box).

"You can go if you want to," Sapphire said. She didn't have too much time to use her little vision trick, preoccupied with Steven's corrupted state to do so. Taking the chance, Amethyst went on outside, satisfied with her food and stretching her arms. However, she didn't have too much time to get herself however, as the others inside were given quite a shocker when something suddenly rushed in, her blue water wings spread to get their attention.

"Guys, you might want to come out here!"

"Lapis, what's wrong?"

"No time to explain, just come outside," Lapis insisted, looking a bit in a hurry, and a bit worried herself. Blue, Pearl, Sapphire and Amethyst ended up outside with Lapis, where they saw that Fulgurite and Lion were also there, looking upward at some sort of attention-grabbing object. Lapis flew above them, pointing towards what got their attention. Far up into the sky, when everybody looked, the Gems began to see a sort of strange object high in the sky. The visibility wasn't all that much, but they did see something coming down to them. The odd object looked like a sort of greenish hand, possibly a mechanical one, flying towards them with a finger pointing down to them as if a being larger than earth was pointing them out. None of the Gems had any clue what the heck that was, nor what it was about to do, but Pearl wasn't willing to take any sort of chances with it, and neither would the other Gems. Blue, not having a clue what was coming, began to bark towards the oncoming object.

"Pearl, Amethyst, we need to get ready. Get the cannons," Sapphire instructed. Pearl and Amethyst quickly rushed in to get things set, as Sapphire jumped down towards the others on the beach. Blue and Steven went on outside, unsure of what was going on, and not catching what Sapphire had told Lapis and Fulgurite before they both ran off. Sapphire soon got away herself, and the two were left in the dark after that. Lion went over to them both, glancing at the large hand in the sky. Before, Lion's growls and roars wouldn't make any sense to a human Steven, but in his lion state, Lion's roars and growls reached curious ears. After some instruction, Blue began to head in, yet Steven wasn't sure just what to do, even if he knew what Lion was telling him. After a few more growls, Steven nodded, and simply went back inside the Beach House, went to his room, and laid on the bed. Lion didn't want Steven nor Blue to come out, in case whatever that is makes it to the ground, and after seeing him there, Lion went off. Blue could only lay down next to Steven and wait for whatever result would come around.


~~~~~~


Back in Equestria, the princesses stress hadn't ceased very much. When Celestia had found out upon waking up that her sister had disappeared from her sight, the situation began to dawn upon her that the danger was beyond what they knew. Far too coincidental that they heard of Sombra's return, and suddenly Luna would just disappear. To the older sister, that could mean one of two: Sombra had either kidnapped Luna without anypony noticing, or something happened to her that drove her away. One way or another, she needed help with her situation more than ever. One particular detail posed another horrid possibility ...

The moon refused to be lowered ...

Soon, even with the moon still high in the sky and the sun itself absent, Celestia had called upon a meeting within Canterlot Castle, with Cadence and Twilight accompanied and called for since they were princesses themselves, and her highest-level royal guards to accompany them as well. The two sisters-in-law stood nearby, as Celestia paced worryingly over the dangers.

"The situation had begun to reach far more critical proportions; with the return of Sombra and my sister's disappearance, we can't leave anything left to chance."

"But what do you think happened? Luna would never just leave like this."

"For Luna, perhaps, but given the evidence, there's only one result ..."

Cadence and Twilight glanced to each other before Twilight spoke again.

"You don't mean ..."

"I'm afraid so. Nightmare Moon has returned," Celestia concluded. The news struck Twilight with a hard hit, more than most; such an old enemy that brought her to her friends at the very start, before she was remotely aware of the Crystal Gems mind you, and that kind of enemy had returned after so long. Of course, it didn't take a genius to figure out exactly who was responsible, as for mentioned it being far too coincidental for it not to be. Cadence went over to Celestia.

"Don't worry, princess, we'll figure something out," Cadence assured her.

"Yeah, we'll get Luna back," added Twilight.

"But keep in mind that's not the only issue we have; we still have Sombra out there somewhere," Celestia reminded. They need to handle one problem at a time, they couldn't face them both at once at this rate. However, before anypony could add on anything else, suddenly their royal doors swung open, catching most of the guards by surprise. However, whoever was there simply walked by with a cocky grin on his face.

"Hello there everypony! Am I late for something?"

Celestia wasn't in the mood for his shenanigans, especially at that point.

"Discord, please not now. You know we have enough trouble right now," Celestia insisted, as the draconequus hovered by the princess's head.

"Oh, don't be like that, I'm sure you royals can handle somepony with some knowledge about the predicament, no?" Discord said, while making circles around them in hover mode. 

"Discord, leave us alone. We have enough trouble, and you know it," Twilight said, flying in his face.

"Let's not be too hasty princess. Besides, I believe your little Gem friends have even more problems without you," discord revealed, catching their attention. The three princesses knew the Gems to a sort of extent: Twilight knowing them the most, Cadence from her visit to Ponyville, and Celestia through words going about.

"What are you talking about?"

Discord then made his talon hand into a bubble blower and blowing a sort of vision bubble into the room for them to see. In it, Twilight, Cadence and Celestia then saw an area of Beach City where the Gems were bringing out and readying the cannons. The vision moved off away towards the sky, the group seeing the flying hand, pointing right down to the beach (or at them from their view of the vision).

"Mister shadow mare's got some reinforcements flying to the planet, ready to put the beatdown on your Gem friends. Of course, as a princess, I'm sure your kingdom would come first," Discord said, deliberately making Twilight upset, though unknowingly freaking Twilight out.

"I would never!"

"Well then princess, you have a bit of an enigma here. You got Steven in his world with the Homeworld ready to blast him to bits, and you got here with the eternal night. What's it gonna be, my dear?" Discord asked, waiting for an interesting answer, as he acted like a weigher with a Gemstone over his paw, and the Equestrian map in his talon. Twilight felt very pressured by that point, biting the front of her hoof like if someone was biting their nails. On one hoof, Beach City was about to become attacked by a group of otherworldly Gems. On the other hoof, here at home, the place had Nightmare Moon to handle. She felt torn up, and unable to decide, but Celestia finally made her choice for her.

"Twilight, go to the Gems."

"What?"

"We'll handle Nightmare Moon here, Twilight. And you've been in their world before. You go to them," Celestia decided. Twilight took a bit, but seeing the threat coming their way, Twilight felt in her heart that they needed her. So, with a nod of her head, Twilight began to go off. Soon after she left, Discord removed the map from his talon, and gave a kiss to the gemstone before it disappeared from sight.

"Cadence, you go off ahead and locate Nightmare Moon," Celestia instructed. Cadence nodded, and went off herself, a few of the guards joining with her. Before Celestia went though, she wanted to ask something to Discord first.

"Discord. You've had extensive knowledge for some time. You know where Sombra is, do you?" Celestia asked. Discord took a moment to think, a lightbulb popping up above his head ... and him eating it.

"Well, the fancy king scampered off to the everfree. Wish I could join you, but I got my own plans. Good luck with your little princess," Discord said, and disappearing from sight before Celestia could ask him anymore questions.


~~~~~~


Back to the trouble in Beach City, the Gems were on high alert; with so much wrong so far, this was the last thing they need. Steven and Blue remained inside, looking out the window as the Gems continued working to defend from the oncoming threat. Steven himself didn't have a clue what was coming, and nobody was ready to tell him anything. All he and Blue knew down to it was stay inside, and do not come out thanks to Lion. In case they got antsy, Lion posted himself by the door. The cannons were all set, as per mentioned, all aimed towards the flying hand.

"Anyone know how this works? Don't see any buttons," Fulgurite said, trying to see some way to activate them. The other Gems knew how, but they weren't sure if it'll work or not. With the threat flying their way, they didn't have much time to reconsider, nor to think. So, clearing her throat, Sapphire got out the words.

"If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs," Sapphire said. As confusing as Fulgurite and Lapis got from the random little saying, the cannons suddenly became active! Aiming to the sky, the three cannons fired off a large pink beam directly at the structure, making a direct hit! To their horror, not only did it prove ineffective, but it also made the hand move faster towards earth in a fist rather than a pointed finger. That only made things even more unnerving, as they tried to think on what on Earth to do against this thing.

"No effect! Any other ideas?!" Lapis asked, gripping her head in worry. Sapphire tried to think a bit on what to do, but the hand was heading down fast, and Sapphire didn't had time.

The hand in the skyrocketed down at breakneck speed, looking and acting like an oncoming meteor towards the beachside area. With not much time to think, the group of Gems readied for the oncoming blow. However, as it came in, the hand then aimed a finger at them again, and gave a powerful firing shot at them! The blast of green energy zooming through the air right at them. Blue and Steven, worried, tried to get themselves out, Lion taking action upon himself to the blast. Getting in the way, Lion gave a power-filled roar directly at it, the very sound wave shattering it! That shot saved the Gems, but it didn't slow down the decent of the hand.

"Thanks Lion," Sapphire said. Blue and Steven tried to get out more so, now that Lion had moved. The door wouldn't budge out of force, but as with memory returning to Steven, he remembered how to open a door. So, working both front paws, Steven tried to open the door, Blue waiting anxiously nearby.

As they tried, the hand began to near the beach, slowing down to a crawl when it came to land. The hand turned over, landing on the front, as the middle finger opened a door inside. The crystal Gems readied for any, and all who would come out to face them. Any Homeworld Gem who'd got this far wasn't going to be given the welcome wagon by any of them. Amethyst, Pearl, and Fulgurite had their weapons drawn as Sapphire, Lion, and Lapis waited to see who arrived, as the Gem stepped out into sight.

The Gem had tangerine skin with darker orange markings on her face, arms, and chest that almost appeared like war paint. She had amber-colored eyes. Her gem, shaped in a diamond, is where her nose should be. She had thick, beige-colored, flowing hair that went down her back. Physique-wise, she has a muscular body and stands both taller and wider than Garnet would've been. She wore a sleeveless half-red, half-mahogany uniform with a yellow diamond insignia on the chest and heavy boots. Her appearance alone just screamed intimidation and power to them, the tall Gem stepping out of the hand ship, and onto the sand.

"You need to leave immediately, this is not a Gem-controlled planet!" Pearl demanded, her spear aimed directly at her.

"So, this is all that's left, eh? Why don't you tell me before I shatter your sorry butts, why'd you kidnapped one of our Homeworld Gems?" she asked in a growl, ready to beat them up.

"What the heck are you talking about?!" Amethyst asked, her whip ready to whack her.

"Don't try to fool me, I got the message already; I know she's here with you, now hand her over!"

"We don't know who you're talking about, you orange gorilla!" Amethyst insulted. The other Gem didn't have a clue what a gorilla was, but she didn't care for much.

"Get off of Earth, we don't have any of your Gems!" Fulgurite added.

"Ugh, you're so difficult you clods," the Gem growled, getting out a message disk, which made a hologram of the message Homeworld had gotten. The other Gems from Earth weren't too sure yet but readied for any attack on her.

