> My Little Universe: Season 4
>  by EquestrianKirin
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Together for Better PT1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a very interesting year for both Earth, and Equestria. It was hard to believe that so much has happened over the course of one Earth year. At the beginning, the group known as the Crystal Gems started off with only four members, secluded on Earth for many years since winning Earth from Homeworld in their struggle. Incredible to think then; now their group had increased by nine more Gems, and even more so, Homeworld was now on better terms with them. All of this, and it began with the introduction of the Mane Six, otherwise known as the Elements of Harmony. The Ponies and their world surely had made things interesting, for better or worse depending on the situations. So much had been achieved over one year, and the Gems and Ponies couldn't be happier for it, even if it had been a bumpy ride. Speaking of year ...

"Happy Anniversary!"

At the Beach House, there was a big surprise awaiting for one of the Gems in particular. The second she entered through the Beach House door, she was soon caught in somepony's confetti-filled party cannon. The Gem in question was named Lapis Lazuli, and the ones celebrating were Pinkie and Steven (for the start anyway). Lapis didn't expect this sudden surprise, but the others came to the conclusion that it was going to happen.

"Anniversary?" Lapis questioned, as she never heard of one exactly.

"Yeah! It's your one-year anniversary Lapis, for joining the Crystal Gems," Steven said with a happy grin. Lapis took a moment to think back on it. She remembered well on how she met Steven, but didn't realize how much time passed since then.

"Wow, one year already? I didn't even notice," Lapis joked. Soon, she suddenly saw that Steven had something in his hands, holding it out to her. For what it was, Lapis saw that Steven had a gift for her; a straw hat, with blue ribbon and a cute fake dolphin on its rim.

"Ta-da," Steven said as he presented the hat to Lapis. Lapis tried the hat on, which was a perfect fit. Plus it looked rather nice on her head.

"Aww, Steven that's so sweet, I love it. Thanks," Lapis said, she and Steven sharing a sweet hug. It was a nice gift to get from her favorite human. Soon though, Pinkie hopped in between them.

"Come on you two, the party's waiting!" Pinkie beamed.


~~~~~~


It wouldn't be a Pinkie Pie party without a party to celebrate with. Lapis was brought right over to the barn by Steven and Pinkie, where the party was to take place. Lapis soon saw that many of the Gems and Ponies were also there, as requested by the two party planners. The place was completely decorated with all sorts of streamers, balloons, and other party favors. The barn was cleared out so they could dance inside, which itself wasn't easy to do. There was also a table set up for some goodies to have for later, even if some of the other Gems detest that. While not every Gem in the Crystal Gems or every pony in the Mane Six could make it, it was still quite a party, and it didn't take long before the anniversary Gem was getting into it. The party was made more like a birthday party than an anniversary, but it was still fun to do. It wasn't just her though; others in the group like Amethyst, Rainbow Dash, Fulgurite, and Emerald all were basically having a blast at the party, though some others were still more mellow. Even Connie, after much convincing to her parents, was able to join the festivity with the others. Over at the table though, one of the Gems, Flint, eventually turned over to Steven close by.

"Eh, Steven. While it is appreciated for you ... Putting faces on things," Flint began, holding one of the balloons which had a silly face on it. "But, aren't we a little mature for this -" Before he could finish, suddenly Lapis popped up next to him, soon staring him face to face. She had a party blower in her mouth, and on each one of her fingers. With a smile, Lapis blew the party blower right in Flint's face, quickly moving off out of the way before he could do anything. It may be just an anniversary, but Lapis Lazuli was a child at heart, and she enjoyed it all the same. Flint felt a little embarrassed, as Amethyst and Fulgurite snickered quietly nearby. Even Connie and Jade smiled, trying not to giggle themselves. Flint could only sigh; he couldn't really get mad at Jade for finding it funny.

As for the party, then came the dancefloor. Some of the Gems were already dancing away, when Steven began to head over. At the moment, Connie was also inside, standing aside though and watching the others dance. For those dancing, they were basically having a good time in their own way. Some (Pearl for example) danced with more grace while others (Amethyst or Peridot) pretty much went all out. When Steven saw Connie standing aside, he went right over to her.

"Will you join me?" Steven asked, a bit more formally than needed. Connie began to feel a little sheepish; yeah she knew the Gems to some degree, but, performing in front of a crowd just wasn't her. Steven though didn't had such problems.

"Uh, I dunno Steven, I really don't think ..."

"Take my hand," Steven said, extending his hand out. After a little bit, Connie decided to try. She trusted Steven more than most, and if Steven thought it was alright, then very well. Guided by Steven, the two kids went out onto the dancefloor, the other Gems around them both and dancing away. The music was the perfect beat to have them both dance to, so there was a plus. Steven soon started dancing with the music, though Connie needed a bit before she started to dance herself. Like Pearl, Connie's dancing was more steady and flowing while Steven was more of a party boy vibe; energetic and fun-filled. Connie slowly began to enjoy it more and more, and soon forgot to be worried. Since the two were close to the center of the dancefloor, it didn't take very long before someone from the crowd ended up noticing.

"Psst, Pearl, look," Lapis said, pointing to the two. Seeing the two dance together was simply cute to see. Connie and Steven even went off in a duet dance together, both kids enjoying the moment together. Steven was happy, Connie was happy, it was all good ...

But, something started to glow ...

Steven's gemstone!

"Wait, what's that?" Peridot asked, once she noticed the glow increasing. Connie and Steven (both eyes closed, focusing on the beat), didn't really notice the increasing glow. The brighter the glow, the more noticeable it was. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, both Connie and Steven began to glow bright white, the only main sight being Steven's gemstone hovering amongst the bright light mesh. They all could still hear the laughter of the two kids, beginning to turn into one.

Then it happened.

After the light faded, the others got a better view of what just happened. First of all Connie and Steven were missing, which was surprising in of itself. However, it's who was there that was shocking. Calming down from laughing, another person entirely was standing there. She was tall, a few inches away from matching Garnet's height excluding hair, with tan skin and dark brown poofy hair that went down past her shoulders, right down her back. She looked downright beautiful; smooth womanly curves, and a sweet face. As for clothes, she had a pair of blue shorts, and Steven's signature star shirt with a extra flowy light blue skirt, though the skirt just reached to her upper stomach like the shirt. She also didn't had any shoes on, some noted. Once she opened her eyes, only then did she realized something was different. She even had Steven's gemstone on her stomach.

"W-Wha? What happened? Everything's shorter now," she said, trying to comprehend what happened herself. Not a voice answered her at first, shocked and speechless, but Pinkie Pie ...

"OMG! NEW FUSION!" she yelled out in excitement, celebrating with another party cannon blast at the girl. A new fusion? She turned to the others, and saw they were left surprised as well. It was then she looked at herself, seeing she was taller, more matured, and having a more womanly body. Soon, she looked surprised, but it shifted towards excitement after a little bit.

"Whoa, look at you!" she said, seemingly talking to herself. Her expression turned stern, as she took a deep breath.

"I'm a fusion," she stated. The Gems and ponies couldn't even comprehend what happened, but after thinking and thinking more clearly, some took this as exciting.

"Holy smokes," Peridot said. When Amethyst turned off to the side a little, she then started to snicker when she saw Garnet, who had a big smile, her hands in front of her mouth. Guess she was happy about this. Pinkie took this opportunity in her hooves, and hopped right into her hair. The fusion's hair was soft, and enough to cover her up.

"W-What? But, how, this shouldn't - I. I'm speechless," Pearl said, looking her over a bit. Amethyst wasn't though, and hugged her, looking up to her.

"Wow! You two look great together! How does it feel Steven? Connie? ... Stevonnie?" Amethyst said, completely psyched. Guess they got her name, at least. Stevonnie still was beside herself, the first time being fused and all. Still, after a little bit, Stevonnie smiled.

"It feels great!" Stevonnie decided. Pinkie popped up from Stevonnie's hair, her front hooves around Stevonnie's shoulders like she was getting a piggy back ride, as Lapis and Garnet went over.

"This is amazing! Steven's first ever fusion - how sweet is that?" Lapis said, very excited.

"Doesn't look half-bad either," added Emerald, with a wink. It was right there though, that Pinkie Pie just realized something, a dramatic gasp escaping her mouth as she jumped out of Stevonnie's hair. Today was Lapis's anniversary, yes, but with a brand new first time fusion at the same time, that meant one thing ...

"We have TWO celebrations; Happy birthday Stevonnie!" Pinkie beamed, getting Stevonnie a party hat, and blowing a party blower at her face. Stevonnie kinda jumped from that (who wouldn't when it came to Pinkie), though she was technically right. The only one who wasn't too excited, and more stern with this sudden occurrence was Flint, thinking over what exactly should be done with this. Two Gems fusing was fine, but two humans fusing like this was something entirely new to everyone, nevermind just him.

"Man, Twilight will flip when she hears about this," Rainbow said (Twilight couldn't make it to the party this time around). However, Pearl - although happy to see them fuse, felt a little uncomfortable. She didn't know how to put it, but soon she just tried it anyway.

"Hold on a minute. Steven, Connie, as great as you two might feel, I suggest you two un-fuse this instant," Pearl got out. Stevonnie felt puzzled.

"Aww, what? But we just got this!" Stevonnie protested, referring to Steven and Connie.

"This is far too different, and you know it. Un-fuse at once," Flint suddenly ordered, agreeing with Pearl's troubles. However, Stevonnie didn't; they just got this fusion to work, and they didn't want to get out of it right away. Besides, being fused was something exciting to say the least, and phenomenal at most. Flint felt rough on it though.

"Garnet, help me out here," Flint firmly stated, thinking that Garnet would be wanting it too. Instead, though, Garnet moved over to Stevonnie, resting her hand on her shoulder.

"Stevonnie. You're no longer two people. You are no longer one person. You are an experience. Make sure it's a good experience," Garnet advised, ecstatic about it same as a few others. While Pearl didn't worry too much, Flint was losing patience.

"What? Garnet, they just fused, aren't you even a little bit -"

"Flint, calm down. Don't worry, Stevonnie. Go have fun," Garnet decided. Stevonnie was happy to hear that, but Flint still wasn't sure about this. He knows fusions, and he knows what troubles they come with. Having two organic species doing an inorganic fusion could spell trouble for both of them - as far as he knew anyway. As for Stevonnie, the newcomer fusion couldn't wait to get rolling, and Lapis wanting to join in too (what other chance was there to join this?)

"Thanks you, Garnet," Stevonnie said with a smile.

"So, what do you want to do with this, Stevonnie?" Lapis asked. The anniversary was fun, but adding a new fusion was even better. Flint just kept an eye on Stevonnie for a while as they thought over what to do, Jade seeing him.

"Um, Flint? I know your worried, but ... Well, maybe you should just let them try it," Jade said. Flint couldn't believe his ears.

"Jade, this is fusion we're talking about."

"I know it is, it's new for everyone. But they don't seem to be having trouble with it. Look," Jade said. Flint looked and saw they both were happy, but he only took it as just from experiencing something new and different. It was at this point, Stevonnie and Lapis both went out of the barn, decided to show the others what happened. Garnet couldn't be more proud of the two; their relationship defying the impossible pretty much. Still, she sensed that Flint still was on the edge of things ...


~~~~~~


While the party was being cleaned up, the attention shifted towards the new fusion at this point. Stevonnie was joined up by Lapis for the first part, as everybody and everypony else were doing other things. The first thing they had in mind on doing was going off to show off what Connie and Steven did. Such a big accomplishment shouldn't go without showing the others. After some thinking on it, Lapis and Stevonnie went right on back to the Beach House. Stevonnie was still trying to get used to walking with her new body, since the two people fused to make her were much shorter. Lapis though was there, and she was more than happy to help her out until she was more used to it.

As for who they were seeing first, the first Gem they were going off to check out was Jasper. While the anniversary was a nice reason, Jasper just wasn't the one to be involved in such a party, even if it was by Pinkie Pie. It took some walking around, but eventually Jasper was found over by an isolated part of the beach; the same beach where she had been basically training since staying with the Gems. When Lapis Lazuli and Stevonnie had found her, Jasper had just finished smoothing out the rock wall with her pounding fists - typical pastime. The orange Quartz blew off some stray pebbles and dust from her fist, and only then did Lapis get her attention.

"Jasper, Jasper! You got to see this!" Lapis called, waving to her as she went right up to her.

"What's the matter, Lapis, I'm in the middle of something here," Jasper replied, only seeing her at first. After a little bit though, Stevonnie went right out to show Jasper herself. Lapis went right over to Stevonnie, posing like she was presenting her to Jasper. For Jasper, the newcomer just seemed like a regular human to her. Yeah, the gemstone was oddly familiar, but honestly, her reaction wasn't as big as the other two had expected.

"Um ... She's just a human, Lapis, I know what a human is," Jasper said, unimpressed.

"Jasper, this is Stevonnie, this is Steven and Connie's fusion!" Lapis cleared up, Stevonnie waving hello with a big smile. When that was said, Jasper's expression turned to disbelief, eyes wide. Steven? A fusion? Fusion with who?! Jasper looked down to Stevonnie.

"... Steven ... Fused? Wait, Connie?" Jasper asked, looking over Stevonnie up and down. Stevonnie felt a little uncomfortable from Jasper's lookover, probably from Connie's side showing up here.

"But, isn't Connie one of Steven's human friends?" Jasper wondered.

"I know right? It's incredible!" Lapis beamed, almost taking off again into the air. Jasper was still trying to comprehend the fact that two humans fused with eachother like two Gems do. Eventually though, Jasper shook off her shock, and straightened up again, looking down to Stevonnie.

"You two do realize you've done the impossible, don't you?" Jasper asked. The Steven side of Stevonnie smiled big, and gave Jasper a thumbs up. Guess that answered that question. Before Lapis, Jasper, or Stevonnie could go on, they then began to hear a sort of leonine groan close by. Turning around, they suddenly saw their Lion coming over. Alongside the Gem dog Blue, He'd picked up a similar scent a while back, and followed it to where Stevonnie was. However, once Lion saw Stevonnie, he looked just a little taken aback by the sight. Stevonnie though was excited, and went right over towards Lion.

"Hi Lion!" Stevonnie said, arms wide for a hug. Blue, not recognizing Stevonnie, quickly backed up with his tail between his legs, but Lion allowed Stevonnie to hug him. He even rubbed against her as she did so, knowing very well who it was unlike Blue. While hugging Lion was nice, Stevonnie soon noticed Blue cowering away.

"No, no, no, Blue it's me; Steven," Stevonnie said. Blue didn't comprehend it as fast, letting his nose go to work in sniffing out who was in front of him. His nose picked up Steven's scent, but it also picked up Connie's scent at the same time, mixing things up for the pup. Blue shook his head, rubbing his nose with his paw after a while. Lion though suffered no such problem, rubbing against Stevonnie like a pampered cat. Lion wasn't as confused as Blue and Jasper were, but not as excited as Lapis Lazuli either. He was more content like Garnet, if compared to anyone. Lapis went over to comfort Blue after a bit, rubbing his head so Blue's confused-caused headache would relax a little bit. Lapis was happy that Lion was good with this fusion, though Jasper was still beside herself with this concept just thrown at her. Jasper was a Gem who once detested fusion altogether, nevermind fusing with other species.

"Did anyone else see this, Lapis? This is unnatural."

Before Lapis, or Stevonnie could answer, Lion actually growled at Jasper's rough comment. Lion didn't had a problem with it, and insulting Stevonnie wasn't going to help anything. Lion's opinion was set in stone, apparently.


~~~~~~


For Stevonnie, it was going fairly well so far, as she and Lapis went off to their next stop. They've went around with Beach City for a while, time for them both to head off to Equestria. Luckily for Stevonnie, even if fused, the magic keys were still working, and she can still use them to get to Equestria. Stevonnie and Lapis Lazuli went right over to Ponyville to show Stevonnie the place. The ponies in town, although used to seeing the Gems by this point, were a bit surprised to see Stevonnie walking down towards the local library. They've seen Steven, and Connie a few times before, but not in this fusion form. Still, Lapis and Stevonnie both went along their way, more focused on getting over to the library. Stevonnie found the attention slightly unnecessary, and uncomfortable. There wasn't one moment as Stevonnie walked through without at least one pony in Ponyville looking at her. While the reactions from the other residents were a bit mixed, when the two did see Twilight ...

"Oh my Celestia! I'm speechless! I mean this is beyond comprehension, the first item in history a human and Gem fused as one - a Fusion hybrid!"

"I thought she was speechless," Stevonnie whispered to Lapis. Lapis wasn't sure if that was Connie or Steven talking, but, either way she had to agree. Twilight had learned a bit about Gems thanks to her time with Steven, but not a thing was ever said about this. Twilight was very intrigued with this whole concept, flying around her for a bit.

"Wow, so are both of you in control, or does the control shift with you two?" Twilight asked, getting her notes out, quill at the ready for Stevonnie's teaching. Stevonnie felt like her own person, and since it was the first time out, Stevonnie simply felt confused as ever. Stevonnie glanced to Lapis, who could only shrug at the question.

"Uh ... both, I guess?" Stevonnie said. Twilight quickly wrote it down fast, though Stevonnie honestly felt unsure of her own answer. Lapis knew this too, seeing the look on her face.

"Uh, Twilight, maybe you shouldn't just jump in with -"

Before Lapis could finish her sentence, suddenly Stevonnie's stomach gave a loud, and noticeable growl. Since Stevonnie was made up of two humans, her stomach growled up a storm, surprising everyone including Stevonnie herself ...

"Uh ..."

"Hungry, Stevonnie?" That was all Twilight could really think after hearing that. Guess being two humans in one meant that Stevonnie had double the appetite as well. Twilight noted this, as Stevonnie wondered what in Ponyville will be enough for her appetite to eat. Stevonnie looked down to her stomach.

"Wow," Stevonnie said, both hands on her stomach. Looks like their next stop was going to have to be food-related ...


~~~~~~


"Steven and Connie aren't in any danger, they'll be fine. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"How many times do I have to tell you they shouldn't be roaming around like this?"

Ever since Stevonnie left off to Equestria, things had been a bit edgy back at the Barn house. Garnet and Flint both were inside the barn, and the other Gems and Ponies who were there outside could overhear the two debating over the situation. The debate was over should Stevonnie stick around or not, and both sides were a bit stubborn about it. Garnet was being more calm about the subject than Flint, but the Gem was getting rather serious about the subject matter. If Garnet was split, Ruby would be blowing her top off at him while Sapphire, although upset, would try to be quiet. This meant Garnet ended up just annoyed and tired of arguing with Flint. Jade, who'd normally be with Flint, stayed outside as their debate continued. For those outside, they could hear the others inside just enough to get what they were saying (if they focused on it that is).

"You are acting irrational, Flint, you saw how happy they were, didn't you? This is the first time in known memory two humans fused!"

"They don't know what they're doing, Garnet! This is fusion, something Gems could only do, not humans, you should know that out of any of us, love fusion!"

"My love life is not your business, nor proof to back you up!"

The others outside were starting to worry a bit on this; Pinkie and Peridot having their ears right to the barn door. It really didn't sound very good to either one of them, as Jasper began to head over towards the barn. She still had some thought over the subject of Stevonnie, and wanted to try to make sense of it from the only other common fusion she knew of.

"Hey you two. Garnet in there?" Jasper asked. The two turned to face her, unsure exactly how to answer. It may not be a good time for Jasper to enter this kind of argument.

"Eh, well, yes but I don't really think it's the best time," Peridot explained nervously. Jasper was unconvinced.

"And what for?"

"Well, Garnet and Flint are having a teeny tiny itsy bitsy little tiff," Pinkie replied, her hooves close together to prove her point. However, that tiny little tiff soon got out of hand when they all heard a loud bang from inside, startling Peridot and Pinkie. Peridot barely opened the barn door, and looked inside. When she turned back, she looked shellshocked.

"Eh ... anybody care about a used airplane propeller?"

"Out fo the way," Jasper groaned, pushing both aside, and opening the barn doors. Flint and Garnet looked ready to fight at this point, Garnet's fist through the engine of the aforementioned propeller. The two looked over to her as Jasper came inside.

"Time to talk, Garnet?" Jasper asked. A bit frustrated from Flint's arguing, Garnet wasn't in the best mood to talk to her. Peridot, Jade, and Pinkie watched from afar, each side of the opened door.

"What is it, Jasper?"

"It's about "Stevonnie". That new fusion?" Jasper asked. Garnet now had two problems to deal with.

"We're in the middle of something, Jasper," Flint said, sounding annoyed in his voice, and his eyes glaring to Garnet. Jasper groaned; she didn't want to wait to handle her own situation.

"Oh brother - what's your problem?"

"Trying to get to this stubborn fusion's heads that letting Stevonnie just run around like a idiot is a bad idea," Flint answered, making Garnet even more annoyed with him. That same insult got her punching the propeller in the first place. Jasper just saw this as a minor inconvenience though, eyebrow raised like Flint was lying to her.

"Why don't you just watch her if it bothers you so much?"

Flint was about to answer, but he then considered the idea. Why don't he just go and watch her? Something goes wrong, at least she won't be alone when it does. Jasper, hand to forehead, couldn't believe how thick headed he was to not think of that sooner.

"Really? Just go watch her until she's done playing around, and we'll split her up then, okay?" Jasper said, moving him to the barn door. Garnet considered the options, but didn't stop her, for dealing with Flint got her bothered enough. Flint decided to go with the idea, and walked off to look for her. The others went on in to see her soon after that.

"Nice job, Jasper," Garnet said.

"Yeah yeah. Now, about Stevonnie. You are aware of what happened in guessing?"

"I honestly couldn't be prouder for them both. Their own friendship was what brought this up, and it defies all Gem knowledge. Isn't it exciting?" Garnet said. Jasper wasn't too thrilled, but it was still quite the thought-provoker.

"So you're fine with Flint doing this? He's a ... rather protective Gem," Jade said, unsure of the sudden decision. Garnet looked outside, as Flint put on his camouflage and disappeared from regular sight.

"Then Stevonnie won't have anything to worry about," Jasper pointed out. A strong knight is a great protector, after all. Still, Garnet felt very slightly unsure about it ...


~~~~~~


"Feeling better now?" Lapis asked

"Yeah, I'm good," Stevonnie replied. The two had visited the Sweet Apple Acres, and the Apple Family were quite happy to meet Stevonnie, not to mention give her some lunch to have. Stevonnie felt much better after the Apple family's cooking, and now the two were basically going around Ponyville to figure out what else to do. Even if the whole anniversary thing was kinda pushed aside, Lapis Lazuli was still enjoying herself, especially when hanging around Stevonnie. Stevonnie was doing pretty well herself, for her supposed "birthday". Both sides of her were having a lot of fun with being together, and trying out Stevonnie.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Lapis asked after a bit. Stevonnie took a moment to think over what they can do. Sky's the limit in Equestria, really.

"Well, what do you want to do? It is your anniversary," Lapis," Stevonnie pointed out.

"But it's your birthday too," Lapis replied. Both facts were true, though the two had some trouble figuring out what they can do for the afternoon. Suddenly, Lapis and Stevonnie got an idea in their heads, almost at once. The two turned to eachother, smiles on their faces ...

"Last one to the lake's a pebble!" Stevonnie said, starting to run off ahead. Lapis immediately took flight and went right after her.

The two Gems, smiling and laughing the whole way, went straight towards the water hole. Ponyville had a swimming hole close by, and both the pals knew exactly where the place was (well, Connie might not know, but Steven guided them along). Stevonnie ran much faster and easier than Steven and Connie could've done, so, running towards the water hole was fun in itself. When they got there though, Stevonnie managed to reach there first, even with Lapis flying. Stevonnie was more than ready, diving right into the cool and clear waters of the lake, as Lapis joined her by diving in the water like a sea bird. The two splashed, swam, and basically had a great time throughout for a full half an hour before the two stopped to rest. When they chilled out, the two were laying in the water, the waves from their play going through their hair as they rested along the bank. After that, Stevonnie then got back up to her feet. Lapis was treated to a view of her lovely hair as Stevonnie swung it for a second before she started wringing it out.

"Well, that was a nice half an hour spent," Stevonnie said, as Lapis got up. It did feel funny that Lapis had to look up to someone who she was used to looking down to, but Lapis was enjoying it all the same.

"Yep. So, what now? There's still plenty of day left," Lapis said. Stevonnie thought for a little bit more, but then something clicked, Stevonnie snapping her fingers as quickly as she got the idea.

"Oh! Lapis, what's the time?" Stevonnie suddenly asked. Lapis didn't had a clock with her, but still tried to think a bit.

"Well, judging by the sun ... Two?" Lapis guessed. Stevonnie was hoping for that answer.

"Perfect; we can still make it!"

"Make it where?" Lapis asked, legitimately confused.

"To the movies! Dogcopter 4's playing, and we got tickets for it - front seats! We have just enough time to make it," Stevonnie said, excited for it. It was an idea coined after Steven and Connie went by the theater just days before Lapis's anniversary, and seeing the franchise of Dogcopter continuing with its 4th movie (although the movie itself began being shown back in winter), and Garnet insisted to buy just two tickets over three. It didn't sound fair before, but it was nice now considering the situation. Still, Stevonnie was happy, starry eyes and all.

"Is it any good?" Lapis asked.

"Hope so; Dogcopter 3 ended on a open note, so, they got some questions to answer," Stevonnie replied. Connie didn't had the chance to see it herself, and Steven didn't know it released until they got back anyway, so they got their activity set. Lapis never seen any of the movies, so, perhaps this will be something interesting for her. Stevonnie got out her magic key for a quick fix, and got the magic door opened up right away. Soon, Lapis and Stevonnie went right through the door, and went from Equestria, right back to Earth.

Next stop: the movies!
> Together for Better PT2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where the stars did they run off to?"

Flint only had that question in mind as he kept going around Beach City. He tried plenty of times to figure out where Stevonnie and Lapis had ran off to, but no such luck. He tried the countryside all over the place, top to bottom, but he didn't had much luck there really. It wasn't until then that he decided to try Beach City, and so far it was as successful as his search through the countryside - nothing for it. He tried the Beach House, but found nothing. He tried Greg's carwash, but nothing. He tried the lighthouse, but nothing. This pattern kept going for a while, everytime with Flint's camouflage on so he wouldn't be too much of a burden towards everyone else around as he searched. He felt this as a familiar feeling, mainly because he used to do this sort of thing back at the Crystal Empire already, the only main different being the world they're in. Still, at least Flint was left alone as he kept going along. Flint was getting impatient with this task, not to mention peeved how Stevonnie just disappeared on him.

Where'd she go?

Flint eventually took a moment, standing over by one of the buildings, still having his camo cloak on to avoid detection. As he just stood there, leaning back on the wall and trying to think on what to do, he soon picked up a strange sound close by down the road. Looking up, he soon saw a familiar magic door open up. A bit unexpected, but, he'd seen more crazy things before. And low and behold, stepping out from the door and onto the Earth, was the very two girls he was looking for; Stevonnie and Lapis Lazuli! Luckily he had his cloak on otherwise he'd get caught the second they showed up. The two Gems went straight off towards the nearby movie theater, peaking Flint's interests and curiosity on what they're doing. He watched them both head right into the theater, and so (keeping his camo cloak on) Flint went on in himself.

As far as the next hour and a half was concerned, it mainly went off as boring from Flint's point of view. Stevonnie and Lapis, with a pair of 3D glasses on their eyes, got their front row seats to the epic Dogcopter 4 movie. Flint stood far off, near the exit, and keeping on his cloak so he wouldn't get caught and thrown out. As for the movie, it was as epic and action-filled as people would expect from the other movies, and maybe a bit more so. Stevonnie enjoyed every bit of it, and while Lapis was confused with bits here and there - after all, she didn't see Dogcopter one through three - she still enjoyed the interesting presentation that the humans had made of this, especially considering the main character was, of all things, a robotic dog with a propeller jutting out of its back. A normally silly concept, and somehow it worked out to the best of its capability. As for Flint, he glanced between the movie, and the two people he was supposed to be watching over. He couldn't care less about the movie, all things considered.

When the movie was finished, Stevonnie and Lapis began to head out of the theater, along with the rest of the crowd. Flint kept himself hidden, but the crowd exiting made it hard to single out the two Gems. As for Lapis and Stevonnie, the two were happy on catching the flick.

"That was impressive, I have to say. Who knew humans could make a small earth dog so strong?" Lapis said, walking alongside Stevonnie.

"You should see the three other movies. Though seriously, this installment really went all out this time," Stevonnie replied. However, the two ended up walking further from the main crowd, and so, into Flint's sight. He saw what the two had done the whole time, but at this point he had enough of waiting around. If he was going to watch them and protect them, spying on them like a creeper wasn't going to make it any better if they do catch him, so, he might as well get it over with. When no one was looking, he got the cloak off and became visible again.

"Hey, you two!"

Stevonnie and Lapis jumped on hearing Flint's strong voice suddenly come up from nowhere. Stevonnie and Lapis turned back around and the two saw Flint standing right behind them.

"Oh, hey Flint," Stevonnie said, slightly awkward by the sudden appearance.

"I've been looking everywhere for you two, where have you been?" Flint demanded.

"Uh ... In Ponyville? Why?" Lapis asked.

"Because I've been assigned to watch over Stevonnie here, and I can't do that if I lose you," Flint answered firmly. A guard? Why did they need one? Stevonnie and Lapis glanced to eachother, not remembering asking anybody or anypony to do that for them.

"... So ... Like a bodyguard?"

"If that's what you humans call it, then yes."

"Oh, come on I'm fine," Stevonnie said, playfully punching Flint in the shoulder armor. Flint wasn't going to change his view on this anytime soon, especially not from a single playful hit.

"Stevonnie, do you really know what you're doing? Anything happens, you got a guard," Flint stated, mainly referring to himself. This was when Lapis felt a bit annoyed with him; she can fight, much better than Flint ever could. Flint had his Gem pistols, and she can control the ocean and fly if she wanted to. Seriously, Flint didn't think she was enough of protection?! It was like comparing one soldier to a one-Gem army!

"Wait a minute, what about me?" Lapis asked judgingly.

"You know what to do with her?" Flint retorted, eyebrow raised. Lapis felt insulted, but there was no point in arguing with him. Flint made up his mind and he was going to stick around to watch them ...

Oh joy.


~~~~~~


As the afternoon went on from there, the fun time the dynamic duo had going since this started was kinda drained because of Flint's presence. It wasn't that Flint being there ruined their fun completely, but their new guard seemed to be unnecessary. Course there's the prementioned fact that Lapis was good enough of a protector if things were to go wrong, and also Flint seemed to wreck what they had going on because of his own protection. Lapis and Stevonnie both tried a number of things only to be stopped by Flint quite a number of times. For instance, the two went off to the docks, but Flint didn't allow Stevonnie to go more than two feet down the docks, mainly for him seeing a number of boats (one with a harpoon no less), that might put Stevonnie in more trouble than they'll anticipate. And, when the two tried the arcade, Flint did leave them alone, but made them leave after just fifteen minutes. What a bummer. As for Flint, he basically played off as the parent of the two rather than just the guard, and he hoped that Stevonnie will be split up soon, and he wouldn't have to worry anymore. It was getting late, the sun just half an hour away from fully setting for the night to begin. Flint began to figure that it was close to Stevonnie's deadline, and so far nothing's happened. It was a nice thought for him, and when they're done here, they can go right back to the Beach House, they'll split up, and things will go back to normal. Stevonnie wasn't ready to split yet though, and she wanted to have some real fun soon. Her good experience was being tainted at this point.

Eventually, their next stop was the Big Donut. No one else was there except for Sadie and Lars inside, behind the counter and quietly talking to eachother. As the door chimed, the two coworkers didn't see Stevonnie until after she went right over to the counter, right next to Lapis. Flint, not wanting anything or needing anything, was told to wait outside, the Gem sitting on a bench just out of sight from the front windows. The second the coworkers saw Stevonnie, they both were stopped cold, wide eyed and flustered on seeing this new beautiful girl coming into their donut shop.

"Ha-ha-how can I - help ... me?" Lars stammered, his face a shade of red. Lapis found Lars's reaction simply cute, giggling quietly as Stevonnie looked over what was available.

"Two doughnuts, please," Stevonnie stated with a smile. Both Sadie and Lars were blushing up, a bit unsure on what to really do. While Sadie was left with her mouth slightly open and eyes on her, Lars reached down and pulled out a bag of two doughnuts, as said. After that, Stevonnie moved even closer to the counter, going through her money, though Lars was at a loss of words.

"How much do I owe you?" Stevonnie asked. Her beauty alone made Lars simply lost on what to say. To him and maybe even Sadie, it was like an angel had stepped in through their door. Eventually though, Sadie helped Lars out.

"N-Nothing, it's on the house," Sadie got out, pushing the bag to her, and looking away, still blushing. Lapis, although finding it humorous, wondered how much Stevonnie's looks were actually doing. Yeah, she was beautiful, but both workers seemed to be put under the same affect, which Lapis took a mental note on.

"Really?" Stevonnie asked incredulously. All Sadie and Lars did was nod in unison. Eventually, Stevonnie just smiled, and turned to the table and chairs close by. Lapis and Stevonnie sat down, and Stevonnie gave the donut over to Lapis. From where Stevonnie sat (after taking a bite of her donut), she saw Flint sitting just outside, staring off in the distance with his foot impatiently tapping the ground under him. So long as Flint was there, the Gem fusion was pretty restricted on what to do next. Especially considering the time. Lapis could see the look on her face.

"Hey, everything alright Stevonnie? Something wrong with the food?" Lapis asked. Non-noticed by either of them, Sadie and Lars were worried on that answer.

"Oh, no, no, they're great," Stevonnie replied - Lars and Sadie breathing a sigh of relief. Stevonnie glanced back at Flint again before continuing.

"Well, it's Flint. Between you and me -" she leaned in and whispered to Lapis "- I liked it better with just you and me."

"Oh yeah, that, well I'm not feeling any better about it, honestly. Can't protect you indeed - I can make a tidal wave if I wanted to, and he thinks he's better at protecting than me? Who does he think he is?" Lapis groaned, playing around with her donut with her finger, rolling it like it was a wheel. Not exactly the same issue as Stevonnie, but revolving on the same Gem anyway. However, it was rare for seeing Lapis upset, or at least while she was with the Crystal Gems anyway. Stevonnie just sighed and slumped over, resting her elbow on the table.

"Maybe we can convince Garnet to change her mind after this?" Stevonnie suggested.

"Is she the one who did this?" Lapis wondered, suspiciously. Stevonnie straightened up, looking in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Garnet was the one who let us both go and have fun, remember? Why would she suddenly get Flint to watch us when she got us freedom in the first place?" Lapis had a very good point there, leaving Stevonnie with her hand to her chin in thought. Before the two could conclude anything, the door chimed again. When the two looked though, it wasn't Flint this time. He was a young man, with pale platinum blonde hair styled into a point, ice blue eyes, and a long, angular face. He wore a blue-grey hoodie over a grey-blue undershirt, orange phat pants, and bright sea-foam green tennis shoes. Stevonnie recognized him (the Steven part of her anyway) as Sour Cream, and he was considered one of "the cool kids" of Beach City, and he looked oddly like a particular spear-using Crystal Gem. He noticed both beautiful ladies as the two went by, heading to the donut shop, and he wanted to ask them both something.

"Oh, hey so - er uh. Stranger. Cool pants!" Stevonnie said, almost blowing her cover as a fusion. Odd move, but, calling him by his name when Sour technically just met her would make things a bit weird to do. Besides, this was the first time Lapis had met Sour Cream, so, making an awkward first impression was not going to happen if Stevonnie could help it. Like Lars and Sadie nearby, Sour Cream felt a little nervous himself, but not as loss on words as the other two.

"Cool," Sour Cream said, nervously. Glancing away, Sour Cream then placed something on the table for both of them to see; a flier of sorts.

"Rave, tonight," Sour Cream then informed. Stevonnie and Lapis looked over the flier. It wasn't very much; purple and green striped with the word "RAVE" on it. Lapis never really heard of a rave before, and both sides of Stevonnie never been to one.

"You mean, like a dance?" Stevonnie asked after a bit.

"Yeah, at the warehouse. I'm DJ-ing, and a bunch of my friends from the internet are going to be there. There's going to be free ... glowsticks ..." Sour Cream was blushing at this point again. Stevonnie and Lapis looked to eachother for a moment, thinking about the situation. Basically, this 'rave' was a celebration - a party, if you will. It will surely make up for the trouble already, so, it was obvious on what choice was made. Stevonnie and Lapis smiled to eachother before answering Sour Cream.

"We'll be there, count on it," Stevonnie decided, Lapis giving a thumbs up to sour Cream. Sour Cream was glad to hear that, as Stevonnie and Lapis got up.

"Cool. Meet me at the Boardwalk, and we'll give you a ride. If you want to," Sour Cream said.

"Sure thing."

Short time later, Sour Cream left off to the warehouse, Stevonnie and Lapis leaving the big donut. However, there was one factor that did cause some trouble; Flint. Flint wouldn't agree to let them do this in the slightest, so, they had to figure this out before leaving. Flint saw them leave, and got up from his own seat.

"Satisfied, you two? Let's start heading back soon," Flint advised, awaiting a response from either of them. Stevonnie and Lapis tried to think on what to do. They wanted to go, but Flint wouldn't let them. However, suddenly Flint noticed the flier in Stevonnie's hand. Flint took it from her hand, and looked it over. All it appeared to be was a piece of paper with RAVE on it, but nothing else ...

"What's this?" Flint asked, judgingly. Then though, Lapis got an idea that could benefit her and Stevonnie.

"It's a Gem item. We found it in there, and we're not sure what it can do," Lapis informed, her explanation she hoped will work. Flint looked quizzically to the piece of paper.

"This is a Gem object," Flint repeated.

"Yes, it is! How about you give it to Garnet?" Lapis suggested. Stevonnie began to understand what Lapis was trying to do, but Flint didn't know if it was a good idea.

"I saw Garnet bubble these things a number of times. Can't you two do it?" Flint asked. If they can just bubble it for later, then that problem will be over and done.

"W-We don't know how," Stevonnie answered. At least in Stevonnie's case, this was a lie - Steven had bubbled a few things before - and she hoped it'll work for Flint. Flint just groaned, hand over his Gemstone. He didn't know how to do it either, so, what else could he do other than bring this "gem object" back to the Temple?

"Seriously? Ugh, fine. Wait here," Flint informed. Stevonnie and Lapis smiled innocently, as Flint began to go off. Lapis and Stevonnie watched him go off until he was out of sight. Once they were sure he was gone, the two happy Gems smiled mischievously to eachother, Stevonnie playfully fluffing Lapis's hair. With Flint finally out of their hair, the duo could only wait for him to come back ...


~~~~~~


Psych!

Stevonnie and Lapis wasted no time in going off from the Big Donut, and heading towards where Sour Cream had mentioned. Stevonnie, with Steven's knowledge of the city, knew exactly where the warehouse was, though they went off towards the Boardwalk either way. At this point, it was just past sunset, but not nighttime just yet. As Stevonnie and Lapis were going along, they soon noticed something further down; Sour Cream, two other humans, and a 1985 Cabriolet that looked a lot like a pizza, down to the pointed end of it and the patterns of mushroom and pepperoni.

As for the other two, again, Stevonnie recognized them from the Steven side of her. First there was a teenaged girl named Jenny, sitting in the driver's seat of the car. She wore large gold earrings, a bright red and white striped crop top, a black mini-top underneath, and pale sea-foam green jeans. Then there was Buck, sitting behind Jenny. He had dark brown hair, and light brown-coral skin. He wore a pair of sunglasses, an overly large red button-up shirt with unbuttoned cuffs, a white shirt with a yellow lightning bolt design, dark blue slim-fit jeans, and cyan and blue sneakers with white soles. Lapis was more taken aback by seeing Buck more than most, as she and Stevonnie approached them. Jenny happily waved to the two, though was surprised by Stevonnie's beauty (as it had that effect on everyone). Buck though surprisingly kept his cool, not appearing flustered or anything, which was impressive really.

"So she's the one you invited?" Buck said, turning to Sour Cream.

"Hey girl! Glad you can make it," Jenny said. Stevonnie nodded, as Sour Cream went over.

"You ready to go?" Sour Cream asked. Lapis and Stevonnie smiled.

"Yep we are. You have enough room for us?" Stevonnie asked. It was clear that there was room once things got settled. After some debate, Lapis Lazuli got the front seat while Stevonnie sat in between Sour Cream and Buck. Sour Cream tried to keep his own cool, an angel sitting next to him and all, though Buck had no problem with it whatsoever. They properly introduced eachother before Jenny started up her car (without Stevonnie screwing up), and began driving off towards the warehouse in question. Since it was late in the day, it was pretty relaxing and no other cars to worry over.

"So, Lapis, right? You new around here?" Jenny asked at one point during their drive. Jenny technically didn't meet Lapis face-to-face yet, despite the year she was around.

"Well, no, I've been living here for about a year actually," Lapis said, looking alongside as they drove along.

"Oh. How come I haven't seen ya round town then?" Jenny asked.

"I've been too busy," Lapis said. Really she was just used to the Gems and ponies, but pulling the 'too busy' card was a alright one far as she was concerned.

"Busy huh? I feel ya - sometimes my dad's got me stuck at the pizza shop all day long, it's a pain," Jenny sympathized. Lapis just rolled with it with a nod, and continued watching the world pass by. Meanwhile, Stevonnie was enjoying the ride, and Buck looked over to her.

"Smell the night air, Stevonnie. The smell of freedom," Buck said, taking a deep breath. Stevonnie took a good breath of the air herself.

"Smells like cheese and tomato sauce."

"That's just the car," Jenny chuckled.

"Makes sense I guess - the car does look more like some food than a vehicle," Lapis noted.

"Just the design; my dad uses it to deliver our pizzas. He lets me use it after work, so long as I don't crash it," Jenny joked, though Lapis hoped she didn't crash the thing on their way.

"So, Sour Cream, you got the Rave all set?" Stevonnie asked. Since Sour was who invited her anyway, she might as well ask him.

"Yeah, got the boom box set, lights up and everything. Even got an extra DJ for some collaboration DJ-ing," Sour Cream said, keeping his composure.

"Another DJ?"

"DJ-PON3. She's been in that pony world, and is pretty good at the DJ stuff," Sour Cream said. The name kinda ring a bell, and she must be a pony by what Sour Cream had said. As they went along, Buck had been rather quiet (per usual), but took notice of Stevonnie's belly button Gemstone, which looked oddly familiar. Even with the glasses over his eyes, he could very well make not only that out, but also the very slight sight of Lapis's back gemstone as she leaned on the rim of the car. Even after seeing this, Buck said nothing of it, but kept it in mind.


~~~~~~


It took sometime before the two managed to get the warehouse in question. The place itself looked abandoned; a severely dilapidated brick building with a partially caved-in roof, some broken windows, and one of the walls almost completely collapsed.  However, thanks to some renovations and preparations, the place was turned into the rave party as Sour Cream had said. Some spotlights were on and shining colorful lights, and even some black lights, making some parts of the teenager's clothing glow a bit. Any lighter piece of clothing glowed a neon blueish sort of color. A huge boombox was set up on the side of the wide open dancefloor. After getting up on a raised platform, Stevonnie and Lapis could see Sour Cream working out the DJ-ing, actually making the beats out of some Game Boy systems he had on hand. Pretty impressive. Next to Sour Cream was actually another pony; a white unicorn with light blue and dark blue hair, headphones over her ears and cool DJ glasses (the extra Warp Pad made it possible for her to come and visit). Stevonnie and Lapis came in through the opened wall, the black lights already making Stevonnie's top shirt glow a bit. It didn't had that sort of affect on Lapis Lazuli though, her not wearing much of bright colors. It was also clear that many other teenagers were there, and having fun themselves. Amongst these teens was a few faces they recognized - even Ronaldo was dancing to the beat himself - Who'd of thought? The only one not dancing was one teenaged boy, who was just chilling out with his back to the wall, yet the two didn't worry over them too much.

"Sweet, this looks awesome," Lapis said with a beaming smile. Stevonnie and Lapis both went on over to the dancefloor, Stevonnie unsure how to proceed. Lapis began to dance to the music after a bit, so eventually, letting the music take its control, she did the same. Stevonnie closed her eyes, and began moving her hips to the beat. While Stevonnie began to dance away, many of the other teenagers started to take notice of the arriving beauty. Lapis Lazuli was getting quite some attention too, the water Gem dancing alongside her. Stevonnie, letting the beat take control of her body, began to go all out, at one point even jumping in the air, expert corkscrew spinning mid air before landing on her feet! Unfortunately, Stevonnie took a moment to regain her breath, and saw how many people were watching her.

"Uh, eh - uh." Stevonnie couldn't get any proper words out. Even with Lapis there, the Connie part of her started to get Stevonnie worried. Lapis's dancing had accidentally made her move away, leaving Stevonnie alone for the moment. Stevonnie began to panic more and more.

"I-I thought this was a dance party, why isn't anyone dancing?"

no response. That didn't help her at all.

"This is what being cool at a cool dance is, right? This is how it's supposed to be... Why isn't it like it's supposed to be?"

At this point, her anxiety was taking its toll on her even more, Lapis only then starting to see the problem. In her own head, Stevonnie was seeing everyone as looming, giant shadows, feeling trapped within herself. So much so, she began to feel disorientated! Stevonnie kept looking around more and more, not seeing a warehouse, and seeing the shards of glass of a disco ball circling her instead. She kept looking around, but then something else happened.

Someone phased through the wall.

"Hey baby."

In an instant, she was back to the warehouse, staring face to face with this sudden new person. The other people at this point were just chatting with eachother, though Lapis watched on in confusion and concern. As for this newcomer, he looked to her with a smug grin and a look that would make any girl fall for him. he had brunette hair and black eyes that met right up to her own. He wore a reddish-brown jacket over an orange shirt with a hot pink stripe down the middle, and a bright-turquoise infinity scarf. He also had pale-turquoise skinny jeans and short reddish-brown boots, with the colors being mostly the same as Stevonnie's outfit. He was also as tall as Flint and even herself, easily meeting eye-to-eye with her.

"Uh ... Hi," Stevonnie said, trying to regain herself. The boy gave her a wink.

"Get ready," he said, his voice seductive and soothing, as he moved past, his finger pointed out like a gun, and his seductive eyes meeting hers. "It's Kevin time." Well, on the bright side, they got his name, but his behavior towards Stevonnie wasn't the same as the others. While Sadie, Lars, and Sour Cream were flustered and more shy towards her, Kevin was not afraid of her in the slightest, as the music picked up the pace again. Suddenly, Kevin began to dance to the rad beat, both index fingers pointed, and catching the attention of the others, including Lapis. Kevin seemed to have the same affect on the crowd as Stevonnie (strictly to the other girls, of course). Lapis was watching Kevin dance too, and while she was slightly put under a similar spell as the other girls, she knew his intentions were towards Stevonnie. This became even more apparent when Kevin began to move closer and closer to Stevonnie, the fusion getting more worried as he did. Pretty soon, Kevin was right next to her, and it was more than she could stand. Panicked, she raced away from the dance floor, and to the warehouse wall. Lapis went over to her.

"Stevonnie, relax, relax, breathe," Lapis encouraged, as Stevonnie tried her best to calm down. The two didn't expect this to go south like that.

"That was too much," Stevonnie breathed. Soon, Stevonnie rested her back to the wall, Lapis staying by her side. They didn't come to this party for this to happen.

"I'm sorry, Stevonnie, I didn't want this to -"

"No, no, Lapis, it's not your fault. I'll be okay," Stevonnie said, trying to not put the blame on Lapis for Stevonnie's own idea. Sure, Lapis helped, but Stevonnie also got the idea as well, and agreed to come here in the first place.

"More than okay," a voice suddenly cut in,  a hand right next to Stevonnie's head, resting on the wall. Looked like Kevin wasn't done here.

"Hey, baby. Why'd you leave me on the dancefloor?" Kevin asked, still in his cool and flirty voice. Lapis didn't know how to really react to this, though she was more worried over Stevonnie's well-being, since Kevin was focused on her more than most.

"I don't want to dance anymore," Stevonnie managed to say, swatting his hand away.

"What're you talking about?" Kevin cooed, his fingers going through the bangs of his hair. "We're the best thing that's happened in this place. Come back out with me," Kevin insisted.

"Why should I?" Stevonnie asked defiantly.

"Because we're angels amongst these garbage people. We're perfect for each other," Kevin answered, his voice in a patronized tone. Lapis finally took it on herself, and got in between Kevin and Stevonnie. Kevin felt just mildly bugged.

"Eh, can you excuse us for a moment, Kevin?" Lapis insisted, beginning to move Stevonnie away from Kevin. The cool kid rested his side on the wall, winking to Stevonnie, as Lapis brought her away.

"Stevonnie, do you want to just go? I don't want you to have a bad time."

"Lapis, I'll be fine. I just gotta make it clear to romeo over there that I'm not interested," Stevonnie answered, a thumb aimed to him. However ...

"Isn't he named Kevin?"

Right over her head. Stevonnie just sighed.

"Just a figure of speech, Lapis. Anyway, we don't have to leave. Come on, we can still have fun. After all, it's still your anniversary," reminded Stevonnie, hand on her shoulder. Lapis eventually smiled.

"And it's still your birthday," added Lapis with a smile. Stevonnie smiled back.

"You go on ahead, Lapis, I'll be with you in just a sec," Stevonnie said.

"You both sure you'll be alright now? Steven? Connie?"

"We're sure."

Lapis decided to take her word for it, and went off back to the Rave. Stevonnie didn't want Lapis to have her celebration dulled down because of her. After all, Lapis's celebration came first. When Lapis was out of sight, then Stevonnie remembered Kevin - he was still waiting for her - and what to do with him. What's worse was that Kevin began heading back over to her again. Now what will she do?

"Ready, baby?" Kevin asked, with a smirk and a wink. Time to set things straight. Mixing Connie's brain and Steven's bravery, Stevonnie got her words together.

"First of all, I'm not your baby. Second, I don't feel like dancing again, okay?"

"Why not? I'll give you the night of your life."

"My life can go on just fine without you," Stevonnie made clear. Even after that, Kevin didn't seem deterred. He took that as just playing hard to get, and moved in closer.

"Now, now angel, all I ask is for a dance. Come on, just say yes."

Stevonnie was getting a bit impatient with this guy. Seriously, how forward was Kevin in this flirt game anyway?! Both sides of her couldn't really think on what to do, since they were just kids anyway. However, before their issues could go any further ...

"Am I interrupting something?"

Flint! And by the look on his face, he was not happy at all. Stevonnie took a step back once she saw Flint, and Kevin seemed a bit taken aback by Flint's knight armor. Flint didn't took too long to figure out he'd been lied to, especially after coming back to see Stevonnie and Lapis gone.

"O-Oh, Flint! Uh, hi, great to see you," Stevonnie said nervously. Still, Flint was unfazed, only making her more worried. First though, his anger went to Kevin, who he saw advancing on Stevonnie.

"You, back off!"

"Chill man. You got a problem with -" Flint shut him up by grabbing him by the arm and tossing him aside, Kevin tumbling down onto the floor. This made the others stop for a minute, them all seeing Flint. Then he turned to Stevonnie.

"And as for you; what do you think your doing? I leave you and Lapis alone for two minutes, and I find you at this -... Whatever the heck this is, instead of staying put!" Flint shouted. One thing Flint hated, was being played for a fool, and that was what Stevonnie did. Then another thought struck him.

"And where's Lapis?" Flint added in. When Stevonnie didn't answer, Flint turned to the crowd, spotting Lapis trying to hide from Flint's sight - it didn't work. Flint went over, and pulled her out of the crowd by the arm.

"I had enough of this - we're going back home right now," Flint decided. Of course, Stevonnie was against this.

"Flint, we don't have to go!"

"Yes you do! And who was that from anyway?"

"Doesn't matter; I was having a good time before you showed up, and so did she!"

Flint was losing his patience with her. He went right up to her, and began dragging her away! Stevonnie got herself free when they ended up more secluded.

"Steven, Connie, do you two have any idea how much danger your putting yourselves in?"

"What're you talking about, nothing bad happened to me!"

"No? Then who was that human messing around with you then? And anyway, that's not the danger I'm talking about here!"

"There's no danger," Stevonnie protested.

"Okay then, try and unfuse. Go on, prove that there's no problem with this."

"What?! What's that got to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with it. Listen you two, Your more human than Gem - humans don't fuse! Now that somehow you two did this, how in the name of the galaxies core can you two split now?!"

Now it was serious. Stevonnie and Lapis never considered that since they were having so much fun all day long. Suddenly, the idea of this fusion was more troublesome than they thought.

"... I - we didn't think of that."

"Well about time you did. Connie, Steven, you both still have your own lives to live, you can't stay this way forever!"

Then s thought hit Lapis.

"Wait a minute; you said earlier you were protecting her from danger right?"

"A Gem can retreat into their Gemstone, and what about a human?! Ugh, you know what, I'm tired of explaining, we're going home, and we're going to split you both up before -"

"Hey."

The new voice got everyone turning to the source of the noise. However, standing there, was actually Buck! Buck had managed to overhear what was really going on, and it seemed a bit unfair towards Stevonnie. Stevonnie, Lapis, and especially Flint were surprised to see him, though Flint was more surprised on how familiar he looked to another fusion he squabbled with earlier. Even so, dealing with another human wasn't going to be something he'll want to handle. Flint turned to face him.

"What now? We were just leaving."

"Flint, is it? You should try to relax a bit and let them have their fun," Buck insisted. Flint felt a sense of Deja Vu, and groaned.

"This does not concern you - you wouldn't understand what's going on anyway."

Buck adjusted his glasses.

"Sounds like a fusion problem to me - first time Steven and Connie ever doing this. You just can't stand Steven and Connie being in a fusion by what I see. And also, sounds like this is something new too, even for you Gems."

There was a pause, Stevonnie especially speechless that Buck was taking this fusion concept so easily.

"You don't think this is weird?" Lapis questioned.

"My friend is DJ-ing with a unicorn."

"... Good point."

"No, not a good point. Look human, this is something beyond your understand, so just go away and we'll go," Flint demanded, ready to go. Buck though felt undeterred.

"Two minds, souls, and connecting hearts fusing to make up another being, basically. Not too hard to understand," Buck said. Flint just stood there for a bit, not sure how to take this. This random kid knew the concepts of fusion like he'd done it himself before. Quite a strange thing really. Flint started to look him over, Buck not saying much to stop him.

"You don't seem to have a Gem anywhere ..."

Buck just shrugged.

"Took a while to figure it out," Buck stated. Flint still was confused, as Buck went over to Stevonnie, who was calmer yet perplexed on Buck a bit. Steven knew Buck wasn't the most talkative, but even this surprised him a little bit. Buck looked up to Stevonnie.

"How about we head back to the Rave? Night's still young."

"Uh, sure."

"Wait, what? No!" Flint said. Sure, Buck knew what's what, but that wasn't enough to convince Flint to change his mind on leaving.

"Give them a good experience," Buck said. Flint looked perplexed with this kid, and another thought came up in his head. To make sure, he grabbed both of Buck's hands to see, only to see no Gemstones on them. This wasn't influenced, it was all Buck by the looks of things.

"There are dangers to this you know - they could be trapped like this forever!"

"And if that's true, what would bringing them back home do? Besides, everyone needs some time to be free, and now it's Stevonnie's turn to have some freedom. They can have fun tonight, you can stay here, and you can help them when they're ready. Good?"

Flint tried to think of a real finisher, but couldn't come up with anything. Buck, a human, worked around both viewpoints, and came to the proper ideal. Stevonnie didn't mind that idea at all, and neither did Lapis. Eventually, Flint took a deep breath.

"Oh ... Alright fine. I'll give you another hour," Flint decided. That was the best they'll get, and they liked it all the same. Stevonnie, beaming, went over and hugged Flint - not something Flint was used to - before starting back towards the Rave, feeling better about things.

For the dancing part however, Stevonnie, although glad Kevin didn't keep on bugging her, still felt a little shy with dancing in front of everyone. Lapis went off to dance, Flint rested his back on the warehouse wall, and she was standing off in front of the crowd. Buck looked back and motioned her to come along. Eventually, Stevonnie took a relaxing breath, and went off in again. This time, Stevonnie made sure to stick close to her friends so she would be caught alone again. Buck and Lapis joined in on Stevonnie's dancing. Sour Cream and DJ-PON3 began to toss down glow sticks at this point, which many of the teens caught at least one. Stevonnie made sure to grab two, each one for each part of her. At this point the fusion didn't worry over the crowd, and just enjoyed the time and music being played.

It was a good time.


~~~~~~


After the hour had past, it was time to head back home. Lapis and Flint were okay, but Stevonnie was pretty worn out from the constant dancing. Rather than take the ride back, Flint insisted they just walk back - the warehouse and the Temple were in eyesight anyway - and figure out the Stevonnie split then. Stevonnie gave a yawn at one point.

"What a day," Stevonnie yawned. Flint turned to her.

"Yeah. Now, Stevonnie, I know it's soon, but perhaps -"

"We know, we know ... Just, give me ..." Stevonnie knew they had to split up, but they were pretty worn out. However, Flint just turned around to Stevonnie.

"Pay attention. You have two options; you can either use your willpower to split apart, or you can be weakened until you split. For the sake of your condition, I'd recommend willpower," Flint said.

"Willpower?"

"Just try to focus on splitting up and your stone will do the rest." Flint and Lapis moved back as Stevonnie took a breath. Whatever Flint meant by "weakened" may be more painful than it sounded, so, using willpower would be much better and safer. Flint kept his fingers crossed, hoping that they can even pull it off at all. Stevonnie closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. She focused as best she could on Steven and Connie, rather than being Stevonnie. At first, nothing really seemed to happen, but then the gemstone began to glow a bit. Soon, it glowed brighter and brighter, until Stevonnie's body was a pure white. Shortly afterward, the one body split into two, and soon, Connie and Steven were back to normal. Flint gave a sigh of relief that they could be able to do that at all, though Steven and Connie looked completely beat.

"We're back."

"Yaaaay ..."

Steven and Connie, tired out, fell down onto the sand side by side. Flint looked alarmed, but he and Lapis quickly figured out the two were just asleep.

"They had a long day," Lapis said, as she gently picked up Connie. Flint picked up Steven and then turned to Lapis.

"Alright then, you take Connie home. I'll put Steven to bed," Flint said. Lapis understood this, got out her wings, and taking off into the air. Flint just walked the rest of the way back to the Temple.

Farther away, just out of sight, the other fusion stood there watching Flint go. She had a smile on her face too, with one thought in mind.

"Happy birth-aversary, you two."
> Where the Heart Is
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the skies light blue, and the waters calm, a lone tugboat was going along its course. As for who was in charge of guiding this boat, there were a few kids hanging out on the vessel. In this case, happily giggling and calling off the boat's horn, were Steven, Lapis, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Steven, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were dressed as sailors, but Scootaloo was dressed up as a captain of a pirate ship. It was the start of the CMC's summer vacation, so what better way to start the summer than a boat trip overseas? Lapis agreed to keep an eye on them, and she, along with Steven, got a boat for some fun time out at sea.

"Avast matey! We're coming into shore!" Scootaloo said, holding out a fake, wooden sword with her hoof, and standing boldly at the front of the boat. They may not be on a wooden pirate ship, but, it was still fun to play the part anyway. Sure enough, looking off ahead, the group were heading back. Course, beforehand they were out for a while, so it was about time to head back anyway. On the docks, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Greg were waiting for them to come back around. Soon, the boat stopped right along the pier, and the group got right off with smiles.

"Everything go well, kiddo?" Greg asked, as Steven hugged his dad.

"It was awesome!" Steven said.

"We got under the sea too - it was beautiful," added Sweetie Belle. They had a few bits of scuba gear on the boat while they were out, and had some fun scuba diving (even if they were dressed as sailors and stuff).

"And there's so many cool fish down there; sharks, stingrays, we even saw a group of dolphins," finished Scootaloo, her wings beating quick from excitement. Rainbow Dash gave Scootaloo a noogie.

"Glad you have a blast, Scoot," Rainbow said, as Scootaloo chuckled. Lapis was happy that everypony had a good time on their outing, though as she watched, Lapis began seeing something in common with them. Each one had a parent to look forward to; Steven with Greg, Scootaloo with Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle with Rarity, and Apple Bloom with Applejack. She saw everyone had someone to love to come back to. Lapis still kept on a happy face though ...

"Thanks again for watching over them, Lapis," Rarity said. Lapis got out of her mind, and turned to Rarity.

"Oh, it's no trouble. I'm glad we even got the boat to do it."

"True. How'd you get a boat anyway?" Rarity asked.

"My pal Onion helped us out with that," Steven said. Onion was one of the kids that lived in Beach City - he happened to have a dad who was a sailor - and helped Steven and his pony friends out in getting a tugboat. They saw Onion sitting nearby, giving a thumbs up towards Steven, who returned the gesture.

"That was nice of him," Applejack said.


~~~~~~


When they were finished with that, it was getting late - it was sunset when they were done on their boat trip - and it was time to head back home. For Steven, it meant working up on his night routine (brushing teeth, ear cleaning, Gem polishing, etc.) He got on his PJs in the bathroom, and soon he was done, heading off out of the bathroom. He was soon greeted by Blue, who wagged his tail. Blue hadn't seen him all day, and was happy to see him. However, Steven was too tired to play.

"Hi, boy. Sorry, but it's too late to play. We can play tomorrow, I promise," Steven assured him. Blue responded by happily licking his face, Steven laughing.

"No Blue, I already got cleaned up," Steven said in between giggles, Blue stopping after a few more seconds. Steven took a moment to clean his face of Blue's saliva, before starting off to his bed. As Steven was ready to go to bed, Blue glanced off to outside, noticing something that Steven didn't. Just as Steven was about to close his eyes, Blue suddenly began barking, startling Steven.

"Blue, sleep time for Steven," Steven said, tiredly. Blue stopped barking, and Steven was about to go back to sleep, but the Gem dog then went on right up to Steven, tugging on Steven's blanket. The human Gem tried to get his blanket back, but he actually ended up falling out of bed.

"Okay Blue, I'll let you out for a little bit," Steven said. Blue went to the door, his front paws on the doors as he barked again. Steven went downstairs, rubbing his eyes, and opened the door for Blue. As he did though, Steven looked out to the beach., and then he noticed someone along the shore, laying down on the sand. It was Lapis Lazuli. She had her hands behind her head, and her eyes towards the stars. Blue thought this meant she was hurt or something, and rushed over to her. Steven followed Blue out to the beach, wondering why Lapis was outside. As Steven got closer though, he began to see Lapis Lazuli was looking a little bit down, not smiling. As for Lapis, she didn't notice them come over until Blue sniffed her face.

"Oh, it's you two," Lapis said, sitting up and turned to them both.

"Hi, Lapis. You okay? You look kinda down," Steven said. Lapis was hoping he wouldn't notice that, but Lapis just sighed and looked back up into the sky.

"Well, no, I'm just thinking ..."

"Care to talk about it?" Steven asked, sitting down next to her. Blue sat down close by, as Lapis began to think on how to put it.

"Okay ... It started earlier today."

"Oh no, was it the boat trip?"

"No, no, not at all. I saw you and the CMC with their loved ones and ... I do wonder what it's like," Lapis said. It sounded odd for Lapis, considering how long she was with the Crystal Gems anyway, but what Lapis Lazuli saw with Steven and Greg wasn't exactly the same thing she saw with Steven and the Gems. Steven took a moment to think on what happened after they came back from their boat trip, remembering mainly him being with his dad ...

"Love?"

"Sort of."

Lapis took a moment to think, but then got up, smiling again as she would usually do.

"But don't worry about it; you guys give me a lot of love, and that's good enough for me. Don't worry Steven," Lapis assured him, starting to head back alongside Steven and Blue. Still, Steven felt that Lapis was feeling down on that sort of thing, and began to ponder on it for the rest of the night.

.......

"Love, Steven?" Peedee asked the next day. After thinking, Steven went on over into Beach City with Connie and Blue to hang out. It was a basic visit, nothing out of the ordinary, but Steven still had his mind thought up on Lapis and her "love" issue. It wasn't until he and Connie got their fry bits when Steven told them the issue. Perhaps some kids with a level head can help him figure out what to do about it.

"That's what she told me," Steven said, nibbling on his fry bits as Peedee wiped down the counter.

"What kind of love?" Connie asked.

"Huh?"

"There're different kinds of love, Steven. Did she mean a friend or an actual romance?" Connie explained. Steven thought for a moment.

"Romantic," Steven concluded. Steven didn't know for sure, but considering Lapis said herself she had plenty of love from the Gems and Ponies already, what other love could she really mean anyway? For Connie and Peedee, it was a situation a bit older than both of them, but Connie at least had some idea on the subject matter.

"Oh. Well, that's different." It was all Peedee could really say, as Steven tried to think.

"She had done so much for us and the earth before. She deserves it," Steven sighed. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in his head. Steven got a big smile, and stars in his eyes. It was perfect.

"That's it."

"What?" Peedee asked.

"Let's go find Lapis a boyfriend!" Steven proclaimed, fully confident in the idea. Connie and Peedee glanced to each other. It sounded lovely, and Steven's heart was in the right place, but this wasn't exactly easy to pull off.

"Uh ... you sure, Steven?" Peedee questioned.

"It's perfect! There's many people in Beach City - there's got to be a perfect match for Lapis!" Steven replied, equally excited still. If Lapis was bummed out over love, what better way to cure it than to find someone to love her? Simple, and straightforward.

"That sounds so sweet, but who're we going to find here? There's not too many people in Beach City," Connie pointed out. she was up for trying, but the chances were kinda low here. Steven turned from sweet to smug.

"Well, don't know until we start looking. come on, let's go," Steven encouraged.

"I still have to watch over the place," Peedee insisted.

"Come on, just for a bit, pleeease?"

"Steven I -"

Suddenly Peedee saw Steven's begging face; his eyes wide and looking like a sad puppy. Peedee tried to fight it, but Steven's stare was overpowering. Eventually, Peedee relented.

"I-I'll see if Ronaldo can take my shift."

Luckily for him, Steven and Connie both got Peedee to come along after his dad allowed him to, even if Ronaldo wasn't available to ask again. Peedee, Connie, and Steven began to go around town, heading to Dewey Park, trying to figure this out. It was a nice day, so the chances of many people going outside in general, are pretty high up. In fact, as the trio went off towards downtown. There were, as they hoped, quite a lot of people so it shouldn't be too hard to figure things out.

"Okay guys, we can do this, let's go find Lapis Lazuli someone to love," Steven said, high-fiving them. If they were going to go through with this, they need to be vigilant with the whole thing, and choose their choices carefully.


Time to find Lapis a date.

Steven; Lazuli is sweet and kind.
She's the best friend that we could hope for.

Steven went on ahead, spinning on a light pole in a broadway style sort of way, the other two following and going with the song. Steven surely was happy, and ready to begin.

The perfect boyfriend you and I must find.
One to really make her heart so-o-ore!

Steven, Peedee, and Connie split up from there with their mission on their minds. There were plenty of people to look around, and many people to see and work with. Peedee first found a young kid, playing a Gameboy. He looked a bit too young to be Lapis's date.

Peedee; This one's too young,

Next Peedee went over, seeing a much older man nearby. He was the opposite of the kid earlier as to why not.

This one's too old.

Peedee then moved on, finding another boy sitting on an outdoor bench, though he looked a bit ill; signature ice pack on the head, and looking white in the face. Peedee appeared behind him.

He clearly has a terrible cold.

The boy sneezed away from Peedee as he moved off to keep looking. Nearby, Connie wasn't having much better luck with her choices. She did see one kid basically acting naïve, in order to get some laughs from his friends. A bit odd, and not one for Lapis.

Connie; This boy's too silly,

Next to her, she saw a very neat-looking fella, though a bit more so than what Lapis would like. So no.

He's way too uptight.

Then she saw someone else over by the statue. He looked pretty nice, handsome, and seemed like the right one for Lapis Lazuli.

How about this one? He seems alright...

"His girlfriend sure thinks so," Peedee pointed out. Sure enough, the boy in question was with another girl, kissing her. Oh well, there's still more to look around for. Moving right along, Steven and Connie were finding other people along the way. Connie did find one of them, looking quite much in fashion and jewelry on his outfit, but too bright to cope.

Connie; How about this one?

Steven; He's much too flashy.

Peedee then found a good looking guy going along the park on a fast moving bike. He looked alright overall, as Peedee ran alongside him.

Peedee; He might do -

He was cut short when the same boy zoomed by Steven and Connie, splashing them when passing over a puddle of water, soaking them both. Not a good showing.

Connie and Steven; If he weren't so splashy.

Peedee felt a little embarrassed, so they have to keep trying their best. The three continued finding other boys, but there always seemed to be something that didn't make it the perfect boyfriend for Lapis Lazuli.

Steven; Too short.

Peedee; Too tall.

Steven; Too mean.

Connie; Too smelly.

Eventually, the three sighed, and met up back at Mayor Dewey's statue. It didn't seem like it was going too well.

Connie; I don't think that we're mistaken,
It seems all of the good ones are taken.

Even if Peedee and Connie seemed a bit down, and not thinking they could finish this up, Steven still was very confident in the idea, and easily rallied his friends back.

Steven; I really feel that at the rate, we'll never find the perfect date -

all 3; Don't want to quit and give up hope!

Suddenly, Peedee, Connie, and Steven all soon noticed Ronaldo beginning to go through the park. He was doing his usual study, going through his own work and conspiracy stuff. When Steven saw him - he knew him quite a while, so, he knew a bit on how he acted -, his eyes gained the stars again.

Steven; We did it guys; we found the one!
We'll send Lapis's heart a flutter!

Peedee suddenly stopped though when he realized who Steven had meant.

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight; are you talking about my brother?"

~~~~~~


As for Steven, Peedee, and Connie, the trio were mainly splitting on their ideas; two out or three weren't sure if Ronaldo was the best option to pick. However, Steven saw he would be perfect for Lapis (maybe). The three met up back at Fish Stew Pizza to discuss what to do, the three sitting at the same table.

"Ronaldo's perfect; he's funny, bombastic, and he's deep into this Gem stuff," Steven said. The third part may not be true, but Steven can make that assumption since Ronaldo's deep in conspiracy stuff anyway. Peedee though had his doubts.

"Eh, I don't know Steven. I'm all for getting Lapis a boyfriend, but Ronaldo? ... He's not exactly normal."

"Neither is Lapis. He'll love Lapis for sure!"

"As a subject for his study, maybe, but I don't know about love love."

"Come on, Peedee, at least give it a try. Hey, maybe your brother will have something else to focus on aside from studies when this works," Connie pointed out. As for agreement, Connie was quite in partial. Peedee pondered for a few seconds, and didn't even consider that. His doubts were still there, but he suddenly got more supportive on Steven's plan.

"You really think so?" Peedee asked. Before they could continue, Jenny suddenly came over to their table with an order of pizza for them (Steven ordered some as they were there).

"Thanks," Steven said, as Jenny went back to her job. Steven took a bite of his pizza as they continued.

"I'm sure it'll work out. But how to get him to ask," Connie wondered.

"What do you mean?" Steven asked, mouth full still.

"Usually the boy asks the girl to be his girlfriend ... At least, that's how it goes in the stories I read," Connie admitted. Peedee wasn't sure on that, as Steven swallowed his bite of the pizza.

"Maybe he doesn't have to; maybe Lapis can ask him instead! She's the one who wanted it, after all," Steven concluded. It would only make sense as far as he's concern.

"Either way, how're we gonna get them together? My brother's too busy with his conspiracies to just go off on a date," Peedee pointed out.

"You just answered your own question, Peedee."

"I did? How did I - ... Ooooohhhh! Got it."

"Great. Leave Lapis to me," Steven assured.

Time to make a date.


~~~~~~


After about half an hour, the group's had managed to work out how to proceed with the plan. It wouldn't take much to do it; just get them together in a lovely location. And Steven knew the perfect spot to do just that. While Beach City had its own giant cliff for their lighthouse, there was another one further outside of town that had the perfect view of Beach City. An added blanket, a fancy candle at the center, and some flowers, and they were all set. Out of the two, the first one to arrive was Steven with Lapis. They took their time flying, but Steven had her land further away, having her instead walk, her water wings over her eyes. Steven guided her along the way.

"Can you see?" Steven asked.

"Yes, but it's very blurry," Lapis answered. Steven was glad to hear that, as he stopped close by the picnic area.

"You can take them away now," Steven told her. Lapis moved her wings to see the picnic area. The area consisted of a typical red and white checkered blanket with a singular candle at the center of it. It was a cute spot to say the least. Lapis though seemed a little confused.

"Oh. Uh, what's this exactly?"

"You'll see," Steven said with an eager smile. That just seemed to make Lapis more confused, and even a little suspicious towards Steven; what was he up to? Lapis liked Steven, but, this just seemed odd. Steven invited her to sit down after a bit, and Lapis did so. Steven looked off down the hill, and noticed the second half of this love pair coming up; Ronaldo. Perfect!

"Oh no, I forgot the food. I'll be right back," Steven said. Course this wasn't true, but Steven wanted Lapis and Ronaldo alone together, so, he needed some excuse to go. Steven went off out of the way just as Ronaldo showed up. Ronaldo didn't appear to be here for any date; having a camo outfit on rather than casual clothes. Lapis didn't know Ronaldo too well aside from what Steven had told her, so seeing him show up made her even more suspicious.

"Oh. Uh, hi Ronaldo," Lapis said, unsure to be honest. Ronaldo didn't expect this to show up either.

"Hey there. Anything ... different?" Ronaldo asked, confused. He didn't see anything out of place, which was what he was hoping for. However, all he could see was just Lapis sitting at the picnic spot.

Farther away, Steven, Peedee, and Connie were all watching the event from farther away, Steven using his telescope to see what was going on. Steven took the time to get another blanket for themselves so they at least can watch the event comfortably. As for Lapis and Ronaldo, a huge awkward vibe stuck around both of them.

"So ... Nice view from up here, huh?" Lapis said, looking back to the city.

"Uh ... I guess so ..." Ronaldo replied.

O the awkwardness was real. As for the trio, they took turns in watching the event through Steven's telescope. At this point, it was Connie who was looking through it.

"Well, how does it look?" Peedee asked. Connie turned back, both hands on the telescope.

"Not too sure. They both seem -" Connie looked through the telescope again. "- oh, wait, wait, something's happening," Connie replied. Peedee and Steven tried to see themselves at what was going on. From what they could see, Lapis and Ronaldo were facing eachother. With the clear sky behind them, it added a extra bit of drama and romance to the situation. The anticipation was running high, as Lapis leaned a little closer, bit by bit. The closer they got together, the more excited they were.

"Ronaldo?"

"Yes?"

"... I think there's something on your face," Lapis pointed out. Ronaldo moved his hand to check, realizing a small bit of fry bits he had earlier today was on his face (very small). The kid trio not expecting such a shift in tone.

"OH, COME ON!" Peedee exclaimed in annoyance. The other two quickly got him quiet before the other two noticed them. Lapis felt sticking around may not be the best idea after all. Lapis got up, along with Ronaldo after a bit, but both of them had noticed the three nearby. Lapis got to them before they could go off.

"Steven? What's going on here?" Lapis asked. Ronaldo went over as well, wondering what's going on. Connie, Steven, and Peedee (especially Peedee) felt caught and had nowhere to really go.

"Oh, hi Lapis."

"Steven?" Lapis asked, less out of curiosity, and more on suspicions. Steven glanced to Connie and Peedee, and decided to just say it.

"I-I was just trying to help you find love, Lapis."

"Excuse me?" Lapis asked, less stern this time.

"Well, Steven told us about last night, and when you said you were wondering about love and stuff," said Peedee.

"So, we tried to find you a boyfriend for a while, and we found Ronaldo, so ..." added Connie.

"We thought Ronaldo will work, so we set this up for the right moment. Sorry, Lapis, Ronaldo," finished Steven.

Lapis and Ronaldo took a moment to think on what they had just said. Yes, Lapis had said that last night, and yes, she could see where this was going (kinda). The two in question glanced to eachother. They weren't THAT interested in eachother, and the trio took it as such. Ronaldo wasn't fazed with this odd revelation, and Lapis actually laughed.

"No, no, Steven. I see where you're going, but I didn't mean that kind of love," Lapis cleared up. Steven looked confused.

"You didn't?"

"No. What I meant was like you with your dad; a true natural connection. I wasn't talking about a romantic love," Lapis cleared up. Well, Steven goofed, and all he could do was shrug nervously to his friends. Oh well, no harm done, and it could be worse. For Lapis, Gems don't have sisters, brothers, or anything as such, so it was something she had pondered about. Guess it was her own fault; she didn't make it clear enough to Steven last night anyway.

"Sorry, Ronaldo."

"It's alright," Ronaldo replied, again, not feeling too rough on the news. He didn't show up to a date, anyway. As for Lapis, she turned back to the kids, and gave a warm smile.

"I do see what you three tried to do. That's very sweet of you to do," Lapis said. She leaned down to Steven, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Steven blushed up a bit after that. He may have messed up, but at least everyone was in better spirits.


~~~~~~


After that little event, they all went back to their homes, Lapis and Steven back to the Temple. The Gems were busy doing other things, so Lapis had a moment to herself. There really wasn't that much to do, so, she went off outside. The weather was nice, as per usual for summer weather, and a nice breeze made some good waves come in from the ocean. Lapis continued down the beach for a little bit until she just past the mailbox. She looked on up into the sky for a brief moment, seeing the seabirds go by overhead. As she looked up, she didn't really notice until too late that someone was already standing in her way. She turned just before she could walk into whoever was there. His uniform consisted of a light blue shirt with an envelope embroidered on both sleeves, a white t-shirt beneath it, slate blue shorts, a messenger satchel with an envelope embroidered on its flap, and a pith helmet. His eyes were black, and his thick hair a brown. Lapis jumped back on seeing him, not expecting any extra visitors coming around.

"Oh, sorry ... Can I help you?" Lapis asked, taking a few steps back. The mailman needed a moment too before he spoke.

"Hey there. I got a package for a mister "Emerald"," he said, pulling out a package from his satchel. It looked fairly decent; in a brown box and about as big as a dictionary. Nothing too out of the ordinary with the package. However, Lapis didn't see Emerald in the Beach House, and was more interested in this mailman. Before either could continue, suddenly they heard the door open, and Emerald rushed out, skidding at the mailbox. He quickly grabbed the package, and tore it open to show it was actually a stack of manga.

"Sweet! The set's here!" Emerald beamed, rushing off back to the Beach House.

"... Uh, okay then."

The mailman rubbed the back of his head, as Lapis tried to figure him out.

"So what exactly are you doing here?" Lapis asked, her head tilted. The mailman cleared his throat.

"I'm just going along my daily route, mam."

"Daily Route? You mean you always come by this way?" Lapis questioned.

"That's right; here and around Beach City, delivering my mail to each resident awaiting their arrival," he said, a hint of drama in his voice. Lapis found that, although unexpected, kinda cute. She smiled to him, finding this 'mail' interesting, and the mailman smiled back.

"So what else do you deliver in this 'mail'?" Lapis asked, looking to the satchel the package came from. The mailman didn't think Lapis was being too serious, so, he went along anyway.

"Well more often than not, it's usually letters, bills, sweepstakes time to time. It's often a lottery on what should come around to its rightful owners," he explained, Lapis finding his added charm to his sentences enjoyable. Lapis even giggled a little, making the mailman blush slightly. Lapis rubbed her arm as she looked to him, wondering what to say to him. As far as most humans go, she found them a bit dynamic, maybe too dynamic, and seeing this human ... well, he was interesting, to say the least.

"You are an interesting human. What's your name?" Lapis asked. The mailman took out some shades, and put them on for a dramatic effect before answering.

"Jamie," he answered. Lapis found the added drama a cute touch, but seeing this, Lapis wasn't sure if it was added drama or added ego. And her own experience with someone with an ego not too long ago (or at least seeing it happen to her close friend), she wasn't too sure. Still, he didn't seem as bad as the other guy, so, he gave him the benefit of a doubt.

"Lapis Lazuli," Lapis replied. Jamie nodded on hearing the name. While he liked to stick around, he still had a job to do, and a route to complete. So, he turned to go.

"It was a pleasure to meet you," Jamie said to her. Lapis decided to play along with the drama game, and bowed to him like a proper lady.

"A pleasure to meet you too," Lapis replied. Jamie smiled to her, and went off to continue his paper route. As for Lapis, it was a sweet little first time meeting. Lapis began to head back to the Temple, smiling softly.
> Just Like You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resting his drawing skill for a moment, Steven placed his colored pencil down at his side, as he grabbed his picture, blowing off some pencil shavings from his masterpiece. Nearby, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had come over from Equestria to the Temple. At the moment, Steven had his mind stuck on fusions lately since doing his very first, so, he'd been pretty busy with drawing out what he could guess some possible fusions would be for the other fusions to either himself or to eachother. He'd gone through at least ten masterpieces of work, and this one he'd figure was a keeper.

"oooOOOooo! Me next! Me next!" Pinkie beamed, already grabbing some colored pencils and drawing out her own piece with her hooves and mouth. As they were doing this, The door opened up, and in entered Peridot, Ruby, and Sapphire. Sapphire was fine, but the other two seemed to be bugged about something.

"Hello everyone," Sapphire said, though Peridot and Ruby didn't say anything, not looking to eachother.

"Hi, Sapphire! Wanna see my Gem picture?" Pinkie Pie beamed, holding her picture up for Sapphire to see. Pinkie's picture was simple, and it showed a dull blue Gem with rainbow hair in bands. Sapphire took a moment to look at it, smiling sweetly.

"Accurate," Sapphire said. Pinkie beamed on hearing that, but then their attention turned to Ruby and Peridot, who sat on the couch, not even looking to eachother. They both had their arms crossed, and a pouty look on their faces. Cute, but, what was wrong exactly? Pinkie hopped off of Steven's bed floor, and landed down in between Ruby and Peridot, a hoof wrapped around their shoulders.

"Aww, you two feeling grumpy today?" Pinkie said, though the comment and slight baby talk didn't seem to help either of them.

"Uh, excuse me? Is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked. Still, the two didn't say a word, making Fluttershy a bit unsure of the situation. Sapphire answered for them.

"Ruby and Peri had a argument at the barn. Something about the Camp Pining Hearts series, I think," Sapphire figured.

"Camp Pining Hearts?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's a series Peridot's been watching," Sapphire answered. Since being introduced to the series when the group was at Bayburgh, Peridot had pretty much been hooked on the series. When Ruby got involved in it though, one thing lead to another, and now the two were left angry and not talking to eachother. Sapphire didn't like them doing this anymore than the next pony.

"Come on, Gemies! Turn those frowns upside-down," Pinkie encouraged, her hooves moving Ruby's lips until she was grinning. Her grin turned to a frown seconds after Pinkie removed her hooves, too hot to touch for long anyway, and the red Gem got up, going towards Sapphire.

"Pierre and Percy are better," Peridot mumbled. Ruby obviously didn't think so, and ignored her.

"Can we fuse back now?" Ruby groaned. Sapphire took a moment to think, but before she could answer, Pinkie Pie then showed her another picture, this time of another fusion idea Steven had drawn out. Sapphire glanced to that, and to the two Gem grumps. Then she got an idea. Since Pinkie was next to her, she made a sly hand gesture, which somehow Pinkie understood. Ruby paid no mind to it.

"Alright, Ruby. Come on," Sapphire said. Ruby and Sapphire began their fusion dance for a bit, Pinkie, Peridot, Fluttershy, and Steven all watching. At first, Ruby and Sapphire were doing well, and their fusion dance undeterred and undisturbed. Ruby was all for it, but Sapphire had her own plan in mind for her hot-headed friends. Suddenly, Pinkie grabbed Peridot, and started to dance like Ruby and Sapphire were doing; balancing on her back hooves, she danced much like a normal person. Peridot didn't expect this, and neither did Fluttershy and Steven.

"Whoa, hey, let -" Peridot tried to speak, but Pinkie Pie ignored her. Ruby's gemstone started to glow a bit, signifying that fusion was near. Sapphire found her chance.

Before Ruby or Peridot could realize what was happening, Pinkie and Sapphire swung the two Gems towards eachother, like switching partners in a dance but more forceful and quick. Ruby's gemstone was still glowing, so the second Ruby and Peridot made contact, their bodies glowed bright. Steven and Fluttershy were shocked at what they did, and once the white blur disappeared, the result was sitting in front of them.

Ruby and Peridot had fused!

The fusion sitting there looked about as tall as Garnet would be. Her body shared Ruby's thicker, stocky features with Peridot's slimmer ones. As for clothes, she had a sleevless, orange tank top over a red orange shirt, both of which looked like what Amethyst would wear. She also had brown shorts, which matched Ruby's perfectly. Her hair, rather than being a square like Ruby or triangle like Peridot, were put in a star shape. The headband and visors fused into a pair of orange goggles, tied together like the mentioned headband, with characteristics of both in design. The body was a sort of coral color, and her hair had a dark brown color as well. The gemstones of Peridot and Ruby were in their proper places, though their colors were more orange rather than the typical red or green like before. She took a moment, disoriented from the sudden spin and swing, and not realizing what had happened just yet. Sapphire was smiling though, and while Fluttershy was still left a bit speechless, Pinkie and Steven couldn't be more excited on seeing this result.

"WOO! HI RUBIDOT!" Pinkie said, giving the fusion a name. The fusion got up, not realizing what had happened yet.

"Who's Rubidot? And what gives with that stupid -" suddenly, the fusion saw Ruby's gemstone on her hand.

"Wait, what the? Why do I have Ruby's - my? Gemstone? Why is it orange?! W-Why's my hair star-shaped now?!" Slowly, Rubidot started to come to realization on what just happened. First of all, she figured out how tall she had gotten, taller than anybody else in the room. Almost right away, Rubidot tried to unfuse, but Sapphire suddenly intervened, and got her arms around Rubidot to keep her together.

"Oh, you two look cute together," Sapphire complimented, making Rubidot blush a rustic red color.

"W-Wait, Sapphire, I wanted to fuse with you! - Why did you make me fuse with Ruby?!" Rubidot said, both sides shifting and speaking their opinions on the matter.

"Aww! I was so close," Steven suddenly said. He drew a picture of Ruby and Peridot if they fused, but his wasn't as accurate as this one; the fusion yellow, and the hair in a hexagon instead of a star.

"You two will be alright. This can help you both get along, and better understand eachother. Can you do that for me?"

"NO! Sapphire, let go and let us unfuse!" Rubidot demanded, this part mostly from Peridot rather than Ruby (Ruby would never demand Sapphire like that). Rubidot tried to make her let go. Sapphire didn't though, not wanting the two split right away.

"Come on, Rubidot, this is awesome! You look so cuddly and cute," Pinkie beamed, hugging her as well. Sapphire only released her then, knowing Pinkie's grip, even with hooves, was much stronger than her own.

"I'M NOT CUTE, YOU CLOD!" Rubidot snapped. Her anger quickly turned to pleading as she looked to Sapphire.

"Sapphire, please don't make me do this," Rubidot pleaded, the Ruby side of her speaking out this time.

"Rubidot. This is a first experience for of you. Do you really want that experience to be you two fighting with eachother? Besides, this could be more special than you two think," Sapphire explained. Rubidot looked less worried, and more like she began to realize what she meant. With Peridot's brains, and Ruby's brawn, what could come out from Rubidot? Rubidot looked down to her hand, the one having Ruby's gemstone, as the other one felt Peridot's head gemstone.

"... You sure?" Rubidot asked.

"More than sure. Besides, I can't fuse with you right now anyway; I have a visit with the Diamond today with the alicorn princesses back on Homeworld. I'd take you, but, Yellow Diamond insisted to have only the royal court of Gemkind be involved," Sapphire revealed. Immediately, Rubidot felt left out this time around, and at least Sapphire had reason to stay separated for a while.

"But what're we suppose to do?"

"Have fun. I'm sure some ponies and people would like to play with you," Sapphire said with a smile, referring to the three in the room. Steven and Pinkie were more than happy to comply, and Fluttershy can help with making them both feel comfortable if it came around to it. Sapphire opened the front door.

"Have fun you two," Sapphire said, as she gave a wave, and walked out. Not only did it feel like Deja Vu for Peridot and Ruby, but dealing with this new fusion would make this an interesting day. And by the looks on Pinkie and Steven's faces told Rubidot that she'll be in for a interesting ride ...


~~~~~~


For Sapphire, the thought of returning to Homeworld just for a nice visit with the Diamonds other than being captured or put on death row was a nice thought to have, and also was a good reminder of what the Crystal Gems had done on Homeworld during the winter. The small blue aristocrat went off outside of Beach City, and right over to the special Warp Pad just out of town. After a quick coordinate put, and a step on the pad, Sapphire was off of Earth, and on her way back to her home planet. The Warp Stream was about the same as the other Warp Pad Streams would have it. The small wait there wasn't too different from an elevator ride to the next floor (without the annoying waiting music, of course). Once Sapphire did arrive at the Homeworld Warp, she was actually greeted right up front by Blue Diamond's Pearl. Not much of a walk, she was actually waiting for her to show up. She wasn't the only one waiting though, as Sapphire also saw Lapis Lazuli standing next to Blue Pearl. It was pretty nice of them to wait for her, and once she had showed up, they began to head off to Blue Diamond's Homeworld City. For both Sapphire and Lapis, the walk back to their Homeworld city was a calm one, and not too long of one. The entire city compared to their last recent visit to the city didn't change very much, but there was one detail as they neared the main tower that was different, but a nice thing to do. In a town square just before the tower, there was actually a décor hologram made in their honor. The exact detail itself was actually the exact same model as the ultimate fusion they used to save Homeworld. It stood tall and proud, colors matching perfectly to the original. Sapphire felt a sense of pride for what they did, and was happy there was something for Homeworld to remember them by.

Sapphire, Lapis, and Blue Pearl were soon heading through the front tower entrance, and heading off into the throne room. As they were, it was clear a bit of activity was going on inside, a number of other Gems there. Sapphire and Lapis soon found Blue Diamond, next to Yellow Diamond and her Pearl. Cadance, Luna, Celestia, and Twilight Sparkle had arrived earlier than Sapphire and Lapis did, but only by just a minute or so, so, the others weren't really too late for the visit.

"Sapphire, Lapis, a pleasure for you to make it," Blue Diamond said. Sapphire and Lapis smiled back to her.

"Great to be here," Sapphire replied. They did take notice though, that Yellow Diamond appeared a bit rough in the face, like she wanted to get to some unforeseen point they don't seem to know about. Still, they just arrived, so, it wasn't going to be right away. Besides, the alicorns needed to get more acquainted with the Diamonds first, and Homeworld in general anyway.

"How long have you guys been here? We're not late, are we?" Lapis asked, as she flew over to the alicorns.

"Not at all aside introductions, Lapis," Luna assured her.

"So you know eachother?" Yellow Diamond asked. That question just confirmed that they really weren't late for anything. Celestia was the one to answer Yellow Diamond on that.

"They helped save our kingdom in the past, Yellow Diamond," Celestia said.

"Did they now?" Yellow Diamond noted, looking to Lapis and Sapphire. Celestia nodded, and turned over to Blue Diamond, who got up from her throne.

"How about we go for a walk? Would be nice to show our guests around our world," blue Diamond suggested. Twilight had already seen plenty of Homeworld from her last visit, but the other Alicorns didn't really see much of it on their flight over.

"Sounds wonderful," Luna said.

"Excellent. Now, off we go then," Blue Diamond said, starting to head off. They began to follow Blue Diamond out, but Sapphire seemed to stay still. Her future vision was catching something again, and it was just about to happen.

"Uh, Celestia?" Yellow Diamond called. Celestia stopped, and turned back, letting the rest go with her. Sapphire didn't bother to go, despite Blue Diamond leaving, for she wanted to help Celestia out. The Alicorn turned back to Yellow Diamond and her Pearl.

"You've mentioned it was your kingdom in Equestria, right?"

"Well, not mine alone - I have my sister, Cadance and my student to aid me in such matters."

"But you appeared to be the oldest of them all, correct?"

Celestia blushed slightly; admitting she was over a thousand years old wasn't exactly something she'd like to admit for the start. Yellow Diamond seemed to be firm with her questions as well, as Yellow Pearl and Sapphire watched to see where this was going.

"Right."

"So you know what's in Equestria more than the other Alicorns."

"I suppose I do. If you don't mind me asking, Yellow Diamond; why?"

"Then follow me," Yellow Diamond said, close to a regular order, as Yellow Diamond began moving away from where Blue Diamond went. Celestia wasn't used to taking orders, being a princess of Equestria and all that, but she knew better than to try and argue with an equal, especially a ruler like this. Still, Celestia felt unsure what exactly Yellow Diamond had in mind for her. So, with a sigh, Celestia took to the air, and followed Yellow Diamond away from the others. Yellow Pearl was going to go, but saw Sapphire still with them.

"Aren't you going to follow you're Diamond?" Yellow Pearl asked.

"I think I'll be more needed here," Sapphire replied with a smile, following Yellow Diamond away. Yellow Pearl didn't say much else, shrugging, and following her Diamond.


~~~~~~


"Alright, let's see now," Rubidot said. After some thinking over back at the Temple, Rubidot had decided to head over to the barnhouse, and fiddle around with some more of the junk inside. It was still a dirty trick to make the two fuse the way they did, yet if they are going to stay like this until Sapphire would come back, they might as well try to stick together, both metaphorically and literally. If there was some bright sides to this fusion, one of these included the vision. Both sides could see just fine, but Peridot's enhanced visors gave Rubidot some extra detail. This only grew when Rubidot moved her goggles over her eyes. Peridot was used to it, though Ruby was given her own viewpoint on how Peridot would see the world through her visors.

"Wow, this vision's incredible! You really see this all the time?"

"Eh, you get used to it."

It was odd for Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Steven to hear Rubidot talk to herself, but considering she was made of two people molded into one, they couldn't really blame her for doing so. At this point, Rubidot managed to pull out an old, wheel-less pickup truck. Peridot liked the advantage of extra strength from Ruby, and looked pleased with herself. Rubidot opened up the hood, and started looking over the old, rusty machinery. As she was though, Pinkie rushed over, and hopped right inside, in the driver's seat. Suddenly, Pinkie's hoof slammed on the carhorn. The sudden loud noise made Rubidot jump, hitting the back of her head on the open hood. Steven and Fluttershy jumped too on hearing the sudden noise, and both sides of Rubidot were bothing short of ticked.

"What was that for?!" Rubidot snapped, both sides angry. Pinkie shrunk down in her seat, realizing her mistake, but Fluttershy quickly moved in the way before Rubidot could go ahead and hurt anypony.

"W-Wait, wait. L-Let's try to avoid hurting anypony, please? I-If you don't mind that is," Fluttershy insisted, trying not to make Rubidot upset with her as well. As satisfying as it would be, Rubidot sighed. She knew Pinkie didn't mean any harm, and just wanted some fun. Steven went over to Rubidot after a bit, a question popping up in his head.

"So, how does it feel to be together?" Steven asked innocently. Rubidot turned to Steven, who sat down and waited for an answer. Rubidot took a moment with herself before answering him.

"Well, with Peridot's brains, and Ruby's brawn. It feels well-balanced," Rubidot admitted, which was true. With the mind power and muscle gained from both Gems fused in her, Rubidot felt pretty balanced for a Gem to be. She wasn't a complete bruiser, nor a complete egghead, she was quite a nice balance between the two. Before the fusion could continue though.

"What do we have here?"

They turned towards the barn door, and they had another guest showing up; Emerald. He was getting bored, and visited the barn to do some stuff, only to find a brand new fusion inside. The sight of this fusion immediately got Emerald interested.

"Hi, Emerald! Guess who this is," Steven said excitedly. Emerald looked Rubidot over, mischievous smirk on his face. Seeing Peridot's gem on Rubidot's forehead told Emerald that Peridot was in the fusion. Ruby found it odd, yet Peridot didn't want to deal with Emerald again, especially when this way.

"So, now there's a Peri fusion? How you feeling, perito?" Emerald joked. Peridot from inside Rubidot cringed at the confusing joke, annoyed as usual.

"None of your business," Rubidot got out. Emerald was undeterred however, and continued looked Rubidot over. Emerald's smile said that he was enjoying the view.

"You got some bod, Rubidot. This from Ruby, or did your mind alter it?" Emerald said, having the nerve to slap Rubidot's hip. The fusion blushed up a deep rustic brown, Emerald liking that reaction. However, his smirk quickly turned to a terrified frown when he saw her face. Rubidot's eyes were turned into a killer glare, pupils barely noticeable, and both fists were ready to punch the clod off back to Homeworld.

"Try that again. I dare you."

Since Emerald valued his life, he stopped immediately.

"... Oh yeah, I forgot to do something elsewhere, see you later."

And with that quick, and hesitant response, Emerald bolted out of the barn and out of sight. The Peridot side of Rubidot felt quiet, but very impressed with the quick results. Pinkie, Steven, and Fluttershy were a bit silent, as Rubidot simply smiled to herself.


~~~~~~


Back on Homeworld, Yellow Diamond brought Celestia from Blue Diamond's throne room, over to the nearest control room. With Blue Diamond busy, Yellow diamond could use this to get Celestia on the level. This wasn't exactly orthodox by any means, as Yellow Diamond would normally go off to her own control room, but Yellow diamond didn't had enough time for it. Celestia, although impressed with the advancements compared to Equestria's magical accomplishments, was curious over what Yellow Diamond exactly had in mind for her. Yellow Pearl and Sapphire both stood aside, as Celestia and Yellow Diamond walked over side by side. The leading Gem in question started working with the Homeworld Hologram for a bit.

"Now, Celestia. There's has been some incidents that are ... unorthodox, as of late," Yellow Diamond began, catching Celestia's attention. The Gem then moved around the Homeworld hologram, clicking one area of the hologram to bring up a picture with some information. This one though seemed to be very recent, and the information showed a surveillance picture of one of the Yellow Diamond city streets. The image was enhanced, but the problem itself was just far enough out of the shot to make it too hard to tell at a glance. There were no Gems, but, something was just enough to see something move out of sight to an alleyway. It just showed the back of the object, and a strange tail ending in a warty, bumpy tail. This was what Yellow Diamond wanted to discuss with Celestia.

"This was the best image my patrols had managed to get. My citizens had gone missing over the last week ... strangely, since those new portals had been created," Yellow Diamond explained, suspicions filling her voice as she looked down to Celestia again. The alicorn looked closely to the picture, in particular the creature caught within it.

"Mind if you zoom in on the creature?" Celestia asked. Yellow Diamond did so, not thinking it'll help too much. The image mainly showed the creature and not much else. It was also kinda blurred a bit at first, but eventually the quality improved, and Celestia got a better view of it. The creature had grey fur, the back legs had paws on the ends of them, and the tail wasn't very long. The alicorn princess thought it over in her head on what creature would match this picture. Obviously, this might be a Equestrian creature due to the odd appearance. Celestia thought it over and over again, until the answer finally hit her ...

And then she laughed.

Yellow Diamond felt deeply insulted, although Celestia was just being calm on the matter.

"How dare you! My Gems are missing, and all you do is laugh!" Yellow Diamond bellowed in anger.

"Just point me in the right direction - it won't take very long to handle," Celestia said with a smile. Yellow Diamond glared down at Celestia as she changed the screen to show the map layout of the city. The area marked was east of the main tower, in a red diamond shape. Since Celestia was in the Blue Diamond city though, that doesn't help too much. As if sensing this, Yellow Diamond brought out the map further until both cities were visible, giving Celestia a much better view of the area. Celestia nodded her head.

"I'll have them on their way by tea time," Celestia said. and with that, Celestia began to take flight, opening up one of the glass roof windows, before flying off towards her destination.


~~~~~~


As for Rubidot, the fusion was having a better time of it. After some more time at the barn, Rubidot, Pinkie, Steven, and Fluttershy all decided to try a forest walk to pass the time. The summer breeze blew around through the trees, which were bright green, and full of life. The songbirds sang their chirps and tweets in the air around them, some able to be seen flying by them. Everyone was just walking except for Pinkie, who was hopping along in front, looking around the place as she went. for Rubidot, just casually walking through a forest wasn't something either Gem put in her was used to, but it was a nice change of pace anyway.

"It's so peaceful out here," Fluttershy sighed. It was nice to have some calm in this corner of the world. As they continued going through, Fluttershy's ears listened in on some tiny chirps. Turned out, a small nest of birds were nearby, just up in a nearby tree. Fluttershy, being the animal lover she was, flew up for a closer look. The three adorable chicks cuddled up together in the nest, awaiting for their parents to come back. For Fluttershy, it was a cute sight. The birds on earth weren't as used to seeing ponies as the birds of Equestria were, so, the birds didn't budge an inch, hoping she wouldn't hurt them.

"Aww. They're so adorable," Fluttershy said with a smile. Curious, Rubidot decided to go over to investigate. Unlike Fluttershy though, Rubidot was a bit heavier, and getting up the tree to see made the branches shake around. Fluttershy quickly tried to keep the nest from falling until Rubidot got in a comfortable position to see the nest. Both sides of her knew just a little bit about birds, or at least enough to figure out what a bird is.

"They look underdeveloped," Rubidot noted, examining the baby birds in the nest.

"They're just babies, Rubidot. Oh, they're so cute," Fluttershy replied. Steven and Pinkie were about to go and see, but before they could, Steven and Pinkie heard a alarming array of chirps and squawks. Suddenly, the two closest to the nest were suddenly assaulted by an angry mother woodpecker. Fluttershy quickly got away, but Rubidot was a bit slower than her, and the bird started pecking at her head. Rubidot tried to get the bird away, only to fall down from the tree, landing right onto the ground with the bird still pecking away at her face. Rubidot tried to swat the bird away, but she was more concern over if the bird will peck a crack in her head gemstone. Soon as they moved far enough away, the angry and protective mother flew back to her nest, her chicks happy to see her.

"I hate birds."


~~~~~~


Back on Homeworld, Celestia continued her flight through the Homeworld air until she saw the next city just up ahead. The sight of a flying alicorn was surely something the other Gems surely took interest in seeing her fly by. While it was nice, Celestia was more focused on trying to find the targets in question. Any longer, and there could be more trouble. The alicorn continued flying until she noticed a pair of tall Jasper Gems (one with the gemstone on her right shoulder, the other with hers on her left hand), which appeared to be Yellow Diamond's more muscular patrols as she mentioned, looking off in a similar spot as shown in the photo she saw. If the beasts were anywhere, they'd be there. Celestia gently settled herself down by the two Jaspers, who quickly spotted her long before she landed.

"May I be of service?" Celestia asked innocently. The Jaspers both looked to eachother before the hand Jasper spoke.

"This is strictly Gem authority business," she said firmly. Celestia didn't seemed too fazed by that answer though, and looked past them both down the alleyway. It didn't seem very far in, and she could just make out the shadows from down the next bend. Celestia quietly chuckled.

"Don't worry, your Diamond's letting me do this. Excuse me," Celestia said with a smile, moving gently pass them both. The two Jaspers just looked on, unsure of how to take it. They for one never saw her before, yet Yellow Diamond put her up for dealing with whatever was over there.

As for the alicorn, the second she turned that corner, she knew exactly what she was getting herself into. Just hidden off in a dead end alley, there were three greedy, and oddly familiar creatures, looking over the spoils of their harvesting. These three were actually Diamond Dogs! It was a wonder how they figured out about the warp pad, nevermind figuring out how it worked, yet the three seemed to had been around for a while, judging by how many Gems they had in their big sack. Rover, Fido, and Spot couldn't wait to get rolling, and get on their way.

"Oh man, this is the biggest score we got yet!" Spot said, licking his short muzzle with anticipation.

"Yeah; we better vamoose before these rocks get smart," Rover replied, tossing the bag over his shoulder and ready to head off. Celestia didn't know how they consider their shenanigans smarter than the race they're pummeling with, but, she better get things straight before they "vamoose". As Rover was about to go, Celestia stepped out in the way, the oblivious dog walking right into her.

"Can I help you, boys?" Celestia asked. Rover tumbled back, all three of the dogs shocked and scared.

"AHHHH-hi, Celestia, you Alicorn you!" Rover said, nervously chuckling afterwards. However, Celestia stayed a bit monotone and emotionless in the face, making Rover gulp, pulling at his own collar.

"W-What brings you by? Y-You heard of that cool warp thingy too?"

"I made it," she said, dryly.

"Oh! W-Well, wonderful, works like a charm!" Rover said, jumping up to his paws, still holding the bag over his shoulder. "Eh, say, we'll just be heading off on our way now, if you -"

"Give me the gems," Celestia instructed, a hoof out and waiting. In a cold sweat, Rover still tried to give her the slip.

"Oh, what this? T-These aren't gems, they're uh ... Uh-uh Ourrrr ... laundry! yeah! Just got them cleaned up, and we're heading back."

"... seriously?" Celestia questioned, eyebrow raised. The dogs obviously aren't fooling anypony today ...

"... Eh ..."

.......

The three were floating in a suspended state just above Celestia's head, as she returned the gemstones to Yellow Diamond in person. Rover looked grumpy, yet the others just seemed blank-faced. Ah well, at least Yellow Diamond was pleased with the effort, along with Yellow Pearl and Sapphire.

"Happy to be of service," Celestia said.


~~~~~~


Back on Earth, the group found something a bit more relaxing to do, and away from the city. Not too much had happened today when it came to anything exciting, aside from an attack by the local woodpecker mother. They found a decent sized hill just outside of Beach City, and were looking up at the clouds. Rubidot found it nice to do, and gave both sides of her some thought time as they tried to point out stuff in the clouds.

"This is the life, huh guys? no worries, not a care in the world," Steven said.

"Nothing to do," Rubidot replied, though she wasn't as enthused as Steven was.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with relaxing with friends," Fluttershy assured, as she glanced at the clouds, spotting one that looked like a flower.

"OOO, look, that one looks like a puppy!" Pinkie pointed out with her hoof, happy to find it. Sure enough, a puppy shaped cloud could be seen.

"What can you see, Rubidot?" Steven asked. Rubidot looked up to the clouds, thinking a little bit.

"I think they're cumulus clouds," Rubidot guessed. The ponies and human looked to her, rather confused with the scientific response. Guess she didn't get the point of the game here.

"No, I mean what picture can you see?"

"What picture? Where?"

"Look at the clouds, and try to make out a picture," Steven explained. Rubidot went on and tried again, keeping that in mind. Looking up at the clouds far above her, Rubidot could only see clouds and nothing else.

"Um ... white ... cotton candy?" Rubidot managed to get out, making the comparison as simple and easy as possible for both her and the others.

"Good one!" Pinkie said, easily seeing the cotton candy. Rubidot just shrugged, and looked back to the clouds. As she was staring up at the clouds though, she was starting to see more stuff in the clouds apart from the actual cloud. She saw a tree, a swan, and even a bowl of popcorn at one point. As she was looking though, then she saw a familiar figure show up in the clouds.

Sapphire.

"How do you think Sapphire's doing?" Rubidot asked, turning onto her stomach to see the others easier.

"I'm sure she's doing just fine," Fluttershy said.

"You think so?"

"I'm sure the gal's gonna come back soon, then we can all play," Pinkie beamed, liking the idea of it. It was fun hanging out with Rubidot, but Sapphire didn't had much chance to hang out with them either. Rubidot just stayed there, staring up at the clouds some more when ...

"having fun?"

"Sapphire!" Steven beamed.

Sure enough, Sapphire was done with her trip, and had come back around alongside Lapis Lazuli. Lapis was amazed, and excited to see Rubidot there, and Sapphire could see the two were doing well with staying together, even after their argument earlier. Rubidot sat up, even with that being taller than Sapphire by a little bit. Rubidot was glad to see her.

"Sapphire, you're back!"

"The visit was interesting. I think Celestia and the Diamonds are getting along well, and I think they'll have a wonderful time for the future," Sapphire informed smiling. After witnessing with Celestia apprehension of the Diamond Dogs, quickly no less, Sapphire could easily see that Yellow Diamond had some form of respect to the alicorn for handling the problem so easily. Still, Sapphire remembered the deal she said to Rubidot before leaving.

"So. Do you want to fuse back yet, Ruby?" Sapphire asked. Rubidot no longer felt needed to fuse together for much longer, but after seeing what advantages came with this fusion in particular, it seemed ... Well, it seemed a bit soon. Ruby liked to fuse back with Sapphire, but being fused with Peridot was interesting to say the least. Peridot was finding it interesting too, especially with the extra height and extra muscle from Ruby put for her. Both sides didn't had much chance to do more stuff as Rubidot...

"... Actually. Can we ... stay together a little longer?" Rubidot asked sheepishly.

Sapphire smiled.

"As long as you want," Sapphire concluded. Rubidot smiled, as Sapphire and Lapis started to go off away, leaving Rubidot to have some more fun experience. Steven, Pinkie, and Fluttershy stayed with Rubidot, still happily checking out the clouds, as Lapis and Sapphire went off back to the city.

"So, is that Rubidot you said?" Lapis asked.

"That's her."

"It's nice to see Ruby and Peridot getting along."

Sapphire turned back with a smile.

"I knew they would."
> Zapped
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The early morning was in the middle of a rough time in Equestria. over between Ponyville and the nearby Everfree Forest, the area was being the place for a night shower. It wasn't the biggest shower in Equestria, but it was quite a strong one, with rain drenching the area. Animals amongst the everfree forest had to hunker down, as none of them wanted to get themselves wet from the rain. Many small animals and birds got themselves in either tree holes or burrows to avoid the rain, but not all the animals could really avoid it. One of these creatures started to move around the forest floor in a sluggish manor, its large feet dragging in the mud. The shadows made it hard to make out the full body easily, though it kept making a sort of wheezing noise as it moved along, its main source of singularity amongst the dark woods. No animal got out to see what the thing was, finding the wheezing a bit creepy and unnatural. As for the creature, it began moving further away from the depths of the forest, and over to the forest's edge. The groggy and weak animal began to see a small cottage further away from the clearing, a small light on as the owner inside was working out her morning routine. After seeing it, the animal started to drag itself over.

As for inside the cottage, Fluttershy was busy going along with morning breakfast for herself, and her animal friends. Since it was raining since last night, Fluttershy had many animals stay inside her home to avoid the rain, at least for those who couldn't find any home to stick into. Fluttershy wasn't fond of heavy rain, but the care for her animals had her forgetting about her fears. As for the animals inside her cottage, they included squirrels, raccoons, ferrets, chipmunks, rabbits, and a number of small birds (she was used to it). Fluttershy hummed a nice tune, similar to what Sapphire would sing, as she filled a bowl of pet food for her animal friends. While many of the animals started having their breakfast, Fluttershy made an extra salad for one particular pet, her bunny Angel. The Pegasus made a good salad for Angel, who was impatiently tapping his foot on the floor.

"Here you go, Angel," Fluttershy said, smiling as she placed the bowl down in front of him. Angel looked over the salad for a bit, and only after making sure it was made correctly, he hopped up on Fluttershy's sofa, and started eating his salad. The Pegasus was glad the animals were enjoying themselves. Fluttershy's attention to the animal's care kept her mind occupied, unaware of what was looming outside her cottage. However, one of the ferrets paused for a moment, glancing outside the window. Just outside, it saw something tall looming just outside the window. The ferret just stared for a bit until the thing began to move to the door in a slumped over manor. Freaked out, the ferret backed up, and rushed over to hide behind Fluttershy's hooves.

"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked. The critter pointed a finger over to the door frantically, bringing Fluttershy's attention to the door. Suddenly.

*BANG* *BANG*

All the animals stopped at once when hearing the banging on the door, making some of the animals back up. Fluttershy got spooked as well, as the animals started to hide close to Fluttershy except for Angel, who hopped up to the door window. It wasn't easy for a bunny to do, but he just managed to hop up high enough to grip the window to see. Right in front of his face was a set of wide eyes, enough to make him hop down and towards Fluttershy. The Pegasus gave a scared gulp.

"H-Hello?" Fluttershy quietly asked (though for her, that was almost completely silent. She could only hear a weak sort of breathing just on the otherside of the door. Fluttershy couldn't see what actually was outside. Could it be another pony? Another animal wanting a place to dry off? Fluttershy, ever so slowly, began to raise her hoof up to her door handle. She gave another nervous gulp, cold sweat dripping off her fur, as she slowly move the handle for the door to open ...

Seconds after she did that, the door swung open, and something big stumbled inside, landing flat on the floor, making every animal bolt off and hide. Everything in the room found a hiding place behind the sofa, peeking out to see what had stumbled into the cottage. The odd creature wasn't anything normal from Equestria, as far as Fluttershy knew; it had a long neck, ending in a oddly shaped head with a bird-like beak that made it almost look like some weird sock puppet. It's body was stout, and its arms ended in fleshy pinchers, with its huge feet looking like those of a duck. It had basic clothes, with a green shirt and red pants, with shaggy (yet combed), black hair. It raised its head up to see where it ended up, its eyes not exactly focusing on anything at first. Fluttershy didn't know what it was, or what it wanted. Steadily, it got up to its feet, looking around the room until it looked up to a lantern hung on the wall. It didn't seem to have any teeth, but it tried to eat the lantern (apparently), but with no luck. All it seemed to do was gum the thing, and it did no damage whatsoever. After failing to do anything, it made a sort of odd quack, which was longer than a normal quack. After trying to do that, it then saw Fluttershy and the other animals. It didn't do much at first, other than just staring at them, but they all saw that it had no teeth inside its spongy beak. Amongst them, Angel hopped over first, the tall thing looking down at him tiredly. Angel found this thing odd, of course, but not exactly threatening. In fact, after a bit, the animal fell back, sitting on the ground in front of them. It looked tired, and even a little bit dazed. It took a while, but the other animals began to relax a bit around this newcomer, along with Fluttershy.

"He doesn't seem dangerous," Fluttershy noted. Angel hopped up onto the rim of the couch, and waved his small paw in front of his face, but the creature didn't seem to respond to it. Angel poked it in the side of the head, but got nothing else other than a wheeze-filled quack, like a worn out squeaky toy. Fluttershy's fear began to turn to concern for the odd animal. She knew a weak creature when she saw one, that was for sure. His head slumped to the side, landing on the rim of the bed, Angel having to hop out of the way to avoid getting himself knocked off. After a little bit, with some coaxing and moving, the thing was placed down on the couch, only Angel having some resentment. It will be sometime before the rain would pass, so Fluttershy figured it could stay a while until the rain passed.

"There, that feel better?" Fluttershy asked, gently stroking his black hair. The only response she got was a wheezing quack from the creature's beak. He didn't seemed to be bothered much by the animals around him, some sniffing his face, while others looked him over.

"You must be hungry. Here, I was just making breakfast for my animal friends, but if you want a salad, then -"

Before Fluttershy could finish, Fluttershy heard a distinct sound of her lantern being removed from the wall. The creature was trying to shove the thing in his mouth, gnawing on it with his gums and spongy beak. Again, it didn't seem satisfied, and after a bit, the light went out on it. It gave a quack-like groan, and threw it aside. Fluttershy just catching it before it broke. Angel didn't seem to find this newcomer really enjoyable, as Fluttershy made a smaller salad for the creature, using a part of Angel's salad to do so. The creature looked to the bowl, and got his beak inside the bowl, but not really eating any of it. It lifted the bowl up, and shook about, making quite a mess, some bits of leaves landing on Fluttershy and Angel. Angel looked to Fluttershy with a mix of annoyance and uncertainty, Fluttershy just blushing. She got off some salad bits off her head and mane before trying something else, heading into the kitchen. She opened up her fridge to see what there was that the guest could eat. However, the light in the fridge got the creature on its webbed feet, and moving into the kitchen. Fluttershy, not noticing the creature moving, turned back to find it not on the sofa. Instead, he was in the fridge, its spongy beak wrapped around the fridge light. After a little bit, the light went out, and was pulled out of the fridge. Fluttershy didn't expect that to happen, and when she saw it about to eat it, Fluttershy quickly grabbed it out of the grip.

"No, no, no, don't eat that," Fluttershy advised, the creature groaning slightly as Fluttershy puts back in the fridge light bulb. It tried again, but Fluttershy managed to push him back as Angel shut the fridge door. Instead, Fluttershy had grabbed an apple from the fridge, so, she gave him that instead.

"Here you go, this'll taste a lot better."

The creature looked curiously at the apple in his pinchers, and eventually placed the apple in his mouth. Fluttershy was pleased that he was liking the apple...

At least, she was, until it spat out the apple at her. The apple bounced off her nose, and landed on the floor, not even moist or bitten into. This was starting to worry Fluttershy a bit, since it refused to eat much of the usual food. It obviously wasn't a herbivore like she was, so she decided to try one more thing; tuna. She went through some drawers until she pulled out a can of tuna for it. She knew some animals preferred meat over plants, like foxes, and cats, and so on. So, she opened up the tuna can, got it in a small bowl, and gave that to the creature. However, the smell alone was enough to have him chuck the tuna in a conveniently placed garbage can. This just made things feel a little more troublesome; so he didn't like plants or meat? Fluttershy's ears folded back in concern, not sure what else to feed him. If he doesn't like plants or meat, then what does he like to eat?

She might need some help with this.


~~~~~~


It was about ten in the morning when the Pegesi moved away the rainclouds, and the weather nice enough to let the animals come out again. For Fluttershy though, while she would happily play with her animal friends, she still had this odd guest to figure out. So, Fluttershy, with Angel on her back, and bringing the creature on a leash (something Angel insisted on), they went off to Ponyville with the odd creature moving behind them. The residents on Ponyville gave the creature some odd stares, but the creature didn't seem to notice them as they went along. Fluttershy tried her best to keep him from wandering off on them, and get himself into trouble. As for who she brought the creature to, she got the rest of her friends along over to Twilight's house, the rest of the mane six seeing what the creature was with similarly confused expressions on their faces.

"Well I'll be hogtied. What is this thing?" Applejack wondered, as the animal looked around Twilight's bookshelves.

"Do you know anything about him, Twilight? I tried feeding him, but he won't eat anything I gave him," Fluttershy asked, hoping for a good answer. The alicorn looked over the creature up and down, but couldn't make heads or tails of him.

"I'm not sure really; never read any books about this creature," Twilight replied, one of his eyes staring right at her as the other one looked off to the shelves.

"So you found this thing at your door? Must be one of those creatures from the Everfree or something," Rainbow Dash figured. After trying to eat some of the books, the creature looked over to Rainbow Dash, and both eyes focused on Rainbow's cutie mark ...

"Maybe. You should put him back there soon, Fluttershy," Twilight advised.

"What? B-But he was so weak when I found him, I -"

"AH!"

Everypony in the room turned to Rainbow Dash, and the creature in question had his beak wide open, clamped down on Rainbow's flank! Its pinchers gripped her wings for leverage, Rainbow Dash red in the face. Apparently, the creature didn't feel satisfied with his attempt, and got his mouth off of Rainbow's hips, groaning ...

Next thing he knew, his beak was indented, and his back to the wall in a daze, notable hoofprint on his face. No one takes a bite out of Rainbow and gets away with it. The creature quickly recovered though, pulling his beak back into place.

"Keep that thing away from me!" Rainbow snapped, angry and embarrassed. As for the creature, he looked up to Twilight's staircase, and saw another light source. he quickly got up, and got his mouth over the light piece, not pulling it off this time. Fluttershy wanted to get him to stop, but soon, the light went dim, and short-circuited. After that was done, he let go, looking much more satisfied, and they even saw a tiny bit of sparks coming from his beak.

"It eats ... electricity?" Questioned Twilight.

"Cool! He's a sparky eater!" Pinkie said. He felt a bit better, and at least Fluttershy got her answer on what to feed him.

"Oh, let him stay around, please? At least until he's better?"

"NO! WAY!" Rainbow snapped, a bit more aggressive than she anticipated. Fluttershy coward away a bit, and then did Rainbow saw her mistake.

"Sorry. But, I'm not taking him in," Rainbow corrected. As if not learning anything, he started to move over to Rainbow's flank again. This time Rainbow caught him quicker, and spun around, growling at him. Fluttershy got in the way before he could get hurt again.

"You sure about this, Fluttershy? I mean, you have so many other animals already," Rarity said.

"I'll be alright, I promise. It's just until he gets all better," Fluttershy promised, the creature putting his head on her head, a quack popping out of his mouth. The others didn't know how long it was going to be, but, at least he was in good hooves.


~~~~~~


For the next few days, Fluttershy had been trying to regain her guest's strength. Now with the knowledge of what it can eat, there wasn't much issues with what she fed him anymore. Of course, finding, and getting the food source for him was odd, but simple to get - a visit to the hardware store was as good of place as any. It took a while to figure it out, but feeding him batteries seemed to do him well moreover, and in time, he began to show signs of recovery. The more batteries fed to him over the days staying, the more fit he became. Even with his large webbed feet, he began to move faster, and was basically more alive after a while. It was great to see for Fluttershy and the others. Even with the improvement, Fluttershy still wasn't sure if he was ready to go just yet; even if faster, he was still a bit slow compared to a usual animal, and he still sounded a bit wheezy. She figured when the wheezing stops, and he breathes correctly, then he'll be ready to go back to the Everfree.

At one point, Fluttershy left her cottage to get her friends, to get their opinion if she should get him back into the wild or not just yet. She'd worked with many animals, that may be, but it couldn't hurt for a second opinion especially if the animal wasn't anything familiar.

"He's been doing a lot better. I'm just not sure if I should let him go just yet," Fluttershy said, as they were walking back.

"Don't you worry, sugarcube. I'm sure everything's fine," Applejack assured her.

"I hope so. Zappy still has that wheezing sound though."

"Zappy?" Rainbow asked, eyebrow raised. Fluttershy blushed a little.

"W-Well, I just thought I should give him a name. Since he likes to eat electric things, I just thought it'll fit him," Fluttershy admitted. It wasn't the first time she named a random wild animal, to be honest. Fluttershy rubbed the back of her head as she added; "And he always looks a little ... well 'zapped', after eating."

"Zapped? You mean like this?" Pinkie asked. She suddenly began to hop up and down very quickly, her teeth grit, and her eyes bulging out. After a few seconds, she stopped.

"Oh, oh, or like this!"

She suddenly shivered, and stood stiff as a board, falling to her side as she did with her legs stiff and straight. She popped back to movement though seconds after.

"Oh, oh, oh, or maybe you mean like this!"

Pinkie Pie then hopped up on her hind legs, and acted like she'd been tasered. Before she could try anything else, Rarity quickly stopped her.

"Eh, let's just go over and maybe we'll see what she's talking about dear," Rarity advised. Pinkie nodded, and started hopping towards Fluttershy's cottage. Everypony else followed her until they reached the cottage in question, everything seemingly normal on the outside. When Fluttershy opened up the door though, the results were different to say the least.

Just inside, Fluttershy looked downright shocked; the place was kinda tossed about. The sofa was knocked over, drawers were pulled out, and Zappy was nowhere to be seen. Angel was still in a slight daze on the floor, telling them that this was rather recent. As for Zappy, the main thing that told them he left was a window swung open. Fluttershy looked extremely shocked.

Her scream was just above that of a mouse - loud for Flutters.


~~~~~~


Farther off, back in the Everfree Forest, Zappy was still moving along the trail. He wasn't as sluggish as before, but still slow, and the amount of electric stuff around Ponyville wasn't doing him justice. After all, he's a big animal, and a big animal needs a good amount of food, so simple double A's won't cut the mustard for him. Animals amongst the trees looked at Zappy with curiosity as he moved along, his duck feet leaving huge footprints in the dirt as he went like those of a scuba diver's flippers.  As for where Zappy was going, while Fluttershy was away, the hungry creature had seen something off in the Everfree forest that appeared to resemble some sort of electrical source. In short, he went out to eat. Little Angel was no match for him, and while going through the window was a dull move, it was a quicker method than through the door (make of that what you will). He didn't seem to be thinking about what consequences came to just ditching Fluttershy, or how worried Fluttershy must be. All he was thinking about was finding more electricity to eat.

His wandering got him deep into the Everfree forest, and eventually he moved off to a clearing, right to the sights of the old Everfree Castle. Zappy moved off right for it, and began to search the area for sources of electricity. However, for the place being old stone, the chances were zero to none. As Zappy went on inside the castle though, the main room soon showed Zappy the Warp Pad. It was still as clean, and as operational since its creation, and Zappy decided to go and investigate. He looked to the buttons on the Warp Pad, getting his spongy beak over the "Earth" button, trying to get some electricity. However, the Warp Pad wasn't working with electricity in mind, so Zappy didn't get much of anything out of it. Zappy got himself on the Warp Pad to get his bearings, and see if there was anything else to try. However, with two buttons activating, and two worlds connecting, the Warp Pad activated, and sent Zappy out of Equestria! Zappy was stuck in the Warp Stream for a good minute, him trying to keep himself straight, until he ended up on Earth, landing upside down on his head. After another quack, he got up to his feet, both eyes looking around at where he ended up. It was then that he caught sight of Beach City ...

.......

"Can't catch me!"

In a game of tag by the boardwalk, Fulgurite was giving the chaser a run for her money. With a few of the Gems off on mission, and fewer actually wanting to play, this left Fulgurite with Emerald, Diopside, Flint, Jade, and Steven. At this point, Emerald was the one chasing, but even with his telekinesis getting him to fly around after her, Fulgurite's super speed kept her out of his reach. Fulgurite honestly was used to it, and a game of tag was just a walk in the park.

"Of course I can't catch you - you got MPH for days," Emerald groaned, getting more than bugged after a while. Fulgurite skidded to a stop.

"Oh what's that? You give up? HA! Even with all of you it, I'm the best!" Fulgurite gloated. Yes, her cocky attitude got her as the only one needing to be caught, and even after five minutes, it wasn't any good. The others stopped a while ago before this was decided. However ...

"Tag."

Fulgurite looked down when she felt a hand on her leg, only to find Jade had tagged her. Guess her moment of gloating got the quiet Jade some needed time to actually tag her. Guess that battered Fulgurite's pride a little. Diopside and Steven shared a hyped expression as Flint (a rare occurrence) smirked.

"Eh, yea, you got me," Fulgurite admitted, bashfully. Jade only smiled, as the others went over to her.

"You caught the fastest Gem, Jade! That's amazing!" Diopside beamed. Jade blushed up on hearing the praise.

"S-She was standing still, you know," Jade said, more bashful.

"But you still tagged her!" Steven said, equally happy as Diopside. Flint hadn't seen this much merit for Jade in a long time. Fulgurite though could go without rubbing it in.

"Yeah well that was fun. You guys do what you want, I'm gonna go out," Fulgurite said.

"Aww, already?" Diopside and Steven said.

"Hey, even speedsters need to practice, otherwise I'd loose some MPH. So anyway, see ya later. Gotta blast!"

And before anyone could stop the speeding Gem, Fulgurite bolted off in the blink of an eye. Emerald, being on his hexagon platform, ended up in a 360 spin for a little bit. It left Emerald in a daze, and Fulgurite was gone.


~~~~~~


After a few minutes, Fulgurite was out of Beach City. She had her own little plan, but it wasn't exactly practice she had in mind, and she was trying to do it for a while now, yet it wasn't exactly training as she had told Steven. She was going to use her super speed, naturally, but not just for any training. Before she started, she found a nice tree to do this under, and marked it with an X in the dirt; her spot to remember.

"Alright. Ready. Set."

She looked up to the tree, seeing one green leaf looking ready to fall. Using her hair to stretch out, a strand went on ahead and knocked the leaf loose.

"Go!"

Suddenly, Fulgurite bolted off to get her supplies. As the leaf gently floated down to the ground, Fulgurite rushed to and fro from different points of Beach City to get the stuff she needed. The leaf continued floating down, undisturbed by Fulgurite's rush-about. Soon, just before the leaf could land on the ground, a gentle hand from Fulgurite caught the leaf, holding it with a satisfied smile. As for what she got, she had grabbed a checkered blanket, a cherry soda from the Big Donut, some fry bits, a nice pillow, and even a boom box from Amethyst's room. All of that between the leaf's release, and now.

"Sweet," Fulgurite said, proud of herself, as she kicked back and relaxed on the blanket. Fulgurite looked to the boom box, which looked a bit outdated really. Still, after some electric charge from Fulgurite's hair, she got the boom box working, and a catchy beat of street music played through its speakers. Fulgurite sighed, and took a sip of the fizzy soda. It was a drink she's been hyped on for a while thanks to some introduction by Emerald, and it was as much of a kickstarter to her mouth as a electric shock would do to her body, and she loved it.

"That's the stuff," sighed Fulgurite happily. Although the rush of missions were nice, it was fun to just relax time to time, even for a speedster like her. Nodding her head to the beat, she placed the drink down, and listened to the tunes play out. Fulgurite gave a good stretch, hands behind her head, but just as she was getting comfortable ...

*FZZT*

"Hey, what gives?" Fulgurite groaned. Once she turned to look, the boom box was gone, and inside the mouth of Zappy! Far as finding her out goes, Zappy had figured out where she was the minute she showed up to the spot, but it wasn't until after Fulgurite got the radio working with her electrical charge did Zappy decide to come out and investigate.

"What the?!"

Fulgurite immediately jumped to her feet, as Zappy sucked the energy out of the boom box. It wasn't much, but it was a nice snack for him. Fulgurite didn't plan on any otherworldly visitors coming about to visit her. Corrupted Gem? No; there's no gemstone on him. Equestrian creature? Well maybe. After all, she never seen anything like him here before during her year here, and if it didn't had a gemstone located anywhere, that should point his origins back to Equestria, right? Anyway, Zappy had finished up his snack at this point, tossing the broken boom box aside, as his eyes focused on Fulgurite. He saw her two gemstones on her knees, the lightning mark in her hair. His mouth hanged open, both eyes locked on her, making Fulgurite more than uncomfortable to say the least.

"Uh ... You're staring a little bit."

Before Fulgurite could do anything else, Zappy lunged for her, mouth wide open. His beak clamped down on her hair, and as an almost instinctive response, gave a huge electric shock to Zappy. However, not only did it not so much effect to hurt him, but it was what Zappy actually wanted! The shockwave lasted ten full seconds, until Fulgurite stopped for a break, yet Zappy looked even more odd. The pupils in his eyes spun around like beed eyes on a doll, his body straight and shivering. At first, Zappy didn't do much, but he felt the energy Fulgurite had given him grow inside him, and his body shuttered and shook more and more, Fulgurite backing up a little bit. Finally, Zappy could no longer stand still anymore, and with a loud honk, he suddenly (and comically) bolted off! He rushed off so quickly, and with so much force, Fulgurite was knocked off her feet.

Zappy meanwhile was going hyper speed at this point. His running was more with his feet in front, while the rest of him trailed behind. He raced all over Beach City, too fast for anyone to get a good view on who it really was. Fulgurite got to her feet, and was seeing the blur of Zappy racing all over town. It didn't help that Zappy began to rush back to her! Quickly, Fulgurite decided to call it quits, and raced off towards the Temple. Fulgurite was very fast, but Zappy was equally fast at this point, and by the time she made it half way to the Temple, Zappy caught up with her. Zappy grabbed her by her back, both of them stumbling on the sandy beach for a good twenty feet. At the end of it, Fulgurite was on her back, a bit bruised, but okay. She tried to get up, but Zappy was holding onto her hair, gnawing on it. Even if inactive, Zappy still tasted the sparks of her lightning, and didn't want to give her up so easily.

"Let go will you?!" Fulgurite demanded, trying to pull Zappy off of her, and trying to get him to let her go. However, the creature wasn't going anywhere. It didn't hurt, but she can't run fast with this thing weighing her down. She was super fast, but not super strong like Jasper or Flint. Fulgurite was stuck with him.

"Great; he's clingy," Fulgurite groaned, Zappy's response being a content quack. Fulgurite did manage to get up, but Zappy didn't bother to even move, leaving Fulgurite to drag him the rest of the way (as much as she didn't want to. The others better have an answer to her problem ...

Back at the Warp Pad, after failing to find Zappy in the Everfree Forest, the mane six ended up going to Earth. It was purely a guess, but after they found it recently used, they tried their luck there anyway. At the point though, Fluttershy looked completely freaked out, worried over what might happen to Zappy.

"Oh dear, oh dear, where is he?" Fluttershy wondered, looking around. The Pegasus didn't had a clue if he was perfectly healthy or what, but he didn't seem good enough to go yet, and finding him disappearing still sickly was a worrying thought. The others, though taking it into account, weren't as worried as Fluttershy about the situation.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy, we'll find him," Twilight assured her. However, Fluttershy still looked freaked out about it, so Twilight decided to try something else.

"Here, Fluttershy, watch and follow me," Twilight instructed, sitting down next to her. First, Twilight took a deep breath, bringing her hoof to her chest. And then as she exhaled, her hoof moved forward, and aimed ahead. Fluttershy followed Twilight's movements, and copied Twilight's method. It was a long time ago, but Twilight still remembered Cadance's method to calm down during one of her visits to the Crystal Empire, and it seemed to work for Fluttershy.

"There, feel better now?" Twilight asked.

"Well ... A little ..."

"Good. Now we should be going then," Twilight said, trotting ahead. After a bit, the others followed her back towards Beach City.


~~~~~~


"I'M CALLING HACKS!"

In a humiliating defeat back at the Beach House, Peridot chuckled cheekily in victory, as Emerald sat there in defeat. After the game of tag was done, Emerald found Peridot with Star Quartz, and tried to get a win from a video game match. It didn't work out too well.

"These human games are too easy," Peridot chuckled.

"... They are fun," Star Quartz added. Emerald groaned slightly, and got up to his feet. He didn't do well in tag, and somehow he didn't do well in video games.

"Is Garnet doing anything?" Emerald sighed.

"... Garnet's with Blue Pearl by the lighthouse," Star answered. Emerald didn't realize that, and the fact it was Blue Pearl Garnet was with made it more surprising.

"Blue Pearl? But she's Blue Diamond's Pearl, right?" Emerald asked.

"... Blue Diamond allowed her to come and visit."

While it was surprising Blue Diamond allowed her own Pearl to visit for a while, Emerald didn't think sitting around with her would be any fun. However, before this could go any further, they all heard something at the door. Star Quartz decided to answer the door this time, walking down quietly, and opening the door. As for what was there, standing there was Fulgurite. She was worn out, grumpy, and Zappy was still gumming her hair with his spongy beak. Star Quartz simply stated in confusion as Peridot and Emerald peeked over, Emerald looking ready to laugh at her situation.

"Nobody says a word. And nobody gets hurt," Fulgurite made clear, as she dragged herself and Zappy inside. Fulgurite wanted to go to Garnet for help, her being the leader and all, and the last thing she needed was insult over injury. At least not everyone was there to see her. However, unfortunately for her, Emerald couldn't help himself, and laughed up a storm. Fulgurite quickly got him quiet, a strand of her hair zapping him to shut him up. The shock was quick, but packed a good punch. However, the zap on Emerald got Zappy's attention, letting of Fulgurite for the first time in fifty minutes.

"Hey, get away from me!" Emerald demanded. Zappy didn't listen though, and got his beak around Emerald, sucking the electricity out of him like he was some lollypop or sucker. Now it was Peridot and Fulgurite's turn to laugh.

"It's not my day," Emerald sighed. All Zappy said in response was a content quack. Before they could continue, there was a noticeable sound of the door opening up. They turned towards the door, and soon enough, there was Garnet and Blue Pearl coming in to see Zappy gnawing on Emerald. Blue Pearl seemed worried, though Garnet wasn't too fazed by the newcomer. Zappy gave another quack, as Garnet moved over, and pulled Emerald out of Zappy's mouth.

"Not a word about this," Emerald firmly stated. Garnet just nodded, and set him down.

"What's this?" Garnet questioned.

"I don't know, it just found me, and kept trying to eat my hair," Fulgurite groaned. As if on cue, Zappy moved over, and tried to grab her hair again, Garnet getting in between her and Zappy's awaiting beak. Blue Pearl, out of all of them, not only knew more about Zappy, but was shocked to find Zappy here in Earth.

"W-Wha? ... B-But it ... But she ..."

"Something you want to tell us, Pearl?" Emerald asked. Blue Pearl gulped, and needed a moment before speaking.

"H-How is it here? It isn't supposed to be here," Blue Pearl got out, hushed in tone but still worried.

"... What's wrong?" Star asked.

"T-That's a Sentient Sponge Battery. There's only one I know of, and - ... and -"

Garnet, seeing how stressed Blue Pearl was getting, kneeled down, and brought her finger to her mouth.

"Sshh. There, Pearl, everything will be okay. Fulgurite, keep an eye on it for a while. It won't be long."

"Are you sure I have -" Fulgurite was cut off when Zappy got her hair, and started gumming it again. "- to? LET GO!"

"It likes you, anyway. Come, Pearl. I think it's time to get you back, anyway," Garnet said. Blue Pearl, though worried, could only nod. After all, Garnet was made up of Sapphire, and Sapphire knew what the future can hold, so, why argue with that? Fulgurite was stuck with Zappy, no matter what.


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, back with the Mane six, they were still looking around as best they could for Zappy, and where he ended up. Since Zappy was stuck in the Temple though, the others couldn't find him around the city well either. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle covered the most ground, but couldn't find him anywhere from the sky. Rainbow and Twilight landed by the others.

"Nothing. How could such a big thing just disappear like that?" Rainbow groaned, feeling annoyed with the lack of results. How hard could finding Zappy really be. Nearby, Pinkie Pie was sniffing the ground like a dog for a bit, trying to track down Zappy.

"Oh, where could he be?" Fluttershy said.

"Now, hold on there, Sugarcube. I'm sure you know same as anypony that he wasn't going to stay around forever," Applejack suddenly said, trying to be more realistic with her friend. Fluttershy still wasn't so sure.

"B-But he wasn't feeling better yet. He's still sick, and he's run away!"

Applejack placed her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. As she was, Pinkie suddenly pointed to the right direction. However, no pony noticed her just yet. Pinkie tried to get their attention.

"We all know he ran away, but maybe that wheezing and stuff's just natural for him," Applejack figured.

Pinkie tried even more so, but still no pony noticed.

"You think so? Well -"

"HELLO!!"

Everypony jumped, and turned to Pinkie, pointing as sharp as a arrow could be, her face looking overly-upset. Her hoof kept pointing off towards where the Temple could be seen.

"Yes ... Pinkie?"

"He went this way, over there, to the Temple! I'M GIVING ALL THE SIGNALS HERE!" Pinkie yelled, childishly but still loud. The others were used to Pinkie's spasms at this point, so, they looked off to where she was pointing. They didn't see Zappy exactly, but they could just see the lighthouse where the Beach House was. A good thing to see, and they were on the right track.

"Okay, everypony, let's -"

"WAAIT!" Pinkie suddenly shrieked, this time pointing like a dog pointer in a different direction, back to the Warp Pad.

"What now?" Rainbow asked, getting bugged. Pinkie, hoof to forehead, couldn't believe they weren't getting it. Pinkie Pie stomped towards the direction, making sure everypony was watching her, and then pointed a hoof off in the same direction again. When they looked, they noticed the Warp Pad was actually in the middle of activation! Who was coming through this time? After a little bit, there was a figure standing on the Warp Pad, visiting from Homeworld this time around. To the Mane Six's surprise, this was actually Blue Peridot from Homeworld! Strange to see her just show up on Earth, and it didn't take long before she noticed the Mane Six standing ten feet away.

"Peridot?" Twilight asked.

"See you're here as well," Blue Peridot stated, stepping off of the Warp Pad, and walking over to the ponies.

"What're you doing here?"

"Strictly on retrieval business. Nothing to concern any of you," Blue Peridot informed, as she began to investigate the area around her for some sort of clue. Fluttershy started to worry again.

"Retrieval? Retrieval of what?" Fluttershy asked. Blue Peridot didn't think it would matter much if they knew or not, so she turned back to them.

"One of Yellow Diamond's organisms had escaped its cell back on Homeworld, and I'm tasked with retrieving it back. Evidence points it using the new Warp Pad a while back, after failing to locate it on Homeworld security."

"And what're you looking for, exactly?"

"Gemkind refers to it as a 'sentient sponge battery'. It's most notable for its electrical properties, and habit for consuming electrical energy from many assorted objects."

Sentient. Sponge. Battery.

Oh no.

The ponies didn't need much to figure out what she was talking about, but if they just said straight out, what'll Yellow Diamond think exactly of them? The ponies knew where he went (kinda), and what if Yellow Diamond considered them the reason Zappy ran off in the first place for saying so? They may be better with Blue Diamond, but this was Yellow Diamond's issue, and they were still questionable with her to say the least. After some thinking, Twilight got an idea that might help everyone.

"Maybe we can help you look for it," Twilight decided. They were technically looking for Zappy anyway, so, it could help both them and Blue Peridot out.

"I appreciate the offer," Blue Peridot replied, "But, I'll be fine on my own, thank you."

"Sure about that?"

"Affirmative. Now, if you excuse me, I got a creature to obtain."

And with that, Blue Peridot began heading off on her way, leaving the Mane Six unsure what to do now. In the end, there was only one thing they could do; go to the Crystal Gems for some help. If they can at least find Zappy first, then they can figure out what to do next.


~~~~~~


Rushing off without Blue Peridot's knowledge, the Mane Six rushed off as fast as they could from the Warp Pad, and right off towards the Temple. If they can get there in a hurry, and before Blue Peridot, then they should be able to pull this off. Pinkie and Rainbow were the first to arrive at the Beach House, Rainbow Dash landing first.

"Okay, he better be in - Whoa, Pinkie! Slow down, WHOA!"

Pinkie's speed made Pinkie Pie almost a blur. Before Rainbow Dash could end up dodging, the pink mare slammed into her, and the Beach House door. The door opened up beforehand, so the door wasn't wrecked by Pinkie's crash. Rainbow and Pinkie tumbled head over hooves until they both hit the very back of the house, into the actual Temple cave. Pinkie hopped up onto her hooves, as Rainbow Dash tried to regain her head first.

"Hi everypony, we gotta - oh there he is," Pinkie said, realizing who was in the room. It was only Fulgurite at the moment, Zappy still gnawing on her hair. Fulgurite didn't look happy at all, arms crossed and simply grumpy with the whole thing. Zappy didn't seem to care.

"This clinger yours?" Fulgurite asked, unamused by the experience. Zappy took a moment or two before he noticed Pinkie and Rainbow in the same room.

"AWW, he likes you," Pinkie beamed. Zappy quacked again, Fulgurite grumbling under her breath. She honestly didn't want to keep dealing with this thing. It wasn't until this point when the rest of the Mane Six showed up, and saw Zappy next to Fulgurite. Luckily, he didn't seem too fazed, or hurt.

"Oh, thank Celestia; you're okay!" Fluttershy sighed, hugging Zappy.

"Cool, you know it, so can you get it to let go of me?" Fulgurite groaned. Twilight fixed that with some of her magic, levitating Zappy away from Fulgurite. Luckily, Zappy was overly content, so, his grip wasn't too strong. Fulgurite, finally free from the grip and extra weight, moved further away from Zappy.

"Thanks."

"Good, now maybe you can help us with something?"

.......

Sometime later, with Zappy following the group for some help, the Mane six and Fulgurite moved off back to where they found Blue Peridot the first time around. Luckily for them, Blue Peridot didn't roam off too far from where they previously saw her. Blue Peridot was still trying to get some clue on where Zappy had gone off to. Hidden off just out of sight, the ponies and Fulgurite had gotten Zappy to sit still in the bushes for a moment. They managed by Fulgurite's hair, which she stretched out so she was far enough away to just yank it back at any point. Fluttershy stayed by Zappy's side as the other members of the Mane Six stayed out of the way.

"Okay, Zappy. Just stay here, and the nice Gem will bring you back, and take care of you, okay?" Fluttershy said, rubbing his side. Zappy looked down to Fluttershy, and gave another quack to her. The sound caught Blue Peridot's attention, and after a quick hug, Fluttershy then moved off out of sight just as Blue Peridot came in. Fulgurite got her hair back seconds beforehand, to make it appear that Zappy was just sitting there the whole time. Zappy looked over to Blue Peridot.

"Finally," Blue Peridot sighed, happy to find him. Blue Peridot grabbed Zappy's arm, the creature seemingly oblivious to her, and Blue Peridot began moving Zappy back to the Warp Pad. Zappy, despite being able to bolt around everywhere, didn't seem to resist being moved back to the Warp Pad. Guess the Sentient Sponge Battery knew it couldn't just keep running around forever. With a quick teleport, Blue Peridot got Zappy back to Homeworld, and things were good. Fluttershy felt a little unsure still, but she knew that it could be the best option for Zappy. After all, the Gems knew more about Zappy than the ponies do, so, giving Zappy to someone who actually knew what Zappy was, was the best option in the long run.

Fluttershy smiled, as she watched him go.
> The Deep Six
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Now let's see ... Saturn ... Jupiter ... Mars ..."

"Come on, this is taking forever!"

"Where are we going?"

"You asked that question ten times! Ugh, why are we stuck with this new one, again?"

"Let's not be too hasty - she's brand new. We're heading to Earth, honey. Sounds like a lovely planet.~"

"You say that about EVERY planet we go to! The last five planets, and it's always -"

"Stop yelling back there! I think we're getting close to Earth; the scanners are getting stronger."

"How wonderful."

"About time!"


~~~~~~


"SWING!"

With a hit from the bat, the baseball went flying off in the air, as Applejack galloped across the bases, just reaching second base by a short stretch. With some setup, and explaining of the rules, the Gems and Ponies were giving the base ball game a try: Gems vs. Ponies naturally. On one team was Ponyville's Mane Six, and the other team was Beach City's Crystal Gems. The team for the Gems consisted of Steven, Lapis, Amethyst, Pearl, Sapphire, and Ruby. At the point, the Mane Six were the batters, while the Crystal Gems were the pitchers. Emerald was the "empire" at the home base, not in hand and all.

"Okay, that's three rounds; switch sides!" Spike said, who was keeping score for each round past. So they did, with Amethyst being the first up to bat, and ready to swing. Pinkie Pie, at the pitcher's mound, readied up her swing as Amethyst blew a bubble from her chewing gum. Pinkie Pie gave her a good pitch, fast as lightning. For Amethyst it wasn't much trouble; one pop of her bubblegum, and the swing knocked the ball good and high! Everypony tried to catch it, but by the time Rainbow Dash caught it, Amethyst was already at home base, hitting every other base with a quick roll around the diamond. Impressive, sure, but a bit annoying to the opposing team. Amethyst didn't seem to mind though, and moved smugly off to the bench. Next up to bat was Ruby, her baseball cap curved backwards. Ruby was all confidence, mainly because Sapphire was watching, and Ruby wanted to impress (like she needed anymore impressions towards Sapphire anyway). Pinkie Pie got the ball in her tail, rallied it up, and swung the ball lightning fast. Ruby, firm grip on the bat, gave a mighty swing which sent the ball flying. Now, what'd normally happen here was the ball flying off outta the field, Ruby getting a home run unless Rainbow or Twilight was fast enough on the fly to catch it and get Ruby out. Here's the thing though; the ball itself launched off in the air, but it hit ... Something. And zoomed back to the ground. It didn't fall in any natural way, looking like it was hit about half way up, and falling to earth at fast speed. Those watching the baseball manage to just catch it, as Ruby made her runaround up to home base. She was ecstatic about her home run, but the object the baseball had hit started to come into view, halting the focus on the game for many of the other Gems and Ponies. It took a little bit longer before Ruby actually noticed anything wrong.

The object, for one, had just appeared seconds before the ball hit it. This thing was floating above the ground, looking at its surrounding apparently. Its body was pure red, shaped like a carrot almost, with a yellow eye with a hexagon iris. It didn't seem to have any known method for flying around - the only visible part on its body was a few very stubby legs. It did have a small yet visible dent in its side from the baseball so that would explain it revealing itself to them. Ruby, realizing she had the bat right next to her, threw the bat over her shoulder and pretended it wasn't there at all. They all moved away slowly, wondering what it was going to do to them. Strangely though, after observation that lasted just a minute, it landed down on the ground, balancing the body on its stubby legs. It didn't attack them, nor had much of a Method to attack all things considered.

"What the hay is that?" Asked Rainbow.

"Search me," replied AJ. A short bit after fully landing, the "eye", turned out to be a hatch. This thing was a type of ship, possibly an alien one, and the occupants inside were about to come out. Many of the Gems and Ponies moved out of sight first.

The first one was a shock for them; peering out of the ship was another being - a small Gem! This was a Gem ship, and the occupants were Gems themselves. The first one to exit was a brightly colored Ruby (of all things), though her colors were lighter and brighter than CG Ruby. Another thing was that her Gemstone, like Diopside, was replacing her right eye! She didn't say much of a word, as she jumped out of the ship and onto the earth, looking around with a rough and serious expression. All that came out was a sighed groan, as she looked around the area.

The second occupant was, actually, another Ruby. Her skin hue appeared more orange in color, and her gemstone was on her left shoulder. Her outfit seemed to be the general Homeworld design; with red shorts, and a top with a deep triangular collar, with black trims that meet to form a yellow diamond sign. She also had a unibrow, unlike the first Ruby. When she got out, she saw a flower, tore it from the ground, and gave it a strong kick, saying "Hiya!", as sheshe did so. Guess she was the more violent one.

The third occupant, another Ruby as it turned out, soon came out of the ship. Her gemstone was in the umbilical region of her stomach. As for appearance, her outfit consisted a backless, red shawl-like top on her torso that opened around her solar plexus, and had a yellow diamond on the collar. While the first Ruby was a light red, and the other a orange red, she had a odd shade of blue to her, giving more of a cherry complexion.

"What a lovely planet," she praised, and she humbly skipped along around, humming a sweet tune to herself. For any Ruby, her behavior was pretty odd to say the least, and seemed more fitting to an aristocratic Gem like Sapphire or Lapis, rather than any soldiering Ruby.

After her was, yet, another Ruby. Her outfit, like the aggressive Ruby, was the regular Homeworld uniform, with her gemstone on her left thigh. Her complexion was, compared to the others, was the darkest, being more of a burgundy color really. Once more, she seemed a bit reluctant to just leave the safety of the ship, poking her head out to look around.

"Wait. Do we just walk around or - OOF!"

A quick push from the last Ruby got her tumbling out. The last Ruby looked more "important" than the others; her outfit consisting of suspenders, and a orange visor over her eyes to signify her captain status. As far as colors went, the leading Ruby was a perfect match to CG Ruby. It was hard to say exactly why they were here, or why they took the ship rather than the Warp Pad, but these five Rubies had arrived to Earth for some big reason they weren't sure of. Not often would a fleet just arrive unannounced to one's doorstep without any reason. The captain, Doc, began looking around.

"Now, where's the Gem the scanners locked onto?" Doc wondered, scoping the area in question. She looked to her team sometime later, counting out to be sure they were all there.

"One, two, three, four, -"

"Hello!"

The sudden voice caught many of the Rubies off guard. Army Ruby got ready to fight the second she heard the voice, fists at the ready. Navy Ruby and Leggy Ruby though just seemed a bit surprised more or less. As for who said anything, Pinkie had come out of hiding to greet the rubies, hoof out in front, and a smile across her face.

"A Equestrian Pony?" Doc noted, stepping down on the ground.

"UGH, again?! This is the wrong planet!" Army groaned, hand to forehead.

"What planet? Earth? You're on Earth if you like Earth," Pinkie said.

"Oh, we are? Eh, never mind then," Army replied, as some of the others moved out of hiding. Eyeball Ruby was the first to catch the others coming out, and got Doc's attention on the matter, only pointing to them. They seemed a bit indifferent at first, but when the Rubies saw Sapphire and Lapis, both members of Blue Diamond's court mind you, their behavior seemed more cooperative.

"Who're you guys?" Rainbow asked.

"Ruby; captain of this fleet," Doc said. Some of the other Rubies looked at the other Ponies with intrigue, some of them not even familiar with the species. As Leggy Ruby checked out Pinkie Pie (following her eyes), Navy went over to see Rarity, quickly noticing the diamond cutie mark on her flank.

"Such a Devine pony. Though, did you meet Blue Diamond to earn your symbol?" Navy asked, impressed with the high-ranking mark.

"I did, darling, but not to earn my cutie mark. I got my cutie mark when I was just a filly - long before I even knew about Homeworld, or Blue Diamond," Rarity explained. Navy smiled in understanding, with her hands behind her back.

"So what're you doing here?" Pinkie asked, who was upside down at the point to mimic Leggy. Leggy was doing the same thing.

"Yeah, what are we doing here?" Leggy asked as well.

"That doesn't concern you," Doc stated, adjusting her visors.

"Well ... What are you not doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh. Well, we're not doing a Earth mission given directly by Yellow Diamond, of course."

Well, that was easy.

Doc realized her mistake when she saw Rainbow smirked, and just groaned in defeat. So much for keeping that quiet. Navy, feeling sensible and subtle about the subject, decided to go over to the group of Gems and Ponies. They basically blabbered what they were doing, she might as well try to get some information. 

"Excuse me, but, is this apart, or near the Tunguska Gem facility?"

"The Ting-ga-what?" Applejack asked, tilting her head. None of the ponies had ever heard of the place before.

"Really, Ruby?!" Army snapped.

"You're in Delmarva. You just have to move to the east, and you'll find the inland sea. You should locate it from there," Sapphire answered. Doc snapped her finger upon hearing the revelation, smiling.

"Alright then. Come on Rubies, to the inland sea!" Doc announced, going right towards the ship again. Army and Navy started to head off to the ship, going inside, but Leggy and Eyeball waited a moment, Leggy unsure what to do, and Eyeball suspicious over the group of Gems and Ponies. Considering something dented their ship before landing, she had her doubts over leaving who could possibly be responsible for that. Ruby tried to look innocent, but Eyeball seemed to feel a bit strained.

Instead of saying anything, she just turned away. Sapphire was more focused on seeing Leggy, and how she seemed just scared, and new to everything. Sapphire took a quick second to think over on these five, as Eyeball started to drag Leggy away back to the ship. Eventually though, Sapphire began to reach her own decision.

"Ruby?" Sapphire asked, poking CG Ruby's shoulder. Ruby turned to her beloved.

.......

"OOF!"

Suddenly, after a small talk and explanation from Sapphire's side, Ruby herself ended up heading inside the ship with the other Rubies. It was an odd tumble inside, but Ruby sat up straight when she got inside. It didn't take very long before the other Rubies noticed her ...

"Wait a second," Doc said suspiciously "There seems to be ... more of us than usual."

"There's supposed to be five of us," Navy said.

"Five, Rubies!" added Army. Ruby still wasn't sure about this little plan, but Sapphire seemed happy for it, and she knew who to trust. Doc took a moment to think and started counting them down ...

"One, two, three, four, five ... tch, nevermind," Doc concluded, not counting herself amongst the Rubies. Ruby gave a sigh of relief.

Outside, the others watched as the ship started to lift off the ground, and begin to fly away rather quickly. Sapphire nodded a bit, smiling as they left.

She knew they'll be back ...


~~~~~~


As they were flying, the Rubies inside were waiting the moment they land at the site in question. Doc kept the controls of the ship on the right path, as the other Rubies, including the Crystal Gem Ruby, were basically waiting inside. The ship the Rubies were using was about as large as a van, so space was limited. Navy relaxed in her seat, thinking about the facility almost dreamily, Army was impatiently drumming her fingers on her knees, Eyeball remained firm yet bored in her seat, and Leggy just stared off into space, kicking her legs in her seat like a little kid would. Ruby just seemed like the odd one out, and tried to keep from giving herself away. Luckily for her, none of the other Rubies seemed to suspect anything wrong with her tagging along, and Ruby herself wondered exactly how long she was going to have to keep this secret tucked away for? All she could do was stay calm, relax, and wait until this task was done with. The only one having some suspicions over Ruby was Eyeball, who kept her one eye on her throughout the whole flight. Doc looked to her scanners, and as they continued on, they suddenly began to sense a ton of activity.

"Okay, Rubies! We've arrived at our destination," Doc announced.

"About time! For star's sake, let's get to it already!" Army said, almost ripping off the opening hatch, and just about to rush out. However, Eyeball quickly grabbed her by the leg before Army could jump off. Good thing too; when Army had a better look, she was simply staring off to the endless sea. Put it simply, they were in the middle of the ocean ...

"WHERE'S THE FACILITY?!" Army screamed, her voice echoing over the calm sea, as Eyeball pulled her back into the ship before they could fall in the water. Doc looked to Army and Eyeball, who were on the floor in front of Ruby, slightly dazed.

"Sit back down! We're about to descend," Doc ordered, as she closed the hatch, and started to work the ship's controls.

"Oh, this is so exciting," Navy said, as the ship started to go down. All the Rubies waited a bit more, the light starting to dim as they started to dive down in the sea. The amount of pressure the water was making didn't seem to bother the ship very much.

"Is it night time already?" Leggy questioned, as Navy giggled softly. Ruby was beginning to see the team dynamic between the five other Rubies, or how each one treated eachother, anyway. After going down deep enough, it became so dark, they couldn't see very much of anything. Doc quickly fixed that, and a few small lights lit up from the floor, just enough so they could see eachother, and the border of the ship. Doc began to look off to the scanners, as a picture of the land underwater showed her where she was, with a sort of radar green light. At first, Doc just saw the sand and rock of the sea bottom, but something else started to show up on the radars further ahead. Guided by the scanners and radars, Doc started to guide the ship along its way, getting closer to the spot in question. Soon, Doc stopped the ship after a bit. She opened up the viewing glass in front of the ship, and looked off outside along with the other Rubies.

Just outside, they could see the bottom of the inland sea, sandy bottom with a few large rocks scattered around the place here and there. Since they were so deep, it was pretty dark down below, like it really had turned nighttime. The sea had a deep dark blue color, just enough brightness to see some silhouettes of stuff further off. While they saw rocks, the Rubies also saw something much further away, a bit bigger and smoother than the simple rocks. Doc began moving the ship pass the rocks, and closer to the spot up ahead. After some quick clicks of the control pad, Doc activated the ship's outside light to see what was coming up. Turned out, the spot was not a rock at all, or just some sandy hill at the bottom of the sea. The dome belonged to the pre-mentioned Tunguska Gem Facility, and by the looks of it, it seemed to be either split apart from the main base, or the very top of it. Either way, Doc began to move the ship forward a bit, trying to find a way inside. However, the outside was covered in deep sea moss and weeds, and it looked deeply in disrepair for thousands of years since any Gem had been here. Each one of the Rubies, including CG Ruby, tried to find a route inside. Leggy and Navy practically had their faces on the front glass trying to see, but there didn't seem to be one. Even if there was, it was too covered by the vegetation to be used, or even seen for that matter.

"This facility needs some maintenance. Rubies, one of you go outside, and clear that stuff off," Doc ordered. Army was quick to accept the task, giving a soldier salute to do so. Army was the type of Gem to do any tough task right away, and this didn't seem like any exception to that. Ruby was a bit worried that they'll open up the top hatch and flood the ship, but Eyeball and Ruby were at the hatch, ready to shut it. Soon, Army swung open the hatch of the ship. As expected, water gushed in fast, and Army hauled herself outside the ship. With their combined strength, Eyeball and Ruby slammed the hatch shut behind her so no more water could get in. In the few seconds the hatch was open, a pool of water was left on the floor, Leggy hopping into Navy's arms in surprise. Doc rolled her eyes, and programed the ship to drain out the access water inside.

Army, being a Ruby, was heavier than the water, so she didn't need to swim. What was troubling though was how much debris was actually on the thing. With determination to her task, Army began grabbing, tearing, and moving aside the plants at one part of the area. These plants were rooted in, so, it wasn't as easy as it sounded. As she continued removing the plants, Army then began to see something come into view; a hand scanner. Army had seen these before, as with many other Gems, so she decided to give it a try, placing her hand on it to see if it still works. As if by a stroke of good luck, it did work; the main opening starting to slide open from the side. The inside was already full of water, and ominous due to the darkness inside. Army gave the ship the thumbs up (unable to talk clearly underwater), and Doc began to bring the ship in, with Army moving inside herself.

The inside of the dome, seeable by the ship's outside light, was about as ancient as it was outside. The interior was mostly blocked off thanks to the plants growing, as the light showed many of the windows covered by roots. Not that it mattered anyway for not much light coming in anyhow. Once the door closed, the only light was the light on the ship. After a little bit more, there was a strange draining noise from outside. The light from the ship showed the water beginning to be drained out of the dome, completely empty after about twenty long second. It wasn't until then did the Rubies venture out into the air. The air inside the place was both moist, yet stuffy all at the same time. Upon exiting the ship, the light still looming, they could make out a set of stairs leading down from the dome, so the spot was intended to go underground anyway.

"Good work, Ruby," Doc said to Army. All the Rubies went over to the stairs, the pathway itself heading down in a spiral from what they could make out with the stairs. Light was very limited, so they couldn't really see past about twenty steps down.

"Are we really going down there?" Leggy asked, a bit nervous, and hiding behind Ruby.

"There's no other entrance down. Ruby, lead ahead," Doc ordered. Ruby waited for one of the other Rubies to go, but turned out, Doc referred to her and not the others of the fleet.

"Yes, mam," Ruby said, moving towards the stairs. Ruby felt slightly reluctant to venture forward, but she gathered her nerves, and started down. Her fear wasn't for just going off down all on its own, but more of just trying to act the part of being under Doc's command, or risk getting caught. Leggy stayed right behind Ruby, not wanting to be too far front, or too far back, as the rest followed behind, with the order being Navy, Army, Doc, and Eyeball at the very back of the line. Why Doc picked Ruby to lead was really up to debate, since Doc had the visors to help her see, and the stronger ones were behind her rather than taking point. Any normal leader would either put the stronger ones around the weaker Gems, or at least have Doc be at the front for being the leader. The Rubies kept heading off down the circling stairs, each one keeping an eye out just in case for something to happen. What felt like forever only lasted five minutes until the group had made it all the way down the stairs, reaching down to a lighter room.

"Alright, fan out and search the area," Doc suddenly ordered just soon after they entered. The Rubies agreed, and they started to look around. The room they entered was, for a lack of a better word, huge. It was about four floors high, metal plates for the floorboards themselves underfoot. There were doors, twice their height, scattered around on the number of floors, so, they had some exploration to do here. The entrance they took got them on the second floor, which itself was pretty big, big enough to have Greg's van parked on it fairly easily. The room itself looked about as big as an air hangar, and twice as tall altogether. Army, Eyeball, and Doc went to the bottom floors of the room, as Navy, Leggy, and Ruby stuck around on the upper floors, almost immediately heading up a floor to look around. At least Ruby was with Navy and Leggy - two Rubies who seemed nice enough anyway.

"So ... What're we looking for, exactly? Another Gem?" Ruby asked. Navy gave a soft chuckle, a hand waving to her and Leggy.

"Oh, Ruby, you're so forgetful," Navy joked. Leggy seemed curious over it too, so, Ruby didn't know if Navy was talking to her or Leggy.

"What're we looking for?" Ruby repeated, this time joined by Leggy in unison. Navy sighed, and decided to give the recap.

"Just some activity being sensed here by our Diamond's valiant scanners, and she sent us to see what it is all about," Navy explained. Ruby and Leggy looked to eachother curiously, as Navy went over to one of the doors. The doors themselves were sliding doors, and the one Navy was getting open was heavier than thought. Navy just managed to get the door open enough to see what was inside, followed by Ruby and Leggy. However, the other room was just another hallway by the looks of things, other doors evident down a ways. The trio began to head in, Ruby glancing down to Doc, Army, and Eyeball first. Eyeball was the only one who saw Ruby before she followed Navy and Leggy into the hall. The hall itself wasn't anything special; just a hall going in about ten feet before getting to a door further down - sliding door to be exact. Navy took the lead here, gleefully skipping along without much of a care unlike the other two following. Once Navy glanced into the other room, she stopped herself all of a sudden, Ruby and Leggy walking into her, as she suddenly made a dramatic gasp, hands covering her mouth.

"What's wrong?!" Ruby asked, as Navy rushed in. Leggy and Ruby, a bit worried on what they stumbled on, peered into the room after Navy. The room itself looked like a two floored library, not too far off from what one would find in Twilight's library in Ponyville, if not a little more futuristic. Navy's eyes though were locked at a drawer within the library, which was slightly left open. As for what was inside that Navy caught in her sights, she got both hands in, and pulled out something from it. What it was, actually, was a left out, rather pretty sea necklace made up of colorful seashells, corals, and other things from the ocean, all of it let off a sort of shine as if polished up. How'd it get there was a bit confusing, but Navy's eyes twinkled on seeing it.

"It's so beautiful!!" Navy beamed. Ruby's worry immediately left her, seeing this way to familiar to a particular white unicorn she knew. Anyway, Ruby and Leggy ventured inside to look around. Ruby began to look around for some sort of "activity" as Navy said, but nothing really seemed to come up. The library was simply all books, shelves, and stuffy air with dust gathered up. She would go and look at some of the books if they weren't  Russian. Strange to find the necklace though.

"Nothing in here," Ruby finally said, looking down to Leggy and Navy down from the second floor. Leggy was curiously looking around the books on the shelves, as Navy showed off the necklace around her own neck. They both heard Ruby, and the three started to head on out.

"What do you think, newbie? Doesn't it just shine?" Navy asked gleefully, her finger moving around the necklace. Leggy looked at her necklace with some intrigue.

"It is shiny, Ruby," Leggy said, liking it herself. Ruby was starting to like these two.


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, Doc, Army, and Eyeball were busy looking into another room down on the first floor. After opening up the sliding doors with ease, thanks to Army, the trio ended up inside another part of the Facility. The three had managed to find what seemed to be the control room of the Facility to keep track of things, although it didn't seem to be functional due to lack of care, and abandonment from the thousands of years. It looked mainly like a security camera room, multiple screens that'd normally show the rest of the Facility if working properly. Most of them were either static, glitched out, or not on at all. Doc took the lead inside the place, and almost immediately tried to get some of the cameras to work. However, they were so out of date, they wouldn't function right. Either that, or Doc just was too advanced to know how the ancient technology worked. Either way, the cameras won't show much of anything.

"Come on, you clod, work," Doc grumbled, trying her best at it. Eyeball kept her eyes on the screens, trying to see if any of them would show anything. As she was glancing around, Eyeball then noticed something just out of the usual line of sight; a opening in the metal control stand. Eyeball moved over, and peered her good eye inside. After moving the metal plate uoward, the wires could be seen, which looked tampered with, which was odd. Eyeball looked to the other Rubies, and got Army's attention to come over to see.

"What's with you?" Army asked.

Eyeball lifted the plate up, moving it over to Army to hold for her. Army didn't know what Eyeball was going to do, but she held the plate anyway, as Eyeball got to her own work. Army got bored fairly quickly, the plate lighter than air for her, as she heard Doc trying in vain to get the controls to work. Suddenly, Eyeball got the problem down, and she quickly got to fixing it. Sometime later, the screens started to suddenly become clearer. Some were still a bit blurry, but at least they were able to be seen easier.

"Yes! I knew I'd get it," Doc boasted. Eyeball just sighed, and allowed her to boast a bit as the three went on to look at the screens. The screens, as expected, showed the angles of different halls and rooms of the place. In one of these, the three saw Ruby, Navy, and Leggy heading down one of the hallways. They could just make out the same necklace Navy was showing off to the other two, not unfamiliar to a model showing off her jewelry to those watching her. Leggy stopped herself eventually, when she noticed the camera, staring into it like a curious child.

"Come on, Ruby, stay together," Ruby said.

"Okay," Leggy called, and hurried to rejoin the other two. Doc continued looking through the cameras a bit, yet not seeing much of anything.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Doc commented.

"You can't be serious," groaned Army. However, Eyeball then noticed something about the cameras. Out of all the cameras, only one still remained off. There were other camera screens turned off, sure, but they turned on after the fix. They still were very weak in power, but still on none the less. This one in particular still was off though, screen black, and they couldn't see what was going on with it ...

"RUBY!"

Eyeball jumped up, and snapped back to reality. Turning around embarrassed, she saw Army and Doc moving on from the control room. Flustered, Eyeball just joined up with them, and moved on. Eyeball took one more glance at the cameras before they went off...

Just as they left, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary with the cameras at first, but about ten seconds after the Rubies had left, the cameras started to glitch again. This made all the cameras turn static again ...

And that one camera to work properly ...


~~~~~~


Navy, Ruby, and Leggy continued on for a bit until they reached another part of the Facility. There wasn't any doors to get into this room, so entrance into this part was pretty easy. This time, Ruby went in first, with Navy and Leggy coming in behind her. This room was wide open, fairly big, and resembled Blue Diamond's observatory in shape and structure. Unlike Blue Diamond's observatory, which was one hologram of the Homeworld planet, this one was more "Earth-like", with the constellations named and labeled around the walls and rounded ceiling. The names were different though, and written in Gem rather than in English, or any real Earth language.

"Well, looks like we found the star maps to this place," Ruby commented, as she, Navy, and Leggy, all began to look around at the constellations, and for any sort of clue. However, Leggy was more baffled by the shiny stars of the star maps than for any evidence anything was in here aside from the Rubies. Like a kid marveling at candy in a candy store, Leggy wandered around, looking up and around the star maps at the many constellation.

"Oh my, these surely are out-dated. Nicely kept though," Navy commented, as she looked around.

"It kinda does. Odd, isn't it?" Ruby replied. Even if Ruby had never been here, she would know if a place was truly abandoned for thousands of years, yet this place seemed well maintained for some odd reason. Leggy didn't even bother to notice that kind of detail, instead just enjoying the shiny stars of the star maps. As Leggy kept looking to the constellations, one in particular stood out. Looking to what seemed to be the Ursa minor and Ursa major in the constellations, one of the stars amongst the Ursa Major head began to move! Leggy kept her gaze directly on it, not saying a word, and not moving much, as the supposed star fluttered down to her. Turned out, the star wasn't a star at all, but instead a tiny, yet bright bug. A lightning bug. Leggy had never seen a lightning bug before, and the small insect flickered like a worn out light, as a lightning bug would normally do. The bug itself wasn't your typical lightning bug; the color of its exoskeleton a brighter yellow rather than similar colors to a normal one. Normally, Leggy would panic, and run for something (or someone for that matter) to hide behind. However, this light had a surprisingly soothing effect on her, like a bug to a lightbulb (go figure).