"I've tried my best to get back to you, but there had been some complications. I've been ambushed by these clods called the Crystal Gems. These traitors are still alive on Earth after all this time. still forbidding us from recolonizing Earth, still despising Homeworld the same as before, if not more so," she explained, swatting away the message as soon as it was done. The Gems still were completely clueless on everything, but the fact someone had sent Homeworld a message about them, and their false accession for kidnapping only made things worse for them, as if they didn't have enough trouble to begin with.

"We don't know what you're talking about," Sapphire answered. The Homeworld Gem was not convinced, cracking her knuckles before her Gem spawned up her supposed weapon, a large helmet with reinforced Gem material for the front like a battering ram.

"What a waste of my time. Let's see how long you'll last now," she said, ready to battle. In their distress, they weren't sure if a battle was a good idea, but for those to protect earth, it was a must. Back in the Beach House, Steven was getting closer to opening the door. Both he and Blue had seen who arrived, and their anticipation to help only grew more so. Before they could manage to get themselves out, a familiar white door opening appeared in front of them. No sooner after they did see, Twilight Sparkle rushed into the Beach House, almost crashing into Steven upon arrival.

"Where're the others?" Twilight asked, a little hysteric and mostly in a rush. Blue nearly jumped out, barking like mad as he showed Twilight outside, seeing her friends confronted by the Homeworld Gem.

Soon, the door finally got open, and the three practically charged out, as the Gem did the same towards their friends. Lapis was the only one willing to back away as everyone else readied for the attack, but before anyone can hurt each other, Steven scrambled as fast as his four legs could carry him. The Gem charging in was hit hard, tackled to the ground. Blue went in and bit her foot hard, making the Homeworld Gem get up to her feet, throwing the corrupted Gem aside and forcing Blue off her foot.

"Steven!" Pearl gasped. The hit got Steven bruised, but the corrupted Gem stared her down, the Homeworld Gem readied to pound him to the dirt. However, she then noticed Steven's gemstone swaying on his tail. The Homeworld Gem jumped up and rushed at them, but Twilight got in between them both, summoning a shield spell to stop her in her tracks. The Gem skidded to a stop, and Amethyst went up next and got her whip wrapped around her torso. Angered, she actually managed to throw Amethyst back with a sway of her body, snapping the whip, and tossing Amethyst to the wall. She got herself out before looking to them.

"You think I'm that gullible? I've been through all this before, I've been through that first fight, and every fight after that!" The Homeworld Gem snapped, Fulgurite trying to attack her. However, she was surprisingly fast for such a robust Gem, and a fist slammed hard in Fulgurite's face! Twilight hovered by her, trying to get a restraining beam to hit her, but the Homeworld Gem wasn't having any of it; grabbing her from the air by the tail, and slamming the alicorn into the sand multiple times. Steven, Lion, and Amethyst tried to get her to stop, but the Homeworld Gem used Twilight like a weapon and whacked them away. The hits were dangerously close to cracking Twilight's horn, or shattering Steven's mirror. For Twilight, she couldn't get herself straight and became disorientated with the abusive usage. She couldn't fly correctly, nor use her magic right with the constant thrashing, whacking, and swinging. As for the hits themselves, they were very hard, and strong enough to throw Lion to the wall and causing Steven to stay back, harsh bruises on his head and back under his flower petals.

"I don't know what you're planning, but it won't work," she growled, directing Steven's attention towards their home. "That's your last stronghold." She raised a bruised, and tired Twilight towards him by a wing. "This is an example of what's left of your army." With the buildup, Lapis and Sapphire both kept their distance, former out of the unwillingness for violence, and the latter for lacking much fighting power without Ruby to fuse with. The large Gem raised Twilight, who was too shaken up to think straight...

"You had failed."

That was what Twilight remembered just before she slammed her Gem helmet right at her head ...


~~~~~~


The alicorn couldn't grasp what'd happened, as she slowly, but surely, began to come back around. Her body was sore, bruised up from head to hoof, but Twilight started to shake herself awake. The floor under her wasn't the warm dry sand, but cold metallic flooring of what seemed to be a sort of cell. Prison cell, as a matter of fact. Nopony else was in there with her, nor did Twilight hear anything going on outside of it. The walls were thick with metal-like paneling, but the side leading to the hall had a sort of strange, green force field that separated her from the rest of the prison hold. Before Twilight tried anything, the Alicorn gave a check to see if any permanent damage was done to her. Luckily for her, even after getting pummeled over and over, the Alicorn's horn remained intact. She was still an Alicorn, and not a Pegasus after the experience, but that wasn't her only issue after all.

Twilight got up on her four hooves, her wings spread out for some balance for the first couple of seconds. Whoever that Gem was, she sure busted her up pretty good. At least she was still standing after the beating she took, thank Celestia. She listened in, and she didn't hear anypony going about the place, so, no better time like the present.

"Okay, Twilight. One ... Two ..."

Soon, Twilight gathered up some magical energy, and shot it to the force field. However, when the shot was made, the magic beam did little to no effect to it. The alicorn needed a way out, find the Gems, and get out before whatever the Homeworld was planning for them would come into play. Twilight stepped over to the force field, seeing if she could try forcing it open without her magic. She stepped up, reared back, and planned to slam her front hooves. When she fell onto it though, she immediately fell forward onto the ground, as if the forcefield wasn't even there. In short, she was free to venture out of the forcefield! That didn't mean the forcefield didn't feel weird on her body, and Twilight got out of it so the odd feelings could stop on her body. In no time at all, she was out, and free to explore the place for a while.

Twilight continued soldiering on ahead through the halls soon after she got herself out. All the halls seemed to be the same, with the same walls lining up everywhere with similar colors. The only sound the Alicorn heard was her own hoof prints, though she kept trying to keep herself quiet as she continued just in case something could be around. Twilight tried over and over to find where her friends ended up, but to no result or reward to show for it. She couldn't seem to find hide nor hair of any of the Gems from Earth.

"Pearl? Amethyst? Steven? Sapphire? Where are you guys?" Twilight quietly called. She didn't get any answer just yet, but then she heard a small whine come from not too far away. Twilight moved off to a corner of the hall, and then she found someone; Blue! The gem hound hadn't got out himself, unaware that he could on his own. Twilight trotted over to him.

"Blue, you're okay," Twilight said in relief, Blue happy to see her. Twilight then got an idea; stepping halfway into the force field, she raised her right wing to give Blue an escape. The gem pup quickly took his chance and got his way out. Twilight got herself out after the while, shaking off the odd feel of the field, and was quickly met with a doggy kiss from Blue.

"I'm glad to see you too, boy," Twilight giggled, Blue giving a happy bark to her. Course, they both needed to figure out the rest. Yet, the noise did catch some more attention, as a larger figure from the back looked to them, the mirror reflected face unmistakable for the creature.

"Oh my. Uh ... Blue, stand here please?" Twilight said, patting the ground near the force field. Blue went over, and sat down, as Twilight began to climb him. Sure, she can fly, but she needed her wings to help Steven out. Blue was a bit sore as it was, so Twilight standing on him wasn't helping much, and growled to prove the point.

"Sorry it'll be a second," Twilight said, both wings spread as she stood in between the field. It wasn't very wide, but it was just tall enough for Steven to get himself through. The corrupted gem wasn't sure why these two were doing this, but out of impulse, Steven squeezed himself out from the opening given. Twilight had gotten Steven and Blue out, but the rest were still hidden somewhere within the place, and they had to keep looking and get them out ASAP.

"Alright, Steven and Blue are good, but there's still seven more in here. Better keep looking," Twilight monologued, beginning to go again. While Steven stayed close, Blue wandered a little bit until he came across a large window.

"Blue come on, we can't -" Twilight was immediately cut short by what she saw. Outside the window, the group was in orbit! Earth laid far below, and they were within the orbit, seeing space around the planet. Twilight's irises shrunk in shock, ears folding back.

"Okay then. Not only are we stuck in a prison, but we're stuck in a prison in space. Great, just great!" Twilight recapped, feeling frantic on the situation. How the hay are they gonna escape if they can't get to earth?! Before Twilight could fall into paranoia, Steven's gem tail knocked against her head, getting her to her senses.

"Ok ok, one step at a time. Come on you two, let's find the others," Twilight concluded. Blue and Steven followed her from there.

For the next twenty or so minutes, the group itself tried to keep quiet as best they can, though it was Easter said than done. Especially thanks to giant lion Steven, sneaking around and stealth in general weren't attributes they had on their side. With the halls looking the same, direction wasn't any help either. As they kept going, Steven suddenly stopped upon hearing some voices. No, it wasn't any friend voice, but Steven followed anyway. Twilight was looking around a corner, not noticing Steven wander off just yet.

"Okay, it's safe to - Steven!" Twilight gasped, realizing he wandered off. Twilight had just caught Steven's tail, and began to follow it, leaving Blue for the moment, telling him to stay put. Steven kept moving along until he reached another area of the spaceship. The place was a sliding futuristic door, and it automatically opened up when Steven approached. The other room looked about the same as everything else on the darn ship, same green walls. However, the place also had a full control pad with front window, like a spaceship should have. Steven also caught the very Gem who captured them making a vocal phone call to Homeworld.

"Jasper calling in to Homeworld; I've captured the Crystal Gems and currently bringing them back."

So that was her name. Jasper then heard the Homeworld call, unaware of Steven for the moment. Another voice spoke through.

"Peridot obtained then?"

"I'll come back for her later; this is top priority. Signing off," Jasper replied, turning off the message. Jasper, having the ship on autopilot for a while, took the moment to try to get herself together. Why should they care for Peridot anyway? ... Then she felt fur and petals touch her back. Jasper looked back to see Steven standing there, not acknowledging the danger he'd put himself in. Twilight didn't catch up yet, so Steven was on his own as Jasper got her fists and helmet ready.

"Rose! How'd you get out?! No matter, I'll shatter you now," Jasper decided, charging at Steven. The corrupted Gem reared back, front legs spread out, but rather than attack, Jasper slammed hard into Steven, sending them both to the wall. Steven, however, didn't let Jasper go, his front paws surprisingly strong and keeping a grip on her. Twilight finally rushed in, to find Steven and Jasper in a death lock with each other.

"Steven! Oh no oh no oh no," Twilight said, ready to aid, but the tumbling Jasper got herself free, throwing Steven at Twilight. The Alicorn could only dodge the huge, corrupted gem flying at her, Jasper fully facing them both. Twilight got Steven up, pushing him out the door to get him moving before Jasper could crush them. Luckily the ship was on an autopilot, because Jasper rushed out of the control room after them. Steven and Twilight both split up from the room, forcing Jasper to single out one target. In the end, she began heading after Steven, seeing him as a higher point of interest than the Alicorn. As Steven was being chased, Twilight tried to relocate where Blue was, hoping to find him in the same place. The dog, however, had already wandered off from where he was supposed to be. What he was doing, Twilight had no clue, but the pup was gone. Guess he wasn't trained to stay anywhere. For Steven, Jasper wasn't relenting on any of her moves, trying to recapture the runaway Gem.

"Get back here Rose!" Jasper demanded, though Steven didn't stop his run around. Making the turns wasn't as easy though, even with four paws, since the floor was smooth as ice, and just as slippery to Steven. Jasper didn't have such problems, and eventually Jasper grabbed hold of Steven's tail. However, Steven was more panicked, and back-kicked Jasper right in her face, yet it didn't make her let go. Soon, Steven stood strong, and turned back to Jasper, the other Gem seeing her reflection in the mirror. Steven was scared, and it seemed he was trying to beg like a sad pup, but the reflection of Jasper's face with puppy eyes was less sad, and more confusing to Jasper (especially considering it was her own face begging like a kid). Jasper shook her head to focus, but Steven got himself free, made a quick 180, and barreled into Jasper before running back where he came from, trying to find a way out.

Meanwhile, Twilight was having her own trouble in finding the others. Without much direction, it almost seemed like she was going in circles trying to find everyone. After a long while, she finally got a sort of clue that hit her ears ...

Singing.

It wasn't exact words, more along the lines of humming, but it was loud enough for Twilight to hear. Ears up, Twilight flew down the halls, following the sound until she found the source within a prison cell. Looking in, she saw the Gem inside, Sapphire, singing her tune in her cage. Twilight wasted no time in getting there to the cell.

"Twilight. How'd you -" Sapphire tried to ask, but Twilight answered by spreading her wing, making an opening for her to escape. "Of course. Thank you." Soon, Sapphire got herself out another Gem free.

"Glad to see you. You know where the others are?" Twilight asked. Sapphire nodded her answer, and just aimed a finger in one direction down another hall. Twilight was going to go, but before they did anything, a familiar bark echoed. Soon, Blue ran into view, but that time he wasn't alone. Joining behind him was the reason Blue disappeared for the moment; he freed Lion and Fulgurite!

"Twilight, Sapphire! Great to see ya," Fulgurite said.

"Likewise. Listen, the others are scattered in here Twilight, you go with Lion and get them out. Fulgurite, come with me," Sapphire instructed.

"Where to?"

"We're going to handle control," Sapphire answered. Fulgurite immediately got excited, and the two groups split. Twilight and Lion went towards the others while Sapphire and Fulgurite went right to the control room.

For the two speedsters, it took seconds to locate the spot, while a Twilight and Lion needed more time to get the others free. When they did arrive, Fulgurite went right on the seat, spinning a bit before looking at the control pad.

"Oh baby, here we go!" Fulgurite beamed. The control pad though was a bit different, liquified rather than being any touch screen. But heck, Fulgurite couldn't wait to try, and her hand dipped into the water. The surge went through her, all sort of code, information and direction flowing through her mind and body like data. It wasn't like lightning electricity, but it was a close second. Fulgurite's hacking of the ship was bound to be noticed at any moment so, Sapphire kept her attention to the door.

"You feeling okay?" Sapphire asked.

"OH YEAH! Let's hack this bad boy back home!" Fulgurite beamed, the sensation of energy bringing her to overdrive. Her hair spread out as if it was being blown in some strong wind, static electricity shooting out here and there in short pulses. Soon, after about a minute, the ship started to turn around, and move down to Earth again. The sudden change in direction, as Sapphire figured, was caught by everyone's attention.

A few halls down, Steven and Jasper were still fighting it out when they felt the ship turn around, making Jasper stop for the second.

"What the heck?" Jasper wondered, starting to go back to the control room. Steven followed Jasper close behind, as Jasper quickly got to the control room, to see Fulgurite there!

"HEY!" Jasper yelled, rushing in. Steven couldn't catch her, and Sapphire couldn't come close, so Fulgurite was brutally pulled away. As she did, not only was Jasper strongly electrocuted by Fulgurite's electric charge, but the extra electricity short-circuited the controls, frying them almost instantly! Worse, the ship was still heading right for Earth.

If anything, they're stuck in a crash landing!

"What did you do?!" Jasper yelled, gripping Fulgurite hard as if trying to pop her from sheer muscle.

"I don't have a clue!" Choked Fulgurite. Jasper threw her aside, and tried to work the ship back to life, but the ship's controls wouldn't start back up by any means! Sapphire and Fulgurite weren't sure what Jasper was going to do, but Fulgurite wasn't going to stick around to find out. When she tried for the door, something was in her way right on the other side. Jasper, Sapphire, and Fulgurite both saw Steven sitting there still.

"Steven move it!" Fulgurite said, trying to move him, but Steven pushed Fulgurite back in the room. Jasper, anger sky rocketing, readied to attack again, but the ship swayed and spun around as it neared Earth. Jasper couldn't get a proper footing, everyone else on the ship unsure what will happen. Sapphire couldn't only say one thing ...

"Brace for impact."