"Ruby, did you find anything?" Ruby called back. However, Leggy didn't respond. Leggy's finger gently touched the bug, only making the light shine a tiny more. Leggy took a step back, but didn't run away.

"Newbie, did you find anything?" Navy repeated. It was at this point, Leggy tried to catch the little bug, only to have the insect fly out of reach. Leggy gave chase, jumping multiple times to try to catch the bug. Ruby and Navy turned around, just to see Leggy chase the bug outside of the room. Navy and Ruby glanced to each other, before the two raced off after Leggy. Leggy kept trying to grab the insect, but to no avail, as the lightning bug zoomed about in the air. Leggy paid no mind to Navy, Ruby, and their attempts to keep together. The chase went down the halls, around a corner or two, until the insect ended up at a dead end. However, the bug found a way out, and slipped through a small crack in the wall itself. Like a cat, Leggy pounced forward, and got both hands covering the slit in the wall, only then Ruby and Navy catching up to Leggy.

"Ruby, where're you going?" Ruby asked.

"I found a cute thingy in here, I got it trapped inside -"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, and before they realized anything, the slit in the wall began to grow quickly! The slit turned into a rounded tunnel, widening and growing taller until Leggy began to slip, and slide in! Navy and Ruby tried to grab her, and Ruby just got her by the back leg, but the momentum ended up pulling them both down, and loosing balance! Navy gave a loud yelp just as the three Gems ended up tumbling inside, and the tunnel itself ended up closing back into the small slit shape beforehand.

And not a moment too soon.

"Ruby?! Ruby!"

Sure enough, Doc, Army, and Eyeball had just heard the yell, but were too late to save them. And with the slit back to normal, they didn't see really on where they went.

"I could've sworn I heard them," Doc noted.

"Well, they're not here - don't rile me up like that!" Army snapped.

"Watch it you, may I remind you who's in charge here," retorted Doc.

"But there's nothing here!" yelled Army. As Doc and Army bickered, Eyeball decided to investigate the only little clue they got; the slit in the wall. Eyeball moved over, as close as she could, and looked intently through it - main thing she could do. It was dark on the otherside, and the tunnel was still there, but oddly it began to turned back into a solid wall fast, and soon the tunnel was completely gone, and the slit in the wall covered. Eyeball gave a rough sigh, and turned to the others, giving a one-note whistle to get their attention.

"What now?" Army growled. Eyeball made a fist, and placed it on the wall. Her other hand pointed to it, giving the indication of what she wanted done. Before Doc could say her own thoughts, Army began moving over to the wall. Army looked over to Eyeball, who nodded to her, and gave her room to work. To finish the point, Eyeball punched the palm of her own hand twice to give the overall command. Soon as Army figured it out, a smug grin shown on her face, giving a salute.

"Oh yeah, you got it," Army said smugly, cracking her fists. As mentioned, she was quick to accept her tasks, and this one task she really needed, and really wanted. Rallying up her fists, she began to get to work; using her fists like sledgehammers, and punching into the wall. Army felt very good, and kept the fast punches coming, making their own tunnel to follow the previous one. A small bit of debris did go back to Doc and Eyeball, but, Eyeball made sure to cover her Gem eye to avoid anything hitting it. Doc and Eyeball nodded to eachother, and followed their own Army-made tunnel after the other Rubies.


~~~~~~


As for Navy, Ruby, and Leggy, the three ended up going down a sort of slide-like tunnel, the surface of the tunnel very smooth, and unable to get a grip on it. The trio didn't know where they were going, or how long the ride was going to be. After some stumbles, slides, and vain attempts to stop or even slow down, the end of the tunnel opened up to another room. Leggy landed first, with Ruby and Navy both landing on top of her. No one was hurt, and no Gem was cracked in the fall.

"Woo!" Leggy said, first time having a good thrill in the slide, and without getting deeply hurt no less. Navy and Ruby got off of her, Navy wiping off some dust on her arms, as Leggy jumped to her feet. It was here that the group began to look around where they ended up. The room itself didn't seem to be apart of the actual facility in question, but instead an illuminated underground cave, brightened up by bioluminescence. As for that little bug, it was nowhere to be seen, which bummed Leggy out a little bit.

"Where are we?" Ruby wondered allowed.

"Are we still at Tunguska?" added Leggy. Navy tried to think up where they were, but before they could get their answer, suddenly the three heard something breaking behind them. The tunnel on their end hadn't gone away yet, and soon three more Rubies; Doc, Army, and Eyeball, tumbled down inside. Eyeball landed on her feet, yet Army and Doc stumbled down inside.

"There you are! What happened?" Doc asked urgently, jumping to her feet. Army readied for a fight, but there was nothing to fight against, as Eyeball just rested her back on the cavern wall.

"One of us found ... Some cute thingy, or something? Then this tunnel opened up and now we're here," Ruby explained, feeling less worried after spending sometime with them.

"Cute? Ruby, you dunce, keep your mind on your work!" Army snapped, going right up to Leggy, making Leggy back up. Being falsely driven is one thing, but going on a wild goose chase was another.

"I am; I found something cute in here," Leggy insisted.

"Oh really? Then where is it?!" Army demanded. Leggy looked around for a bit, but she couldn't see the thing anywhere. Leggy could've swore she saw it come through that tunnel in the back, but with it now gone, she was on thin ice. And Army was more than willing to smash it. Army lost patience.

"You little pebble -"

"Wait!"

Everyone suddenly turned to Ruby, who couldn't stand to see Leggy get hurt from just a mistake. Army looked ready to beat the daylights out of Leggy, and Ruby wasn't going to let that happen to her. However, now that she got their attention all on her, Ruby tried to remain calm and get her words together correctly. One screw up now and they'll be all over her (or at least Doc, anyway). Ruby cleared her throat.

"Let's just get out of here first," Ruby finally got out heading to the same tunnel. Army just gave a rough groan to Leggy. Before they went off, Army made sure to give a "I'm Watching you" gesture with her fingers towards Leggy, which made Leggy herself gulp. After that, then they went off. Leggy stayed close to Ruby, away from Army to avoid getting hurt. Eyeball took one more glance inside the cavern before following the others back ...


~~~~~~


"OPEN UP!"

Sometime later, the six Rubies had found another door to venture into amongst the facility. However, this door was a bit hard to open, and it took the combined effort of Army and Eyeball - strongest of the Rubies - to get the door to finally open up. The door creaked and groaned for a bit, like a rusty iron gate, until the two Gems got it fully open. This room was on the very top floor here, and this room seemed ... well, scientific-based. Ruby and Leggy began to feel a bit troubled on seeing this place, as everyone else looked around a bit. The room looked like an experimental institution room, with some left over desks, testing tables scattered around, large test tubes, and other things that were once used by the Gems thousands of years ago. Not exactly the most high-tech items used, and perhaps even influenced by human tech (or perhaps the other way around), but it was still here, and still untouched until now. Doc went over to one of the desks to see what they got to offer. Perhaps they got some clue about the activity going on in this place? Doc opened up the desk drawer, just finding some paperback documents, which didn't seem to help her out very much. All the papers were written in Gem, so, Doc could read it pretty easily, especially with her visors on.

"Wait a second," Doc said to herself, reading over the reports. As she was, Navy calmly leaned over Doc's shoulder, hands behind her back, looking over the papers.

"What'chu got there?" Navy asked.

"Do you mind stepping back?" Doc said dryly. Navy, still smiling softly with her lady-like expression, did as she was told and stepped back so Doc could have her space. Doc skimmed through some of the pages, trying to see what the place has going for it, and what used to go on. Meanwhile, Army and Eyeball were looking over some of the old, huge tubes amongst the room. They were large enough for a Gem to stand inside, and a few of them seemed to be broken in a number of places. The openings in the tubes were big enough for one of them to fit through, so, Eyeball hopped inside one of them to see the damage a bit better. Army then turned to Leggy and Ruby, who still hung out by the door.

"Her, Rubies, come here!" Army ordered. Ruby and Leggy moved over to them, as Eyeball jumped out of the tube. Army then grabbed Ruby, lifting her off the ground, and placing her feet first in the tube, Ruby standing stiff inside, not sure what Army was going to do, or what she was trying to see. Eyeball did a sort of camera gesture with her hands; index fingers and thumbs touching eachother to mimic a TV screen. Both Gems were trying to get an idea on what could break out of this thing. Army grabbed Leggy, and stacked her on top of Ruby, Leggy standing perfectly on Ruby's head like she was a platform. Eyeball and Army looked at them both until Doc and Navy noticed.

"And what're you two doing?" Quizzed Doc.

"Trying to see what got out of this thing," Army answered. Navy gave a quiet giggle, making Army slightly fuming. Doc rolled her eyes, as Ruby and Leggy started to get out. It was then they noticed Doc's papers, which Doc was looking over for the last five minutes with Navy.

"What's that paper?" Leggy asked, hopping off of Ruby's head. Doc then presented the papers to the other Rubies.

"Our lead; Fulgurites and Peridots both used to operate this Facility, according to this," Doc explained, slapping the paper she was holding. Eyeball was given the paper, and she looked it over with Ruby next to her. Eyeball glanced to Ruby with a suspicious eye, as she kept looking to the paper.

"So what?"

"So, that means that whatever is in here is either a Gem experiment, or perhaps a corrupted Peridot or Fulgurite," Doc concluded. Leggy rested on Eyeball's shoulder, looking at the paper curiously. Eyeball, suddenly, jumped back, and readied to fight, only to find Leggy standing there, spooked. Ruby quickly pulled Leggy aside before Eyeball could hit her. Leggy had made the mistake of resting on Eyeball's blind side, so Eyeball didn't realize what was touching her at first.

"Ruby dear, try not to sneak in on her blind side. She gets a little jumpy," Navy warned, whispering at the end of it so Eyeball wouldn't hear them both.

"Good to know," Ruby said, as Leggy nodded, lucky to not get a black eye from Eyeball's punches. As for Eyeball, she calmed down after the attempted punch, and sighed as she gave the paper to Army. Looking to Leggy, Eyeball almost looked ... well, guilty ...

"So, there's some Gem Beast wandering this place?" Army summed up.

"That looks about it. Let's keep looking, we should find it somewhere in the facility sooner or later," Doc answered, folding up the paper, and placing it back in the drawer where she found it. The six Rubies moved on out of the room, and back in the hall leading to the main room where they started. Once they got to the main room (they were at the second floor at this point).

"Alright. Arm Ruby, take the two Newbies down the hall there. I'll take the other two with me for a bit. Meet back here when you find something," Doc ordered. Army gave her salute again to her, and Army started moving off with Ruby, and Leggy. Navy, Eyeball, and Doc went off in another direction. The only main switch that happened was Navy and Army switching groups, but, Ruby wasn't sure what Army was going to do to them both (considering she stacked her and Leggy up back at the experimental room). Ruby and Leggy looked to eachother, scared a little, until ...

"You two, let's go!" Army bellowed, already at the door.

Ruby and Leggy quickly caught up with Army.


~~~~~~


After some looking down the next hall, and heading to another room, Army kept herself in front of the pack, as Ruby and Leggy kept themselves behind. The room they ended up was still at the bottom floor, or maybe in the basement even by what room they got themselves into; a storage room. The crates were different sizes, and also differently written; some Gem writing, other Russian writing (possibly stolen Crates from the humans) The storage room hadn't been touched in a long time, with many sorts of Gem crates and large boxes around like a cargo hanger or something of the sort. Army crossed her arms, looking around for a little bit, before she pointed to the other two.

"Fan out; go in there and investigate," Army ordered, pompously. Leggy and Ruby both walked off from Army, as she stood waiting at the door. No one said she really had to go in with them, she was told to take the two with her. Leggy didn't want to get in trouble with her, and Ruby started to see how scared she was.

"Come on now, it'll be alright. Just stay with me," Ruby decided. Out of all the Rubies, Leggy was the most innocent of one, and Ruby herself should at least let her not go in alone.

"Really? Thank you," Leggy said, smiling and hugging her arm. Ruby smiled, and found the moment sweet a little bit. Ruby and Leggy continued on, with Army watching, tapping her foot and crossing her arms, waiting for a report from them. Ruby and Leggy kept going around the large crates and boxes of the Gem Facility, the two unsure exactly where the next thing will pop up. Leggy and Ruby kept going for a bit longer, unable to find anything in particular ...

"HEY! Did you find anything or what?!" Army demanded, making them both jump. Ruby peeked out from behind another box.

"No!"

"Well HURRY UP!" Army yelled impatiently. Ruby was just about to go off again when ...

*grrrrrrr*

"W-What was that?" Leggy asked, holding onto Ruby's arm. Ruby tried to see what was around, almost instinctively getting out her boxing glove Gem weapon. The growls seemed to come from everywhere, and Army quickly rushed over to them, only to see Ruby with her Gem weapon.

"what the - when'd you get that?" Army said, pointing to the Gem weapon. Ruby froze, and looked to the Gem weapon in her hand. She quickly hid it behind her back worryingly. Before it could go any further ...

*GRRRRRRRR*

The growls were getting closer and closer, and the three Rubies standing around began to get nervous a little bit. Well, Ruby and Leggy were - Army stayed firm, and readied for battle with whatever was actually around.

"ALRIGHT, BEAST! SHOW YOURSELF, I'M READY!" Army yelled confidently. It seemed she would rather fight than run away, whatever the risk. As for whatever was in the place, it seemed to be getting closer to them. Leggy started to back away a little bit, and soon they started to hear something begin to move around. One step at a time, there was the sound of hoof steps with iron shoes, like those of a horse, slowly moving forward towards them from the dark. Without any thought, Army made a battle cry, and blindly ran into the dark. Leggy and Ruby stayed put (which turned out to be the smart move). Army kept doing cries, and what sounded like punches, but then they both heard a huge hit being made, and Army was sent flying!

"Ruby!" They both gasped. The growls continued again, and the two then saw two pairs of glowing eyes in the darkness. After seeing Army fly off like that, the two weren't sure if sticking around will be good for their health. Soon as Leggy started running, Ruby tried to join her as they heard hooves scraping the ground behind them, and loud snarling. Army got herself out of some crates, and lunged for the beast, whatever it was, but she got hit hard again. This time, Army flew right into Ruby and Leggy, sending all three flying out of the room, and back into the hall. By the time the three got back up, whatever was in there slammed the door, and rushed over them in a giant blur of red, rushing off down the hall and out of sight.

"After it, rubies!" Army demanded, scrambling over the other two to chase it. Ruby and Leggy got up soon afterwards, and Ruby decided to follow, Leggy keeping close to her.

When they caught up with it, the thing had gotten into the main room again. And it was then did they get a good look at it. Seven feet tall, and nine feet long. Skin as red as raw meat. It had the entire appearance of a horse and rider. The rider without any legs, and attached to the horse's back! The human part turned to see them, eyes reptilian in appearance, and a long thin hand poked the horse's head so both side could see them. They both shared the same eyes, each set looking back to the Rubies, and it began to clamber back towards them, a mix of human growl and horse whinny escaping both mouths. The three can even see what appeared to be Gemstones on both heads. Not one, but two! This was no ordinary Gem monster.

This was a corrupted Gem fusion gone horribly wrong!

"Oh my stars," ruby managed to get out. Leggy quickly backed up, hiding behind Ruby, as Army charged at it again. All the Gem monster did was grab Army, and threw her far aside, smashing her into a wall on the tallest floor. Then it targeted Ruby and Leggy. Its long, bony arms reached over them, its face having a strong look of savagery. The horse head whinnied good and loud, as the hand targeted Leggy in particular. As Ruby watched, then her mind began to reply what happened just before she left ...

(earlier)

"What? Why should I go?" Ruby gasped.

"Ruby, please. It's best for her that you go," Sapphire said, referring to Leggy as she was put inside the ship.

"But, they're -"

"Ruby. It's time for you to go."

.......

If Ruby remembered ... She saw this. Sapphire kissed her forehead after that, and she saw this. The Gem fusion monster, towering over Leggy. That was playing out here!

"RUBY!"

In one quick move, Ruby rushed in, and shoved Leggy aside, just as the Gem beast grabbed her! Leggy tumbled a bit, and looked back to see Ruby. The beast had her in its grasp, and it wasn't going to let go of her! At this point, the noise had gotten the rest of the Rubies, and they quickly saw the beast as they rushed in.

"Ruby!" Navy gasped, helping Leggy up. Eyeball and Doc got to Army, but by this point, Ruby was dangling on the beast's hand, over its open mouth! Ruby got one idea, but it was a long shot...

She began to get angry.

And then the beast swallowed her up!

"RUBY!" They all gasped. Eyeball though didn't gasp. She knew what Ruby was going to do, and it won't be long for this beast at all. At first nothing seemed to happen, but eventually they began to hear something sizzling ...

Suddenly, the beast began to screech in pain, fire beginning to bellow from its mouths! This kept up for twenty long seconds, until it could take it no longer, and finally poofed. After the smoke cleared, all that remained was a steaming Ruby, and two gemstones beside her. Doc went over and grabbed the two gemstones off the ground, as Leggy rushed over to Ruby.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Leggy beamed.

"What a Devine job," Navy complimented.

"Very efficient, Ruby," added Doc. This was when Army had enough.

"Hold it! I saw her with a Gem weapon - we don't have any Gem weapons yet! How'd she get one without us getting one?!" Army accused. Ruby began to tense up, as every other Ruby took it in consideration.

"You know. I don't even remember her being with us for the longest time, now that I think of it."

"What?! No no, I-I just been quiet," Ruby said nervously. Army didn't seem to bye it, and Eyeball's casual shake of the head didn't help either.

"What're you getting at, Ruby?" Navy asked.

"Oh, I'll tell you. She's -"

"A Crystal Gem," Eyeball suddenly said. First time Ruby ever heard her talk at all. As for Army ...

"NOOO! YOU TOOK MY THUNDER!" Army screamed. Ruby could only think of the worst now, but Eyeball walked right up to her.

"Y-You knew?"

"Since you stepped on our ship."

"You didn't inform me!" Doc yelled.

"She saved one of our own, and finished our task. Now we can go home, and so can she," Eyeball said. The other Rubies realized she was right about that, and while Army wanted to knock Ruby's gem to high heavens, she knew Eyeball was right. Ruby could finally give a sigh of relief, no longer having to act anything out.

"Well, Rubies, looks like we're done here. Just going to drop off Ruby, and we'll be on our way with the news," Doc decided.

"You kidding me?!" Army snapped.

"Ruby, remember that she did save Homeworld," Navy reminded. Army still seemed upset, but was subdued anyway.

"Let's go, Rubies!" Doc said, starting to go with the rest of the group. Ruby herself took a bit, but both Leggy and Eyeball got her going, Leggy smiling wide. On the bright side, Ruby was good with the others as they left the Gem facility ...

.......


".... Getting closer ...."

> The Talk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"OOF!"

Suddenly, after a small talk and explanation from Sapphire's side, Ruby herself ended up heading inside the ship with the other Rubies. It was an odd tumble inside, but Ruby sat up straight when she got inside. It didn't take very long before the other Rubies noticed her ...

"Wait a second," Doc said suspiciously "There seems to be ... more of us than usual."

"There's supposed to be five of us," Navy said.

"Five, Rubies!" added Army. Ruby still wasn't sure about this little plan, but Sapphire seemed happy for it, and she knew who to trust. Doc took a moment to think and started counting them down ...

"One, two, three, four, five ... tch, nevermind," Doc concluded, not counting herself amongst the Rubies. Ruby gave a sigh of relief.

Outside, the others watched as the ship started to lift off the ground, and begin to fly away rather quickly. Sapphire nodded a bit, smiling as they left.

She knew they'll be back ...


~~~~~~


While Ruby was away, everyone else that saw her off basically had to set thing up, and put things away. With one of them gone, they were short of one member for their baseball game, so, they couldn't exactly continue with uneven numbers. When that all was finished, Steven, Connie, and the Mane Six, all went off into town. It was as bustling as it would normally be.

"So, what do you wanna do now?" Applejack asked.

"How about a boat trip? We can get Lapis to show us around the deep sea," Twilight suggested.

"BORING! How about some battle challenge with Jasper? Seriously, she can give an awesome show!" Rainbow suggested. However, some of them shuttered on such an idea.

"M-Maybe not something that dangerous," Fluttershy insisted. This bummed out Rainbow Dash, but she didn't push the point along any further. Maybe she'll do it later. As they went along, the group soon got themselves further into town when ...

*boing* *boing*

"Huh? What's that?" Pinkie asked.

Before anypony could answer her, the real answer suddenly flew into sight, bouncing off of Pinkie's head, then Applejack's head, and finally landing in Connie's arms. As for their answer? A new basketball that accidentally bounced away from a nearby basketball court. Pinkie and AJ took a moment to shake off the hit before they saw what hit them.

"Hey there," A voice then said, as he walked over to retrieve the basketball. Turned out, the owner of the ball was actually Buck Dewey, and he was practicing some hoops before he accidentally lost his.

"Oh, hi Buck. Is this yours?" Connie asked, handing over the basketball. Buck nodded, and got the basketball from her, dribbling it a little bit before he balanced it on his hand.

"Thanks. So, how life been for you two?" Buck asked.

"It's going awesomely! We've got new fusions, and Ruby's off with some more Rubies on a fun trip to who knows where - it's going crazy!" Pinkie explained. Buck hadn't met Ruby yet, but, he was still glad things were going well with them as of late.

"Sounds like a blast. Any of you want to join me?" Buck asked, almost like he already knew they were bored, and had nothing to do. It honestly didn't take very much decision time to get their answer.

The basketball court Buck was practicing in wasn't really the best court there is, but it was good enough. It consisted of a flat cement area, a perfect square of fifteen feet each side, with a single hoop over to the one side of the square. To put in better perspective, the hoop itself was on the same side of the square, facing towards the Boardwalk. However, there was one other problem though; the number of people. Fluttershy would rather watch, so, that problem was solved rather quickly. Here, they were in the middle of the game, with Buck leading Rarity, Twilight, and Connie. Rainbow was having Steven, Pinkie, and Applejack on her team. They were in the middle of their game at this point, all in and giving their all, with Fluttershy keeping score. However, after explaining the rules, Rainbow had to keep her wings tied down, and Twilight and Rarity had to avoid using magic (not to mention any head shots in case the horns pop the ball).

"Alright, pass to me!" Rainbow called. Pinkie Pie, dribbling the ball easily with her quick tail, quickly tossed the ball over. Rainbow jumped up and got the ball in her hooves. She dribbled it for a bit before she whacked it with her back hooves, sending it right to the net. However, the ball just missed, and bounced off towards Steven. Steven caught the ball, and soon found himself with the hoop in front, but with Connie in the way (go figure). Steven and Connie tried to out do eachother, laughing all the while, until Connie tried for the ball. Since the two did it once before, and they were happy together, one could probably guess what happened next. Be it accidental or not, the ball bounced away, as a flash of bright light illuminated close by. Soon, low and behold, there stood Stevonnie.

"Whoa, wha?"

"Welcome back," Buck said with a smile.

"WOO! Stevonnie's back!" Pinkie beamed. It took a little bit, but Stevonnie soon realized she was fused again. On the bright side, at least it was in front of friends who knew about the fusion anyway.

"Uh, oops. Sorry, I -"

"Don't be sorry, you two. I wanted a one-on-one match with her anyway," Buck joked. It was a spur of the moment thing, but, what other opportunity was there to do so anyway? Stevonnie took a moment, and picked up the basketball. After a little bit more thought, and the supporting faces of the others, Stevonnie decided to go and give it a try.

"Let's do this," Stevonnie happily agreed, and the full game of six turned to a one-on-one match with Buck and Stevonnie. As the game went on, Stevonnie seemed to have the advantage against Buck, but he didn't mind it much, and even bested her a few times while playing.

Unfortunately for Stevonnie, there was still one other Gem, hidden in his cloak, that had seen what happened to Steven and Connie. Without Garnet to handle him, Flint basically wandered off once he heard of what Steven was up to, only to find Stevonnie playing some odd game with a ball and a hoop. The sight made his non-existent blood boil, and a hand to his forehead Gemstone.

"Oh my stars, and the worn-out wreck the Diamonds rode to Earth on - they're fused again?" Flint growled quietly, not loud enough for them to hear. Even if they unfused once already, he still had severe doubts over the concept itself, and seeing Stevonnie fused up again didn't help him. If they keep fusing by accident, then it's just going to get worse as far as he was concern.

"Come on, Flint, there's got to be a way to handle this ..." Flint thought. He didn't want to see the two constantly fusing all the time, accidental or intentional. Flint tried to think a bit, keeping just out of sight down the road which lead to the basketball court. He knew they had different lives, and he knew if they get stuck in fusion mode then both their normal lives would be in jeopardy, and he knew that those they knew and loved may or may not fully approve of another perma-fusion running around by pure accident ...

Then something in his head clicked. He got an idea. It may not be the best idea, not the nicest with a exact outcome, but Flint figured not only will it be found out anyway, but at least then there were some others who would put a better barrier than he could do ...

"Sorry, you two. But, it has to be done," Flint sighed, though mostly it was to himself. Without anypony noticing him, Flint began to slip away and let them be. He was sure they'll get their talk soon enough ...


~~~~~~


After a while hanging out by the basketball court, Connie then went right off back to her home. It took a while for Connie, but she did get her bike right off to home, no side-stops and no trouble along the way either. Connie simply felt happy that she had some more fun with her close friends, and was hoping that she'll be able to do it again soon. Humming a good tune, Connie parked her bike, and went right on inside her home.

"I'm home!" Connie called happily.

Unfortunately, the feeling was neutral. She was immediately confronted by her mother, who stared daggers down at her.

"Uh ... Everything okay? ..." Connie asked nervously. Her mom didn't even bother to beat around the bush.

"Connie, what had you been doing with Steven?" She asked firmly. Connie didn't seem to get what she really meant at first.

"Well, Steven and I went out for a walk around Beach City, and -"

"No no. Connie, one of those Gems told me that you and Steven had done some. Magic stuff together?"

Now Connie froze; how'd she find out about their fusion?! Connie didn't know exactly what to say, and her mother looked shocked about it as she was ...

"Eh ... Wha? I don't know what you're talking about ..." Connie replied nervously.

"Connie?" Her mother said, almost in a panicked growl. She thought Connie had enough trouble with Magic thanks to Sombra, but with this information told to her, not only was she freaked out still, but also figured Connie didn't learn anything. Connie gulped.

"Seriously, I don't know about any fusion -"

Well, that was a bust. Connie quickly buttoned up her lips, maybe it being enough to keep those words from slipping. It was too late though, and what's worse, by the horrified look on her face, her mom wasn't told the exact details. And when she heard of fusion ... well ...

"You ... Y-you ... fused with him? ..."

As her mother said that, her fingers locked together as more of a visual expression of this "fusion". While Connie's thought on it was more literal, her older and mature mother had a different kind in her head. All Connie could say was, "... Yes?"

*thud*

"Mom! Mom, wake up!"


~~~~~~


Sometime later, Connie's mother did get up after a while, but soon as she did, she wanted answers. And she wanted them NOW! Connie knew she couldn't get the answers all by herself, so, after some time to get herself settled, she contacted Steven for some help on the issue. It was the first choice she could think of when thinking on who to call that had some experience and information on a short notice. Connie's father, Doug, also came in and helped his wife after she fainted.

"Priyanka, you feeling better now?" Doug asked, after Priyanka managed to calm her nerves a little bit more.

"Yeah. Yeah ... I think so ..."

"Good. Now, Steven, what is this fusion stuff? What did you and Connie do?" Doug asked firmly. Steven took a moment, trying to think out what actually happened.

"Um, well actually, it was kind of an accident," Steven said, referring to the first time they did it. And it was technically true; Steven and Connie didn't plan to fuse during Lapis's anniversary party, yet they did, and had a fairly good time with it.

"Accident?" Priyanka questioned.

"Well, we didn't plan it. It just - happened," Steven admitted.

"Steven, I'm asking what this is, not how it started," Doug groaned. While it was some information, it didn't explain all and all on what exactly happened, or what fusion is in their case. Steven tried to think a bit more, glancing to Connie first.

"I-It's kinda hard to explain."

"Try," Doug simply responded. Steven closed his eyes, and just went for broke on what he knew.

"It's when two people mix together to make up one being."

It was the sum up, and the best Steven could really do. Still, looking at the parent's faces, it didn't seem to exactly help them out. Doug and Priyanka both looked shell-shocked, Priyanka much more so.

"I don't think it helped," Connie whispered. Steven didn't need to be told that twice - seeing their faces were proof enough. After some silence, Priyanka spoke up again.

"WHAT?!"

"No, no, no, not that way, I swear it's not like that!" Connie insisted.

"Like what?" Steven asked. He never got his answer though.

"Connie, I thought we all agreed you wouldn't get involved with this dangerous stuff anymore. Didn't you learn anything from that dark Unicorn incident?" Priyanka snapped. It was impossible for her to forget her encounter with Sombra, and how she was scared out of her mind before that same creature took Connie away.

"But mom, dad, it's not a bad thing!" Connie suddenly insisted. However, it didn't seem to really help the situation anymore than with Steven's explanation. Soon, the two came to their own conclusion; they need more help.

.......

"What's the trouble?" Sapphire asked. Connie was hoping Ruby would be back by the time they got Sapphire to come over to get Garnet instead, but, Sapphire was still a smart Gem with thousands of years of fusion experience. So, if anyone knows the true risks and benefits of fusion, it would be her. Steven and Connie kept quiet as Priyanka and Doug spoke with Sapphire.

"It's with Steven and our daughter. We were told something about this "fusion"," Doug said.

"I see."

"Can you please explain what it's about? What is fusion? Is it dangerous?! What risk is it putting Connie in?!" Priyanka asked worryingly. Steven and Connie had their fingers crossed, as Sapphire took a short moment to think it over. Before Sapphire spoke, she used her future sight to see the results at the end, but didn't say anything about it just yet.

"Well, if you're worried about prolong effects of Fusions, depending on the cooperators, there's little chance any permanent physical harm will come to Connie or Steven."

"E-Even if they - ... Fused?"

"It's not that kind of fusion; Gems are inorganic, you know," Sapphire said, showing her Gemstone to them both, giving off a shine in the light.

"What? What's that have to do with Steven doing it?" Doug questioned.

"Steven is half Gem, and therefore, the rules of Fusion apply to him. I won't lie when I say it's the first time a Gem had fused with a human being, but the results still seem to follow the same way as fusion with two Gems."

"W-Wait! First time? You mean this never happened before?!"

"It's the first time having a Gem-Human hybrid too, so, it's plausible," Sapphire admitted. Connie and Steven glanced to eachother, and began to worry a little bit with Doug and Priyanka's worry. Sapphire seemed fine though, so, it was something to hold on to.

"Sapphire, this is serious! What is it?! It isn't them -"

"NO." Sapphire quickly said firmly. Last thing they needed was more of that talk.

"No. Fusion is an amalgam of the cooperators combined magical and physical attributes, fused into a single entity." Steven felt a odd sense of Deja Vu, but Doug and Priyanka both started to look less scared, yet perplexed.

"... What?" Priyanka asked. Sapphire tried to think a bit, but then Steven glanced into the kitchen. Then he got an idea, snapping his fingers.

"Got it!"

.......

"What're you doing, Steven?" Connie asked. Steven had got out some loaves of bread, and two containers of Peanut Butter and Jelly, to give Doug and Priyanka a simpler explanation. Steven kinda understood Sapphire's just fine, so he can use that. Sapphire meanwhile found this method of explaining a possibility, and was intrigued to see it go through. Not to mention the choice was kinda cute.

"Maybe this can help you understand," Steven said, as he started putting peanut butter on one slice, and jelly on the other.

"Think of these two slices of bread, as two people. One slice has creamy peanut butter, and the other has yummy grape jelly," Steven began, showing the two the slices of bread on the clean plate. Doug and Priyanka still weren't too sure, but let Steven continue anyway.

"They're both good on their own, with good stuff to give. Now, when they fuse up, you get something better," Steven explained, putting both slices together to finish the PB n J sandwich. Priyanka held the sandwich in her hands after Steven gave it to her, as she and Doug looked to each other, thinking over Steven's simpler explanation of this fusion thing. Far as they got, fusion's basically the good stuff in people making something new. It still seemed vague, to say the least, but, it began to come around as less dangerous than the two first were brought on. Eventually, Doug sighed and turned to the others.

"Can you give us a minute?" Doug asked.

"Uh, sure," Steven replied, letting the two walk off to the next room. Sapphire, Connie, and Steven all sat down in the living room, as Doug and Priyanka went off to discuss in private. Priyanka actually went on to eat the sandwich given to her as Doug paced a little bit.

"Well, Doug? What do you think?" Priyanka asked, taking another bite of the sandwich. Doug still wasn't too sure about it. Even if this wasn't dangerous on the surface, their family's involvement with magic wasn't a fun one, especially since it mainly involved Sombra and his evil plot to use Connie almost a year ago to date.

"Well, I don't know any better than you do, honey. This is all too confusing to understand," Doug admitted gravely. It honestly was hard to understand right away, especially since there was no true promoting for this to just pop up on them. Priyanka finished the sandwich before speaking again.

"I don't know, that Flint Gem said it's too dangerous, but Sapphire keeps saying it's not so bad, it's just -" Priyanka stopped herself, and just sighed.

"Honey, honey, there, there. Look, I'll handle this," Doug decided. Priyanka just nodded, and Doug left the room to confront Connie and Steven. However, Sapphire had already left during that time, which was confusing for him.

"Where's Sapphire?"

"Well ... She had to leave," Connie answered.

"Leave?"

"She felt that she was needed somewhere."

Doug just sighed. He was going to have to deal with Sapphire some other time, but for now, he put his own plan and ideas in motion. He cleared his throat, and stood up straight.

"Okay you two. If this really isn't anything bad, then show us," Doug said. Connie and Steven were taken aback by this sudden decision, but then again, it was probably the best idea.

"You sure?" Connie asked.

"Is fusion a bad thing you shouldn't do?"

"No!" both kids said.

"Then show me," Doug concluded. His mind was made up, and he wasn't going to be convinced until he sees it for himself. Priyanka too went out, and waited to see the fusion for themselves. There was just one problem with this idea though; each time they fused, it was accidental. The first time they fused was just a dance together, not thinking or focusing on fusion, and the second time that same day was simply bumping into eachother during the Basketball game. Still, Steven and Connie had to at least try. The two kids got up, but, before they could start, Connie had at least one request.

"Can we have some music, please? It might make it easier," Connie said. Doug and Priyanka looked to eachother, but if it meant to actually see this happen, then Doug decided to do it. After a little bit, he got on the kitchen radio, and turned on some classic music on a CD. It wasn't as upbeat as it was at the party, but, it was good enough. Looking to eachother, Connie and Steven started to dance together. However, the music itself seemed low beat, and not as well as it was in order to get it started. Connie and Steven were also too uncomfortable to actually get it right; the last two times they were at least happy with eachother, but this was more forced than they'd like it to be. After five minutes of nothing, Doug and Priyanka began to suspect that the idea was going nowhere.

"Okay, stop," Doug finished, turning off the music. He was left convinced now that this Fusion wasn't as innocent as it was brought on to be by Sapphire. Steven and Connie sensed that things were going to hit a deep nosedive by what happened next.

"Steven? It's time for you to go home. Until I'm more convinced, Connie, you are to stay away from him."

"What?! But dad -"

"No, no, my mind's made up. If you two aren't going to show us this fusion trick of yours, then I'm not allowing it."

"We're trying, we are, really! I don't know why it isn't working," Steven insisted.

"Well then, until you figure that out, then I suggest you go home, and stay away from my daughter," Doug responded, slightly cold. Steven and Connie were really worried, and in dismay. Connie and Steven both didn't know why it wasn't working when it worked fine twice before. In the end, without any reason to back him up, all Steven could do was go.

"No, Steven don't leave, we can try again!" Clonnie insisted, not wanting to lose her closest friend. Doug though wasn't having any of it, and got in between them both. He even pushed them apart to further the point. While the push wasn't needed, it was painfully clear that in order to maintain their friendship, they needed to figure out how to get Stevonnie out ...


~~~~~~


What started off nice and friendly, ended up going downhill for both Steven and Connie. Connie was stuck in her room again, bored and distraught over what had happened. She had a book in front of her, which was all she could do. Even with the book opened up, it was almost impossible for her to focus on reading the book, mainly because her mind was off in different places. In particular, what to do about herself and Steven. She didn't want to lose her first true friend this way. If only she could figure out this fusion thing better, then maybe it can work out, but how can she figure it out without Steven with her? She did fuse with him, after all. It just felt unfair. Connie felt alone in her room, as she didn't hear her parents talking, or doing anything for that matter. As she laid there on her bed, she stared up to the ceiling, swinging around onto her back on the bed as the book fell off. However, unaware to Connie at first, the book didn't exactly fell on to the floor...

"Connie?"

Connie turned her head, and found a ... rather interesting surprise. Holding her book, and placing it on the bed again, was another girl. She looked exactly like her, apart from a few subtle costume changes.

Connie the Second - Connie's Doppelgänger!

"Oh. It's you!" Connie gasped. She almost forgot her after the longest time, and Connie hadn't met her in quite a while since her run away excursion to Ponyville nearly a year ago. Connie II didn't seem to worried about that, and she was more worried about Connie herself.

"I-I'm so sorry we hadn't talked in so long, things just happened here, and -"

"Hey, hey, don't worry, I understand. I've been kinda busy myself," Connie II said, sitting down next to her. Seeing just how different she looked to her, Connie could get the idea. Connie sat up, and the two sat side by side. One could say Connie was beside herself.

"How are you here?" Connie asked. Connie II rubbed the back of her head.

"It's a spell I learned a while back. Looks like it worked," Connie II said, finding it hard to explain exactly. Magic alone is hard to explain. Still, pushing that aside, Connie II could sense that Connie wasn't at her best.

"Having trouble with mom and dad again?" Connie II asked. Connie sighed, and laid down on her bed again. Connie II stayed quiet, and laid down next to her. It took a bit, but Connie did end up talking.

"I can't see Steven anymore ..."

"What? What for?" Connie II asked, shocked on such an idea.

"Because of this fusion thing! They somehow found out and - ugh! They won't let me see Steven again until they see it themselves. I don't know what to do; we hadn't fused intentionally before," Connie said in dismay. Connie II, actually, didn't realize that Connie actually fused with anyone. It took Connie II a moment to think it over before she could answer.

"And I guess it didn't work."

"Eeyup," Connie replied. Connie II tried to think a bit, on something to comfort her. Connie II didn't want to just leave her hanging, but, she couldn't think much of anything. Connie couldn't see Steven until this fusion thing works out, and since Connie II didn't know anymore about fusion than Connie did, then it wasn't any better for either of them ...

"Do you need some time away for a while?"

"No, no. I don't want my parents to worry again ... Thanks, though."

"Oh."

"Oh, what am I going to do? I'm so ... worried."

It was then that Connie II turned to Connie.

"Don't be so scared, Connie; you're a brave and smart girl. I'm sure it'll all work out, somehow."

Before they could go any further, Connie II suddenly started to fade and flicker a bit. That made Connie a bit worried, but Connie II seemed more annoyed.

"Sorry, I gotta go - spell's wearing off," Connie II said.

"You okay?" Connie gasped.

"I'll be fine. I'm just ending up back in Equestria," Connie II said, though her voice was starting to flicker along with her body. Connie didn't know how to keep her to stay, but Connie II didn't seem too worried over herself. As quietly as she came into the room, Connie II then disappeared back to Equestria. Connie was all alone again, and she still didn't know what to do ...

"... Goodbye ..."

Connie laid back onto her bed. While seeing that Connie II wasn't upset with her was a nice thought, it still didn't help her dilemma. She needed to get herself down pact on what the hay to do, or this will not work out for anybody. Connie kept trying to figure things out when -

*BOOM*

"AAHH!"

Oh no.


~~~~~~


Connie made a mad dash downstairs, only to find her mom and dad outside the house. The two were just about to go off to the store, but what Connie found outside once she showed up was the reason behind their surprise. It was out of nowhere, and out of place; a overturned car! It was about ten feet away, and completely turned on its head. There didn't seem to be any extra sabotage to it, or anyone inside the car. How the heck it got there was anyone's guess, but judging by the marks made to the hood, it's something hostile.

"What happened?!" Connie gasped.

"Connie, go back inside," Doug urgently demanded. Before Connie could even process what was going on, they all heard a loud grunt, and another car was tossed in the air! Priyanka had seconds to spare when she pushed everyone out of harm's way, as the car slammed right at their door! The car landed off back into the road, as the three heard footsteps of this enraged attacker. Doug quickly locked up the door so whatever was out there wouldn't notice them.

"Stay quiet," Doug said, his voice hushed. Priyanka was terrified, and Connie didn't know what was going on. As the family waited inside, they began to hear the footsteps more and more clearly. Doug, quietly, peeked out the window to see what was there, and what was tossing around cars. At first, they didn't seem to notice anything, but eventually the figure's shadow started to become visible. It wasn't very large, only about five feet tall at its highest point, but its rounded body was packed with muscle. Four stocky legs the size of tree trunks, ending in rounded feet, with a huge square head. Its mouth was lined with triangle teeth, almost like a steel trap. The entire body was fully a reddish-orange, its head made entirely of a crystalline substance, and just as hard as a Gemstone. It had no eyes, but it knew exactly where it was going, as it moved along with the front of its head to the ground, like a tracking dog. The marks on its teeth matched the marks on the cars, so, it wasn't hard to put two and two together - it chomped down and tossed the car with its huge teeth. After a while, the Gem beast moved closer to the door, making them more worried. The Gem beast growled in a low toned groan, pushing its head onto the door itself. At first, nothing seemed to happen exactly, but it started to growl loudly, banging its head onto the door. It must've sensed them inside, and wanted to get them and tear them up. Priyanka, Doug, and Connie moved back a bit of ways as the Gem beast kept banging on the door more and more. It gave a few roars, which sounded alien to say the least; high-pitched and screechy. Finally, rather than keep banging its head, the Gem beast opened its jaws a full 180 degrees, all of its teeth drilling through the door! It backed up, pulled the door off, and tossed it aside.

Priyanka screamed, the creature screeching in response. The Gem beast rushed forward with its mouth wide open! Priyanka and Doug jumped to one side, but Connie rushed the other way, splitting herself from the other two. The beast turned back and forth between Connie and the parents, and decided to try the parents rather than the measly child. Connie wasn't going to let that happen, and tried to find the closest item at hand to attack it with.

"Connie, run!" Doug yelled, as the beast opened its surprisingly huge jaws. Just before it could bite down, Connie found something, and whacked the Gem beast's head with it. It was just the TV remote, and the remote opened up- dropping the batteries after the hit, but it still was enough to get the Gem beast's attention. Only then did Connie go to run, rushing outside with the beast running after it.

"Connie!" Priyanka and Doug gasp, running to the door. Connie was across the street, the beast still in between her and her home. It took two strong stomps forward, and the Gem beast gave off a strong roar, also high-pitched and screechy. Connie didn't had any weapons to use in the fight, and the Gem beast had its sights directly on her. It opened its mouth wide again, and rushed forward blindly. It couldn't see what was in front of it. Connie had to be quick, but she did a trained roll to her side, training from Pearl starting to show up. The creature rushed into a nearby tree, knocking down leaves and a few branches upon impact. It quickly yanked its jaws out, and turned around. Connie was standing in front of their garage door when the beast rushed at her again in the same open mouthed manor. Connie dodged again, and the beast slammed its triangle teeth into the garage door! The Gem beast slammed its jaws down, tearing the garage door clean off! Unfortunately for the Gem beast, it got its teeth stuck, and it tried to shake the door off, screeching and hollering all the while. As for Connie, her thoughts stayed with trying to protect her family from this thing, never-minding her own life. Again, this was from Pearl's training, even if Steven going against it, it still was on her mind a bit. Connie needed a weapon, and fast.

"Connie, get back inside!" Priyanka yelled.

"You stay in there, I'll be fine!"

"Connie -"

Another screech from the Gem beast silenced them, as it finally swung the garage door off of it, the door flying over Connie's head, and slamming onto the road by the tossed car. The Gem beast roared again, and all Connie could do was try to avoid another charge. Just before it could ...

"GET AWAY FROM MY CONNIE!"

In one swing, a pink shield whacked the creature off its feet, the Gem beast stumbling to the ground. It wasn't too effective, and not much physical damage. The shield disappeared as quick as it came,  and its owner confronted the Gem beast.

"Steven! You're back!" Connie gasped. Steven had managed to catch the cars flying in the air, and had quickly returned just before the beast could do anymore harm to anyone. The Gem beast itself gave a screech towards Steven this time, and changed targets, charging at him instead of Connie. Steven summoned his shield again, the beast slamming into it. It wasn't enough to break the shield, but it was a strong charge and pushed Steven back a bit. The Gem beast bit down on the shield, and swung Steven towards Connie. The Gem beast shook the shield a bit until it chucked it towards the open garage. Unlike the cars, the shield disappeared before it hit anything, therefore no extra damage.

"Connie, get away from that thing!" Priyanka tried to warn her, but the Gem beast targeted them both. Doug pulled Priyanka inside before it got to them, Doug and Priyanka both getting the coffee table up and blocking the door like their own shield. Now it was getting more horrifying; with the beast in the way, there's no true way to get to Connie's parents.

"Steven, we have to help them!" Connie said in panic.

"But how?! We can't pass it!" Steven replied, seeing the beast backing up for another charge. Connie and Steven needed to do something, but they don't have much to work with; no weapon for Connie, and no actual weapon for Steven. The two looked to eachother, both equally determined to save them ...

Then they got an idea.

As for the beast, it gave another screech, and rushed forward at the table. Doug and Priyanka were knocked off their feet, the beast's teeth tearing the table to pieces! After the table was turned to scrap wood, the beast turned its growling jaws over to Doug and Priyanka again, opening its mouth to tear them apart! Before it could ... something grabbed it by the back legs, pulled it outside, and thrown to the other side of the road. Priyanka and Doug looked to whoever did that, and who do they see?

Stevonnie!

The two had done it.

Stevonnie paused for a moment to look back to Priyanka and Doug, both parents shocked by not only her strength, but her surprising beauty (as many other people had been doing when you think about it). All Stevonnie did was nod, and turned back to the beast, who turned itself right side up, and back on its feet. It gave another screech before rushing at her, but Stevonnie got out her own shield to counter it. Rather than getting knocked back, Stevonnie knocked the Gem beast back, enough to shatter its sharp teeth, there was that much force! The Gem beast groaned, as one of its legs rubbing one side of its mouth. Now it was angry. It gave another loud roar to them. Stevonnie raced over to the beast, as the beast rushed her again. Stevonnie leaped up onto the beast's stout back, and aimed her shield down to the Gem beast's head. All Stevonnie had to do then, was send the sharp end of her shield downward in the smallest area of the beast's neck. It was quick, it was painless, and it made the Gem beast poof. Not too long after the Gem beast's gemstone hit the ground, Stevonnie then split back to Steven and Connie. Steven did the honors of bubbling it, and sending it back to the burning room...

Then came the parents ...

"... W-Was ... Was she? ... Was that fusion?" Priyanka asked, speechless and amazed. Doug was in a similar point of mind when he first saw Stevonnie, and what she just did. Steven and Connie glanced to eachother, and could only nod in unison.

"I ... Steven, I thought you went home."

"Well, Sapphire told me to come back here because of this beast."

"Wait, how did she - ... You know what, I don't wanna know," Priyanka decided. She had enough surprises already for one day. Then Doug stepped forward.

"So ... That was Stevonnie. Did she make a good impression?" Steven asked, hopefully.

"Nevermind that. Are you alright? Did the fusion do anything to you?" Doug asked sternly.

"No, I'm fine," Connie replied honestly. Doug remembered what he said earlier, and the two showed them the fusion stuff, even if he was in the middle of a beast attack. Still, the fusion itself didn't seem to do any harm to Steven or Connie. In fact, the fusion gave them enough power to beat that beast. Doug could tell in their faces that they wanted to know if it was enough ...

"Look. I'm still find it hard to understand how much this fusion thing does. But, it didn't seem to hurt any of you ..."

"So ... does that mean ...?"

Doug could only sigh to his decision.

"Connie? I don't want you to go into any danger ... But, if you want to keep visiting Steven ... Then you may."

Connie never felt happier.

"You're the best!" Connie beamed, hugging her father. Steven smiled on hearing the news too. It was a nice moment ...

Unfortunately, there was still the matter of a broken garage door, a torn up coffee table, and two wrecked cars nearby. They realized that again when they heard a tire fall off one of the cars ...

"We're going to need a tow truck," Priyanka commented.

Doug just took a calming breath, and sighed.

There goes plenty of his wallet.
> Knight in the Dragon's Lair
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


親愛なる、宝石：

私は、キリンの主は、あなたとやりがいの訪問のためのキリン帝国への調和の要素を招待します。私はまだ持って適切に私のために、前の定規を削除すると、あなたの関与のためにあなたに感謝します。あなたが来ることを決定しない場合、到着時に、あなたのために待っている護衛があります.


This was the letter that the Gems had received, and after some translation by Twilight again, they were off on their way. It'd been a while since the Gems had seen the Kirin Empire, and now that they got an invitation, they might as well come by to see how things had been going along. The Mane Six, and the same Gems who came by before to help them. Connie couldn't come by to visit this time around, but, that wasn't too much of a problem this time around. That, and Amethyst decided to come this time around to check things out. It took them a while, sure, but they did eventually arrive at the Kirin empire at around midday. Things seemed to be normal as they got over into town, and many of the Kirin seemed very happy to see them. After all, they helped get their king back, so, that would give them some merit anyway. The group was brought from the train station, straight to the palace, where the king of Kirins was patiently waiting for them.

As far as the royalty had going for him, the king of Kirins surely looked the part of a regal pony. He stood tall, almost Celestia's height if not counting the set of antlers. And talk about antlers, the rack he had more fitted the regal leaders of the Deer rather than any Kirin would, stretching to the sides a good foot, with about five points on each antler. His scales were a nice shade of brown, scales covering the king's face, stretching down his neck and to the end of his tail. Fur showed along his chest and belly, which were a lighter shade of gold, reaching down to his brass hooves. Upon arrival, some of the Gems marveled at his appearance, as Twilight was the first to bow to the king. Information from the villagers already got the king aware that their language in Neipponese was limited at most, so, he already had a translator spell casted on him so he can speak to them directly.

"Welcome back to the empire, friends," the king said, as he moved over to them.

"Hi king! Doing great?" Pinkie asked with a grin. The king didn't seem fazed by the pink pony, but not in a negative way either.

"I'm handling much better through these months. It's grateful to see you all face to face without me scaring you," he said humbly.

"Yeah, that is fair. So, is there any particular events or things that you've planned for us or is it just us wandering around?" Peridot asked. Applejack didn't want Peridot to make a bad impression, so, the Earth Pony swished her tail to hit Peridot in the head. No reason to get an ego in front of the king.

"What?" Peridot asked, rubbing where Applejack hit her.

"Oh, I understand your curiosity. And yes, I do have something - a gift if you will."

"A gift? What kind of gift?" Rainbow wondered.

"Is it a giant cake?!" Pinkie beamed, licking her lips on such an idea. The king gave a humble chuckle.

"No, no. Come here, and I'll show you," the king advised, starting to move away. The group began to follow the king, Rainbow flying and Pinkie hopping of course. 

"Now, there's no need for a reward, lord uh ..." Twilight asked.

"Lord Akira. And I insist - you helped put Junsui in her place after all."

"What ever happened to Junsui, anyway?" 

Akira sighed.

"I had her sent out of my kingdom, for the next fifty moons. Should give her time to think over what she's done, and learn for it," Akira explained firmly. By the sound of his voice, punishment could've been worse, so, they breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't do anything too harsh apart from banishment.


~~~~~~


The walk was a short one, and the group was brought over to just behind the palace where they didn't get to see last time they came around. It was really just an open field, but well maintained by Akira's staff. Over in the field, there actually was a few other things as well; some stone statues of draconic Kirin, a rock pool along the palace walls, and once more, a few boxes being worked on by two staff members. In the boxes was what appeared to be an assortment of rockets, flairs, and other sorts of fireworks. That immediately got some of their attention.

"What're those?" Diopside asked, walking over to see. There were many colors, sizes varying from the size of her fingers to the size of a soda bottle. Neipponese writing was on a number of these, and shapes mainly consists of either rocket-shape or cylinder shape. Akira walked over with a few other ponies, as the others looked around the yard.

"These are fireworks - Kirin's specialty. I plan these to be released later on tonight as celebration for you Gems and Ponies," Akira said. Peridot pulled out a green fireworks in particular, and examined it. Diopside kneeled down and looked it over too, her Gem eyes contracting in and out a few times like a camera lens.

"Are these weapons?" Peridot questioned, less impressed.

"Not entirely. They're used for celebrations mainly. That one is made with you in mind, actually," Akira said. While Peridot felt slightly flattered, she was still unimpressed.

"With me in mind?" Peridot questioned. Akira nodded, as Diopside looked it over herself. 

"My staff had made a number of them with you Gems and Ponies in mind. Curtesy of the most talented of fireworks craftsmanship."

Peridot still didn't seem very impressed. As Diopside was looking over the firework given to her, something suddenly began to nip at her nose. Sure enough ...

"ah ... ah .. AHCHOO!"

The sneeze accidentally got a tiny amount of acid onto the firework, in particular the fuse. You can guess what happens next.

"Uh oh."

Before she could react, the firework launched off into the sky. It was still in the day, so the explosion wasn't very magnificent compared to night time fireworks. Still, the effects were still visable, and Peridot was given the sight of herself in green fireworks. The shape was pretty accurate to her own, and even the colors looked spot on. The fireworks simply made Peridot look dazzling, and Peridot was left with stars in her eyes ...

"Fireworks are awesome," Peridot stated, eyes still up to where the firework had finished. Luckily Akira can make another one easily himself, so, they'll still see that in the sky along with everypony else. That could be just Peridot's ego talking, or maybe from the show of fireworks alone. Akira chuckled, and was about to continue, but ...

"Omo yo Akira!"

Akira stopped upon hearing the messenger come galloping in.

"Watashi no chūdan o yurushi, darekaga kyūden de anata o matteimasu."

"Anata wa, watashi wa sudeni koko de gesuto o motte miru koto ga dekimasen ka." Akira replied.

"Shikashi sensei wa, sorehadesu -"

"Oi."

Suddenly, there was a good hearty roar coming from the palace, cutting off the messenger. Akira looked up to his palace, and began to figure out who actually showed up. As for the other guests ...

Well, their reactions were beyond shocked. Up at the door was another unique looking pony. White fur. Green mane. Pink eyes. Reptilian tail. One scarred leg with the hoof split. Only one name fit this creature ...

"Kyra?!" The mane six, and Gems gasped. Yes, Kyra was here, and he didn't seem very different from last time they saw him, apart from the missing flower. Kyra didn't notice the familiar faces until after hearing them, and he moved down into the palace yard. Akira turned to face Kyra, content with seeing him unlike every other guest there. Kyra turned to Peridot and Steven first, but didn't say anything to them yet.

"I see you've returned, Akira? A pleasure to see you again," Kyra started, turning to Akira.

"Likewise, Kyra," Akira replied, lowering his head for a moment towards Kyra. Kyra still remembered the others well from their last excusion with him, yet the Draconian focused mainly on the king.

"Uh, I hate to intrude. But, could I talk to you in private, please?" Kyra asked. The king didn't expect this, but nodded anyway. Upon getting his approval, Kyra started to move off back towards the palace, the king following behind him.

"I'll come back in just a minute," Akira said, as he went on inside with Kyra alongside him. The Mane six and the Gems took a moment to think this over. Kyra pretty much just came out of nowhere, and suddenly he seemed to have known the Kirin king? By the sound of it too, he seemed to have known the king before he was cursed, and overthrown by Junsui. How this makes sense with him being in Beach City beforehand, they had to work out later. Still, it was a curios thing for them. For one Pegasus, it was eating her up, and she didn't want to be left in the dark.

"Anypony wanna listen in?" Rainbow offered.

"Rainbow, leave them alone. If it's important, that's their business - and you're gone."

When Twilight looked up to see, Rainbow and Amethyst were already gone and out of sight.


~~~~~~


After a short while, Kyra and Akira both met up in another isolated room, away from the others. Akira sat down close by, as Kyra paced back and forth, something on his mind he felt needed to discuss with the Kirin.

"I know would come onto short notice, but, I need to gain some support in a matter concerning the draconian," Kyra said.

"What seems to be the trouble?" Akira asked, as Kyra sat down. His request was a bit of a long shot, but, he needed to hear this.

"I need help with the current ruler. You have to overthrow him," Kyra answered, getting to the point. As they were talking, just outside the closed door, Rainbow Dash and Amethyst were overhearing the two, and wanted to know what's what. Akira immediately had his answer.

"I will not."

"What on earth for?! You know of how much damage has been going on in the country, he can't lead it!"

"I understand, but I refuse to risk conflict with my people against yours. I'm sorry, but, if it's a draconian centered problem, the draconians need to be solved themselves. You do understand, don't you?"

"Can't you do anything?"

"I'm sorry, Kyra ..."

The conversation was short, and Kyra remained unsuccessful, but past experiences reminded Kyra how much trouble anger can be, so he didn't go any further with it. It was a disappointment, and Rainbow Dash and Amethyst quickly rushed out of sight before anypony would notice them.

.......

"So, there's the deal. What do you think?" Rainbow asked, after explaining things to the rest of the group. Rainbow summed up the situation with that Kyra was having trouble with his own people, and perhaps they can help him out with it.

"Well, we can try to help."

"OF COURSE WE'LL HELP! He did so much before the launch to Homeworld, he did everything to save Hoemworld before we did, and the plot needs to continue!" Pinkie said.

"I won't buy that last one," Peridot noted.


~~~~~~


The decision to go off and help Kyra may be a precarious one, as none of them had ever seen the land of the Draconian before, but the group seemed willing to go and help him out. As far as personal feelings go for him, they mainly had on Garnet's word what the reasons were. Garnet had told them all about why Kyra did what he did, from the aid of the Crystal Gems, to the duel with the Diamonds. All of his intents to Homeworld was to save, but just the stubbornness and arrogance of the Diamonds made him lose patience. However, that was double-edge sword; if Kyra was willing to beat them all down just out of anger, what will the rest of his race have in store? Kyra was willing to engage a one-stallion war against Homeworld, who's to say what the other Draconian would do? As for Kyra, he had left the main village after talking with Akira, not thinking much of the others. He was surprised to see them again, but, he didn't want them to really get involved in his troubles as much as this went. Before their problems intertwined, but not this time. He did end up wondering though, exactly how they were doing? Ever since being dropped off, he didn't get to see them at any given date, so, he only wondered how they faired. Course, he still had problems he had to take care of. It was a decently long walk from the Kirin Empire, but eventually Kyra did make it to the supposed borders. The path there lead into a valley, and from the height in the path, Kyra could easily see where his destination laid out in front of him, and started to move in.

The destination looked a bit like a giant-sized version of Ponyville, many of the houses at least double in size of the cottages back in Ponyville. The place didn't seem as well-kept either; dirt roads with dusty décor, not out of place in a dead-end neighborhood. The town was labeled with a arch entranceway, naming the town "Darastrix" - Draconic for Dragon. Kyra began to head off into the town. Compared to the rest of the others in town, Kyra seemed to be the odd one out in size and appearance. Most of the Draconian who saw him walk by were taller than him, and with duller colors instead of Kyra's lighter. Kyra didn't really care about them though, even if he could easily hear the other Draconian talking about him. Even if Kyra was big compared to a normal pony, unicorn, or pegasus, he was a runt compared to his own species. While there was plenty of Draconians here, he had his eyes set on one in particular - the ruler of the Draconians. Finding whoever was in charge though wasn't going to be an easy one ... At least, he figured as much ...

"Look who decided to come back," a voice suddenly spoke up. Kyra stopped himself, and looked on ahead of him. Up ahead was another Draconian, but this one was much taller. Imagine comparing Amethyst to Pearl in height, and that was Kyra compared to this Draconian. This Draconian in particular had grey fur, with red eyes and a dark red mane, stretching down his back like Kyra but longer in hair length. As for body structure, the Draconian shared a similar design to Kyra, down to the blade on the end of his tail, though he didn't have any deep scars on him like Kyra did. Kyra wasn't going to take any of his nonsense, yet this Draconian was the one he was looking for.

"There you are," Kyra growled.

"I thought you high-tailed out of here years ago, Kyra," the Draconian commented.

"Don't give me that, Porath! I for one don't appreciate your ruling here," Kyra scolded. However, Porath simply laughed at him.

"Oh, this is rich; you're just ticked for getting your tail beaten years ago. Let me guess; you want to get even?"

"I want you out, Porath," Kyra growled.

"Don't make me laugh! You're getting too weak for this sort of thing, you know it and I know it. Besides, look at you; you're a midget - a runt who's just trying to make a point. You got no chance, and you know it. Why don't you go play with your imaginary rock people?"

"They're called Gems, and they're not made up! And as for you, you've wrecked this land far enough. I challenge you to a Dragonclaw Duel!" Kyra announced. Even with the announcement of such a thing, Porath was more than willing to give Kyra the chance to fight him.

"A Dragonclaw Duel? If you want your tail smashed again, go fight a bear or something. I don't need to waste my time with you."

Kyra barred his teeth.

"Either accept it. Or surrender your leadership, immediately."

Personally, he'd prefer him to just surrender up front to avoid any real fight, but Kyra of all ponies should know that a Draconian will not back up from a fight so easily unless there was an especially good reason. And as expected, Porath smirked, showing his own sharp teeth.

"Alright, tough shot. I could use the entertainment. Meet me at the arena by sundown, and we'll see who's the one talking tough when we're done," Porath decided, turning away, but not before the Draconian whacked Kyra with his own tail on the side of his head. Kyra could go after him now, but he had sundown to do that ...

"Oh, and by the way, keep that "army" of yours in check. It's embarrassing for you," Porath commented, before walking out of sight. That was when Kyra looked slightly puzzled, as the crowds went away, wanting to see the fight themselves later on. What army was he talking about? Kyra turned around, and mainly saw the Draconian walking around, but then he noticed the unmistakable glance of a rainbow hair. Kyra trotted over, and sure enough, just pass the corner of one of the buildings, the Gems and Ponies were there already. Kyra groaned.

"What're you doing here?"

"Here to help you, that's what! You think we're just gonna let you handle that clod alone?" Amethyst said, blood boiling. Hearing Porath go on about him being a runt and how weak he was shot at her too, considering she was also half the size she was supposed to be.

"I appreciate it, but, it's best you don't - you're lucky Porath didn't take any of you seriously."

"You can't fight him alone! come on, let us help you, please?" Twilight asked. Kyra just shook his head.

"This is strictly Draconian business, I don't want you involved in it. Besides, it's too dangerous for you Gems here."

"HA! What can he do to us? We're Gems, we beat that Osicone, remember? I'm sure we can take whatever he's got for us," Peridot said.

"You do know that Draconians are part-Dragon, right? They eat Gemstones. You're lucky I lost the taste for Gems ages ago," Kyra said. That got Diopside, Peridot, and Amethyst to be quiet on that fact. After a bit though, Steven spoke up again.

"I don't care how dangerous it is. We're all behind you, Kyra," Steven said. But by the look on Kyra's face told them he didn't want that, yet he couldn't change their mind.

"Look, stay if you wish, but none of you are to interfere with the duel, is that understood?"

"But Kyra, a Dragonclaw duel?" Twilight said, worried for him.

"No exceptions."

Before they could say anything else, Kyra walked away. He knew very well the consequences if anypony were to get involved in a Dragonclaw Duel ...


~~~~~~


Sundown began to come around. And as requested, Kyra had gotten himself to the spot in question by Porath's wishes. The arena was basically as it sounded; a large arena where Draconian can fight. The arena was large, circular, made up of stone, with fencing around so other Draconian could watch. Speaking of the Draconian, many of them had gathered to watch the duel go down. Kyra and Porath stood facing eachother, about ten feet apart, both sides ready to fight. Over amongst the crowd, the other ponies and Gems stood aside, watching the duel from the boundry fence. Peridot, Diopside, and Amethyst took the time before the fight to get their gemstones covered up just in case a Draconian got hungry; Amethyst with a bandana, Peridot with a headband, and Diopside with an eyepatch. They wanted to help him, but Kyra made it perfectly clear that they can't interfere with the fight, no matter what happens to him. Porath looked down to Kyra with an amused grin as Kyra growled.

"I admire your confidence, Kyra. But you're getting weak. This should be fun and quick for me," Porath said, licking his teeth like a hungry predator.

"You've ruled this land long enough. Today's your reign will be over!" Kyra bellowed.

Then it began.

The first one to charge at him was Porath, his large hooves digging in the ground as he galloped straight for him. Kyra got himself ready, and just before Porath could get his teeth into him, Kyra jumped aside fast. Porath's lunge just got him skidding on the ground, and Kyra quickly turned around, his strong tail whacking Porath off his hooves. It was a minor hit, but it was a fast one too. The Draconians looked on with intrigue, yet Kyra's friends were happy to see him getting the upper hand.

"Alright, point one for Kyra! He's got this," Rainbow said. However, a jinx quickly followed; Porath jumped back up, and spun around as Kyra charged him. Porath met him half way, checking him with his front hoof to knock Kyra off balance. Kyra quickly recovered, but Porath kicked him hard, sending him rolling on the ground. The hit was hard, but Kyra wasn't going to give up for this Draconian. Kyra got up, shook off the hit, and rushed at him again. Porath turned around, but Kyra already got his teeth into him, biting at Porath's back! Porath and Kyra rolled along the ground of the arena, Porath trying to shake Kyra off, but the smaller Draconian was not letting go. Porath snarled, and suddenly made a fast buck, just enough to make Kyra let go. Before Kyra could react, Porath spun around, and pinned him down with his teeth in Kyra's shoulders! When the others saw this, they began to get worried for him.

"Come on, Kyra, you can do it," Steven said, hoping Kyra can get himself out. Kyra was hurting, but he found his hooves, and slashed at Porath's chest with his scarred hoof. Porath loosened his grip on feeling the sudden sting, and it was just enough for Kyra to get himself free, and tried to whack him hard with his tail. Porath ducked though, and did his own tail whack on Kyra, sending him flying right at the fence! Be it coincidence or not, Kyra landed right in front of the Gems, who looked shocked. Kyra managed to get to his hooves, and rushed back at Porath again, teeth barred. Kyra spurred into action again, and both Draconians got to their hind feet, swiping at eachother with their front hooves. Kyra's scarred hoof gave him some extra cutting power, but Porath overpowered Kyra, and slammed him into the dirt under him! Kyra struggled a bit, but got his back hooves slammed into Porath's stomach, just enough to get him loose. He got some distance, but he was hurting, and he was getting tired. Porath could see it in Kyra's face, and slammed him off his hooves. Kyra fell right to the ground, and was getting too tired to get back up right away, giving Porath the upperhand.

"Where're you going, Kyra?" Porath mocked, biting down on Kyra's neck! It hurt, but Kyra couldn't get him to let him go. Kyra was too tired to get himself free, and Porath basically had the victory in his grasp. The other Draconian waited for the winner to finish him off, intrigued and excited. Porath knew he had this ...

"AAHH!"

There was a loud crack, and the pain-filled scream caught everypony off guard, as Porath leaped back, shaking his head as if something had hit him. Kyra got to his hooves, and looked over to Porath, who was rubbing his right eye for the moment with gritted teeth. He didn't lose his eye, but, he thought that was the case at first until after some proper observation. The reason behind Porath's sudden spike in pain came from another source standing just a few feet away, a whip in hand, her teeth gritted together, and a deep glare in her eyes.

It was Amethyst.

"Who whipped me?! I demand to know!" Porath bellowed, the evidence of red now on Porath's face. The Draconian spun around, and stared angrily at the other combatant. Amethyst had tolerated enough.

"A-Amethyst?" Kyra got out through tired breath. Porath snarled towards Amethyst.

"I am NOT going to stand by and watch you kill Kyra!" Amethyst yelled, readying her whip. Porath didn't care for that, and began to run at her at full gallop. Even if Porath towered over her, Amethyst didn't plan on backing down from him. However, Kyra had other plans; he grabbed her just before Porath did, and threw her aside as best as he could.

"HEY!"

"Amethyst, I told you to stay out!" Kyra yelled, clearly angry in tone. Seeing the opportunity, Porath grabbed Kyra by the tail, and tossed the Draconian aside with a good swing, the white Draconian landing hard on the ground. Porath wanted a good look at the whip-lasher in front of him.

"You got some guts to whip me in the middle of a Dragonclaw Duel, you ant," Porath growled.

"Who're you calling an ant?!" Amethyst snapped. Porath bowed his head down, until he was eye-to-eye with her, a hoof on her head.

"Why don't you go off and play with somepony your status, huh? I'd rather not deal with you," Porath said, turning, and whipping her face with his tail. Obvious, Porath wasn't going to be taking her seriously.

"HEY! I can beat your flank down to a pulp, don't test me!" Amethyst snapped. However, Porath laughed at her.

"Amethyst!" Kyra suddenly yelled, but it didn't seem to go through to her.

"I smell a challenge," Porath said with a toothy grin. He straightened up, towering over Amethyst again.

"Alright, everyone! Looks like we're getting two fights today, so stick around tonight if you want to see some more brutality!" Porath announced. The crowd cheered (excluding the Gems and Ponies of course). Amethyst was up for it, but Kyra wasn't even close.


~~~~~~


"What were you thinking, Amethyst? I made it perfectly clear to not get involved," Kyra yelled.

Just a little bit before the extra fight could begin, the Mane Six and Gems had gotten themselves juts outside of Darastrix, obviously not wanting them to fight Porath. Since many Draconian were a bit busy with awaiting the next fight, not many were exactly wandering around the place. However, at the end of everything, Kyra was very upset with Amethyst for getting herself involved in the first place.

"Kyra, he was about to kill you! He had his teeth on your throat and everything!" Rainbow snapped, in Amethyst's defense.

"Be that as it may, this is not your battle to take."

"Of course it is! Kyra, I know this may be important to you, but, we're not going to let you face him alone," Twilight announced confidently.

"I appreciate it, but if I wanted you to help me, I'd ask you. And anyway, you all have enough trouble anyway with how much you all do."

"Ah ponyfeathers! We always have time to help our friend," Applejack insisted.

"Even so, I don't want you involved with my kind's issues; Darastrix is going through enough trouble thanks to Porath's egotistical attitude, I hate to see what he'll do to you if you keep this up with him. Just let me deal with him," Kyra explained.

"No way! Someone's gotta teach that punk a lesson," Amethyst retorted, her fists ready to fight. Kyra was starting to worry more and more over her; he couldn't do very well against him, even if he made plenty of nice hits. Amethyst's whip was merely a lucky shot as far as he was concern. Kyra would keep trying, but looking at Amethyst's face pretty much convinced him.

"... You're not going to change your mind, are you?" Kyra sighed.

"Nope," Amethyst simply replied, cracking her knuckles. Looking over to the moon, it should be time to go and face Porath at this point. So, Amethyst went off on her way back to the arena, passing Kyra so she can get on her way. Kyra and the others watched her go off.

"If you don't mind my asking, but can't any of you convince her?" Kyra asked, hoping for a good answer. However, her friends knew how set Amethyst could be sometimes. Besides, the entire town was expecting this to happen, and things could go south if they don't get that wish at least. Kyra felt deeply dismayed.

.......

"Glad you can show up," Porath said, once Amethyst had returned to the arena to face him. The Mane Six, Gems, and Kyra showed up, but were more out of sight this time around, watching from further away. Amethyst had her whips at the ready, as Porath gave a mighty roar, exciting the crowd even more. The Draconian was ready to pummel Amethyst into the arena dirt.

"Save your breath for picking yourself off the ground," Amethyst mocked.

They both knew there was no turning back.

Unlike the first fight, it was Amethyst who made the first move, and laid in with her whip. While earlier she gave a strong hit, Porath was prepared this time, and dodged her whipping easily, despite his large size. Porath tried to get his teeth into her more than a number of times, but the small Gem dodged the Draconian easily - much easier than Porath did with Amethyst. As a result, Porath was hit with a number of whips, but they seemed to do not that much. Whenever Porath did make a hit, it would send Amethyst off her feet. For each hit, it made Amethyst a little weaker, but more willing to beat Porath at his own game. During one point however, Amethyst tried onece more to whip him, but Porath finally got bored with her games, and rushed her! Amethyst didn't had time to dodge this time, and while she avoided Porath's hooves, she couldn't avoid his jaws. Porath grabbed her by her legs, and swung her over his head, slamming her down on the arena floor! Once she was on the ground, Porath released his jaws from her, making sure his hooves kept her down.

"You think you're something special, you runt?" Porath mocked. Amethyst felt angry, yet Porath didn't give her anytime to really react; he grabbed her by her hair, and swung her around in circles about five times before throwing her at the arena fence. Even if they were farther away, her friends could see her being tossed around, and it was enough to send Steven running to her.

"You're nothing compared to me," Porath stated, rushing at Amethyst before she could shake herself off. The Gem was soon wrapped up by Porath's tail, put in a vice-grip.  Amethyst tried to get herself loose, but it was no use.

"And now, I'll show you what power is!" Porath added, getting in the zone, and started slamming Amethyst in the dirt multiple times. At this point, Steven had reached the fence, skidding to a stop, as he watched Amethyst getting beaten up. If Porath's brutality wasn't beating any sense in Amethyst, then Porath's words were. Being called weak and nothing would beat anybody down.

"Amethyst!" Steven gasped. However, his call was drowned by the cheering crowd, as Porath released Amethyst, tossing her head over heels until she landed on the floor. Amethyst got to her hands and knees, as Porath stood tall, basking in the cheers of his subjects. Steven wanted to go in, but before he could get over the fence, Amethyst was picked up by Porath's tail, upside down no less, and lifted up to Porath's face.  Amethyst's face was angry, but Porath could tell she was hurting slightly. Porath smirked, and heard the crowd chanting for him to finish her off, much like those for a wrestler from a wrestling match. Amethyst's own personal experience knew where this was going, only she was on the receiving end rather than the one bringing the pain as Purple Puma - her wrestling alter-ego. As for Porath, he was more than eager to listen to his fans, but not before giving Amethyst one more stab at her being.

"You really think you're such a tough fighter, huh? Well guess what; you're nothing more than a burn-out excuse. Keep that in mind, you little shrimp."

And finally Porath then answered the crowd's praises by throwing Amethyst up into the air, and before she could do anything Porath jumped up high in the air, sank his teeth into her body on the way up, spun around, and landed hard with her slamming into the earth. The crowd uproared in cheers, as Porath left Amethyst on the ground, basking in the cheers. He had won again. Without anybody doing anything, Steven jumped the fence and raced over to Amethyst. Thank Celestia her gemstone wasn't damaged, but Amethyst didn't really move at first, slowly getting to her knees.

"Amethyst?"

"... I'm sorry, Steven," Amethyst said finally. Porath and his insults were now getting to her head, as the reality of his words were sinking in. She was a defect; she was half the size and half the strength she was supposed to be. She barely made a scratch on him, and she got her butt beaten down by this Draconian, despite fighting many other things before.

"Amethyst, what's wrong?" Steven asked. Amethyst wouldn't answer, but Steven could tell that she was hurting a bit.

"I ... I can't do it."

"You can do it," Steven encouraged.

"Steven, you saw what happened to me -"

"Amethyst, don't say that! He's just trying to get to you."

"Well. Well, it's working! I'm not like any other Quartz - I'm not supposed to be like this," Amethyst choked out. Steven didn't want to see Amethyst hurt like this.

"No you're not!"

"Wha?!"

"Amethyst, that's why you're great! So, you're different from a regular Quartz, there's nothing wrong with that. You are your own Gem, and you're perfect the way you are. Don't let anybody or anypony tell you otherwise," Steven said. Amethyst felt touched, though she wasn't sure if it was Steven, or Rose talking. Either way, those words made Amethyst feel a lot better, as Steven brought his hand out to help her up. Amethyst smiled, and took the friendly gesture. After being brought up, Amethyst went over and hugged Steven ...

"That's right! Porath; leader of the -"

*BOOM*

Everything halted for a moment when a sudden mushroom cloud of dark, dull lavender suddenly appeared after a flash of light. It was enough to get the others to come over, and Porath to spin around to see what happened. The Mane Six rushed to the fence, stopping just at the spot, joined by the other Gems, and Kyra. When the cloud disappeared, they were witness to another figure standing there for all to see. She had three arms; one on the right, and two on the left that fused at the elbow. She was tall, barely taller than Jasper, and had a large, rounded body. Steven's shirt was covering her chest, though it appeared stretched, and same thing could be said for the blue shorts she was wearing, with Amethyst's star-styled boots on her feet. Her shoulders and cheeks had peach freckles, her skin a mauve color, and her shaggy short hair (which covered her left eye) a sort of brown, closer to Steven's color in his hair. Everypony was simply shocked by what they saw, yet the figure seemed more content and happy.

"What. A. BEAUTIFUL night!" She beamed, enthusiastic as she could ever be. Porath wasn't so easily intimidated, even if this newcomer was just as tall as he was.

"Who the hay are you?" Porath growled. The figure took a moment to think.

"Yeah. What am I? I feel Amethyst would know this," she pondered. Eventually though, she began to reveal her true identity by summing two particular Gem weapons; a shield, and a whip.

"Now an Amethyst, and a Rose Quartz, would make a ..."

She took a moment to toss the shield in the air, catching it with her whip. Upon contact, the weapons fused together to make up a large, and impressive Yo-yo (odd for a weapon). Once that was summoned, she balanced out the string in an action pose, the string slipping in her three hands, as the Yo-yo spun like crazy right in front of her as she looked on in confidence.

"Smoky Quartz."

The large Draconian wasn't so easily swayed, and took to his new fighter with barred teeth. The fight was started up again, and the two combatants were at it again, but this time Smoky had a much better hand, and the odds dipped into her favor over Porath. Smoky dodged the charge easily, spinning like a top, with her Yo-yo spinning around, and hitting Porath as he ran by. Porath was knocked back much harder this time, and sent him off his hooves, and onto his back. He quickly recovered, a bit dazed but fine, yet this proved that Smoky Quartz was stronger than he thought. Porath got up onto his hooves again.

"That all you got?" Porath snarled.

"I got a few more moves. Ever heard of 'sink the dink'?" Smoky joked. Suddenly, Smoky Quartz's Yo-yo slammed into Porath's face. Before he could shake it off, the Yo-yo slammed into him again, knocking him back even further. Porath's hooves were tossed out from under him thanks to the Yo-yo string sliding under him. She was string, and she was fast for such a large girth.

"Alright you fat lard-ball, you asked for it!" Porath yelled, galloping to her. Smoky launched the Yo-yo at him, but this time she missed, and Porath grabbed it in his mouth. He thought he had it in his prime, but ...

"Aww, leaving so soon?"

Porath was confused, but suddenly Smoky got the Yo-yo skyward, spinning like a propeller, Porath spinning so fast it was a blur! Porath lost his grip, and was thrown straight up, only then Smoky pull back in her Yo-yo. Porath flew high in the air, and finally landed in a loud crash, a huge cloud of dust showing up in his wake. Everyone waited with baited breath to see the results. And the results? ...

Smoky sitting on Porath with a big smile on her face.

"Good job, Smoky! Thank you, thank you Smoky," Smoky said, congratulating herself. Porath was knocked out, eyes spinning and in a complete daze. Looks like Smoky won.

.......

"... Strength better ..."
> Me and my Shadow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ooh hoo! You've got freezer burn, Pearl! Looks like you lose all your fish sticks."

"What? I needed those for my bachelor meal combo. Now I can't ring the dinner bell."

Their game of Citchen Calamity was in full swing, the players at the moment being Steven, Pearl, Lapis, Twilight, and Spike (just enough to play). It was a basic board game of kitchen trouble, and one that Steven decided to give a try at. Since it was a rainy day, and a cold one at that, playing inside was a good chance for Steven to try board games with his friends. Lion and Blue were asleep near by, as the others continued their game, Pearl just finishing her turn. Pearl took a moment to look at the rules, which she had been holding the whole time since starting.

"These rules make no sense," sighed Pearl, as Spike picked up a card from the table.

"Hmm ... The sponge in your sink is covered in mold. What does that mean again?" spike asked.

"That means you lose two turns," Steven replied, bumming the baby dragon out.

"Aww, man. K Lapis, your turn," Spike said, as Lapis picked up her card next. Lapis took a moment to read it over.

"I'm now the owner of the  ... Golden can opener?"

"Nice! That means you can check your soups for alphabet bonuses," Steven said.

"Who wrote this game?" Pearl wondered, looking at the rules still. Now it was Steven's turn, and he went on to pick up the next card. Once he read it over though, he suddenly gasped.

"I gotta roll the dice to avoid the eggquake!" Steven gasped, suddenly hitting his hand down on a fax blender (part of the game) as two dice popped out. Once they stopped rolling, the two dice landed to show two sunny side-up eggs, putting a big smile on Steven's face. With a victorious smile, he moved his piece over onto the winner's circle,

"YES! The kitchen has been cleaned up! Woo!"

"Good job Steven," Lapis said, clapping along with the others.

"Yes, great job. It was very, very complicated," Pearl added. Steven was happy to win, as Lapis playfully fluffed Steven's hair, also giggling. Steven then moved over to a cabinet just under the stairs leading to his bedroom. Steven had plenty more board games (Pearl's dismay rising), as he started looking through them.

"Let's see, what else do you wanna play? There's Not So Sorry, Operation Man, Poles and Escalators, or we can do turns with chess -" As Steven was pulling out each game, something else also fell out. It looked like a small statue of sorts. The statue appeared to depict a woman with long venice-blue hair. The body had a light slate-gray color and ended in a sharp white point, similar to a polished diamond's culet on the base. Its hands were grasping a diamond-shaped object as well. Once Steven saw that, his mood suddenly changed almost instantly.

"The Moon Goddess Statue ..."

"Come again?" Twilight asked, walking over to see it, as Steven held it in his hands. Pearl seemed to be the only one who was aware of the Moon Goddess Statue with Steven.

"Where'd you get that, Steven?" Lapis asked.

"Oh, it was for my first mission. Which I messed up ..."

"Messed up?"

"There's a lunar sea spire that needed this. But now, it's gone forever, and it's all my fault," Steven sighed, remembering what happened that far back.

"No, no, no Steven, it's okay. We all make mistakes," Pearl said, trying to comfort him.

"What'd he even do?" Spike suddenly asked.

"He just forgot it, that's all," Pearl whispered. But, Steven still heard her.

"And now it's lost forever. It's an important Gem place, and I had to leave it at home!"

"Steven, please, it's okay really. You did a good job throughout the mission still."

"But I forgot it."

"Steven, if it was crucial, we wouldn't have used it as a test for you. It's fine really."

"... Test? What do you mean 'Test'?"

Uh oh. A very distant thunder echoed outside, as Pearl realized what she had just said. She wasn't supposed to tell him that, and everyone else seemed a bit confused with it. Pearl gulped.

"Uuuhhh. Well, I wouldn't call it a test, per say. Me, Garnet, and Amethyst just wanted to see if you're ready to go on missions."

"That's exactly what a test is!" Steven yelled. Pearl didn't know what to say now, as the others went over to him.

"Eh, Steven uh, we didn't plan it behind your back, I-if that's what you're thinking. W-We just saw the moment, so -"

"So I failed the test?!" Steven realized. Pearl felt worse now, but before she could speak, Lapis spoke up.

"Steven, calm down, it's okay. look how much you've done already; you set me free from my mirror, you made friends with Ponyville, you even got on better terms with Homeworld. So, you didn't do well on your first test, you still improved. Right Twilight?"

"Of course! Steven, you've been helping everypony everywhere so much, you shouldn't let the first time get the better of you after you did so many great things. Like Lapis said, you've improved so much, and that still counts for something," Twilight said. Steven took their words in, and while he did feel bad for failing a test that was his very first mission, they still helped him out a whole lot. In spite of herself, Pearl gave a sigh of relief, as Steven hugged Twilight and Lapis Lazuli. As they were, Twilight levitated a game for them to try out.

"Here, Steven, let's try Poles and Escalators," Twilight said.

"Okay, sure," Steven said with a smile. As Twilight, Steven, and Spike helped set it up, Lapis stood alongside Pearl. While they weren't looking, Lapis got out a water wing, and whacked Pearl in the back of the head.

"That's for not telling Steven earlier."

"Okay, fair enough," Sighed Pearl.


~~~~~~


Later on that night, the storm had eventually past on, and the skies were clear. Yeah, the sand was still wet, but that'll be handled in the morning as far as they knew. Twilight and Spike had left and went off home, as Lapis and Pearl were in the Temple in their respected rooms, so Steven was just laying in his bed with Blue at his feet, and Lion laying on the couch, passed out like any house cat. Blue was also asleep, and Steven was too. However, he still had the idea of him failing his first mission in his head, and how he didn't even know it was a test until Pearl told him. He didn't know why they kept that quiet for this long. Steven's dreams didn't seem to worry him more over it though; at the moment in his dream he was flying around in the sky with a helicopter blade out of his back. He was very happy in the dream, and he was happily zooming around in the sky at a very fast pace, arms out to the side as if he was using his arms to fly. As he continued to fly, he began to see another creature flying alongside him.

"Mister Dogcopter! Sir! I'm one of your biggest fans - can I please have your autograph?" Steven asked, hopefully. Dogcopter simply gave a cute bark, before he suddenly took off fast, and out of sight by some invisible rockets, leaving a rainbow behind him

"I hope the rumors about him and the tabloids aren't true," sighed Steven. Suddenly, from nowhere, Pearl's head suddenly came up from nowhere, smiling to him.

"Oh, hey Pearl ... Wait, don't eat me!"

Too late. In one bite, Pearl gobbled Steven up, but she then launched Steven off, giving him his own set of rocket feet.

"Thanks for the upgrade, Pearl! Now I can catch up with dog -"

Suddenly, something else started to cut his mind short as he flew along. Emerging through the clouds, Steven began to see what looked like some sort of crest of someone's back go through. It didn't go very high, so Steven couldn't recognize what it was, or who it was. Another crest reappeared to his right, enough to make Steven stop himself, still floating in the air. Suddenly, he looked to his feet, and the rockets stopped!

"Wha?! nononononono," Steven said, trying to reactivate the rocket boots by clipping his heels together, but it didn't work, and he ended up plummeting through the clouds! Steven screamed, bracing himself for the landing, but his landing wasn't painful. He did hit something, that's for sure, but he didn't get hurt from the fall. What he landed on looked like a huge picture frame. The picture looked like that of a mountain, snowcapped top with pine trees bordering the sides, with a path going through the forest leading too the mountain. Just in front of the picture, right at the bottom, looked like a Warp Pad.

"Huh? A Warp Pad?"

Steven then saw something slowly fall down to him, just within his reach; a small feather quill, like the quills Twilight would use. The tip of the feather was a sea green, and shifted to a midnight blue further down to the sharpened end of the feather quill. Steven managed to grab it, and looked it over, but as he was, the picture suddenly started to tip! It tipped fast, more and more, until Steven lost his balance, and stumbled back off the picture! Steven gasped, as he fell backwards ...

Steven woke up in a gasp, eyes wide open, and almost immediately sitting up in his bed. He was back in reality, and back in his room, safe and sound. It was a relief to see that, as he sighed. The jump did wake up Blue though, as he got up and looked to Steven in his bed. Steven relaxed, and yawned before patting Blue on the head.

"Morning, boy," Steven said. Blue gave Steven a good morning lick, as he got on Steven's bed, getting Steven laughing. Steven got off the bed, and was just about to begin his own morning routine, when something ended up falling out of the bed next to him. Steven didn't notice it yet, but Blue did end up seeing it, and bent down to sniff it. Blue gave a hard blow with his nose, just to have the object fly off, and into Steven's sight. It was the same feather as was in his dream - colors and all! Steven froze for a moment, surprised and confused to see the feather again. So what did this mean for him? Steven walked downstairs, looking at the feather still, as Lion yawned and woke up himself. Hearing Lion had Steven look over, and he saw the same moon goddess statue sitting on the table. Guess he forgot to put it away, but seeing it just reminded him of what happened yesterday, and what Pearl had told him about the whole test thing. This got Steven thinking a little bit more; he didn't want to mess around with this anymore, and while he did do a lot, he still felt guilty for knowing this. Then Steven remembered the feather, and the picture that came with it. He knew that dreams can sometimes get rather weird, but when they get into the real world, it's best that he keeps that in mind. He wanted to prove himself ...

.......

"W-Wha?! A solo mission?!"

Steven wasted no time in finding the other Crystal Gems together at the barn, and tell them what he wanted to do. In his search, he managed to find Jasper, Lapis, Peridot, Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet, but that was about it. Still, that was plenty of Gems, and he can tell the others once he finds them. The reactions from the Gems seemed relatively mixed, but Pearl was quick to say her own worries over this idea. To think Steven wanted to go off on a Gem hunting mission by himself made her freak out.

"Come on, guys, I know I can do this!"

"Steven, I don't think that's such a good idea," Pearl said, trying to make it as nice as she could. Steven didn't seemed to be very convinced.

"Come on, let Steven do this! Big adventure for our big man," Amethyst said, ruffling Steven's hair. Obviously Amethyst was all up for it.

"Will you quit panicking, Pearl?" Jasper groaned. Pearl immediately spun around towards her.

"Jasper, he can end up in serious danger!" Pearl snapped.

"Hey, Steven's a Quartz - it's about time he starts getting missions like one," Jasper retorted, not caring who else was hearing. To Jasper, the powerhouse Quartz Gems usually get the harder missions, and she had yet to see that for Steven since meeting him. Pearl still seemed unconvinced.

"Garnet, a little help?" Pearl said, looking to her. Instead of saying anything, Garnet suddenly got her hands on Pearl's shoulders, and suddenly kissed her forehead (or in this case, her Gemstone). Pearl stayed quiet for a bit as Garnet's vision got to work, and showed Pearl what'll happen, or at least the end result. It was a possibility, but it did make Pearl relax a bit.

"Better?" Garnet asked.

"... Yeah. Oh, give me a second," Pearl said, as she rushed into the barn for a second.

"Can I go, Garnet? PLEEEEASE?" Steven said.

"I wouldn't deny you of your calling, Steven," Garnet said with a smile. Steven immediately got a big smile on his face, full of confidence; if Garnet agrees, then the Crystal Gems agree. It's time for Steven's first solo mission! And Steven was completely hyped for it! Steven gave a serious salute to them all, and marched right over to the Warp Pad. The others went off, and watched him go, but before Steven could leave ...

"Wait, Steven!"

The group then saw Pearl come out with a full backpack of various stuff that Steven could use, or will need. At least as far as Pearl knew. The backpack was pretty big though, stuff jutting out of it, as she gave it to Steven.

"Here you go, you'll have everything you'll need; some packed food, extra clothes, I made sure to pack you your favorite cookie cats, a raincoat, a sweater, and I gave you a phone to call us at anytime," Pearl advised, as Steven tried to stand with the backpack on. Even if he was stronger than a normal human, it was still pretty heavy for him.

"Wow. Thanks, Pearl," Steven replied, a bit winded but happy she was letting him go and do this at all. He got up onto the Warp Pad, confident in his ability to do the mission. And if his dream had anything to go by, he knew where on Earth he should go to do this. 

"Good luck, Steven," Lapis said.

"You got this bro," added Amethyst.

"Be careful, Steven," Pearl advised.

"Good luck," Jasper simply stated.

Steven gave them all another salute, as he activated the Warp Pad. And soon, after just a few seconds, Steven was gone. Steven was on his way, and everyone else now had to wait for him to come back.


~~~~~~


It didn't really take very long before Steven was teleported to the right spot. It was a absolute long shot, and Steven had to rely on using his memory on what the place looked like in order for the Warp Pad to work right. When he got to the right place, he immediately felt a large chill  from the cooler weather. He looked around, and he could see the many sorts of pine trees towering around him. The trees had some small bits of snow on them, telling Steven he was in the north. There was also a deep trail in front of him, and looking up, he saw the unmistakable snowcapped mountain - just like the one he saw in his dream. Steven didn't know what to expect, but he was ready for anything. His first mission alone shouldn't be messed up; and after seeing that feather, perhaps there was a feathered Gem Beast here that needed to be found and bubbled. With his supplies behind him, Steven got the backpack up, and began walking off on his search for this beast. With the trail marked out for him, there was no other way to go other than on the trail.

"Alright Steven, let's do this!" Steven said to himself, psyched as any, and he started off down the trail. There really wasn't anywhere else to really go. He had the wind at his back, the path laid out for him, and he was free to do this. Going off on his own was something new for him, and he wanted to enjoy every moment of it on this mission. As he continued on for the next ten minutes, he began to feel a vibration in the backpack. He stopped and checked his backpack to find the phone going off. He took the moment to answer it.

"Steven, you there?"

"Hey Pearl! Yeah, I'm here."

"Everything okay? W-We can come with you if it's too much for you."

"Pearl, it's only been ten minutes," another familiar voice said on the other end. Steven waited on his end.

"Amethyst, you don't know what's going on over there do you?"

"Do you know, Pearl? Come on, he's our Steven, he'll be fine!"

"But Ame-" the voice dulled, as someone else on the other end took the phone.

"You enjoying it out on your own, Steven?" Garnet then asked.

"It's going great, Garnet! A bit chilly up here, but, I'm doing great."

"Wonderful to hear. Steven? I know you're confident you can do it, and I believe you can, but don't forget you can call us at anytime if you ever need anything. We're here for you Steven, remember that," Garnet reminded. Steven smiled.

"Thank you, Garnet, I won't forget. See ya later."

"I love you, Steven. Goodbye."

Steven hung up, and put the phone back into his backpack. After lifting it up onto his back, he began to go off again. He could tell that this was going to be an awesome mission, he just knew it.


And he was happy to do this.

Steven; When you're on your own, life is so exciting.

Steven continued on ahead through the forest as he sang, looking around at the tall trees, turning around as he walked along. The trees were green, with bits of snow sprinkled on them, some of which landed by him as he moved along.

When you're on your own, the world is big and wide.

As he continued on, the trail started to open up, and Steven began to kick a small stone as he moved off, the stone which rolled down a nearby hill.

You can do what you want,

Steven took a moment to slid down the hill, since it was apart of the path, keeping his balance and sliding right down to the bottom of the hill. At the bottom, Steven could see his shadow right next to him on a nearby rock.

And go where you like,
with just your shadow by your side.

As Steven continued on, the forest began to turn to opened mountainside, as the path began to ascend up the mountain. Steven didn't mind that, and he was happy to continue going. Soon, he came across a mountain stream, with stones that were just big enough, and spaced close enough to be perfect stepping stones. So, Steven happily skipped along them.

When you're on your own, you can yell, and laugh, and holler!

The trail began to continue up the mountain in a side-winding sort of way, to make it easier to climb up rather than straight ahead. Steven stopped for a moment to look back on the land, seeing that he was pretty far up. He was able to see the whole forest around him, along with a flock of birds going by him.

When you're on your own, you're feeling strong and free.

Steven continued on from there, getting farther and farther down the trail, enjoying the sights as he went. Being on his own made this trip a bit more exciting for him.

You can play all night, and sleep all day,

Steven saw a squirrel skitter up a tree as he continued on.

And be whatever you want to be.

Steven then began to see a indent in the path up ahead of him. He didn't mind that very much, and went right up it, confident as ever.

You can be a hero; bold, and brave! With lots of grand adventure, and the whole world to save.

Indeed, the trip was a happy one for Steven Universe.

~~~~~~


For the next few minutes, Steven kept up his hike up the mountain more and more, the young boy getting a little bit tired from the climb upward. The trail was alright itself, but climbing up a mountainside with a heavy backpack would get anyone tired at some point. And even after that whole musical number, he still wasn't too close to the main mountain, despite being at high elevation as it was already. It was starting to get colder, Steven feeling the hard, cooler earth under his sandals. Eventually, Steven began to stop at another part of the mountain. It was flattened, and plenty of space for him to rest up for a moment or two. He needed it.

"Okay let's see what we got," Steven told himself, looking through the backpack. He saw a lot of different stuff inside, which included plenty of clothes, and a few snacks too. Since Steven didn't had anything to eat yet, he went in for the snacks first, eventually fishing out a cookie cat ice cream bar.

"Cookie Cat! Oh, thank you Pearl!" Steven said, licking his lips. After getting a scarf around his neck, he soon got the tasty treat in his grubby little hands, and quickly got it out of its packaging.  It was nice and cool, and even if it wasn't, the place around him would do the job at not making it melt any faster. Steven heard his stomach growl a little bit, and was just about to bite into it when ...

*grrrrr*

Steven stopped himself, and looked around. At first, Steven saw nothing around him, aside from the forest. Eventually though, Steven began to see something watching him from the forest brush. It looked like a set of cat-like eyes, both a golden color. Steven looked a bit spooked, still holding his ice cream treat. He was hungry, and wanted to eat, but he had other treats inside his backpack, so he decided in the end to toss the treat towards the animal, whatever it was. The growling calmed down, but nothing came out to get the food right away, Steven waiting for whatever was there to take it. Still, overtime, there was a bird that did try its luck, and flutter down to get the treat. It managed to get one side of the cookie cat before something pounced out. The bird flew away just fast enough to save its own life. As for what was waiting in the bushes; a mountain lion!

"L-Lion! Mountain Lion!" Steven gasped, quite loudly. The hungry mountain lion turned to Steven, eyes locked onto him, as Steven jumped up to his feet. This wasn't even a Gem Beast, yet still a dangerous animal in its own right; fully grown, with sharp claws and feline teeth that can crush any bone. At first, however, since Steven was aware of the Mountain Lion, it didn't start after him right away. It was also obvious that it wasn't hungry for Steven's cookie cat either, completely ignoring it. Steven didn't try to run, but he did try to look for something for the Mountain Lion to eat, but the longer he took, the more impatient the Mountain Lion was getting, although the big cat didn't budge just yet, eyes fixated on Steven.

"H-Here, you hungry? Here, try this!" Steven said, quickly finding another treat inside his bag. This time it was a packaged bag of Lion Lickers. Steven used them with Lion and they worked very well, so maybe a Mountain Lion can work the same way. The large feline began to sniff the air as Steven presented the treat. Steven opened it up, and tossed it over to the Lion. The Mountain Lion walked over, and sniffed the treat curiously, Steven hoping it'll be enough. However, Steven got his hopes too high, and turned his back to the predator to close the backpack. The Mountain Lion quickly noticed that he made a crucial mistake in survival 101.

Never turn your back on a predator.

"AH!" Steven yelped, as he turned to see the Mountain Lion running at him! Instinctively, Steven summoned his bubble shield, stopping the predator in its tracks just in time. The lion slammed into the bubble, making Steven and the backpack inside tumble about in the rolling bubble. He stopped himself when wedged in between two trees, the Mountain Lion trying to get to Steven. However, no matter what the angle, it didn't have an opening. Steven just calmed down, smiling and sighing in relief ...

Then he slipped from the trees ...

"Uh oh."

Suddenly, Steven found himself rolling down the path, very fast and soon leaving the Mountain Lion far behind! Steven kept hitting trees like a ball in a pinball machine, knocking down bits of snow from each tree as he did so. Steven couldn't stop himself, or see where he was going. Since he was up a mountain, the rolling gave way to drop offs time and time again, making Steven bounce like crazy. Steven finally stopped when he slammed hard into a durable tree, Steven finally removing the bubble before he could go any further. His eyes were spinning, his face a shade of sickly green, and was probably glad he didn't eat anything, otherwise it'll be back up and onto the ground by now.

"Okay mister -" Steven felt something try to come up, but Steven held it back and kept it in him "- adventure man. Let's -" before Steven could finish his sentence, a ton of snow finally dislodged from the tree, and fell flat onto him, covering him completely. Steven poked his head out afterwards, snow still in his hair, and still not feeling so good.

Maybe he should wait a while.

.......

After getting his act together, and climbing back to the spot he was at before, it was already getting late. He'd continue if it wasn't so late once he got there. After just a few minutes of preparation, Steven had managed to get out a sleeping bag from his backpack, and managed to make a small fire from branches and twigs. He wouldn't dare try to chop down any trees for the sake of one fire for one night. Still, Steven made the fire pretty well, and was quickly getting warmer from his snow fall earlier, which by the by was melted and shaken off of him beforehand. Steven happily hummed a little bit, the tune matching the song he sang earlier, as he warmed his hands by the fireplace.

"Okay, Steven, so there was some bumps and bruises. You'll get your Gem in the morning in no time!" Steven said with enthusiasm. He wasn't going to quit his solo mission from one bad day, and while he still wished he was further along the trail, he still needed his energy for tomorrow. Just before he could try to go to sleep, he felt his phone going off again. A quick check, and he knew who it was.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Steven my man! How's the mission going?" Amethyst asked on the other end of the line.

"It's going great! Though I did have some trouble with a Mountain Lion earlier, but I sent it packing." Course this wasn't true, but he didn't want to sound like anyone weak or wimpy. Amethyst laughed on hearing that.

"That'a boy! Have you found that Gem Beast yet? You've been gone all day."

"No, not yet, but I'm sure I'll find it tomorrow."

"Awesome. Yeah, things had been BORING over here! Pearl has been worrying up and down all day, even with Garnet's future vision. Seriously, I wonder why she didn't run after you yet."

Steven couldn't help but chuckle, along with Amethyst.

"Oh, one more thing before I go; Will we show them our ... guest soon?" Amethyst asked, slightly hushed on the last part.

"Soon as I get back, I promise. Talk to you tomorrow."

"See ya later."

And with that, Steven hung up the phone, cuddled up in his sleeping bag, and went right to sleep alongside his little fireplace.


~~~~~~


A few hours pass, and Steven was still fast asleep by the fireplace, which was starting to dwindle in the cold night air. For being high up in the mountains, it still seemed to be surprisingly calm; not much wind, or clouds in the sky. Steven wasn't ready to get at it just yet, but the nighttime colder conditions, and animals in the area, do not rest. As Steven was asleep, the forest began to stir as the small animals started to sniff out the food inside Steven's backpack. Eventually, a sneaky pine marten snuck down from the nearby pine trees, and began to nose in on Steven'a backpack. Thanks to the attack from earlier, Steven didn't have much left apart from one cookie cat bar still left inside. Of course, the sneaky little thief took it quick, and it was then that Steven started to wake up.

"Huh? WHA!"

The pine marten however was already running up the tree before Steven could stop it. He quickly checked his bag, just finding his food stolen, and with nothing left for him. Steven looked annoyed as ever; first he ended up losing a lot of time from the Mountain Lion, and now his food was gone by a hungry pine marten. Okay, so there was some more trouble, it was going to be fine for him.

"I'm gonna get home soon, anyway. Let's be off," Steven told himself, getting up and packing again. He was up, and ready to go off again - longer he waits, the more likely he'll lose whatever was out here. So, with that in mind, Steven got the backpack up, and went off on his way up the mountain again. If being out during the day was risky, then going around at night was one wrong step away from another attack by the wildlife. Steven went back to humming his own little tune again, as he went off along the mountain path, the cool night breeze brushing against him. He would normally wait for the morning, but again, he wasn't going to waste anymore time. Besides, if he were to go back to sleep, he might get more of his stuff stolen by more animals, so, he'd rather not have that happen twice to him. Still, going around at night wasn't just a walk in the park (as easy as it sounded). Steven kept hearing things scurry around him, but he couldn't make out exactly what they were, or where they were. But then ...

*SCREEE*

"AH!"

Steven froze up, and kept looking around for the source of the noise until he calmed his nerves again. It was only an owl perched up in a nearby tree, but Steven didn't realize this. However, him being scared was starting to reminded Steven bit by bit that, even if he is alone, and it was his first mission, that his friends would help him out in these sort of situations. But now that he was alone ... Well, he had to figure things out for himself ...


When you're on your own. You have to be the grown-up ...

Steven kept going on the hillside, which was getting steep again. Steven went up it just fine, though he felt bummed out that he had no one to share this adventure with.

Cuz there's no one there. To tell you what to do ...

As he went, he looked up to the stars, starting to see his friends in the constellations.

But you miss your friends. When daylight ends.
And there's no one there to care for you ...

Steven sighed.

It's kind of lonely ...
When you're on your own ...


Steven kept on walking, and kept on looking around the place for some sort of clue, but so far he ended up with nothing to show for his efforts. Maybe he teleported to the wrong mountain? Maybe there wasn't anything to look for? Possibly, that was the case, and the feather he got was just pure coincidence. Heck, it could be a prank from Rainbow Dash or something (a weak prank, but a prank). Steven suddenly got to thinking that was the case, and felt very stupid, hand slapping his temple.

"I'm so stupid! There's nothing here! Maybe I should just -"

*hisssssss*

Steven stopped himself on hearing that hissing noise. He may not be much of a zoologist, but he knew that snakes wouldn't be out in such cold weather. Steven began to look around a bit more, trying to figure out where the hiss came from, but he couldn't seem to find anything. Soon, Steven felt something tickle his shoulder. He turned around quick, looking up into the tree behind him, and soon he found the source of the noise. Just above him, he found what he was looking for; it looked a bit big, slim, and reptilian. It had a snake like body, but its head and feet resembled that of a sort of gecko. Its legs weren't sprawled out like a usual lizard, instead tucked under the body. Steven was psyched to finally find something like this.

"Finally," Steven said. However, before he could do anything, the creature stood up, and jumped down at him! In a instinctive response, Steven got out his shield, just for the creature to jump off it like a landing pad. Steven looked away, and saw the animal clearly from the snow-covered ground, as it ran off with fast speed.

"Wait, come back!" Steven yelled, quickly giving chase. Steven tried his best to keep up with the lizard animal, but the animal had long strides, and was quickly gaining distance between itself and Steven, despite his best. Steven didn't give up though, and tried his hardest to run just a little bit faster to keep up with it. All of a sudden, the lizard glanced back, and rushed to the rocky areas of the mountain, slipping in a pretty small crack within the mountain side - too small for Steven to fit inside himself. Steven skidded to a stop before he could crash into the mountainside. Now what? His first real creature encounter on his solo mission, and it got away from him. No. No, no, he wasn't having it! He can't go back empty-handed like this. Steven then tried to look around for some sort of entranceway, but all he could find was a bunch of rocks and the small crevice in question.

"Okay, here we go."

... He tried to charge through. However, one jump, and he was stuck; one side in, and one side out. Steven tried and tried, but he was stuck, and he wasn't moving.

"Oh bother," Steven groaned. Steven tried to push himself through a bit more, but his body wasn't budging. His front end was stuck inside the crevice, and the back end was stuck outside. Even if he was lonely, he was glad none of his friends saw him like this. If he does complete his mission, he'll leave this part out ...

*hissss*

Oh great - the same animal was back again. It sat there in front of Steven, just out of his reach. It flicked out its tongue at him, which licked up and down his face, before turning and going down the crevice, and out of sight. Steven tried to think on what to do, but then something came to mind that could possibly work; he got his arms forward, and suddenly summoned a bubble. As he hoped, the crevice was opened up a lot bigger thanks to the bubble. Steven quickly removed it, and pulled himself inside before any rocks could fall on top of him. Only now, the crevice was too small again, but at least he was heading off in the right direction. The bad news though was that the backpack was crushed in the rocks. Steven got up to his feet and pulled it out, but a lot of stuff inside it was mashed up, so, it wasn't much use anyway. All Steven could do was get the bag together, and go off on his way down the crevice.

Steven could barely see where he was going, but he kept his hands out in front of him so he wouldn't walk into any walls. The walls were cold, and smooth, as if untouched for thousands of years. Dust was easily collected on his hands and feet, and if Steven could see, he would've seen the trail he was leaving behind him. Eventually though, the once freezing caves began to slightly warm up for some strange reason. It was odd that he was starting to feel warm when he was walking around inside a mountain. Soon, Steven was beginning to see some sort of light up ahead of him. It was dim for the time being, but Steven went right over anyway. He didn't bolt right into the open though, thinking that it might be the Gem Beast, so he hid by the wall, and peeked around the corner.

Looking off inside, the area itself was simply huge, and felt warmer than the area outside, since the spot was blocked off by most of the wind outside. The area within actually had the mountaintop removed, which was odd considering Steven saw that there was a mountaintop from the view of the Warp Pad. The only reason Steven could come up with was that the first mountain blocked off the spot from sight. The area wasn't having much snow anywhere to be seen, unlike outside with the snow from the trees, and slight amount on the ground. As for the area itself, it was wide open, and there was two decently sized pools. From the entrance, there was one on each side, and the one on the right had a high-level waterfall. The grounds were a bit cooler, with the grass a fresh green despite the time of year, and other things like moss and a few mushrooms on the rock walls near the pools themselves. Steven didn't see anything around, despite seeing the creature run in, so he went out to investigate.

"Whoa. Is this another Gem place?" Steven wondered aloud, walking in. Since it was warmer than outside, Steven removed some bundles of winter clothes. It was still chilly, but not exactly winter cold, but more like a cool morning cold - something Steven felt more comfortable with. Steven even took off his shoes so his feet could feel the cool grass and soft moss. It was, honestly, quite a different place than what he'd expected it to be. Just as Steven was getting more comfortable ...

"You've found me."

Steven began to look around more on hearing the strange, old, almost ancient voice speak. Soon, the whole area began to be casted in shadows. Steven looked upward, as something started to fly inside, circling in a downward spiral. The being looked about as long as a anaconda, and having a similar body, but there were some important differences. The most notable were the numerous feathers lining its back, which looked like the one Steven had in his bedroom. The tail ended in a fan that looked like a peacock feather. The head, resembling a dragon, was also lined with a crest of feathers of beautiful blue and green. The entity also had a set of wings, large and strikingly beautiful with blue, green, and red at the very tips. It didn't seemed to be affected by gravity as it descended down towards Steven, as the body didn't seem to dangle downward as it slowed down. Gently, it rested down on the soft grass, with the tail itself barely touch the waters of the pools. It landed in a coil, with its wings tucked back, and head upright to look down at him. Was this the Gem Beast Steven was supposed to find? If so, then what was that other animal he found earlier, and where'd it go? Steven brought out his shield, facing to the giant serpent in case of an attack from the giant animal.

"No need for alarm, young one. Your target is still here," it said, the voice calming and ancient, almost like a male version of Celestia. Steven stayed quiet, and retracted his shield. Still, he was left simply baffled by such a creature looming overhead.

"A-Are ... You a Gem?"

"Not quite. Enjoying your mission?" He asked. Steven started to relax a little bit.

"A lot, thank you. But, who are you?" Steven said, more casually this time. Steven wasn't entirely truthful to that statement, as his mission had gone downhill bit by bit.

"I am Quetzalcoatl. You may define me as simply 'Q' if you wish to," it said.

"Q ... Did you -"

*hissss*

Steven stopped himself when he heard the hissing again, and turned around to see the same animal Steven had been chasing, now confronting him. It opened its mouth, and now in a better light, Steven could see a gemstone on its tongue, so, this indeed was the Gem Beast. Quetzalcoatl hunkered down to watch, Steven bringing out his shield. Quetzalcoatl knew that Steven wanted to do this himself, so, he just stayed there to see where this will go.

"Go for it," Quetzalcoatl insisted, telling Steven that it was his target. Steven was ready to give it a try, and began his assault on the beast with a good charge forward. The animal also rushed at him, but had to jump off of Steven's shield again. The animal made a fast U-turn, and ended up biting in Steven's leg, and beginning to shake him around. Steven eventually was tossed aside, Steven rolling on the ground until he hit Quetzalcoatl's body. The boy got up, and got out his shield just before the Gem Beast could get him again, its teeth and feet scraping against the shield. Steven was starting to worry a bit more, and managed to push the animal back. He had the defense, but not the offense to beat the creature. The Gem Beast began to chase Steven around for a bit, Steven trying to get some distance so he could think, but it wasn't working. Quetzalcoatl watched Steven and the Gem Beast basically run in circles in front of him. Steven got a bubble secured around him, but the Gem beast slammed into him, and made him roll off to one of the pools, the bubble popping immediately afterwards. The Gem Beast hissed again, as Steven got back to the surface. Once he did, Steven had to swim fast to avoid the beast's lunge at him again. The beast swam back to shore again, and gave chase once more after Steven.

"Oh, who am I kidding?" Steven finally decided, as the Gem Beast was running after him, right on his tail.

"Maybe doing this alone wasn't good after all," Steven said to himself, while running, and avoiding another bite. While the Gem Beast couldn't care for what he had to say, Quetzalcoatl heard him loud and clear. Steven suddenly tripped, and the Gem Beast lunged for him one more time. However, just before it could, the giant tail feather of Quetzalcoatl slammed into the Gem Beast like a fly swatter. That one hit finally finished it off, and so abruptly too. When the tail was raised, the gemstone was all that remained.

"Congratulations," Quetzalcoatl said finally.

"What? For what?" Steven asked, getting up onto his feet again. Quetzalcoatl looked to him with gentle eyes.

"Child. One may want to venture out on one's own from time to time. But, even the strongest warriors need aid from friends once in a while. It's not a sin to have friends with you." 

With that wisdom, Quetzalcoatl opened his wings, and took off into the air. In one flap of his mighty wings, the huge animal was gone, leaving behind only one single feather for Steven to bring back home ...


~~~~~~


"Oh my, it's been a long time," Pearl noted, as she stared at the other phone, waiting for a call from Steven. It'd been rather quiet, to be honest, the group waiting for Steven to return (or at least return the call). In the room at the time was Amethyst, Peridot, Garnet, Lapis, and Jasper.

"Give it a rest will you, Pearl? Steven's fine," Amethyst said (probably the twentieth time).

"But he didn't make any call yet! What if something bad happened to him?!"

"You can stop worrying now," Garnet finally said.

Before Pearl could ask why, suddenly they all heard the sound of the Warp Pad. When they all looked, they all saw Steven Universe. He looked a little beaten up, but alright, and with the gemstone bubbled in one hand, and a feather in the other. Of course they were glad to see him.

"Steven!" Pearl beamed.

"You did it bro, great job!" Added Amethyst, excitedly. Peridot could barely contain her excitement.

"Come on Steven, tell us what happened out there," Peridot encouraged. However, Steven was far too tired, and simply looked to his bed past Peridot.

"Steven?" Peridot asked, leaning so Steven was looking to her. Steven yawned wide though.

"Oh. Yea *yawn* I'll talk to you in the morning," Steven said tiredly, giving the bubble to Garnet, and going right off to bed with his feather. He would be more enthused if he was more awake for this. Steven kicked off his shoes, went right upstairs, stripped down to his underwear, and went right to bed. He was too tired to care, and went to sleep almost immediately.

"Steven?" Pearl questioned. Garnet just placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Let him sleep. He'll tell us in the morning."
> The Healing Crystal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Along the beach, Steven was especially excited, as he continued to guide Connie along the shores towards the Temple. Steven had already gone over up and down about his latest, solo mission adventure to her, and now had another surprise for her as he continued. Just yesterday, he had gone through his very first solo mission, with mixed results in a broad statement; a little longer, some troublesome animals, and the meeting with Quetzalcoatl as well. Steven had kept the feather, and gone over every detail with Connie about it before the traveling. As for the other surprise, he still promised Amethyst that they'll show everyone their fusion, Smoky Quartz, and he wanted Connie to see her as well, thinking she would like to see Smoky. Still, there's the matter of getting her there, and getting the others just as well. The Mane Six had already seen Smoky Quartz, along with a few of the other Gems too, but Steven still wanted to get the other Gems to see her. The ponies weren't there, and some of the Gems were a bit busy, but Steven was hoping Amethyst wasn't too busy so he could do it with her. Steven would never break a promise if he could help it. After a bit, Connie and Steven got themselves over by the main steps in no time at all. In the Beach House was Amethyst, Garnet, Emerald, Lapis, Pearl, Fulgurite, Jasper, Flint, Jade, and Star Quartz. Amongst them, Amethyst was the most excited out of all of them.

"Okay, Steven. you got Connie, what is it you wanna tell us?" Jasper asked. Steven and Amethyst looked to eachother with confidence. The two were ready as ever.

"So you know how we went over to the Draconian Empire where we met with Porath," Steven said.

"And you also know that he got his flank beaten down, and removed from his throne for Kyra," Amethyst added.

"But do you all know who beat Porath?" Steven and Amethyst asked in unison. The others were a little confused about it.

"Uh ... You two?" Pearl said.

"The Mane Six," answered Flint. That was a little disappointing.

"It didn't land," Amethyst said.

"Pick it back up, pick it back up," Steven insisted quietly. Amethyst cleared her throat, as Connie sat down on the couch next to Star and Lapis.

"We have someone we like you to meet," Amethyst then said. The Gems looked to eachother for a second before Pearl spoke again.

"Alright, let's see this mysterious stranger."

That was all they needed to hear. With a full audience around, Amethyst and Steven were ready to begin. They would normally need a dance of sorts, but, all these two did was grip hands, and that was all it took. Pretty soon ...

"Hey! I'm Smoky Quartz. nice to meet ya."

The reactions were immediate, and Smoky Quartz could see that in everyone. The overall reaction they had gotten was simply shock. Even Garnet was shocked, removing her shades to show her three eyes, all as shocked as the others. Smoky was happy for it, and the reactions varied for speechless expressions, to surprised gasps. Even Garnet looked completely lost on words. Some like Emerald and Fulgurite were smiling while the others were just shocked.

"Don't bother putting your socks back on, cuz I'm about to knock em off again," Smoky Quartz said, taking out the whip and shield and making the signature Yo-Yo weapon. Garnet joined Emerald and Fulgurite on the smiles, with Lapis and Connie as well, as Pearl sounded like her mind just crashed and needed a reboot or something similar (and she pulled up her sock). 

"I'm liking her already," Emerald commented. Garnet was starting to go in complete fangirl mode (first time ever), and began to squee in excitement to see this, shaking Lapis a bit as she did so. Smoky swung around the Yo-Yo in circles casually before speaking again.

"Now you all can see how I beat Porath. This trick I like to call 'Walk the Dog'!" Smoky Quartz said, starting to show off her Yo-Yo to them. The 'Walk the Dog' move ended up zooming the Yo-Yo past the others, and hitting the back wall. None of them worried about it at first except for Pearl.

"This one I call "Jock the Dog"!" Smoky Quartz added, summoning a second Yo-Yo, and showing off some more, slamming into the table, and hitting the TV. Pearl began to worry, as the others were impressed. Flint however was getting a bit troubled by the whole thing.

"And this is one's "Dog walking's just my day job, until I get that callback"!" Smoky Quartz said, summoning a third Yo-Yo, and working with it as well. Finally, both Pearl and Flint decided at once that Smoky shouldn't keep blasting around the Yo-Yos everywhere. Pearl grabbed one, and Flint grabbed two, giving Smoky Quartz a break from the showing off. Flint didn't know what to say, but from what they said, they done this before and got out of it just fine.

"Amethyst. Steven. You two alright as this?"

"Oh, not again Flint," Jasper said.

"Hey, fusing with two humans is one thing, but now it's a full Gem and a Gem hybrid!"

Before things could get out of hand, Smoky popped up in between them, and gave Flint a noogie to the head. However, Flint found that Smoky was quite the heavy Gem, especially when she was leaning against his back.

"Hey, hey, come on Flint. It's cool," Smoky said with a big grin.

"Get off me," Flint wheezed. Smoky got off of Flint to give him a minute. Smoky couldn't help but chuckle a little bit.

"Wow, Smoky! Got anymore tricks to show us?" Lapis asked.

"Step on outside and I'll show ya," Smoky said, already heading off outside. But as they were, the feather, which Steven had placed over on the table before fusing, started to look a little bit off. Steven had left it there for a bit, and the appearance began to wither away a little bit. The colors were duller, and some bits of the tip started to come off of it in the form of dust ...


~~~~~~


For the next number of hours, the others happily watched Smoky Quartz go at it with a number of her moves, almost all of them involving her Yo-Yo. It was a pretty decent demonstration of what Smoky could do, from various Yo-Yo tricks, to techniques in her mobility despite her large size. Many were impressed with Smoky for the most part, and Smoky was glad for it, though no one seemed to notice anything starting to go wrong with anyone. As the day went on, even while after the fusion showing off, something began to slowly occur with the Gems. It wasn't noticeable throughout the day, but the others seemed to be a little bit slower. Not in a literal sense, but something just felt slightly wrong the longer they went down. When sunset came around, the Gems were starting to feel more off, but still nothing too serious to take enough notice. Amethyst and Steven were just fine, but the others still weren't as up to speed ...

Then came the next morning.

Steven woke up nice and easy, as it would usually happen on any given day. He stretched his arms out, gave a good yawn, and got right up. Nothing seemed wrong, but there wasn't anyone else in the Beach House. None of the Gems were present, which didn't bother Steven too much at first. As he continued his morning routine though, there was still not any sort of activity being heard by the others. Once he got dressed, he finally heard the back door open up, and in came Blue. The Gem dog immediately went right up to Steven, but he didn't look happy as usual, but instead he looked worried; ears tucked back, and whimpering. Something that Steven hadn't seen Blue do in a while.

"Morning Blue. What's the matter?" Steven asked. Blue looked over Steven a little bit, and started to pull him back to the back door. Steven got himself moving after a bit, and Blue rushed through the door, Steven following close behind.

Where Blue brought him to was actually one of the Gem's rooms. This one was a light orange, the ground flattened down. The walls looked to be made of desert rock, and light was able to be seen from the opening leading to a waterfall. Steven guessed this room was higher up. With a number of items mostly used for practice in fighting, Steven could easily guess this to be Jasper's room. What got Steven's attention first though was who was in the room; the rest of the Crystal Gems. Peridot, Amethyst, Jasper, and Diopside, were the only other Gems on their feet, but everyone else inside was down on the ground, laying down and not looking too good. Steven, surprised, went right over.

"Guys!"

"Steven! Thank goodness you're here. Here, give them your healing spit or whatever," Peridot insisted.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know, come on! Get your spit on the gem!" Peridot said, pushing him over to Pearl first. Steven looked down to Pearl, who looked duller in color. Her hair, eyes, and even clothes seemed duller than usual, almost like when she was discorded. One key difference though was that the Pearl was starting to leak a tiny bit, not dissimilar to a runny nose (which Pearl seemed to have too). Steven licked his hand, getting plenty of good spit, and getting it on the gemstone. However, something got onto Steven's hand instead; a sort of gooey paint-like substance that stuck to his hand rather fast. The spit did get on the gemstone, which felt more like a water balloon, but Steven had to get rid of the goo afterwards. The gemstone itself was still intact, thank the stars, but the spit didn't seem to do all that much.

"Pearl, what's going on? Are you okay?" Steven asked urgently. Pearl got herself sitting up, and looking to him with tired eyes.

"Hey Steven. *sniff* I-I don't know what happened *sniff*. I felt fine yesterday and now - ah ... AH ... ACHOO!" Pearl's sneeze at the end got some of the goop on Steven as well, though the affects didn't come at him so quickly. Maybe it was for him being only part Gem. The goop matched the color of her gemstone, which didn't seem to help him or her. Peridot kept her distance though, even jumping back to avoid any splash-backs. Whatever was affecting these Gems was about as bad as a deep cold, but for Gems instead of humans, and whoever wasn't affected made sure to keep back to not get sick themselves as best they could.

"Did you catch a cold?" Steven asked.

"It's not a cold," Garnet answered, who had both her hands up. After looking, all the other Gems made sure their Gemstone wasn't in contact with the ground, probably so the gemstones wouldn't smear on the floor.

"Then what is it?"

"I'm *sniff* not sure. Our Gems are becoming weak, and started to liquefy *sniff*. We need a cure," Garnet said, sounding a little weak in tone, which was scary coming from Garnet. Steven went to try his spit again, but instead of using his hand, he spat right on Garnet's gemstones. Consider it concentrate. However, and unfortunately, the spit just slid off and didn't seem to work. Why wasn't it working? Steven was on a roll with how many Gems and Ponies were healed every time he used the spit, but now it just wasn't working. It should've had some effect by now.

"I'm trying, but it's not working," Steven said, getting more worried. Steven tried to get some good spit going, but his second attempt wasn't doing so good, as if something was covering the Gemstone. That, and his mouth was getting drier the more times he tried, so eventually he had to stop. Amethyst, Diopside, and Peridot all were having some doubts at this point, with Peridot getting worried upon seeing the lack of success.

"Steven," Garnet said, getting him to come over. Garnet thought it over a bit, but she figured it might be better for it in the long run. Steven stopped in front of her, as Garnet managed to get herself up without pushing her Gemstones on the ground under her, and planting a small kiss on Steven's forehead. The vision she gave him was clean, and quick, but Steven did manage to see one particular item; another gemstone. It didn't look like any normal gemstone though as he'd seen on the Gems, but it was perfectly diamond shaped, if not a bit narrower than regular, and it was pure white too. Location though was unsure, as Steven could only see that before Garnet laid back down.

"Does that help?" Garnet asked. Steven nodded to her, and went over to the others who were left standing. Jasper, who wasn't laying down, had her back laying on the wall, but she seemed alright anyway.

"Come on everyone, let's go find that cure!"

"Wait, wait, wait, where are we going? What about the Gems?!" Peridot pointed out.

"You can watch over them with Diopside, Peridot. Can you do that?" Steven asked. Diopside was alright with it, giving a salute to her fellow Gem. Peridot agreed, and Amethyst was with Steven on this one. Jasper then took a moment to turn to them both before they got out the door.

"Aren't I coming?" Jasper asked, expectations a little high up. Amethyst and Steven glanced to eachother for a second.

"Eh, sure Jasper. Come on, let's go," Amethyst said. Steven might as well let her, for she didn't appear any worse than the others ...


~~~~~~


Outside at the Beach, Steven kept trying to think over what kind of Crystal he'd seen. Amethyst and Jasper both waited just outside, trying to figure out what to do. Steven kept his eyes closed, and hands on the side of his head, and kept pacing around the place, back and forth trying to figure it out. If this crystal was some sort of cure that Garnet mentioned, then where should they look, or what is it for that matter?

"Okay. Where should we look to find the cure?" Steven recapped.

"What kind of cure are we talking about here?" Jasper asked, getting a little impatient.

"Well, When Garnet kissed me, I saw this other Gem. It looked very bright, and looked like a crystal or something."

"A crystal? You mean a Crystal Gem?!" Amethyst asked, excitedly. However, Steven shook his head.

"Just a crystal I think."

"Did this "vision" Garnet gave you have any clue where it is?" Jasper questioned. Steven tried to remember what he had seen, but the image went too fast for him to gather up very much.

"No - just the Gemstone," sighed Steven. This obviously wasn't getting anywhere fast, and they needed to find some sort of clue soon before things could get any worse. Longer they wait, the more at risk the rest of the group would be. Amethyst tried to think on some sort of idea, but before they could get anything together ...

"SURPRISE!"

In a quick dash, and tackle, Steven was tumbling on the ground, and was in a surprise hug by Pinkie Pie. Steven didn't realize that Pinkie Pie was coming up for a visit today, and today may not be the best time for her to just come around. Pinkie got off of Steven, as she sat there with her tail wagging.

"Uh, Pinkie Pie? Now may not be the best time," Jasper said. Pinkie looked puzzled, her head crooked a little bit.

"Eh?"

"We're about to go on a mission to find a cure, Pinkie Pie, so you'll have to wait to play with the others -" Jasper suddenly had the pink mare pancake herself to Jasper's face, Pinkie Pie shocked on hearing that answer.

"OH NO! Don't worry, Jasper, I'll save you!" Pinkie said, giving a great inhale. Jasper's eyes widened.

"Pinkie, wait - mmph!"

Pinkie suddenly got her mouth over Jasper, and blowing a ton of air into her. Jasper comically got inflated a bit from the air blasted in her. Jasper yanked Pinkie Pie off of her, and the air got out fast, coughing from the air just blasted into her head. For a pony, she had a lot of air in her lungs. Jasper got ticked off quickly, and Amethyst quickly got Pinkie out of the way before Jasper could slam her in the dirt.

"No, no, no, no, she didn't mean it!"

"Yeah I did -" Amethyst got her to keep her muzzle shut.

"Not that kind of cure," Jasper growled through gritted teeth.

"Oh ... what cure?"

"We're trying to figure out where to look. Garnet gave me this vision, and I saw a crystal in it that I guess is the cure, but, we don't know where to look," Steven explained. Pinkie sat there thinking a bit, her head ticking like a clock. Suddenly, something seemed to click.

"GAAAAAAHH!"

Pinkie's sudden gasp, along with her jump in the air, and her mane and tail standing on end  caught everyone off guard. Before they could react, Pinkie got her key out and opened a portal for a quick access. Pinkie got them together, and with her back hooves running roadrunner style, she pushed them all forward and through the portal, going from Beach City, to Twilight's library front door. Jasper, Amethyst, and Steven did kinda tumble, but they weren't hurt. Pinkie Pie got right to Twilight's front door, and knocked on it furiously until Twilight came out, a little tired since it was still the morning.

"Morning, Pinkie," Twilight yawned. She quickly became more alert when Pinkie gripped the alicorn, eyes locked against her.

"WE NEED A CURE!" Pinkie yelled, in over-the-top panic.

"... Uh ... For what?" Twilight asked, still unsure how to react.

"... I don't know," Pinkie whispered, still in panic. Twilight sighed, and looked to the other three.

"What's the matter?" Twilight asked. Jasper got Pinkie Pie away from Twilight. Pinkie was pulled away by Jasper as Steven went over to her.

"Something happened to the rest of the Gems back home, and we're trying to find some sort of crystal to heal them. Do you know anything about that?" Steven asked. Twilight pondered for a moment.


~~~~~~


Pretty soon, they were inside the library, and Twilight was looking through the books in her library. The concept sounded familiar to her, being a mare to read through practically every book in her library at least over ten times each, one of the books had to had something. Jasper rested her back to the wall, as Steven and Pinkie helped in looking around, although the two weren't too sure which book they should be looking for. Amethyst and Jasper waited at the door impatiently, seeing numerous books being levitated and moved around as Twilight Sparkle kept looking. Twilight had looked through about fifteen different books, each one not being anything familiar.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! I know it's here somewhere," Twilight said to herself. Pinkie kept grabbing books, and tossing them behind her, one of which landed by Steven. The book was green, with a few leaves on the front, reading it off as supernatural remedies. Might as well give it a look. Twilight stopped, and saw Steven looking at the book, skimming through the number of pages in regards to a number of remedies. He found a number of remedies, one example for the Poison Joke, but eventually he found a particular page that seems to be just what they need.

"I think I found it!" Steven announced, everybody and everypony all ears. The exact page he had found was that of the same crystal that he had originally seen thanks to Garnet's vision. The crystal matched the appearance perfectly; a thin diamond shape with shining light around it. Twilight levitated the book so she could check it.

"That was you saw, Steven?" Amethyst asked.

"I think so. Let's see."

Twilight cleared his throat, and began to look it over.

"It's called 'The Healing Crystal'."

"What an original title," commented Amethyst sarcastically, as Twilight continued.

"It's a very rare, and very valuable Gemstone, said to be located on the very edge of Equestria within the Smoky Mountains. Only one has been known to exist. Said to be able to cure any disease known to ponykind. Said to be in possession of a beast called the Uktena. Collection of item is highly dangerous."

"I'm sold, let's go," Amethyst said, ready to head off.

"Wait, what about that Uktena?" Twilight said.

"What about it? Twilight, we've pummeled plenty of beasts already, and this is no different. We'll be back before you know it," Amethyst said.

"Do you even know where the Smoky Mountains are?"

"Eh .... Oh," Amethyst said, stopping herself. They really didn't know where the Smoky Mountains were, and they didn't had much time to waste in just running around and looking.


~~~~~~


The Smoky Mountains are quite far from here. You have to head over west, following the railroad tracks. There isn't a station along the mountains, so, you'll have to walk. Find the first mountain range with grey clouds circling the peaks. It's the only mountain range with grey smoke all year round.

With the information that they needed, and the location all set, Jasper, Amethyst, and Steven were off on their way to get their Healing Crystal. Since the train wasn't an option, despite the railroad tracks heading west to the Smoky Mountains, they decided a different approach. Rather than go on foot, they took to the air in an Amethyst helicopter. Amethyst hollowed her body so Jasper and Steven had somewhere to sit, and the front was all her face so she could see where they were going. Steven sat safely in his seat, though Jasper sat down on the rim of the chopper. This made a weight trouble for Amethyst, but that would happen no matter where she sat anyway, so she had to make do.

"How much further Amethyst?" Jasper said at one point.

"It's gonna be a while, Jay," Amethyst replied. Jasper was hoping this'll get handled soon, as Steven watched the trees go by from below and the clouds above. At one point, Steven looked over back to Jasper, who had her back to him. It was hard to tell at first, but Steven began to notice something with her ...

Something was dripping out of her.

"Huh?" Steven walked over to her for a closer look, and it turned out, the Amber drops were coming from ...

"J-Jasper! Your gem!"

Jasper quickly got her hand over Steven's mouth before Amethyst could fully catch what Steven said.

"What's going on back there?" Amethyst asked.

"Nothing, keep going!" Jasper demanded. Amethyst did, as Jasper leaned over to Steven, Steven now easily able to see that there was some paint-like liquid coming out of Jasper's gem, but not by much. Jasper herself looked to him firmly like it didn't matter.

"Steven, don't worry about me. It's just a minor trouble, I'm fine," Jasper cleared up, removing her hand from his mouth. Steven Thought for a moment, and then licked his hand for a try at healing her. Steven got a good amount of spit on his hand, and brought it over to Jasper's gemstone. However, the Gem knocked Steven's hand away.

"Come on, Jasper," Steven said.

"I said. I'm fine," Jasper repeated. Steven wanted to help, but Jasper wasn't going to show herself being weak in front of him, not now. Before they could go into this any further, Amethyst looked on ahead and began to notice the sky ahead starting to dim a bit into grey.

"I think we're getting close to the Smoky Mountains," Amethyst announced.

And surely she was right. Jasper and Steven looked out from both sides of the helicopter, and they all began to see the signs of an upcoming mountainside. The peaks were covered in cold snow, but there was still clouds of smoke hovering around near the tops of the peaks. It wasn't exactly clear as to where the smoke was coming from, or how long the smoke had been hovering around the peaks, but there was no mistaking this spot compared to the other areas around it. Amethyst, already in flight, was not going to waste anytime with landing, and as such began to fly straight for the mountains. At first, finding a spot to land wasn't very easy. After all, they were dealing with a rocky mountainside, with no visible path, or real flat surface to show that somepony had went through, or established anything. One could argue that the mountains of Canterlot were similar, but Canterlot was built on the side of the mountain, and there wasn't anything sign of that here. Jasper and Steven looked around the mountain for some sort of cave, or pathway that'll get them to the Healing Crystal, but as with anywhere to land, not much luck in that either. They've mainly had been finding just rock walls, with no evidence of tunnels or caves. That seemed a bit odd to see in a mountain anywhere, never mind the Smoky Mountains. How can there not even be one? It was about twenty minutes of patrolling through smoked air when they finally got somewhere.

"Over there!"

"I see it, Stevie my man!"

As they hoped, they soon found a lone cave. This one was kinda small, but there wasn't any outside platform to land, so Amethyst had to squeeze her helicopter body into the cave, just enough for Steven and Jasper to have enough ground to get out. Once the two finally did, Amethyst changed back, tired but grateful. She didn't want to carry possibly the heaviest Crystal Gem in their group any longer than she had to. As for the tunnel though, it got dark very quick, and it was narrow enough as it was at the entrance, and looked to shrink further in. For Jasper, that was a big problem, but Amethyst and Steven didn't find it too much trouble.

"Okay, let's go find that Crystal," Steven said enthusiastically. Amethyst and Jasper followed him in, both in agreement. Sooner they find that Healing Crystal, the better. The trio continued on into the tunnel for a bit of ways, the tunnel circular as if dug out recently. Amethyst and Steven were walking through the tunnel just fine, but Jasper had to resort to crawling on her hands and knees. Jasper had to be more careful; with her gem now as hard as gelatin, and about as fragile as a water balloon, Jasper couldn't risk anything coming in and taking a bite out of it. At least the crawling kept her face downward, so whatever drips slipped out were left unnoticed on the ground. It was getting harder and harder to see as they kept moving forward, each step leaving its own echo behind them.

"This tunnel goes in deep. Just watch where you - WHOA!"

Would've known he'd fall down the tunnel. In one false step, Steven suddenly slipped as the tunnel took a deep sudden nose dive! Amethyst tried to grab him, but couldn't get him. In fact, she ended up sliding down herself, and Jasper had no choice but to follow. The trio of Gems slipped, tumbled, and rolled head over heels down the steep tunnel for a long twenty seconds. Steven landed at the end first, followed by Amethyst.

"Ouch," groaned Steven.

Then the two heard Jasper ...

"MOVE IT!" Amethyst warned, both Amethyst and Steven rushing out of the way before they could end up crushed under Jasper. Jasper made sure to cover her Gemstone with her arms to avoid it being cut open during the fall. It was still plenty dark, so the three couldn't see purely, but that didn't mean that they couldn't see anything in particular. For starters, the area was large, like a chamber, and the walls weren't really seen at first. What they did see though was a shining object in the middle of the room. It was sitting on top of a boulder, and gave off a faint glow, just enough for them to see it.

The Healing Crystal.

"I got it!" Amethyst said, pulling out her whip. She had seen plenty of movies where this scenario plays out, so she didn't hesitate to get her whip for the job instead of her hands. In one swing, the whip got around the Crystal, and it was pulled straight away. Once it got pulled out, the Crystal began to flow much brighter, as if it was triggered by something ...

"Hello, ssssstrangers."

"Who's there?!" Jasper immediately demanded. The light of the Crystal began to show them their answer.

Not only did the Crystal show the cave itself, but it also showed that the ceiling was covered in some sort of pink vine, stretching around like spaghetti on the ceiling. The skin looked pink, and spotted with red dots along its length. After a bit, the creature slithered off of the ceiling, and onto the floor. It was twice as long as any anaconda, but as thin as coil rope. The head reared up to show a gigantic, single eye, with a mouth covered in small tentacles, and a set of deer horns like those of a Kirin.

"Back off, we need this Crystal," Amethyst said. The beast didn't care for it, and slowly slithered around them.

"Sssseems you wish to ssssteal to find your cure? The Healing Crysssstal belongssss to Uktena," it hissed.

"But our friends won't get any better without it! Please, we'll return it when we're done, I promise," Steven assured. That just got another hiss from Uktena, as it raised its tentacles to show its beak, which was as sharp as a macaws.

"I ssssee. Uktena issss not pleassssed. Uktena will have to eradicate you!"

Uktena gave another loud, threatening hiss, before lunging down for a bite. Jasper was the first to retaliate, and grabbed Uktena by the throat. Amethyst and Steven tried to help, but when they rushed in, Uktena wrapped its body around them both, and its tail whacked loose some large rocks to block their exit. Jasper gave a strong squeeze on Uktena, the animal choking and loosening its grip on the other two, but focused its grip on Jasper.

"Jasper!" Amethyst and Steven yelled, as Uktena got its coils on Jasper's neck and arms. Jasper felt the grip tighten, and she tried to get the animal to let go, but without much success. Each grab, yank, twist, and pull did hurt Uktena, but it didn't stop its attack. Uktena got some more coils down on Jasper's legs. It was here that Uktena finally gave a bite to Jasper's shoulder! Jasper tried to get it to let go, but Uktena's tentacles kept a grip on her.

"I will not fall for something like you!" Jasper roared, giving a bite of her own. Uktena screeched from the bite, and quickly zoomed off her. However, the sudden slither off was like a string spinning a top - Jasper spinning and getting rope burn on her in multiple places. Uktena turned back, reared up to look her in the eye. Jasper looked to her gemstone, trying to make sure if it was alright or not ...

More liquid began to seep out of it, and much faster than before. Jasper would normally be fine, and this would be a walk in the park, but Jasper still wasn't her best. Uktena hissed again, readying for another attack. Jasper looked to the other two, who looked ready to go in and help her. Before they could, Uktena wrapped itself around Jasper from head to toe, only her head exposed!

"Get back you octo-snake!" Amethyst yelled, her whip whacked Uktena in the head. Uktena hissed, and its tail lashed at them both, knocking them off their feet! Its attention turned back to Jasper, who was still using her strength to try and get herself free. Uktena could feel her strength pull it apart, and loosening its grip. Uktena looked right to Jasper, sweat pouring on her face, her teeth grinding together. Uktena took this final chance, and sank its beak into Jasper's head! Amethyst and Steven looked, and could only watch as Jasper succumbed to that final bite, and she finally poofed. Her gemstone flew out of the way towards them, but it didn't look correct. As it bounced on the ground, it jiggled and shook, more liquid coming out, until it stopped in front of them both ...

"She ... She was sick too?" Amethyst realized, as Steven picked up the gemstone. The two glanced at eachother, but Uktena was still on the offensive, and still hissing at them. Uktena wanted its Crystal back, and it wasn't going to let them leave with it in their hands. If it could beat Jasper, what was the chance that either one of them could stand against it? ... Then Amethyst got an idea.

"Hey Steven? Why don't we get the big girl out here?" Amethyst asked with a wink, hand out. Steven looked to Jasper's gemstone, and to Uktena, and eventually agreed. One hand grab later ...

"HEY-O! Ready to play around?" Smoky said, full of enthusiasm. Yep, smoky Quartz is back, and was ready more than most to face Uktena. The giant serpent was as ready as she was, and began its assault on her. Smoky Quartz immediately got out her Yo-Yo, and began her attack on it. Uktena dodged the first number of hits fairly easily with many of the Yo-Yo hits zooming by it. Smoky was getting a bit irritaited, and it didn't help that the animal began to wrap around her.

"Give it up, at oncccce," Uktena demanded.

"Here, let me put a new spin on it," Smoky joked. While the joke was a corn field of a joke, Smoky suddenly began to spin like a top. Since Uktena was slightly wrapped around her, Smoky just grabbed Uktena with her three arms, and began winding up fast. Uktena ended up spinning extremely fast, over and over, and over again, and it didn't help that Smoky Quartz began bouncing off the walls like she was in a pinball machine. Uktena kept getting banged on the walls until it gave up on gripping her. It was quick, and it was a lot easier than it was a few minutes ago. Uktena, dazed, bruised, and dizzy, just laid down on the ground with its one eye spinning in circles. This so-called beast wasn't going to bother them anymore.

"Alrighty, Smoky, time to get your butt outta here," Smoky said, picking up Jasper's Gemstone and the Healing Crystal on the way out. In one simple push, the rocks were moved aside, and Smoky went on her way out. Being bigger, it was a snug fit, but it wasn't much of a problem as she went off on her way. Uktena didn't bother to follow them ...


~~~~~~


It took them quite a while, but Smoky did end up coming back to the Beach House, and didn't waste anytime going straight back to Jasper's room with the cure in hand. After some tweaking with the Crystal, she did manage to figure out how it worked. In this case, the Healing Crystal was more of a charm - placing it on the Gemstone was enough to fix it. Each gem it touched made the other gemstone dry and harden back to normal, and as such, made the Crystal Gems all better again. Near the end, she placed the Crystal in Garnet's hands, and the faint glow signified the healing of both gemstones on Garnet's hands. As such, Ruby and Sapphire were saved too.

"Great job, Smoky," Garnet said, getting up to her feet, now all better. Smoky smiled, hand behind her head.

"No problem, buddy," Smoky said, casually.

"... But, where's Jasper?" Garnet asked. Smoky did heal Jasper, but that was before she got back. Smoky didn't get any sort of reaction, or interaction from the gem since she got poofed, so all Smoky could do was get the gem out of her pocket, and showed it to Garnet. Garnet looked down to Jasper in her hands, feeling that it was back to normal as well, but Jasper still wasn't ready to come out yet.

"... You did your best, Jasper," sighed Garnet. She knew from the start that Jasper wasn't better than them in terms of condition, but Jasper still had enough of the nerves to go out with them and fight Uktena, although she got poofed as a result.

"Will she be okay?" Smoky asked. Garnet looked to her for a second before looking back to the Gemstone.

"She'll be okay."
> Wild Blue Yonder
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A bright and beautiful day along the sandy shores. The skies above were a lovely light blue, with the breeze from the sea gently heading inland with the waves of the endless ocean. Soft waves grazed the beach, and the distant sound of the seagulls echoed in the air. The beach, despite the sand, also had various kelp plants that were uprooted from the seafloor, and washed up on shore. The kelp was being handled though, but while one would think this is Beach City sand, this beach was indeed in Equestria. One Earth Pony was whistling a happy tune, as he began to rake up the kelp around the place into one pile. He was a average pony, with greyish brown fur, pale yellow mane and tail, and violet eyes similar to Twilight. This pony was named Coco Crusoe, a seaside Earth Pony, and main kelp gatherer for the local seaside towns, and their specialty seaside salad (you can guess the main ingredient in that). The sound of the gulls, and the feel of the waves gracing his hooves was a regular for him, for the most part, and it brought a smile to his muzzle when seeing the clear ocean further out. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary, as it had been for a while, as Crusoe started to gather the seaweed and kelp off into a large barrel. As he continued on, trotting along the lath, he soon noticed a flock of seagulls fly off towards the sea just in front of him. It wasn't exactly the most surprising thing ever, as seagulls usually do that. Crusoe watched them go off towards the ocean, and down the beach, but as they did ...

Something was moving close to shore.

Crusoe looked over to the shallows, and he could just make out something in the water. The seagulls landed over along the shoreline, but seconds after they did, something swam up to the beach, and scared the birds off! It was so close to catching one of the birds, but the seagulls were just quick enough to avoid being snatched up. Coco Crusoe froze on seeing this random animal just show up, for it was nothing like he'd seen before. After missing the birds, it made a U-turn, and swam right back into the sea. Crusoe high-tailed it out of there straight afterwards, as the strange animal disappeared into the sea.

.......

"Okay Spike, is that list all set?" Twilight asked.

Back in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle was getting her list ready for the day with Spike, and at this point, Spike had a long list, with a quill in one claw, and the list in the other. Spike had spent an hour writing down what they were going to do for the day. Twilight's list of objectives ranged from visiting different places, to things only Twilight needed to check, which included 'checking the checklist', 'double-check the checklist', and even 'triple-check checklist so we didn't miss anything when we double-checked the checklist'. No joke. The very first thing even was 'create checklist', which Spike checked immediately when they were done so they could move on with the day and what they're supposed to do. The alicorn waited until Spike gave the green light with a nod of the head.

"Alright then, let's get going," Twilight decided, opening the door to the library, and taking a hoofstep outside. However, her hoof stepped down on the Ponyville newspaper. Twilight, being a reader of passion, took the moment to levitate the newspaper up to read it over. Spike walked over with the list behind him, as Twilight looked over the newspaper itself. What she read made her stop almost immediately.

"Living Fossil Fish encountered off the shores of Luna Bay."

The title alone made Twilight Sparkle excited, though Spike honestly didn't know what all the hubbub was about, trying to read it for himself. Twilight was especially excited to see such a report being put up, and with where the place was, Twilight Sparkle was simply excited. Spike got the newspaper, as Twilight was almost in Pinkie Pie mode.

"So ... what's the surprise here?"

"Don't you see Spike?! This is a big discovery in Equestria; a prehistoric animal rediscovered today! Everypony thought this was extinct for so long! Oh, if we can go and find it, it can be the biggest thing since Zap Apple Jam!" Twilight said. Maybe it was getting to her head, but, Twilight was onto something. Whatever this was, the reports claim it was a prehistoric creature, and if this really is some living fossil, then Twilight must check it out.

"You sure this guy didn't mistake it for something else? I mean, there's plenty of stuff like this all the time, and nine times out of ten they're just some trick somepony made up."

"Spike, I am NOT going to miss this opportunity! Come on, let's get the others," Twilight encouraged, galloping off fast.

"Wait, what about the list?!" Spike called. Twilight though didn't answer. Spike just shrugged, tossed the list back in the library, and raced off to join Twilight Sparkle. Looks like they're going off for some extra fun again.


~~~~~~


Outside of Equestria, off into Beach City on Earth, the life for the Gems and humans was basically as normal as it would have it. Out along the cooling waters, much like Equestria, the weather was lovely, and Lapis Lazuli was enjoying every moment of it by some calm walking along the walk, moving along it like gentle skating. It was something she loved to do, and the day was perfect for it. She did this a number of times before, one of which Fulgurite interrupted her in, but this time Lapis Lazuli wasn't being bothered too much, and it was a great time to move around. Underneath her was a sandy bay about fifteen feet deep, with small fish swimming around. And above her was Gannets, and Seagulls flying around in the sea breeze. As she was happily going along the water surface, she looked back to the shore, which showed Steven over on the shore, with Pearl, Flint, and Jade by him, watching her going along. Steven had a surfboard with him, and was already in his swimming trunks, so it was clear that he was going on out for some fun in the surf. Even if it was getting colder, Steven wanted some more fun before winter would set in, and as such, get too cold to swim around in the sea. Steven hopped up on the surfboard, and got right to Lapis Lazuli straight away.

"Hey, Steven. Ready to surf?" Lapis Lazuli asked, assuming that's what he wanted to do. Steven nodded happily.

"Let's do it!" Steven encouraged. Lapis Lazuli stayed calm, and began to work out the water a bit, and the once calm and collective waves began to turn into one, decently sized wave just for Steven to use. Lapis flew up in the air, and hovered above the water to control the wave. Steven got up on his surfboard, and began surfing around, having a lot of fun. Pearl and Jade watched Steven going around, as Flint just stayed by the wall, not really interested in what they were doing. Steven and Lapis were having a lot of fun, with Steven keeping good balance on his surfboard. While Lapis and Steven both were having a good time, Flint took just one glance out towards them, and that one glance showed him Steven, Lapis ...

And something else swimming in the water.

"Hey! Come back in!" Flint demanded. Steven and Lapis heard him loud and clear, but since Flint was nothing more than a downer, they didn't really bother themselves with him, and kept having their fun. Whatever was swimming in the water was swimming fairly fast, and over in their direction. Whether it was swimming at them or not was questionable, but Flint wasn't going to chance it.

"Get back in here, now!" Flint called again.

"What's the matter, they're having a good time," Jade said, not noticing anything. Flint moved both Jade and Pearl's heads over to the object swimming in the water.

"Well their fun's going to become trouble if they don't come in," Flint warned. Only then did Pearl and Jade realized what he meant, and tried to get their attention too, and get them to come in. The swimmer in the water began to swim off in Steven's path, but the stoked kid didn't realize until too late.

"Whoa!"

Steven suddenly got knocked off of his surfboard, almost like he struck a hard rock, and fell right into the water! Lapis immediately stopped her wave, and rushed in to get Steven. As Steven was in the water, he could barely see what had struck him, only seeing bubbles, blue water, and the blur of some sort of creature. It took one glance at him, its eye giving off a sort of shine, before it swam away. It was then that Steven was pulled out of the water by Lapis Lazuli, and brought over to shore. Flint was obviously not happy with this, as Steven was settled down onto shore.

"Steven! You okay?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Steven said.

"Next time when I say come in. come in," Flint said coldly. Lapis glared to him, as she and the rest looked out to the ocean where they had been hit. The surfboard was still there, and still out on the water. All of a sudden, something looped back around in the water, and jumped up to grab the surfboard. Once it breached the surface, they all just managed to get a look on what was off shore. The thing was a fish, but no ordinary fish. It was about as big as a man, rounded face with dull teeth. Three fins on the bottom, two fins on the top, one fin on the back and one per each side. Ancient-looking scales running along its length from head to tailfin, and a white, octagon, gemstone-like mark on its top fin. In one bite, it took the surfboard, and went off with it in a splash of white water ...

Everyone on shore was left blank-faced, but as for Lapis ...

"Oh my stars! I can't believe it!" Lapis gasped.

"Well, it's about time you -"

"THAT'S AMAZING!"

"Wait, what?"

Lapis looked completely psyched on what she had just witnessed; this prehistoric fish finally appearing off of their shores. Lapis was so excited, her wings were beating like a hummingbird, spraying the others by mistake in water. Lapis though had a huge smile, and starry eyes on what she had seen. Flint was completely speechless. To him, it was a dangerous Gem fish who nearly ate Steven!

"What's so amazing about some fish?" Pearl asked.

"SOME FISH? That's not just SOME fish! Oh my stars, that's a Coelacanth!" Lapis beamed. Leave it to Lapis to identify fish.

"A what?" Steven asked.

"Steven, what you just saw was a living fossil! Oh, this is so exciting!" Lapis beamed. Flint felt his hand meet his forehead, and a groan escape his mouth. Steven though was psyched about it, thinking this was some dinosaur fish they had just come across. The Coelacanth was just off shore, and every second they wasted, it was swimming away further and further off to the open ocean. Lapis looked out to the ocean, and suddenly had her hands on Steven's shoulder.

"Steven. Are you ready for an underwater expedition?" She asked, more serious in tone. The others were speechless, yet Steven had just one answer.

"... YES."

"Lapis, wait a minute!" Pearl suddenly said.

"You can't just run off into the sea!"

"Yes I can," Lapis said.

"No, no! Lapis, Steven's a human - he can't breathe underwater," Pearl retorted, bringing up a good point for Lapis Lazuli. Steven was a human, and therefore, he needed air to breathe. Steven really wanted to go however, and actually had his own solution; his bubble!

"Here we go; one air bubble, pink and ready to go," Steven said, summoning his bubble. So long as he had this, he had all the air he needed. Pearl considered, but was still against Steven just rushing to the depths of the ocean after just some fish. Flint too had his doubts.

"Steven, be realistic here. Do you have any clue what's down there?" Flint asked.

"That's where I come in. Come on, Steven survived plenty fine on his solo mission," Lapis pointed out.

"He's just a human kid, and he will not survive down there, and you know it. That solo mission was purely dumb luck," argued Flint. Lapis looked at him crossly. She opened her mouth, and readied to speak, but all that Flint got was a glare, as she turned around.

"Come on, Steven, I'll carry you," Lapis said, smiling to Steven. Jade didn't like to see Flint doing this, and the one with Garnet was a pain to listen to. Jade knew Flint, and she had seen how trusting Lapis and Steven could be. Just before Lapis could take off ...

"I'm coming too."

Everyone turned to Jade in surprise, as Jade walked over with a smile on her face. Flint was the most shocked to see Jade make this decision, of all things.

"W-What?" Flint got out.

"I trust them to keep me safe, Flint. Plus, it sounds interesting."

"W-What the - But what about me?" Flint asked. Jade though didn't answer. Still, Steven let her join him in the bubble anyway, despite Flint's demand not to. What was Jade thinking here?! Pearl was still a bit unnerved with Steven doing this, but with who was with him, she might as well give him a chance.

"Be careful Steven," Pearl advised.

"We will," Steven replied. Flint was still not sure about this whole thing, and didn't know what else to say. Jade and Steven looked up to Lapis, who was hovering above the bubble. She got some water from the sea, and used that as some large hands for extra grip. Soon, after that, they were flying off to the sea. Flint and Pearl both watched as they went off out into the open ocean ...


~~~~~~


Back in Equestria, the preparations for going off to the sea for the Mane Six was a little more complicated. For starters, many of her friends were willing to come aside from Steven's very few. Also, there was getting off to Luna Bay, which itself took an hour or so to get to (that was the easy part). What wasn't the easy part was getting themselves a proper submarine. Yeah, ponies have magic, but, they have technology too, and that includes submarines. Of course, getting one just wasn't as easy as it sounds. Once the ponies found the docks, Twilight was getting their rental sub all set, getting their stuff inside.

"Oh, this is so, so, so, exciting," Twilight said.

"Yeah, but why are we doing this again?" Rainbow Dash asked in a tired voice, giving a good yawn afterwards. She wasn't as awake as they were, and wasn't too enthusiastic as she'd normally be. Pinkie and Fluttershy were excited to go; Pinkie because she's Pinkie, and Fluttershy for the chance to explore the Equestrian seas for a bit, to find this prehistoric fish.

"Do any of you know how big this is? If we can document it, and bring it back, it can be the biggest discovery in years!" Twilight said. Rainbow Dash was still unconvinced all that much, giving another yawn, as Pinkie happily bounded over to Twilight. Fluttershy smiled.

"Oh, This is very exciting. It'll be nice to see a new fish in the ocean," Fluttershy agreed. Pinkie suddenly popped up behind her in a sailor suit.

"Let's sail these seas! AOGA!" Pinkie yelled in excitement, jumping right inside the submarine. Rainbow didn't find the fun in just staring at fish all day. She can't fly around inside of a submarine either.

"Oh, come on Rainbow dear, it can be a nice change of pace," Rarity said. Rainbow landed over next to her.

"Seriously, Rarity. What's so cool about staring at fish all day? It's SO BORING!"

"Says the mare who watched the butterfly migration with her friend without trouble," Rarity pointed out, giggling a little bit as Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"That was a favor for her, and you know it. Now come on, let's get this aquarium visit over with," Rainbow replied, as she went over to the submarine. Everypony else was inside aside from her and Rarity, and the two soon joined them inside. The interior of the submarine was big enough to accommodate ten ponies, so room wasn't too much trouble. Twilight took some time to work out the controls, as Applejack closed the hatch.

"Alright, everypony ready?" Applejack called. Everypony else nodded, as Twilight readied herself, driving the submarine forward.

"AOGA! AOGA! AOGA!"

"Okay, Pinkie," Twilight said. Soon, after a little bit of driving, the submarine started to ascend under the waves. Pinkie had her face pancaked to the window, watching them going into the ocean. Twilight, at the controls, went straight ahead into deeper water. Twilight figured that it'll be a while until they would come close to finding anything remotely similar to what she had read on about, but in just a few short minutes ...

"THERE IT IS!" Twilight said, pointing ahead. Pretty soon, in the clear water, everypony looked over to the frontal windows, and soon saw something prehistoric swimming quietly just in front of them, looking just as the report described it in the newspaper. The fish took one look at them before it began to swim away. Of course, Twilight went on, and followed the fish off into the blue ocean.


~~~~~~


Back in Beach City, Lapis had flown pretty far out into the calm oceans. She had gone out plenty far, to the point when Beach City was but a spec. Steven could actually hold the city in his hand if he wanted to, it was that small. Jade and Steven took one more look back to Beach City one more time, before looking up to Lapis.

"Okay, this should be far enough. Are you two ready?" Lapis asked, looking down to them both.

"I'm ready, Lapis!" Steven said. Jade just nodded yes. With the green light, Lapis dropped the bubble into the water. Unlike any normal bubble, this one dropped down right away, sinking like a rock. Jade and Steven sank down further and further, as Lapis dove down to join them herself. Steven and Jade looked around at where they had ended up. The ocean was wide, and at first they didn't see much of anything, but as they kept going down, they started to see the seabed, and what they were heading towards. Underneath them, they landed comfortably down on the sandy seabed, finding themselves in a area of rocky outcrops. There was a few schools of fish, and even a jellyfish going around slowly, but not very much of the Coelacanth they'd seen earlier. There was still plenty of light from the surface, so they weren't in the dark themselves. As for the fish, it wasn't really anything special; mostly just schools of sardines hanging around the coasts, and shallow water jellyfish here and there. They did see strands of tall seaweed farther off, but apart from that, there wasn't much vegetation. Lapis floated down next to them, as Steven and Jade looked around at the ocean around them. Steven and Jade began moving forward, as Lapis swam alongside them.

"Is this ... Well, all the ocean?" Jade asked, getting a little curious. She had yet to explore the Earth sea like Lapis did, so, her knowledge about it was very limited. Lapis and Steven were a bit unsure with Jade, seeing her just ditch Flint back at the shore, but they didn't want to bring it up yet.

"Not at all, there's a ton more areas in the ocean. This is just one spot of plenty of beautiful areas," Lapis replied. Being a Gem of water, speech impediment in water was not a problem for her, the Gem able to speak in the water as easily as she would be in the air. Jade found this very interesting, as they went along. Steven glanced up, and began to see a large fish swim by just above them. It wasn't the Coelacanth, but just a sea bass going along its way. The sardines quickly scattered though when the Sea Bass tried to get itself a meal of fish, but the sardines moved a lot faster, and avoided becoming a bigger fish's snack. The Sea Bass paused once it saw the bubble next to it, and quickly swam away from it fast, going out of sight. Steven looked up once a shadow suddenly moved over them, and just swimming above them, sure enough, was the same Coelacanth! It didn't seem to notice the three just yet, but Lapis Lazuli was simply psyched on seeing it, starry eyes and all.

"There it is!" Lapis gasped happily. The Coelacanth though heard them, and began to swim away with a few strokes of its fins. Lapis went behind the bubble, and helped give Steven and Jade some speed so they could keep up with it. The Coelacanth was swimming off at a good pace. As the Coelacanth kept swimming, the mark on its top fin reflected the light from the surface, making it shine a little bit. It was a strange feature, but Lapis was more focused on just keeping up with it, as the Coelacanth swam off into deeper waters.

"Wait, come back -"

Suddenly, Steven and Jade's bubble began rolling down a slope in front of them! The land made a deep dive down, and since the two were in a round bubble, they were stuck in spinning around. Lapis tried to help, but they were rolling pretty fast. Suddenly, Jade and Steven were pinned to the walls of the bubble, spinning in circles Soon, the bubble did end up making a stop when the sand piled up in front of them. The bubble didn't pop though, thank goodness, but Lapis Lazuli was having trouble seeing what was going on due to the tossed up sand.

"Steven! Jade! You two alright?" Lapis called out. Once the sand had cleared, Jade and Steven were still in the bubble, and the two looked okay overall. Steven was a little dizzy, but he was fine all the same. Lapis was relieved, and the two other Gems looked up towards her. At first, they saw Lapis only, but soon something else started to swim back towards her, Lapis not seeing it just yet. It wasn't until it slid one of its fins along her side did Lapis see what it was. The same Coelacanth. It swam down to the bubble, circling it for a little bit to see what was going on. Odd though on how it was just swimming away from them earlier. It did this for a few more seconds, before the Coelacanth began to swim away again. Strange.


~~~~~~


"UGH, this is SO BORING."

That was Rainbow's main reaction, as they were going along in their submarine. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were enjoying the ride along the underwater seabed. Unlike the seas of Earth, Equestrian seas had their own sea life, which the Mane six keep on seeing as they went along. Just off the coasts, and they already were heading through some coal reefs. In the world of ponies, pollution wasn't as bad, so reefs were easier to find. They were beautiful to watch, with all sorts of fish going by, from small yellow tang, to grouper hidden in the corals.

"Oh, why didn't I bring my sketchpad for the trip?" Rarity thought allowed, disappointed. Rainbow just yawned though.

"Come on, Rainbow. You gotta admit this looks cool," Spike said.

"Yeah, they're colorful, but where's the energy - the action? Seriously, this is just a bore fest," Rainbow admitted. She could've easily got out of Fluttershy's butterfly migration if it wasn't for her closest friend, but this wasn't Fluttershy's idea, and she didn't have any gills to swim back so she was stuck staring at the fishes and coral. from the sub window.

"It's not that bad. The least you can do is enjoy it," Twilight said, turning back to her. Rainbow rested her head by the window, only to be met by a fish face staring directly at her. Rainbow jumped back, and found herself looking at a passing Grouper. It didn't bother much with them other than a swim by, and possibly just to spook Rainbow Dash, before swimming away. The others couldn't help but giggle a little bit, Pinkie especially. After that little spook, Twilight went back to looking in front of them. She saw plenty of lovely fish, sure, but just up ahead she began to see her target. Up ahead, she saw a similar looking fish from the newspaper she read up on about. Seeing it, her eyes lit up.

"Girls, there it is!" Twilight beamed. The others quickly rushed up to see, and sure enough it was the fish. It had armor plating lining its head, three fins on the bottom, two on the top, one on each side and one on the back for the tail. It looked similar to the one that Steven and Lapis had seen back in their world, but this one was slightly smaller, and a more prominent blue color to its scales. That was debatable though from the color of the water, but, that can be debated later. The prehistoric fish kept itself still, fins spread out, as it looked right to the ponies inside the submarine. Twilight was very happy to see it in front of her.

"Oh my Celestia. We're looking at the oldest fish in history!" Twilight gasped. The prehistoric fish took a moment, looking right inside, before it began to swim around the submarine. Twilight tried to get a camera ready to take some observation photos, but by the time she got it out, the prehistoric fish was already swimming out of shot. Twilight kept going around and trying her best, but the prehistoric fish was simply too far away.

"Come on, after that fish," Twilight announced, getting the submarine moving again.

"Let's go!" Pinkie beamed. Pretty soon, the Mane six were off again, and they went right after the fish.

The Mane Six continued in exploring the depths and following their own prehistoric fish for a while afterwards. It honestly had been rather mundane, and their progress had been unsuccessful, with the motivation almost one-sided. Only Rainbow Dash seemed more or less bored AND willing to share it, as the rest supported their friend in her conquest to study on the fish. As for keeping up with the fish, the submarine had no such problem with doing so, as they managed to keep up with the prehistoric animal for quite sometime, the fish about ten feet ahead of them the whole time. Twilight kept adding in more notes as she observed what the fish was doing, but so far the fish had only been just swimming, and nothing really special. The ponies continued looking on outside time and time again, seeing plenty of fish around the place as they continued, even after heading away from the coastal reefs and onto more open water. The fish range from plenty of species as they continued on. They were stuck with a few fish that traveled with them, which included small striped pilot fish swimming along the front of the Submarine. They were a nice sight, but that wasn't really why they came out here in the first place as far as Twilight was concern.

"Still on that fish's tail?" Rainbow asked eventually.

"It's still right in front of us," replied Twilight. Rainbow slumped in her seat, as Rarity drew down some design ideas that were inspired by the Pilot Fish and their zebra-like pattern. AJ did notice Rainbow's real boredom after a bit.

"You still bored, aren't ya?" Applejack assumed. Rainbow's main response came with a groan, and resting her face on the window of the sub. Aside from the pilot fish occasionally swimming in front of the window, there really wasn't much to see outside of the submarine. The Pilot fish, and the prehistoric one seemed to be the main fish around them for the moment.

"Hey, you might as well try to make the best of it. This is important to Twilight, and we both know how far THAT can get her to," Applejack suggested.

"I know, I know. But we've been going around this ocean for hours, and we still hadn't came across anything exciting. swimming with a Lake Squid's probably better than just a tour of the blue sea," Rainbow replied.

"I know this may not be yer idea of a good time, but at least try to deal with it until Twilight's done, okay?"

"UGH, fine," Rainbow finally agreed. If she was going to get stuck in here, she might as well make the best of it. The two ponies looked out into the sea again, but when they did, something was starting to swim towards them. The Pilot Fish, and prehistoric Fish swam away fast, as the larger animal started to head right to the Submarine. Rainbow and Applejack saw it first, and they were quick to recognize what was coming their way. This animal was the basic example of two animals mixed into one; the first half was part lion, which included the mane and front legs and paws, and the bottom half a large trout with green scales and a large tail fin. More or less, that was mainly it, but the animal made a loud roar to catch their attention.

A Merlion. And a big one at that - twice the size of a regular lion on land. This one had quite a large lower jaw, with a few dull yet thick teeth jutting out of it. And obviously, this one wasn't happy to find a bunch of ponies just showing up on his turf.

"Oh boy, Twilight floor it!" Rainbow yelled. Twilight wasted no time, and the submarine moved just fast enough to avoid the first bite. The Merlion of course quickly began to give chase, as Twilight tried her best to control the ship and avoid the Merlion jaws as much as she could manage. It wasn't exactly easy though, the submarine not exactly built for advanced maneuverability at high speed. The Merlion had no such problem, and got its paws and jaws onto the side of the sub.

"We're ditching out!" Rainbow Dash suddenly said, shoving Twilight aside, grabbing the controls, and making the Submarine go in a barrel roll. The spin made everypony in the submarine very dizzy, and the Merlion was no exception to that either, letting them go for just a moment to gather his senses. Rainbow shook off her dizziness, and got the ship moving again, racing off to deeper water. The Merlion roared again, and swam right past them to block their path!

"Rainbow, move out of the way!" Twilight yelled.

"Hang on tight!" Rainbow warned. she wasn't stopping for anypony, and everypony else in the Sub braced for impact. The Merlion didn't budge, thinking that the Submarine would stop, but once it realized they weren't it was too late to move. The Merlion was hit broadside, and tossed into a head over tail spin. The Merlion didn't realize until too late that the ship was out of sight, once it got upright again. The ponies didn't realize until later themselves that the Merlion was gone, and they calmed down.

"Well, that happened," Fluttershy commented. However, Rainbow flew around inside the Submarine, thrilled with what just happened.

"Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! did you see that Merlion's face?!" Rainbow said with a smile. While not planned, at least Rainbow wasn't bored anymore. The others got themselves steady, and Twilight took back the controls from Rainbow.

"Well, let's pray to Celestia that it doesn't happen again, please?" Twilight stated, putting the Submarine at a more steady and controllable speed. However, in their rush, they unfortunately lost where their prehistoric fish was ...

And for that matter, where they were ...


~~~~~~


Back in Beach City, Lapis, Steven, and Jade were still going along the ocean floor, following the Coelacanth for a while longer. It was still peculiar that the Coelacanth did what it did. First it took Steven's surfboard, then it swam away from then, and then it came back to check in on them. Not exactly something any modern fish would do, never mind a prehistoric one like this. Lapis walked alongside Steven and Jade for a little bit, but this downtime did eventually got Steven and Lapis thinking a bit more, especially about Jade ...