~~~~~~


In Beach City, the craft itself was coming down very fast. Not a single person really noticed anything, unaware that the Gems were kidnapped in the first place. Closer and closer, the ship itself went straight down towards the mountain area of the city, towards the beach. With the palm to the sky, the hand ship had finally hit the cliff full force. After landing, the entire ship finally exploded, finally catching some attention back to the city. All over the beach, spare parts shot around all over the beach, landing in the water and dangerously close to the docks. Of course, it got people running to see of everything was alright.

At the wreckage, the huge number of debris revealed many of the Gems, more or less okay. Lion, Steven, and Blue were protected by a last-minute Twilight magic shield, which wrapped around everyone she'd gotten out in time of the crash. The first to get himself out was Lion, roaring off some rubble. He managed to shield Blue with his own body for the crash, keeping them both safe in the end. Looking around though, they both didn't see anyone along the beach. Blue and Lion moved along for a bit until Blue's smell lead him to a larger pile of rubble. Lion took lead and roared good and loud to get the rubble off. Underneath it all shown the Crystal Gems in Twilight's bubble shield, but Steven wasn't anywhere to be seen amongst them.

"Is everypony okay?" Twilight asked, looking back. Amongst those she saved: Pearl, Amethyst, and Lapis. Sapphire and Fulgurite appeared not too far away; a bit dazed but having enough strength to stand at least.

"I think so ... Where's -"

Before Pearl could finish, suddenly some more rubble was thrown into the ocean, showing a weakened, but ticked off Jasper staring daggers at everyone. The ship was destroyed, all of the Crystal Gems were out, and she wasn't having any of it!

"You ... Look what you've done!! You're all dead!!" Jasper screeched, ready to charge at them once more, forgetting how many odds were against her. They all readied to face her, but all of them were weakened from the crash, evident in their physical state ...

"Well done, Gem."

The voice was out of nowhere, and eerily familiar. Laying comfortably on some risen rubble along the path to the Beach House, they all locked eyes with the demonic Unicorn himself; Sombra! The unicorn was right next to Ruby, the unicorn's hoof gently rubbing Ruby's head like she was a quaint accessory.

"See you had some fun of your own."

"What're you doing here?!" Twilight demanded.

"Well, I was trotting along for a visit, but you weren't home. Homeworld got my message to come by, too. Wonderful to accept my invitation," Sombra noted with his own glee, Jasper not being in any mood for games.

"What message? I didn't get any from you, whoever you are!"

Sombra cleared his throat as he approached.

"I've tried to get back to you, but there had been some complications. I've been ambushed by these clods called the Crystal Gems. These traitors are still alive on earth after all this time. Still forbidding us from recolonizing Earth, still despising Homeworld the same as before, if not more so. And I believe it was cut short as well."

"How did you send a message to Homeworld? WHY did you?!" Lapis asked. Jasper felt deeply tricked for leaving Homeworld behind her, and thanks to a fake message from this demonic unicorn. Sombra for one, simply moved Ruby aside, turning into smoke as he floated around Lapis.

"Nothing more than a little helping hoof from your little Peridot. Where is that Gem anyway, I wanted to see her," Sombra said with a toothy grin. Amethyst whipped at Sombra, getting him to back away.

"We don't have your Peridot, now back off!" Amethyst said, though the whip wasn't calculated due to her state. Sombra, ignoring Amethyst, turned over to Jasper.

"I should be thanking you for what you did. I was hoping for you to crumble their strength for me, though I didn't expect you to fly off to do that. You've made my work a lot easier," Sombra explained. Fulgurite tried to fight Sombra, only one with plenty of energy, but Sombra turned to shadow before she could hit him. The unicorn then hovered to Twilight, the Alicorn deeply weakened as it was. She readied to fly, but Sombra sank his sharp teeth into Twilight's wing, and kept her down under hoof.

Everyone else was as ready as they could be for the attacker, but their physical state wasn't going to help them out...

And Sombra knew it, as his shadows casted over everyone around him ...
> Kings and Queens PT2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The moon was still high up in the sky, thanks to the forceful state from Nightmare Moon still around Equestria. Within one town though, something else was brewing. Something that was giving even more trouble to top it all off. There was eternal night thanks to Nightmare Moon, fear enticed evil thanks to Sombra, and otherworldly strength thanks to Jasper (though temporary, it was still effective).

Within a smaller village, further away from the knowledge of the Princesses, another figure was going about the place, a few ponies laying on the ground behind him. They weren't dead, nor dying, but more or less drained. The cutie marks gone, the eyes blurry, and the pony bodies limp on the ground from their magic taken away from them. As for the figure responsible, he kept going along his own way. He didn't appear like a pony all that much, a little too tall and front heavy to be one. He was almost completely robed up in a brown cloak, covering every part of him except for his hooves and head. Oddly, he also had a set of human-like hands. He wasn't any pony, but he wasn't human either.

As he went, he looked ahead and saw another pony in front of him. Her didn't remember seeing him around earlier, but he wasn't complaining about it. Quietly as he could, he started to home in on the pony, stalking it for a little bit. He was just about to capture the poor creature when he suddenly turned to him ...

"Tirek, I presume."

Suddenly, the pony turned out to be a Draconequus, Discord as a matter of fact! He got out of his pony form after a bit to confront Tirek with his usual grin.

"Discord? You are free?" Tirek asked, intrigued and surprised Discord was given freedom although he was clearly a creature of pure chaos.

"As a bird," Discord replied, turning into an actual bird on a wooden perch. Tirek then bowed in his presence - a gesture a past Discord would appreciate, though this Discord seemed a bit different.

"I commend you on your escape."

"I'm afraid the feeling's mutual," Discord commented, snapping his fingers to have Tirek in handcuffs. The respect immediately was gone, and Tirek glared up at the Draconequus, whom was actually in a police outfit.

"I should've known you wanted Equestria for yourself," Tirek groaned.

"Oh, I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing it for my friends," Discord said, leaning for being right next to Tirek. "But mostly it's for Fluttershy."

"Fluttershy? Don't tell me you've made friends with those - ... Ponies," Tirek assumed, growling on the final word. Suddenly Discord ended up in a fake cake, popping out with confetti and streamers.

"Surprise!" Discord said, a bit happy. Yet, Tirek wasn't as happy for it, and looked down to the handcuffs he had stuck on him.

"I am surprised that someone with your intellect does not see this 'friendship' is but a new form of imprisonment. Clearly, you've had to abandon your true nature to stay in their good graces," Tirek assumed. That time (despite having a harp and a halo above his head) Discord seemed insulted and threw the harp away.

"I've done nothing of the sort!" Discord insisted, swatting away the Halo. Tirek just sighed.

"Oh, please, I've seen this before. But he was always weak minded. You are Discord, you are legend, you cannot fall into the same trap that claimed my brother!"