"Okay, no one else is going to say it; Jade, what happened with you and Flint back there?" Lapis finally asked. Steven would ask, and probably would've if the silence lasted any longer. Jade stopped herself, making the bubble stop.

"... Well, sorry you two had to deal with him. He's just ... Well ... Don't tell Flint I told you this, can you promise that?" Jade asked. Lapis and Steven both agreed before Jade sighed.

"I know Flint can be a bit harsh at times. But really ... He's actually very ... insecure."

"Insecure?"

"It may not look like it, but he worries a lot. Maybe even more than Pearl at times ... I wanted to show him that he can trust you by coming with you ..."

Steven and Lapis looked to eachother for a moment or two, thinking about what she had said. Steven had some idea about the insecurities, especially during his first time as Stevonnie, and Lapis Lazuli can perhaps get the idea across too. It would explain his recent activity lately, anyway, but it didn't excuse how harsh he was actually being when acting on these insecurities ...

"How long was he like this?"

"... Ever since we left Homeworld," Jade admitted.

Before their conversation could continue, the three then felt a current go by, as the Coelacanth swam over to them again. Lapis was gently pushed by the Coelacanth, the mark on its top fin right in her face, as it swam slowly over to the bubble.

"What does it want?" Lapis wondered. However, she took a better look at the mark on the Coelacanth's top fin. The mark didn't seem to flow in with the rest of the scales, but instead edged in. Similar to how someone might edge a picture into a tree. That seemed ... strange. The Coelacanth swan over to the back of the bubble, and suddenly began to push it, its tail swimming hard to push them. Not it was clear the Coelacanth wanted to take them somewhere, but where exactly was the big question ...

The Coelacanth continued swimming on for another hour or so, with the Gems following behind. This kept up for quite some time, and Lapis, Steven, and Jade wondered where the Coelacanth was actually taking them. The terrain had shifted around into a flat sea plain of long sand, and the light was dimming a bit more from going a bit deeper. The Gems weren't effected very much by the shift, including Lapis who wasn't even in the bubble like the other two were. Fish began to become a little less abundant as they continued on, and the Coelacanth kept swimming ahead at a steady speed. A pretty nice walk, but they were still wondering what the deal was about. The Coelacanth continued going long for a while, until it suddenly started to swim a little faster.

"Wait, where're you going?" Steven called, trying to keep up with the fish. Soon, the Coelacanth started to disappear further ahead, as the path started to dip ahead of them.

That's when they saw where the Coelacanth was taking them.

Over ahead of them, although the light was indeed dim, the trio of Gems began to see where the Coelacanth had been trying to bring them over to. The area was large, flattened, and ancient. It appeared to be, to their surprise, an ancient underwater ruin! It wasn't any Atlantis, or Tunguska, but it was still a unique spot regardless of the case. It looked like a large, submerged shrine of sorts. The overall structure was in the shape of a T, with the largest room connecting the other halls. Apart from the domed center room, the other rooms had a triangle roof. However, all of the walls were glass, and see-through. The interior was completely filled to the brim of seawater. As they looked it over, Steven began to have his memory go to work, as the Coelacanth swam right over to it. The prehistoric fish found a small hatch that was just big enough for the fish, as it swam inside.

"It's the Time Temple," Lapis realized. Steven never exactly got the name of the place, but he still knew the place from before.

"Time Temple? That's what it's called?" Steven asked.

"Right. Sounds like you've been here before?"

"Yeah, only once. I kinda ran into hundreds of other Stevens while I was there," Steven replied, a bit embarrassed. How could he forget that kind of detail? He just went in, and suddenly hundreds of Steven with time machines just popped up and were fighting eachother. Grant it, some of them had a sort of hairstyle change, but apart from that, they all looked the same. One thing he surely remembered was how freaked out Pearl was, and Amethyst helped count out how many they're actually was (more than twenty, that's for sure).

"Guess someone's past self was messing around with time, Steven," Lapis joked. Steven blushed a little bit, as the Coelacanth swam back out, getting their attention again. Looked like it wanted them to come inside. So, with come control by Lapis so they wouldn't "bowling ball" their way inside, they began to descend down into the pit where the Temple was located. Steven, Jade, and Lapis got themselves down easy, and stopped themselves down right at the glass windows. It would be easy for Lapis to go in, but in his bubble, Steven and Jade were too big to just go right on it. The Coelacanth looked in from the other side of the glass, like a fish in an aquarium. It was clear it wanted them inside, but Steven can't physically go out of his bubble without drowning himself in the process.

"Okay guys, let's head in," Lapis said, swimming up to the hole the Coelacanth went through. However, Steven and Jade looked to each other first, and Lapis stopped herself half way up.

"Aren't you guys coming?"

"Lapis, I can't; I'm a human, remember? Humans can't breathe underwater," Steven reminded. Lapis floated back down.

"Oh yeah. right. Well, maybe there's another way in?"

Apparently, the Coelacanth heard them, because after Lapis said that, the fish began to bang its head on the glass. The glass piece in particular it was banging against was quite large, and seemed to be the perfect size to fit inside with Steven in the bubble. It didn't take very long until the other Gems figured it out, and Steven began to move over to the glass. The Coelacanth moved out of the way, as Steven gathered his nerves.

"Uh, Steven? What're you doing?" Jade asked, a bit nervous on what he had in mind.

"We're gonna try to get in," Steven answered. Suddenly, Steven got the bubble rolling. Jade was not ready, and kinda stumbled as Steven hit the glass with his bubble. It barely made any dent, but Lapis quickly stopped him from going any further.

"Wait, wait, wait! Maybe a less violent way to go in. Wait here," Lapis said, as she started to swim again. In no time at all, Lapis slipped through the hole the Coelacanth was, and soon appeared inside the place, alongside the Coelacanth. Steven and Jade looked over to Lapis, as she tried to figure out how to get them inside. The Coelacanth tried ramming again, but Lapis stopped it before it could break the glass. Lapis tried to figure something out without destroying the Gem location. Looking it over, she began to see the glass a little bit closer, and soon started to push on it, kicking her feet. The ramming didn't break the glass, but it did get it a bit loose - good thing. Steven and Jade backed up, as Lapis, using as much strength as she could, got the glass loose, and finally got it out of the way. Soon as they got the right of way, the two other Gems happily went on inside. The interior of the place was a bit empty, yet the main room they were in had a lot of hourglasses of varying sizes and shapes. Boy, did Steven knew this room well. However, with the water flooding the place, the large hourglasses were on the ground in a number of places, while the smaller ones were floating around in the water as if the gravity was off in the place. Seems the place had undergone some sort of trouble. The Coelacanth swam circles around the place for a little bit, as the trio of Gems continued to look around the area.

"I think someone took the wrong hourglass," Lapis figured, which was true. The Coelacanth moved along the sides of the room, moving around some hourglasses floating in the water. Steven watched it go around, occasionally biting one of the hourglasses before letting it go. Steven thought it over for a moment, and began to slowly figure out what this fish was trying to accomplish ...

"Guys?" Steven said eventually, turning to Jade and Lapis.

"What?"

"I think it wants us to bring it back home," Steven concluded, as the Coelacanth tried another, larger hourglass, but spat it out soon afterwards. Lapis and Jade watched the Coelacanth do this a number of times before reaching the same conclusion. This was a prehistoric fish, and this one in particular was put in the wrong time period.

And they knew how these Time capsules worked ...


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, however, the Mane six were having some bit of trouble. Since their excursion with the Merlion, they had pretty much got themselves lost in very deep waters of the Equestrian ocean. It was like the water equivalent of a desert; with no freshwater to drink, and them having no idea where to go, they were kind of stuck all things considered. Twilight got the Submersible up to the calm surface of the ocean, but that didn't seem to help them out much either. When the others opened the top hatch to look around, all they saw was water, water, and more water. Oh, and clouds in the sky, but that was about it.

"See anything?" Rarity asked.

"Not a thing. Just a ton of water," sighed Twilight. Twilight, Rainbow, or even Fluttershy could try to fly off to find land, but as good of an idea as it sounded, it was easier said than done. for one, they didn't know which direction land would be, and also, it could be days before they would even come close. Besides, not all of them could fly anyway, so the idea of flying back was ruled out entirely. Twilight now began to feel a little bit ashamed to getting her friends into this kind of trouble, and sat down with her ears back, and eyes to the floor.

"Twilight, you alright?" applejack asked.

"I'm very sorry, girls. If only I knew we'd be in this kind of mess, I'd stop this expedition in the first place," twilight said, guilt filling her voice. Again, she didn't mean to get her friends into this sort of trouble, and now that they were stuck in the middle of the sea, they were in quite a lot of trouble. The others though didn't want to see Twilight sad like this.

"Don't be like that, Twilight. You didn't know this'll happen," Applejack started, a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"That, and we've dealt with quite our fair share of dangerous situations before this one, you know," added Rarity.

"Yeah! We faced Gem monsters, evil unicorns, mean bulls, dragons, all sorts of bad guys! And we made it through them with flying colors!" Pinkie Pie pointed out.

"Don't be worried Twilight. We'll find our way back to shore, I'm sure of that," Rarity finished. Twilight looked to her friends, smiling, though she still felt that she let them down. Twilight Sparkle hugged her friends.

"Thank you. you're the best," Twilight said. Before they could continue though, Rainbow poked her head back into the Submarine.

"Hey, I think I found something!" Rainbow announced, catching their attention back outside. The ponies looked outside, and Rainbow pointed out off shore. From their view, they began to see a noticeable fin heading right to them! Like they needed anymore trouble from any underwater predators. There was about five fins, each one heading their way in unison. At first, they thought it was a pack of sharks, but one breach from one of the animals showed not Sharks, but a pod of Dolphins! In particular, these were Spinner Dolphins, and it was clear when they spun in the air like a spiraling torpedo. Fluttershy was the most excited to see these creatures, as the pod went along the Submarine in curiosity.

"OH! Spinner Dolphins. They're so beautiful," Fluttershy praised, the pod not scared of the submarine in anyway. Guess the Equestrian Dolphins didn't had much worry over the dominant species of this world compared to Earth counterparts. Immediately, Fluttershy got an idea.

"I think I know what to do," Fluttershy said, heading towards the water edge as one of the Spinner Dolphins poked its head out of the water to see her.

"Excuse me? Does anypony in your pod know where the Equestria shores are?" Fluttershy asked. If anything knew their way around the ocean and willing to help out, it would be a seagoing Dolphin. The Dolphin in question made a few clicks and whistles, like a Dolphin would normally do, and Fluttershy nodded after a bit.

"Well, what did they say?" Twilight asked.

"She said to travel along the western current. It passes just alongside Manehattan from there," Fluttershy explained.

"Perfect! Let's get going!"

Before they could go though, a few more clicks and whistles caught Fluttershy's attention, and she turned back to another Spinner Dolphin. Fluttershy listened in, and eventually nodded. The Spinner Dolphin continued with its Dolphin talk for a good few minutes, until eventually Fluttershy turned back to the rest of the Mane six.

"What is it now?" Rainbow asked.

"She said that the Coelacanth wanted to take us somewhere."

"The See-low-what-now?" Pinkie question, head tilted in confusion like a dog.

"That ancient fish we kept following. Something about our magic helping it out in something important," Fluttershy answered. This was indeed something interesting; not only was it a prehistoric fish, but a prehistoric fish that actually needed their help. It wasn't just an expedition this time, but it was aid that the fish needed them for. Kind of strange that the first report had the same fish trying to eat a seagull though. Now they HAD to find that Coelacanth again, but where did it go was the question? the Merlion chase surely didn't help them in that, especially after it swam off just beforehoof.

"What sort of something?" Rarity asked.

"They're not too sure about that. The Coelacanth didn't say much on what it was about," Fluttershy answered. That got them a bit suspicious on that, but considering it was either home or help, they had to at least figure that out.

"Alright everypony, back in the sub," Twilight instructed, and everypony went back inside, Rainbow Dash closing the hatch behind them. The Spinner Dolphins themselves were happy to oblige, and they moved aside so the Ponies could get the submarine going without hitting any of them. One of the Dolphins called to them from outside, and Fluttershy heard them out and clear.

"They said they'll show us the way," Fluttershy answered.

"Wonderful. Let's go everypony," twilight said. The Spinner Dolphins began swimming alongside and in front of them, and soon the Submarine was off again. Maybe they had a better reason to be out in the ocean after all.


~~~~~~


Back in the Time Temple, the time spent within it was quite a long one for the Gems. Even if there was a lot of hourglasses, the Coelacanth didn't seem to be looking for just any hourglass - only one will do. So far though, Steven, Lapis, and Jade tried to look for the right one, but it seemed that the coelacanth was either very picky, or there really was just one that'll work, because it wouldn't take whichever one they grabbed. Lapis was the one who was grabbing the hourglasses, as the other two pointed them out to her, since they were in the bubble still. The Coelacanth circled around them both at one point, pushing around another hourglass floating inside.

"This isn't getting anywhere. Over half of these Hourglasses don't even work," Lapis sighed, heading over back to the others. They've tried practically every single Hourglass, and none of them seemed to either be the right one, or be one that actually worked for them. The Coelacanth continued swimming slowly around the place, as if waiting for another hourglass. However, after trying basically all of them, they honestly didn't know which one to try next.

"We can't find the right hourglass. I'm sorry," Steven said to the fish. The Coelacanth didn't react at first, but began to swim off down the long hall. They weren't sure if it was because it gave up, or if it was disappointed in them. Either way was a reasonable option, and Steven felt bad that they couldn't help the Coelacanth.

"There, there Steven. It's okay," Jade said, trying to comfort him. However, Lapis watched the fish, but eventually the Coelacanth began to swim back from the dark waters, but this time holding something in its mouth. It looked like another hourglass, but this one was attached to a chain. It was kinda small, about the size of a baseball, but it seemed that this one in particular was what the Coelacanth was trying to handle. It wasn't looking for one, it was trying to find someone to work it.

"This the right one?" Lapis asked. The Coelacanth released it, and let it float down to them, Lapis Lazuli holding onto it. The Coelacanth swan very close, as Lapis Lazuli looked it over a little bit. It appeared a bit dated, but still operational. Lapis thought it over, and got a proper time period for the fish to belong to. So, with a nod of the head, she looked down to the object.

"Take us all to Coelacanth's home time period."

And with that, it activated with a bright blue flash that covered Lapis, Jade, Steven, and the Coelacanth. Soon though, they were gone.


~~~~~~


Back with the Mane Six, the group kept following he Spinner Dolphins for quite a long ways, the memorable creatures remembering where the Coelacanth had said before. It was a good thing Fluttershy understood these animals, otherwise they'd still be wandering around the ocean with nowhere to go. The Spinner Dolphins swam along with them, guiding them along through the open waters for a good while. It took them a bit, but they did eventually begin to see something else besides the open ocean.

Diving down a bit more, the submarine and its inhabitants began to see a large, rock wall further down from the ocean surface. Once the Mane Six were able to see it, the Spinner Dolphin pod swam away, no longer needing to guide them along once they could see it. Moving the ship closer, they were starting to see what appeared to be an underwater ruin, built within the rock wall, similar tot he Quarry back on homeworld where Sapphire and Lapis went to. The door looked like it had some sort of diamond symbol, with four colored diamonds labeled on it; Pink, Yellow, Blue, and White. Normally, this may not be that big of a issue, but they weren't diving in Earth seas, but in Equestrian seas. That meant that seeing this sort of thing was a first time thing. The door was sealed shut, and once more, they began to see something swimming around near the front door, as they brought the submarine closer.

It was the same Coelacanth they'd been following!

The prehistoric fish was swimming around close to the door, as if trying to find a way inside, but with little success. The ponies inside the ship wasted no time in getting their ship closer to the Coelacanth, and closer to the door. The Mane Six were impressed with what they were seeing.

"Is that the Diamond Authority symbol?" Questioned Twilight, remembering seeing the symbol a number of times before during her Homeworld visits. The key different was that the Pink Diamond symbol was present, while the current ones on Homeworld had the other three and nothing extra. Either way, the Coelacanth wasn't swimming away this time, and just kept making circles around the door slowly and steadily.

"This must be what the Dolphins were talking about," Fluttershy pointed out, and indeed it was.

"Anypony have an idea on how to get in?" Twilight asked. The others weren't so sure, but Rarity looked closely at the symbols shown. The white unicorn thought it over a little bit, and soon she got an idea after glancing at her own Blue Diamond cutie mark. It was a longshot, but maybe it can work similar to before ...

"I think I got it," Rarity said, bringing the submarine closer to the door. She hoped for a sort of scanner bot, or some sort of identification "eye" to show itself so it can see her Cutie Mark, and let them in, but instead this one was a bit more straightforward. Rarity stood in front to see the door itself, and soon the Blue diamond symbol began to glow a bit.

"Twilight? Be a dear, and lend me a hoof with this please?" Rarity asked politely. Twilight nodded, getting the idea once she saw the Blue Diamond symbol glow. Twilight and Rarity together focused their magic, and the two unicorns began to replicate a large Diamond symbol as a hologram from their combined magic. They got the symbol just outside of the submarine, and made it large enough to be easily seen as well. The Coelacanth swam aside so to not disturb the hologram. Soon, the shine began to glow brighter, and made a flash. Soon, slowly, the doors began to slide open! The Coelacanth didn't wait for them to finish opening, and slid through quickly as they continued to open up. The Mane Six though waited until the doors finished opening before they began to venture inside, following the prehistoric fish in.

When going through, the halls were very dark, and completely flooded with seawater from top to bottom.  It was getting darker very quickly, so the ponies got the Submarine's lights on so they could see where they were going. The halls were big enough for the submarine to go through with general ease, as they followed the Coelacanth on where it wanted to go. The light showed very outdated walls, some covered in underwater algae. They didn't see very much apart from that, but as they kept going, they started to see more light further away, as the Coelacanth quickly went through to it around the corner. What the Mane six did see was simply amazing ...

There was so much to see in sjust a few seconds of entering the area. For starters, the area was covered in green plants, from underwater kelp, to rock-clinging algae, to fields of sea grass along the floor, which was covered in sand from outside. The ruins inside showed an underwater city that would've been a vivid colony for Gems, but had long since been forgotten for quite sometime judging by the age and structure of the pathways, staircases, and monuments around the area. They even saw a statue that looked very similar to Blue diamond with her cloak, holding a stone diamond in her hands. The statue, of course, looked very old, and plants grew from it from lack of maintenance. Another unique feature was that there was a large air pocket above them, waterfalls pouring in from underground rivers from outside. What was the most fascinating was the number of other sea creatures roaming around the place; from Equestrian variants such as Dwarf sea serpents, to Earth variants such as the small Hybodus. They even saw other shoals of Coelacanths as well. There seemed to be two types of Coelacanths in this place; one looking like the Equestrian Coelacanth they'd been following, but there was another one slightly larger, and duller in color when comparing. The Coelacanth they were following quickly joined in with the schools, and swan with the other Coelacanth, as the Mane Six marveled at the place they were in. No one was more amazed than Twilight and Fluttershy, simply amazed and captivated by the prehistoric ecosystem. There was many sorts of animals, from the small armored fish that swam right next to the Windows, to the much larger reptilian aquatic beasts. One of these, a long necked plesiosaur, brought its head right over to the submarine, and gently allowed them to move pass it. Everypony was simply spellbound by the scenery, like if they stepped back in time.

"Oh my Celestia," Rarity gasped.

"Amazing," gasped Fluttershy.

As they kept going along, the submarine quiet, suddenly they started to see a commotion; another light farther away, closer to the Blue Diamond statue. The light wasn't as bright, but still noticed by the mane six. Once the light did disappear, they soon found that the place had a visitor ...

Lapis, Jade, and Steven!

Their Coelacanth swam up to its own kind, joining the same school the Equestrian Coelacanth joined in. Lapis, Steven, and Jade all looked around the place, with just as much shock and awe as the Ponies had. Soon, the Mane Six and the Gems quickly saw eachother.

"Steven!"

"Twilight?!"

The submarine drove down closer, as the Gems moved closer as well. When they fully got it, Twilight pointed up to the surface so they could better talk to eachother. The Mane Six brought the submarine to the surface, and the Gems did the same. Steven finally popped his bubble, and he and Jade swam to the surface.

Once the group did get to the surface, they got an even better look at the area above the water. The walls were covered in hieroglyphs of Gems, and the tops of monuments and pathways stood along the area. The ponies and Gems got themselves on one of these platforms to finally get themselves moving, and relax a bit. There was still animals on the surface as well as underwater, the most notable being the diplocaulus.

"It's great to see you guys," Twilight started.

"Same, but how'd you get here? This is the past, isn't it?" Steven questioned, looking around. Applejack shook her head.

"Nah, y'all are in Equestria. We'd just as well ask you the same question," AJ answered. That seemed to surprise the Gems even more. The object they used wasn't a dimensional teleporter, but an object from the Time Temple. How did they end up in Equestria?! Well, regardless of the case, stranger things had happened. Lapis looked to the object she was still holding, which no longer was active compared to earlier.

"Weird," sighed Lapis.

"Does this place belong to you Gems? We found a number of artifacts that come close," Rarity asked.

"Not sure. It doesn't look familiar to me," said Lapis.

"Me neither," added Jade.

"Well, I'm just happy our Coelacanth made it okay," Fluttershy said, looking back into the water.

"Wait, you were helping a Coelacanth too?" Jade asked, walking over to her side. Fluttershy nodded, and the two looked into the water, able to see the Coelacanths they helped get back here. They both looked a lot happier now that they're back where they belong.

"Looks like they're both happy again," Twilight noted, walking over as well. Everybody and everypony agreed once looking into the place. With all that said and done, there's still the matter on getting home. They've traveled very far all things considered. However, their constant discovery wasn't done just yet. Looking around on the platform they were on ...

"A warp pad?" Lapis realized.

Something did come close to one. At the center of their platform, there seemed to be a sort of platform that resembled a Warp Pad. It looked very old, and unlike the Warp Pads on Homeworld or on Earth, VERY outdated, and worn out. It was about as strange of sight as the place itself. It looked fairly big, slightly bigger than a regular Warp Pad. They looked around it for a moment or two, checking it over.

"Does it work?" Twilight wondered.

"Beats me," Lapis replied.

"WAIT!" Pinkie yelped. She quickly leaped into the submarine for a second, and popped back out with a camera in her mouth.

"Photo op!" Pinkie beamed, hopping out with the camera. They might as well take one picture while here. Twilight smiled.

"Alright, Pinkie," Twilight decided. Pinkie smiled wide, and hopped over to the group. Twilight used her magic to bring the camera out to a farther distance to get the group together, everybody and everypony on the Warp Pad. The picture was perfect all things considered. But now, with everyone on the Warp Pad, the stage was set for one final surprise.

The Warp Pad activated!!

........

"What the hay happened?!"

Next thing they knew, the ponies and Gems were all teleported away, and found themselves in ... Everfree Castle?! That was a shocker of all shocks. Twilight flew out to be sure of it, and sure enough, they were indeed in the old castle of the Everfree Forest, Ponyville not too far off.

"We're back home!" Twilight announced, flying back down.

"Home? You mean Ponyville?" Rainbow asked.

"See for yourself," Twilight encouraged. Rainbow flew up, and saw the same thing.

"There's Warp Pads in Equestria too? Who'd of thought? We gotta tell Garnet about this!" Lapis beamed.

"That was a lot of fun, of course!" Steven agreed. The Mane Six got off the Warp Pad, and waved goodbye as their special Warp Pad teleported the Gems back to their world. That was surely quite a traveling adventure, and now they had an even bigger discovery. Gem locations in Equestria!

This was gonna be interesting.


~~~~~~


... Limits weakened ...
> Viva Las Pegasus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Amethyst! how many times do I have to tell you to stop dumping your garbage on the floor?!"

Another typical day over in the Beach House, and Pearl was pretty ticked off to come back home, only to find that Amethyst had just finished her eating. Unfortunately Amethyst had already left, so Pearl's snap was basically aimed at no one. In fact, no one else was in the Beach House except for Pearl. Amethyst left her  with plenty of wrappers from snacks she gobbled up. Judging by the remote control for Steven's Gamecube left on his bed, it probably was from a gaming session. Pearl went ahead, and grabbed the bits of trash, some of which had bite marks in them. Pearl was surprised the bags hadn't been completely eaten. It was honestly becoming a bit annoying. As Pearl continued to pick up the garbage, Garnet soon came on inside, only to see Pearl grumbling a little to herself.

"Stressed, Pearl?" Garnet asked.

"You'd think that Amethyst would clean up after herself," Pearl grumbled. Garnet stayed monotone, but she knew same as anybody that Pearl had been a little bit stressed as of late. Pearl continued picking up Amethyst's trash, as Garnet decided to walk on outside, not pushing the point any further. Once she was out on the front porch, Garnet began to think it over a little bit more. How long has it been since Pearl had some time to relax as of late? A combined five minutes, at most? This wasn't exactly a healthy thing, even for a being that doesn't need to sleep. Garnet then got an idea floating in her head, and stepped out onto the beach. She didn't stop until she was sure that Pearl might not notice her, and waited a minute or two.

"Coming in from the rock wall this time, Discord?"

Suddenly, two familiar eyes opened up from the nearby rocky wall. Soon, the Draconequus opened a wooden door, and Discord walked in, closing the door with his tail, as the door disappeared.

"You know, it was more fun when you didn't predict it," Discord said, only having Garnet giggle a little bit.

"Call it a habit. Discord? You wouldn't happen to know anywhere that -"

"Pearl and Jasper can have a fun time? And I assume a place away from here for some unique experience too," Discord replied. Garnet smiled.

"Now look who's predicting," Garnet replied. Jasper had even less time to relax than Pearl, and the fusion figured that it would be a better idea if Jasper had some time to relax too before she could beat down the Temple in stress relief.

Discord couldn't help but laugh, suddenly appearing on Garnet's square Afro, smaller, and laying down on his back like her head was a hammock. Suddenly, Discord had a post card in his Talon, and showed it to Garnet. The picture showed what looked like the funnest place on Earth, or rather in Equestria judging by the number of Pony-related references in the buildings. Garnet only needed a little bit before she got to her conclusion ...

.......

"I told you no!" Jasper groaned. Pearl actually had to agree with Jasper on that. It didn't take very long until Garnet got both Jasper and Pearl outside of the Beach House. Garnet took the liberty of packing their things - it's the basic principal that counts - and Garnet even had her portal key at the ready, ready to get that next portal to open up. The two Gems in question were not up for this sort of thing at all, and being told by Garnet on where they were going didn't help any. Garnet just had to show them the postcard, and Jasper and Pearl both got the idea on where Garnet wanted them to go. However, unlike perhaps the other Gems, Garnet didn't sugarcoat anything, or slip any lies to them.

"Jasper, Pearl, you two had been overworking yourselves lately. Even Gems deserve some time to relax every now and then," Garnet said, arms crossed, but still had a smile on her face.

"I'm a Quartz Gem - they don't take time to relax!" Jasper retorted.

"Well then, Jasper, there's always a first time for everything," Garnet stated.

"But, Las Pegasus, Garnet? Never heard of it, but I don't know," Pearl said, looking at the postcard. She never been to Las Pegasus before, but judging by the postcard and the details, it sounded like nothing short of a teenage spring break party on a city-sized scale.

"Where better than the funnest place in Equestria? Better than Empire City, I bet," Garnet considered. While she might have a point there, the two didn't seem up for it. One didn't felt like a break was needed for her, and one just didn't find the place exactly fit for her. Still, Garnet, in both her minds, come to agree that it would be better for them in the long run. Just some time for them to go off, and it'll be alright for the both of them. If they'll go, that is.

"Then, why do we need these?" Jasper questioned, lifting up a suitcase.

"You'll see," Garnet simply replied. Considering she had the future vision on her, it might have some sort of involvement somewhere down the road. Pearl and Jasper both glanced to eachother, but before they could talk any further, the three suddenly heard a loud whistle from farther away. The three looked, and it turned out to be another Gem. In particular, Flint. Pearl and Jasper wondered if Flint was gonna talk some sense into her, and maybe get out of this somehow. Flint had a gemstone in his hand, not bubbled, but still gathered from another Gem beast mission he was tasked to.

"Here's your Gem, Garnet," Flint stated, giving Garnet the gemstone. Garnet nodded, and bubbled the Gemstone, as Flint noticed the cases by Pearl and Jasper. Flint was a little curious, as Garnet sent the Gemstone off with a tap of the finger.

"What's all this now? Going somewhere?" Flint asked.

"I'm having these two go off for some vacation time in Las Pegasus for a few days," Garnet answered, showing Flint the postcard. Flint looked the place over for a little bit, Pearl and Jasper waiting for Flint to just start going off on Garnet again. He did that with Stevonnie, he went off when he saw Smoky, he went off when Jade left with Steven and Lapis for the Coelacanth, so they were expecting him to just go right off -

"Alright, have fun."

Wait, what? Pearl and Jasper were left kinda quiet, and Garnet felt happy he was flexible enough. Jasper and Pearl glanced to eachother again, before Jasper spoke.

"... You're taking this well," Jasper noted. Flint looked back.

"It's a vacation, what's wrong with that? Let me know how it goes," Flint replied, walking back to the Beach House.  Well, so much for that. Garnet went over to the rock wall of the Temple, and got her key working after getting her mind focusing on where the portal was supposed to go. Jasper and Pearl both looked to the portal that opened up, realizing that they don't have any escape goats to get out of this.

"Ready to go?" Garnet asked.

"Well ... maybe it won't be as bad as we think ... right?"

(one scene change later)

"... This isn't as bad as we thought," Jasper sighed. As they stood at the entrance, a number of happy, excited Ponies rushed past them. Pearl and Jasper looked on in discomfort.

"Right. It's worse!"


~~~~~~


So there they were, two Gems in the middle of probably the craziest commercial ever. They hadn't moved ten feet from the entrance, and they already could see a ton of things amongst the place. Of course, since they were in Equestria, they kept seeing a ton of places not out of place in an amusement part, from a pink India castle, to a building that looked like a white and purple Pegasus. A number of rainbows connected the buildings, and one of these looked like some sort of water slide, or roller coaster. Ponies were practically everywhere doing practically everything Las Pegasus had to offer. Jasper and Pearl stood out like a pair of sore thumbs in this crowd. For starters, they towered over many of these ponies, and the fact they weren't even ponies at all contributed to it. Speaking of which, the ponies didn't take very long to notice and recognize two members of the Crystal Gems, and throughout their walk, Jasper and Pearl were kinda stuck with a following posse of curious ponies of all three main races. The idea of being treated like celebrities in such an already vivid place, again, didn't help the two out.

"You wouldn't happen to have the portal key back, would you?" Pearl asked.

"I thought you had it," retorted Jasper.

"If I did, I wouldn't ask you," retorted Pearl back. Well, so much for a quick turn back. Pearl just sighed.

"Let's try to find somewhere to stay at, then," sighed Pearl. Honestly what else can they do? They don't exactly know where Ponyville is from here, and once more, without their own keys for a quick exit, they might as well at least try to get used to this place for a little bit while they were here.

The two Gems had managed to get themselves off the busy streets of Las Pegasus, and find a hotel for them to stay at until they're allowed back home after their "few days". The hotel itself looked pretty nice, albeit a bit fancy at the front desk. As before, Jasper and Pearl stuck out from the ponies inside, but lucky for them they didn't try to follow them like the paparazzi. After a quick talk, and consideration, the two did end up getting their room. The room looked alright overall, and looked pretty basic for one as well, but much of it was smaller than usual, especially to Jasper. such a large Gem in a room made with small ponies in mind just didn't mix well. Pearl wasn't as bad off, but it still showed with her as well, especially concerning the bed. Not that the two needed the beds anyway, since Gems don't need to sleep. Pearl settled her suitcase down on the foot of the bed, as Jasper sat down on the floor nearby, which for her was still taller than the beds.

"Okay. Very rough around here, but we might as well make the best of it," Pearl said, opening up her suitcase to see what was in it. Jasper was simply not up for being in such a place, but she could only groan, watching Pearl unpack. As for what Garnet put inside the suitcase, she packed it as if the two were humans rather than Gems. In Pearl's suitcase were some extra "vacation" clothes, some books for Pearl to read, and a picture of Rose for the side of the bed - something to make Pearl more comfortable. Nothing much there that didn't seem like anything Pearl wouldn't bring along. Jasper, not having anything else to do, opened her own suitcase to see what was what. Jasper pretty much got the same stuff, but no books and instead were some dumbbells which Jasper was sure wouldn't be much use for her. Jasper could tell, all things considered, that this was going to be a very boring time for her.

"Want to walk back?" Jasper asked, bemused as ever.

"Where's Ponyville from here, Jasper?" Pearl asked, though it was more of setting a point rather than a legit question. Jasper groaned.


~~~~~~


After thing had been settled down, and settled in, Pearl was the first to head on outside and see what Las Pegasus had to offer. This place was pretty lively, more so for her own tastes, but as far as she could see it was less like an actual ponified Vegas, and more like an amusement park. At least she can say that nothing too dangerous will happen to her and Jasper here. The ponies still kept seeing her, and spoke to one another about her, but Pearl ignored them and continued off on her way for a while more. She could see ponies doing all sorts of things, from riding on rollercoasters, to playing arcade games within some of the arcade play areas.

"These ponies are even more creative in wasting their time than humans are," thought Pearl, looking around the place. She couldn't think of any place where it's soul purpose is to have this kind of fun. As she went along ...

*DING*

"CONGRATULATIONS!"

Pearl halted on hearing that odd, robotic voice. Looking off further ahead, she saw another object set up. Basically, it was a machine to test one's strength, but instead of using any sort of hammer, they instead were using their back hooves to do the job. Once more, they were just hitting a target rather than those seesaw attachments one would normally see to launch the weight up.. The pony lucky to get it high enough was beaming with pride on her accomplishment. Pearl hadn't seen one of these before, and decided to go and have a look at it. Pearl watched the other two ponies give it a try, though they didn't get the ringer like the first one did. It wasn't until after they left when Pearl walked over.

"What do we have here?" Pearl wondered. With her hands casually behind her back, she looked it over for a little bit more before getting a simple idea on how it works. She might as well give it one try, anyway.

"Well, let's see now ..." Pearl began to get the true idea, and got herself into position like a pony would. She got down on her hands and knees, back turned away from the machine, and she got her back foot slammed into the target. While a pony would be more suited for this, Pearl's kick did a decent job but it wasn't something she was used to. It wasn't enough to make it all the way to the top, but still pretty high up there.

"GOOD JOB!" The machine congratulated, as Pearl got up to her feet, seeing just how high she got. Turned out, even with her kick, she only got half way up. How'd an animal twice as small as her pack more power than her? And besides that ...

The significance of that was ...?

"Eh, thanks ..." sighed Pearl, walking off again. After just a little bit ...

*DING*

"CONGRATULATIONS!"

Pearl, surprised, turned around only to see another pony, this one even smaller, give it a shot, and got the ringer! This was a smaller unicorn pony, hopping in place with a big smile on his face from what he did. Now Pearl felt a bit embarrassed, her face a shade of blue. This was a Gem who can crush a hand and block a punch easily, and she can't get her strength enough to beat the ringer on this machine? No way! Annoyed, Pearl went right back over, and tried again with the blasted machine. Pearl tried again, using both legs this time. She got her feet on the target, but her body kinda got off balance, and the kick was a bit weak. Looking back after picking herself off the ground, the results were even weaker than before.

"YOU CAN DO BETTER!"

"Quiet," groaned Pearl. Least Jasper wasn't with her to mock her or something. Heck with it; Pearl got herself on her knees, facing it this time, and went one-punch-Gem on the thing. One punch, and she got the full score in one second.

"CONGRATULATIONS!"

"Thought so," stated Pearl, before walking off on her way to see what else she could do.

.......

As for Jasper, the feeling on the place was pretty much the same as Pearl was; flat out boredom. The most exciting, and dynamic place in Equestria, and Jasper had about as much fun here as she had with the Galloping Gala (A.K.A. not very much). Sure, there's a lot of stuff to do, but Jasper just wasn't a Gem for this sort of thing. Why couldn't Garnet place Amethyst, Steven, or Fulgurite in this sort of place? This seemed more for their speed rather than for her. The large orange Gem continued walking along, at this point hoping to perhaps find some monster to show up and fight, but that just didn't seem to happen as she tried to find something to do.

"Why am I here again? Garnet must've done this for some reason, but to think on sending me to this ... this place. This must be some joke," Jasper thought, feeling angry at Garnet for sending her and Pearl down here in the first place. Garnet had brought her for a loop before, intentional or not, so what exactly was the trick here? That was why Jasper didn't decide to completely run out of Las Pegasus yet - she was waiting for that moment to come around, whatever and whenever that is. In the meantime though, what was she gonna do until that happens?

Jasper saw all sorts of things going on around her, but none of them that she was interested in. Jasper would rather be back, training herself to stay as the ultimate quartz than hang around this place. The orange Gem looked around some more, but eventually just sat down over by one of the buildings. As she was sitting there, she kept on seeing all sorts of ponies go back and forth, having their own fun doing who knows what. It honestly seemed to be a bit of a bore fest, but at least it beats seeing the entire town completely down, otherwise she'd have to get herself out no matter who says what before depression would set in. Oh, what to do, what to do ...

After a bit, Jasper then turned her head to the building she stopped at; a movie cinema. She honestly hadn't exactly been in one of these before, and while there is one over in Beach City, she had no interest to go in it for multiple reasons. Normally, it wouldn't catch her interest here, but one poster did catch her eye. This one looked like a sci-fi sort of movie, but looking closer, the details had a unique match-up. It showed a unicorn at the center, shooting what looked like a laser from her horn at what looked like a giant golem of sorts. In the background, there was a sort of crystal castle. Not exactly like the Crystal Empire, but still rather close. Next to the pony was a larger pony, a bit more ominous, lingering on in the background.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Jasper took a moment to read over what movie this was, and the title read "Stone Heart", and the main quote read off as "A hero not wanted, but needed.". Not the best campaign for a movie, but many ponies were going in to get their view of the movie, so it was doing its job anyway.

"When did they make this?" Jasper wondered. A better question would be though; exactly HOW did they get their information in regards to this movie? It wouldn't be any interest to Jasper if it didn't resemble the dangers she and her team had gone through with the Osicone. Their feat was a bit more popular than they had thought if the pony world would spent time and effort making a movie about it. Either way, the orange Gem was a little bit intrigued about the movie, something she never thought she would be. And, since she had nothing else to do ...

"Not like I have anything better to do."

With that decision, Jasper sighed, and then went on inside to see what this movie was about ...


~~~~~~


Despite their boredom, nighttime came around fairly fast to them, which was a good thing. Perhaps Celestia was doing them a favor? But anyway, Pearl got herself back to her hotel room first, feeling a little intrigued with Las Pegasus at best. Honestly, the crowds of ponies and very active sort of games they had in store was something she could have a bit less of. After all, she had plenty of that from the other Gems and the Mane Six anyway back home. Pearl settled down on her assigned bed, the Rose Quartz picture next to her, and looking through one of the books, when she heard Jasper come back. Like Pearl, Jasper wasn't too amused with the place all things considered.

"So, how was your day?" Pearl asked. Jasper didn't answer as first, sitting down, and taking one of the dumbbells and using it with one arm. At least that's one thing she could do that resembled training, even if small.

"Boring," sighed Jasper.

"You too?"

"Yeah. I was looking around today, and found this entertainment center. Oh, what's it called? they're sitting inside, and observing some presentation?"

"I think that's a Movie theater," Pearl answered, though was just a guess on her part as well.

"Well anyway, they had something actually showing what happened on Homeworld, with us and the Osicone," Jasper explained. That got Pearl a little interested.

"And how'd that go?"

"I want that amount of my existence back. Nothing but a mixed up movie," Jasper groaned. Being someone who was actually there, the movie obviously wasn't really good by the sound of it. Jasper laid down on the bed, her hair spreading out on the bed, and her arms and legs laying down off the sides. Her collapse on her bed shook the room a little bit, but it didn't bug Pearl too much, still keeping her page of her book open.

"Oh. Not good? Well, sorry about that," Pearl simply said. She was glad she didn't come across the theater then, by the sound of it. Still, even if she wanted to check it out, it might be too late anyway. The two had gotten back pretty late, and the sun was already gone, the moon peeking out. The lights outside the busy place still were shining bright, so it was still quite active even at night. The two however didn't want to deal with it at the moment. If the day didn't offer very much, then night time would be quite a bust at best.

Time ticked on for a while, Jasper getting more and more bored with what was going on. Pearl at least had SOMETHING to pass the time, with her books. Pearl wasn't exactly a bookworm like Twilight or Connie, but it was something. Pearl had about five books, and she was down to the last one at this point. Jasper took the time to look out the window, and stayed that way since arriving back. By the time Pearl had finally finished, the moon was higher up in the sky, and Las Pegasus was getting a little bit quieter for ponies starting to head off home.

"UGH, this is ridiculous! This is taking forever," Jasper finally groaned, getting THAT fact off of her chest. Pearl got her books placed aside, and laid down on the bed.

"Maybe we should just go to sleep then. Dreaming's better than just doing nothing."

"Gems don't need to sleep."

"Would you rather sit up all night doing nothing?" Pearl asked, eyebrow raised. Pearl had a point there. Jasper sighed, and while it didn't seem to be something worth while, gave it a shot anyway. Pearl figured it would be the only way to get time to go faster, as she got under the covers. All Jasper did was lay down on her back. She saw Pearl close her eyes, and started to sleep a little bit, and Jasper did the same ...

As the night dragged on, Jasper was having a lot of difficulty with the sleeping concept, considering she didn't need sleep to survive. All she had been doing was closing her eyes and waiting until the sun would come around again. The longer it took though, the more troublesome it got to be. Pearl hadn't spoke a word the entire time, actually asleep unlike Jasper. Finally, the orange Quartz had just about enough. Finally, with a groan, Jasper opened her eyes, and sat up on her bed. She brought her hand to her head.

"This sleeping thing is not for me. Pearl, can we just -"

Jasper suddenly stopped on what she saw. Looking at the other bed, Pearl was fast asleep, but looking a little uncomfortable as she was. That may not seem bad itself, but her gemstone was on as she was asleep, and giving off a rather vivid projection of what Pearl was dreaming about. Call it a side effect of a head gem. Jasper could easily see, and hear the dream, and what it was showing was a rather harsh time. It showed Pearl, looking only a few thousand years old (young for a Gem). She had a sword in her hands, on her guard, and looking terrified of something, though stayed in front of what looked like Rose.

"S-Stay away from her!"

The voices sounded like they were from an old television, just clear enough to understand. The Pearl inside the vision looked to another being. This one was very dark, menacing, and looked right over to Pearl. As for the figure, it moved forward a few steps, and Pearl didn't hesitate. She raced forward, and thruster the sword through the figure, straight through the center of it. It wasn't until then though that the darkness had disappeared, and Pearl could see better on who it was.

Rose Quartz!

Pearl froze, seeing that her sword had sliced straight through Rose's gem! The face Rose had was horror and disbelief, matching with Pearl, before she poofed.

"GAH!"

Pearl suddenly bolted up, awake and looking terrified. Jasper wasn't sure about these dream concepts, but after seeing what Pearl was dreaming about, Jasper felt honestly unsure to say the best of it. Pearl just sat up, and breathed heavily - reaction to the nightmare - before she turned to see Jasper.

"What was that?" Jasper questioned. Pearl took a moment to relax before turning to her, smiling wide for some reason.

"I-It's okay! Dreams aren't real! They're just "mixed up movies"!" Pearl insisted, trying to doubt her dream. Jasper of course had her doubts.

"Was that what your projection was showing?" Jasper questioned. Pearl suddenly looked horrified, her face completely blue in her blush.

"W-What?!" Pearl gasped, covering her Gemstone. Was she really giving off projections in her sleep?! Pearl never knew that, and wondered how much Jasper actually saw.

"... H-How much did you see?"

"You were fighting against Rose," Jasper simply replied. Pearl felt sad, but she was grateful that it was all that Jasper did see in that dream. Let's just say she had a much better dream at first with Rose ... But that only made the nightmare even harder for Pearl.

"I didn't realize ..." Pearl sighed. Maybe sleeping it off wasn't such a good idea after all. Pearl got up from the bed, and walked past Jasper towards the window. Jasper didn't seem to get just how troubled Pearl actually was with this nightmare. Jasper got up soon after that.

"What's with you?" Jasper asked, not entirely sympathetic for Pearl. Pearl didn't seem to respond at first, glancing over to the picture of Rose Quartz.

"I didn't think you could see my dreams. I ... It just reminded me of someone ..." Pearl replied. Jasper assumed she was referring to Rose Quartz. Jasper took a glance over to the picture by Pearl's bed.

"Of Rose?" Jasper asked, getting up herself. Pearl sighed, and nodded, not turning to her.

"You know she's not here anymore," Jasper said. Pearl suddenly felt hurt, but didn't face her. Jasper didn't know Rose herself as much as Pearl had, and as such the idea didn't effect her as much.

"I know she's not here ... I just ... Miss her ..." Pearl said. It was something that was more than the truth, and the face Pearl had of pure dismay said it all on how deep she meant it. Jasper couldn't see how serious she was about it though, Pearl not facing Jasper in the first place.

"You still miss her? You should've gone over this by now."

"It's not so simple," Pearl stated. Jasper thought otherwise though.

"It is, just stop thinking about what happened before. It's not that big of a deal," Jasper instructed. Pearl was starting to lose patience.

"I've been with her the longest, you should know that as much as anyone else. I respected her more than any other Crystal Gem!"

"You all respect Rose, Pearl. You're just being clingy about it."

That did it.

"Excuse me?!" Pearl gasped, in disbelief on what she just heard. Now she was upset with Jasper, but being a Gem used to seeing others angry, Jasper wasn't too deterred. Pearl however was more than willing to snap. Jasper might not had used the right words though (definition of said word, or to make Pearl better).

"Garnet told me Rose had been dead for years. You won't bring her back by moping."

"What do you know?! I've known Rose better than anyone! YOU never had what WE have!" Pearl yelled. Now it was Jasper's turn to be upset.

"So what?! You think you're better than everyone else because of it?"

"NO! I fought alongside Rose Quartz since the very beginning - she never kept anything from me!"

"Who cares what she did then?! She's gone now, get over it!" Jasper demanded, her tone like any Homeworld gem would to a normal Pearl.

"You think I can just forget about such a Gem?! She cared about me when no one else would! Like you would know what THAT is anyway!"

"WHAT? I care about Gems, Pearl." Jasper growled. It was starting to get personal now.

"LOOK at you! Homeworld's ultimate warrior! You've killed tons of Gems during the war who Rose would let live! Don't tell me you -"

"STOP COMPARING ME TO A DEAD GEM, YOU PEARL!" Jasper bellowed. Pearl was still upset, but looked ready to fight for her word. Jasper raised her fist, ready to smash her, as Pearl nearly drew out her spear. Eventually Jasper lowered it, and a strained groan escaped her gritted teeth. She didn't want to do any actions with unforeseen consequences, as satisfying as it would be. But, the Quartz was not going to stick around any longer.

"I don't need this. You go on and mope as much as you want," Jasper snapped, suddenly jumping outside, and landing steadily down on the night road. Pearl looked down to Jasper from the window.

"Where're you going?!" Pearl called.

"I'm going back! This place is awful anyway!" Jasper called back. Ending on that note, Jasper turned away, and went off into the night. Pearl, still upset, just turned her head in a humph, before heading back inside her hotel room ...


~~~~~~


The confrontation between Jasper and Pearl had left the two apart from each other for the rest of the night. Pearl stayed in her hotel room alone, as Jasper had pretty much disappeared from Las Pegasus. After how Jasper treated her about her feelings towards Rose though, Pearl didn't care too much on how Jasper was doing. She wasn't going to stand there and be called clingy for missing someone she cared about. 

"Oh, Jasper. what does she know, anyway? Not like she even MET Rose before," Pearl griped. It had been more than nagging in her head since Jasper had left. As she laid down in her bed, she turned over to look at the same Rose Quartz picture over next to her. She took the picture for a moment, and held it in front of her, eyes locked to the picture itself. She was still upset with Jasper, but looking at Rose in the picture got her mind thinking a little bit. Her look of anger began to soften into one of misery.

"... Am I doing right? ..."

Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, something flew in from outside, and it appeared to look like a large feather of sorts. It was hard to tell of the color from the dark night, but Pearl brought it out to the moonlight so she could get a better view of it. This was no ordinary feather; fully blue, and lighter at the tip with something seemingly written on it. The message was short, and the distraught Pearl found it too coincidental to ignore ...

Go back to her.

.......

As for Jasper herself, she was doubting what reason Garnet had her come here. She had the suspicion for a while that Garnet might of pitted them together for some sort of reason, but she just couldn't see it anymore. Nor did she really care anymore anyway. Whatever reason Garnet truly had, it wasn't gonna work out as far as she was concern. It was minutes before dawn, and Jasper had traveled a bit of ways from Las Pegasus. The city itself was further behind her, and she was down in Equestria's barren roads. Well, it was more of a train track, but still. The tracks were worn out from the test of time, but still in proper shape, so it was a nice path for Jasper to take to a possible station, or water tower. As she walked along, it gave her time to reflect back on a number of things. It was the first time in quite a while that she was able to do so. Even if the overall idea was no big deal for her, this was still Rose Quartz; a Gem leading the rebellion down on Earth against Homeworld. That alone took a ton of guts, and the more she thought about it, the more she thought about herself comparing the Rose.

"... Rose ..."

Jasper slowed down to a stop on the tracks, thinking more and more on Rose and what she actually did compared to her. Jasper was a highly respected warrior for Homeworld, a true example of the potential in Quartz creation. A Quartz made perfect in every physical status as many others see. The Ultimate Quartz. Rose was a Quartz who defied her overlords, what many consider both as a traitor and a hero. A Quartz who'll show mercy towards whoever she came across, and still able to defend against an army of countless others. The Saint of Quartz ...

How can she compete with that? ...

"... Who am I trying to fool?" Jasper sighed ...

"Jasper!"

Jasper turned back, and began to notice someone coming towards her. It took a bit, and quite a bit of catching up, but a familiar Pearl did show herself after a while. Pearl kept the feather with the message hidden away, and didn't really bother to get anything else before coming out here. She found it a little difficult figuring out where Jasper went, but it was handled, and here they were by the railroad tracks, feet from eachother. Jasper didn't turn to her though.

"Look ... I, uh ... I think I've gone too far back there, and ... I'm sorry for pushing you like that. I shouldn't have done that ..."

The message was brief and straightforward, but Jasper got to thinking again. Anyone would simply take it, and move on ... however ...

"... I'm the one who should be sorry ..."

Pearl kept quiet, as Jasper continued.

"Rose Quartz had done so much while she was around ... I respected her tactics. Her devotion. She had so many chances to give up, but she never did for those she cared about ... She's a far better Quartz than I could ever be. I never had the nerve to do what she did ..."

Pearl felt humbled by what Jasper was saying, and Jasper was humbled by what she was admitting. In the end though, that was true, and it was coming out of an otherwise prideful Gem. Jasper turned around, but rather than a face of pride, boredom, or anger, it showed a surprisingly good amount of humbleness. 

"She may not had meant too much for me during the war. But she means the world to you. It's not my place to tell you different ..." Jasper stated. Pearl was amazed by this change in thought, but being told of how much Rose did mean to her was still something that she was sad about. Jasper could see this, and cleared her throat.

"Still ... It isn't healthy for you to continue being sad about Rose. I may not have word it right back there, but Rose wouldn't want to see you like this. The best you can do is move on, and continue with your own life. It's fine to remember Rose, but not with misery. Okay Pearl? ..."

There was a long silence. Pearl had a slight thought on if this was her Jasper or not, but she knew only one true Jasper apart of their team. Pearl and Jasper just looked to eachother, eyes locked, as a tear gently went down Pearl's face. Jasper kept a straight face, but still showed that she was true in her words. Pearl looked to the ground, still having tears how up on her face, when Jasper walked closer to her, kneeling down a bit. Suddenly, Pearl went up to Jasper, and the two ended up in a hug. Jasper kept her strength under control, and didn't hurt Pearl as she and Pearl hugged it out.

"... I miss her ..." Pearl said.

"There, there ... It'll be alright," Jasper responded. This was the first true time that Jasper had become this humble around anyone, and the first one being a Pearl no less. Still, Jasper began to feel better, alongside Pearl. She felt good, as a small smile showed on her face ...

... Then a flash came up ...

"Huh?"

Pearl's misery turned to curiosity when she opened her eyes to see something flash from behind her. Jasper herself barely noticed the flash as well, and Pearl and Jasper released eachother. Jasper tried looking around for a minute or two, but Pearl found out what happened a lot faster than Jasper did, and was simply left speechless.

"Oh my stars ..."

"What? what happened?" Jasper asked.

"Jasper ... You ... You have ..."

"Have what? What's wrong?!" Jasper asked again, more urgent. Did something bad happen to her just then? The time the two had been talking gave the sun enough time to rise up enough to see. Very slightly, the rays of the sun shined a reflection off of Pearl's Gemstone, showing Jasper her face ...

Something had appeared under her right cheek. Shown on her face was what appeared to be a sort of shield, spherical and big enough to cover the base of her cheek. The shield's base was colored dark orange, with the rims a lighter peach. At the center of the shield looked like a diamond, but instead of the typical Yellow Diamond like her outfit, this one was instead pink ...

Jasper's Cutie Mark!

"Wait ... Is that a ..."

"A Cutie Mark," Pearl gasped. Jasper couldn't believe her eyes as she was seeing it from the reflection. Her hand touched the mark, not feeling her skin disturbed in any way by the new mark. As far as the two knew, a Cutie Mark was strictly a Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth Pony symbol. How can a Gem get a Cutie Mark?! Jasper had her fair share of surprises, but this one takes the cake. Rather than freak out, or blame anyone for it, Jasper took a deep breath, and relaxed. The two were still out on the railroad tracks, and now it was morning in Equestria once again ...

"Jasper? I'm not going to stop you if you still want to head back now, if that's what you really want to do," Pearl said, humbled still. However, Rather than going away, Jasper smiled.

"Let's go back. We can give Las Pegasus another chance before we head back."

Pearl just smiled with her. And with that, the two headed on back together.

Boy, won't they have a surprise for the others back home.
> Eye of the Storm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!" Twilight gasped.

Seconds after Jasper had entered the picture with Pearl by her side, everybody and everypony quickly got shocked when they saw Jasper's new addition to her form. The Cutie Mark almost seemed to glisten in the seaside sun, and it was easily seen by everypony and everybody present, regardless of who it was. Jasper kinda expected as such, considering she had returned with basically a magic tattoo on her cheek that just popped up out of nowhere. Still, this was a cause for alarm and question; how can a non-pony creature even remotely gain a Cutie Mark like this?!

"How did it happen, dear?" Rarity asked, shocked as everyone else.

"It just showed up after Pearl and I talked two nights ago," Jasper replied, gently touching her Cutie Mark with her finger. Some though like Pinkie Pie, were extremely excited to see this.

"This is SUPER-DOOPER-AWESOME-AZING! A Gem with a Cutie Mark?! Oh, our worlds are getting CLOSER!" Pinkie beamed, hugging Jasper tight. It took some muscle to get the pink mare to let go, but the idea of their worlds getting closer may not be too far off.

"... Can a Gem get this Cutie Mark?" Star asked after a bit to Flint next to her. But the Gem didn't had much clue.

"No other Gem had a Cutie Mark before," Flint replied, dumbfounded. Star went over and took a closer look in child curiosity, as Twilight spoke again.

"But this doesn't make sense. Only Ponies should be able to get Cutie Marks. No other creature has been known to get one," Twilight pondered, looking right at the Cutie Mark. Fulgurite nearby just shrugged.

"Maybe Jasper's part pony," Fulgurite suggested. Jasper of course had extreme doubts.

"Fulgurite, I can guarantee you I'm NOT part pony. You see any tail or hooves on me?" Jasper asked quizzically, unamused and annoyed by Fulgurite's comment. Fulgurite brought her hands up.

"Okay, okay, just a thought, gees," Fulgurite said, backing up before Jasper could go off on her.

"Well, whatever the answer, is there anything harmful coming with it?" Flint asked. Might as well ask that at least.

"Course not! Y'all saw ponies with Cutie Marks, and we're doing just fine," Applejack cleared up. Flint sighed, his nerves slightly calmed down. It still was strange though that Jasper, of all Gems, would earn something that only a Pony from Equestria would get.

"Well, how do you Ponies get your Cutie Marks? Do they just show up from nowhere?" Flint questioned.

"Sort of. You see, a Cutie Mark represents who one really is. A special gift or talent that stands one pony out from everypony else. When somepony finds their destiny, and their special talent, they earned their mark," Rarity explained.

"So you're not born with these?" Jasper asked, pointing to her own.

"Not at all. Nopony knows immediately what their destiny is. It takes time to get to, you know," Twilight said. It was all still confusing for Jasper when all was said and done. She did want to talk to someone else about this though.

"That aside. Where's Garnet?"

"... She and Peridot are training. Again. At the Barn," replied Star.

Next stop.


~~~~~~


At the barn in question, Peridot continued her training, keeping in better pace, with Ruby and Sapphire nearby her. Ruby was, once again, alongside Peridot in her training course, Sapphire sitting comfy nearby with Steven, Lapis, Lion, Amethyst, and Diopside. Dio and Steven were sharing some chaaps as they were watching. Peridot still kept her kicks strong, and focused, as Ruby took each one like a champ.

"Holding up, Peri?" Ruby asked.

"Doing fine," Peridot replied. Peridot kept up her rapid fire kicks and punches for a while longer, the others cheering her on, until Peridot stopped for a moment. Peridot felt alright with her fast kicks, but it was getting a little annoying with the results on herself and Ruby. She can deliver for sure, but with how much impact? By the looks of it, not very much. Ruby was still glad Peridot was improving in some way, but Peridot seemed a little indifferent. Sapphire, naturally, figured this would happen.

"Having trouble?" Sapphire asked. Peridot turned away from her.

"No, I'm fine," Peridot said. Sapphire walked over to her.

"Come on, Peridot, it's me."

"... Alright. As much success as Ruby had been, I feel like I need a stronger opposition," Peridot decided. For any student, they won't improve if faced with the same opponent. Ruby didn't know why Peridot thought of this so quickly.

"What's wrong with me?" Ruby asked quizzically.

"Oh, nothing at all! I was just thinking that maybe I might need a stronger opponent, that's all," Peridot explained, not wanting Ruby to snap at her. Before their conversation could continue, the Warp Pad not too far away suddenly activated, as Jasper and the others soon showed up. Just enough room on the Warp Pad for them to all fit, which was good. Jasper began walking over first.

"Perfect!" Peridot exclaimed, not noticing anything different on her just yet. The others noticed though, as Peridot went right up to her.

"Jasper? This may be a bit on short notice but - OH MY STARS!" It obviously didn't take very long before the others there notice Jasper's Cutie Mark on her face. However, Jasper was more focused on talking to Sapphire than talking to Peridot, as everyone else went on over. She immediately stopped over by Sapphire, the wiser part of Garnet. Jasper didn't hesitate to get to the point.

"Sapphire? Was this the reason you sent me with Pearl?" Jasper asked, pointing to her Cutie Mark. Sapphire moved her hair, her one eye locked to Jasper's Cutie Mark.

"... Nah. I just wanted you two to have fun," Sapphire responded. The ice blue Gem would never had guessed, even with her future vision, that any Gem would get a Pony Cutie Mark, yet here was Jasper with hers. This could open quite a number of possibilities too. Peridot cleared her throat from behind her. 

"As I was saying -"

"WHOA! How'd you get a Cutie Mark?!" Steven beamed, cutting Peridot off. Diopside looked with intrigue, her Gem eye adjusting to examine it.

"It just happened really," Jasper replied. Peridot grumbled a little bit on being ignored like this, but Amethyst nudged her to cheer her up.

"What's with you now, P?"

"They're not listening to me," grumbled Peridot. It was clear that almost everyone was more interested in Jasper's cutie Mark, than listening to what Peridot had to say. Amethyst then got an idea.

"Hey, how about a snack break, what do ya say?" Amethyst offered. Peridot didn't had any sort of lunch with Amethyst in, admittedly, too long. But, she kept her pride in tact.

"Very well," Peridot simply replied. Amethyst and Peridot started to head off to the Warp Pad, only being seen by Ruby off to the side. The red Gem went right over to the two once she saw this.

"Where're you two going?"

"Partaking in a snack break," replied Peridot simply.

"A snack break? Peridot, it's only been ten minutes," Ruby retorted.

"It won't be long, Ruby. Not like anyone would notice, anyway," Peridot responded, grumbling at the second sentence. Looking back to see everyone more interested in the Cutie Mark, Peridot wasn't too far off. Amethyst and Peridot stood on the Warp Pad, ready to head on back. After some thinking it over, Ruby looked to the other two.

"Oh alright. I could use a break too," Ruby decided. Not expected, but the two allowed her to come along. As the trio stood on the Warp Pad, the Warp Pad activated and the two were the off. It wasn't until after the pad activated, that the others noticed something.

"Guess someone left," Fulgurite commented. When looking through the crowd, Sapphire tried to count out the people and Ponies, realizing three people were missing. Sapphire took a moment to consider her options, and looked to the sky. The weather had been getting duller, and the clouds had been gathering up for quite sometime since they showed up.

"Sapphire, you there?" Emerald suddenly said, snapping his fingers in front of her face to get her back to attention. Sapphire got back around soon enough.

"Huh?"

"You zoned out on us. K?"

"Yeah. Yeah I am. Go into the barn, I'll go get the others," Sapphire said, starting to head over to the Warp Pad. Sapphire just got to the pad herself, when suddenly the others began to feel something hit her skin ...

Rain.

"Wait. Water?" Jasper thought, feeling more raindrops alongside the others. Some were new to it still, some took it in stride, but Jasper began to remember her last confrontation with this stuff back in Equestria. Or Ramicorn, for that matter. Far as she knew, rain could only mean one thing ...

"Sapphire!" Jasper suddenly yelled. As she feared, they began to hear distant thunder, Jasper starting to shiver a little.

"Oh boy. Come on, let's hang in the barn for a while til the storm breaks," Emerald decided, going into the barn first, followed by the others. Sapphire tried to get the Warp Pad to work, but to her confusion, it seemed oddly absent. In short, it won't work! The thundering was getting louder, and stronger, and Jasper wasn't having it. She went over, grabbed Sapphire, and went right into the barn with her. Not a moment to soon; seconds after they got inside.

*KABOOM*

Jasper stepped back from the door in a jolt, as curious Emerald peeked out of the door, only to find the Warp Pad suddenly cracked! Guess a lightning strike was too much for it.

"Good thing we're not paying for that," sighed Emerald.


~~~~~~


In the Beach House, Amethyst, Peridot, and Ruby were still with eachother, no one else in the place, and the rain starting to fall hard outside at this point. Nearby, Lion and Blue were chilling out. Turned out, Amethyst had tossed some items aside from the table, one of which was one of Steven's backpacks, over by the Warp Pad, right on the rim of it (why it wouldn't work in the first place on Sapphire's end). Amethyst was still working on her "snack", as Ruby waited impatiently for her to get done. Peridot had a far more decent snack compared to Amethyst - just a peanut butter and banana sandwich - yet Amethyst was a bit more dramatic in size. The purple Gem had got herself a stack of pancakes, topped with chocolate syrup and popcorn, with a dollop of whip cream and a cherry at the top.

"You done yet?" Ruby asked, arms crossed, and foot tapping.

"Almost. This is pretty good," Peridot said, taking another bite of her sandwich. It was no burger from Beach City by any means, but it still tasted alright for her. Amethyst licked her lips, and readied herself. All it took for her though, rather than savor, was one huge bite. She shoved the whole thing in her gullet, plate included, and she slid the plate out of her mouth, which ended up having a bite taken out of it. Peridot was more subtle, and finished her sandwich a bit later than Amethyst did. Amethyst hopped off her chair, licking the food stains off her face in one sweep of the tongue.

"Gross. Now let's get going back," Ruby decided. Ruby got on the Warp Pad first, and got to activating it ...

Nothing happened.

"Huh?" Peridot and Amethyst joined her, but Ruby couldn't seem to get the thing working. She tried about ten times in a row, even stomping on it, but nothing happened. This was a little bit confusing for them, and Ruby got more frustrated.

"Come on!" Ruby groaned, still trying, but nothing happened. Eventually, a frustrated Ruby came to another conclusion.

"Okay then, guess we're walking," Ruby decided.

"Aww man," groaned Amethyst. The trio went to the door, just in time to find -

*KABOOM*

Lightning right on the rock wall! The strike wasn't too far away, and the sound mixed with the flash caught them off guard. Ruby and Amethyst were alright with it as Ruby closed the door, but Peridot disappeared ...

"Peridot? Where'd you go?"

They then heard a closed bathroom door. Amethyst and Ruby opened up the door, just to find Peridot cowering in the bath tub. Peridot looked simply freaked out.

"D-Did anyone tell you to knock?" Peridot stuttered, trying to look more casual. Another thundering boom outside just made her cower more, and ducked for cover in the tub. Of course, Amethyst and Ruby weren't buying it, and the two went over to get her out.

"Will you calm down? It's just thunder, nothing to be scared of," Amethyst said.

"Scared? Me?! ... Well, not very much. But perhaps it'll be appropriate to explain this thunder concept -" Peridot was silenced by a much closer thundering , the green Gem jumping. Ruby, Amethyst, and Peridot looked outside the bathroom, and to the front door. It was really starting to pour down at this point, and the barn was very far from the Temple. So, they didn't had much choice; they're gonna have to stay put until the storm passes by them ...


~~~~~~


As for everybody, and everypony else, they were stuck at the barn. The rain poured down with no signs of stopping, distant thunders echoing all around. From in the barn, the constant sound of rain pattering on the roof was a constant source of white noise for them. It didn't help that Amethyst, Ruby, and Peridot were missing at the moment, off to who knows where.

"Okay, so ... Two kings ace high!" Steven said, who was playing cards with the others.

"Three aces, read em and weep," Emerald said, confident in his hand. Steven just lost, but he was a good sport about it. Some though weren't so calm about the subject; Flint was very unsettled with this storm. Knowing the trio of Gems was gone somewhere, it was troubling to say the least. Finally, Flint had enough waiting.

"Well? Isn't anyone gonna try to go out to get them?!" Flint finally asked.

"They'll be fine, it's just rain," Sapphire said casually.

"It's a storm, Sapphire. And your three Gems are gone out there wherever getting drenched," Flint retorted.

"Don't you dare start, Flint. Not now," Jasper groaned. Last thing they needed to hear was Flint's worries all over again. Flint looked to her crossly.

"Fine. Then why don't you do it?" Flint said, seeing her as the strongest and toughest one of the group far as he knew. Jasper should've kept her mouth shut. The orange Gem looked to the barn door at that point, heading over to it. Sapphire was unsure about this, but Flint waited for her to go. Jasper wanted to keep her fear under wraps, so she opened up the barn doors.

Immediately, the Gem was hit by strong wind and rain, halting her for a moment. She tried to gather her nerves. She is a strong Quartz. Jasper felt the rain pour down on her skin and hair as she walked out of the barn for five steps before stopping again. She tried to relax, but then she looked up to the sky. She saw the dark clouds, the pouring rain, and the too familiar flashes of lightning. It was all looking too familiar to her last encounter with a storm. She knew she can't fight one this time, and seeing the storm was getting more troubling for her. Jasper closed her eyes on the flashes for a moment. The orange Gem took one peek to the sky, only to see a huge lightning bolt stroke right down towards her, inches from where she was standing! When the lightning disappeared, so did Jasper. They did find her, back in the barn, and to the back wall, breathing heavily. Jasper's eyes were wide open, irises shrunk, and arms gripping the wall behind her. While her being humble was a first for Pearl to see, seeing her terrified of anything was a surprise to everyone. Everyone looked to Jasper for a moment.

"Jasper, you okay?" Twilight asked. Jasper didn't reply at first. Rainbow then waved a hoof in her face, snapping her back to reality. Jasper just slid down until she was sitting on the ground.

"Geesh, Jasper, didn't think you'd be scared of some storm," Fulgurite commented, getting a rough nudge from Pearl.

"Everything okay?" Fluttershy asked, trying to comfort her alongside Steven. Jasper couldn't believe herself, and brought her head to her knees. Flint sighed nearby, seeing that this wasn't such a good idea for Jasper to do. He may be worried, but not stupid.

"Why didn't you tell me she was afraid of storms?" Flint asked.

"None of us knew until now," Sapphire replied.

"Fair enough ... Lapis?"

Lapis turned to Flint on hearing her name.

"You're a flying water Gem, think you can figure out if they're alright?" Flint asked. This is a storm, which involves both things that Lapis Lazuli can easily handle. If any Gem can handle this, it would be her.

"Uh. Ok?"

"Wait a minute, Flint. Something doesn't feel normal with this storm," Sapphire warned.

"I've seen storms - they're dangerous, but not supernatural. Go on, Lapis," Flint encouraged. Lapis looked outside, seeing the rain and wind, as she got her water wings ready.

"Here it goes," Lapis said. The blue Gem got herself ready, and began to taker off. The rain slammed down on her, but the water Gem was doing fine in it as Flint had figured. The wind was slightly troubling, but the flier Gem kept her course up in the air, and tried to find where they could have gone. However, the longer she tried, the harder it was getting. The storm was not settling, and even Lapis's control over the rain didn't help much with the strong wind messing her up one way or another. She tried to keep the rain still, but she could barely keep herself still with the wind.

"Ruby! Amethyst! Peridot!" Lapis called. It didn't seem to work though, for she couldn't see much of anything. One thing she could see was the distant lightning bolts, and the sounds of thunder. Since she was flying, she was a prime target and out in the open for any strike to hit her. However, that wasn't the thing that stopped her. The lightning bolts did go through some clouds in terms of light, allowing her to see past them if only for a little bit. Within the clouds, Lapis Lazuli began to notice something else aside from the clouds moving around in the sky. The thing flying around above her was about the size of a fighter plane, with two large wings. With each flap they made, it echoed pretty much everywhere. Lapis was freaked out, and didn't want to stick around to see what it really was. Before she could fly away, the creature made another flap of the wing, a huge gust of wind sending her flying right back into the barn, through the upper window.

"Lapis!" Steven gasped. Lapis was shaken up, but alright overall. It wasn't any better in finding where the other three had went to however. Lapis only had one message.

"Guys? That's no normal storm. It's alive!"


~~~~~~


Back in the Beach House, Amethyst, Peridot, and Ruby all were still trying to wait out the storm. With the Warp Pad down, they had limited options on what the heck to do. On the bright side, those options weren't boring all things considered anyway. Amethyst and Ruby had already gone over what storms were to Peridot, but the green Gem was still a bit nervous with the thundering booms of the lightning bolts outside, along with the rain. It didn't help that the sea nearby was making pretty big waves as well. They didn't reach the Beach House though, so they were alright. At this point, they were actually doing some hide and seek, at this point with Ruby being it herself.

"Here I come," Ruby shouted. Peridot and Amethyst both had pretty much disappeared from sight by the looks of things, but considering where they were, Ruby began to think over on where the two would be. with amethyst and her shape-shifting, and Peridot with her tiny size in general, it may be a little bit hard for the first time. Ruby had gone through this about five time now, so, it wasn't too much trouble to find at least one of the two Gems. It took Ruby some thinking, but eventually the red Gem started looking off to the cabinets in the kitchen, until she found Peridot hiding behind a bag of chips.

"You clod," groaned Peridot, who hopped down with the bag of chips. Ruby hopped down too, but now she had an even bigger problem; Amethyst. compared to the trio, amethyst had to be it the least amount of times because of her shape-shifting. And at this point, it was no exception. Peridot sat down on the couch, as Ruby kept looking around the place but with little success. Blue and Lion didn't bother to help her out during this time. Ruby kept trying to look around for quite a while, until eventually her frustrations caught up to her.

"Where are you Amethyst?!" Ruby shorted, just to end up figuring out ...

"AH! GET OUT OF THERE!"

Peridot was suddenly running in circles, the others in the house alarmed, as Peridot was trying to get something out of her triangle hair. Turned out, Amethyst had turned into a small spider, and somehow hid off into Peridot's hair without the green Gem noticing anything until Amethyst crawled out into sight. Laughing, amethyst hopped out of her hair, and turned back to normal.

"That's not fair!" Peridot snapped.

"No one said we couldn't. Besides, you can do the same at any time," Amethyst pointed out. Peridot was oddly quiet after hearing that, but quickly gathered herself and turned away.

"Like I would resort to some cheap tricks," Peridot responded.

"Cheap tricks?" Suddenly, Amethyst shape-shifted into Peridot. "I'd like to consider the matter as a physical advantage to one's form," Amethyst retorted cheekily, trying to sound like Peridot. Peridot blushed a bit.

"Impressive in my opinion, but it's hard to beat the original," Amethyst commented. Peridot chuckled on the compliment.

"So, you can do this all the time?" Peridot questioned. Amethyst turned back to normal.

"Got any requests you two?" Amethyst asked. The two thought it over for a little bit, and suddenly they got their answer.

"Sapphire," the two said. Awkward moment later, Amethyst focused, and soon they got a Purple Sapphire in front of them. Sapphire got it down pretty well, one eye and all, except for the extra Gemstone on her chest.

"How's this?" Amethyst asked, smiling and speaking like Sapphire would. Ruby and Peridot were impressed with her impressions, though Peridot seemed just a little bit uncomfortable when thinking it over. Ruby soon began to notice her and her lack of comfort.

"Uh ... Peridot?"

The green Gem soon realized the other two had noticed her.

"Nothing's wrong. I just - maybe you should tone down on the shape-shifting for a minute," Peridot said. Amethyst found it annoying, but rolled with it anyway.

"Fine. Hey Ruby, how bout you try it?" Amethyst said. No, that didn't help Peridot out. Ruby didn't see anything wrong with it, even after seeing Peridot troubled.

"Well, it's been a while," Ruby said bashfully.

"Oh come on, give it a try," Amethyst encouraged. Ruby thought it over, and decided to try it out. Amethyst waited and watched, but Peridot didn't bother herself. Ruby began to focus a little bit more, as Peridot sat down. After a bit, Ruby finally managed to work out her energy, and her arms shot out far longer than normal. She brought them high enough to touch the roof's support beams, and once she got a grip of them, she pulled herself up with one easy pull, her arms retracting back to normal as she pulled herself up. It was slightly old, but it was fun to do for her. Amethyst suddenly turned into a blue jay (or purple jay in her case), and flew right up to the beam to join her. Peridot was still down on the ground though, just watching them having their fun above her.

"Come on, Peridot, you try," Ruby encouraged. Peridot now had some more trouble with this one.

"I'm fine from down here," Peridot insisted.

"It's easy, just stretch your arms up here!" Amethyst encouraged after. Peridot still wasn't sure, but eventually the green Gem got to her feet on the couch, and gave it a shot. she brought her arms out, and tried to reach the beam the other two were on. She tried more, and more, and more again, but she wasn't stretching like ruby had done. Sweat came up on her face, groans escaped her gritted teeth, she got on the tips of her feet, but she wasn't stretching any time soon. Finally, she gave up, and slumped down onto the couch again, confusing the two.

"Peridot?" Ruby asked. Peridot just came clean.

"I can't do it. At all."


~~~~~~


The others back at the barn house were now on high alert. Since Lapis's warning about the storm, the group were watching out to see where it'll strike next. The thunderstorm wasn't helping too much, and now that something alive and breathing was flying around wasn't doing them any justice.

"So we got some freak bird flying around outside now?" Emerald summed up.

"Yeah, that's right," Lapis replied. Before it was just a storm, but now they got another monster to deal with.

"Oh brother, as if we don't have enough trouble," Flint groaned. He took the time to climb up to the top window of the barn to get a better view of the situation. It was hard to make out from the rain, but the lightning flashes were easy to spot.

"Anything, Flint?" Diopside asked.

"Not too much - this water's hard to see through," Flint groaned. Diopside then decided to get herself up to see, standing right next to him. Diopside focused her Gem eye, trying to see what was out there besides the rain. Flint waited for the word, along with the others. Rainbow Dash got herself up there too, trying to see herself alongside Diopside. Diopside, with her Gem eye focused, she got a much better view of the place. Looking up, she began to catch something moving in the sky, pass the clouds. The same silhouette was flying rather close to the barn, circling above them. The sight of it made Diopside shutter.

"Okay, Dio?" Flint asked, Diopside backing up a little bit, gulping.

"S-Something's out there, Flint. W-What do we do?" Diopside asked. Flint took another look, but he wasn't seeing what Diopside was seeing. Flint tried to think, but Rainbow Dash was getting impatient.

"Okay, I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being cooped up in here. I'm going out there! Anyone wanna join me?" Rainbow said. Flint jumped down to ground level.

"Rainbow, don't be hasty. Let us Gems handle this."

"What?! I'm plenty tough for a Pegasus, thank you very -"

"Listen to him, Rainbow."

Everyone suddenly turned over to Sapphire. Even Flint was surprised to hear her actually agree with him for once. Rainbow couldn't believe her ears, and was soon right in her face.

"You can't be serious!"

"Rainbow, you may be strong, but not invincible. With the monster and combined weather, not even you would last long," Sapphire explained. Rainbow was not having it. She was a tough pony, and this wasn't gonna change her mind. Despite Sapphire's warning, she opened up both wings.

"Be right back!" Rainbow said, suddenly flying to the window. The others tried to get her, but Rainbow moved too fast, and was out the barn in a few wing beats. Fulgurite rushed right to the window to find Rainbow flying off in the air.

"Rainbow, get back here!" Flint screamed.

Rainbow Dash found herself in a very rough storm. Her wings beating fast, the Pegasus struggled hard in the wind and rain. Rainbow kept trying to see where she was flying, but the rain stung her eyes, so it was becoming a harsher problem for her. Still, Rainbow was soon out of sight from the barn after a bit, making the others troubled for her safety.

"Seriously? You wait here, I'm going after her," Flint said, immediately heading for the door. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash began to fly away from the barn, and instead of going off aimlessly, tried the first spot she figured they'd go; the Temple. Unfortunately, that was where the wind was coming in from, and she had to fly against the strong blasts of wind and rain. On the ground, Flint was trying his best to get Rainbow Dash to come back. As some had feared, the two were directly in the line of fire. Dangerously close, more lightning bolts rang out, some almost striking Rainbow Dash in the air!

"RAINBOW!" Flint yelled, but Rainbow Dash didn't hear him. Rainbow tried dodging the lightning bolts and - while successful - began to tumble in the air! Her balance was off, and one particularly strong wind gust send Rainbow head over hooves until she slammed into the earth. Flint saw where she landed, and rushed over to her before she could try flying off again.

"Flint?!"

"Get back to the barn, now!" Flint demanded. Rainbow got to her hooves, but suddenly they both got covered in a thicker shadow. The two looked up, and Flint pulled Rainbow away just in time as something landed on the Earth! Now on the ground, Flint and Rainbow Dash both took a better look at what they had confronted. Standing fully upright, it was as tall as a fighter plane was long, with dark purple feathers, and sharp yellow eyes that glowed in the dimness of the rain. The feathers didn't look wet, but did shine in the light, much like a frog's skin. Its chest and stomach shined with white feathers, and the webbed talons dug into the ground. One shot of lightning behind the bird showed a eagle-like bird with a angry face. Strangest part: no Gemstone!

"Oh sweet Luna," Rainbow gasped. The creature hopped over to them, beak wide open to snatch one of them, and Flint pulled Rainbow away just before it could snatch either one of them. The bite was so close, it got some stray Pegasus feathers off of Rainbow's wing. The huge bird jumped up in the air again, and with a few flaps of its mighty wings, the two were suddenly thrown back, the wind currents sending them off back to the barn! Both Gem and Pony slammed into the barn side, dazed, and the bird hopped over their way again. The two got to their senses, and Flint got them both inside the barn just before the squawking eagle could get to them.

"Close the door, close it!" Flint yelled. Jasper and Applejack got the doors shut just before the bird could get them. The others could hear the huge bird just outside, waiting for something to come out.

"What in Celestia's name is that?" Rarity gasped.

"Wait, you don't know?! It's not a Gem beast out there," Flint retorted.

"It's not an Equestrian animal either!" Rainbow snapped, flying in the middle of the barn. Outside, the angry bird cawed good and loud, landing on top of the barn, and pecking at the window. No one dared go near the window as it was doing that, and the bird looked inside from there, its large yellow eye scanning the interior of the barn. However, when looking in, everyone had moved off away from sight, trying to keep quiet. Hopefully it would just go away if it saw that nothing was in there. After a bit, the bird shook off water from its feathers, making it downpour on the roof, and leak into the barn, onto the others. Then it did a rather worrying move ...

It opened the barn doors.

"Oh no. Please, please, please, please," Twilight pleaded quietly. However, the large bird then ventured inside, shaking off some more water. Even if dried, the feathers still looked shiny, as the plane-sized bird went inside. The other Gems and Ponies left the middle of the barn wide open, so the bird had enough room to settle down comfortably. It at least had the curtesy to close the barn doors as it settled in. As it walked in, they noted a sort of limp in its step, just before it settled down gently. Guess the barn was going to have a guest. The Gems and Ponies didn't know what to do at this point.

"Clod. Now what?" Fulgurite asked quietly.

"Sshh, quiet," Flint insisted. They didn't need an angry lightning bird to go off on them.

"But we can't just stay in here."

"I know I know, just let's me - Star?"

To their horror, Star Quartz was suddenly moving! The bird had just settled down when Star herself suddenly ended up right in front of it, standing in between it and the barn door. The bird took one glance to the door to find her standing there.

"Star, get back over here," Flint demanded quietly. Star quartz though didn't move, letting the bird see her. The white Gem just stood there, looking the bird eye to eye. At first, the large bird seemed to be pretty aggressive with seeing her, but it began to act a little curious, and calmed down after a full minute. The large bird settled down a bit, letting Star Quartz look it over for a little bit. Star moved off to the side of the bird, but then noticed something. One of its legs wasn't tucked underneath it, but instead resting on the side. Once more, it looked hurt as well, with a red sore on the bottom of its foot. Star looked troubled, but knew exactly who to get. After seeing that, she walked over back to the others, in particular to Steven.

"... Fluttershy. Steven. It's hurting ..." Star said, they all seeing the hurt foot now that it was pointed out. Steven and Fluttershy got the idea right away, and began to venture out. They were a bit cautious at first, but the bird didn't squawk at them, or try to fight them, now that Star had calmed it down. The others weren't too sure, but some still had confidence that things will be fine.

"Oh my," Fluttershy gasped, on seeing the hurt foot. This would explain why it was so upset anyway. Star and Fluttershy kept the bird calm, and Steven went on with trying to heal the bird. He got a good amount of his healing spit together, and gently got it onto the bird's foot. The touch felt cold, and stung the bird a little bit, but Star and Fluttershy made sure it didn't loose it on them. Everyone else watched them handle the bird for a bit, and eventually Fluttershy then came back to the others.

"So, what's the deal?" Applejack asked.

"She's sorry that she attacked you. She thought you were a different Gem. A Homeworld visitor attacked her a while ago," Fluttershy explained, telling them what the bird told her. Considering they had visitors from Homeworld with their Warp Pad, it wasn't that far off. Flint wasn't sure if he should buy it or not.

"Did she see our missing Gems?" Flint asked. Fluttershy shook her head.

"Afraid not. She told me you and Rainbow Dash were the only ones she found while flying through the storm. Guess that means the three are inside somewhere, or far away from here."

"But what do we do with the bird?"

"Well, she was kind of hoping that she could wait out in here," Fluttershy concluded, the others looking to the bird. Flint drew the line at that.

"May I remind you that thing tried to kill me and Rainbow outside just a minute ago," Flint reminded. That was true, but they took a look at the bird for a bit, it rested its head on the floor, already sleeping. Steven and Star both just finished up healing the bird, the sore healing up, and now bandaged (they found some amongst the stuff in the barn).

"Can't she stay around? She's really sorry," fluttershy insisted. Flint took a moment to think, but in the end just groaned.

"I'd normally say no. But you're all going to do it anyway, so I might as well save myself the effort."


~~~~~~


Back in the Beach House, amethyst and Ruby were trying something different with Peridot. Rather than mess around with her, the two Gems decided to try to get Peridot's powers to work properly like theirs. At least with the storm outside, and with the others gone for the time being, they had their own time to try and figure things out until the rain stops at least. Their methods on doing so, so far, had been basically teaching by example - a common, and effective method for most. Amethyst mainly did the showing, but Peridot just couldn't seem to follow her no matter how much she tried. some of the methods weren't even that hard in altering the body; stretching arms, turning into animals, even elongating her tongue at one point. However, Peridot couldn't come close to doing either one of those things. The more times she tried, the more discouraged she got.

"Okay, Peridot, let's give this a try. Ready?" Amethyst asked.

"As I'll ever be," said Peridot, grimly. Amethyst turned herself into a ball again, and began to bounce over to Ruby. Ruby caught Amethyst with some stretchy arms, and soon Ruby ended up throwing Amethyst back to her. Peridot tried to catch her, but the green Gem just got a face full of amethyst, and she fell to the ground in defeat. Amethyst quickly changed back once this happened, and Peridot didn't bother to get up. nothing mortally wounded, but she just didn't want to keep going.

"Okay, okay. Maybe if we stretch her arms, it'll make it easier," Ruby thought. Amethyst decided to try it, and Amethyst grabbed Peridot's legs, while Ruby grabbed her arms. Peridot didn't bother to stop them.

"One. Two. Three!"

Soon, Amethyst and Ruby were suddenly pulling hard on Peridot's limbs, trying to make them stretch. Peridot kept saying "ow." over and over again, but it didn't seem to stop the two Gems in trying to get her body to alter. It didn't seem to be working, and by what Peridot was repeating, it was painful.

"I think I heard a crack," Ruby said.

"That means it's working," replied Amethyst. They kept pulling and pulling, hurting Peridot more and more until ...

"JUST STOP!"

Finally, Ruby and Amethyst dropped Peridot, who was now both defeated, and sore in her limbs. The green Gem had pretty much given up on herself, and sat down on the couch, facing the window, watching the rain drip down the rooftop, and pouring outside. It was still raining quite hard at this point in time. Amethyst sat down next to her.

"Come on, Peridot, don't be like that. We can -"

"No, we can't! While I appreciate the offers from both of you ... It's just not going to happen. But not for the reasons you might think," Peridot began, not facing them both. Ruby and Amethyst weren't sure what she was going on about, but Peridot decided to just continue.

"I'm an Era 2 Gem. Homeworld just couldn't make Gems like they used to. Peridots are a recent Gem, and were given technological enhancements ... Because we don't have any powers ..."

It was quiet for a moment or two. Ruby and Amethyst know that Peridot just wasn't feeling right with this fact, and even with training, she still was powerless overall. After thinking it over, Amethyst decided to speak up.

"Per. Imma gonna be real with you for a sec. You may think you might not be special without powers Peridot, but think about how much you've done without powers before. You're smart, clever, and pretty handy with some tools. And think about how much you did; you helped build the Galactic Ray, you fought with us fighting the Osicone, and I don't know any other Gem who traveled to as many galaxies as you did. You didn't had any powers then, yet you still did great. We like you for you."

Peridot took the words in after a bit. Ruby for one couldn't had said it better herself, but she agreed with every word Amethyst had said. Peridot smiled after a bit, and soon Peridot was hugging Amethyst and Ruby both. Their moment was sweet, but mother nature wasn't letting up the storm. After a little bit, they began to hear more noises from outside. Aside from the rain, and occasional thunder, something harder was hitting the roof. It was enough to get them alert, and more things started to hit down on the roof. The rain was weakening the cliff, which means ...

*BAM*

All of a sudden, a decent sized rock had crashed through the roof! The wind outside, began to blow in hard, blowing right at the Gems inside! Peridot, being the lightest, tumbled in the wind, as the other two blocked off the wind with their arms. Peridot landed over by the fridge, dizzy but fine, but the wind was having another effect on the stuff around them. From a strong gust of wind, the TV in Steven's part of the Beach House was blown at so hard, it was rolled off of its stand, and suddenly rolled off, ready to fall on Ruby and Amethyst!

"LOOK OUT!" Peridot shrieked, arms reaching out ...

Then it happened.

"... Oh ... Peridot?"

"Whoa ..."

The TV was being held up in mid air! Peridot, with her arms out, was holding the metal TV up somehow, without it crushing Ruby and Amethyst under it. didn't Peridot just get done saying that Peridots don't have powers? Even Peridot herself was at a loss of words, but a giggle did escape her in spite of herself. Ruby and Amethyst moved out of the way, as Peridot tried to work out this sudden ability of hers. The TV rotated in mid air, cord dangling, as Peridot tried to work with her hands to get it down safely back in place. It took some notable effort, but eventually Peridot gently placed it back down on Steven's TV stand. Not exactly the way it was before, but still pretty good for a first time try. The wind had calmed down at this point, but rain still coming down inside the house, so Peridot decided instead to use the TV. With careful precision, she rotated the TV, and managed to squeeze the TV into the hole in the roof so it won't fall down. They can handle it later, but this was just a shock to take ...

And just as well ...

"Oh ... My stars ..." Ruby said.

"Did ... Did I just do that?" Peridot said meekly, not believing what she just did as she stared down at her hands. Looking to her Gem friends, Amethyst suddenly went to the bathroom, moving Peridot along. She, Peridot, and Ruby went right in the bathroom, and once Peridot saw her reflection in the mirror, it was just as shocking as the metal powers she had obtained. On her right cheek, Peridot noticed something that wasn't there before. This showed what appeared to be some sort of flower, but the petals looked like they were made of steel or iron. A seemingly common beauty, yet with something no other regular flowers have. And the metal represented that.

A perfect Cutie Mark for Peridot.

"Oh. My. Stars. I got a Cutie Mark!"

"WOO, give it up for P-Pod!" Amethyst cheered, proud of Peridot. Not only did she find a new power, but she now had a Cutie Mark herself! Two grand things in just five minutes in one day! Ruby hugged Peridot, never prouder. As for Peridot, a smile appeared on her face, as her eyes grew stars in them. Never had she felt more successful in anything in her life. She traveled to many planets, sure. She helped the Crystal Gems, sure. But how many Gems discover their Cutie Mark, AND their brand new powers in one day?! That HAS to be a record for anybody!

Soon, the rain started to let up, as if on cue. Amethyst, Ruby, and Peridot all went on out of the bathroom to see, just to find that the weather was starting to let up. The trio of Gems, along with the Gem pets, were all ready to finally head outside.

"Come on! We gotta show the others!" Peridot beamed. No better time than the present to show her Cutie Mark AND her new ability to the others. Jasper showed her Cutie Mark, and now it was her turn. Ruby and Amethyst were glad that Peridot was happy with herself. Soon, they all were finally off back to the barn. Won't the others be surprised.

.......


"... Another Mark? ... Troubling ..."

> Gem Spook
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The world in Beach City had made a shift from warm to cold fairly quickly. Thanks to the passing rain before, it had also brought in quite a cold front to the city, as autumn was in full swing. While in the city itself, it wasn't too much of effect just yet, head off more inland, and the farmland surely shows the true shifts to autumn. The grass began to grow dry with the cooling breeze blowing gently through. That same breeze was going through to the sea, and passing by Steven humble Beach House.

Speaking of Steven, the kid was happily busy with getting himself ready, shifting through his number of clothes for something to wear. It wasn't exactly his clothes to get ready for the day, he'd been done with that. No, this outfit was for a special occasion. Course, he had to get it all set first. This was a big choice for him. He had a sign outside the bathroom, saying "busy", and BOY was he busy in there. He had been working on this for a good twenty minutes straight, and he was making wonderful time. The Gems had been a bit curious as to what he was up to; Peridot, Diopside and Star Quartz waiting just outside.

"Steven? Are you done in there yet? You've been a long time," Diopside asked. The trio didn't had a clue what Steven was up to, but Steven was pretty busy.

"Almost finished," Steven replied.

"... What's he doing?"

"Beats me, Star," Peridot replied in a shrug.

Soon though, finally, Steven Universe was done, and went on out. However, when he walked out, the three found that someone completely different was standing there. His skin was a light greyish-blue, lines of black on him like metal plates. He had a space boy helmet on his head; round disks over his ears, red helmet with three white sails and a set of antenna. He wore a red vest with white shoulder pads, with white gloves and blue oven mittens. He had the basic blue pants and sandals of Steven, but the rest of him was not Steven. Peridot was confused, Star was curious, and Diopside was freaked out.

"I am Zoltron; fortune teller from the future," Steven said, in a surprisingly well done robotic voice. Diopside kept her distance, both eyes locked on him.

"W-Who are you?! Where's Steven?!" Diopside asked. Steven didn't consider his costume scary, but liked how good it was.

"I'm Steven."

"No you're not! Steven's a human with -" before Diopside could finish, Steven lifted up his vest to show his normal skin and signature Gemstone underneath. That was enough to convince Diopside this was Steven, but why he was dressed like that was still a mystery.

"Wait ... Steven?"

"Why're you dressed like that?" Peridot questioned. Steven went up to his room first and found his calendar, pulling it out to show the three. He pointed to one particular day on the calendar, though pointing was a little harder with his oven mitt for a hand. The day in question was marked by a Jack-o-Lantern.

"It's Halloween! It's when you dress up, and go out to have some spooky, scary fun, and get lots of candy!" Steven explained, licking his lips at the thought of candy. The three were still a bit confused, despite the summery.

"So ... You're dressed like that because ...?"

"Because it's fun, and apart of the holiday," Steven replied.

"Well you did a good job at scaring me, Steven," Diopside said, now relaxed.

Soon, another person then showed up from the Warp Pad. This time the Gem was Amethyst, but she didn't look normal at first. Her clothes looked torn in a number of places, her fingers had claws, her head had two pointed animal ears, and she even had a shaggy tail. Unlike Steven, this Gem was easier to make out then Steven.

"AROOOOOO! Hey Steven!" Amethyst howled. Clearly, this was for a werewolf, a animal benefiting Amethyst more than most for a number of reasons.

"... You too, Amethyst?" Star asked.

"Of course! I wouldn't miss Halloween for any reason," Amethyst said confidently. Steven went downstairs to meet with Amethyst, as Peridot really started to wonder on what the idea is on Halloween.

"... Are we allowed to do this?" Star asked.

"Yeah, can we join you?" Diopside repeated. Steven and Amethyst were more than happy to include them.

"Of course you can. First, you're gonna need a costume," Steven advised. Seems simple enough. The idea on what costumes to wear though was a little bit confusing for them.

"Is there any limits we should know about?" Questioned Peridot. Steven and Amethyst thought it over for a little bit, and they both decided to help them out with it. 

"Oh no."


~~~~~~


After a while, they weren't the only ones working along for the season. They took one trip on the Warp Pad to their next destination, at least where Steven had initially planned to come around to visit for Halloween; the barn. What better atmosphere than good old farmland for both scary and friendly fun? Turned out, the place was already being decorated by Lapis Lazuli, with an extra hand from Connie who came by for a visit. The barn was decorated with different things; wheat stalks from the nearby fields, some hay bales, a few pumpkins for good measure. Steven and amethyst were happy to see them, as the two agreed to lend a hand in helping them out with decorating.

Lapis and Connie both were dressed up as well. Connie had her own outfit that looked pretty neat, but rather simple from her wardrobe. The girl was actually dressed in her training attire; purple suit with red waistband, and her hair tied back like she had done during her sword training with Pearl. It was fine, and something Connie had grown used to with her sword practice with Pearl. As for Lapis Lazuli, her outfit was also more casual; dressed up as a baseball player, which included the baseball cap, and baseball cleats. Aside from usual white and red, it was white with blue. Aside from that though, it was mainly the same as a usual baseball player. Her baseball cap actually had a Dolphin on it for some unique flair. Lapis had a hole in the back of the outfit so she could still use her signature water wings.

"Lapis! Connie!" Steven called, heading right over to them with a big smile.

"Steven!" They both said, heading over to him and Amethyst.

"Happy Halloween, Steven," Connie said.

"Thanks you two. How goes the decorating?" Amethyst asked, looking over the decorations they had got up so far.

"We're still working on a bit. Almost done," Lapis replied.

After a bit, it was then that Lapis and Connie noticed the other three show up. Since Star Quartz, Diopside, and Peridot hadn't a clue on what to wear for this Halloween stuff, Amethyst and Steven gave them a hand depending on what they wanted:

Star Quartz had the least amount of effort into her look, mainly because Star already had a ghostly look to her appearance regularly. The enhancements on her for her outfit was mainly some props and makeup on her that gave her a more ghostly look. Instead of her usual starry eyes, Amethyst gave her some contact lenses to instead show pure black eyes, and Amethyst even added some face paint under her eyes for some good measure. not blood, but more of ink, but still effective. Star's nails were also done in a black pointed fashion. Mainly, Star was a supernatural ghost overall, not much of an adjustment, and something Star suggested on. She found it interesting.

Diopside was a bit more complicated than Star, but still showed a common idea. With some clothes, and some props, Diopside made a good pirate. She had a skull captain's hat, an eyepatch over her Gem eye, a red and white striped short with a blue over shirt, sleeves torn, tan short (leggings also torn), red bandana around her neck, and a hook on her right hand. Diopside found the eyepatch a bit annoying, considering it was over her Gem eye rather than her other eye, but Steven insisted it would make it more authentic over a supposed "blind Pirate", so Diopside took it as it was, and was still happy that Steven was happy.

Peridot's outfit was more visibly different, and one that was more just a random choice. The green Gem actually decided to do a animal costume; fur-padded paw gloves with fake claws at the end of them reaching up to her elbows, fur covered boots with a similar design to match, a long tail going on behind her, a furry body suit with a black line along the middle, and a set of fake wolf ears on her head. She was basically given a werewolf outfit to wear, though she looked more like a cute shaggy dog than a scary werewolf. At least it didn't cover her Cutie Mark like she thought it would. Lapis and Connie immediately noticed Peridot first. Peridot had showed off her Cutie Mark to everybody a while ago, but Connie was brand new to it, and was surprised to see this little detail on Peridot's body.

"Peridot? Is that a ... Cutie Mark?!" Connie gasped. Peridot felt less embarrassed, and pointed out her metal flower Cutie Mark with a smile.

"Impressive, right? And that's not all," Peridot said, walking confidently over to the barn. Last time she demonstrated she used the same TV, but this time she came back out with a metal plate, levitating it in her hands above her head. Even with the gloves over her hands she could still pull it off, and still amaze Connie with her new skills.

"When did you get this?" Connie asked.

"Saved Ruby and Amethyst from being crushed by Steven's Earth television, like a real hero," Peridot said, happily twirling around the metal plate above her for a bit. Maybe she might be pushing the idea that she was a hero for the act, but she still got the powers either way.

"Sweet! So, that aside, what'd you dress as?" Lapis asked, changing the subject before she would run her mouth about it again. Peridot looked herself over, looking back at her tail.

"Steven and Amethyst called this appearance modifier a "Werewolf"; some sort of anthropomorphic wolf creature," Peridot explained. Amethyst suddenly popped up and gave Peridot a noogie to the head.

"She's my wolf sister," Amethyst summed up. That's what she gets for being a Werewolf with Amethyst. Star began to look around the place for a bit, seeing the decorations that Lapis and Connie had made.

"... Interesting choice of living renovations ..." Star said, gently touching a stalk of wheat by the barn door. Peridot was also a bit curious over the decorations done on the house.

"So the house gets this costume too?" Peridot wondered.

"No, no, it's decorations. You decorate your home in spooky fall stuff on Halloween," Steven said, trying to sound scary. It doesn't exactly work scary when he was dressed up as Future Boy Zoltron. Diopside moved her eyepatch to get a better look at the decorations on the house, and what costumes Connie and Lapis were wearing.

"What are you supposed to be Lapis?" Diopside questioned, head tilted a little bit. Connie she could get, as she saw her wear the outfit during training before, but Lapis Lazuli was a bit confusing. Lapis took a moment to check out her own outfit before actually shrugging.

"I just found this in the barn," Lapis admitted, a embarrassed smile on her face. She knew what to go with, and that she needed a costume, but she just found this one without knowing what it actually was. Still, it was an alright outfit. Something casual compared to last year's Nightmare Night outfit. However, as Steven was looking around, he realized not many people were around the place aside from them.

"Where's everyone else?" Steven asked. That was then when Lapis felt a little bummed out.

"Sorry guys, but the others want to find out a bit more about what happened during that storm, remember? Garnet promised to join us later, but the others won't be joining us this time," Lapis said.

"Aww," Steven replied, bummed out not too many were going to be with them this time around. Oh well.

"OY! Happy Halloween Gems!"

The voice was pretty much from nowhere, but they quickly found out where the voice was coming from. Soon, the group then looked up and found their answer sitting on top of the barn, suddenly dropping down a lot of multi-colored leaves down on them. Emerald.

"Hi Emerald! Happy Halloween for you too!" Steven called back. The green boy Gem got onto his hexagon, and floated down to them safely with something beside him. Better than just jumping off the rooftop. Like the other Gems, he too had a pretty good outfit going for him that he made up himself. Standing on the hexagon like he was posing for a picture, Emerald had himself a much spookier look. He painted a wide smile on his face of red, his head white, and he now had shaggy hair instead of his Mohawk, which was now black instead of green. Peridot, not wanting someone like him to see her like this, actually hid behind Amethyst so Emerald wouldn't see her. It wasn't very good though; even if emerald didn't see her from the roof, he did still see the large brown tail of her outfit.

"See you all are joining in. Nice!" Emerald said.

"Thank you, Emerald. You're looking pretty authentic yourself," Connie complimented.

"What're you supposed to be anyway? Is it what you humans call, a clown?" Diopside asked. Emerald felt insulted.

"A clown?! I'm J T K mind you - internet legendary killer," Emerald said, feeling more confident in his outfit. It may not be as complicated, but the thought was still there anyway. It was after explaining himself when he noticed Peridot's new tail. Amethyst took a step aside, showing Peridot down in hiding. They all knew it would've worked anyway. When Peridot noticed Emerald's smirk, she just groaned, and got up to her feet.

"Hello, Emerald. Come here to mock me again?" Peridot asked, rolling her eyes, waiting for the insult to hit her. Emerald got it, but he had something else in mind rather than making fun of how cute Peridot looked in her little suit.

"Nah - taking a break for it for a bit. Look what I got," Emerald said. He got the stuff of the hexagon, and soon showed them to the rest of the group. Turned out, he made a hand fan out of a set of DVDs to play, all of which were horror films. He had about three different films in selection. One had a Werewolf on the front of it, dressed as a Vampire, looming above a old van. The second one showed what seemed to be someone inside a fog-filled room, a hand on the glass. The third one looked like a basic Zombie movie, with many hands reaching out from a deep tunnel, towards the surface. They had either a Werewolf movie, a Sci-fi, or a Japanese zombie classic.

"... Rectangles?" Star asked, only to have emerald laugh.

"No, they're movies! We have "The Werepire project", "Vapor", and "Kurasuta no taitō"," Emerald explained. The idea was a bit interesting, but they all were a bit high on viewing preference. Not rated-R, but it's up there.

"WHOA, how'd you get those?! Thought they were sold out days ago," Amethyst said, especially excited for Vapor out of the three. While the other two were decent enough, Vapor out of the three was not only special and out of the ordinary, but also great in reviews for a number of things.

"Got these babies during some last minute shopping. You had NO idea how hard it was to get these, let me tell you. So, which movie do you guys wanna watch tonight?" Emerald asked, showing all three movies. Almost immediately, Amethyst picked her choice by yanking it out of Emerald's hands.

"Vapor, obviously! I've been looking forward to this edition for weeks!" Amethyst beamed. Peridot looked over her shoulder to see it, looking confused.

"I've passed your earth viewing station before. You do know they're showing this there."

"Do you have any idea how much they cut out at the theater? This is uncut, and ALL in it. NO WAY am I missing it. I vote for Vapor," Amethyst decided. Steven and Connie had some second thoughts on this, especially after hearing this is the uncut version of it. Anything that is sold uncut means it has to be pretty gory in someway, especially for a horror movie.

"Eh, you sure? My parents don't want me watching these sort of movies," Connie said.

"Then why'd they let you out here? On Halloween, it's either get scared on tricks, or stuffed on treats - whatever works," Emerald replied.

"I'd do both," Amethyst said. Typical really.

"Just don't go overboard like last year, Amethyst, okay?" Lapis advised, for everyone's sake. Amethyst patted her stomach, and wink to Lapis.

"No promises," Amethyst chuckled. This did get Diopside wondering though.

"What happened last year?" Diopside asked.

"Amethyst stuffed herself with so much candy in Ponyville, she looked like a overblown balloon ready to pop. Garnet had to carry her back when it was over," Lapis explained. Amethyst licked her lips, and smiled on the memory. The exercise was a pain afterwards, but the session of stuffing herself silly was very nice for her, especially since she won that contest with RD for who could get the most candy. Victory seemed to make anything sweeter somehow, food included.

"Sounds like this "candy" is something big for this Halloween thing?"

"You kidding? It's the reward for those going door-to-door in their costumes. There's so many types too; chocolate bars, lollipops, candy corn, Halloween cookies, mmmm! Who knows what you'll get?" Peridot may not have eaten candy before, but this was making Peridot willing to try them out. Consider it a little field study on these sugary sweets.

"... Are we the only creatures celebrating this occasion?" Asked Star.

"You mean the humans? Yeah, they should be setting up this year too, in Beach City," Connie answered.

"Oh, that reminds me! Garnet wanted us to check out Beach City for a while, see if we can help set things up," Lapis realized.

"What about the movie?" Retorted Emerald.

"We'll do that later on tonight. For now, let's see what we can do."


~~~~~~


It didn't take them very long at all for them to get from the barn, and over to Beach City. The group was soon heading off down along the boardwalk, which was already looking fancy with hay bales, pumpkins, and even a few scarecrows lined up. A number of Beach City residents were happily going along, either helping to set up the decorations or just enjoying the holiday as it was. The people were dressed up as all sorts of things; clowns, vampires, fairies, police man, all sorts of things. Each person had their own flair to them as much as the Gems did, and it was really a sight to see. Amethyst already bought some candy pop-pops, and was busy with those, Peridot looking with interest.

"Wanna try one, P?" Amethyst offered, holding a piece for her. Peridot nodded, and popped it in her mouth without question. The effect was immediate, Pop-Pops being one of those candies that feel like sparks in your mouth. Peridot stiffened and shuttered on feeling each snap and crackle in her mouth for a full five seconds.

"What was that?" She asked, still shaken up.

"That's the power of the Pop-Pops," Amethyst replied, shoving more in her mouth. First test handled.

As they continued along, Lapis looked ahead and soon spotted someone just ahead of them. Taking a closer look, turned out it was actually Jamie! Like many people in Beach City, Jamie also had on his costume for the holiday; a dazzling look of green attire from hat to shoes, with a bluejay feather sticking out from the hat. A personal choice of his own flair, like how Lapis had a Dolphin on her baseball cap.

"Huh. A interesting amount of green, don't you think?" Diopside noted. Lapis just smiled to Jamie, whom after a while did notice the group of Gems. Jamie went on over, and Lapis went over to him.

"Hi, Jamie. See you're dressed up," Lapis said.

"Hello, Lapis. Indeed I am; I'm the brave sir Robin - giver to those unfortunate, and joy to the common people," Jamie described, his acting showing up. Lapis still find his talent for acting cute and pretty good all things considered. Jamie took a look at Lapis's outfit.

"See you're dressed as a baseball player this year?" Jamie noted.

"Oh, that's what this is? I just threw this on," Lapis admitted, adding a giggle, Jamie joining her in it.

"Well you look nice in it."

"Thanks, you too. I had to improvise with it though, see?" Lapis then turned around to show her Gemstone to him, and the hole she had to make in it to use her wings. She didn't want a costume that restricted her.

"Oh, you said you had wings before, didn't you? See why you had to improvise," Jamie said, as Lapis showed him her wings. The added wings added an angelic look to the player.

"An angel in the baseball field," Jamie concluded. That seemed like the perfect image for Lapis Lazuli, in her outfit anyway.

"Well, I have to continue my route. Maybe we can meet later tonight?"

"Sounds like fun," Lapis replied. Jamie then walked off on his way. As for the others, they had pretty much saw and heard everything, and only then did they show up. Lapis just watched Jamie go, smiling softly.

"AWW, our water Gem's got a new friend now. Isn't he such a cutie Lapis?" Emerald joked. Lapis didn't change expressions, or direction, but she simply whacked Emerald on the side of the head, knocking him hard onto the ground.

Lapis ain't hearing that.


~~~~~~


So, throughout the day, as Garnet might've expected, the group had gone around the place, and it turned out Beach City was more than happy to have them help out in the festivities. It had gone up and down with who did what for Beach City, be it putting up other decorations or just getting other tasks ready for the upcoming Trick-or-Treating night. Steven and Connie for example were heading along the sidewalk through Beach City to the Car Wash, see if they could help out there. It had been a while since they had been there anyway. Once the two had showed up, the Car Wash looked a little different thanks to the decorations set up. It wasn't too much to it, notably a pumpkin over by the neon sign, but that's about it. Greg was outside, just about to get started on his next car. His outfit for Halloween was mainly that of King Neptune; crown on his head, trident in one hand, and sea green clothes. Cheap, yes, but he worked with what he got.

"Hey dad!"

"Hey Steven, Connie. Happy Halloween," Greg said.

"Anything we can help with mr. Universe?" Connie offered.

"Well you two actually came at a good time," Greg admitted. Steven then started acting like a robot.

"Zoltron ready to help. Fatherly aid, activated," Steven said in his robot voice. Greg smiled, holding the wash hose.

"Think Zoltron can start spraying the car for Ol Neptune?" Greg asked. Steven gave a solute, and took the hose.

"I'll go get the sponges," Connie said, going to get some sponges to handle the car. Steven got in position with the hose, aiming it like a gun.

"Water powers, activate!" Steven yelled, pulling the trigger ... But nothing happened. Steven kept trying again and again, but it wasn't working. Connie came back with some sponges, only to see Steven having some trouble.

"Zoltron experiencing malfunction."

"You're standing on the hose, Steven."

Steven looked down and saw that he was actually having a foot on the hose, bulge of water on the hose. Steven lifted his foot for the water to go through. However, since Steven still held the trigger, the water blasted out fast, strong enough to knock Steven back into Connie. The two were just sturdy enough to hold the hose steady until it calmed down to regular power.

"Okay, Steven?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," Steven said, working with the hose again. Connie and Greg helped out in washing the car for a little bit. At first, it was doing alright, and the three had some basic conversations during the time.

"So, what're you doing for Halloween?" Connie asked Greg.

"I didn't plan much actually. I was hoping, Steven, you and I can have some Trick or Treat time later on," Greg said. He didn't have much chance to do so ever since Steven and Greg had their little road trip.

"Can Connie come too?" Steven asked.

"Alright with you kiddo?" Greg asked.

"Of course it is!" Connie beamed. 

Halloween without trick or treating was just plain wrong.


~~~~~~


Peridot and Amethyst were a bit busy in their endeavors as well, but rather than helping out anybody in particular, Amethyst and Peridot were more or less exploring this Halloween concept (Peridot was anyway). So far, the idea narrowed down to decoration and these sweets being given out. Peridot could feel that people were looking her way, and she was feeling a little bit annoyed with the attention. Maybe if it was for her strength, she wouldn't mind, but her outfit didn't seem to help her out much with being threatening.

"What's with these people?" Peridot gripped.

"They just like your little outfit, Peri," Amethyst replied.

"But isn't this Earth tradition about being terrifying?" Peridot questioned. Before they could continue, suddenly.

*MAYOR DEWEY* *MAYOR DEWEY*

"EEKK!" Peridot jumped up, landing in Amethyst's arms, as she and Amethyst saw Mayor Dewey's van go by, and that same creepy head still on top of the van. Yeah, it had a witch hat on for holiday's sake, but that was about it. Mayor Dewey paid them no mind, and kept going along down the road. Peridot was shaking in her boots, yet it took a bit before Peridot realized what she just did.

"Eh hehehehe ... You can put me down now," a bashful and embarrassed Peridot replied. Amethyst dropped her, and the green Gem jumped up to her feet. Amethyst knew very well that Peridot got spooked, and the green Gem blushed up a storm. Peridot knew what Amethyst was smirking at.

"Is that, or is that not completely creepy?!" Peridot snapped, pointing to the head on the car. Peridot took a look to the thing, which gave amethyst her own greenlight for her own "trick-or-treat". And here, she chose to trick. Amethyst gave a little tap to Peridot's shoulder.

"What do you wa- AAAHHH!"

Amethyst shifted her head to match the one on Dewey's van. Yes, she went there. Amethyst couldn't help but laugh, and she shifted her head back to normal, Peridot gathering her nerves. She ended up growling like an angry dog, as Amethyst raced away, Peridot running after her.


~~~~~~


Soon, the shenanigans of the Gem group went from Beach City, and they were back to the barn. Things gone up and down, but they did meet up back all the same, even if some Gems actually made other plans.

Emerald was more excited than ever, since this meant that he was going to get a scary movie going, and he can't wait to get rolling.

"Alrighty! Who's ready for some horror films?!" Emerald beamed, showing the movies in hand. However, the group seemed a little bit unsure with the idea now.

"... Guys?"

"I still promised Jamie I'd hang with him for Halloween, remember?" Lapis reminded. Emerald forgot about that, but he wasn't discouraged.

"Eh okay then. Still got the rest of the gang, right guys?" Emerald said. Steven and Connie glanced to eachother.

"Uh, Emerald? I kinda promised my dad that I'd go Trick-or-Treating with him this year ..."

"Isn't he old for that?"

"No ones too old for that, Emerald," Connie said. Emerald was getting more annoyed now, but just let out a sigh. Still, with Lapis, Steven, and presumably Connie out as well, he still had the others for it.

"... Right. And you guys?" Emerald asked, less amused.

"I'd like to go with Steven, if that's okay Emerald," Diopside said. Blunt and to the point. Now Emerald was bemused as everything. He just looked to Star, Peridot, and Amethyst.

"... Don't tell me you three are gonna go too," Emerald said dryly.

"As interesting as it is to sit and stare at an Earth motion picture, seeing this experience would be more suited to my studies," Peridot answered.

"Seriously? I spent over one hundred bucks on these movies!"

"I know, maybe we can watch it later. Sorry, Emerald," Lapis said. Emerald now was bummed out. He made his plans to watch a horror movie with his friends, and they suddenly make other plans like this? Still, at least Star didn't had much plan updates, but not much of a crowd like he wanted. Soon, the crowd left back to Beach City, leaving only Emerald and Star Quartz behind.

"I don't believe it. I plan this out, and they ditch me. Heck, might as well forget it now," groaned Emerald. Star felt a little sorry for Emerald, but then saw the film he had in hand, which was Vapor again.

"... Can I see that?" Star suddenly asked.

"Knock yourself out," Emerald griped, tossing it back to her. It bounced off of her head, and landed in her hands. As Emerald stewed in his situation, Star Quartz took the time to look over the movie. She looked to the back and saw the information on the back, giving her some information about the movie and what it had in store. It didn't spoil anything to the Gem, but it still did intrigue her all the same ...


~~~~~~


As night time neared, the city along the shoreline began to become a little more active for the Halloween holiday. Down in Beach city, now night time, the decorations began to truly light up, quite literally. Many of the Jack-O-Lanterns around town were lit up nicely to decorate the boardwalk alongside the streetlights. The other decorations as well, such as the scarecrows, now had a more ominous look to them due to the change of day, which was what the residents were hoping to get with their efforts. Speaking of residents, with the main work of setting up now calmed down, it was time for some fun in the place. Different activities were set up, games to play, attractions inland to find as well (can't do everything on the beach). Steven, Connie, Greg, and now Diopside, were now going along the place and checking things out. Diopside, for one, was truly marveled at how much work had gone into such a holiday for a species more primitive than Homeworld's Gems.

"To think you do all this in just one day," Diopside wondered aloud.

"Well it's once a year, so not too bad," Connie said. Made sense considering how much was actually done for Halloween. As Connie and Steven went ahead, Greg and Diopside were alone for a moment.

"So, Diopside. Has things been going well for you?" Greg asked. Diopside looked over to Greg, a little shy but not enough to be completely silent.

"For a while, yes ... Your son is very nice," Diopside said, looking over to Steven.

"Yeah, he's a good kid. Speaking of which, Steven told me a bit about you," Greg agreed.

"L-Like what?" Diopside asked.

"Well ... About how you were some Gem monster, or something like that."

"Oh ... That ... yes," Diopside said. Being reminded on how she used to be a sort of Gem beast before she was healed by Jade and Flint was something she didn't truly like being reminded about.

"Your son was the only one nice to me at the time ... Thank the stars I'm back to normal."

As they continued looking around the place, one other figure was silently awaiting her patient visual over the group. Just hidden out of sight so no one could notice her, including those within the group in question. As no one was watching, she leaped off towards her next location, making sure no one spotted her as she moved off.


~~~~~~


"Jamie!"

Further off, Lapis Lazuli had just managed to find Jamie after a good while of looking around in the air. She wasn't exactly given any sort of true direction on where they were going to meet up exactly. Jamie himself was outside, much like the other residents, over by the boardwalk, looking out to the ocean. Lapis landed softly over next to him, retracting her wings. Jamie was glad to see her just as well.

"Salutations, Lapis. Ready to depart on this celebration?" Jamie asked, tone of old English.

"Indeed sire. It is a splendid night to be part of the festivities," Lapis replied. The two were quiet for a little bit, but the two then chuckled to eachother. Acting sure was something fun for the two to do, though Jamie had a stronger passion for it than Lapis did.

"So, Jamie. What do you want to do first? I saw a lot of stuff to do before I got here," Lapis said. Jamie went over to her side.

"Let's scour the land and see," Jamie said. Lapis smiled at her actor, and the two began to look around for a bit.

Jamie and Lapis went along the boardwalk for a little bit more. The two saw a number of kids go along their own Halloween way. They got their outfits, and got the concept down as much as Jamie had. Even if it was supposed to be spooky, the moon shining down did give a nice feeling to the place. Lapis looked up to the moon for a moment, but that was until -

"I AM ZOLTRON. FORTUNE TELLER FROM THE FUTURE!"

"Steven?"

Turned out it was the legit thing. Inside a booth, there appeared to be some sort of robot, looking like Steven's costume, but with a robot body and thinner build. Looks like it was set up for some extra money for the holiday. Lapis was immediately curious over seeing this weird thing, and the two went over to see.

"What's this?" Lapis asked.

"This? It's actually a fortune booth. You put in a quarter, ask a question, and Zoltron will foresee your future. Wanna try?" Jamie explained.

"I'm all set, thanks," Lapis shrugged. Why pay for something when she could ask Garnet for free? Jamie got out a quarter and tried it out himself. He cleared his throat before going on to ask Zoltron.

"Will everyone have fun this Halloween?"

A broad question, for sure. Zoltron grew active.

"Yes! Everyone is having fun at Funland!" Zoltron replied. Lapis, admitted, didn't find it very impressive. Her boss can basically do the same that this metal man could do, and she didn't have to pay any money for that. Even then, that quote-on-quote "prediction", was sounding more like an advertisement for Funland if anything.

"Hmm. I dunno. Zoltron may not be good at his job," Lapis said.

"It's not too bad, Lapis. Here, you try it," Jamie said, giving Lapis a quarter to try it out. Lapis decided to roll with it, and inserted the quarter in the coin slot, and cleared her throat. Jamie's question could've been answered by any simple person. Now let's see how legit this is.

"Zoltron, will we be able to have enough time to watch a horror movie with Emerald later on tonight?"

"Yes! Everyone is having fun at Funland!"

.......

"I rest my case," Lapis said, snapping her fingers before walking off on her way. Nice to feel right on something. Jamie felt a little silly, now wasting fifty cents on Zoltron. Oh well, there's still plenty of free things to do in Beach City. Soon, as Lapis and Jamie went off out of sight, someone peeked out from the Funland Arcade, where Future Boy Zoltron was at. She waited a bit until she was gone this time around, but hearing that Lapis still wanted to be with emerald was still questionable for her. Lapis Lazuli suddenly began to feel like she was being watched. But when she turned around, no one else was there ...

"Okay Lapis?" Jamie asked. Lapis got herself back to attention.

"Oh, I'm fine, sorry," Lapis replied. Jamie and Lapis both looked on ahead, and the two saw something further down the path ...

The figure looked pretty decent at first, a little farther away. The figure had some baggy clothes (green shirt and old jeans) like that of a homeless person, and the head was covered by a basic brown paper bag, eyeholes cut out, but covered by some sunglasses so the eyes still weren't visible. Almost immediately, Lapis and Jamie got a creeped out vibe from seeing the odd man, and the man began to walk along the boardwalk towards them. Since it was Halloween though, the two figured it was just a good outfit (served the purpose anyway).

"Uh ... Hey, Jamie, let's try this way," Lapis said, pointing to a direction AWAY from the man. Jamie and Lapis soon moved out of sight fast.


~~~~~~


"Now THAT'S a good load right here," Amethyst said, looking at the candy she gathered. She had been pretty busy through this Halloween since leaving away from the barn. It had been an hour into the night, and she had gotten a ton of candy from going about Beach City, surely more than many of the other kids in the city. Peridot wasn't around for the moment, deciding to try her luck after given some instructions on how to Trick-or-Treat by Amethyst herself. However, Amethyst hadn't seen Peridot in quite sometime, and it should be about time to check the load count on her. The purple Gem got her hefty bag of candy, and began heading off to look for her wolf sister.

"Yo, wolf Per, where are ya?" Amethyst called. The two hadn't been apart for very long, so her voice would easily find its way to her. Amethyst was confident that she got plenty of candy at this point, hopefully more than Peridot had.

"Amethyst!"

Soon, Amethyst found her green friend, with a good sized back tossed over her shoulder. Her bag looked pretty full, but not exactly too much like Amethyst had, so perhaps it wouldn't be that bad. Peridot rushed over, suspending two metal spheres in her free hand with her metal powers. She didn't forget she could do that, and liked to show it off somehow.

"K, Peridot, what do you got?" Amethyst asked, comparing bags. Amethyst showed off her goods, a lot of delicious candy inside. Peridot took a peek in her bag before groaning.

"I don't think I got it right," Peridot groaned, showing Amethyst what she had gotten. Amethyst took one look, and she was left speechless, eyes wide. The bag was filled not with candy, but with money! Tons of coins and dollar bills inside!

"W-Wha?"

"Thought I could get some candy with showing off my metal-kinisis techniques, and I end up with mineral circles, and green paper," Peridot groaned. She may felt a bit defeated, but Amethyst was simply amazed, and took the bag. How much money could be inside this bag? How much did Peridot earn just for showing off her skills?!

"So ... Did I win, or -"

"Oh, uh yeah sure you did," Amethyst said, not paying attention. Even if she did, Peridot sure won more than Amethyst could do with her candy. Peridot felt victorious, and grabbed Amethyst's bag.

"Victor goes the spoils!" Peridot said in triumph. Course, it might be a little bit before Amethyst could explain things, but for now, she'll let Peridot enjoy the candy. Peridot wasted no time in starting to eat up Amethyst's candy, mix of sweet, savory, and hint of sour filling her mouth. Amethyst went on with the greenbacks Peridot unwittingly earned (if she meant to or not). As the two were there, someone started to walk over their way. Amethyst glanced up and saw the figure first. As it turned out, it was the same man that Lapis and Jamie encountered earlier. He moved a bit awkwardly, almost sluggishly, over towards Amethyst and Peridot.

"Sup dude?" Amethyst asked casually. However, the man didn't really reply, soon stopping a foot away from them both. He stood hunched over, paper bag head looking down at Amethyst and Peridot. Peridot was a little too busy with enjoying the candy to even notice the strange person standing just a foot away.

"Uh ... Yo, anyone in there?" Amethyst asked, waving a hand in front of his face. However, the man walked closer, and reached out to touch and prob Amethyst's wolf ears.

"Eh yeah, neat right? Got these at - what're you doing?"

Suddenly the hand moved down onto Amethyst's cheek, and the other hand was soon on her other cheek. Now Amethyst was getting creeped out. She went on to back up, getting the man to let go of her. Next it was Peridot who noticed the odd man, who walked over to her.

"Can I help you?" Peridot asked, mouth full. The man brought a hand down, and started to run his hand over Peridot's stomach (which was bulging a little from Peridot's candy eating).

"Uh ... Thanks?" Peridot questioned. She waited a minute or two, the creepy human still there, still rubbing her. Peridot backed up, and went over to Amethyst.

"Who's your creepy friend?" Peridot asked.

"What friend?" Amethyst asked back. The man turned around to face them, Peridot keeping herself behind Amethyst.

"Hey, buddy, I know it's Halloween, but you're kinda pushing it ... Hello? ..."

The man wasn't answering. Annoyed, Amethyst went ahead, and try to pull the paper bag off of his head to see who the wise guy was. She got a grip on it, and pulled the bag off fast. In under one second, the clothes suddenly collapsed into a heap of laundry. No body. No person in the clothes. All that was left was the paper bag in Amethyst's hands, and the clothes on the ground. It was as if nothing wore them to begin with ...

Amethyst and Peridot were wide eyed, and shocked as ever, as Amethyst dropped the bag onto the ground. Peridot looked even more freaked out.

"... O ... K ..."

The two took off soon after that. Not checking what happened to the laundry.


~~~~~~


The night dragged on for a while, even slower over back at the barn. Trick or Treat was a bit enjoyable, and soon the gang did return back to it. In the night, the barn and its decorations showed a lot more in the night light, especially the Halloween lights themselves.

"Let's get that movie started!" Amethyst beamed.

"Hope Emerald didn't get too angry with us," Diopside said. They kinda left him alone with his own plans, which were dashed pretty much. Still, they were back at the barn, and ready to get the movie going. Lapis went ahead to open the barn up, yet when they looked inside, nobody was there. Emerald was gone, Star Quartz was gone. No one.

"Emerald, we're back," Lapis called. However, they didn't exactly find anyone there, or any response for that matter. That seemed a little bit odd.

"We still have time for the movie after all, don't be mad at us," Diopside added. They went on in, trying to see where he had gone off to.

"EMERALD! Don't try any of your tricks!" Peridot warned. Last thing she needed. With their minds more focused on the movie, and trying to find where Emerald had gone, Peridot turned around to go outside rather than stick around. If this was apart of some trick, she wanted no part of it. Just before she could step outside.

*bam*

Something big fell down from the roof of the barn, and right in front of Peridot. The green Gem yelped, and jumped back, catching the attention of the others. The thing that so happened to fall down on the floor turned out to be the body of that same man they kept seeing! Steven, Diopside, and Connie were unaware of this man, though still spooked seeing him fall on the ground like that. The others knew what they saw though, and while Lapis was caught off guard, Amethyst and Peridot were a little freaked.

"Oh my gosh, you okay?!" Connie asked. The man got up onto his feet, groggy in movement, but Amethyst, Lapis, and Peridot were not having it.

"Get away, you clod!" Peridot demanded. The odd man reached out to get her, but Amethyst already was in the process of shutting the barn doors. The man stepped back once the doors shut, splitting him and Peridot up.

"Wait, wait, what's the matter?" Steven asked.

"I'm not letting that ghost in here!" Amethyst retorted.

"Ghost?!" Connie, Lapis, and Steven gasped.

"What's a ghost?" Diopside asked.

"A horrifying undead spirit, that's what! At least it can't get in -" before Peridot could finish, the man showed up again, this time somehow getting up onto the barn front window! The man went limp, and stumbled down inside like a ragdoll, almost landing on them below! They went on one side of the barn, and the man got up over by the barn door. In the dim light, it was harder to really make him out clearly for most of the Gems. The man began to walk closer and closer to them, but out of the Gems, Diopside began to notice something ...

"Huh?"

Diopside got up after a bit, soon right up to the man. The Gem was trying to see something with this man in the paper bag and glasses. Regular vision was a bit hard on the surface, especially in the dim light, so Diopside got the eyepatch in her outfit back over her normal eye, her Gem eye turning into complete focus. Her Gem eye adjusted deeply, giving Diopside a much clearer vision just pass the shades ...

"Wait ... Are you ..."

After a bit, the man placed both hands on the bag covering his head, and began to pull it off, only to show ...

"... Am I doing it right?"

"STAR?!"

There was Star Quartz, dressed up in a creepy outfit, and holding the paper bag. Now THIS was completely out of nowhere. The others didn't know how to react, especially those who saw her earlier down in Beach City. Star got her hair out, letting it run down, and she went on removing the freaky outfit.

"That was you?" Lapis asked.

"WHOA. Ok, that was good," Amethyst admitted. Star was out of the other outfit at this point, her normal attire already on.

"So that was you running around Beach City in that freaky outfit?" Peridot asked.

"... I tried to get it right. Did I scare you?"

"Wait no no. But how'd you disappear like that? We didn't find anyone in that outfit, didn't we Amethyst?"

Before they could answer, Star pointed up, as something started to move the outfit again. Peridot and Diopside looked up, and they found Emerald on the second loft of the Barn, working his telekinesis on the clothes.

"Hey wolf sister. Got you good," Emerald said, laughing a bit as the outfit patted Peridot on the head. Now Peridot felt like a idiot.

"Great job, Star," Connie congratulated. Star nodded, as Emerald got himself down. Peridot was just looking at him, very cross.

"Come on, you cute Dorito, you gotta admit that was pretty good. Beats sitting around waiting for ya to come back," Emerald said. Peridot reached her arm out to the side, and she got her metal powers to summon a conveniently metallic baseball bat to her grip. Emerald ran, as Peridot chased after him, swinging the bat like mad. As they were doing that, the others went to Star.

"But Star, why'd you go around scaring us like that?" Diopside asked.

"... Isn't that the reason behind the holiday?" Star questioned.

"Well, yes, but you kinda took it a little far," Lapis responded. If Halloween was like Nightmare Night, then Star did go up another level with her approach.

"... I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Just maybe tell us if you're going to try that kind of stuff first, okay?" Connie suggested. Star simply agreed, and she looked over to Peridot and Emerald after a bit. Emerald was up on his hexagon, floating just out of reach, Peridot swinging her bat, trying to get him. Obviously Peridot was fuming, to say the least.

"Should we stop her?" Diopside asked. Star went on over to Peridot, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"What, I'm trying to murder a Gem here!" Peridot snapped. Star and Peridot soon locked eyes for a moment. Star made sure by moving Peridot's visors to see her true eyes, and remained that way for a good bit. Peridot felt her anger subside, and soon she was calm and relaxed.

"Better?" Star asked. All Peridot did was nod. Impressive how Star can relax anyone if she wanted to.

"You're good," Amethyst complimented. Emerald floated down, a bit slower this time, and got to ground level. Can't be too careful with Peridot, even after she calmed down. That could be from being around Ruby, but who knew?

"So, looks like everyone's here, so ..."

"... Movie? We still have time," Star cut in.

Star held out the preferred selection in the set of movies, which turned out to be "Vapor". Emerald didn't know how she got that, since he just had it with him. He checked his pockets, and found that Star snuck it out of him. Clever cheat that one. It was a bit of a jump at it, but it was Halloween, and they owed Emerald that after going to handle their own things, and making him wait for them.

"Let's set it up," Lapis decided.
> Here In Our Town
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No ... No, no ... no, no, no, UGH!"

Twilight Sparkle was having some little trouble with figuring things out. It hadn't been too long since the storm had passed through back in Beach City, but that Thunderbird that they encountered was something she was not going to slip by. She consulted the old castle library rather than her own, since that library had more ancient literatures on monster studies than her own books at the library. She had plenty of books, sure, but this wasn't in any books she had read up on in her library, so maybe the books from the Alicorn sisters could give her some more answers. So far though, she wasn't having too much of luck in her little knowledge hunt, even with the rest of the Mane Six looking through as well. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy were looking through more carefully, but Rainbow and even Pinkie were just skimming through the books.

"Anypony else starting to think that this is a lost cause?" Applejack said at one point. It was starting to look like it as it was, considering they had a number of piled books well beyond fifty each. Quite a bother. Rainbow Dash went through another book and tossed it aside, the book bouncing off Pinkie's head. The Pegasus was about done, and landed down on the floor, grumpy as ever.

"Ok, I'm done."

"Come on, there's got to be some answer to this," Twilight said, finishing another book and placing it aside.

"Are you sure about that, dear? We didn't find our storm bird in Equestria," Rarity pointed out as Twilight tried to get another book and see if it had anything in it.

"But there was nothing like that before. We've been visiting Steven's world for over a year, and this is the first time we saw something like this," twilight explained, finishing through another book that gave them nothing.

"What if this was just another Gem monster? I mean, it's not the first time we saw one of those before," Rainbow brought up. However, Fluttershy was the one who had to disagree.

"No, she's not. She would've kept trying to fight us blindly if that's right."

"Doesn't every animal angry do that?"

"Oh come off it. Y'all know that you're just trying to get an excuse to go off on us," Applejack finally pointed out. Rough, but honesty can be that sometimes. Rainbow Dash herself got a rather rough big from that.

"NO! ... Well, maybe. But like you said; we're getting nowhere here. Can't we go do something else?" Rainbow complained, although she was still tossing books time and time again from a lower shelf. As she grabbed one book ...

"Rainbow Dash. Is that you?"

"AAAAHHHH!!"

One wing beat, and Rainbow had her back slammed to the opposite bookshelf. Turned out that book covered the face of one of their friends! It at first looked like a talking detached head on a shelf, but after a bit, the rest of her came out in better view. The Mane Six did not see this coming for a mile, but the only one who knew who it was was Pinkie Pie herself.

"Connie Two!"

Pinkie bolted forward to hug her, but Pinkie ended up flying right through Connie II, landing in a book pile. It was Connie the Second, though in a projection of herself rather than actually being there.

"Wait. Connie ... Two?" Questioned Applejack.

"I don't have a lot of time to explain, but I need your help, please!"

"Okay, calm down. What's the matter?" Twilight asked.

"I tried to help some ponies in this town, but they locked me away, and are trying to rehabilitate me. It's north east of the Canterlot Castle, south of the Crystal Mountains, Please, the town needs you - I need you -"

Before Connie II could finish, she began to look hurt, like a migraine just struck her, as the projection started to fade and shift. Connie II tried to tell them, but she disappeared before she could finish. Well, to put it blunt, that got everypony rattled. That did give them a sure fire objective, and they were all for it.

"Well what're we waiting for, let's head out!" Rainbow announced.


~~~~~~


The instructions and direction were, more or less, vague. However, it was just enough for the Mane Six to follow and head off on their way to help Connie II out. They really had to work with what they got as best as they could muster, but the group were heading the right way after a train ride. Their main concern was for Connie II; Nopony would just go and give that kind of message if it wasn't too serious. As they continued going, the terrain turned dry, grayish, and rocky. It truly was practically in the middle of nowhere when all was said and done, but at least there was a road to easily go along, even if the road was a bit rocky and more rugged than an average road. There wasn't many trees, or bushes - just rocks and boulders going along hills.

"You girls see any town around here?" Twilight asked.

"This is where Connie said it would be," Applejack replied. Rainbow flew up for a bit to check on things, and soon, the keen eyed Pegasus got her eyes set on something further off in the distance. It was still a bit ways away, but the ponies were up on high-ground, giving them a better view of the place in question. A town not too far off, and a small one at that. Since it was the only town they were seeing, and the only town they came across on their walk, it had to be it no doubt. Pinkie Pie though suddenly jumped in front of the crowd, getting all serious, front hooves out to her side.

"Stand back everypony! I'M ON IT."

"Careful Pinkie!" Applejack said, just before the pink mare suddenly began a tumble down the deep hill until her back met another large boulder. For Pinkie Pie, this was an extreme stealth mission, despite the fact that nopony was even present aside from the Mane Six. The others didn't really feel like the super spy approach was needed, so they just walked on casually as Pinkie stuck with her stealth. She leaped to one boulder, then scurried towards another boulder, and she was suddenly underneath it, waving her hoof for the others to follow (the boulder crushing her, yet her hoof was still doing the motion). The boulder scooted slowly a few times until the rest of the Mane Six caught up with her, Pinkie peering out from the same side the Mane Six was. From here, the group of Ponies could get a better view of the town they were coming across.

They weren't too far from the entrance to the small town, which was mainly made up of two evenly placed buildings, equally side by side in shape and space. Nothing really seemed to pop out or seem different from one side to another, and the ponies themselves that they could seen. The ponies looked different from eachother, but the colors were a little dulled down. They all had smiles on their faces, but these looked far more forced than any regular happy grin, almost like Emerald's own messed up grin when they first met him with his cracked Gem; a wide smile stretching across their faces that almost seemed to hurt.

"This looks like a nice little town," fluttershy noted.

"I don't like it. NOT ONE BIT." Pinkie replied, quick and firm in tone. It was rare to hear Pinkie not like anything, but Pinkie Pie had a pretty good reason for it.

"Look at those smiles. They just don't look right," Pinkie pointed out, a hoof aimed at a random pony in the town. She wasn't exactly wrong, as all of the ponies had a similar look to them in smiles. After a little bit, Twilight began to see something else with these Ponies.

"That's not all. Look at their Cutie Marks, they're ..." Twilight didn't need to finish what she had to say. The Mane Six looked to one flank after another, seeing the Cutie Marks the Ponies had. The first pony had simply an equal sign ... And the next ... And the next ... They all had the exact same Cutie Mark.

"OK. THAT'S weird," Rainbow commented.

The group of Ponies then ventured off into the town in question, coming up to the front of the town's entrance. The Mane Six went on around for a bit, seeing Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegesi living in the same place like Ponyville would have it. They're all still a bit dulled down though, and they all were looking at them with the same wide smile and happy expression.

"Welcome," one pony said.

"Welcome," said another.

The welcomes each pony made tot eh Mane Six arriving into town was sweet, monotone, but non-threatening in anyway. Still, the Mane Six had their own vibe to it. Pinkie Pie was the most suspicious of the six, yet Fluttershy was very content. No matter the case, they can't forget why they went out here in the first place. Connie II was somewhere, and they had to get her before things could get worse for her.

"Welcome," A Pegasus said, to Fluttershy in particular. The yellow Pegasus smiled sweetly, though the others remained a little skeptical. Soon, the group were then found by two Stallion ponies. One Stallion had a white coat, and silver mane and tail. Both the mane and tail were equally cut, much like the other stallions in town. Same thing can be said for the other one next to him, though his coat was less white, and more of a dull blue, with a crudely knitted vest on, tied together by rope. They both shared the same wide smiles, and Cutie Marks, as with everypony else.

"Welcome. Pardon me for my forwardness, but are you an Alicorn?" One of the ponies asked. Twilight looked to her wings, and simply nodded. It had been a while since her Alicorn status had actually been noticed.

"This is an honor. And you all have your own cutie Marks," he added, seeing the Cutie Marks they had on them. He kept the smile, but his eyes turned to a worried look for just a quick second before shifting back.

"Sure we do. And you are?"

"Double Diamond. And this is Party Favor," The stallion introduced. Well, they got two ponies in this town anyway. Odd though - his name didn't exactly fit him well since there wasn't much clue on him for any "diamond" anyway. Party Favor was this as well.

"Nice to meet you two," Fluttershy said.

"Same to you. What brings you to our corner of Equestria?" Double Diamond said. The group didn't forget for a minute about why they came out here, and decided to ask the questions up front.

"Well, we got a message from one of our friend - A human friend. She's trapped somewhere, and told us to come out this way. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you? ..." Twilight asked. Double Diamond and Party Favor glanced to eachother before answering.

"Excuse me, but, what exactly is a human?" Party Favor asked, grin still there, and trying not to sound insulting or anything. Well, if these ponies didn't even know what a human even was, then Connie II couldn't be here many of them figured. If Connie II did show up and get trapped here, then they would've at least got an idea of it. Connie II would tell them what a human was at least. Applejack and Pinkie began to get suspicious as well, but didn't say anything.

"Oh. She's about as tall as we are, brown skin, brunette, on two legs with hands and fingers," Twilight explained.

"Apologies, but we hadn't seen one of those. But, how about we show you our mayor, perhaps she'll know," Double Diamond offered, pointing a hoof to the other end of their town. There was one building that wasn't actually apart of the two sets of houses, one that the Mane Six didn't even notice before. Sure it matched the style of the other houses, but it was by itself. The Mane Six glanced to eachother for a bit.

"Can you give us a minute?" Twilight asked. Double Diamond and Party Favor nodded, and the group went off a few feet, discussing with eachother on if they should. The two Stallions waited for a minute, smiling still, but Double diamond nudged Party Favor, having the other Stallion walk off before the Mane Six returned.

"We'll go and talk to your mayor," Twilight decided.

"In that case, right this way," Double Diamond replied, walking along ahead.


~~~~~~


It didn't take very long, but Double Diamond did end up bringing them over to the mayor's house, even going as far as to inviting them right inside. The interior of the building was cozy enough with the average furniture inside, though they did note a picture of an equal symbol over on the wall. Other than that it was your typical pony home. There was one closed door though that Double Diamond went over to, which the others were thinking that it might be where the mayor was in.

"Starlight, we have some new visitors," Double Diamond said.

"We don't know what's behind that door. Get ready," Rainbow warned quietly. Even if Connie II wasn't here, this was no ordinary town by any means.

After a short while, the door began to open up, and another pony started to step out into the light of the room. This was a unicorn, a female unicorn with a smirk on her face and a calm, confident look to her eyes. Her main fur coat was a pale pink, not as dark or as prominent as Pinkie Pie's pink. Her mane and tail were as bland as everypony else in this town, though the colors of her mane and tail were a deep purple with a light green highlight in each. As with many other ponies in town, she too had the equal Cutie Mark on her flank.

"Welcome! So nice to meet you," she said.

"You must be the major?" Twilight said. Starlight nodded her head, as Double Diamond moved aside.

"Starlight Glimmer. Interesting to see a Alicorn come to visit our little town," Starlight said, a hoof extended in friendship. Twilight gave her a hoof-shake. Pinkie and Applejack glanced to eachother for a moment as Twilight spoke again.

"Twilight Sparkle," Twilight introduced.

"I assume it's princess Twilight Sparkle," Starlight complimented.

"Twilight is just fine," Twilight replied, modestly.

"We're happy to have you here. We're always happy to have anypony visit and experience true friendship for the first time."

"... Say what?" applejack questioned, eyebrow raised. True friendship? The first time? Ok, there's obviously something up here. They know friendship, they've been friends with Humans, Ponies, and Gems, so what was with that comment?

"Oh, indeed. That's what is so unique about our town," Starlight began, taking a moment to equally line up the picture of the equal symbol on the wall, which was slightly tilted when the group arrived. Starlight continued saying "You see, we don't try to flaunt our special talents, because we don't have any special talents to flaunt."

"Is that why you all have those Cutie Marks?" Asked Twilight, pointing to Starlight's own Cutie Mark. Starlight nodded.

"Indeed. These may not seem like much at first to visitors like you, but over time we all come to understand that we're all happy living together once we're all equal. As such, we all agreed to give up our unique talents, and all become equal amongst eachother."

"Why would they do that? Give up our cutie Marks? Yeah, right!" Rainbow commented. Fluttershy nudged Rainbow, not wanting to come off as rude to seemingly happy ponies.

"Rainbow! They may do things a little differently, but that's no reason to be rude," Fluttershy said.

"Let me try to explain for you. You see, Cutie Marks represent a unique talent a pony has. And ponies with unique talents would go out in the world to flaunt and show off their talents, just to simply show what they can do. Different talents lead to different opinions, which leads to bitterness and misery. With our marks equal, no unique talents, therefore no bitterness," Starlight explained. It sounded a little bit troubling to some of the Mane Six, and Rainbow Dash found it a little too familiar, especially the 'showing off' part.

"Uh, speaking of which, what brought you to our little town?"

Now, Applejack got right to the main point, and stepped in. It was about time they cut to the chase, and figure out about Connie II.

"Alright, listen. We've showed up here, because our friend needed our help, and she told us to come out to this little town of yours. Y'all know anything about that?" Applejack asked, ready to hear what Starlight had to say. Starlight Glimmer took a moment to think, hoof to her chin.

"We didn't have visitors arriving in our corner of the world before you and your friends arrived. My apologies for that. You're free to stay here if you wish to."

"That is kind of you, thank you," Fluttershy said. Starlight nodded, and turned to Double Diamond.

"Double Diamond, please help our guests with whatever they might need," Starlight instructed.

"Of course!" replied Double Diamond.

Troubling, but it'll give them time.


~~~~~~


Pretty soon, the Mane Six were out of Starlight's house, and basically waiting around town. They all were sitting at an outside diner table, similar to the ones back in Ponyville but without the umbrellas. They still kept hearing 'welcome' from passersby, be it from older ponies, or from young fillies and colts. Fluttershy found it alright, and a bit sweet, but the others were having different thoughts on the matter.

"Well girls, what do you think?" Twilight asked.

"I dunno about the rest of you, but I'm getting a feelin' that something's up," Applejack said.

"Me too; I know my smiles, and these smiles just aren't right," agreed Pinkie, her peering, and suspicious eyes darting back and forth at the local ponies, who still gave their wide smiles to them. Fluttershy had enough with it.

"Come on, girls. They're just doing things a little differently, that's all. Maybe we just got the wrong town," Fluttershy insisted.

"You seen any other towns on our way here, Fluttershy? I think this is the one, if anywhere," Rainbow said.

"Connie didn't say exactly where she was, remember? It could be anywhere," Fluttershy pointed out. As far as the yellow Pegasus is concern, these ponies were the nicest group of ponies she'd met in a long time.

"Maybe we should ask around a little bit. Somepony might've known something about her," Twilight figured. There was quite a number of ponies in this town, despite its size, so perhaps at least one pony would know something about Connie II, somewhere. Before their conversation could continue -

"Need anything?!"

Double Diamond was across from them, pass the plaza on another table.

"We're alright!" replied Twilight. Soon, another pony then came into the picture, this time a mare unicorn pony. She was the waitress, and she matched the other looks of the other ponies fairly well; dulled out colors, and equal cutie mark. The mare noticed the group discussing to one another before she showed up.

"Is this a bad time?"

"No, no, not at all, dear," Rarity insisted. The mare gave a sigh of relief.

"But, you were disagreeing ..."

"Oh, that's not much trouble darling. We can disagree on things now and again, it's not too bad," Rarity explained. The mare though seemed confused, but didn't push the subject any further.

"My name is Sugar Belle. What can I get you? We have, muffins ..."

And apparently that was it.

"Twelve please!" Pinkie Pie beamed. Might as well get her share of sweets before exploring the town. The other girls looked over to her.

"What, I'm hungry," Pinkie defended.

"Can we try to focus please? I'm sorry, but, our pal's getting brainwashed out there, and here we are ordering muffins. This town's got something messed up with it," Rainbow said.

"Don't trust their smiles. Something rotten's going on in - ... Whatever the name of this town is," Pinkie agreed.

"Alright, everypony. Y'all can relax for a bit, I'll go and check things out, ok?" Applejack decided. She wasn't trusting this town anymore than Pinkie was, so she might as well take this time to look around herself.

"Sure about that?" Twilight asked.

"Sure I'm sure. I'll pop right back once I get things sorted out, ok? See y'all in a bit," Applejack said, walking off from the others. It wasn't until AJ was out of sight when Sugar Belle came back with a plate of cupcakes. However, they weren't well done, and looked more like burnt chunks of bread than actual muffins. Pinkie went on ahead and tried one, only getting taste as bad as it looks. She hacked for a moment, only to see her friends turning to her. Embarrassed, Pinkie quickly changed her tone.

"MMMMM. Good," Pinkie said, trying to hide the fact how bad they tasted.

"It's alright. I know I'm not a good cook. Well, I'm not better than anypony else in town," Sugar said, still smiling. However, her eyes darted back to where Double diamond was at, who was looking at a newspaper to pass the time. That glance seemed a bit odd, but Double Diamond took no notice. Pinkie hacked a little more, trying to actually swallow the muffin given to them. All of a sudden though, Sugar Bella went rather close to them.

"Come inside before you go! Meet me downstairs!" She whispered, quickly changing to her wide smile, looking to Double Diamond. The white stallion did glance over, but paid her no mind, as Sugar Belle went away. What the hay was that about?


~~~~~~


It took a little bit, but the rest of the Mane Six went on down to the area in question. This would normally be suspicious in a bad sense, but the tone in Sugar's voice was more urgent than suspicious. Plenty less suspicious than Starlight Glimmer anyway. The downstairs room was dimly lit, with one lightbulb lit up in the room. It was open, and Nopony else seemed to be around the place, except for the Mane Five, and Sugar Belle who stepped into the light.

"So ... Why did you want us here?"

"Oh. So Nopony will see what's about to happen," Sugar Belle said. Suddenly, two other ponies stepped out of the shadows; one was Party Favor, and another was a dull colored Pegasus. They were surrounding them, eyeing them for a bit. The ponies there got extremely uncomfortable, and prepared themselves for the worst. They expected anything ...

"Awesome marks!"

"What does yours mean?!"

"Do you know Princess Celestia?!"

Except that. Turned out these three had a liking for Cutie Marks, even if they don't have ones themselves tecnically. The three marveled at the group's Cutie Marks, until Rarity spoke again.

"Oh. Uh, this is surely charming ... And unexpected," Rarity said.

"I thought you were against these Cutie Marks. You are, right?" Asked Twilight.

"Sorry. It's just been so long since I had my Cutie Mark, I just got so excited when I heard you came to town. Oh, I wish I had mine back," the Pegasus said. Even if that came from nowhere, it did peak their interest.

"You had one?" Rainbow questioned.

"We all did. Me, Night Glider, and Sugar Belle. Starlight showed us what the problem was with it though. Still, it would be nice to see my Mark," Party Favor said.

"But how'd you get those?" Rarity asked, pointing to her Cutie Mark.

"Starlight Glimmer removed our marks in a cave nearby here," Sugar Belle answered. The fact that one could even remove a Cutie Mark was baffling enough. How the hay could one even manage to do that?! To remove one of a Cutie Mark. If Connie II was here, she was in deeper trouble than they thought. Not just her, but everypony in this town ...

"Can we visit this cave?"


~~~~~~


"It's so nice that you'd be interested in this process of ours," Starlight said, as she was guiding the Mane Five off to the spot. Twilight found Starlight after a bit, and the unicorn was more than happy to oblige and show them the cave. The area in question was further away from town than Sugar Belle's downstairs, taking them out of town and down a path leading off to the mountains nearby. The Mane Five were on their guards as they followed Starlight Glimmer off to the cave. Pretty soon, they began to see the entrance to the cave in question. The cave was worn down from constant hooves flattening the bottom of it.

"Everypony. Welcome to the Cutie Mark Vault!" The sight as they passed the corner shocked them to their core. In front of them was a huge wall, encased inside various Cutie Marks. The types vary, the talents vary, but of all things, they all were encased in their own boxes, blocked by strong glass like trophies. Over at the center of the room, there appeared to be some sort of item. It appeared to be a stick, long as a staff, and two points at one end to make a fork shape. The lights of the Cutie Marks themselves illuminated the room of the cave. Starlight walked over to the stick, and her magic levitated it off the ground.

"And this, is the Stick of Sameness. One of the great Mage Meadowbrook's nine magic items," Starlight revealed. Despite the situation, Rainbow couldn't help but snicker at the stupid sounding name. Seriously, the Stick of Sameness? Starlight got a bit annoyed, but didn't let it bug her too much, and she continued.

"We're so fortunate to have it here, as this took was what freed us from our Cutie Marks ... I'm curious. How did the subject of the vaults come up?" A smart pony, that Starlight Glimmer. The Ponies here didn't want to rat out on their friends back in the village, and their suspicions didn't want to put anypony else in trouble either.

"We, uh ... We heard about it on the way here," Twilight lied.

"Is that so?" Quizzed Starlight.

"Y-Yes. We don't want to cause any trouble for -"

"Then let's be sure about that."

As if on cue, coming out of the shadows, more villagers of Starlight's village began to walk out from the tunnel behind them, starting to surround the group. Starlight aimed her stick right over to the ponies. Now there was no doubt in their minds anymore.

"It's a trap!" Twilight gasped. The equal ponies were surrounding them right away, and Twilight quickly tried to take action. She made a fast teleport, and was soon up in the air, but Starlight only needed one proper aim and proper shot, and Twilight was quickly caught in the magic beams! Twilight screamed in pain, and her Cutie Mark began to distort and stretch, until it suddenly was ripped out from her! The others didn't had time to react, when Starlight shifted her beam to hit them as well! The pain was horrific, and their cutie Marks met the same fate as the one Twilight Sparkle had. Once all five were removed, the proud Unicorn brought each one of the Cutie Marks over to a opened slot in the Cutie Mark vault. Once the pain ceased, the five weakened ponies looked over to where their Cutie Marks would be, only to find a equal sign in replacement.

"Aw. I don't blame you for what you tried to do here today. You've spent your whole lives thinking those marks are a good thing. Well, now you can spend the rest of your lives here with us! And we'll teach you just how much better life can be without your Cutie Marks."

The group of ponies were surrounded, and now powerless to do much of anything to stop Starlight Glimmer. The unicorn felt victorious over them, but after looking them over, she noticed something.

Somepony's missing.


~~~~~~


"Twilight?! Where'd y'all head off to?"

Applejack was kinda left out of the trouble, but she didn't had a clue on where they went off to. She went around town, and didn't had much luck, only to come back and find her friends pretty much missing from the town. She didn't get much information on Connie II, and now she had five other friends to go out and find. She asked a number of ponies already, but nopony seemed to know. In fact, not many ponies were around for some reason. The orange pony continued walking about, trying to find her friends.

"Oh ponyfeathers, why did I go off alone, WHY didn't I just wait to get the others?" Applejack thought in regret of her own decision. This town was simply strange all and all, and the orange pony had the stupid idea to go off, only to find the others had disappeared on her. There was NO WAY they would've simply just get up and left without a good reason. Applejack continued on for a while longer, looking up and down through the town here, there, and nothing seemed to show up. Pretty soon though, Applejack came to the conclusion that they were nowhere. It was easy to look around in a town with one main lane. Each house had no clue, but as she passed one ...

*thump**thump*

Applejack stopped herself once her ears caught that noise. The orange earth pony turned around, hearing the thumping again, coming from one of the buildings. Applejack didn't exactly see what sort of source it would actually be from. Applejack kept walking for a little bit, until the noise brought her to behind one of the houses, to a small window. The window was too small for her to fit inside, but she got up on her back hooves and peered in.

"Anypony in there?" Applejack asked. Looking in, the room was solid brick, like a prison cell, with a few books over to one corner, a speaker on the ceiling, and AJ could see someone in the corner, head to her knees, looking miserable. Once she heard the voice, she looked up to Applejack, and she felt immediately hopeful.

"Applejack!"

"Connie two? Tarnation, I knew that Starlight was a lying snake in the grass. You ok?" Applejack asked, as Connie II went right to the window. On her cheek, now in the light, Applejack could see the same equal sign mark on her.

"I think so. Can you get me out of here? The door's locked and the windows are too small."

"Say no more, I'll get ya free in no time," Applejack promised. AJ looked around the brick wall, and tried to think on a way to get the girl free. The orange pony was ticked as any that they were lied to, but she needed to stay focused. She found Connie II, and she had to get her out. After a closer look in the built of the house, Applejack got an idea. She turned around, aiming her back hooves to a brick in the wall under the window. Connie II stepped aside, as the brick jutted forward from the strong kick. AJ made a few more kicks until the brick slid completely through.

"Try now," AJ said. Connie II got herself ready, and began to squeeze her body through the hole. It was not easy for her to get through for how narrow it was, but it was better than earlier. Applejack brought her front hooves out, and Connie II grabbed her, the two working together to pull Connie II out. In one good pull, Connie II was free. Thank Celestia for that.

"Thank you, Applejack. Let's get out of here before anypony notices," Connie II suggested, already starting to run. AJ though was hesitant. Even if she had found who they were looking for, the others were still missing.

"Hold on, sugarcube, my friends are still -"

"I'm sure you'll understand overtime," a voice suddenly said. Both heard the voice, and quietly peered pass the corner of the building. A few buildings down, AJ and Connie II saw Starlight Glimmer, levitating the stick of sameness, and putting the rest of the Mane Six in another rehabilitation building! Guess that answers her question.

"Let us out of here!" Rainbow yelled.

"Don't fret, my friend. Soon you'll all understand what we're trying to accomplish," Starlight reassured the ponies inside. Applejack grew angry, but Connie II quickly pulled her back before she could try anything crazy.

"Applejack, hold on."

"But my friends -"

"We can't rush in now; Starlight took their Cutie Marks, she took away my mark, you can't charge in. She'll try to talk to them tomorrow, we have until then to try another approach," Connie II explained. She knew from Starlight talking to her about it already, so Applejack would have to wait until then to actually try anything without as high of a risk. So long as Starlight had the stick, she can do the same to AJ in one blast.

"Y'all don't worry. I'll be back for ya," AJ thought. She and Connie II then hightailed it out as fast as they could, without getting caught by any of the locals. They're gonna help, but they can't do it now.


~~~~~~


The night turned a bit of a rough one for both sides. Either from Applejack and Connie II outside of the town, or the Mane five waiting in the rehabilitation building, it was a waiting game on what they had to do. The good news: Connie II was free. The bad news: The Mane Five were now trapped and powerless. Out of the Mane Six, Applejack was the only one unaffected, and the only one with her Cutie Mark in tact amongst the town. Applejack and Connie II both had a pretty big feeling that Starlight would be after them both, so they were sure to set up a camp a good distance away from the town, much to AJ's dismay. Connie II and Applejack had a basic campfire made up, lit up in the night. The orange pony and human doppelgänger were sitting across from another, the fire in between them. The wait did give them time to talk anyway. Connie II was going over with Applejack on how much she'd had gone through during her travels in Equestria since first being pulled out of the mirror pool.

"Well I'll be hog-tied. You've been going about, haven't ya?"

"It's fun to explore, but it's nice to relax time to time," Connie answered.

"So, you got a Cutie Mark too, Connie?" AJ asked. Connie II nodded.

"And just a few days ago too. I visited Canterlot one day, and it just appeared after I taught some unicorns a few magic spells," Connie II said. Course she can't show any examples for AJ, thanks to Starlight's hex on her.

"You know, couple of others had been gettin their Cutie Marks; Jasper has a shield, Peridot has a metal flower -"

"The Gems?" Questioned Connie II.

"Yep. First time any non-Pony got a Cutie Mark, no doubt," Applejack answered. To think that this even happened was a mind-boggle, never mind the idea behind the Thunderbird as well. Connie II did think a little bit.

"Applejack? Had you or your friends noticed anything else that could've been like something from Equestria?" This conversation may be nice, but AJ was still troubled over her friends. Here she was out and safe, and her friends were still trapped in the town. Connie II could tell right away when looking at her.

"AJ, I promise you we'll help your friends out of there. We just have to wait."

"No, this is wrong! I can't sit here while my friends are being brainwashed by a mad mare," Applejack finally said, getting up to her four hooves. What better time then now while Starlight was sleeping? Applejack had to get going now while the night was young. She took a few steps until Connie II got up.

"Wait, you don't know what you're doing!"

"Course I do; I'm gonna get my friends out, get their Cutie Marks back, and get out of dodge before that Starlight can make us to nothing Ponies," Applejack stated, still going off towards the town.

"But Starlight's much stronger than you think, especially with the stick of sameness of hers. We gotta think on a better plan."

"I gotta do something other than sit here. The sooner they're out, and with their Cutie Marks, the better. Any idea on where those Cutie Marks ended up?" AJ retorted. Connie would try to keep her away until a better thought out plan, but the doppelgänger began to think a bit on something that crossed her mind.

"I think I do," Connie II realized.

"What then?"

"There's a cavern outside of town to the mountains. Starlight has a Cutie Mark Vault there with everypony's marks. If they're anywhere, it'll be there!"

"Well why didn't you say so?! You saw how worried I was back there!" Applejack exclaimed. Talk about information so late.

"Sorry, I didn't want you charging in so fast. At least now Starlight should be asleep so we'll have a better chance at it," Connie II explained. Applejack looked simply bemused, but at least she can take action now. The orange pony tipped her hat, looking more determined than ever.

"Let's get those Cutie Marks."


~~~~~~


Back in the town, the Mane Five were not having anything close to a good time in their rehabilitation home. There wasn't much of stuff inside the room, similar to the one Connie II was stuck in. Nothing but brick walls, some books with equal signs on every page (seriously), a lightbulb, and a constant voice from a loudspeaker giving them all sorts of equality messages like "In Sameness, there is peace" or "Exceptionalism is a lie". Things like that were constantly being echoed in the ponies heads, but the Mane Five constantly kept trying to ignore it as best they could. Pinkie Pie was checking out the books, Rainbow Dash was still trying to bust down the door, Twilight was just pacing, and Fluttershy was trying to comfort Rarity, who was crying up a storm.

"There, there Rarity, we'll be okay," Fluttershy said, trying to comfort her crying friend.

"Not just that! Those drapes! I can't tell if they need improving or not!" Rarity said in dismay, pointing to the rather dull drapes at the window.

"I think they look nice," Fluttershy said. Rarity's equal sign suddenly started to glow a little bit, as Rarity kept looking at the drapes ...

"SO DO I!!" Rarity wailed, tears pouring from her eyes. Rarity's judgement on design was deeply halted by the equal mark. It was like a deeply engraved case of designer's block had grabbed the grieving unicorn. Fluttershy backed up to avoid some of the tears, only to nearly get hit by Rainbow Dash, as the Pegasus was trying to bash the door down. However, her now normal speed wasn't doing her any well in her attempts.

"What's with this door?" Rainbow groaned.

"Rainbow Dash, don't try again. You're going to just hurt yourself," Twilight said. That just enraged the already irritated pony even more. Rainbow Dash screamed, charging the door head first.

"LET! ME! OUT! OF! HERE!" Rainbow said, each word in between head bangs against the door. The final slam made Rainbow stop, laying down on her stomach, completely bummed and defeated.

"Let's not forget, everypony, Applejack's still out there. She will figure this out," Twilight said. Rarity took a glance up to the speaker above them.

"Let's just hope that none of us are altered first."


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, Applejack, guided by Connie II, were heading on through the night towards the mountains. It was admittedly a little more troubling to navigate through the dim night, but Connie II's memory hadn't been taken by the spell casted by Starlight's stick of sameness. AJ needed to get rolling as best she could, and she wanted to get this fixed ASAP. No telling how badly this sort of treatment was messing with her friends in the town. When the duo did end up finding it, the light from the vault was plenty enough light to get them seeing the rest of the way. Connie II, despite seeing it already, shared AJ's feeling of dismay. So many Cutie Marks taken from so many ponies.

"Oh my Celestia. Starlight's little equality scheme sure had gone places," Applejack commented, walking out and looking it over. Connie II walked up alongside her, looking through all the varying Cutie Marks.

"I know. Come on, let's get this open before someone notices," Connie II suggested.

"Don't need to tell me twice," AJ said, marching right up to the glass. The pony was ready to get rolling, her hooves ready to shatter some glass. Before she could, she took another look at the vault. She looked at each one, but noticed something; her friend's Cutie Marks weren't there.

"Looking for something?"

Starlight Glimmer! Connie II and Applejack turned around, and saw Starlight standing there, levitating the stick by her side. She appeared alone, but they couldn't be too sure.

"I've been wondering where you were, friend. Your friends are just finding out how much better sameness really is without you."

"Don't give me that, you snake in the grass! I happen to find my human friend being messed with by your equal talking shenanigans."

"Shenanigans? You just haven't seen how wonderful life is without your Cutie Mark," Starlight retorted, sounding insulted, and aiming the stick at AJ. Connie II made sure to stand in the way between Starlight and Applejack.

"Give these ponies their marks back Starlight!" Connie II demanded.

"Out of the question! Giving these ponies back their marks will go against our entire policy. True friendship is equality! Now, allow me to show you first hoof," Starlight said.

The stick of sameness became active, and the shot had fired right for them. Connie II took the hit directly, but since she had already gone through this, it had no affect. Applejack saw her chance, and rushed to the side while the beam was focused. Starlight shifted her aim a number of times, but AJ dodged them pretty good, either jumping over or sliding under the beams.

"Y'all are going at it all wrong! This is complete hogwash!" AJ yelled, dodging another beam. In a quick shot, one beam ricocheted upward, slamming in the ceiling! The roof of the cavern shook on the hit, and some stalactites suddenly began to fall down onto them! Starlight, Applejack, and Connie II had to scatter to avoid the falling rocks as best they could.

"We gotta go!" Connie II yelled.

"But the marks!"

"COME ON!"

Connie II had to grab AJ, and pull her to safety, and out of the cavern. The collapse didn't completely remove the cave, but the distraction was enough to give them a small lead. Applejack and Connie II looked back for a moment to see what happened. They could still see the light from the vault, so it wasn't wrecked in the cave-in. And just as well, they began to hear more hoofsteps charging out. AJ knew who Starlight would be after.

"Connie, hide aside, I'll get her gone," Applejack instructed urgently. Not having much time to protest, Connie II ran off out of sight for the moment. Not a moment too soon either, as Starlight got herself out. She looked a bit shaken up, but alright overall, and the same thing could be said for her stick. Soon as the two saw eachother, Applejack raced off, towards the town in question. She still had her five other friends to get, where else would she go? Starlight galloped right after the orange pony, and as soon as she was far enough, Connie II stepped out of her hiding place.

"Watch her, Luna," Connie II thought, just before slipping back into the cave.


~~~~~~


Applejack raced from the cave, and right on down to the town with Starlight on her tail. The unicorn kept trying to get Applejack over and over, but the Earth Pony kept moving just out of shot. Applejack didn't know how she was dodging every shot Starlight was making, and the unicorn was getting more and more frustrated with this stubborn pony. AJ had to keep Starlight away from the Cutie Mark Vault until Connie II can handle it, so leading her back to town would be the main idea. Many of the residents within the little town were fast asleep, yet Applejack raced right on through, straight to where she saw her friends being held captive. Starlight's trigger happy blasting was enough to quickly wake up many residents in the town. Applejack was just trying to get herself to find her friends. Among the crowds starting to wake up, the Mane Five were woken up by the racket from outside.

"What's going on?" Twilight wondered. The ponies inside couldn't exactly see what was going on, but they for sure could hear it, and even feel it. As for everypony else, they stepped outside to find Applejack running through town with Starlight trying to zap her. Applejack was almost at the house where her friends were when Double Diamond and a few others blocked her way, making the mare skid to a stop altogether.

"Looks like you've caused enough trouble, my dear. And all because you're so different from everypony else," starlight said, aiming her stick of sameness directly at Applejack. Applejack turned around.

"You're messed up, Starlight! First you lie to us bout Connie the Second, and here you are stripping ponies of their own marks! If Y'all had given up Connie II, then maybe we'd go off on our way without giving you any trouble," Applejack retorted.

"I'm not the so-called 'messed up' one. Once I open your eyes to the world of equality, then you'll finally see just how wonderful it is to be the same as we all are," Starlight announced, ready to use the Stick of Sameness upon her. AJ was in dire trouble. Her friends were trapped still inside their house, the locals turned against her, and Starlight was right in front of her with the item in question. She had only one option left to do to guarantee the safety of anypony who'd venture in here again.

As Starlight fired right for her, Applejack made the vital move. She went to the side, charged forward, and snatched the stick in her mouth, right out of Starlight's grasp. Applejack skidded to a stop, dropped the stick down onto the ground, and with a stomp of her front hooves, the stick cracked apart! Everypony watch AJ make short work of their stick of sameness, smashing it into nothing but splinters. Starlight was speechless, as Applejack wiped the sweat of her forehead.

"There. Nopony will be altered again. How do you like them apples?" Applejack said in confidence. Some ponies rushed to what remained of the stick, including the ponies blocking the door. AJ took the moment and went right to the door, unlocking it, and letting her friends free. Her friends didn't see what happened, but they were glad AJ was alright. Starlight just stood there, eyes wide, irises small, and one eye twitchy.

"Alright, Starlight, you're beaten. Give these ponies back their marks, and everypony will be happy. I promise you they'll be much happier," Twilight said.

"... Happy? ... HAPPY? NO. No they will not!"

"Starlight, listen, you're method to keeping everypony equal doesn't give them the chance to truly know and trust eachother. True friendship -"

"QUIET!!!"

Starlight was about to ruin everything for herself. She turned around, and suddenly a HUGE blast of magic launched right at the only pony with a Cutie Mark, Applejack! AJ had no time to react this time, and got hit head on.

Her Cutie Mark was taken ...

And it wasn't because of the stick of sameness.

Starlight, now feeling victorious, marched right over to Applejack, a crazed, furious smile.

"HA! NOW you'll see the true friendship that is talentless! You think you actually know anything?! I CREATED HARMONY!" Starlight bellowed, screaming right in their faces. Needless to say, she forgot for that one moment about the town of ponies around her. Party Favor had one theory strike him. He took a cloth, and wiped at the Cutie Mark on Starlight's flank. What happened next was no hiding; the equal sign was wiped away to show a actual Cutie Mark of a star with sea green magic behind it. Starlight didn't had time to stop everypony to see that, and Party Favor backed up.

"W-What?! You have a Cutie Mark!" Party Favor gasped. Starlight's mind scrambled for an answer.

"N-No I don't, I'm one of you! THESE ponies took me and -"

"How did THAT magic come out them?!"

"ARGH. Okay, it's real! But I had to have my magic to show you what it's like to be equal anyway!" Starlight explained frantically.

"But the stick of sameness did that!" Sugar Belle pointed out.

"It's just some branch I found in the desert! Without MY magic, you ponies would've never seen life so happy! I gave you friendships you never could've had otherwise!"

"You lied to us!" Double Diamond said, in complete disbelief himself.

"So what?! E-Everything else I said is true. You can't be happy unless we're all equal -"

"Except for you," Party Favor cut in. Starlight knew now she had screwed up big time as the town closed in on her.

"Either we're all equal, or we're all not," Sugar Belle said.

Rather than complied, a weak pulse pushed everypony back, as she retreated to her house, slamming the door shut. Applejack's Cutie Mark, no longer bounded, flew right back to its original owner, and Applejack was back to her old self in no time at all.

"Come on everypony, let's get our Cutie Marks back!" Double Diamond announced, leading the charge as everypony else ran right behind him, straight to the cave.

"Let's get our Cutie Marks back!" Rainbow agreed, about to go off. However, Applejack grabbed her by the tail, keeping her down.

"Ours are not there, I just came over from that vault," Applejack said.

"Wait, then where'd they -"

They quickly got their answer fast, and they all looked to the door to Starlight's house.

"Stand back, everypony!" Applejack exclaimed, charging right to the door as fast as she could. With AJ's strength back in high gear, one slam into the door rammed it clear off its hinges. Starlight however wasn't there, and the clue to her escape was an opened back door. Guess somepony left in a hurry.