Discord seemed a little confused as Tirek continued.

"Help me to grow strong and be rewarded with something far greater than friendship. Freedom. Once I've stripped these ponies of their magic, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see their world turned upside down. Who better to do so than the master of chaos himself? Join me, Discord, and reclaim your greatness. Unless, of course, 'pony errand boy' is the role you've always wanted to play in this world."

That information got Discord's mind working things out. He did sound familiar to what Sombra would actually say, yet this wasn't Sombra, this was somepony completely different, with his own brand of evil. Still, the idea of being fee to do whatever the heck he wanted to do without anypony going against him did sound like a breath of fresh air for the Draconequus, yet should he? After all, he was getting in the princesses' good graces (kinda), and the authority had been off his tail. Of course, being an errand boy wasn't his intent at all ...


~~~~~~


The silence was beyond tolerable, and Beach City the situation was turning from bad to worse. Course, when everybody realized what happened at the beach front wasn't odd enough, the demonic unicorn had set the whole stage up for everyone. He knew Jasper would come, he knew she would weaken the Gems, and he knew it would be easy pickings afterwards...

Consciousness began to return to Twilight, as she felt herself try to regain herself. She tried to see where they were, only to find she was staring up to the Beach House ceiling. She was, somehow, inside the Beach House. But her own body wasn't entirely working, chained up by dark magic around her hooves, and her wings like someone just hunted her. As she looked around, she felt a very powerful headache hit her, loosing focus for a bit. Nearby, she saw that only two other Gems were with her: Lapis and Sapphire. The two were chained up as well, Lapis looked about to wake up herself. Above them, laying down with front hooves dangling down, was King Sombra himself. By the door, poor Ruby was at her post, unable to move on her own will.

"Wake up little pony. Good to see you're back, Sombra said, going down the stairs. The three turned and were going to say something but what they saw stopped them dead cold. It wasn't just Sombra himself that made them silent, it was what he was wearing. Around Sombra's neck appeared to be some necklace ...

Lined with different Gemstones. An Amethyst, a Pearl, a double lightning Fulgurite stone, and a Jasper. At the center, was a unicorn horn ... Twilight's unicorn horn, cut clean off of her head while she was unconscious! All the gemstones were in bubbles, the Gems themselves just floating along the lining. The sight had a deep stab at all of them, Twilight for losing her magic, and the Gems for seeing Sombra basically wear their friends around his neck.

"You like my new accessory? Gives off a lovely shine in the light," Sombra said, showing them to the three.

"H-How ... How could you do this? ..." Lapis breathed out.

"Honestly, I'm tired of such a dumb question. Course if I had a cracked gem in my life, I'd be a bit off myself," Sombra noted with a chuckle. Lapis tried to get herself free, but she couldn't get the chains to snap in her state. Sombra turned to the door, but then Twilight stopped him.

"Wait. I have to know why."

"Pardon?"

"You corrupted Steven, made Ruby your slave, called Homeworld to earth in a false plight for help, cut off my darn horn! The least you can do is tell us why ..." Normally, Sombra wouldn't bother himself, but given that they couldn't do anything to him (he made sure of it by removing anything they could've used anyway), he might as well give them that privilege at least. So, he sat down in front of the three, and cleared his throat.

"Well, if you three must really know, I'm sure some of you might be aware of my past excursions in that Crystal Empire - both rather rough failures. Course, when I found out you ponies were visited by sentient Gems, the opportunity was too good to pass up. To imagine; a race of beings who are the very thing I can manipulate. Course, you already knew I can do that," Sombra explained, a hoof pointing to Ruby.

"Of course, knowing that it was you Twilight who were their friends did make some complications, along with a Gem hybrid running amok in your group. Just thought I'd get the problem out of the way first."

"You said you corrupted him because you can," Sapphire corrected.

"That too. Only thing I didn't plan for was getting that ship to explode; I was hoping to visit that little Homeworld when I was done here. After all, why conquer a kingdom when you can get a whole planet? Now all I gotta do is figure out where your kitty and abomination ran off to," Sombra said, ready to walk out.

"What's that have to do with what happened with Luna?" Twilight asked.

"Distraction. Course princess sunny flank would be all over me, so what better way to get her off my back then give her a problem more to her heart? Huh. Wonder how Nightmare's doing?" Sombra wondered, hoof to chin. The thought quickly subsided from his mind as he looked to Sapphire. He glanced to Ruby, the gem a bit worried, as Sombra went over to her. Lapis and Twilight squirmed in their binds, but with the water removed from the whole room Lapis can't do anything, and without any magic Twilight couldn't do anything. Sapphire was grabbed by the demonic unicorn, teeth digging into Sapphire's shoulder, and was brought to outside the door. Sombra signaled Ruby to follow him, and her body did so. Alone, Twilight and Lapis needed to get themselves out before anything could happen to them.

When Sombra left, the two tried their best to get out, but the struggle wasn't any good.

"Lapis, can't you summon your water wings to do something?"

"Sombra planned ahead," Lapis said. Her Gemstone, while not cracked, was covered up by a dark aura - Sombra's way to avoid any flying water Gems. Twilight struggled some more, sweating from her struggle ...

Sweating. Sweat is water, right?

Lapis got an idea she tried to be calm and focus on the panting Twilight and what water they had. Twilight turned and saw the focused stare ...

"Uh ... Why are you looking at me like that?" Twilight asked awkwardly. Soon, she found out why, as her sweat gathered up by the binds on her hooves. The sweat turned rigid, like a blade, and started to saw.

Just outside, the beach was still littered with everything from the wreckage, and Blue was actually chained up to the Beach House by some of the heavier rubble. Sombra ignored the barking from Blue and dropped Sapphire on the sand. Ruby stopped nearby.

"Alright, Ruby, now -"

"Don't you dare!" Ruby yelled.

"Now Ruby, it's rude to interrupt. I have a proposition for you."

Ruby wasn't trusting Sombra in any word, especially after what he made her do already with Luna. But Ruby listened anyway as Sombra continued.

"You've handled my work well, be it your will or not, so how does this sound? I have one more task for you to do for me, if you do it, then I'll let you have your freedom ... Finish her."

"Finish?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Sombra sinisterly chuckled, taking a small rock, and shattering it between his hooves. Ruby immediately felt an extreme fear consume her, as she looked to Sapphire ...

He wants Ruby to kill Sapphire ...

"... No ... Please no ..." Ruby said, her voice surprisingly hushed, as Sombra got himself comfortable a few feet away.

"This should be good," Sombra chuckled, adding insult to injury. Sapphire couldn't get up but was purposely turned so Ruby would be all she could see with her one eye. Ruby felt her body move closer to Sapphire, but her will power tried its best to make herself stop. She had done enough trouble already, but this was just horrible! They both knew Sombra put Ruby in particular for this strictly to torture her even more so. Ruby couldn't have that, she wouldn't. Her force of will didn't halt much of her walking, but it was halting her arms with surprising effect. Her arms twitched, mixed with Ruby's will and Sombra's magic conflicting actions. Somehow, Ruby even managed to grab her right arm to make herself stop and forced her left foot to step back. Sombra found it discouraging, yet surprisingly impressive.

"Stop, dang it!" Ruby growled, as if her arms had minds of their own. Sombra raised an eyebrow at Ruby's internal struggle. The Gem in question felt every part of her body tense up in conflicting actions, to the point of tears. Sapphire could see how much struggle Ruby was putting up for her, to avoid killing her. To Ruby, she couldn't attack Sombra, but she couldn't hurt the Gem she had been so close to, never mind killing her. Sapphire could tell that Ruby was starting to lose her battle with herself, a flame from within her beginning to grow ...

"That's it," Ruby managed to get out. If her body wasn't going to let her go, there's only one thing she could do. She forced one arm in front of her face, and Ruby clamped her teeth down hard ...

Then it happened.

What Ruby had done next left Sapphire stunned, tears down her eye. Sombra wasn't paying that much attention until something hit him square, getting stuck on his horn. Looking, he noticed something that even left him surprised. Along with Twilight's horn around his necklace, he then had an extra hand piece of Ruby's arm! Sombra looked just in time to see Ruby tore off her other arm and threw it away with her mouth. Being a Gem, Ruby's loss of arms may not be as bad as it appeared to be, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt, Ruby landing on her knees in heavy breath.

"Eww," Sombra groaned, getting the arm off his horn. Both arms were like flesh-like clay models of arms on the sand. Oddly, Ruby felt more control over her body after she did that, Sombra's Magic finding a way out of her.

"Try controlling me now," Ruby said, smirking to Sombra. The unicorn rolled his eyes, trying the same spell to control the Gem again. However, unlike before, the magic blast shot out where the arms would be rather than work.

"Clever. Graphic, but clever, I'll give you that one," Sombra said, disappearing before Ruby or Sapphire could do anything, and reappearing at the door to the Beach House. He wanted to make a quick check on Lapis and Twilight before going off to get the rest. Before looking in though, he noticed something else ... Overflowing water.

Next thing he knew, the door launched right at him, a huge amount of water slamming into him, his necklace flying in the air, sending him to the sand. Lapis stepped out with Twilight soon afterwards, no longer constrained in their binds. The door was stuck on Sombra's horn, the unicorn shaking it off before looking to them. Sombra quickly grabbed the necklace, and disappeared fast before they did anything else. While he was gone, their attention turned back to Ruby and Sapphire. Ruby's dark magic had literally been drained out of her, her red color returning to her, and her own magic returning to her after so long. Sapphire was overjoyed to see Ruby freed, as Lapis and Twilight came forward.

"RUBY! Your arms!" Twilight gasped, rushing over to Ruby.

"Don't worry, I'll be alright, look," Ruby assured her. Focusing a bit, finally having her body back, a white glow appeared where her arms used to be. The arms on the ground poofed away, and new arms took their place on Ruby. Soon, Sapphire hugged Ruby, just grateful to have her back.

"I was so worried about you, are you alright?"

"Who cares?" Ruby said, also happy as ever.

"I do," Sapphire replied. The blue Gem gave a Ruby a kiss on the cheek, both sides very glad to be okay at the end of it all. Ruby hugged Sapphire back, and the two spun around in pure joy. As they did, laughing all the while, they both began to glow. Soon, in no time at all, Ruby and Sapphire were back together, fusing back to the Gem who'd been gone for too long.

Garnet.

"Garnet!" Lapis and Twilight gasped.

"Great to be back," replied Garnet, hugging them both. Soon, a couple of barks reminded them all that Blue was still chained up to the rubble. Blue had seen everything, and couldn't help in any way, but was just glad Garnet had come back. Garnet took the liberty to break the chain for Blue, regaining her Gem Weapon to do so. Blue happily thanked Garnet with a few dog licks and happy barking.

"You feel better Garnet?" Twilight asked.

"Much better, thank you," Garnet replied. She felt a strong sense of determination, finally back together. Soon, the fusion, a smile on her face along with Twilight and Lapis, summoned back her signature shades.

"Let's go."


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, as Beach City was showing some more hope, Equestria was beginning to lose theirs. To start, the sun still didn't rose yet, and Tirek was getting stronger with each pony drained away of magic. Discord and Tirek ignored the whole no sun concept for the time being, the cover of night helping conceal Tirek's missions quite well. It was only a matter of time before Tirek would be known by the princesses, but discord knew they wouldn't consider him yet until they were finished with nightmare Moon (wherever they ended up, anyway). Tirek, while not knowing of Nightmare Moon, does know that it was only a matter of time before he would be ready to tackle such powerful alicorns, but for now, it's one pony at a time.

After heading around the minor villages and towns, Discord brought Tirek to an area with much more ponies to get all at once: the Crystal Empire. With Cadence gone for the moment, helping with Celestia, many of the dangers with getting caught by any royal guards was out of the question - something they both knew very well of.

Within the empire, for about an hour, Tirek helped himself to numerous crystal ponies, feeling stronger and stronger as time went by, and more ponies being lost. Soon, one at a time turned to group after group, Discord just watching from afar. During his walk about, one pony in particular was trying to stay out of the way, yet Tirek wasn't going to let anypony get away from him. He soon came over to the black-furred Crystal Pony, the pony in question trying to get himself gone, before Tirek grabbed him by the tail.

"Let go," he demanded, kicking Tirek's hand off of him. Angered, Tirek went after him as the black Crystal Pony cut a corner. When Tirek tried to find him again though, the black pony was simply gone - disappeared. However, Discord could easily see through his little disguise, and the Draconequus made a sort of fancy lightbulb show up where he was hiding.

"Right here, big boy," Discord pointed out. Finding the target, Tirek gave a strong inhale, sucking away the magical energy he had on him - or tried to. It was a bit harder, but eventually something was sucked out of him. For the moment, he was using a sort of cloaking method to avoid getting seen, but that magic was removed from his arsenal, and he ended up exposed ... In more ways than one. The pony wasn't a pony anymore after being taken away at what magic he was using, surprising Tirek on the result.

Flint.

He was on one knee, balancing himself on the other, realizing what had happened to him.

"What is this?" Tirek asked.

"Well, well, well. Looks like we have some Gems joining us after all."

"Gems?"

"Magic-filled rocks, basically," discord explained. Flint tried to get himself away, though was a bit hard with the Draconequus and cloaked being. After figuring that out though, Tirek removed his cloak to show his true self. His body was half equine, half human, all centaur with large stubs for horns (currently anyway). Flint tried to get himself out, not interested in a fight with anypony that day, but seeing that wasn't going to help, he switched to fight mode, and got out his weaponry, each gun-like shooter aimed at a different individual. Tirek took it as a threat, while Discord took it as inconvenience. Tirek reared back, front hooves whacking at Flint. That triggered a fire from one of the guns, and the ammunition, electrically charged, Shocked Tirek for a good five seconds, almost like he'd been hit by an electric taser. To make sure they backed off, he shot Discord too, but unlike Tirek, Discord's torso split in two for a brief moment to dodge the hit, and Flint ended up off guard as Tirek sucked up more magic from Flint until eventually, he ended up completely removed of magic! ... However, there was an odd result: since all the magic was removed from the Gem, and since it was their Gemstones who kept them alive and give them their magic ... Well, Flint turned from an alien being, into a small flint Gemstone rock, and nothing more. Upon landing, the Gem actually cracked a tiny bit...

"Huh, that was ... different," Discord said, not expecting that kind of result. He'd though of the Gem ending up like everypony else, not this way. The magic gained from Flint had made Tirek a little tougher, a little taller, and his horns growing a few inches more so. However, he then gained something else; a small gemstone growing on him. With some new magic, he then decided something else. With some focus, his body suddenly disappeared from sight! Seemed gaining camouflage was an excellent advantage to what Tirek was doing. Tirek snickered a bit, seeing this as a good luck sign for his work, and he and Discord continued on their way through the empire. Not too far away, none of them had noticed someone else had saw what had happened to Flint, just happening to be Jade! The one time that she decided to check on Flint, and she found him being drained completely by the demonic Centaur. As soon as she was sure that Tirek and Discord had gone far enough away, the shaken and saddened Gem came out, grabbed the Flint stone, and ran away as fast as she could. Luckily for her, she remained unnoticed by anypony as she left ...

As Tirek and Discord continued through the Crystal Empire, Jade had managed to get herself out of the empire without being detected by the demonic duo, but rather than head to the mountains, she ended up rushing out from the entrance rather than any extra exit around the empire. Jade couldn't stay there, and her exit to the mountains were actually separated by Tirek and Discord. Jade ended up exposed out onto the tundra, alone. the small Gem didn't know what to do, Flint being her main source of protection and security for the most part. With Flint gone though (even if temporarily), Jade was on her own, and she didn't had very much power herself. At least, not much will to use it...

Then, Discord suddenly popped up from behind her own shadow.

"Jade, is it? Sorry about your friend, my dear."

Jade got a bit spooked upon seeing Discord, spinning around and backing away. She didn't want to go into combat with something like a Draconequus. As for Discord, he had another idea in mind for her rather than feed her to the Centaur. Instead, as he moved closer, his tail snuck around her, and made an opening behind her, resembling the portals. Soon, with a simple "boo!" Jade accidentally slipped, and soon ended up through his portal! the portal quickly closed so Tirek wouldn't hear the screaming she made as she fell. After that was taken care of, Discord stretched, and flew off back to Tirek before the Centaur would get curious.


~~~~~~


Back in Beach city, the open plains further away were being ran upon by Lion and Steven, Lion leading with Steven following behind. Lion sensed Sombra was looking for them, and he wasn't going to let Steven fall into the wrong hooves. They've gone far enough to the point when they could barely see Beach City, and only then did Lion slow down to a stop. Steven did as well, laying down on the comforting grass, as Lion turned back once more. He couldn't see any sign of Sombra but sensed nothing. Lion laid down soon after that, but remained vigilant just in case something would come around. Steven settled down right next to Lion, starting to act asleep. In spite of how far they went, their moment of peace couldn't last forever.

Just a few meters away, something opened up, giving off a faint glow. What caught their attention though was the screaming, and the following thud. Lion went to investigate, as Steven slumbered nearby. With a good look, Lion found the source of the noise; Gem Jade! The portal Discord made had brought her to the right realm, and Jade was right in Lion's sights. The tall animal loomed over Jade, who was clutching the Flint Gem as best she could. Jade opened her eyes to see Lion, and immediately worried that Lion would hurt her, or take Flint away, but did neither. They got enough problems, no reason to cause even more. Lion showed her that he wasn't dangerous by gently nudging her a little bit.

"... What? ... Where am I?" Jade wondered, looking around like an insecure child. Lion looked over to where Steven was, seeing that he was still alright and sleeping. However, Jade wasn't the only one who was jumping around worlds. Close by, another portal suddenly opened, a bit bigger than the one Jade had fallen through. Lion readied for whatever came out, as something green tumbled out, a bit dizzy but fine.

"Alright, am I home yet?" She asked herself, looking at her touchscreen. Yes, it's Peridot again. Peridot looked at her touchscreen to be sure of it, but it said she was on Earth.

Again.

She pulled out the key she tried to use, probably multiple times, looking ready to snap.

"AAAHHHH CLOD!! WHY CAN'T THIS WORK?!" Peridot screamed, angry as heck, and throwing the key away as hard as she could. The key flew through the air, landing on Steven, waking him up. Only after she did that, when she noticed Jade and Lion standing there ...

As for Steven, waking up in a panic, moved out into sight to see Peridot there, a little bewildered for who else was there, and her key getting stuck in Steven's petal mane, sticking out as he approached.

"Oh, you again. Why not?" Peridot wasn't in any mood for meeting up with Steven again. On the bright side, at least there's another Gem to talk to.

"You there!"

"Huh? ... Me?" Jade asked, unsure of what was going on. Peridot grabbed the key with a levitation beam and showed it to Jade.

"I can't get this portal opener to work right, how can I make it take me back to Homeworld? I need to get back!" Peridot informed urgently. However, 1.) Jade wasn't the most sociable Gem, especially to someone like Peridot, and 2.) she never saw the key before. A foot scraping the dirt, Jade didn't look Peridot in the eyes as she answered.

"I uh ... I d-don't know," Jade got out. Peridot's look of anger turned to worry, which turned to shocked dismay.

"Great, just great! Now I'm stuck here! I go on one little mission; just in, and out, and now I'm stuck here on this stupid rock thanks to that dirt bomb Sombra unicorn! ARGH AHAHAHA!!" Peridot kicked the dirt and grass in anger, eventually falling on the ground in a childish rage; her fists and legs slamming on the ground. However, the mention of Sombra got Lion's attention; seemed Sombra had been busier than they'd thought. As Peridot let her rage out (be it a bit odd for a seemingly mature Gem), Lion began to work his paw in the dirt to make out pictures as his way of talking. After a few minutes, Peridot stopped her frustrations, and then saw Lion making out the pictures.

"Now what're you doing?" Peridot groaned, getting back up. Jade and Peridot went over to Lion's side and saw what kind of picture Lion was actually doing. Oddly enough, and surprisingly enough, it was Lion's version of what happened; a diagram if you will. Sombra was at the center, with pictures of the Gems around him, including Jasper with her Homeworld warship. He didn't add in Twilight, thinking it wouldn't be important to Peridot. After putting in the Gems, Lion made arrows to the necklace he put aside, showing which Gem was on which part, and an extra arrow pointing the necklace to Sombra. Jade found the connection horrifying, and Peridot too saw this as a worry, but how did Homeworld get to Earth if she didn't call for them?

"He's wearing Gems? What does he think we are; just fancy trinkets?!" Peridot snapped. Lion actually nodded yes to her. He then made the main mission clear by making a large X over Sombra, signifying that he had to be stopped soon. Peridot's anger towards him was already evident, since it was Sombra's fault she's stuck on Earth to begin with. Jade never had any personal anger to Sombra, mainly because she never met him yet, but at this rate Jade might end up doing so. Steven wandered a little bit away, looking back to Beach City...

Speaking of which, Beach City, despite finding the wreckage all over, weren't sure what was going on, or if it was of any concern. Some saw it as something worth looking into, while others think the police might handle the job. Either way, none of them were aware of Sombra's presence in their home yet. Further away, driving home, Connie's family had just finished up their shopping trip, and were just about to leave Beach City and head back to their home. For Connie, things had been a bit different for a while; while her punishment had been gone for quite a while, she hadn't heard of Steven in a long while. To them, they still thought Steven was missing still, and Connie could only wonder what made him run away. Steven was her close friend; he should've at least had some indication to why he did it to her.

However, the answer would have to wait. As they continued driving on the lone road, suddenly they all heard a loud pop of one of their tires, forcing them to stop alongside the road.

"Stay in the car, Connie," her dad informed, as he and his wife went out of the car to investigate. Connie did as she was told, and simply looked out the window. As she was, she noticed something else; glancing at the car side mirror from the back seat, she could see a glance of what caused their tire to pop. On the road appeared to be a strange, dark crystal growing in the road. Connie was for sure it wasn't there before. Her parents had yet to notice the crystal in the road, seeing the extent of the tears of the tires. The tears were surprisingly huge, half of their front tire torn away.

None of them were aware though of the shadow unicorn coming their way, having set up the trap for them...