~~~~~~


Connie II was still trying her best to get her part handled back at the vault. While AJ had Starlight away, Connie II kept trying to break the glass that kept the marks inside. The cave-in earlier gave her a bit to work with, but it still wasn't enough to break open the vault itself. As she was trying to do that, she began to hear a stampede of hooves coming right in. Connie II turned around just to see the residents of the town between her and the way out.

"Stay back! You won't take me in!"

"We're with you this time! Come on, Everypony!" Party Favor said, rushing right over, starting to hit the glass with his hooves. Connie II moved aside as plenty of other ponies tried to smash the glass. This turn of events had the doppelgänger smiling, as she them started to join in. One person was nothing, but all this force was doing a ton more damage. Double Diamond looked around, just to find a spear like stalactite right by him.

"Stand back, everypony!" Double Diamond called. The stallion raced forward with the sharp rock, and in one swing the stalactite flew through the air. The stalactite sheeted right through the glass no problem, finally shattering the glass completely! The chain reaction caused the Cutie Marks to fly right back to their owners, and everypony began to feel their individuality, and special talents return to them for the first time in a LONG time. One in particular, one of the last ones, made contact with Connie II, the girl feeling her magic return to her. On her cheek, the Cutie Mark changed from the equal sign, and to that of some sort of spell book, marked with a rounded mirror at the center. Fitting for the doppelgänger and her magic. Everypony else was very happy now with their marks, but as they were celebrating, they head some other steps rush into the room; the Mane Six.

"Guys! You're alright!" Connie II said.

"Connie two! You're free!" Pinkie beamed, getting an actual hug this time.

"We got another problem; Starlight raced off with our marks!" Applejack said. She was mainly speaking to Connie II about it, though some of the other ponies did catch what she had said, Party Favor and Double Diamond in particular.

"She did? We gotta stop her!" Party Favor said, immediately rushing off outside. He was joined by Pinkie, AJ, and Connie II. Party Favor got his special talent up to work, and started to get just what they needed to find her, in the form of a balloon. With quick precision, he got the inflated balloon into a pair of binoculars. Party Favor quickly started to look around from the cave entrance.

"There she is! she's heading to the mountain pass!" Party Favor exclaimed, Pinkie looking through the same balloon binoculars herself to see. Starlight could be seen galloping fast along the mountain trails, a wagon of the Mane Six's Cutie Marks inside.

"If she gets to the cave passages, they'll be gone forever!" Party Favor added.

"What're we waiting for then? After her!" Applejack said. She, Connie II, Party Favor, Double Diamond, Night Glider, and Sugar Belle went off to give chase. While they were going fast, the rest of the Mane Six ...

"Come on!" Rainbow groaned. She was still cutie markless, and as such, not fast anymore. The others were also stuck in just a trot. Looks like they can't really do much to help.


~~~~~~


Farther ahead, Starlight kept running as fast as she could manage while pulling the wagon with the Cutie Marks inside. She missed one, but she still had the other five, and that was plenty good enough for her to have. The nighttime hours, combined with the snowy mountainside made the path risky at best, but if she could just make it to that cave -

"Starlight, stop!"

Starlight Glimmer looked up, and saw Night Glider above her. Looking back, she also saw the other group racing after her.

"How could you all give up what you had for some strangers?!" Starlight yelled, zapping a magic beam at the mountainside. Night glider ended up toppled down by a ton of snow, stalling her. Night Glider was quick to recover, though it still gave Starlight more distance.

"We gave up everything for you! And we all thought you were our friend!" Sugar Belle called back. Starlight did not even respond to that, trying her best to get away from the group of ponies. Sugar Belle turned back to the snow on the ground, and got her own talent to work. Her magic levitated some snow, and it molded into the shape of a pie, and launched it right at Starlight. In her running, Starlight didn't notice until the pie struck her wagon! The jars that held the Cutie Marks stumbled out, but Starlight quickly got them in her magical levitation. For extra measure, she gave one powerful blast on the path behind her, making it collapse. The path ended up too wide for a simple jump, and Starlight made a quick rush off out of sight.

"Ponyfeathers, now what?!"

"Leave it to me," Party Favor said, as he was inflating another balloon. Rather than just some simple binoculars, the balloons stretched, shaped, and molded into a rather impressive, colorful balloon bridge. It reached just long enough to get them to the other side of the destroyed path. Party Favor took the lead, hopping along the balloons as everyone else did the same (excluding Night Glider, who just flew across).

Starlight looked back, just to see them running right after her still. Now she was starting to act more and more desperate to get away, and galloped as fast as her hooves could carry her. Applejack was up next in her attempt to slow her down. The group was rushing over a rather rocky trail, and so AJ got her strength to work. She quickly grabbed some rocks with her tail, tossed them in front, spun around, and her back hooves kicked them right at Starlight like bullets from a shot gun! Starlight turned back quicker this time, and dodged most of the rocks with some quick turns and magic shots. One sly rock though whacked her in the front hooves, making her stumble and fall to the ground. In the fall, two of the jars smashed open (Rarity and Pinkie Pie). Starlight quickly got the other three and high-tailed it out of there. Two was good, but they wanted all the Cutie Marks back. As they kept going along, Double Diamond looked over aside to the snow, and noticed something in them; a pair of skis, goggles, and a scarf. Double Diamond went over to them.

"Whoa! These are my old skis! This is where I first met Starlight," Double Diamond realized.

"Can you reminisce later, Starlight's getting away!" Night glider called. Then Double Diamond got an idea.

"Feel like an air drop?"

Further ahead, Starlight was getting much closer at this point, with the others still trying to get her for the rest of the Cutie Marks. Starlight could see the cave entrance to the tunnels, looking more and more hopeful that she could make it with what she had managed to get. However, it wasn't going to be her night, for high above everypony, Night glider had just got Double Diamond right on the snowy high slopes just above the trail to the tunnel. With his skis on his hooves, Double diamond took it from there, and skied right along with high speed, making the snowcaps slip and crash down on her! Starlight didn't notice until far too late, and she was soon buried under thick, heavy snow. The remaining jars flew in the air, and shattered against the wall, releasing two more Cutie Marks (Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash). The others caught up and got together as Starlight burst out of the snow in pure rage. Now she had one Cutie Mark left.

And she had enough.

Her horn glowing strong, Starlight Glimmer blasted a few shots right at the ponies.

"No you don't!" Connie II yelled, jumping in the way. With her own magic back with her, she showed her own talent to save her friends. She didn't have a horn to use her magic, but her hands worked just as well, and her fingers traced a square mirror right in front of them. The magic beam bounced off of the mirror, and struck the rock wall, sending down more rubble onto Starlight Glimmer! The unicorn jumped aside, though she couldn't get the jar away, and it smashed up to release Twilight's last Cutie Mark. The Cutie Mark flew up in the air, but it actually didn't land too far away, and soon reunited with its owner. Twilight and the rest of them had caught up now, and everypony was there, and against Starlight Glimmer.

"Great to see you, Connie II," Twilight said.

"You too," replied Connie II.

Starlight charged up an even stronger spell weapon, and the unicorn made one last effort to get rid of her opponent. This time though, Twilight got in the way, and made her own strong shield to fight off Starlight's beams.

"WHAT?! I studied that for years, how did you -"

It was Twilight's turn to talk.

"I studied magic for years too. But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far. Each of my friends has taught me something different about myself! It was their unique gifts and passions and personalities that helped bring out the magic inside of me! I never would have learned that I represent the element of magic without these five! And I certainly wouldn't be here to stop you now!"

Starlight grinded her teeth together, she was so ticked off at them. Her horn glowed again, but instead of a huge beam, the unicorn made a blinding flash of light that blinded them all for a second. Once the light had disappeared, Starlight was gone ...

"We just have to hope that when she's had a chance to think it over, she realizes that you all have taught her something."


~~~~~~


The next morning, the entire town was a lot more lively this time, as a party was getting underway. The entire town was decorated with the help of Party Favor, and Pinkie Pie, and everypony there was having an amazing, and fun time. Possibly the first time they had any true fun in years! As the town ponies were celebrating, the Mane Six, and Connie II looked on from the entrance of town.

"Now those are real smiles!" Pinkie Pie said with her own smile beaming.

"It looks divine!" agreed Rarity. Twilight looked over to Connie II next.

"It's great to see you're okay, Connie. And looks like we've helped the town at the same time," Twilight said.

"It is great to see everypony happy here. Thank you so much for your help," Connie II said.

"If anypony should have the credit, it should be Applejack," Twilight had to admit. Applejack wasn't willing to take all the credit for it, as she rubbed the back of her neck. It wasn't really her thing to do so.

"Nah, tread nothin. Just helping my friends," Applejack said.

"Yes. It will be great to spread friendship throughout our worlds with you guys," Twilight said, as they all went in for a hug ...

"This feels like an ending. Does it have to be? that Sugar Belle can BAKE!" Pinkie beamed. Twilight then smiled.

"Oh, we might as well stay around for a little while. Come on, everypony," Twilight replied, as she and her friends went back into town to join in on the party with friends old and new.
> Out of Dodge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You seem rather giddy, Amethyst."

In the Beach House, Things were pretty much going smoothly. Spike, Connie, and Steven had found a puzzle, and were trying to get that finished up to pass the time, but Amethyst nearby was a bit giddy, and had turned into a ball and bouncing in place numerous times. Upon being asked to, which was after five minutes of this, Amethyst returned back to normal.

"I'm just so psyched! Greg's taking me to a show!" Amethyst said.

"You mean like a Theater show?" Spike asked, as he found a corner piece for the puzzle.

"I'm taking about a Rock show. Like a band! At a house, with a bunch of people hanging out and doing stuff!" Amethyst answered. She was indeed pretty psyched about the whole thing, and the idea behind seeing a concert humans make.

"Oh man, that sounds cool! We got an awesome night planned too: we're doing a puzzle," Steven said.

"yippee," Amethyst stated, less amused by that. Before their conversation could continue, the door opened up and showed Greg just coming in. Immediately, Amethyst jumped up to her feet, psyched, and ready.

"Greg! Greg! Greg! Greg!" Amethyst chanted, and then spoke normally saying "You ready to throw down in the pit?!"

"No pits for me, Amethyst. Sorry, but I forgot that Barb and Vidalia invited me over for cards," Greg said. Rather unfortunate for the purple Gem.

"Seriously? Who broke you out of the retirement home?"

"I'd love to go, don't get me wrong Amethyst, but Bard threatened to hold my mail if I didn't ... And she's not a women of idle threats," explained Greg, a bit more serious on his last statement than needed to be. Amethyst groaned, and laid down on the couch.

"Aww, man! I can't so show-lo, that'll be boring," Amethyst complained. she really wanted to go, but going alone would've been a complete drag. The idea of actually visiting, and going off to said concert by herself was not part of the plan. However, for the others, it does sound like a rather fun time over just doing a puzzle, although they were getting close to finishing it.

"Why don't we go with you?" Connie suggested. Amethyst spun herself around til she was laying on her stomach, looking right over to them.

"You three wanna come with me?" Amethyst said, excited a bit more this time.

"Hold on, won't your parents get worried about you, Connie?" Greg asked.

"My parents had been giving me a little more freedom lately. A little trip won't hurt," Connie insisted. She wasn't going to miss an opportunity like this, whatever the case may be.

"Oh. Well, in that case, let's get ready to go," Steven said.


~~~~~~


"Bark! Bark!"

The barking calls of the Gem dog Blue echoed along the beach in the autumn air. The young pup was happily rushing about on the sands of the shore, doing his favorite main pastime; chasing off the pesky birds of the sea. Seagulls, cormorants, gannets, whatever comes down to his shore he had the right to bark, snarl, and chase away. It was fun for him to do, or for any energetic dog for that matter. Blue was pretty close to getting a number of birds the last five times he tried, the closest he actually got only giving him a mouth full of feathers. Still, the dog was determined to get himself a bird at some point, or come home with some prize for his efforts. The targets today were a group of seagulls, and Blue's charge from the Beach House had proven quite effective in making them fly away.

Well, except for one, fat seagull, sitting on a rock. Not that the bird was asleep, but it didn't seem to care. Blue went right over, and started barking right in the seagull's ear, but the bird didn't care, or even budge. Blue kept barking for a good twenty seconds, but he eventually stopped after a while. The seagull turned to Blue, and just gave a squawk at him to shut up. Blue growled, but the seagull responded with just a peak at Blue's nose. Blue yelped and jumped back, his front paw rubbing his nose, as the smug seagull only then flew away.

Some reason Blue wasn't too happy with this drive off.

However, the birds were all gone, and Blue felt good about that anyway. The Gem dog trotted off down the shore after that, feeling the cold wild brush his fur. The wind pushed the waves vigorously to the shore, but not enough to make it a problem to go along. Since Steven had been busy lately, the Gem dog had more time for himself, and he spent this sniffing around to see what he could find. Usually it wasn't too much, but today his nose caught something interesting. Blue followed the scent for a bit more, but before his nose could show him, a low growl then came up to his ears.

Lion.

The large pink cat was resting along the shoreline when Blue found him. While Blue didn't catch anything, Lion was enjoying the spoils of his own catch. There were feathers sure, but considering the other half was some sort of gem lizard, it wasn't anything normal. Blue walked right over to Lion, sniffing Lion's catch, as the big cat snorted at him. Blue did not want to mess with Lion, so he backed up, and sat down at a reasonable distance. Lion took a few more bites of his catch after that, Blue watching from afar. He wasn't the only one watching though. Looking over, more seagulls settled down, waiting for Lion to finish. Blue saw them, and started barking again, but the birds didn't seem to bother.

But when Lion roared, those seagulls hightailed it out of there in squawks and stray feathers.

Blue looked over to Lion, ears tucked back, as Lion just went back to his meal. Blue felt that he should go and do something else, but just before he could go ...

"Blue! Come here, Blue!"

Blue jumped up to his paws on hearing someone call his name. He knew that voice anywhere any day of the week. With a few happy barks, Blue was off like a light, heading right back to where he came from. Lion took a moment though to watch him go off.

Over at the Beach House, Steven was on and calling for Blue to come home. Pretty soon, Blue was right in Steven's face, the happy pup wagging his tail and licking his master's face.

"There you are!" Steven said between laughs. Blue gave a bark as he allowed Steven some space.

"Good boy, Blue," Steven said, rubbing his head. Blue was enjoying the moment more than most, however it was cut short when they both heard the door to the Beach House open. Then, out came Amethyst.

"Okay Blue, Dad's going to take care of you until I get back, okay? I won't be gone for long," Steven explained. Blue tilted his head, one ear drooped. Where was Steven going this time around? He just met up with him, and now Steven's leaving off again. Blue wimpered a little bit, but Steven rubbed his head.

"I'll be fine, it's just a trip to Ocean Town, no problem. Be back soon boy," Steven said, starting to run off from him. Blue was about to go off, but Greg made sure to keep the dog calm and by his side as Steven went off.


~~~~~~


Blue ended up stuck with Greg back at his carwash. The Gem dog was put on a fairly long leash attached to Greg's van, long enough so Blue could go inside the van from the back if he so pleased. Speaking of Greg, the man himself left some food and water for the dog, and soon was actually asleep inside the van, murmuring a little in his sleep. Blue though didn't sleep, or could sleep for the matter, thinking about Steven. It wasn't that it was anything foreign for Steven to be gone for a while. Heck, Steven was gone for an entire winter before Blue saw him again, alongside the returning birds for spring. However, that didn't mean that Blue wasn't worried sick, or at least saddened by Steven's absence during the time. He had the Gems, but they were not around at all to hang around with. Also, he can't explore around since he was tied down by the leash. For a lack of a better word, he wanted out.

Blue laid down, and had been trying to gnaw his way out off his leash, but this one was rather thick, and his teeth weren't doing the job very good. He chewed the rope for about a full minute, but he wasn't getting anywhere fast with his constant chewing, even for a dog with pretty good teeth. Blue tried getting up, and pulling off the collar, but that didn't seem to work either. The collar around his neck was just too small for his head to slip through. Blue didn't want to make too much noise, for the threat of waking up Greg. The pup just sat there for a bit more, hunched down, and eyes staring down at the rope for a while longer ...

*rawr*

Blue's ears shot up on hearing the quiet, yet familiar noise. When he looked, he soon saw that Lion came over to see him. The large pink cat stood a foot away, looking at the situation. Blue whimpered a little bit, a paw resting on the rope. Lion didn't need much other information on what Blue wanted, and the large cat investigated the rope. He went in to sniff the rope, smelling where Blue gnawed on it to be exact. The Gem hound waited for a minute, waiting for what Lion might do. Lion got his jaws around the rope, and bit down hard. Blue had a good set of teeth, but Lion's was better than his would be. Lion took a few chews on the rope keeping Blue down, until the rope finally snapped in two. Blue stood up, tail wagging in glee, and even licked Lion's face. Lion wiped the saliva off, only a little off guard with the response. As for Blue, the Gem dog rushed off from the van, trailing the rope behind him. Lion watched him go, taking one glance to Greg, before going away. As for Greg ...

"...don't give him the banana. It's what he wants ..."

None the wiser.


~~~~~~


Farther away, making pretty good time, the four were going along the side of the road to Ocean City, and the concert. Transportation in their case was actually simple, yet creative. Amethyst shape-shifted herself into the outfit of a skater, complete with roller blades on her feet,  and she was pulling a bright green wagon with Spike, Connie, and Steven comfortably inside. Riding in style, the kid way. Amethyst made sure to bring snacks for them, and Spike was sipping away at a juice they brought along.

"Nice night for a cruise," Steven commented, looking up to the sky. The stars shining in the clear night behind some stray clouds gave a nice touch to their cruise. Soon, Connie looked over to Amethyst.

"Hey Amethyst, you don't have to pull the whole time. Want one of us to pull instead?" Connie asked. Amethyst changed back to her normal self, the rope gripped in her hand.

"Eh, it's cool. Easy-peasy," Amethyst replied, skating along the side of the road still. Connie looked up to the stars for just a moment, looking at what she could make out in the stars as they went along down the road. Connie's mind began to wander just a bit, and something them crossed her mind. This especially came about when one of the night clouds looked like a familiar face.

"Hey, Steven, look at that," Connie said, pointing up to the clouds. Even in nighttime, the moon provided enough light to make out the clouds easily. The cloud Connie pointed to actually looked familiar to a fusion they both knew of.

"That looks like Smoky," Steven said. That got Amethyst's attention, though the others didn't notice yet, as the purple Gem was still pulling them along.

"It does! Hey, speaking of which, how did it feel to be the fusion Smoky Quartz?" Connie asked. It was then that Amethyst stopped for a moment, halting their ride on hearing the question.

"Smoky Quartz? It felt great. Funny to have a third arm though," Steven admitted, not trying to be insulting or anything.

"Eh, it's not too shocking to have a third arm outta your elbow," Amethyst commented.

"What about you then, Amethyst?"

Amethyst rubbed the back of her head, smiling a little sheepishly.

"Heh, well She's no crazy giant fighter. But, I got to feel a little bit like a real human," Amethyst admitted. Fusing with a Human was a first for any Gem. While Smoky may not be the first Human-Gem fusion, she was more Gem than Human. At least Smoky was a first hybrid with that detail in it. The baby Dragon Spike though was not exactly getting it.

"So what's with this fusion thing? Am I missing something?" Spike asked.

"It's the two of us, mashing together," Amethyst summed up smugly, her hands clasping together as a visual aid. Spike scratched his chin with his claws, trying to think of what she was talking about.

"Eh ... Is this like a magic spell you Gems know?"

"Something like that. Steven, how about a hand here?" Amethyst suggested. Steven hopped out of the wagon.

"Of course! Come on, Connie," Steven said. Amethyst suddenly looked a bit perplexed with this sudden shift. It wasn't exactly what she had in mind, yet the others didn't seem to get that. Connie though was happy to comply with Steven. Spike watched the two dance for little bit, and when the two made contact, the similar light then showed up. Soon, there was Stevonnie standing there in her full glory. Spike jumped up to his feet, still standing in the wagon, as Amethyst crossed her arms, having some mixed feelings on what just happened.

"WHOA. Okay, I get it, that's not bad at all," Spike commented. Amethyst though kept quiet, looking away for a moment. However, Stevonnie looked over to Amethyst, not exactly seeing what was exactly wrong.

"So, amethyst, mind if I pull for a bit?" Stevonnie offered, letting Amethyst rest for a bit. The purple Gem just sighed.

"Alright, fine go ahead," Amethyst decided, taking a seat inside the wagon. Stevonnie was happy to help, and Amethyst pulled them along a long way already, so it would be fine all the same. She went on ahead, grabbed the wagon handle, and they continued on their way.


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, Blue and Lion both were going about through the night. Lion had nothing else to really do, so he stayed by Blue as the pup was sniffing them out, mainly as a companion and guard if needed to be. The Gem dog kept his nose down to the ground, following the scent trail rather well in his walk along through the night within Beach City. Not many people stayed up this late, so they were of and asleep, and as such, out of Lion and Blue's way. Roaming around Beach City at night was a little different from day time. Other than the people, actual light made Beach City less visible if it wasn't for the streetlights. Even if they weren't there, Blue didn't need his eyes to follow a scent. Lion stopped for a moment, sitting down over by a streetlight, as Blue kept sniffing his way along down the road. Lion licked his paws for a bit, though he kept his eye on Blue. The Gem dog kept going forward for a moment or two, but then cut a street corner. Blue was gone for a minute or two until he accidentally walked into a stop sign.

How cheesy.

Blue backed up, rubbing his head. Blue quickly regained himself, looking back to Lion. The pink cat himself yawned, and went over to Blue, who just felt a little silly for walking into a stop sign. However, when looking to the sign, Blue then got an idea with the sign concept. Blue , barking happily, then took off on Lion, a bit quickly at that. Lion raced after Blue, and the two were running down the streets of Beach City for a good five minutes. Blue only stopped himself when the two were at the edge of Beach City, over at an outdoor bus stop. He seem these places on his walks, and people usually take these things to go from one place to another, so this could be a way for them to get going if they wanted to find them. The bus stop itself was very simple, and nearby the Beach City's local crab shack. Honestly, it wasn't very much, but it was enough for Lion and Blue to do.

Blue went over to look at the information regarding the bus stop, trying to think on where Steven was going as far as he remembered. Under the bus sign, there was a listing of places and prices, price increasing depending on distance. Amongst these places, One of these said "Ocean Town", though price of transport was a good twenty bucks. Blue was a dog, and Lion was a lion, so they didn't had any money on them. Blue sat down, leaning against the bus stop sign, not sure what to do. Lion looked over at the sign, and gave a huff before suddenly running off. Blue didn't know where Lion was going, but didn't follow him.

Blue just sat there as he heard a distance crash from the direction of the crab shack. a short time later, Lion came back in a trot with a wallet in his mouth. The cat dropped the wallet, and it had more than enough money for the bus ride once it comes around. Blue sniffed the wallet, using his paws to open it up, and he soon grabbed a twenty dollar bill from the wallet with his mouth. Lion sat down alongside the now much happier Blue, as they waited for the next bus. It was a few minutes of sitting and waiting, but eventually a bus did end up coming around. The driver opened up the door.

"Alright, where t-" The driver stopped himself when he saw tonight's passengers. Lion got in first, just managing to fit himself inside, and he went over to find a seat. Blue came in soon after, and presented the twenty dollar bill to the driver. He had the shocked look as if he saw lobsters come out of Blue's ears, he didn't have the foggiest idea on how to handle this. The driver calmed down ...

Next thing they knew, Lion and Blue toppled out of the bus. The driver closed the door, and was off on his way, leaving the two behind.

So much of an easy ride.


~~~~~~


Back with the others, the two Gems, human, and dragon were still going off along their way. Spike was still riding, yet Stevonnie and Amethyst were still going along on foot. Steven and Connie both decided to stay as Stevonnie for a bit, mainly to add more experiences for her. Amethyst didn't expect the two to stay this way for the night, but again she didn't really say anything, though kept her gaze down to her feet.

"Hey, Amethyst, you alright?" Spike suddenly asked, after noticing Amethyst bummed out behind them.

"I'm fine," Amethyst simply said. The purple Gem could only stew in her own thoughts. It was simply a blast being Smoky Quartz, but seems Steven had his mind over Stevonnie instead. The purple Gem just simply walked along behind them for a while longer, keeping quiet, and with arms crossed. Well, at least Steven seemed happy with it.

"You know, you can split up now. I think Spike gets the idea," Amethyst commented. Stevonnie turned back, continuing to pull along the wagon.

"But this is my first concert. I promise, Steven and Connie will come back once it's done, okay?" Stevonnie promised.

For Amethyst, it was a drag to say the least. The Gem took a moment to look up to the sky again, her hands casually behind her head.

"Well, sky's clear anyway," sighed Amethyst, and indeed it was. The clouds had cleared up a little bit by this point, and the stars were a lot more visible. They shined in the sky like diamonds, sparkling a little bit even. Stevonnie stopped for a moment to look up into the sky too, alongside Spike.

"Not bad," Stevonnie commented. Amethyst didn't respond to her, though she had to agree. Still, they had been flying about with stars before, so it wasn't THAT big of a surprise in comparison. Spike got himself another snack from the stash they brought along, but as he was, something caught his eye way up in the sky. The stars were all there, to be sure, though when he was looking, the star he was checking out looked just a little more shiny than the rest. 

This star looked like it was getting brighter the more he looked at it.

"Hey, check that out. Pretty shiny," Spike said, pointing up to the star in question. Stevonnie and Amethyst looked up to the star. Amethyst squinted her eyes, trying to get a closer look.

"Yeah ... And it's coming RIGHT FOR US - MOVE IT!"

Amethyst suddenly shoved the wagon forward, pushing Spike and Stevonnie forward just far enough, and fast enough. Just shortly after she did so, that "star" plummeted down faster and faster, spiraling out of control! The three looked up and saw something land off the road, and rolling extremely fast. It bolted past, bouncing and spiraling until it finally crash landed nearby. The three were completely off guard by this thing landing by them.

"... So ... That happened," Spike simply said, completely dumbfounded and off guard.

"Yep ... That indeed happened," Stevonnie agreed.

It was Stevonnie who first went over for a closer look. Amethyst and Spike were right behind her, peeking around Stevonnie to see what was exactly there. The item looked about as large as the wagon would be, and looked to be made of complete copper. The shape looked worn down, and dented from the crash, but looked to be a crate, the exterior being made up of solid plexus glass. Even if made of glass, they couldn't see what was exactly inside the crate, the glass reflective like mirrors. The trio looked around it up and down, yet couldn't find an opening.

"Thoughts guys?" Stevonnie asked.

"Beats me," Amethyst replied. Stevonnie went on ahead, and pushed the box around. Once she did, the three them saw something on one side of the crate; a diamond symbol.

"Looks like a Diamond Authority crate," Stevonnie figured, though questionable on herself (only half of her knew what that was fully).

"Didn't you guys meet the Diamonds? How about we give them it back," Spike suggested. What else could they do?

"We got a concert to get to! We'll just bubble it and come back to it later," Amethyst said.

"Amethyst, this looks important. We should show this to Garnet," Stevonnie advised. Amethyst rolled her eyes.

"Come on, we're not forgetting about it. Here, help me with this," Amethyst said, getting her hands ready. Stevonnie decided to just do that. They can tell Garnet later on, surely it couldn't hurt. Spike watched them both, as the two focused, and they got a bubble around the crate. With one tap from Stevonnie, the bubble was sent off.

"You Gems can make bubbles?" Spike asked. Amethyst grabbed the wagon.

"Just a little side thing, now let's go."


~~~~~~


Further behind, Blue and Lion were still going alongside the road, being lead along by Blue's nose. Their little act with the bus didn't work, so they just went along by paw on the side of the road. Lion took a look back on what they've done so far, and turned out they were quite a bit away. The road elevated up, and they got a good view of Beach City, with the streetlights still shining a little bit like the stars in the sky. It wasn't too bad really. Lion stayed there for a bit, and then caught up to Blue, who seemingly had a pretty good one-track mind. Blue had not stopped moving since the bus stop, and he kept his mind focused on the scent he was following. He was sure that Steven went this way, the scent was unmistakable. The Gem dog continued his march along for a while more, until Lion got his paw in front of him to make him stop for just a moment.

Off ahead, the Lion had noticed something further off ahead along the road. Turned out, the road was actually put under construction. In this case, a large rock slide had fallen down onto the road. Guess the storm that had passed still had some things that had to be handled. It was too high on one side to climb around, and too steep on the other side to go around that way, so they were simply stuck. Lion began to question how the other Gems actually got around this thing without disturbing the pile of dirt. One would think they'd move at least one of the rocks somewhere. Blue tried to get himself around the thing, but he couldn't seem to see a way around it. The Gem dog though was sure they went this way by the scent, though Lion was no longer sure about it. Lion looked back down the road, not seeing any other road they should take. Blue tried climbing up the rock pile, but the rocks were a bit unstable, and the Gem dog ended up stumbling down back to the road. Lion walked over to Blue, who was on his back at this point. Blue hopped up to his feet again, sitting down and at attention like nothing happened. Lion though just sighed, and pushed Blue aside like he was one of the rocks. Blue stayed in his sitting position as he was being pushed, still sitting when Lion stopped moving him. Lion cleared his throat, took a step back, and gave a mighty roar! The roar was strong enough to knock the rocks out of the way with ease, making a path right out of the pile. Lion casually walked through, as Blue walked on with him with his ears tucked pass, and tail between his legs. Not a Lion that should be messed with. Lion scratched his ear waiting for Blue, the Gem dog trying to regain the scent he was following for the longest time. The dust knocked up from the rock blast made that just a little harder to handle, but eventually Blue did catch an interesting scent, his ears up and nose ready. The scent struck him back, and soon Blue was off again, this time a little bit faster than before. Lion didn't know where Blue was going, but he followed anyway to keep Blue safe.


~~~~~~


Amethyst, Stevonnie, and Spike were still continuing on from there, Amethyst still a bit down on things. Sure the Diamond Crate blocked it off for a little bit, but the feeling was still there, and Stevonnie was still there. Strange really, Amethyst didn't had a problem with it before, but now that she and Steven became Smoky Quartz, she just felt out of the conversation as of were. Spike and Stevonnie failed to see the trouble as well.

"How much further til we get there?" Spike asked, yawning.

"We just past the Ocean Town welcome sign, so not too far, I bet," Stevonnie replied. Stevonnie and Spike kept going, but Amethyst finally stopped, looking down at the ground. It was here that the other two stopped themselves and saw Amethyst just standing there.

"Hey, Amethyst, what's up? Tired?" Stevonnie asked. Amethyst didn't answer at first, looking away. Stevonnie went over to her.

"Amethyst?"

"Oh heck with it. I wanted Smoky!" Amethyst snapped. Stevonnie jumped at the sudden remark, not sure how to react at first.

"Huh?"

"Listen, Stevonnie. Don't take this the wrong way, but when I asked to demonstrate fusion for Spike, I meant Steven and me to fuse, not Steven with Connie. Not that I don't like to see you, it's been a while since I last saw ya, but ... I like being her ..."

Well, now it was out, and it was up to fate on what happens next. There was a silence in the air for a bit, Amethyst waiting to hear some sort of yell or insult, or SOMETHING. However, after a bit, Stevonnie actually chuckled.

"Amethyst, is that all? If that's what you wanted, you should've said so. I'm sorry to leave you out," Stevonnie said. Amethyst didn't know what to say, and Stevonnie lifted up her chin so she and Stevonnie were eye to eye. Looking up to her, Amethyst began to feel something different towards Stevonnie. Perhaps it was the moonlight shining off her, or the night breeze moving her hair, or just the warm smile on her face. But Amethyst was seeing a motherly figure before her. The purple Gem felt a little guilty only for even feeling this way with the fusion in the first place. Amethyst and Stevonnie then went on to hug it out. As they were though ...

A light.

Stevonnie was shining up brightly now, and Amethyst suddenly felt herself shine and mold a bit too. Spike tried to keep track of what was going on, seeing a bright light, and two Gemstones dance about the place in the white light. Spike saw the mold grow a bit, but shrink down again as Stevonnie disappeared, and Smoky Quartz was suddenly standing in her place, with Connie standing aside. Amethyst wasn't prepared for this, but a smile appeared wide as she started to laugh in surprise, which came out in gasps. Smoky looked over to Connie, finding her giving Smoky the thumbs up. Smoky gave the thumbs up herself with her three hands. Amethyst didn't expect to get Smoky Quartz the way that she did, but she was feeling better about things along with the rest.


~~~~~~


Lion and Blue continued on with their scent tracking, Blue keeping a better pace this time from before with his trot. Whatever scent Blue had now it was getting very strong, and Lion wondered how well Blue actually got, the Gem dog going WAY out of Beach City along the same road Amethyst, Spike, and Stevonnie went down. It was questionable before, but now they got a much better path to take, and more reasonable over the rock path detour, Lion had his doubts put away from him. The dog was doing much better this time around, and Blue was getting excited with the scent getting stronger as they went along. Blue and Lion kept going along the roadside, even seeing the wagon trail in the gravel, which was exciting to see. Even Lion was getting a better scent at this point, the cat guided by his own sense of smell to get to the others. On a side note, the skies were a bit clearer now then from earlier, so they had that going for them anyway.

Blue continued trotting along for a while until he slowed down for a brief moment, sniffing the ground for a little bit. Lion stopped and allowed Blue to keep sniffing around for the trail ...

And then Blue raced off away from the road ...

The tracks clearly ahead of them.

Lion roared for Blue to come back, but Blue got a completely different scent, a lot stronger and much closer than his previous scent. All of a sudden, Blue was digging at the ground for just a little bit, and then picking something up. The object in question looked like a broken piece from the crate the others saw earlier. Blue found this very interesting, and brought the piece back to Lion. The pink cat sniffed the piece for a moment, finding it also odd, but interesting. The two didn't see that crate themselves, but Lion still picked up the piece and continue on from there. Perhaps the Gems can figure it out later once they find them. Speaking of which, Blue's nose got back on track in trying to find them.

Soon, the scent turns to sound, and they begin to hear faint music. Blue took a deep breath, and immediately ran off ahead. Lion caught up with Blue in some bushes, and soon they find their destination. The location in question looked like an average suburban house, though a number of people were actually there, with one human performing on a stage. The amount of people wasn't too large, probably about ten to fifteen total. Amongst the crowd, there was one kid, one dragon, and one large fusion.

"BARK!"

"Huh? Blue!"

One bark, and Smoky found them coming right up to them. Blue though slowed down on seeing Smoky Quartz, despite the smell having Steven's scent hinted in. Lion gave a few cat growls, as if talking to Blue, and Blue perked back up again. No one was really provoked on seeing a large pink Lion just showing up (they were fine with the three-armed fusion anyway). Now finding them, Blue felt much better, but Smoky was too tall to just lick her face, so a happy bark was just fine. Smoky ruffled Blue's head.

"Great to see ya boy. Guess I should've brought ya, huh?"

Blue just replied with a bark, as Lion dropped the piece they found. Connie picked it up, looking it over for a moment. Smoky just picked it up, bubbled it, and sent it off.

"Good job you two. We'll be back with ya," Smoky said with a wink.

Now that the two caught up, Blue and Lion sat down aside to let them have some fun. They didn't know what exactly they were doing, but they were happy with it anyway. Blue looked over to Lion, nudging the big cat and having a doggy grin on his face. Lion looked a little serious with Blue at first, bumming the dog out.

That was until Lion gave Blue a good, big lick.

Blue barked happy, and the two animal pals sat back, and watched the show.
> Bismuth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is the moment, Steven!" Garnet said.

"It's now or never!" Twilight added.

"Come on, you can do it!" put in Fulgurite.

"Alright, I got this," Steven assured.

One click of his Gamecube remote, though, and his player missed his jump, and another life lost. Casual time for the Beach House, and so far, the game hasn't been going well for Steven. A number of friends were in the Beach House; apart from those playing Steven's game, Rainbow and Amethyst were waiting for their turn, and Pearl and Rarity were doing some simple cleaning with the dishes. Steven tried his best, for sure, but honestly, it was pretty much troubling to do. Steven passed it over.

"Dying a lot in a video game can be emotionally exhausting," Steven sighed, wiping some sweat off his head. He was just about to give it over to Fulgurite when they all heard a gnawing noise; Lion playing around with one of his star shirts.

"Lion, no!" Steven yelled, jumping down. Lion tried to get away, but Steven was quick to pull the shirt out of Lion's mouth.

"Come on, Lion you can't tear this up. I don't have too many of these left, you know," Steven explained, folding his shirt, and putting it by his closet. He was about to try again, but Lion was quick to grab the shirt again, and jump off. Steven got down after Lion again, and pulled the shirt out once more.

"since you can't play nice, I'm gonna put this where you can't get it: In your mane!" Steven said. The ponies in the room (and a few Gems too) didn't exactly get the idea of this.

"In his mane?" Rarity gasped, "Oh, Steven, it'll get completely covered in cat hair that way."

"Oh right, I didn't tell you about this yet. Lay down Lion," Steven said. Lion just sighed, and laid down, as Steven walked up to him, looking ready to jump.

"Thank you, boo," Steven said. The boy then proceeded to jump up, head first, into Lion's mane. not just in his hair, literally disappearing in a portal opening in Lion's mane! Rarity stared wide-eyed, and in shock.

"Steven!" Twilight gasped, rushing over to Lion. however, neither her, nor Rarity could get into Lion's mane the way Steven did.

"Hey, hey, chill out! It's Steven's little trick with Lion that's all. He'll pop back in a minute," Amethyst said, taking the remote for her turn.

"Y-You sure?"

"Twilight, listen. Lion has a pocket dimension in his mane. Only Steven can go in and out of it. We've seen him do this before. He'll be fine," Garnet assured them. Well, if Garnet was okay with it, then they should be okay.

Steven didn't take very long for Steven to pop up from the regular world, to the pocket dimension Garnet was talking about. On the surface, the place can mainly be described in one word: pink. The sky was pink, and the Savannah grass was pink. Looking ahead, there was one magic tree that grew in the center of the sea of grass, on a small hill. On this hill there was actually a number of different things; the bicycle Steven used to go to Bayburgh, a few tapes, a small bubbled Gem, and now Steven's shirt. Steven couldn't breathe in this pocket dimension, so Steven had to handle this first, and he placed his shirt on one of the tree branches.

"There we go. My shirt, nice and safe on this stable, magic tree," Steven thought.

However, Steven picked quite a spot to stand. The branch Steven was casually standing on suddenly snapped off all at once, and once more, Steven landed directly on the bubbled Gem! It was a complete accident, but the hit popped the bubble easy, leaving the gemstone exposed and open! Steven landed gently down on the ground, eyes wide in shock on what just happened. Did he just let loose a corrupted Gem inside Lion's head?! Steven tried to bubble the Gem again, but this Gemstone was quick to reform itself! Steven covered his head, watching the Gem reform in front of him. A sort of color shined from it, but one of multiple colors before a large humanoid shape presented itself. Steven wasn't sure exactly how to process this turn of events, and soon a large figure collapsed down on the ground.

The Gem in question looked pretty tall, taller than Garnet, and more masculine than even Jasper (or wider anyway). It was clear that this Gem had the body for a lot of power. Her hair came in thick strands, each one its own color with yellow, green, red, blue, etc.. Her main skin color was a grayish blue, and her outfit matched that of some sort of Blacksmith. What made this Gem a bit special was that she already had signs that she wasn't just some Homeworld Gem, or any rogue Gem like Flint, or Star. Tattooed on her arm even, there was a star symbol, no evidence of any true Diamond symbol like Jasper, Lapis, or Peridot. The Gemstone also was a bit different than any regular Gem Steven knew of, this one caving inward rather than poking out. Her Gemstone was square, and showed the rainbow colors as well. To sum it up: she had an innie, not an outie. The Gem suddenly jumped back, panicked, and fists raised as if expecting a fight on her hands, but nothing was there to fight her in anyway. She looked around back and forth, and then she looked to Steven ...

Steven was running out of air, and he had to go before he suffocated. He stumbled back, through the grass, and soon he was back in the Beach House to his relieved pony friends and Gems.

"Steven! Thank Celestia, are you -"

"There's a Gem inside Lion's mane!"

That immediately got everyone's attention fast and quick. A living Gem in Lion's mane?!

"A real Gem? What does she look like?" Pearl asked.

"Hold on," Steven said, poking his head through to see. His head popped out like a little gopher, and he saw the Gem again, walking around in the grass. The second she saw him, Steven ducked back out.

"She's big, rainbow hair, and a tattoo on her arm," Steven answered. Garnet and Pearl looked to eachother, wondering hard on what he just said.

"... Could it be?" Pearl wondered.

"Be what?" Asked Twilight.

"Bring her out," Garnet instructed.

Steven soon got his head back through Lion's mane, and into the pocket dimension. This time though, Steven didn't seem to see anybody when scoping the area. He saw the tree, he saw the grass, but not exactly any large Gem ...

"Hello little friend."

There she is, and right in front of Steven. Steven made a closed mouthed "eep" noise, backing up.

"No, no, don't go!" The Gem insisted. She straightened up, towering over Steven.

"I am lost. And since the only ones in here is you and me, you think you can help a Gem out?" She asked, not sounding as threatening as she appeared to be. Steven didn't react at first, but eventually he smiled, and brought out his hand for her. She held Steven's hand, firm yet gentle, and then Steven began to pull her through the pocket portal. Lucky for her, the portal expanded to compensate her larger size. Lion had to stand up to also compensate her, and he was as speechless as the others were, wide-eyes and all. Soon, after a simple step, she was out of the pocket dimension. There she was, standing there in her full glory, Steven and Lion sharing their surprise.

As for the others, the reactions were mixed depending on who. The ponies were not expecting this in the slightest, Amethyst was surprised but her feeling to it was mutual, Pearl coveted her mouth with tears in her eyes, Fulgurite's looked was surprise, but not as left in the dark as the ponies, and Garnet took off her shades to show a sort of look of disbelief.

"Wow, a total stranger," Amethyst said.

"... Pearl. Garnet," the Gem said.

"Bismuth!!!" Pearl cried, running right up to her and hugging her, crying in joy. The Gem, Bismuth apparently, got Pearl in her arms, picking her up with ease, Pearl laughing all the while.

"Hey Pearl! Hold up, we got a lost one. Who's Pearl is this?!" Bismuth said, joking around with Pearl as she was laughing. Bismuth smiled smugly to Pearl.

"Who do you belong to?"

"Nobody!" Pearl responded proudly.

"Alright, let's settled down," Garnet said with a smile.

"Oh, you're the one to talk. Oh, hold up, sorry: two to talk," Bismuth replied. Garnet got out her Gem weapon gloves, playfully punching Bismuth's arm. Bismuth chuckled and added in "Easy there. Your Ruby's showing."

"Ahem. Who is this?" Rainbow asked. Bismuth turned to the others.

"Guys. This is Bismuth: an original Crystal Gem," Garnet introduced. That would explain how giddy they were on seeing her.

"Hey, new recruits! We could use more Amethysts. And what do we have here? Equestrians?" Bismuth asked, referring to the ponies in question.

"Ponies, darling. I'm Rarity, and this is Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle," Rarity introduced.

"Please to meet ya! And looks like somebody - oh excuse me, somepony's got the right style, eh Rainbow?" Bismuth said with a hearty laugh, fluffing Rainbow Dash's mane. Rainbow smiled wide, nudging Twilight.

"I'm liking her already," Rainbow commented. It was then that Bismuth saw Fulgurite.

"HEY! Now Look who decided to join us! Took my advice, eh, Fulgurite?" Bismuth said, smiling. Now this was strictly Fulgurite-only knowledge, some eyes looking to her.

"She and I met VERY early in the war. And yep, I rebelled a little bit til I got locked up in that geode," Fulgurite explained. Bismuth fluffed her hair too, though her hair made some sparks fly as Bismuth did so out of static electricity.

"So that's why you were put in there," Garnet noted. Took her long enough to say something. Soon her attention turned over to Steven.

"And who's this cute little meatball?" Bismuth asked with her smile.

"I'm Steven," Steven introduced. Bismuth shook his hand, smiling still.

"Oh it's been so long! We thought Rose lost you," Pearl commented, happy to see her. However, that comment was what got rid of Bismuth's smile. Suddenly the Gem began to look around the room in surprise more than glee.

"Wait. Where is Rose?" Bismuth asked. The mood made a little nosedive on that question, but Steven just got the answer over with.

"Uh, here. I'm Rose's son ... She kinda turned into me. I have her Gem, the rest is me," Steven explained, lifting his shirt to show the Gemstone. Bismuth took a moment to look at the Gemstone now in Steven's possession.

"Wow. There she is."

"It was sometimes unclear on Rose's choices. But we have to stand behind them," Pearl said. Bismuth stood up, looking at the Gemstone.

"... Do you remember me?"

"No. Sorry."

"... Rose ... Really is something else ..."

All of a sudden, Bismuth was laughing again.

"I mean LOOK! She really is something else! WOW, everything changing! And the base is made out of wood now?"

Well that mood changed back quickly. Bismuth took a moment to actually rip out a piece of wood from the floor.

"Who's bad idea was this? And where's everybody else?" Bismuth asked, tossing the wood aside.

"Everyone else?"

"Yeah, the rest of the Crystal Gems! Old Crazy Lace, Biggs, Snowflake!"

Looks like one Gem was gone for a little too long.


~~~~~~


Soon, the group then brought Bismuth away from the Beach House via Warp Pad, and soon they were off at the strawberry battlefield. They didn't come around here since they first came across Kyra nearly a year ago, and this place didn't change very much from that apart from frost on the fruits and plants. Bismuth looked simply shocked as she stepped out onto the strawberry field.

"Wait, what happened? We were just here!" Bismuth said in disbelief on the situation. In her mind, this place was new and full of action. But now ...

"How long was I out?"

Pearl went over to her side.

"5,300 years. The Earth stayed alive, and we kept Homeworld away ..."

"But we're what's left of the rebellion, huh?" Bismuth concluded. Pearl didn't answer her, but her tears held enough of an answer for Bismuth. It was so much that Bismuth started to cry herself.

"Pearl, you know I can't take it when you cry like that," Bismuth said, letting her own tears fall from her face. Garnet went over to her next.

"I'm very sorry, Bismuth."

"No, no. No need to apologize," she replied softly. It was a rather sad moment, to be sure, but Bismuth was quick to make her recovery. For Bismuth, it was a bit to take in, but the Gem was keeping a open mind to the situation, as she looked around the battlefield.

"Homeworld giving you trouble, or did they give up?"

"Well ... Let's see ... We had some interesting experiences with them lately," Pearl said. The question was a little harder to answer honestly, mainly because this was a Gem who wasn't around for the whole Osicone incident. As such, she didn't know about their better terms. Before any of them could tell her though, Bismuth's hand turned into a battle axe.

"Good. I didn't think I'd get another chance at that Homeworld scum. We'll show them what power we Crystal Gems have for sure!" Bismuth said, full of pride. If that didn't unsettle any of them, the moment when she slammed her axe through a strawberry, smashing it, sure did. Steven and Rarity both shared troubled expressions, irises shrunk, eyes wide, and mouths just small slits on their faces. They have friends from Homeworld, how is she gonna react to them? Rarity nudged Twilight, and whispered in her ear her concerns, which worried the Alicorn as well. The only one who didn't listen was Rainbow Dash, over with the others.

"Hey, you ok? You Look like someone shattered in front of ya," Bismuth said when she saw them. Twilight snapped back to attention.

"We're fine, Bismuth, yes we are. Just remembered we gotta go; me, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Steven supposed to handle a mission and it completely slipped my mind, right guys?" Twilight quickly said, getting it out soon as it came to her. Rarity and Steven nodded in agreement. A mission was a basic reason for any Gem to have to go somewhere. However, Rainbow was in the dark on this one.

"What mission?" Rainbow asked, only getting nudged by Twilight to keep quiet.

"I'll explain when we get there," Twilight said through her teeth. Bismuth, luckily, got the idea.

"You ponies getting missions too, eh? HA! Well have fun, crazy kids," Bismuth said. Good thing she was open to the idea, and they were on their way.

.......

"So, why're we all here again?" Jasper asked.

Steven, Rarity, Rainbow, and Twilight had gone about a bit, and got the other Gems over to the barn: Jasper, Peridot, Lapis, Jade, Flint, Emerald, Star, and Diopside. Basically whichever Gem that Bismuth didn't meet at the Beach House. Bismuth wasn't there, and neither were Garnet, Amethyst, Fulgurite, and Pearl.

"Well, I got some good news, and some bad news," Steven began.

"Let's get the bad news over with first," Flint insisted.

"... Actually, it kind of flows better with good news first," Steven said. Flint just sighed, and allowed Steven to continue.

"Good news: there's a new Gem with our group. She's an original Crystal Gem," Steven said. That got their attention fairly quickly with some mixed reaction.

"Another new Gem to the team? That's wonderful! Where is she?" Lapis asked.

"And there's the bad news: she's still got that grudge for Homeworld. So, maybe some of you should just avoid her for a little bit," Rainbow said.

"What for?" Peridot asked.

"She's a behemoth for one thing, tall as Jasper, and larger. And she's got this thing when her hands turn to weapons, so -"

"Then just tell her Homeworld's not trying to kill Earth anymore. Can't be too hard," Flint suddenly cut in.

"It's not that easy. She's been gone for 5,300 years. At least give her some time to settle down before you just jump at her, please?" Rarity insisted. Flint still wasn't too sure about it, and a few others felt the same way.

"What type of Gem is she anyway? A Quartz Gem? A Pearl?" Emerald quizzed.

"A Bismuth," answered Twilight.

"Bismuth? Haven't heard that one in a while," commented Peridot, hand to mouth thinking. However, while none of them noticed, Lapis felt a little unsettled ...

"... We can't meet her, because ..." Wondered Star.

"Because she can shatter you like you can shatter an egg," Rainbow said bluntly. She may not know the Gem well, but seeing her was enough for her to get the idea. The other Gems surely didn't want to get shattered, or see anyone else get shattered.

"Her? shatter me? You sure?"

"Jasper, she's larger than you, and can turn her hand into a battle axe. I'm sure at the least, she can hold her own against you. Please, just keep away from her until she settles in," Steven said, hands even together, and eyes wide. Jasper eventually just sighed, looking around at the others.

"We can probably get a few missions done anyway," Jasper concluded. Steven smiled, being assured they will do that. The other Gems found it a little silly, but it's for Steven and his own friends, so probably good to just ease into it.

"Thanks guys. We'll let you know when you can talk with her," Twilight said, leaving the barn with the others. For the other Gems, keeping away from Bismuth couldn't be too hard to do, though some still weren't so sure if that was exactly needed or not. Should they really stay away?


~~~~~~


As for Bismuth herself, she was doing pretty well with the Gems who stuck around with her. After their time at the Strawberry Battlefield, she decided to get back in the swing of things, and decided to head off to a rather familiar area in her mind. She, Fulgurite, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven who met up with her after finishing up, were now in another location far away from Beach City. In fact, this sort of place was actually an active volcano! Smoke bellowed from the top of the peak, and the group of Crystal Gems went along a mountainside trail. Steven just hoped that this Gem wouldn't find the others too soon and try to cause trouble for them. Last thing they really needed was a Gem massacre for Bismuth's first day back. As they kept going, Bismuth brings them to a entrance into the Volcano, and the Gems finds themselves in another unique location.

"Welcome to my Forge, gang. Sight for sore eyes, isn't it?" Bismuth announced.

The Forge consisted of a stone room with a number of different details: three barrels of dust, an anvil shaped work bench in the middle of the room, weapons hanging everywhere, and a blue chest with gem weapon enhancements inside. Bismuth walked right on in, and pulled a leaver to release, all of a sudden, a lava waterfall! Steven and Amethyst cringe in shock when the waterfall landed directly on the smiling Bismuth, the lava suddenly lighting up the walls in the room through lines and circles to see better inside. Steven and Amethyst relaxed a little when Bismuth walked casually out, a manor similar to one exiting a shower. Steven at least looked excited to see this.

"Oh, it's just like I remembered," Pearl said, almost fangirling.

"Yep, nothin like a lava bath to get you in the working mood," Bismuth said, stretching and tossing her hair back. Amethyst and Steven glanced to each other, as Bismuth started grabbing a few things from the three barrels. Fulgurite though went over to check things out.

"So, what do you do here exactly? collect dust?" Fulgurite asked, scooping out some herself. Bismuth gripped the dust in her hand, as she started to explain.

"Back on Homeworld, Bismuths like me make spires and temples only for only the elites to enjoy," she began, shoving her hand into the flowing lava. She felt just fine with it, though her hand looked red and burning. Bismuth went over and dropped a gold brick on the anvil, her hands turning into hammers.

"But rose taught me my life was my own. To do what I want!" She then started slamming the gold with her own hands, molding it up into a longer, sharper shape. She then got it on a handle, and shoved the piece down into a smaller lava pit, just enough to her hand and handle were inches away.

"So this is what I chose," bismuth finished, pulling out the object, which was on fire. All she did was blow at it to remove the flames, and harden the material to make a sword! Steven's eyes boggled on seeing such a sword being made in only a minute which would take a normal person days to do.

"You make weapons?!" Steven gasped. Bismuth smirked, full of pride.

"That's right: I outfitted the ENTIRE Rebellion. Every material weapon used by the Crystal Gems was made right here in this very Forge," Bismuth explained. Those new to her were a bit impressed with her, though Steven only had it confirmed that she was surely a Gem of weapon-craft. Soon, something crossed Bismuth's mind.

"Wait, are they still here?" She wondered, suddenly moving towards the chest. once she opened it up ...

"HA HA!! YES! Garnet, Pearl, these're for you," bismuth announced, giving them both some unique objects. For Garnet, it was a pair of gold, spiked knuckles as an attachment to her already brutal gloves. For Pearl, she was given two curved points for her spear, to create a trident.

"Sweet," Garnet said.

"Bismuth, you shouldn't have," Pearl added.

"Pleasure doing Bismuth with you," Bismuth joked, with a wink and a gun-shot finger point. Fulgurite, Amethyst, and Steven stood aside watching this. While Steven was happy with her, liking her, Amethyst seemed a little withdrawn to her still.

"Dang, she hadn't changed a bit, did she?" Fulgurite said, nudging Amethyst. Amethyst rubbed her arm, smiling a fake sort of grin.

"Yep, not a bit," Amethyst said with a fake laugh. Fulgurite was a little confused, but that changed when Bismuth went over to her.

"K, sparky, what do you got?" Bismuth asked confidently. Seeing the enhancements the others got, Fulgurite was excited to see what she would get, so she quickly got out her Gem boots to show Bismuth. The Gem Blacksmith took both boots from Fulgurite, and yellow Gem psyched, and ready to see what bismuth would do with hers. It took a little bit, but Bismuth whipped up a little extra something for Fulgurite's boots; now her running boots were strong cleets, nice sized spikes at the bottom of her feet.

"AWESOME! More traction to my step," Fulgurite beamed. This little moment gave Amethyst a moment with Steven.

"Psst, Steven, can I talk to ya for a second?" Amethyst asked. Steven nodded, and the two step out for just a moment, just outside of the Forge.

"This about Bismuth, isn't it?" Steven asked, getting that out of the way.

"Lucky - yeah it is. You and the Ponies, what did you guys really do when you went off earlier? I know it's something with Bismuth," Amethyst assumed. Why else would they go off like that?

"We went off, and told Jasper, Lapis, and the others to stay away from Bismuth for a while."

"What?!" Amethyst gasped, Steven jumping.

"I-I just thought it may be too soon for her to meet -"

"No, no, that's fine. I mean you didn't do anything about the Warp Pad? Steven, we have a Warp Pad leading directly to Homeworld, remember?" Amethyst brought up. amethyst wasn't one to normally be freaked out about this sort of thing, but what she got with Bismuth did get her slightly riled up.

"We'll just keep her away from that. Not hard, right?"

"Let's try to be sure. She's sounding a little ... suspicious."

Now Steven didn't follow. He got the idea with Bismuth and Homeworld, but he didn't label her as suspicious. If anything, she was open and cheery with the Gems.

"How come?" Steven asked.

"She's apparently an original Crystal Gem, right? During the Rebellion. Why didn't the others tell us anything about her? Neither Garnet, Pearl, nor Rose even said anything about her before. That, and, Somepony? Equestrians? How did she know that stuff so fast?" Amethyst brought up a good point with that. This Gem knows a little about Equestria at least, and she apparently did so much for the Rebellion, yet no one even remotely mentioned her.

"Yeah. That is a bit odd. But didn't mom know about Equestria? Maybe she learned it from her," Steven asked.

"No she didn't. I don't remember her saying anything about them once, and even if she did, WE would've figured out where the Ponies were from on day one," Amethyst pointed out, which was also true. you'd think Celestia would mention her, or something.

"Good point," Steven concluded.

"I don't know. We should keep an eye on her for a bit. You in?" Amethyst suggested.

"Only if you keep quiet about Homeworld. Might as well give her time to settle and open up first," Steven said.

"Deal," Amethyst replied. Both she and Steven shook hands to seal the deal. Figure out what's going on with her, and tell her when she's ready. Seems simple enough.

"Yo, Amethyst!"

The sound of Bismuth made them both jump, but she looked happy anyway as the two walked back in the Forge.

"Sorry, just got a little hot."

"Gotcha. Hey Ame, don't think I forgot about ya. Let's see that weapon of yours," Bismuth encouraged. Amethyst played along, and showed Bismuth her whip. The Gem looked to it with some intrigue.

"Not often can a Quartz make a whip like this. Mind if I have a look?"

"Knock yourself out," Amethyst replied, handing the whip over to her. Bismuth was indeed impressed. She went off to the chest for a quick moment, and after just a little bit, the Gem gave the whip back to her, but her whip now has three spiked balls at the end of it. The spikes even extend on command, which was also pretty impressive as well.

"... Not gonna lie. This is awesome."

"I knew you like it. Hey, I'm up for a good old fashion training session. Who wants in?"


~~~~~~


Pretty soon, they were over at the Beach, Bismuth on one side, and the other Gems on the other side. Steven sat aside, and Amethyst joined with Pearl, Fulgurite, and Garnet.

"Alright! Just like old times, eh?" Bismuth said, her hands turning into hammers, and smashing them together.

"Ready, Bismuth?" Garnet asked, almost smugly.

"Show me what you got, soldiers!"

So Garnet did. She charged forward first, and she met Bismuth head on, her fists slamming into Bismuth's hammer fists. Bismuth was so strong, she stopped Garnet dead in her tracks (come to expect). Amethyst and Steven took a mental note on that.

"I think the power couple's losin their spark!" Bismuth said, tossing Garnet aside. Pearl came in next, leaping high in the air, trident aimed down at her. Bismuth aimed closely, and just before Pearl hit the ground, Bismuth got her hammer to halt her fall in a uppercut.

"Pearl, I don't recall you bringing me a spear," Bismuth commented, before tossing her aside. Strong, and accurate. Pearl, smirking, then shot down at her with some laser shots from her spear. Amethyst gave her shot next, her whip getting around Bismuth's leg. The Gem wasn't deterred, and was ready for her.

"I'm gonna wreck your BISMUTH!" Amethyst said, swinging her over her head. Bismuth landed hard, but was still laughing.

"Very creative."

"Yeah, guess I'm great."

"That's right!" Amethyst was suddenly flung upward when Bismuth flipped, the purple Gem landing by Steven, which was convenient. The others continue to fight Bismuth as she continued talking.

"We are Powerful! We are important! WE! ARE! THE CRYSTAL GEMS!"

Fulgurite, Pearl, and Garnet continued their training, all smiles, though Amethyst and Steven still kept their mental notes on Bismuth. So, she's charismatic, accurate, strong, and motivational. So far nothing really suspicious, but still worth noting. As they got themselves up, suddenly Amethyst and Steven got themselves facing a lock of Fulgurite's whipping hair! Steven got his bubble up just before they got hit, sending them rolling down the beach.

"Sorry!" Fulgurite called. Amethyst and Steven rolled for a little bit, getting dizzy. Amethyst grew her hand, and gave a thumbs up so they could see. She shrunk her hand to normal size, as the two got to their feet, only to find ...

"Having fun with your Bismuth?" Emerald asked. It was a few other Gems: Lapis, Flint, and Emerald. They were out of sight from Bismuth, Flint especially with his camouflage.

"What're you doing here?" Steven asked.

"Checking the Gem out. She's quite the violent one," Flint said, glancing back to Bismuth. Steven found that he really didn't say that. However, Lapis looked oddly troubled when she saw Bismuth. Like, deeply troubled.

"Oh right. We're keeping an eye on her too," Amethyst admitted.

"Are you, now?" Flint quizzed.

"I just don't know about her. Garnet and Pearl never told us about her before, but she's going on like she's been with us her whole life. Somethings suspicious with her," Amethyst said.

"She's wrong."

The group turned to Lapis, who had turned away from the group at this point.

"Eh, what?"

"That Bismuth. That Bismuth. I know her from a long time ago."

She brought her hand over to the sea close by, and soon it began to show a clear mirror, showing the images to her words.

"It was over 5,000 years ago that I was sent down to Earth. I was only meant to visit for a short time, but I got caught in the war. It was then I first saw her. She was ruthless, no remorse. I tried to get away from her, but one punch to the back was all it took ..." Lapis stayed silent for a moment, removing the mirror. The blue Gem said that with a bit more dramatic and serious tone than typical. Well it was enough to have Emerald clapping.

"Congrats, Lapis, way to amp up the drama for today," Emerald said, impressed. And that sorta killed the drama bomb that Lapis just dropped. That, and Amethyst and Steven had one involvement that Bismuth dos that could be something. But, it wasn't very much actually; it was in the Gem war, it's really expected for Bismuth to attack Lapis in the heat of battle. They did feel sorry for Lapis, of course. Flint and Steven looked over to Bismuth, who was too busy training to notice them for long. As they kept going, Bismuth stopped for a minute when she realized that Amethyst wasn't around.

"Where's that purple Gem at? She's missing out," Bismuth wondered.

"She'll be back in a bit Bismuth."

"K. Say, guys? Did I do a good impression with her?" Bismuth asked casually.

"Of course you did! How can you not?!" Pearl asked.

"Don't fret, Bismuth, she'll come around. She's just new to seeing you that's all," Garnet assured. Bismuth thought on it and nodded her head.

"Yeah. She'll warm up in no time."


~~~~~~


After training was done, it was off for some more casual things. First thing they did was a little game of team tennis. Even if it was early winter with the cold coming around, it was still clear beaches, so they could still do this. Bismuth and Garnet were on one team, Pearl and Steven on the other. It was a little clear who won the game after a few minutes. The next thing they did, and it was a little quick, was a game of cards. Pearl helped Bismuth out in how the game works, and they went along pretty well. Course, Amethyst cheated in the game thanks to some tomfoolery with her shapeshifting, but it didn't matter because Garnet won anyway in the end. So much for that. Still, even with the fun activities, Amethyst and Steven still kept their minds on Bismuth, and Amethyst kept neutral with her when it comes to direct conversation.

Soon, Steven was making pizza for the group, and Bismuth helped him out in that with some shapeshifting hands. The Gem made three pepperoni pizzas pretty easily after given some direction from Steven on how to do so, but Bismuth still wanted Amethyst to warm up a bit, so she kicked it up a notch. She made a personal pizza for her, including a big burrito as an extra, sprinkled with some chips. Amethyst wasn't dumb, but BOY it was too good to pass up! Her mouth was watering, and it smelled delicious. Her own burrito pizza.

Pretty soon, they were over in Steven's room with the movie playing on Steven's TV. Garnet enjoyed two slices, Fulgurite, Bismuth, and Steven were good with their own pieces, and Amethyst was eating hers like a seagull. Like she's gonna waste time with this meal.

"Don't get the sword," Steven said during one point in the movie.

"It holds all the power in the world, course he should get it," Bismuth said. At this point, Bismuth swallowed up her burrito pizza, filled up and happy.

"Eh, sure our ponies can beat that sword any day," Amethyst commented, followed by a burp from her swallowed meal. It was especially convenient for her to even say that, because seconds later, they began to hear their door open up. Many of them saw a familiar shine come from it, which while regular for most of the Crystal Gems, was foreign for Bismuth. Soon, a pink blur jumped right in fast, and quickly landed on Bismuth, making her fall back onto the bed.

"HI, stranger Gem lady!" She beamed.

"Heard the news, Pinkie?" Fulgurite giggled.

"Pinkie? That you?" Bismuth asked, with a smirk. Pinkie giggled, and hopped off of her.

"Yes indeedie!"

"Pinkie Pie, this is Bismuth: original, honorary Crystal Gem," Garnet introduced. Pinkie's eyes sparkled in amazement, extremely giddy to see her.

"Original Crystal Gem?! OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH! Twilight was right!!" Pinkie beamed, hugging Bismuth by the arm with her front hooves, rather tightly. Bismuth laughed, and got the mare in a friendly head lock, giving her a good old noogie to the head. Pinkie got herself out of it, and laughed along with her, her mane in a slight mess from Bismuth's noogie.

"Any friend to the Crystal Gems is a friend of mine," Bismuth said with a big grin. Pinkie was happy to hear that especially.

"Oh goodie! Then you'll LOVE all the friends in Ponyville!" Pinkie beamed, trying to move Bismuth to the portal. Bismuth didn't budge, but she did look over to the portal though, and that idea did get Pearl beaming too with the new idea.

"So that's where that goes to, huh? Think you can show me?"

Pinkie made a gigantic gasp.

"Can she go, pleasepleasepleasePLEEEEEASE?!" Pinkie asked, almost begging Garnet to let her show Bismuth around. Garnet looked over to the movie, but the others seemed fine with it. They can finish it up later.

"Why not?"

One portal jump later, and the group was now over in Equestria. It was lucky for them Bismuth was put in first, because she ended up tumbling through, and rolling out. Unlike then, she wasn't exactly used to it. She rolled head over heels at least two times before landing on her back. It took her a bit, but she did get to her feet, and she got a good look around. Unlike Beach City, which the main shift was cold air, Ponyville had a far more immediate change in seasons thanks to the working Pegesi on weather duty. The town was going along pretty well, but the Pegasus gave these pony residents a nice snowfall. The snow was big, soft, and gently floating down around town, some already getting on the Gems and Ponies.

"Well I'll be," Bismuth commented, even sticking out her tongue to catch a snowflake. Amethyst, for the heck of it, joined her on that. She, however, used her shapeshifting to stretch out her tongue, making it catch about twenty snowflakes at one time. Not too bad for a shapeshifter Gem. As for the ponies, some were just taking simple walks, while some were working through it as if it wasn't even going on.

"Welcome to Ponyville, Bismuth," Pinkie beamed, hopping on ahead a bit, as Bismuth walked around the place. As they went along through town, it didn't take very long until one familiar face showed up. Humming a familiar Ponyville winter tune, Applejack was bringing some warm apple fritters and apple pies from her farm out for some ponies to enjoy.

"Applejack! Look who's here!" Pinkie called. Applejack stopped, and began to make her stand when she heard Pinkie Pie. It didn't take very long until Applejack saw Bismuth either.

"Well look what we got here, a baker pony. Sure smells good," Bismuth said, hands on her hips.

"Howdy there. Twilight said there's a new Crystal Gem goin about," AJ replied, bringing out a hot, fresh, and free apple betty. Bismuth just needed one smell of the apple betty to be sold, and she happily took it. Bismuth popped the treat right in her mouth, enjoying every second of it before she swallowed it up.

"I give y'all a five star," Bismuth congratulated, going along with the accent Applejack had, fluffing AJ's mane. AJ adjusted her hat after that with a flick of the hoof. Seems the Ponies were starting to like her as much as the other Gems, according to Amethyst and Steven.

Throughout the afternoon, Bismuth went along around Ponyville for a while, and enjoying every moment of it by what the others were seeing. With Pinkie Pie going around guiding her along, Bismuth visited a number of places around Ponyville: Twilight's Library, Sugarcube corner, the local school, town hall, and Sweet Apple Acres. Each spot had Bismuth interacting with the ponies here and there, and each spot had a pretty good time with the new rainbow-haired Gem. In places like the school, many fillies and colts were especially excited to see Bismuth during recess, and Bismuth was playing around pretty well with the foals of the school. Sweet Apple Acres had some good help with her as well, with Bismuth helping out Granny Smith and Big Macintosh at the farm for a little bit. Amethyst and Steven kept their minds focused on Bismuth, but the more they saw her, the more that they began to question if being suspicious was even needed here with her. Sure, rose never mentioned Bismuth to them, but Bismuth seemed to be a very kind, and likable character, it was starting to make them feel guilty. The only catch that still remained in the air was the lack of conversation about Homeworld ...


~~~~~~


"Well, she's not the most passive Gem ever," Flint said. After seeing Bismuth at the beach, they went off back over to the other Gems at the barn. The only one who actually wasn't there at the moment was Jasper, but everyone else stuck around the barn for the time being, pretty far away from Bismuth anyway.

"... She still doesn't like Homeworld?" Star asked.

"Not at all, Star. In fact, I think she's ready to shatter the Diamonds just like that -" Emerald snaps his fingers to finish up his statement for how quickly Bismuth will get at those Diamonds again. Star Quartz was just slightly confused, though Peridot stopped her, as Flint laid his back against the rim of the barn door. Oddly, Lapis laid her back on one of the barn house support beams in a similar manor.

"What's wrong now? Getting bored, or what?" Emerald asked, nonchalantly.

"This whole plan ... It's sucks," Flint said, getting to the point of the problem.

"Eh?"

"Don't 'eh' me. We've been watching Bismuth all day, and they didn't tell her what happened ONCE. She may be new to this, ok, but she's gonna have to know at some point or we'll get Gem War all over again," Flint brought up. They couldn't help but get a bit troubled on a second Gem War thanks to a Gem who lacked any memory on what actually happened. Lapis though kept her gaze down and away from Flint as he was talking.

"So, what do you think we should do then? Bubble her again?" Lapis suggested. The very opinion coming out of her mouth was so out of left field for those who didn't hear what Bismuth done to her. Lapis was a kind Gem, but she had her limits, same as anybody.

"... Lapis?" Peridot asked, blank-faced and speechless.

"Ok, look, someone's gotta go tell her soon. Lapis, why don't you -"

"NO!"

The demand made everyone jump, even Flint almost.

"Did something happen while you were gone, or ...?" Peridot asked. Flint looked over to Lapis first, who looked back to Flint to keep him quiet. Flint rolled his eyes.

"Don't ask. Peridot, how about you go and tell her," Flint decided.

"Why me?!"

"Because you got this," flint then pointed to Peridot's metal flower Cutie Mark. "How many Homeworld Gems do you know that has a Equestrian Cutie Mark. Perhaps she'll make an exception if you actually say something without her pounding you," Flint finished. Peridot was NOT down for the idea at all, and if Bismuth is as dangerous as they brought on, then she'd rather keep herself in tact.

"You're the one worried over it!"

"I don't have a excuse as well as yours, Peridot, you know that," Flint insisted, moving her outside of the barn. Peridot tried to get herself back in and out of the way but before she could.

"And here is the barn, bismuth," Steven said from the distance.

"So the Crystal Gems got a barn now?" Bismuth replied as well.

Oh great. Peridot, panicked, tried to get in, but the others weren't giving her the chance to. She looked simply freaked out.

"Who're you?"

Now it was troubling. Peridot turned around, terrified, and she ended up seeing that Bismuth was right behind her. She had the Diamond symbols on her, she had no signs of being a CG, and Bismuth was a bit confused on seeing her. She looked a little bit suspicious as well. As for Peridot, well ...

"I'M A CRYSTAL GEM NOW!!" Peridot screamed, quick, and in a cold sweat. Hopefully she could get that out of the way fast before Bismuth could try and attack her. However, Bismuth looked her down, and saw the Cutie Mark on her cheek ...

"Hey, Steven! Why didn't you tell me that we got another recruit here? Long time since we got another Peridot," Bismuth commented. Steven and Peridot relaxed, Peridot giving a sigh of relief, as Bismuth ruffled up her triangle hair.

"Must've slipped my mind. Sorry, Peri," Steven said.

"I-It's ok. So, we good?"

"Course we are! you're a Crystal Gem, no need to be on bad terms. OH, and what is this? Gems getting Cutie Marks now, I see. Lookin good, Peridot," Bismuth realized, Peridot touching the Cutie Mark on her cheek. Peridot felt some admiration (and maybe pride) come up on hearing that from Bismuth, and Peridot smiled.

"I'm the first Peridot with one. And check this out!" Peridot looked to some nails in the nearby barn fence. With a quick motion of her hands, and some concentration, ten metal nails popped out, and were soon floating in her hands. Bismuth, of course, was impressed.

"HAHA! Well look at you! First Peridot with her own metal magic," Bismuth congratulated. Peridot felt pretty good with herself, and the admiration from Bismuth, even if the two pretty much just met. Bismuth turned away from her for a moment, confidence in her face.

"And Homeworld thinks we're nothing? HA! We got them beat in no time!" Bismuth beamed, confident as ever. Peridot, halted her little game, a bit puzzled as that reminded her of the situation, but before she could say anything, Steven glanced back while Bismuth wasn't looking, and made a slicing motion across his throat. Flint wanted her to say, but Steven didn't think she was set just yet. The other Gems just inside the barn waited to hear Bismuth's reaction when ...

"Yeah, they won't know what's coming!"

"Seriously?!" Flint uttered under his breath from in the barn. Luckily, Bismuth didn't hear him, and she instead lifted up Steven and Peridot right off the ground, having them sit down on her shoulders with ease.

"You know it! come on, let's go back to the Temple and see those fighting moves of yours," bismuth offered. Caught up in the moment, Peridot agreed, and they all went away.

All Flint could do was have his hand meet his forehead.


~~~~~~


Soon, night time came. Bismuth, not having a room for herself, spent the night over at the Beach House. It was quiet for the time being, except for Lion chilling out by the door, and Steven finishing up his own bit of nightly duties. At this point, Steven got himself into his PJs, and then stepped out of the bathroom, now clean and ready for bed.

"Hey, Steven, you going to show us some skills out at the battlefield?" Bismuth asked. Steven felt hesitant on that idea, if not just tired.

"I-I don't think so. most of my weapons are defensive ... OH, except for this one," Steven said, his hand reaching into Lion's mane. Soon, Steven pulled out an impressive pink sword. Bismuth gasped upon seeing it, smiling to him.

"One of my best creations," Bismuth commented.

"Wait. You made this?"

Steven sat down, as Bismuth held the sword in her hands. She smiled, more softly this time, as she looked it over.

"You really don't remember, huh? Rose Quartz changed my life. I came to Earth thinking this was just another colony. Build another arena for important fighters to fight in, build another spire for important thinkers to think in, and then, I met her. Just another Quartz soldier, made right here in the dirt, but she was different. And she was different because she decided to be. And she asked me what I wanted to build, and I'd never heard that before. And Gems never hear they can be anything other than what they are, but Rose opened our eyes."

Bismuth remembered it like it was yesterday, and each word that came out was the pure truth. Bismuth was grateful that Rose showed her the light, and Steven could tell that from hearing her. However, his smile diminished after a little bit, and he looked up to the picture of Rose on the wall above the door.

"Everyone tells me how great she was ... I don't think I can measure up to her."

"Wow, who'd of thought. Me, giving a pep talk to Rose's ... uh ..."

"Son."

"Right. Listen Steven. You are different. That's what's so exciting. You don't have to be like Rose Quartz. You can be someone even better. You can be you," Bismuth said, a hand on his shoulder. That really made Steven feel a bit better about things when it came to that, even if it wasn't a subject brought up too often. After hearing that, Steven gave a yawn , stretching.

"Thanks. Time for me to go off to bed. You can chill out and ... sleep, if you want," Steven said, though he wasn't sure if Bismuth even knew what sleep was.

"You know what? I'll give it a try. I'm liking these new Earth rituals," Bismuth decided. Steven went right off to bed himself, and Bismuth chose the couch as her metaphorical bed. Steven took a little bit to tell her how to sleep, and Bismuth took to it pretty easily, thank goodness. Steven did had one thing on his mind. He was actually liking Bismuth a lot now. As for Bismuth herself, she waited a bit until she was sure Steven was asleep. One of her eyes peered open, hearing Steven sleeping. Soon, the Gem got back up, and quietly left the Beach House.

She had a little surprise.

.......

However, while Steven and Bismuth were asleep, one Gem was up and about: Garnet. It was a clear night, though her Future Vision told her that tomorrow isn't going to be as clear, so she might as well come out and enjoy the clear night and clear ground while she could before then. She went off over to a spectacular lookout over the city. The residents of Beach City call the spot "Brooding Hill", and it had a amazing view of the entire coast. Every square inch of Beach City could be seen from up there, no doubt. With the nighttime atmosphere shining up the street lights down below, it was almost like stars in the sky, and on the ground. Still, Garnet took a comfortable seat, and gazed up at the stars. As she continued to gaze up, her mind began to wonder a little bit more, until she realized a little something.

"Hmm ... Haven't seen Discord in a while. Discord?!" Garnet called. However, the Draconequus didn't show up. She got up, and turned around.

"Discord!" Garnet called again. Still nothing. She didn't need him for anything, but he wasn't seen in quite a while, really. Some reality bending could be some fun as of late. However, Garnet simply shrugged, and was about to sit down when ...

"Garnet! That you?"

Lapis Lazuli. The blue Gem, seeing the clear night sky, decided to fly on out for a bit after being inside the barn for the day. Besides, she needed to clear her head on the news Steven told her about anyway. Lapis flew down, and gently landed down next to Garnet, retracting her water wings afterwards. Garnet patted the ground next to her, and Lapis just took it, sitting down next to her.

"A clear night. We might as well enjoy it."

"How come?"

"It's going to be cloudy for the next couple of days," Garnet replied.

"Oh ... You know, good thing I found you. I want to talk to you about someone," Lapis said, looking away from the fusion. Garnet turned to her friend. Rather than just say who it was, she might as well ask.

"Who?"

"... Bismuth. Is she  ... staying?"

Garnet was quiet at first, thinking over what Lapis had just asked. Then again, Lapis didn't meet with Bismuth recently like Amethyst, Fulgurite, or Pearl.

"Probably. Why?" Garnet asked. Lapis felt a groan escape her mouth, and a cringe sort of feeling overcome her. She didn't know about her. She was okay with plenty of other Gems joining up: Peridot, Jasper, Jade, Flint, Emerald, and all that. But unlike them, Bismuth had a sort of history with Lapis, that Lapis didn't like her for. Not even the war veteran had that sort of thing with Lapis.

"I was just wondering," Lapis simply stated, though she didn't feel much better about it. Garnet took off her shades, knowing what she was feeling.

"OK, Lapis. What happened with you and her? You can tell me."

Lapis knew she couldn't lie to Garnet, and she got up in a huff, and turned back to her.

"It's all her fault!"

"What is?"

"The reason why I was stuck on Earth. The reason why I was trapped in that mirror! SHE was there in the Gem War, and SHE got me trapped in that mirror in the first place! All those years being trapped in there, and Bismuth was the one who made it happen!" Lapis Lazuli felt her anger build a bit on reminding herself what happened to her. Garnet stayed quiet, but was honestly unsure if it was HER Bismuth who did so. Then again, Bismuth was a strong fighter against Homeworld, and Garnet was for sure that Lapis was not a Crystal Gem then. In the end, Garnet gave a sighed, as Lapis sat back down.

"Lapis. Listen. You can call me a liar, but Bismuth is not as bad as you brought her on to be. She did that because she was with the Crystal Gems, and you were with Homeworld. But that was thousands of years ago from now, and even after you were released, it was still a while since then. She is a very nice Gem, even if she's a bit rough at times ... I'm not going to make you do anything. But, at least try to give her a chance," Garnet advised. Lapis still felt a little colder from the response. Obviously Garnet was treated much different compared to Lapis.

"I would if I could. Is she ready to meet us yet?"

"Excuse me?"

"Earlier today, Steven, Twilight, and Rainbow visited us and basically told us to stay away. At least until Bismuth had settled down and more open with the idea," Lapis revealed. Garnet actually didn't realize that, looking a little perplexed, which was foreign to Lapis.

"You mean none of you ..."

Lapis just shook her head. While Garnet was glad that Bismuth was back, but she didn't realize that every other Gem didn't even remotely tell her! No wonder Bismuth was still going on about things the way she was doing. If she could say, she thought that they said something, but now after hearing this ...

"... Thanks for telling me, Lapis."


~~~~~~


Bismuth was up and about, and waiting outside in the morning light for the others to get out to join her. Clouds were gathering up, but it wasn't that big of an issue for the rainbow Gem. She had better things on her mind anyway that she wanted to show the Crystal Gems.

"YO! come on, Steven!" Bismuth called. Steven, after an extra minute or two, did finally get himself up and out. He still was a bit groggy eyed, and was joined by Peridot and Amethyst. Peridot went on down, but Amethyst and Steven took a moment to talk to eachother.

"Eh ... Amethyst? Do you think we're being too hard on Bismuth?" Steven asked.

"Yeah, I'm thinking that. She's a nice person, even if Rose didn't say anything. And she accepted Peridot easily," amethyst pointed out, the green Gem going right over to Bismuth, who proceeded to fluffed up her hair again with a few laughs.

"That's true. Here, let's forget this hiding thing. We'll just go down, let her do what she wants, and then tell her what happened with Homeworld. Deal?"

"Deal," Amethyst replied, shaking hands with him just before going on down. The trio were soon over in front of Bismuth, who actually took the time out of the night to go off back to the Forge, and bring back the chest.

"So, what's up with you now, B?" Amethyst asked.

"Ok. Steven? I thought it over all night, and we all know you're Rose's son. Rose's sword is great, but you know what? You deserve a better weapon," Bismuth said. She walked off to the blue chest, and soon, she got out a strong weapon right out for everyone to see. The weapon had the appearance to match something similar to a Pile Bunker: It had a maroon colored base, a salmon colored Bismuth emblem, two little black straps underneath for the arm, a silver cylinder on one end, and a large metal spike on the other. Bismuth was happy with it, and the others were curious with it too.

"What's that?" Peridot asked.

"I call it the Breaking Point."

"Breaking Point?"

"Got that right. I designed Rose's for a fair fight. It can cut through a Gem's physical form in an instant! Destroying the body, but never the Gem."

"Cool," Steven said, smiling.

"But ... Homeworld doesn't fight fair. That's why we need a different strategy."

And the smile was gone, as Bismuth raised the Breaking Point up to her eye level.

"I was working on a weapon that would've been a game-changer. Homeworld knows how to hit us where it counts, but we can do everything they can do, and better. the weapon that would've won the war," Bismuth said. The trio of Gems began to get a little uncomfortable on where this was going. Bismuth looked a little puzzled, but the rainbow Gem still smiled.

"OK, I get it, you three are new to the whole thing. Here, I'll show ya how it's done, then you can test it out," Bismuth decided. Convenient for her; she also brought some Gem dummies with her in the same chest, setting a few up. The dummies didn't look the same as human dummies per say, but more like bell-shaped objects with heads and gemstones on them. Or markings as hard as gemstones anyway. What better thing to test out the main weapon in question as the three watched. Soon, the dummies themselves started to circle all of them, but they didn't exactly attack as, say, Pearl's practice holograms. They simply moved around them. Bismuth was ecstatic to use the Breaking Point, and she got it aimed at one of the dummies, directly at the gemstone. The weapon's metal skewer charged up ...

"We! Are! The Crystal Gems!"