One step at a time, not trying too much to be sneaky, the demonic Sombra came right into view of the misfortunate family, Connie staying in the car, unsure what Sombra was going to do. Her parents soon noticed him, but by the time they did, Sombra was just a foot away from them. The mother jumped back once she saw him, keeping some distance.

"What in the world?"

"And hello to you too," Sombra replied. Rather than waste any time right away, he cut right to the quick; jabbing his horn in the back car door, he tore it right off, threw it aside, and went in for Connie! Connie couldn't do very much in the car, and was brutally pulled out by Sombra, his teeth digging into her arm. When her parents saw Connie get yanked out, their fear turned to protection.

"Let her go!" The father demanded. Course, Sombra wasn't willing to comply, but did give the satisfaction of letting her go ... by letting her go in midair. Connie flew five feet up, before crashing down on the side of the road. Connie's glasses flew around wildly in the air until they landed near Sombra's hooves, which the unicorn smashed easily.

"Better?"

"Not better, get out of here!" The father yelled, not wanting Sombra around his daughter.

"I'll go, but I need to borrow her first," Sombra explained, moving to the wounded Connie.

"No, you're not!" The mother retorted, getting in the way of Sombra and Connie. Sombra just gave a huff to her, not really feeling intimidated.

"Did I ask for an opinion? Course, you really are a bad and upset mother, aren't you? Barely keeping track of your daughter for any moment while she's gallivanting," Sombra happily accused. Connie's mother, as expected, glared at the unicorn. She may not know who she was dealing with, but she wasn't going to let her daughter be taken away.

"Excuse me?! I know what my daughter's doing every second of the day -" suddenly Sombra's eyes began to glow green with purple smoke...

"And during every other second, she's jumping between worlds, and had made a doppelgänger of herself after you drove her away with your constant beating down. And you call yourself a good parent, no less."

"Leave her alone!" The father demanded, trying to punch Sombra. However, the unicorn whacked the mother away, spun around, and sank his teeth into his shoulder! Unlike before though, this bite was magically altered seconds before Sombra bit him. Connie and her mother got up, just in time to see Sombra turn the man, after a few quick seconds, into an icy statue! Frozen in place, he wasn't exactly dead, but just immobilized for the time being. Sombra would kill him if it meant anything. For the mother, she was already affected by Sombra's stare, huddled on the ground in a hysterical state, so Connie was all alone. However, Connie was already off and running. Though, with a running girl compared to a galloping full-grown pony, it didn't take long for Sombra to catch up, and knock her down. Connie couldn't get away, covered with the levitation magic Sombra had on her. Without a second glance, Sombra then rushed off with her, Connie only able to watch as her parents remained in their state ...


~~~~~~


Equestria's night of Nightmare Moon was still lasting longer than it should be. Since being brought back thanks to Sombra's helper, Nightmare had been off and hiding away within the Everfree, controlling the moon from where she remained. Within the Everfree forest, the ruins of what was once a glorious castle had remained from years of isolation and maintenance, about a similar standpoint from when Twilight and company first had met with Lapis Lazuli. Now though, with the alicorn taking hold of the place, the safehouse was by no means an area of good memories. As for Nightmare Moon herself, memories from Luna were no longer much in evidence in the moon goddess, as she looked to the full moon in pride. She did know though that Celestia would easily see the moon high up, and would go after her at any moment, but rather than plan any traps or hide away, the princess would stay in the throne room and confront Celestia head on. She wasn't going to cower off if she would end up coming to her. Sitting on the lone throne, Nightmare Moon relished in the moonlight from her own moon, and awaited for whomever would dare to come to her.

As expected, maybe, she began to sense somepony beginning to come towards the ruins. The figure had the shape similar to the alicorn in question, as she appeared and entered the old ruins of their one fantastic home.

"Luna."

"Sister, don't try my patience again, you won't beat me this time!" Nightmare made known, getting up from her throne.

"Luna, it doesn't need to be like this," Celestia insisted. However, Nightmare Moon would much rather fight than make up, and charged at her.

Soon, with the sisters meeting, the battle at the ruins had began between the two. Celestia, despite having more power than her competitor, really never wanted to harm anypony she was close to, especially her sister. That, however, was strictly a one-sided feeling, Nightmare Moon more than happy to beat up anypony who opposed her. During their fight however, none of them failed to sense anypony else coming in. At the door, which was left open, something began to head into the fighting ring with the princesses, although the physical body wasn't able to be seen. Nightmare Moon and Celestia continued to fight for a good while, as strong as they could with magic flaring around the place. Son, after non-stop fighting for the next ten minutes, Nightmare remained floating in the air, wings beating as Celestia tried to regain herself. Gaining her maximum power, Nightmare Moon blasted a fully powered night beam directly at princess Celestia. Celestia herself readied to dodge, but suddenly the beam behaved ... oddly. The beam made an odd U-turn away from Celestia, passed Nightmare Moon, and disappeared into a gaping mouth hidden away. The beam connected to more magic within Nightmare Moon, her body turning from the powerful Nightmare Alicorn, into a far weaker, magic-less Luna. Far from having Sombra's corruption ash, Luna was stripped away of all her magical connection, her mane no longer a flowing view of the night sky, but just a weakened looking dull blue. For Celestia, she could barely grasp what happened before she suddenly got the same effect, the magic draining away from her own horn! Celestia's rainbow flowing mane turned into a similarly dull pink, like Luna had for the moment, and she grew extremely weak. Both alicorns had lost their cutie marks, and as such, their control over the sun and moon ...

Only after that did the culprit revealed himself, now taller, stronger, and his horns longer and more curved.

"T-Tirek?" Celestia breathed, luckily she was able to get anything out. Tirek, grateful for the camouflage magic gained from Flint, tested his newfound abilities, and then looked outside. Raising his muscular arm, the two weakened sisters then saw the sun being raised, but the moon staying where it was! By the looks of it, it would appear the moon would crash into the sun, but instead Tirek stropped once the sun was hidden behind the moon - an eclipse as of were. There was a sort of ironic feel from this situation; while on one hoof Nightmare Moon had been removed the most blatant way possible, her savior happened to be a higher up threat, one Nightmare Moon couldn't save herself from.

So, with a laugh as he went, Tirek went right out, but not before he made a powerful fist hit onto the walls, making them collapse down! Celestia and Luna got themselves out just in time, but they both knew it was tiny compared to the second problem. As if dealing with Nightmare Moon wasn't enough, now they had Tirek running around Equestria, and a sun and moon sharing the sky at once. Wonderful.

Tirek, satisfied with his result, went off on his way when he noticed Discord chilling out in a tree, drinking from a large juice box.

"Told you it would be easy," Discord commented.

"Yeah. Now, why don't you have a little fun?" Tirek offered, an open hand showing Discord the large land he could go and begin. However, Discord strangely had another idea in mind.

"I'd love to ... One thing first," Discord said, snapping his paw fingers. Suddenly, a large, much fancier door appeared in front of Tirek, looking more medieval and ominous (not to mention larger for Tirek to go through) than what Discord had used before.

"What is this?"

"You want more magic, don't you?"

"Of course I do!"

"Well then, hop through here," Discord said, opening the door, dressed as a fancy butler. Tirek, smiling wickedly, cracked his knuckles before starting to head on through, Discord waiting for him to go fully in before closing the door, but Discord didn't get rid of it right away. Before he left, his tail turned into a hand, and he snapped the fingers just before going through himself. What actually happened was that the moon began to move all on its own, the sun taking its rightful place in the skies above.

"You're welcome, Celestia," Discord commented, before heading through.


~~~~~~


within Beach City, things were getting dark for Connie, whom had stopped fighting to get herself free after such a struggle with Sombra. After some time, and some thinking on where, Sombra had brought her oddly close to where the Beach House would be. In particular, there was a lighthouse on top of a tall hillside nearby the city towards the beach, and it was there where Sombra had brought her. Right in front of it, Sombra placed her on a raised platform he made before getting her, having her legs chained so she wouldn't run off again. Connie was still shaken up over what happened to her parents, and wondered if they'll be alright in the end. Yet, with her mom hysterical and her dad frozen, it was unlikely. Sombra could care less, and went over to the girl in question.

"What're you going to do with me?" Connie asked. Sombra got up onto the wooden platform.

"If things go well, absolutely nothing. Now, If you'd be so kind, scream."

"Huh?"

"Scream. Your voice will send Steven running right to me. Now go on, yell your innocent head off," Sombra insisted. While Connie didn't know too much about why he wants Steven, or who he was about, but she didn't trust him. Course, who would after seeing the same unicorn freeze and freak out their parents? So, Connie glared at Sombra.

"No way," Connie said, keeping her mouth shut. Sombra's expected as such, and went close to her.

"Well then, looks like you won't be going unscavved after all," Sombra chuckled. Connie didn't have to wait to find out, as Sombra lifted his hoof and slammed it hard on Connie's feet. The one hoof covered both of her feet, and the pain shot through her, like a giant boulder had just been dropped on her feet. Connie, although in pain, bottled up her cries so she would bring Steven up to him. Sombra tried another idea, and used his horn to make a quick, short, yet painful slice of Connie's back! It wasn't very deep, but it felt like a fire blade just struck her. Connie felt it even harder to keep quiet, but had just managed to keep her mouth shut. Sombra was starting to get testy with her, and then tried to bite hard in her side. Connie, her teeth grinding in a groan, still wasn't loud enough for her.

"Give in?" Sombra asked.

"N-No," Connie replied, tears down her face as she felt a trinkle of blood down her back, and a heartbeat feeling in her currently bruised feet, small cut and bite marks. Finally, Sombra decided to just jump the gun, and went for a more immediate solution; his horn glowed, and it launched a electric-like magic beam at Connie! The pain flowed through Connie in short intervals. Eventually, it was too much.

Connie's screams in pain, combined with where the height of where they were (the highest point of the city as they would get), stretched all over the place, catching everybody for a brief moment on the torture going on by Sombra. While Sombra meant to strictly bring Steven back, the cries of agony got the attention from the other friends; Garnet, Lapis, Twilight, and Blue in particular. The four almost immediately began to follow the cries for help, but that didn't mean that it didn't reach the intended ears; Lion, Steven, Peridot and Jade heard the screams, but they were only just audible. While many were curious, Steven almost instantly got up, like a dog being called by its owner, and the corrupted Gem began to move fast, much to Lion's surprise. When the scream stopped, so did the pain, Sombra sure that'll get Steven running right for him. Connie fell to her knees, taking a moment to relax. Sombra though was pleased with the pain, and the result of it.

"There now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Sombra said, having the nerve to gently stroke Connie's hair, like it wasn't a big deal. Connie just stayed there, as Sombra looked on to Beach City. However, his calls had gotten attention a bit faster than anticipated, as he quickly noticed another Gem coming across the sky: Lapis Lazuli. Lapis was a bit ahead of the others, so, she was alone when confronting him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lapis demanded.

"Lapis, glad to see you're here. Just setting things up for little Steven. By the way, you seen him on the way over?"

"No, and neither will you!" Lapis got the water out of her wings, and used that on the unicorn. She got out a good ten shots of water blasts, though they missed him and kept hitting the lighthouse. Only one got close to Connie though. Sombra felt that restraining was in order, and soon went near Connie, that time with his horn around Connie's neck like a readied sword.

"Try anymore tricks and I think you'll know the result. Hate to waste her life for what you do," Sombra said.

"You coward!" Lapis yelled, angry. Sombra, moving his horn away, looked at Lapis with a disappointed expression.

"I'm a coward? Which one of us had done nothing while Jasper tore her friends to pieces, hm? Or did you have any better reason aside from fear," Sombra asked, moving the Jasper Gem on his necklace. Lapis suddenly felt guilty on her part, for she really didn't fight while they were fighting Jasper. Before Lapis could respond, Twilight, Blue, and Garnet began to come near. Sombra didn't want to fight just yet, especially with someone like Garnet. After all, he got the scream out, he got what he needed. All he had to do was cut Steven off at the pass, and he would have him.

"Take the girl," Sombra said, giving them a distraction to deal with. Releasing the chains, Sombra grabbed Connie, and threw her high in the air!

"Connie!" Twilight gasped, taking to the wing, and flying to get her. Connie flailed around, but Twilight grabbed her by her shoulders, her front hooves holding her weight as Sombra galloped away. Twilight brought Connie down safely and gently, Garnet skidding and turning to get Sombra. Before they could go, something else soon presented itself. With the group turning back to the lighthouse, a gigantic white door suddenly opened up, a familiar Draconequus flying through.

"Discord not now, we -"

"Keep him busy will ya? Thanks," Discord suddenly said. Soon, they saw why in the form of Tirek, who was double in size compared to Garnet by that point. First Jasper, then Sombra, now Tirek?! The centaur looked down to them, sensing the magical energy from the Gems, but his attention got to Twilight. The sight of Tirek made Sombra do a double-take, but the extra distraction was good for him to have. The only other one who left was Blue, rushing after Sombra.

"Connie, run!" Garnet ordered.

"What about Sombra?" Lapis asked.

"We'll get him later," Garnet decided. They couldn't rush off after him when there's Tirek here as well. Oddly, none of them noticed the door refusing to close ...


~~~~~~


While Garnet and Lapis and Twilight had to deal with Tirek, Sombra took the moment to slip away. Being a rather old unicorn, he was well aware of what Tirek could, and will do, and the unicorn would much rather do what he wanted to first. Sombra wasn't aware that Blue, nor Connie, was following him, as he made it to the center of Beach City. Other people soon noticed him, Sombra not caring for the sake of time constraint; Steven's presence needing to be taken care of. Sombra waited along the path, until down the road ahead, he could see the corrupted Gem running his way. That surely didn't take long to get to. Sombra could hear the other fight going on about with Tirek, but he ignored it, as Steven didn't stop running until he was a ten feet away. The townsfolk did make up a good audience to watch though. Steven got in a more aggressive stance, his Gem tail swaying as if he had a stinger at the end of it. Sombra stood boldly against the gem.

"Well, look who decided to join us. Pleasure to find you after our last excursion, Steven," Sombra said. Just saying that this corruption was Steven got everybody who was there shocked and appalled. Not only the fact that Steven was missing, but the fact Steven wasn't a human anymore. Sombra and Steven started to circle in their little ring, Sombra just in a simple walk while Steven was ready to pounce. As they were doing that, it gave time for Blue, and Connie to catch up. Connie's first sight was Steven's corrupted form, his mirror face looking to her to reflect the horrified expression on her face.

"S-Steven?!" Connie gasped, recognizing the gemstone anywhere. Sombra then realized the followed company, Blue rushing to Steven as Connie was left terrified. Sombra took the moment to set his necklace in his red robe, for he didn't want it smashed up in their little excursion.

"So, what're you going to do? Fight me? It worked wonders before," Sombra mocked, deliberately trying to get Steven angry. Connie and Blue stayed with Steven, but before a fight could start, the rest of Steven's group showed up. Lion was carrying Jade, as Peridot flew with her chopper fingers to keep up with them.

"There you are," Peridot said, unamused.

"Oh, you again," Sombra said.

"Yeah it's me, now I'm a busy Gem, appointments to keep, so just go ahead and fix up the Warp Pad, that'll be great," Peridot said. What got to Sombra though wasn't how straightforward the demand was, but she didn't sound as threatening, if not just annoyed with him. And the fact it was a straight up demand was something he took note of too. Still, the unicorn took the moment to zap at Steven, causing a dark magic cage to form up around him, Connie, and Blue.

"You think you can order me around? How cute," Sombra mocked.

"I'm not cute!" Peridot snapped ... Which actually was cute a little bit. Still, Sombra didn't had time to argue with her. Sombra turned back to Steven, and was about to charge, but Peridot suddenly got in his way.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"Get out of the way," Sombra groaned, whacking her aside as his horn glowed, the cage shrinking down to crush the three. Sombra's issue with Peridot wasn't done though, the green Homeworld Gem seeing the necklace hidden on the unicorn. While Sombra was busy, Peridot suddenly got it with her levitation beam, and yanked it away from him! Course, Sombra noticed, and turned back to see Peridot holding his necklace of the Gems. He turns his back, and that thief pickpockets him. Really? Peridot though still mainly cared for getting the Warp Pad back from him than much else, Sombra getting angry with her.

"Give that back, you dolt!" Sombra demanded.

"Recreate the Warp Pad then," Peridot retorted. Those who'd known Sombra a bit longer than Peridot wasn't sure if she was acting stupid, or was brave as heck, for Sombra's far deadlier than Peridot was taking him for. Sombra, groaning even more so, just decided to shut her up, readying a magical blast. With Steven stuck in his cage, he can afford to handle Peridot for his necklace while Steven stayed put inside the cage. For Peridot, she got the necklace inside her arm holder before jumping out of the way from Sombra's blast. Peridot was just finding the assaults and blasts an annoyance, though while Sombra at first saw it as simply that, his anger grew more and more every time he missed her. Sombra's magical blasts launched about with precision, but none of them could get to her. If he was to succeed, he can't let that necklace get away (he could care less about what happened to Peridot). For Peridot, the more times she dodged the attacks, the more of a thrill she was getting from it, and was actually having some odd fun with it, much to Sombra's annoyance. Lion and Jade went over to Steven, trying to get them out as the fight was going on.

"Hold still," Sombra firmly said, shooting at her again. Upon that shot, it did make her fall forward, but suddenly she was running around on her fingers, perfectly balanced and equally fast!

"HA HA, you missed!" Peridot mocked, getting a kick out of it. Sombra snorted, and turned into shadows to conceal Peridot. Peridot got to her feet, readying her blaster, but Sombra's eyes turned green with purple smoke again, trying to get her scared out of her mind ...

But, something else was happening. Or rather, not happening ...

"What're you doing?" Peridot asked, legitimately confused after the first ten seconds. Sombra tried harder and harder, but his stare seemed to not work on her! Sombra didn't know; it worked wonders before many times, before he met Steven in fact. Could be that she was a true Gem, or the fact her eyewear covered her true eyes, but either way Sombra wasn't having any luck with her.

"It's not working," Sombra breathed.

"Obviously," Peridot added. Sombra had enough of her games, and got his magic a hold of her before she could move, bringing her arms and legs up on the air as if being roped up, and pulled hard in an X-shape. The sight of her high in the air in her state did cause some worry amongst the crowd, who none of them had any Gaul to enter the ring and help her out. Sombra had it, and with a charge of his horn, and with no where for Peridot to run, he took aim and shot once more. Lion was going to stop Sombra, but Peridot had another little trick up her sleeve ...

Seconds before it hit, something smaller dropped to the ground, and the shot had missed again. Peridot wouldn't normally do that, but desperate times call for desperate measures. As for Peridot, Sombra saw her supposed arms and legs floating in the air ... and Peridot was on the ground, running off and away with the necklace still in her hands. The thing though; Peridot was ... actually, very small, about Steven's regular size, the extra arms and legs nothing more than enhancers. That didn't mean Peridot wasn't moving quick; despite her true size, Peridot's evasion was still a quick one. Ticked, Sombra threw the enhancers off onto the ground, turning just in time to see Peridot standing by Lion.

"You little brat, give that back now!" Sombra yelled. Peridot jumped onto Lion's head.

"Just remake the portal, you clod!"

"I'll never set you free, now HAND IT OVER OR SHATTER!" Sombra blurted out. He got so angry, his normally quick sly wit was lost for that brief moment. Sombra had realized his mistake and, convinced that Sombra was worthless in her own goal, Peridot gave the Gem necklace to Lion, who clamped it down hard. Sombra, anger boiling, tried to calm himself and think on what to do, but Peridot had already got one final trick to pull. she put both hands behind her back, and then clenched her left fist. With Sombra's back turned, he didn't see the enhancers actually reacting to Peridot's hand. One of the enhancer's fingers turned into her signature blaster. A shot was launched, and Sombra turned his head just in time to see it make a direct hit, right at his horn!

Sombra screamed in pain, as most of his horn was blown off his head, landing nearby on the ground in front of Lion. Of course, Lion lifted a paw and smashed it under it. Sombra was thrown back, landing on his side, as he felt the power seep out of him like smoke, and his royal armor and clothing disappearing to leave just a grey, cutie-markless unicorn. Also, the dark cage Sombra had made had disappeared without Sombra's control, freeing Connie, Steven, and Blue. However, sadly, Steven was still stuck in corruption mode, even with Sombra's magic removed the simplest way possible.

"... Clever girl ..." Sombra breathed out, trying to regain some strength. All they could do was go and help the others with Tirek back at the lighthouse, Steven and Connie leading off while the others followed them. Even if they weren't aware of who, the extra roars and firing was still an attention grabber. The last one to go was Blue himself, who actually went over to Sombra. Rather than mock him, he gave a small bark, a lick on the cracked horn stub on Sombra's head, and left him at that ...


~~~~~~


With one evil over, the group of Gems traveled off to help with Tirek. Sadly though, Tirek's power had taken the toll on who was there; Twilight being the only one left standing as Garnet and Lapis had already met their fate when Tirek managed to suck away their Magic, leaving them as rocks on the ground. His size and physique didn't change as much, but his Gemstone grew more in power and in rounded shape. A Lapis Lazuli gem, a Sapphire gem, and a Ruby gem laid lifeless as Twilight, wings spread, readied for another blow from the centaur. Without her own magic to back her up, Twilight wasn't used to physical fighting as much as an actual Pegasus.

"You're turn," Tirek growled with a smile, heading right for her. Twilight flew up, and tried to get at him, but all Tirek did was halt her with his levitation gaining magic. However, just before Tirek could suck away what power Twilight had, another loud roar caught his attention, and a sound wave hit Tirek square on the head, making him drop Twilight. They both saw the others running in to help her out, giving Tirek more fighters to deal with. Riding in on Lion was Peridot, and Connie and Jade were on Steven. the centaur marched forward, with his new abilities at the ready with Garnet's weapon fists replacing his own. Lion roared to Twilight, as if telling her to stand back for the moment so she could catch her breath.

Lion was the one who took the lead, as Peridot, Connie, and Jade all stayed aside with Twilight. As far as fighting went, Lion was probably the best option in comparison to the others. Lion maybe slammer than Tirek, but determination and skill gave Tirek some trouble, as Lion's first attack was a giant leap to his head. Tirek whacked Lion off, and his fist tried to crush him, but Lion dodged, and bit hard on one of Tirek's large horns. In just one swing, Lion's powerful jaws and muscle was just enough to break the horn, causing pain on Tirek. Angered, Tirek got both fists ready, but Lion didn't give him the chance as he threw the horn aside and roared at him again, another sound wave slamming at the centaur. The others tried to aid Twilight, but Tirek caught them doing so, and then did another trick; summoning a power ball of orange magic and sent it right at them! The others braced for impact, but Steven hopped in the way, his mirror face taking the full hit. It didn't hurt him though, and in fact launched it back at Tirek, hitting his other horn off of him a bit more brutally than the way Lion did. The hit got Tirek even more distracted, gripping his head in pain from the fiery hit.

Tirek was assaulted again by Lion, who jumped onto his back, and bit into him again. Tirek couldn't reach him that time though and tried in vain to get the feline off of him. Steven moved over to Tirek, as Lion was thrown off after a good while. Tirek, teeth grinding at the loss of his horns, grew out more weaponry. Since sucking away Garnet's glove weaponry, Flint's pistols, and Lapis's water abilities, Tirek had got them both working together, and pulled out a giant, aquatic-styled torpedo launcher. Steven and Lion both didn't expect this to happen, and the other Gems, Connie and Twilight didn't either, as Tirek took dead aim. Lion and Steven jumped out of the way as a torpedo was launched and exploded with devastating effect. Tirek's weapon automatically reloaded, and Tirek managed to shoot six more blasts at Lion and Steven, the others trying their best to stay out of the firing line. If Tirek was dangerous enough, this new Gem weapon he gained was something both horrifying and ... bizarrely interesting (to Peridot anyway). Able to turn other Gem weapons into weaponry normally for gem fusions did put up some possibilities in Peridot's head ...

Lion tried to get close, but with the torpedo launcher, it was hard to without the risk of getting blasted to bits. Soon, Steven and Lion seemed to get the same idea - their only shot. Steven rushed ahead, getting Tirek to aim at him, but that very second, Lion jumped up at him, and rammed Tirek hard on the head. The hit was just strong enough... 

and the Gemstone cracked ...

Tirek screamed in pain, as something extremely unexpected occurred. Tirek, with his head aiming skyward, the Gemstone shined bright white, and shattered completely as a ton of power was released from him! The magic came out as white orbs, some of which landed on the gemstones on the ground. Upon doing so, the Gems came back to life, and regained their original shape. Sapphire, Ruby, and by account, Flint, had come back to life much to their delight. Most of the magic got out of Steven's world, and into Equestria with all the magic returning to everypony from which he stole the magic from. For each one, their cutie marks returned, their strength back, and back to normal. Celestia and Luna were apart of those with returned strength, and Luna hadn't turned to Nightmare Moon again. As for Tirek himself, his body shrunk down in power and shape, and he returned back to a meek, scrawny Centaur with barely horns to speak of. Tirek landed on the ground, weakened as ever, with Lion standing over him. Being weak, Tirek couldn't do very much anymore, as Lion grabbed him, and tossed him back in Equestria. Another evil problem finished off.

The attention came to the returned Gems. Sapphire and Ruby were a bit rough, but fine, and Flint shook his head to wake himself up. Jade stayed close, but Flint looked ready to attack the others nearby, despite his cracked gemstone still on him. However, Jade quickly tried to stop him.

"Wait, Flint, they saved you," Jade said. Flint wasn't too sure about it yet, but he barely remembered too much on what had happened since getting himself drained. Still, if anyone he did trust, it was Jade. Lion went over to him, and helped him to his feet. Flint looked to the other Gems there, unsure if he should trust them though, but it does seem that they helped Jade, and kept her safe for the longest time. Their attention turned next, to Peridot, who still had the necklace in her hands, given to her when Lion began the fight. Peridot wasn't too sure that time on how the others will react to her, and without her enhancers to back her up, she was simply defenseless.

"What are you doing with our friends?" Ruby asked in anger, making Peridot back up a bit.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, It's not what you think," Peridot said, backing away. Before they could go any further, they had one more little surprise in store, walking slowly to them from further away; Sombra. The pony looked different that time around; having no royal clothing or armor, his horn no more than a cracked stub. His mane and fur weren't as flowing as before, hanging down in a mess of black hair. Obviously he no longer had his magic thanks to loosing his horn. By Sombra's stance, he was very weak in his hooves. He was staring to them in a death stare, but he wasn't going to do very good in his state anymore.

"It's over, Sombra," Sapphire said upon seeing him.

"Don't give me any of that, I know when I'm defeated ... You there," Sombra breathed, looking to Peridot, holding the Gems in her hands. Peridot backed up a bit, but, Sombra wasn't there to fight.

"I don't know what's with you ... Or how important Homeworld is for you ... But I'm impressed you beaten me. You little clod ... By the way, you dropped this," Sombra tiredly said, pulling out Peridot's own magic key from in his own mane, and dropping it at Peridot's feet. Everyone else looked to Peridot, the Homeworld Gem not expecting to hear that from Sombra. The others didn't expect to see Peridot having her own magic key either. The once powerful unicorn looked to the rest, knowing now that he stood no chance.

"You beat Sombra?" Twilight gasped. Peridot didn't answer, as Sombra went to the door leading back to Equestria.

"I'll see myself out ... Good luck to you," Sombra finally said, before weakly moving through the door. Only until after Sombra passed through, that the portal finally closed up. While they felt good that Sombra and Tirek was taken care of, the fact that Twilight was still powerless, and Steven still corrupted ...


~~~~~~


Sometime later, their next spot that the Gems had come back to was where it all began; Rose's garden. It was in its prime since Twilight last saw the place. She knew it very well though, being the same place where she first met the Gems in the first place. Sapphire and Ruby had decided this spot would be the best place. Sapphire and Ruby had returned to Garnet, so it was only her, Steven, Twilight, Flint and Jade. Everyone else was taking the time to relax a bit after everything. Flint and Jade both stayed around with the other Gems for a bit. While normally Flint would be a bit un-trustful to the other Gems, they did save him after all, not to mention looked after Jade for his time of absence without harming her. It's a start, anyway.

Twilight and Flint moved over to the fountain first, standing by the healing waters of the fountain. Twilight took one look back before she went into the waters head first. Everyone else waited as both Flint and Twilight began to be healed from their troubles. When Flint resurfaced, his Gem was all better, the crack completely gone. As for Twilight, she felt her head and, much to her relief, she had her horn regrown! To be sure if she was good, she did a simple levitation spell over by some small rocks, seeing that her magic had returned. Steven, eager, went into the water himself soon after Twilight and Flint got out. However, Steven didn't return to normal, still trapped in corruption.

"What are we going to do?" Twilight sighed. Before they could do anything, or figure it out, the Warp Pad activated, and Lapis soon came back.

"Lapis. Is everything handled?" Garnet asked.

"Yes; the others are resting back at the temple, and Connie's home safe and sound. Her parents are safe too," Lapis made known.

"What about Tirek and Sombra?"

"Both sent to Tartarus. At least that's what Celestia said."

"And Jasper?" Garnet asked, Sapphire talking through. Lapis rubbed the back of her head.

"Well ... She agreed to stay with us for a while, Peridot too, though just because they don't have any way back to Homerworld," Lapis admitted.

"I see."

As they caught up, Flint and Jade were both talking to each other further away, but Garnet turned to them after a bit. Soon, Flint got up and looked to Garnet.

"... We might be able to save him, but it's a very high risk," Flint said. Garnet was especially surprised with that kind of information; they are able to fix corrupted Gems? That was something she must know. Flint kept calm, looking to Jade before continuing.

"We need Nephrite," Flint concluded.

"Nephrite?" Lapis asked.

"Nephrite is a fusion me and Jade can turn into. It's able to cure corrupted Gems, and had done so a few times before ... but ..."

"But what?" asked Twilight.

"But it's not a high chance of success. If it doesn't work ... the corruption is permanent ..."

That immediately hanged the mood from hopeful to unsure. If they succeed, they have Steven back, but if they fail, then Steven will be forever trapped in his corruption. Garnet turned to Steven, who looked to her with his mirror expression, Garnet able to see her own face on him ...

"That's a risk we'll have to take ..." Garnet decided. Jade was a little bit more hopeful in the plan than Flint was, but if it works, it'll be their own way of thanking them for helping them out from Tirek, and potentially Sombra.

Flint and Jade both then started to perform their fusion dance for a bit, and it didn't take too long before they both started to glow. In just under a minute, the two were fused, and Nephrite started to take shape. its body resembled that of a girl, but still had the boyish face from Flint. its hair was in a striped ponytail, with striped of black and green bands. Its clothing was had black armor from the neck down to Nephrite's chest, with a jade skirt at the bottom of the armor, ending at its knees. Nephrite had fully completed her form, standing at nine feet from head to toe. With it finally complete, Steven slowly started to move forward to Nephrite, a bit slowly and crawling a bit. Steven wasn't sure what Nephrite was going to do to him, but he could only hope that it'll work whatever it is. Nephrite kneeled down and got Steven to sit down. Soon, Nephrite located the Gem on Steven's tail, and held it gently in its hands, Steven staying still as it did so. Nephrite focused as much as it could do, and the Gem on Steven's tail began to glow. Everybody held their breath, and hoped that it will work out, Steven especially ...

Steven started to feel something going on ... Something inside of him started to change. Nephrite looked to him with gentle, green eyes, and it could see the reflection of Steven's true face form, laughing a bit. Then, the entire body started to glow, and the petals started to go off him like they were blown away. the petals went out of sight, and the body started to shrink, and turned into a human-like shape ...

Steven's shape.

After a while more, Steven's body began to revert to normal, his clothes back, the petals gone, the tail missing, and soon, Steven Universe was no longer the corrupted Gem anymore! Steven took a moment to look himself over. Yep, he was back to normal. With a nod, Nephrite disappeared, turning back to Flint and Jade. When they returned, Jade was sitting on Flint's shoulders, before Flint let her down gently. Garnet went over to them both, taking off her glasses to show her three hopeful, and happy eyes. So much so, she had a tear come out. Steven was back, all better, and it was all thank to these two. Flint and Jade were just glad a permanent fusion wasn't going to happen this time.

"Thank you. Thank you!" Garnet said, rubbing a tear off one of her eyes. She was just so glad to have Steven back, and she knew everyone else will be just as happy, if not more.

"Much obliged," replied Flint. Soon, they all then heard a loud growl coming from Steven's stomach. Garnet turned to him, and gave a smile.

"come on, let's get you something to eat," Garnet decided. Steven smiled and nodded, and the group began to go back to the temple.

What was in their future? With Peridot and Jasper from Homeworld stuck on Earth, how will they handle them? These sorts of questions (while some might know), will be answered at some point. Whatever they had ahead though, be it a veteran war gem, demonic creature, or just some other antics from either more corruptions or magic from Equestria, there wasn't much doubt that they can go through it all together.