One hit was all it took. The weapon pounded directly through the gemstone, and the dummy, in just under a second like a concentrated jackhammer. The sharp triangle end made short work of the dummy's hardened exterior, leaving a perfect circular hole right through the body, the gemstone disappearing completely. Seconds after, the dummy disintegrated, leaving nothing but dust. Amethyst, Peridot, and Steven simply froze, wide eyed in almost pure horror. For Peridot, she especially was on thin ice for her involvement with Homeworld, and for Amethyst and Steven, they now had at least an idea on why Bismuth was gone so long, and without Rose saying anything. Peridot made a simple sidestep to hide behind Amethyst, spooked out of her mind, as Bismuth proudly went over to Steven, fitting the Breaking Point onto his arm.

"There. Now you mean Bismuth," Bismuth joked. But Steven was too spooked to laugh. And, with this kind of killer device in his hands ...

It was no joke.

"Come on, give it a test run. Oh, let me get outta the way," Bismuth said eagerly, one of the dummies actually stopping in front of him. Steven was still frozen on it, and he couldn't think straight. Here he was, with a killer weapon, and he was expected to use it against Gems to kill them for good. And not the good in the way of Rose's sword, either.

"No, I-I can't do this!" Steven yelled, backing away, and withdrawing the weapon.

"Why not?" Bismuth asked.

"Sh-Shattering Gems ... Wouldn't that make us as bad?"

"Of course not! We'd be shattering them for the sake of our cause, to protect our allies, our friends, to free all Gems from Homeworld's tyranny!"

"But it's not what a Crystal Gem would do!" Snapped Steven.

Now Bismuth was actually getting upset.

"Don't tell me what a Crystal Gem would do. Nobody's more "Crystal Gem" than I am. If you won't take it, I'll just use it myself," Bismuth decided, yanking the Breaking Point out of Steven's hands. however, Peridot used her metal powers to jerk the weapon away from Bismuth. The other Gems were on the same side as Steven here.

"Are you mad, Bismuth?! You can't just march on in with this kind of weapon!" Peridot said, throwing it to the side. Bismuth, still fuming, went right on over to her, but now instead of just anger, she had more suspicions on this little green Gem.

"And why not?"

Peridot gulped, realizing what just happened.

"I-I just thought that maybe there's a better way to go at this? Something that doesn't involve shattering anybody?"

"Now why would you think that?" Bismuth asked, firmly and slow so each word can sink in. Bismuth was towering over Peridot at this point. Peridot backed up.

"It's just ... I-I just think that, maybe if we can go in a more calmer, and open-minded sort of way, then -"

All of a sudden, Peridot was grabbed by the collar, and pulled up hard! Steven and Amethyst gasped on seeing this. Peridot struggled to get free, but she won't be breaking out of her grasp.

"So you still like the Diamonds?" Bismuth questioned coldly.

"Put her down, she's our friend!" Steven insisted.

"She's a spy for Homeworld! Only a Gem working for the Diamonds would try to stop us from shattering them!" Bismuth retorted, slamming Peridot down into the ground. That did it. Amethyst brought her whip out, at the ready. Bismuth smiled, but more menacing this time, as she reached for the Breaking Point! Amethyst got her whip around the Breaking Point to throw it out of her reach, and she grabbed Bismuth's arm to swing her to the rock wall! Amethyst and Steven raced over to Peridot's aid, as Bismuth got to her feet.

"You ok, P?" Amethyst asked.

"I'm fine," Peridot replied, as Steven helped her to her feet.

"TRAITORS!"

"Uh oh."

Amethyst, Steven, and Peridot decided to make a run for it, and dodged Bismuth's charge. Amethyst already fought Bismuth, she knows how strong she is, even without a Breaking Point to use. The trio got a head start, but they were still plenty smaller than Bismuth, so the behemoth was gaining on them fast! Steven had to get a bubble going to cover them all, but Bismuth's impact was so hard, and so forceful, that it rocketed them skyward like a loaded spring. So high in fact, they landed all the way up to the lighthouse! The force Bismuth had to use must've been beyond incredible. When the three landed, Steven removed the bubble, all three of them laying on the ground. Peridot, still wide eyed, sat up almost immediately.

"STEVEN! We have to tell her RIGHT NOW!" Peridot screamed, getting it out there.

"Okay, you're right! I'm wrong! This plan was stupid," Steven said, agreeing. Suddenly, Bismuth made her horrifying return, and leaped all the way up to them! She wasn't going to let them get away that easy.

"Been WAY too long since I got back in the game. Say goodbye to Homeworld, clods!"

"That word was ours, you can't have that!" Peridot yelled, but Steven got up the shield again, as Bismuth slammed a pick axe hand onto it.

"Bismuth, hold on! We got something to tell you!"

"Save what breath you got left, traitors! Savor what you have," Bismuth said. However, the three backed up in the bubble.

"No no no, just hear us out! It's Homeworld, they like us now!" Steven yelled, trying to convince her.

"I know they like you, you're Homeworld! And Homeworld does NOT belong here!"

"No, I mean -"

Before they could finish, the trio in the bubble realized that they were going faster, and weren't slowing down. They were on the highest hill in Beach City, and they just started going down it in their bubble. The three tried running forward to slow it down, but it was no use. Suddenly, they all tumbled around, and were rolling down the hill fast! Bismuth ran after them, the bubble not slowing down from its decent. What's worse, the bubble wasn't just rolling straight, and it veered towards the cliff! The three Gems couldn't make the connection in time, and they ended up falling down fast! They hit one extension of cliff on the way down, making them fly off back another twenty feet until they hit the sand, rolling like a speeding bowling ball. They didn't stop rolling until they made about three hundred feet down the beach, Steven too dizzy to keep up the bubble any longer. They groggily got up, and saw they made a ton of distance ...

Until they saw Bismuth running to them.

"Oh COME ON!" Amethyst groaned. This time, there was no running. Bismuth didn't even slow down, the Breaking Point out in front of her like an aimed spear. Steven, Amethyst, and Peridot stayed together, knowing Bismuth was going too quick this time around. Bismuth got all three of them pinned to the ground at once, Breaking Point aimed and at the ready. One trigger, and either one of them are gonna die ...

"Any last words, clods?" Bismuth asked, ready to finish them off. The three honestly didn't know what to say. Just a few minutes, she was their friend, and now that they refused to play her game, she's ready to kill them. Talk about your one eighty. They weren't sure how to react from her, but they did had one when they looked to the sky, just to see something break the clouds ...

"Steven, bubble, bubble NOW!" Amethyst shrieked. Steven immediately did so, pushing Bismuth back.

Not a moment too soon.

.......

*BOOOOM!*

The trio couldn't see what happened, Steven keeping the bubble up as the beach suddenly, apparently, exploded up around them. The blinding sand and dust stayed for a good twenty seconds, and during that time they couldn't see Bismuth anywhere. Did she poof? Or worse, get shattered? The three didn't had a single clue. Once the dust cloud drifted away, they saw Bismuth on the ground, blunt force affecting her, and something encircling their bubble. It looked like some sort of snake, and they saw the tail had feathers.

Blue and green feathers.

"Who are you?!" Bismuth demanded.

"Quetzalcoatl. Q for short."

Quetzalcoatl is back! Steven only saw him once before, and even then he was just as dumbfounded as everyone else there. Q was clearly protecting the trio in the bubble, yet Bismuth tried anyway to attack with her Breaking Point. Quetzalcoatl's scales though held one surprise, as Bismuth made contact with it.

One trigger, and the Breaking Point broke! The metal end launched out with a loud crack of metal. Bismuth was speechless.

"...wh...WHAAAA?!?!"

Q Just gave a huff, looking down to Steven, Amethyst, and Peridot. Steven, astonished more than scared, removed the bubble for the moment as Quetzalcoatl unraveled himself. His attention first went over to Bismuth.

"It's time we put the past in the past. One who does not learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them," Q said. Bismuth though wasn't getting it.

"What're you talking about? That's got nothing to do here," retorted Bismuth. Then Q turned to the trio of Gems, looking disappointed.

"I think we're all tired of your sharada, don't you?"

"Wait, you knew?! Why didn't you come out?!"

Q sighed.

"I wasn't supposed to. I don't enjoy being the ex machina. But circumstances left me with no other option. Like I said, history is doomed to repeat. Now we all know what's left to do, right?"

"... Yeah."

"Then go on. Tell her the truth," Q instructed. Not having any other option (and the fact they were gonna do that anyway), the trio decided that it was enough. Q moved aside gently so the three had no barrier with Bismuth. Bismuth was just as confused on the situation, but waited for an answer from the three there. Amethyst, feeling stupid and guilty, went first.

"Bismuth. Let's just be clear first that we're all on the same side. We really are the Crystal Gems, we're not against you, and what we're about to say won't change that at all, okay?" Amethyst asked.

Bismuth, not saying a word, just nodded. Peridot was up next.

"Okay then. You see, Bismuth, over recent events that had happened over the course of one Earth year, things had changed between the Crystal Gens, and the Gems over on Homeworld. A lot," Peridot started.

"See, you know Garnet, and she has this fancy mind trick to see in the future. So, one day, she saw this big future vision she wanted to happen. Like, REALLY wanted to happen, which involved Homeworld, actually," Amethyst added.

"We've been busy then to make a spaceship for a while, and we got over onto Homeworld. Blue Diamond was happy to see us, and Yellow Diamond was, eh, okay. So we stayed around, helping out Homeworld for a bit, and we ..." Steven trailed off.

They all just said it.

"We saved Homeworld."

There was a long pause. Bismuth wasn't sure if they were lying to her, or telling the truth. They seemed to be very honest, if not embarrassed, while they were talking. There didn't seem to be anything to make them say that, or inspiration from anywhere for them to work that sort of explanation off of. Bismuth just stood there, starting to relax a little bit, as Q curled up close by. This was Bismuth's decision now. Bismuth crossed her arms, looking a bit judgmental.

"... So let me get this straight: you, the Crystal Gems. You made a spaceship, went back to Homeworld after a thousand years of war. And you managed to save Homeworld, and they actually like you now?"

The trio only nodded in response.

"Well. More or less. Most of them like us now, anyway," Steven admitted. Bismuth expected lying from the Homeworld Gem, maybe even from Amethyst. But Rose's son also was on board with the idea. Bismuth took a few steps forward.

"... But, then why didn't ..."

"We thought that you needed some time to settle first. You just got back, so ..."

"Oh ... I see ..."

There was another silence that hung in the air for a little bit. Steven and the Gems weren't sure if Bismuth was believing them or not, Bismuth not giving them any real clue ...

Then giggling.

Then laughing!

"HAHAHAAAA! WOW! I knew things were changing here, but DANG! Homeworld liking the Crystal Gems? Who'd of guessed that happening?! You really made history, you know that?"

They've never been so relieved. Looks like Bismuth believed them. Even Q made a sigh of relief on hearing that. Bismuth was back to her cheery self again.

"So, we good? For real?" Peridot asked. Bismuth picked them up, hugging the three for her answer.

"Course we are! Sorry for trying to kill you all back there," Bismuth said.

"Eh, I'm used to it," Steven said. Bismuth just laughed on Steven's answer, giving him a noogie to the head, Steven laughing himself. They were darn glad that Bismuth accepted them, and Q silently slithered away. No one even noticed that he was gone until Amethyst looked back and saw three stray feathers left behind where Q was laying. While each one was the essential blue, the tips of each feather were different colors: pink, purple, and brown. Odd, but it was a minor detail.

"Well, peace on Earth. That's great."

"Actually, there's still missions we do handle here. You know, helping Equestria, fighting monsters, that sort of thing," Amethyst said. Bismuth smirked, her hand turning into a hammer.

"Then I got your back."

The four then started to head off home ...

Still, some had seen the whole thing, hidden nearby.

"Did your Future Vision see that?" Flint asked.

"Let's say it did, and move on," replied Garnet.
> Yellow Tale
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A typical day for homeworld's highest authority. Within her own home, Yellow Diamond continued on with her daily occupations, and needs. Far as any real action or points of interest went, it was a bit of lack luster. Nothing out of the ordinary had really happened since that Diamond Dog incident a while ago, and even then it wasn't very much thanks to Celestia and her involvement. Since then though, it was simply business as usual for the Diamond. Still, while things didn't seem out of place, it just seemed ... well ... oddly boring. She, admittedly, had more excitement during the Gem's first initial visits back to Homeworld since the Gem War, but now that they don't come around as much anymore, things just returned to its normal pace. Over in her main room, Yellow Diamond herself went along a regular pastime: going over her screens, and checking in on the planets here and there. It was a basic sort of thing for the diamond to do aside from boss about the residents of her own city. They had plenty of Gem-controlled colonies all over the Milky Way, and it's challenging (if not, boring) to check in on each and every single colony. Nearby her is Yellow Pearl, standing upright, formal, and ready to take in the orders at any given moment. As per usual.

"Another basic day goes by. What happened to that surprise those Crystal Gems brought with them?" YD thought, as she continued looking around through the planets. Eventually though, she did end up clicking on abandoned Gem colony Earth. The screen showed the planet, and some extra information and charts nearby it. As she was looking ...

"Pearl."

Yellow Pearl looked up to Yellow Diamond.

"Yes, my diamond?"

"Did you happen to update the studies on Earth lately?"

"Not that I'm aware of, no," Yellow Pearl replied. Yellow Diamond is aware that the planet Earth had changed quite a bit since they last heard anything about it, especially since Equis connected with Earth over a year ago. Yet, these readings still read it as uninhabited (Gemkind, not altogether), discontinued, and basically not worth their trouble. While Yellow Diamond still thinks it's not worth their trouble to go in and takeover, thanks to the Crystal Gems, yet looking here, it didn't seem to be updated for thousands of years.

"The information on Earth needs to be updated. But, my Peridots all are busy at the moment, so, I'd like you to go down to Earth, and study on the planet for a while. Understand?"

"W-Wha?" Yellow Pearl questioned in surprise. Her? On a study mission? Yellow Diamond looked down with an eyebrow raised, very judgmental, but just sighed, and got up.

"B-But, myself? I-I mean, I'm just a Pearl," Yellow Pearl said meekly. Still, Yellow Diamond ignored her, and got a device after a bit, tossing it to her. The item is actually a Gem limb enhancer, similar to that CG Peridot used, but this one had a Yellow Diamond symbol on it, and when she puts it on, it turned yellow instead of green.

"You can contact me from there if you wish, and add in information as you go. Now, off you go then," Yellow Diamond instructed. Yellow Pearl sighed, and gives Yellow Diamond the Gem salute before going on out. Yellow Diamond sat back down in her seat, looking back over at the other things going on with the other planets. Yellow Pearl just went off and on her way back to Earth ...


~~~~~~


Upon arrival from the Warp Pad, Yellow Pearl stood there for a little bit at first, completely confused, and even a little scared. Beach City had shifted seasons over the time, and now an good bit of snow had covered up the ground all around her. The snow had come about a few days ago, and since the heat didn't melt the snow away, much of the place was now covered in a nice coat of white. Yellow Pearl didn't get off the Warp Pad, and immediately she called in Yellow Diamond. It didn't take long until she got it.

"Pearl, what is it? It hasn't been even five minutes," YD asked.

"My Diamond, the ground is covered in some ... well, that stuff -" she turns the screen so YD could see the snow. "It's everywhere. What do I do?" The screen turned back after she got a look around.

"Pearl, it's just frozen hydrogen and oxygen, I've heard of it before. Walk. Forward."

Yellow Pearl looked simply bewildered, wide-eyed and worried, as she took a decent step forward... and that's it.

"... Try again."

She took another step forward, stopping at the edge of the Warp Pad. YD had a look of utter disbelief.

"TODAY, Pearl!"

"Ok, ok, sorry. Pearl out," Yellow Pearl said hesitantly, turning off the screen fast. Pearl looked out to the land in front of her, and the entire place was completely covered in snow. Yellow Pearl hadn't been on Earth AT ALL before, nevermind during winter, so the Gem was especially hesitant to walk another step. She gulped, and her right foot hovered over the snow. Yellow Pearl stayed in that position for a little bit longer, getting a cold sweat. She just wasn't used to going out on her own. Yellow Pearl gulped again, covering her eyes with her normal hand, as her foot slowly started to lower down to the snow. She acted like someone would testing the water of a pool with the tip of their toe, only she's freaked out about it. Ever so gently, her foot landed gently down into the blanket of snow. Yellow Pearl waited for something to happen, but nothing did aside for a slight chill. She peeked through her fingers, seeing that nothing happened to her. She gently brought her other foot out, and placed it in the snow. It took her a little bit, and she eventually relaxed enough to just walk along in the snow. She got out the screen, and quickly got the information down. It's just the start of things though, so she had to get herself going to get more info on the current stand point of planet Earth.

So, off to the next stop, heading off to Beach City.


~~~~~~


"Target sighted."

"Fire when ready, babe."

A strong throw from Sapphire sent the snowball flying off in the air, rocketing off in an almost straight line, beaning Pinkie right in the face, narrowly missing Rainbow, and sending her rolling head over hooves for a good five feet. Pinkie shook off the hit easy, and was quick in getting back in the game.

It's snowball fight time for Beach City. Here though, it was a bit of a mixture of teams to do this little game: two team split snowball fight. One team had Ruby, Sapphire and Peridot amongst it, though they had an extra player with them at the ready. Pinkie growled like a dog, ready for anything.

"Release the heavy artillery!" Pinkie called, hoof making the signal. Suddenly, Jasper stood up, and the strong Gem had a gigantic snow boulder in her grip, hurling it right to them! That's when their extra player came in for them, standing strong, and using her own strength to destroy the snow Boulder in one magnificent punch.

One team had Jasper, the other had Bismuth.

"OH yeah, that's what I'm talking about! Try and get through me!" Bismuth said in pride. Bismuth scooped up a huge amount of snow, and threw it upward. Bismuth them jumped, her hand turning into a racket, and launching it at the other team. Their other player got up next, but instead of punching it, she sliced it clean in two with a swing of her sword. Stevonnie had come out to play, and she was pumped up (though having winter boots and a winter coat). The extra snow landed at the sides of their fort, and this gave Pinkie and Spike time to add it to their fort.

"Hey! We said no Gem weapon!" Peridot yelled.

"Ah: I didn't use my shield, it still counts," Stevonnie cheekily responded, giving a high-five to Jasper.

"It's true," Sapphire agreed. Peridot grumbled to herself, as she quickly got more snowballs at the ready. She wasn't the only one: Amethyst had turned into an octopus a few minutes ago (her normal head with eight tentacles), and each extra arm gave her more ammo to use at one time. The purple Gem cartwheeled in place, rapid firing the snowballs at them. Stevonnie leaped for cover behind the fort, their enhanced fort taking the brunt of the impact. Surely a heated battle.

All of this commotion did attract one Gem to the fray: hidden out of sight behind a nearby tree, Yellow Pearl had heard the noise from nearby, and decided to come down and investigate. It's part of her job to go in and study on what's going on after all, and that would include what's going on with the local Gems. However, seeing them throwing this white stuff at eachother didn't look too successful for what they're apparently trying to do. It was probably best for her to keep out of the way though, all the same. As Yellow Pearl kept herself out of sight, she brought up her screen, and quietly typed away on it on what she was observing with the Gems and Ponies. She flinched every time she heard a snowball hit anywhere close to her, hoping she wouldn't end up getting struck by one of those snowball weapons. During her watch ...

"Alright, you asked for it!" Rainbow called. She suddenly got high up in the air with some snowballs, and did a super fast aerial attack, raining down on the opposing team. Amethyst, still as an octopus, spun around like a wheel, and whacked the snowballs all over the place. Yellow Pearl peeked out from her tree, just in time to see.

*wham!*

"AH!"

Yellow Pearl stumbled around, snow now covering her face, and the Pearl running around in a panic, normal hand and limb enhancer over her eyes. Of course, the squawking Pearl ended up stumbling over her own feet, landing on her back as her hand quickly brushed off the snow off her face. Her eyes, stuck wide, stared right up to space like she survived her worst nightmare. She laid there for a bit, breathing heavily, as Stevonnie walked over, looking down to Yellow Pearl.

"Yellow Pearl? You okay?" Stevonnie questioned, not expecting her showing up for the life of her. Spike and Rainbow went over as well to check up on her. Yellow Pearl, blushing deep blue, jumped right up to her feet like nothing even happened.

"Who me, I-I'm fine, I don't mind getting assaulted by frozen water spheres," Yellow Pearl said, trying to play it off like it was nothing. However, perhaps a better choice of words would've saved her from another sudden hit by Pinkie's snowball. Yellow Pearl just stood there, unamused, and shook off the snow off her head, as the rest came over.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Yellow D's little partner," Amethyst commented, turning back to normal.

"This is a surprise. How's Yellow Diamond today?" Sapphire asked kindly.

"Eh ... Fine?" Yellow Pearl asked, though her tone was more in confusion on them, more than most. It didn't take very long however, for Bismuth to go right up to her. Yellow Pearl is the closest to the diamonds, and if anyone truly knew the main deal between them and the Crystal Gems, it will be her.

"So, heard Homeworld and the Crystal Gems are buddies now. That right, Pearl?" Bismuth asked.

"Eh, well, they did save Homeworld from the Osicone attack, so they're on better terms with my Diamond," Yellow Pearl admitted. A bit open, but, it's a common fact at this point for the Gems to know, although Yellow Pearl didn't see Bismuth before. Bismuth smirked, and messed up Yellow Pearl's hair, leaving it in a little mess, which she quickly fixed back to normal. As she was, Spike curiously poked her limb enhancer, bringing the attention to Peridot.

"What's this thing? Did you lose your arm or something?" Spike asked, accidentally activating the limb enhancer's flight mode. The fingers spun fast, and Yellow Pearl was suddenly bolting around left and right, out of control! she frantically tried to deactivate it, clicking it like mad to stop it, and it didn't stop until after she slammed into Jasper.

"... Hello, Jasper," Yellow Pearl said, dazed and embarrassed. Yellow Pearl just stepped back, and after that she then noticed the Cutie Mark evident on Jasper's face. Rather than ask about it though, she quickly regained her composure.

"Well, this is a nice chat, but I'm busy at this moment, and I should really get going," Yellow Pearl insisted, checking to see if her Gem was damaged or not. Lucky for her, her Gemstone is alright.

"What'chu up to?" Rainbow asked.

"Not your problem. Now, if you excuse me," Yellow Pearl said, chin up, and walking off to Beach city itself ...

Just to slip on the ground, and falling again.

"Eh, Sapphire? What do you think?" Stevonnie asked.

"We'll check on her later."


~~~~~~


Yellow Pearl, after truly regaining herself, was soon going around Beach City itself. She was just arriving, so she didn't exactly see any humans just yet in her little walk. Just as it was over on the inland hills, the city was covered all over with snow, with the exception of the main roads and a few sidewalks. The rooftops were still plenty covered in snow, but other than that it was much clearer here than over where the other Gems were at. Speaking of which, Yellow Pearl made sure to put her new information right down into her notes: Bismuth, and the Cutie Marks on Peridot and Jasper respectively. It may or may not help in the planet's entire database, but it's still something worth telling Yellow Diamond about. Besides, at least she didn't had to go on and tell her bout the embarrassment she had thanks to Spike's click-happy claws. As for where she was going, it was a casual walk over towards the main seaside boardwalk. Once she got there, the boardwalk presented itself, fairly enough, with its own blanket of snow along the docks and wooden Boardwalk. Unlike the roads, which were cleaned up pretty good, it was more than could be said for the boardwalk. Still, the snow here was patted down by footsteps, so it was a lot more firm than the snow on the hills. And speaking of which, a number of people were also going along the Boardwalk, one of which was heading along, which was Jenny, checking on her phone as she was going. At the same time, Yellow Pearl was checking her data to add to it.

You can guess what happens next.

"OOF!"

One hit, and both were on the ground. As if Yellow Pearl didn't fall enough since showing up. Jenny and Yellow Pearl sat up.

"Oh dang, sorry bout that. Hey, liking the outfit change, Pearl," Jenny complimented, as Yellow Pearl got up to her own feet.

"Yes. So, you a local here, is that right?" Yellow Pearl asked, as Jenny picked up her iPhone.

"Come on, Pearl, we just met up yesterday."

"Eh ... No, we didn't. I was maintaining the Ruby squads under Yellow Diamond command during that time," Yellow Pearl stated. Jenny took an extra moment, realizing that the Pearl she was talking to didn't had the same Gemstone.

"OOOHHH, ok then. You're one of those Homeworld Gem peeps, aren't ya. Well, welcome to Earth."

"Much obliged, human. And I'm a Pearl, not a peep."

Jenny didn't realize Yellow Pearl took that seriously. Still, Jenny just rolled with it, albeit perplexed. Soon, Yellow Pearl got some snow off the ground in her free hand, scooping up a good amount.

"So, exactly what do you humans call this substance?" she quizzed, showing it to Jenny.

"Stuff's called snow."

"Snow ... Is white the only color it is?"

"Better not touch it if it's not," Jenny chuckled. 

"Why?" The Pearl asked. Jenny looked more perplexed this time. So, she went in, and whispered to Yellow Pearl why ... Yellow Pearl dropped the snow on the ground immediately afterwards. It was then she saw Jenny's iPhone.

"And what's that?" She asked, pointing to Jenny's phone.

"This? It's my phone," Jenny said, showing it to Yellow Pearl. The Pearl looked it over, scoping it up and down until she grabbed it, and started fiddling around with it. The screen on Jenny's phone was as easy as the projection screens Homeworld uses, if not just a smaller version.

"A lot like our projection screens. Do all humans use these?"

"Eh, yeah, lots of people use those now a days. You can chat with other people, or check the worldwide web with it."

"Worldwide? Ha! my planet's screens can have access to connections in multiple star systems," Yellow Pearl boasted. Jenny thought for a sec, hand on her hip, and then smirked.

"Impressive. But I can do you one better: Tubetube," Jenny said, clicking the red button with a white arrow on it. Soon, Tubetube was quickly put up, and it didn't take long until a video started to play on the little device, catching Yellow Pearl's attention. The video mainly was about cute animals.

"... Why was this documented?" Yellow Pearl asked, completely confused.

"There's tons of videos on that thing, and you can say your own opinions on it. So long as it's under 150 characters."

"Fair amount of people," noted Yellow Pearl. But, she had her screen, so, she had no use for that phone. Jenny got her phone back from Yellow Pearl fast before it would possibly get broke. Before things could go further, the diamond symbol on Yellow Pearl's limb enhancer started to vibrate and glow a little.

"Excuse me," Yellow Pearl said, walking away for a second. Sure enough, one click on the symbol and the screen popped up to show Yellow Diamond on the line.

"Yes, my Diamond?"

"That information on Earth. Anything worth noting?"

Yellow Pearl straightened, and cleared her throat.

"Well, I did find some facts on the Crystal Gems: they have a new member in their group, a Bismuth. And once more, seems something has changed in their Jasper and Peridot."

"Changed? How so?" Asked the diamond, starting to get interested.

"Well, it appears that they've required uh ... Cutie Marks."

Yellow Diamond raised a eyebrow on that sort of statement.

"Cutie Mark? Like those on the Equestrian Ponies?"

"Apparently so. Only on their faces instead of ... Well, you know."

"I see ... Well then. Anything to report on the planet itself yet?"

"Well ... I did find that the humans refer to this substance as snow now. The Crystal Gems were using this as some sort of weapon earlier," she explained. Yellow Diamond didn't feel as impressed about that.

"Very well. Keep it up. i'm expecting you back by tomorrow," Yellow Diamond advised before the screen cut short. Yellow Pearl turned off her screen, and got her mind more focused on her work, but almost immediately it was cut off when Jenny went up to her.

"So, that your boss?" Jenny asked. Yellow Pearl didn't realize until then that Jenny had watched her, and she saw the screen with Yellow Diamond on it.

"Indeed. The most perfect, flawless being in the whole galaxy," Yellow Pearl praised. For Yellow Pearl, a Gem who's main purpose is to serve the master she's given to, It was hard not to praise her diamond in such a way. Jenny just looked to Yellow Pearl, the Gem having her hands together, and starry eyed.

"You a fan of her, huh?" Jenny joked.

"How could I not be?! Yellow Diamond is the most perfect, most rational, most beau -" Yellow Pearl suddenly snapped out of it. " - Oh what am I doing? We can communicate later, but I have my own priorities to maintain."

Yellow Pearl quickly went off on her way, leaving Jenny on her own. The Gem didn't had time to deal with this too much. While it was interesting to keep going, all of a sudden ...

"HOLD IT!"

"Eek!"

Looks like this Gem had an extra little visitor. This time though, instead of some casual walk by, it was a confrontation. Out of nowhere (from Beach City Fries), Ronaldo suddenly showed up. Yellow Pearl jumped, and backed up on seeing Ronaldo suddenly pop up out of nowhere to see her.

"Extraterrestrial! We mean you no harm! What gave you the reason to come down?!" Ronaldo said, strong and firm.

"... Is he okay?" Yellow Pearl asked.

"That's just Ronaldo, he's fine. (turns to Ronaldo) You can calm down, Ronaldo, she's cool," Jenny said. Ronaldo relaxed a little bit, but he was still psyched about seeing Yellow Pearl, studying her up and down as if studying a sculpture.

"Interesting. No one normal would come out wearing that. Does the cold not affect you in anyway?" Ronaldo questioned, his own iPhone at the ready for some pics to his blog. The winter cold wasn't gonna stop his updates, no way no how. Yellow Pearl looked more perplexed about him than the snow, but still insulted.

"What's wrong with what I look like?! I'm perfectly fine with this planet's current condition, and I'll have you know, Ronaldo, that some would consider my appearance modifiers rather dazzling, thank you very much," Yellow Pearl boasted, strong salt in her voice, and flicking her flairs. And by some, she meant herself. Still, Ronaldo made a quick click for a picture. Ronaldo's attention then went over to Yellow Pearl's limb enhancer. Ronaldo look it over with interest, but Yellow Pearl was quick to pull it away.

"Oh no you don't! I already got a malfunction from your little lizard human creature on the hill, I don't need another incident from you," Yellow Pearl firmly stated.

"A lizard human creature? Where?!" Ronaldo beamed. Guess that information psyched the human observer even more so. Yellow Pearl, not wanting to deal with him anymore, decided to use that.

"Yes, he's off that way. Just outside of your settlement." And with that, Ronaldo was off like a rocket. NO WAY is he gonna miss this! When Ronaldo was far enough away, Yellow Pearl gave a sigh of relief, lucky another incident didn't happen with her helicopter mode again like earlier. Plus, it can get back at Spike for doing that in the first place if Ronaldo does find him. Jenny then gave Yellow Pearl a good elbow nudge to her side.

"Nice thinking. That should keep him busy," Jenny said.

"Better off bugging another Gem," Yellow Pearl agreed. Yellow Pearl then walked off on her way, with Jenny walking alongside. Jenny had the day off anyway, so she was free to do whatever today. Yellow Pearl added her encounter into her notes. Jenny didn't exactly bug Yellow Pearl as she was writing things down.

"So, what exactly are you up to, anyway?" Asked Jenny, soon as Yellow Pearl was finished.

"If you must know, I was sent on a highly important study mission by my own Diamond herself. Can't imagine why."

"How come?"

"This is a Peridot's job, not a Pearl like me. I belong with my Diamond, not on this rock," Yellow Pearl said.

"So what's your Pearl job, then?"

Before Yellow Pearl could answer, the two had just passed a garbage can, when they both head something begin to stir from inside it. Looking back, the lid suddenly lifted up, just to show someone inside. It appeared to be a fair-skinned boy, with a small tuft of blond hair on top of his head, and a chubby face. Far as clothes go, he had a white sweater on, but also a deep periwinkle shirt tied around his neck, and pale red footie pants. Strange as well, that the kid's head was slightly shaped like some sort of vegetable. The kid poked his head out, throwing off the garbage lid, and hopped out of the garbage can.

"Oh. Uh ... Greetings there," Yellow Pearl said. However, the kid didn't say a word, his eyes locked on Yellow Pearl's limb enhancer. Jenny and Yellow Pearl looked to eachother for a quick moment ...

"O ... K. Pearl, this is Onion; my friend's little bro," Jenny introduced, though it didn't help the awkwardness of the situation. Onion just stood there for a minute, expression unchanged on his face. No, it didn't make things any better. Eventually, Onion then pointed to the limb enhancer.

"Uh ... That's a limb enhancer, yes ... You want to ... What? To see it?"

Onion nodded his head, not moving his finger away. Yellow Pearl was a bit naive to the kid, unlike Jenny, so the Pearl didn't see it too wrong. Still confused, Yellow Pearl actually removed the limb enhancer from her arm, but Jenny got her hand on Yellow Pearl's shoulder to stop her.

"Eh, I wouldn't do that girl," Jenny advised.

"What for?" Yellow Pearl asked, Onion soon holding the limb enhancer in his grubby mitts. Onion looked it over curiously, turning it around here and there to give it a full look over. Jenny sighed through gritted teeth, seeing the mistake until Yellow Pearl. As for Onion, he stayed quiet to look the thing over. The kid got a full picture on what he had in his hands, and he did what any kid like him would do ...

He gripped it, and ran off.

"HEY!! GET BACK HERE, YOU PEBBLE!!" Yellow Pearl shrieked, running right after him.

Here we go.


~~~~~~


Racing through the snow, Onion wasted no time as he rushed off with his prize. He didn't know what it did, but he didn't care: it's his! Yellow Pearl was right on his heels, but for a little tyke, he moved very fast, and he wasn't gonna slow down anytime soon. Soon, Onion ended up at his house, and with Yellow Pearl right on his tail, he raced right on inside, and locked the front door behind him. Yellow Pearl slammed right into it, falling back into some nearby bushes.

Not a good showing.

Yellow Pearl got out, shook off the leaves, and tried the door, only to find the door locked from inside. Yellow Pearl tried to calm down to think straight, and started off a little more casually: knocking on the door ...

Nothing.

She kept knocking.

Still nothing.

She banged the door like she had a horde of zombies chasing her.

No-thang.

"Open up, you little dirt bomb! That's Diamond property!" Yellow Pearl screamed, but her calls went unanswered. Now what is she to do? Her information is still on that thing, and it belonged directly to Yellow Diamond herself! If Yellow Diamond found this out, she'll be dead meat. She pulled on it over and over again, even getting her foot on the door, but getting nowhere with it. She struggled more and more, only shooting back and landing on the sidewalk when her fingers slipped. Yellow Pearl charged the door, but that obviously didn't work. As she tried to think, she soon saw the front window, and wasted no time to look inside. As for what she saw, she didn't see Onion, or her limb enhancer anywhere. But she did see Sour Cream inside, with some hot chocolate on the table, and with headphones over his ears. Yellow Pearl tried pretty much anything to get Sour Cream's attention (banging on the window, and screaming being the superior options), but Sour Cream didn't hear anything.

So much for that.

Yellow Pearl went around for a bit more, trying to find someway inside the house from outside, but it seemed that the house is locked up tight. Eventually, she looked up to a second-story window, and only then did she finally see Onion's window open. What luck! Being a Gem did give her some advantages, and that included some extra abilities under her belt. In this case, a good jump just got her hands gripping the window sill. It took a bit of handling, but she just got her head and shoulders into view, when Onion went over to the window himself to see her. Yellow Pearl smiled pretty deviously, as if she had won ...

"I know you heard me. now give me back that enhancer or *bam* ow *bam**bam* what the - *whack* AAHH!"

Don't mess with an Onion that has a broom. Few good sweeps from that, and Yellow Pearl lost her footing, and grip trying to swat the broom away, and soon she fell right back onto the ground. After a few sweeps to clean his window of the annoying bird, Onion closed his window up. Yellow Pearl was on her back, ticked off as ever, when she heard someone come over.

"Girl, you ok? Saw you fall from Onion's window," Jenny asked, a little worried. However, Yellow Pearl was more angry than hurt, and she jumped right up to her feet, fist in the air as a threat to the brat.

"COME OUT HERE, YOU LUMP OF STAR DUST!!" Yellow Pearl squawked. Of course, Onion paid her no mind.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA, easy Pearl, easy," Jenny said, trying to calm the angry Gem. Yellow Pearl clenched her fists, which were actually shaking, as she gritted her teeth. Jenny kept a firm grip so Yellow Pearl couldn't try to crush the house, or anything crazy. Yellow Pearl did eventually relax, if only enough for common sense to get back to her.

"I tried to warn you earlier. Best you give it up, maybe you can fetch yourself another one of those -"

"You don't understand! That's given to me by Yellow Diamond herself. A DIAMOND! If she found out one of her items was stolen *gulp* She'd have my gemstone for all of existence, she'd shatter me on sight, or worse ... creature. maintenance."

That final part made her extremely scared, and it was Yellow Pearl who grabbed Jenny by the shoulders in her panic.

"I MUST HAVE THAT BACK!"

never before had Jenny looked more scared over anyone in her life.

"... I'm deeply concerned on a number of levels."

In his room, Onion was sitting down and checking over his latest little treasure among other things. Onion's room is on the second floor, obviously. To the right of the doorway sits various items including stuffed animals, sewing supplies, and a beach ball. To the left of the door was a dresser and shopping cart. The opposite of the doorway is a bed covered in red blankets at the right corner with a trampoline and nightstand next to it. In the left corner, there is a dresser with a snake habitat on it. Next to that is Onion's television, several open books, and a briefcase full of money. So yeah, swiping away Yellow Pearl's little Limb Enhancer wasn't the first raid he'd pulled off as of late (especially concerning the money in the briefcase). Onion himself didn't say a word, and he didn't had very much else to do. After all, he already fed his pet snake, who was sleeping and digesting its meal in the glass cage. Onion still didn't had much thought on how the blasted thing exactly worked all things considered, but it still appeared interesting all the same. however, things were about to go for an odd turn ...

It began to vibrate, and the Diamond symbol on it started to glow.

Onion, casually, clicked on the symbol, and surely enough, guess who called?

"Pearl? I've sensed some trouble from there on Earth. Do you wish to -"

Yellow Diamond stopped herself when she actually saw what actually answered for Yellow Pearl. Onion was intrigued, but as usual, he stayed quiet himself, letting the awkwardness flood in.

"Oh. What do you think you're doing calling the Diamond Authority?" Yellow diamond asked firmly. However, Onion didn't answer, and simply stared at the diamond, unfazed apparently by the sudden caller.

"I asked you a question," Yellow Diamond stated, getting a little bugged. Still, Onion stayed quiet. Yellow Diamond herself was getting a bit impatient with Onion, and even worse - Onion seemed to know that.

"Little human. Answer me when I'm talking to you!" Yellow Diamond bellowed, getting very angry with him. Instead, Onion got out an iPhone, and took a quick picture of Yellow Diamond's angry scowl. No that didn't help the situation, but it did give Onion a background to use for the phone. Yellow Diamond lost her patience, and if Onion wasn't going to speak, why bother with him? The connection was cut off right away. Onion, satisfied for now, opened up the window just in time to hear ...

"OPEN UP YOU CLOD!"

Yeah, Yellow Pearl was trying still to get inside, but Onion was satisfied anyway. And since she wasn't that far from beneath him ...

"If I have to say it a fifth time -" *BAM*

"Pearl!"

She got it alright. Right on her head. And one other thing was thrown down, Jenny catching it ...

"What'd he put for my background picture?"


~~~~~~


Even for a Gem, which is normally tolerable to plenty of pain, the hit left a good bump on Yellow Pearl's head, where the limb enhancer struck her. At least Onion didn't screw up any data on her enhancer for Yellow Diamond. Jenny was glad nothing was messed up too much with her iPhone either aside from just the background. Yellow Pearl kept on rubbing her head of the odd lump, as she and Jenny went along their way down the sidewalk for a while longer. Yellow Pearl only hoped that she didn't had an audience watching her throughout that stupid scenario.

"Stupid little human," Yellow Pearl groaned.

"That's just Onion. Hard to tell with that kid," Jenny replied.

"Well I hoped I don't see any other ... Onions," Yellow Pearl stated. She wasn't sure how human Onion actually was, now she thought about it a little bit. After all, Onion didn't seem to have any ears like normal people. Maybe that's why he couldn't talk: can't reply to what you can't hear, right?

"Don't take on him too hard, Pearl, he's stuck alone most of the time."

"How do you know?"

"My closest friend is his older brother. Er, half-brother. But anyway, Onion's just needs to figure things out," Jenny explained. She might as well tell her that to get her thinking more clearly, but Yellow Pearl rolled her eyes on that information.

"Just keep that thing away from me," Yellow Pearl made perfectly clear. She didn't want anything else of Yellow Diamond being taken away and messed with. If she saw him again, it'll be too soon. The Pearl and Jenny continued going along for a while longer until ...

"Hey there."

Yellow Pearl stopped on the voice, along with Jenny, yet, Yellow Pearl was a bit more jumpy on it than Jenny was. Upon turning the corner, as it turned out, their extra guest this time was Buck, casually resting by a street light post as if expecting them to come about. Either that, or to look cool.

"Oh, sup Buck," Jenny said.

"Hi. Got your stuff back from Onion?"  Buck asked.

"How'd you know?" Yellow Pearl asked.

"I heard a Pearl squawking."

Yellow Pearl looked bemused as ever. However, the human did look oddly familiar to Yellow Pearl in some way. Buck kept his cool, as per usual, as he stood up straight, seeing the bump on Yellow Pearl's head. However, Yellow Pearl was just getting a little more curious over Buck. She peered very closely, and suspiciously, into Buck's shades.

"Ah, Garnet, ok. Look, perhaps you can lend me a hand with that -"

"Uh, Pearl? That's Buck," Jenny corrected. However, Yellow Pearl wasn't buying it.

"Oh, please, I know a fusion when I see one, she even has her signature vision sphere covers, same shape even. Now, as I was saying -" Yellow Pearl was cut off when Buck moved up his shades for a bit, showing his real eyes to her. The eyes themselves didn't match Sapphire or Ruby like Garnet actually did, and once more, there was only two, where as Garnet has three. Plus, his eyes were just plain brown, and not the multi-colored Garnet eyes.

"Guilty is charged," Yellow Pearl just said, bemused again, and finger pointed up as if aiming for some cloud in the sky. She can make a mistake once, can't she?

"You're new around here?"

"You can describe the situation as that, if you want to," Yellow Pearl said simply, trying to look more formal and professional again.

"Cool. Enjoying your visit?" Asked Buck. Yellow Pearl didn't even answer it with a response.

"I don't belong here. I belong with my Diamond," Yellow Pearl growled, hand over her face.

"Diamond, Pearl?"

"Yes! My Diamond is the most perfect, flawless, rational being in the whole galaxy," Yellow Pearl said, bragging again. Buck just allowed her to run her mouth about Yellow Diamond, though he knew well that no living animal can actually be completely flawless.

"She's been going on about her for a while," Jenny whispered to Buck. Buck simply nodded.

"She put you here, then," Buck assumed.

"Well, yes she did. On a Peridot mission to study your planet," Yellow Pearl answered, a screen popping up from her limb enhancer. Then Buck got an idea.

"Hey. I got just the thing for you."

.......

"How do you work these things?"

Library, and a rather good day for it. What better spot to learn up a thing or two about Earth than at the library? There were all sort of books all over the shelves, and many of them categorized by genre. Buck brought Yellow Pearl right over to the history and geography section, and got a number of books that should help her, but there was one problem ...

Yellow Pearl can't do book.

She kept sliding, tapping, and poking at the cover of the book in front of her, which was about the habitats of Asia, but nothing happened. Jenny and Buck handle it fine, but Yellow Pearl just didn't make the connection. Buck got a casual book himself, opening it up accordingly, but Yellow Pearl tried to keep her pride up and didn't ask. Jenny though was more forward about the subject than Yellow Pearl.

"You really can't open a book?" Jenny asked in disbelief. She knew Yellow Pearl was new to this, but, really?

"The screen doesn't move, or react, or anything," Yellow Pearl complained.

"Eh ... That's not a screen."

"No wonder then." Yellow Pearl tossed it over her shoulder, elbow on the table and head on her hand. Buck quickly grabbed the book before it could be wrecked. Rather than tell her, Buck opened up the book in front of Pearl, starting with the front page. Yellow Pearl took a moment, and worked around the first page before she finally got the real idea behind it. Buck simply gave a thumbs up to her, and Yellow Pearl went on reading ...

Yellow Pearl had hit the jackpot!


~~~~~~


Back at Homeworld, Yellow Diamond was still bored out of her mind back in her palace. It had been rather quiet since she heard anything from Yellow Pearl, but that was come to expect. Still, it was especially quiet around her palace, now that Yellow Pearl had gone. Yellow Diamond had already checked on her planet, thrice in fact, and they were all alright for the most part. Even so, Yellow Diamond, to put it simply, had nothing to handle. She wasn't even sure if Yellow Pearl was even handling her job or not, concerning the last attempt to contact her, only to have Onion answer. Far as she knew, Onion probably still had the limb enhancer, so the study was a bust. Eventually, she decided to try and contact Blue Diamond for a little bit, gives her something to do. Soon, the diamond got a connection with her.

"Oh. Hello Yellow Diamond. How are you?" Blue Diamond asked. Since no one was around, Yellow Diamond was more free to act less formal, so ...

"Boring."

"Boring? How so?"

"I got nothing to handle for one thing: all colonies seem fine, all my Peridots are busy, Yellow Pearl took off, the Crystal Gems hadn't visited in weeks. What wouldn't I give for something interesting to happen around here?" Yellow Diamond explained, almost close to complaining. Blue Diamond couldn't help but smile.

"I see. You actually miss the Crystal Gems then?"

Yellow Diamond blushed.

"I never said that! They just bring some spontaneous activity with them, that's all," Yellow Diamond insisted.

"So you'd rather have them here to make your life more exciting in that case. You do miss them."

"Shut up! No I don't, Blue. It's just convenient."

Blue Diamond made a close-mouthed chuckle, as Yellow Diamond tried to be firm. Keyword: try.

"If you say so, Goldie," Blue Diamond replied. Goldie. Thank the stars no one else was here to hear that, as Blue Diamond removed connection. Such a riveting conversation honestly didn't last too long, and it didn't seem to help her out. The bored Diamond removed the communication screen from her face, when ...

"My diamond?~"

Strange tune. Yellow Diamond looked ahead, and she soon saw Yellow Pearl there. Her Pearl looked surprisingly satisfied, with a big confident smile on her face, and her limb enhancer still with her. Yellow Diamond was a little off guard when she saw her Pearl return.

"Pearl? Why're you back so soon? If calculations are right, then it's only been one earth day," she asked. Yellow Pearl smiled wide.

"Mission accomplished!" She announced. Yellow Diamond was about to share her doubts, but Yellow Pearl opened up her screen to share what she uncovered. Turned out, there was simply TONS that she had gathered in such a short period of time. Yellow Diamond didn't know what to say. Usually it would take at least a week to get a significant amount of planetary info, but this was done just overnight?

"... Well. Thank you, Pearl. You did well," Yellow Diamond said, as she transferred the information to the current studies of Earth. Yellow Pearl happily stood by Yellow Diamond side, as she wanted to, feeling very good with herself. Did Yellow Diamond just get shown up by a Pearl? Yellow Diamond was alright, but one thought did come to her head.

"... I need to get out more."
> Stairway to Stardom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With wheels spinning strong, and plenty of steam, the train roared down the train tracks towards its next destination. The new snowfall had did quite a good number amongst the lands of Equestria, many of the land around the tracks. A nice blanket of snow, far more storybook than Beach City in appearance with sparkly white snow. The train, which had a snow plow in front of it, had no such problem going through the thick snow, and it was making express time. Within one of the cars, the Mane Six and some of the Crystal Gems were waiting excitedly for their destination. Apart from the Mane Six themselves, there is also Steven, Garnet, Peridot, Pearl, Lapis, Amethyst, Jasper and Bismuth. For the time being, things were toned down, and everyone was passing time in their own way; be it either looking out the window at the land passing by, or chatting with eachother, or both.

"What a lovely setting we have here. your flying squad really outdone yourselves this year, Rainbow," Rarity praised, as she marveled at the beautiful snow. The unicorn was wearing a rather festive hat, which itself looked like a little decorated pine tree.

"Eh, it's nothing. Just doing our job for winter time. Though, I suggested for the northern snow this year," Rainbow said, waving her hoof, yet had her ego come around at the end of it. Course, the snow looked the same, but arctic snow was specially thick, yet soft - perfect for a true winter wonderland setting like this one. Rarity wasn't the only one admiring the winter sights around the place. Steven practically had his face pancaked on the window to see the beautiful sights go by him.

"Wow. The snow just keeps falling, and falling," Steven said, still seeing plenty of white snowflakes falling down outside.

Bismuth, who Steven was sitting right next to, peeked on outside herself. She playfully picked up Steven, the human giggling, and placed him on her lap. Pearl, who sat down behind Bismuth and Steven, turned over to them.

"You haven't seen nothing; try being around back in that Ice Age winter. Remember that, Pearl?" Bismuth asked.

"Hard to forget when we found our mammoth herd."

Steven's eyes sparkled.

"You guys seen REAL mammoths?!"

"That's right. There we were, out on a scouting mission for rose in the icy north, and we find this huge herd of mammoths just stomping right to us. These big, hairy animals like organic Quartz soldiers, marching on through the open plains like it was nothing."

"I wish I could meet an actual mammoth. Are they as friendly and as wise as modern elephants?" Fluttershy asked.

"They were friendly at first, but then someone decided to show off her muscle by juggling a calf," Pearl said, smirking. Bismuth just laughed, remembering fondly about the little trick. The others were enjoying her company pretty well, but the only one who wasn't bothering with her was Lapis, who sat the furthest away. She had a bit of mixed feelings about Bismuth still, and even if she promised to give her a chance for Garnet's sake, she just couldn't bring herself to join in just yet. She could hear them laugh with her, and then someone sat down with her, Lapis keeping her view to out the window.

"Hey, Lapis, sure you don't wanna join us? Bismuth's got some funny stories to tell," Applejack offered. Lapis felt herself sigh from that, her head pressing against the glass of the window. However, she turned and smiled to AJ.

"It's alright, thank you," Lapis said. AJ didn't seem to suspect anything from her, so she went over back to Bismuth. Lapis's smile went away after that as she looked back outside. At least the view was nice to see ...

"LOOKIELOOKIELOOKIE, THERE IT IS!!" Pinkie suddenly screamed, startling Lapis to no end, as the hyperactive pink mare opened up the window, and pointed out with her hoof. The others were quick to see what she was talking about.

"HOOO-WEE! Canterlot, here we come!"


~~~~~~


It didn't take them much longer until the train slowed to a halt over in the train station. Much like Beach city, Canterlot was also covered up in a large cover of snow, the main streets and sidewalks cleaned up of snow for easy walking amongst the higher class ponies around Canterlot castle. One key feature of the place was the decorations: Christmas reefs, red ribbons, and Christmas bells strung up along the buildings, decorated pine trees lined up down the road, colorful Christmas lights above the shop windows, even a few unique Equestrian features such as giant candy canes, and snowponies (snow men but for ponies). Snow was the main thing on Canterlot though, and there was no shortage of snow that has come down onto Canterlot practically all over the place, now in piles around the place for young fillies and colts to play around with. Even if it was supposed to be clear, it still added some special sort of detail to the Hearth warming time.

"WHOA, Canterlot looks amazing," Steven said.

"Yep, wish it was Hearth's Warming Eve every day," Rainbow agreed.

"This one of Equestria's fancy rituals, Twilight? Did a number on the city," Bismuth asked, taking a gander around at the decorations.

"We call it holidays, but yeah it is. I'm so excited too: Celestia asked us to help out with the most important play of the season," Applejack said.

"What's that?" Steven asked.

"We'll keep it a surprise for later," Twilight said, giving Steven a wink.

"We even got you all some excellent seats," Rarity revealed as well, showing them some tickets for some good seats.

"Thank you," Garnet said. A nice offer to them by Rarity, surely. Over in the back of the group, Lapis remained quieter than normal. The place was nice, and the tickets were a nice present, but she still felt just a little bit uneasy thanks to Bismuth still around the place. She was simply beside herself right now, and she was hoping -

"Yo, Lapis!"

Nevermind. Lapis stopped on her name being called, and looked forward seeing Amethyst turning back to her. Bismuth saw the down Gem after a while, alongside Steven, and Amethyst. The others continued going off ahead for a little bit, and exploring the town of it's festive traditions.

"Oh, hey Steven. Amethyst. Enjoying Hearth's Warming?" Lapis asked.

"Yeah, yeah, but what about you? Everything okay?" Steven asked. Lapis Lazuli turned away ...

"Does this have anything to do with ... you know who?" Amethyst then asked, pointing towards Bismuth. Lapis followed her finger to the Gem in question, who was actually helping out a pony with some extra decorations involving some ribbon streaming. Lapis looked down to Amethyst and Steven, looking less friendly.

"Why do you trust her?"

This was unexpected, but coming out of the right person, they would suppose. Outta the whole group there (except Garnet, and possibly the rainbow Gem in question), Amethyst and Steven were the only ones who knew about Lapis's involvement with Bismuth.

"Because we gotten to know Bismuth, like we did with you," Amethyst answered.

"You've known me for over a year now, and you only known Bismuth for a week and a half."

"So?"

"Come on, Lapis, you're not even giving her a chance. She's good once you get to know her, I promise," Steven said.

"Didn't she try to kill you on the second day, Steven?" Lapis questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Well, yeah, but you guys make me do things that nearly kill me all the time."

"It's true," agreed Amethyst. Lapis ended up flustered.

"W-Well, not for the purpose of killing you. *hand to face* UGH, guys, I don't know how you got to trust her so fast, but it's gonna need more than (quotes with her fingers)"Original Crystal Gem" to make me change my mind, ok?" Lapis asked, trying to be calm in the situation. She didn't want to lose it in front of her friends at any point. Before they could go any further.

"Hey, Steven! Think you can give a Gem a helping hand here?" Bismuth called, trying to reach across the road with the road with the red ribbon. Steven could see that the large Gem was having some trouble keeping the stuff of the street, so he had to go and help out.

"At least try to talk to her about it," Steven whispered to her, just before going, alongside Amethyst. Lapis watched as Amethyst and Steven aided Bismuth with the ribbon, and seeing them having some fun with it too. Lapis though, was just not understanding it. She could understand trusting the Ponies, and the other Gems, she even got how they could trust Jasper - a Gem who'd wanted them all dead on day one. But there was one key difference between them and Bismuth ...

They never met her before the mirror.


~~~~~~


After a while, the Mane Six eventually arrived from the streets, and over to the theatre. As with everywhere else in Canterlot, the theatre was as festive as ever. All along the walls were lines of streamers, reefs, bows, and bells. The stage itself looked very well done in of itself; large floor, wide walls, and a lovely red velvet curtain. A reef and bells hung from each top corner, with color lights streamed along the top. Between the curtains, one familiar Pegasus pony (Derpy as a matter of fact) poked her head out to see the crowds. By the looks of things, it was a real packed house this time: ponies lined up filling their seats from the front to back. Derpy looked up and down the crowds, and soon spotted some Gems as well. Admittedly though, while the front row seats were nice, the fact is that some Gems couldn't sit there: too big. Peridot, Amethyst and Steven were completely okay, and Pearl and Lapis were just short enough to not be of any trouble (though still taller than an average pony), but Garnet, Bismuth, and Jasper had to improvise. Garnet unfused, and Ruby and Sapphire had their seats to where Bismuth and Jasper would sit, and the two larger Gems simply stood to the side. Good enough view without getting in the way. Derpy and Peridot saw eachother for just a short moment, and they both waved to eachother just before Derpy went off backstage.

"Guys, this is something we should do back at the temple," Steven suggested at one point to the others.

"Eh, no. We can't make this "theatre" in the confines of the temple," Peridot noted, only having Steven giggle at that.

"No, no, I mean our own Hearth's Warming."

"Our own Hearth's Warming?" Peridot questioned. Steven nodded.

"Another fun tradition? I'm game for it," bismuth said, quietly yet bombastically. Sapphire smiled.

"Sounds like fun," Sapphire replied. Next to her was Lapis, who also agreed with the idea, but didn't say anything. Sapphire took simply one look to see a slight problem with her, but she planned it ahead for later. Why wouldn't she?

Meanwhile, backstage, the other members were getting themselves ready for the play to start. Maintenance workers cleaned up the stage, while the actors went over their lines and got their costumes. As per expected, the Mane Six had key roles in the play (obviously). At this point, it was mainly make-up time, and making up time to get their costumes together. Not too hard to get themselves ready, as Rarity helped with some makeup touches, such as adding some blush to Twilight's face.

"Oh, you just look so dazzling, Twilight," Rarity complimented, adding a few tweaks to the outfit she was wearing.

"Thank you, we all do. Let's do our best like last time," Twilight said.

"Eh, not to damper the mood, but, y'all gotta do somethin bout those wings," Applejack pointed out. Last time they did this, Twilight didn't had wings, and looking at the outfit, it kinda bulged a little bit to the sides thanks to Twilight's tucked in wings.

"Oh, you're right: Clover the Clever didn't had wings, did she?" Twilight sighed.

"I got it," Rainbow quickly said. She flew off fast, and soon got some rope. In a few quick (and otherwise cartoony) spins, Twilight had her wings tied down, the bulge not as noticeable as before. A little tight, but Twilight felt alright with it.

"Thanks," Twilight said. Rainbow nodded and smiled. However (like last time), Fluttershy still felt a little unsure if she wanted to get herself out there just yet. Not as bad as before, but still there.

"Oh, I don't know about this," Fluttershy said, as Rarity was helping with her mascara.

"Don't be so worried, darling. You went through the last play with flying colors, and you'll go through the play just as well now," Rarity encouraged. Fluttershy, despite the friendly gesture, still felt slightly uneasy, so Twilight decided that a little trick is in order.

"Hey, Fluttershy, come here for a second," Twilight said. The yellow Pegasus went over to her for the moment. Soon, Twilight sat down beside her, and she soon brought a hoof to her own chest. Fluttershy, understanding the idea, did the same. Twilight when gave a good breath, moving her hoof out in front of her, and Fluttershy soon did the same. A little trick Twilight learning from her sister-in-law. Fluttershy felt a little bit better when ...

*bang*

An accidental hit by Derpy's wing knocking over a costume rack got the Mane Six's attention. Derpy blushed a little bit, but she cleared her throat.

"Sorry. Uh, curtain in five minutes," Derpy said.

"thank you, Derpy, we're almost ready," Fluttershy said, as Derpy went off to tell the other actors. Everypony had to be ready by curtain time, especially for this big play.


~~~~~~


For the minutes that ticked on, the crowd within the theater began to hush a bit. Each minute that ticked by in those last five minutes made everypony quieter more and more for the play to begin without much trouble. The Gems too started to quiet down after a bit. Soon, and without a minute to spare, the lights dimmed, and the spotlight went up for the play's narrator to step out to begin the story. Turns out, in a sort of poet-like outfit, the narrator for this story was actually Spike. He knew exactly what to say, and the lines he's supposed to (it also helps that he was the only actor actually allowed to hold the script in his claws for authenticity). The first set showed him by a fake fireplace, and a large couch - a typical storytelling scenario. Spike cleared his throat.

"Jamie would love this sort of thing," Lapis quietly commented, just before Spike started.

"Once upon a time," Spike began, his voice in the faux British, "long before the peaceful rule of Celestia, and before ponies discovered our beautiful land of Equestria, ponies did not know harmony. It was a strange and dark time. A time when ponies were torn apart... by hatred!" 

There was a gasp from the crowd of ponies.

"I know. Can you believe it?" spike quietly asked, this time normal before switching back to the British narrator. Quickly, the stage was switched, as Spike walked out during his first half, changing from a fireplace setting, to a background of farmland.

"During this frightful age, each of the three tribes – the Pegasi, the unicorns, and the Earth ponies – cared not for what befell the other tribes, but only for their own welfare. In those troubled times, as now, the Pegasi were the stewards of the weather. But they demanded something in return. Food that could only be grown by the Earth ponies. The unicorns demanded the same, in return for magically bringing forth day and night."

As Spike was speaking, the other actors went out on stage. Nine actors came out - three unicorn, three Pegasus, and three earth pony - all dressed as olde commoners. As Spike explained, the Earth ponies gave over food to the Pegasus and the unicorns. The crowds whispered to one another during this, and the Gems did a little as well. They didn't had any idea - for the most part - that ponies would resort to such things. Then again, it did make some form of sense for who wanted what, and who needed what.

"And so," Spike continued, "mistrust between the tribes festered, until one fateful day, it came to a boil. And what prompted the ponies to clash? 'Twas a mysterious blizzard that overtook the land, and toppled the tribes' precarious peace." 

The play continued on from there with how much was going on, though Steven and his imagination got a much clearer picture from the story being told ...

~~~~~~~

The normally indigenous Earth Ponies could no longer farm the land. They were freezing.

A small, horridly frozen farm laid in wastes in the deadly everstorm. Crops were nothing but dried up weeds laid to waste in the frozen earth, and whatever the farmer tried to do, they had literally nothing to go on, or nothing to gain. The ground underhoof was no longer the fertile land it once was, but instead nothing but dust. A sad sight was easily evident on the farmer's faces.

The Pegesi fared no better. They were hungry.

Miles off, in the historical skies of Cloudsdale, the Homeworld Gems (In Steven's head, resembling Lapis Lazulis or Peridots to some extent) were becoming more and more desperate for food. Tired, and starving, one guard even tried to gnaw on his own helmet for some form of nutrition. All that did was made his teeth sore, and left his stomach growling.

Even the Unicorns and their magic cannot stop the storm. They were freezing and hungry.

In another settlement, the Earthbound Crystal Gems there tried in vain to at least slow down the horrifying blizzard, using their magic to baracade the door within one of the huts to keep the heat in. One strong blow was enough to break the door open, and the cold air froze the ponies down to their hooves. In times such as these, nature outmastered magic.

Each tribe blamed the others for their suffering, and the angrier everypony grew, the worse the blizzard became. And so it was decided that a grand summit would be held to figure out a way to cope with the blizzard.

The place everyone went off to a large temple, in this case resembling the far better looking Crystal Gem temple. aka, one that didn't look worn away by time and had all its pieces together. Various humans, Crystal Gems, and Homeworld Gems arrived to the location in mind as the horrifying winds blasted them all down.

Each tribe sent their leaders: Daughter of the unicorn king, Princess Platinum. Ruler of the Pegasi, Commander Hurricane. And lastly, leader of the Earth ponies, Chancellor Puddinghead.

With each one that entered, fanfare rang out on their arrive. While the imagination had no Ponies in mind, the overall idea was still there. For Princess Platinum, it appeared exactly like Pearl, but instead of her usual attire, the colors were instead purple, and a lot more regal. Amongst this, included a number of purple Gemstone diamonds that laced her neck, and crown on her head. The collar was lined with white fur, and the rims of the dress a similar manor, striped with snow white, and lavender up to her chest region, which was a deep violet color. Her hands had a pure white set of lovely gloves, similar to those of Sapphire's own choice of appearance.

As for Commander Hurricane, it appeared exactly like Lapis (his mind didn't choose the obvious leaders for homeworld this time). As with Pearl, the design choice was not entirely the same thing: instead of the regal princess look, she instead had the attire for a royal guard: more like Flint's armor than Lapis's dress. The armor on her body had a dark silver shing to it, and the helmet wasn't on her head, letting her blue hair free. She still had a Blue Diamond symbol edged in her chest, so that was a given. While still the main leader, she didn't look as regal as Pearl did.

And for Chancellor Puddinghead, it was chosen to actually be Ronaldo. Imagination can work in weird ways. For him, Jamie looked less like himself, as same with Pearl and Lapis, though his design instead had a more of a eurpoean royalty sort of look: a white flair around his neck, a yellow short, and some poofed-out brown pants, giving him the appearance of his name sake as the puddinghead he was. He looked regal, but not entirely "king" regal, and more "higher-class" regal.

The three leaders went over quietly, and regally, over to the main table at the center of the room.

Perhaps the three tribes could finally settle their differences, and agree on a way to get through this disaster ...

Some chance. Just seconds after each person was standing at the table, immediately they began arguing to one another. At first it sounded a bit nonsensical, since they all were yelling at once, but eventually it can be understood, with Pearl talking first.

"What I'd like to figure out is why you humans are keeping all the earthly goods to yourselves," Lapis began.

"Keeping food to ourselves?! We all know it's because of you Homeworld Gems controlling our weather with your freaky technology!" Retorted Ronaldo, slamming his fist onto the table. Lapis felt deeply insulted, and even Pearl was a little bit.

"I've been telling you hundreds of times: homeworld would not waste time to control your planet's weather! It's those Crystal Gem traitors who're to blame," Lapis accused, a finger aimed directly at Pearl's face. Pearl, feeling more insulted, swat her hand away.

"How dare you! Our free, more caring dearest Crystal Gems wouldn't even dare to put the lives of Earth at risk unlike SOME creatures," Pearl protested.

"Less you Gems turn everything back to normal, then I'm out of ideas," Ronaldo groaned.

"What a shock: a human without ideas," Pearl said in a salty tone.

"Princess Pearl, cease your horrid insults at once," Lapis demanded.

"I'm the Crystal Gem: You can't tell me what to do, you royal clod!"

Lapis gasped in shock.

"Excuse me?! Well, in that case, there's no point in staying, is there?!"

With that final remark, the trio then left. The problem unresolved, and the storm still raging on from outside.


~~~~~~


So the summit of the tribes did not turn out as well as hoped, and the three leaders returned home to lick their wounds ... and basically complain.

Still fuming from the incident, Commander Lapis arrived back first to cloudsdale, wings beating behind her as she landed down over by the main palace (which looked similar to Blue Diamond's palace on Homeworld). When Lapis landed, she soon went over to a Peridot. Unlike those on Homeworld, this one was small, like that of the Crystal Gem Peridot. In the play, Peridot would be Lapis's helper, named Private Pansy. Just as well, she had a similar armor outfit on her.

"Atten-tion!" Lapis ordered, the Peridot standing firm and at attention, doing the Diamond signature symbol with her hands.

"Welcome back, commander Lazuli. How'd it go?" Peridot asked. Peridot clammed up on seeing Lapis's scolding expression.

"Those others are impossible to reason with! The Weather Authority agrees to keep stable for those commoners, and those Earth-bound creatures blame us for the storm, I ask you! We have to stop bothering our time with those excuses!"

.......

At the same time, over back in their temple, Princess Lapis was resting over in the queen's chambers, feeling the cold shiver from outside still lace her skin, giving Lapis a shiver. She took a seat at her throne, stressed out as anything. Soon, she started to snap her fingers.

"Connie! I need you!"

An odd choice for a Crystal Gem, but imagination knows no boundaries. In this sort of idea, Connie had a outfit made up of brown rags to form a hoodie, similar to Connie II, but a key difference being that a Gemstone was on her forehead: rounded in a perfect circle, and colored a distinctive sort of amber, possibly same in material as well.

"Ah, your majesty. Did the meeting go as I predicted?" Connie asked. Lapis pinched the bridge of her nose, and gave a closed-mouth groan.

"Unfortunately, yes. Such low commoners refuse to listen to any sort of reasoning! HMPH! Be better for them if we no longer deal with them ever again. We Crystal Gems are graceful, majestic, and far exceed both Homeworld and Human. I, for one, will never consort with those lot again!"

.......

Just as well, over in the human settlement, Ronaldo marched right on back in a huff, swinging the door to his own hut open, and going right on inside. Inside, his own helper was startled by the sudden slam and blast of wind from outside.

"Must you do that, Chancellor?" she suggested, as Chancellor Ronaldo sat down by his personal table in a huff. For his helper, it was actually Amethyst (go figure). Though, much like how Connie had a Gemstone, Amethyst didn't had one. As for the outfit, it matched Ronaldo's to some extent, but still held some key differences: a blue and green feather in her farmer hat for example. Oh, and her skin wasn't purple, but instead a typical tan.

"Those Gems think that they really own everything. Without our food, those Gems will have nothing. HA! Let them check over themselves," Ronaldo decided.

"Eh, I dunno ..."

"Wait a minute. I'm about to be brilliant!" Ronaldo announced. Amethyst didn't seem to impressed though.

"That'd be a first," Amethyst commented under her breath.

"Us humans will go out on our own! We have all the food anyway, right?"

"Eh ... We're all out," Amethyst said, rubbing the back of her head. Ronaldo looked a little bemused towards Amethyst.

"Did you eat our rations again?"

Amethyst accidentally let out a burp before she could answer. Amethyst was a little casual about it, if not content with the food, but Ronaldo got up to his feet.

"We can grow more where we're going. Point is ..."

And this same idea, oddly enough, was decided by all three sides of this triangle.

"We must find a new land!"

*snap**snap*

Suddenly, Steven's mind came back to reality, when Amethyst snapped her fingers in Steven's face.

"Huh? what's up?" Steven asked quietly. Amethyst didn't say anything, but she then pointed over to Lapis's seat. Steven was spending so much time watching the play, that he simply lost attention of practically everything else around him.

"What happened?"

"Lapis just got up and left in a huff. I think she can't stand being around Bismuth any longer," Amethyst confirmed. The two know of her fault, and if that was true, then there's really a problem going on that they can't ignore. When looking over though, as if reading their concern and mind, Bismuth was suddenly walking away.

"I'll be right back," Bismuth said to Jasper, who she was apparently talking to beforehand. Jasper took it in stride, but Steven and Amethyst managed to get up and follow her back. This grudge has to end ...


~~~~~~


Having to miss apart of the play was a bit of a pain, but Steven didn't want this sort of negative drive to continue if Lapis was going to remove herself like this. It was a bit quiet outside of the theater, as the two tried to look around for Lapis Lazuli. Funny thing though, it actually didn't take too much time to locate the character. Just outside of the theater, Lapis perched up on one of Canterlot's rooftops. The snow was lightly falling around her, and the Gem was staring off into the night sky. Soon, they saw Bismuth down further away, and the rainbow Gem already noticed her up on the roof, looking up towards her.

"Lapis!" Steven called. Only then did Lapis decide to look down, and even fly down from the rooftop. Apparently, Bismuth didn't say anything before they showed up, because Lapis's smile disappeared on seeing her.

"Why is she out here?" Lapis asked.

"Hey, hey, everything okay? You kinda left in a bit of a huff back there," Bismuth said. Lapis crossed her arms and looked away from her. Bismuth didn't seem to make the connection right away, and Amethyst and Steven looked to eachother. Just behind Bismuth, both Amethyst and Steven tried to signal her to actually start talking to her about the problems. Lapis knew what they wanted, but she didn't know how well it'll actually help, so ...

"I just needed some alone time."

... Yeah, Not what they wanted. Amethyst had her hand to her forehead, both she and Steven a little defeated. Bismuth was a little unsure about the response at first.

"You sure now?"

"Yeah I'm sure. You just go," Lapis insisted. Bismuth could see that she was stressed, but not knowing as much about her as the other Gems, she decided not to push the subject any further, and went over back to the theater, with Amethyst, Steven, and Lapis standing outside.

"Lapis," Amethyst said, in a disappointed tone.

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell her anything?" Steven asked, a bit puzzled. Lapis sighed, and didn't look as angry at them as she was with Bismuth.

"I'm sorry. But, I don't think it's going to happen," Lapis concluded.

"Come on, Lapis, just talk to her. I'm sure you can work something out if you just -"

"Guys, guys. Please, understand. I know you two are trying your best, and I can see why ... But, it's a bit more complicated than that," Lapis said.

"Complicated?" Steven asked, obviously confused. What's so complicated about just talking to someone about your problems? Lapis just sighed, and masked her trouble with a smile.

"I'll talk to her when the time comes ... For now, let's just enjoy what's left of the play. come on, let's go," Lapis promised. She honestly wasn't too sure when that time would be, if ever, but she just wanted her friends not to bother themselves with her personal issues with the matter. It was nice, but she didn't want them to remove their own fun time along with her. So, with that, Lapis started to walk back inside, thinking that it was all she needed to say to them. Too bad it didn't seem to work ...

"It would be a lot better if it just work out like it does in cartoons."

"Yea. It would."


~~~~~~


After that little talk, Lapis, Bismuth, Steven and Amethyst returned to the Canterlot Theater. Amethyst, Steven, and Lapis got to their seats, and Bismuth went over to her own corner as before. Pearl looked over to Steven after a bit.

"Steven, there you are. So, to have you catch up, the princess, chancellor, and commander had left their old kingdom. They found Equestria, I believe, at about the same time at this point," Pearl quietly said. However, Steven wasn't exactly paying much attention to Pearl, looking over to the now withdrawn Lapis, who was just sitting quietly and watching the play. Steven was simply hoping that this will get resolved at some point soon. For now though, his imagination switched back on as he continued watching what was left of the presentation ...

~~~~~~~

Everypony was forced to seek shelter. They searched high and low, but the only shelter for miles was a cold and desolate cave. And, of course, the three tribes had to share it, and nopony was too happy about that.

At this point, the storm had started to return to this supposed new land. At this point in time, Chancellor Ronaldo, Princess Pearl, and Commander Lapis had to evacuate from the open, alongside their respected followers: Amethyst, Connie, and Peridot. As the narrator said, the group ended up stuck in a cave, and while it was big enough to hold all of them, they kept to a respected corner away from the exit of the cave. Still, things weren't going along as well as it should be.

"Private Peridot, mark our borders down. No Earth Gem or Earth human is allowed on OUR land," Lapis ordered. Peridot, a bit startled, did as she was told, and got out a stick to mark the borders in the cold dirt. After some quick ordering, Connie and Amethyst went on to do the same. The borders seemed pretty well done, until Connie stopped at a decent stone, and was about to go around it when ...

"Connie, don't go around the stone - head right over it. The territories of Crystal Gems will NOT be giving up a single inch to any ruffians," Pearl ordered. That seemed to start something off - again - as Ronaldo and Lapis moved forward, still on their borders.

"That stone belongs to homeworld land!" Lapis yelled, going as far as to reach for the stone, only for Ronaldo to nearly stomp on her hand.

"That rock was on human land at the start! i'll be taking that," Ronaldo decided, suddenly grabbing the stone, which ticked off Pearl severly.

"How dare you take from Crystal Gem territory?!" Pearl squawked.

"Finders keepers," mocked Ronaldo.

"HAND OVER MY ROCK!" Lapis demanded. As for Amethyst, Peridot, and Connie, who were sitting not too far away, they honestly found this beyond silly. It was understandable before, but they're arguing over a rock for goodness sake. They didn't try to get in between the trouble though, having respect still for their respected leaders. As the leaders still argued, the cold began to slip inside from the horrid blizzard. however, it was a bit more than just cold wind and snow ...

"The entrance!" Peridot yelped. The others turned to entrance, and the realization got in: their only exit was being frozen over! Peridot tried to run out, but the exit froze just quickly enough to trap them all, Peridot slipping on the ice.

"Great. Now there's no way out! We're trapped!" Ronaldo yelled.

"You two deserve this horrible fate. You've done nothing but argue and fight with each other!" Pearl accused.

"You've been fighting too, your snobness," Lapis mocked, and even went as far as to bring her hand up to her mouth and a *PBHT* filled the air, angering Pearl even more.

"Yeah! Worse! I haven't been fighting nearly as much as you!" Ronaldo added. No, that didn't help. As Amethyst, Connie, and Peridot watched, there was something else that was going on with the ice. The ice was expanding ...

And consuming the leaders!

"REBELLIOUS TRAITORS!" Lapis yelled.

"PATHETIC SCUM!" Shouted Ronaldo.

"HORRID CLODS!" Yelled Pearl.

Those final insults hung in the air before Ronaldo, Pearl, and Lapis ended up completely frozen in place! Connie, Amethyst, and Peridot backed up from the approaching ice. Soon, the three were in the center of the room, ice all around them, and closing in. Worse, it almost appeared that the storm itself was inside the cave! Storm clouds swirled around inside the cave, keeping the trio together, as they began to notice something else looming around within the cave with them. One of these came extremely close to the group, the figure resembling a Sapphire. There were two other figures, all looking like flying Sapphires, all looking like ice ghosts.

"Eep," Peridot said, cowering over by the others. The Sapphires circle them in the air, the ice coming in closer and closer.

"W-What are those things?" Peridot shuttered.

"I think they're Sapphires!" Connie realized, worried.

"Sapphires?" Asked Amethyst and Peridot.

"My mentor Rose Quartz told me about them before: they're a type of rare polar Gem that feeds off of hatred and anger. The more they feel hatred, the colder things become," Connie explained, not moving her eyes away from the creatures hovering around them. The three faced eachother at one point, and it was here that they start to feel the ice begin to consume them as well, starting at their feet.

"This is our fault. The three tribes - they kept on beating eachother down. We brought the blizzard then, and now here," Peridot realized.

"And now our bodies will be as cold as our hearts ... All because we're foolish enough to hate!" Connie concluded. The ice crept up their bodies more and more, as the Sapphies wailed, and flew around them ...

"Well ... I don't hate you guys," Peridot said at one point.

"You don't?" Amethyst asked.

"Yeah, I don't. I hate Lapis a little more than I hate you two," Peridot admitted. Connie and Amethyst giggled, though the Sapphires stopped for a moment, seeing the turn of events.

"Well, I don't hate you either," Amethyst concluded.

"Nor do I. No matters how different we are, Earth is our home," agreed Connie. The ice was getting very thick now, and consuming them all more and more. At the end of Connie's sentence, the ice was up to their faces. The three were very close together, smiling as their bodies were covered in ice. The Sapphires sense a deep shift from hatred to love, and their magic was starting to weaken ...

As the trio were standing there, Connie's gemstone started to glow, and suddenly a unique flame shot out from her gemstone: a purple flame to be exact. The flame spread out, not hurting them or their leaders, but the Sapphires were forced away.

"Whoa. I didn't know Gems could do that."

"Neither did I. This never happened before ... But, I know it couldn't had been just me. It was all three of us, joined together in friendship ..."

All through the night, the three ponies kept the fire of friendship alive by telling stories to one another and by singing songs, which of course became the winter carols that we all still sing today. Eventually, the warmth of the fire and singing and laughing reached the leaders, and their bodies began to thaw. And it even began to melt their hearts. The three leaders agreed to share the beautiful land, leaving past quarrels behind, and live in harmony ever afterwards. And together, they named their new land... 

~~~~~~~

"Equestria!"

Steven came back around, all smiles, when the ponies around him started to cheer for the actors up on stage, which was the Mane Six. The crowds and the Gems enjoyed it overall, as the Mane six took their bows for the crowd. The presentation was a basic one for a play this way, but the point and what message was put across was still plenty strong. For Lapis Lazuli, the rest of the play seemed to bring the point home to her more than the others thought.

"Those ponies wanted to be friends ... Even after all their hatred towards eachother..." Lapis thought. Lapis took a small look over to Bismuth. 

"She hasn't been bad since coming back to us ..."

Lapis just gave a sigh.


~~~~~~


Hearth's Warming day. The sun of Equestria rose up gently over Ponyville, and many of assorted fillies and colts all over were up and giddy for what they've gotten for the holiday morning. The Gems had been and gone from Equestria, as far as many were concern (if anypony was wondering where they were at, anyway). At the library, Spike was just about to wake up, tired from the narrating the night prior. However, as he was slowly waking up from his basket bed, his stretching claws then scraped something placed nearby. Once the little dragon opened his eyes, he found that there was a small present sitting just an inch away. It was wrapped up in white and purple wrapping paper, and the small tag read "to Spike. Love: Twilight". Curious, Spike got up, and opened up the present easily with his dragon claws, finding the present being a unique looking file for his claws, and a cute plushie of Steven's Lion. The plushie was a bit silly, but the file was nice for him, especially since it had a cool symbol of a dragon on it. Spike placed the lion by his bed, and he began using the file on his claws for maintenance. He peeked down, and saw Twilight with a Santa hat on her head, smiling up to him.

"Happy Heath's Warming Spike," Twilight said, as Spike went on downstairs.

"Thanks a ton, Twilight. Been meaning to get my claws done," Spike said, still working on his claws with the file for a bit before blowing off some debris off his new file.

"I knew you'd like it. Besides, you deserve it after your performance last night," Twilight said, giving Spike a hug. Spike hugged her back, but before anything could continue ...

*knock**knock*

Guess somepony wanted to come by for a visit. Who it was though could be anypony: a group of carolers perhaps? One of the Mane Six stopping by? Well, one way to find out: Twilight went over, and opened the door. However, she didn't exactly find anypony there. Or any pony for that matter. In fact, the surprise visitor was actually Lapis Lazuli ...

"Morning Lapis. Happy Hearth's Warming," Twilight said with a smile.

"Hi. Twilight? ... Can I ask you a favor?"

.......

"Lapis? Lapis! Now where is that girl?"

Back in Beach City, At least for the moment, the place was quiet, as Bismuth was trying to figure out where Lapis had gone. She hadn't seen the Gem since last night back in Canterlot, and Bismuth wondered if it was right to just leave her or not. Bismuth wandered on outside, just outside the Temple. At the moment just as well, no one else seemed to be around ...

Soon though, something gently started to float down to her. It took like a small present, with a parachute to float down easy. It landed down right in Bismuth's hand, and the blue wrapping made Bismuth a little curious. The note that came with it caught her eye, and she took a look at it first.

To: Bismuth. From: Lapis Lazuli.

Bismuth looked into the box next, and the message came with a special gift of Lapis's own. What was inside? Well, it was small, and for Bismuth, it just managed to fit on her wrist.

A bracelet, made out of sparkling blue dragon scales.

As for Lapis herself, she looked down from up on a rocky cliff, sitting casually and seeing Bismuth's big smile as the rainbow Gem put hers on. Even Lapis could see it sparkle up where she was. As for her relationship with Bismuth as a whole, she wasn't sure still how far it was going to go. But here, she took the time to show Bismuth that she was at least letting her by.

It's a start.
> Sardonyx Tonight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



"Welcome to the show, everypony!"


"So, how do you wanna do this? Three leaf clover first, or the Eiffel tower?"

"Let's do the "Around the World" before "Three Leaf Clover". Flows better that way."

"Sounds good to me. Now, just gotta wait for Bismuth to get here."

Today was a special day for Amethyst and Steven both. Bismuth had been round for a while now, and the two were trying to prepare their next little introduction for the rainbow Gem to see. She'd seen plenty of the Gems and Ponies at this point, for sure, but there was one that Amethyst and Steven recently had in mind to show the new Crystal Gem. Besides, it's been a while since she came out. That, and Bismuth met Stevonnie already a while back. The two were inside Amethyst's room to discuss this, although they were supposed to meet up with Bismuth in the Beach House. As they were finishing up their act, the door suddenly opened up to Amethyst's room, the Gem showing up being Garnet.

"Hello, you two," Garnet said, as she went in. Amethyst and Steven went over to her.

"Hey Garnet. Did you see Bismuth?" Amethyst asked, excitedly.

"She's just showing up now," Garnet said, thumb pointing behind her as the door could be heard opening up. That was all they needed to know, as they went right past Garnet, the Gem smiling all the while. For Bismuth, she had just arrived into the Beach House, when Amethyst and Steven went right up to her.

"Okay, you two. You said you had a special guest to show me, so where's she at?" Bismuth asked, looking around. However, she didn't see any other guests show up just yet.

"You're looking at her," Amethyst said with a wink. Bismuth didn't get it right away, slightly confused. she knew Steven and Amethyst already.

"HA HA, alright good one. Seriously though."

Amethyst cleared her throat, and brought her hand out to Steven in a more lady-like manor.

"Shall we?" She asked. Steven just nodded. Bismuth stood there, and was just putting two and two together when Amethyst and Steven locked hands. Seconds after they did, the bright light was easy to understand what they actually meant, as the two then begun to fuse up! In no time at all, good ol Smoky Quartz was standing right there, size now just about the same to Bismuth (if not, just an inch taller).

"Heyo, B! Name's Smoky Quartz," she introduced. Bismuth suddenly laughed in realization.

"Well DANG, girl, look at you! You two look pretty good together," Bismuth complimented.

"Eh, I get around. Now, hope your eyes are hungry. Feast 'em on this," Smoky said, bringing out her signature Yo-Yo weapon to show to Bismuth. Bismuth looked especially impressed with the weapon, as Smoky rallied it up around her finger tips on all three hands.

"You are just full of surprises, Smoky. Never seen a Yo-Yo as a weapon before," Bismuth commented, as Smoky swung around the Yo-Yo in her "around the world" act for her.

"I know, I'm full of them apparently," Smoky said, though more humbly than before. Bismuth though was still deep in enthusiasm.

"Then how about we go outside and see them, eh? Come on, you and me, let's do this!"

"Hold up, it's a little soon isn't it?" Smoky asked, smiling. Amethyst and Steven by themselves didn't stand much of a chance against Bismuth, and Smoky was accepting the fact that maybe she can't handle her. Bismuth though had other ideas, a hand around her shoulder.

"Come on Smoky. I see a brave, powerful warrior in there - " Bismuth gave a friendly poke to Smoky's rather large stomach, "- All we gotta do, is get her out."

After Bismuth encouragement, Smoky simply shrugged, and followed Bismuth on outside to test out her skills. Garnet took a short moment to think over the situation just after the two left the Beach House. It didn't take her very long to see a little something going to happen, no matter who did what, and she went off herself to get her own little surprise ready for it.

.......

"Alright, soldier, show me what you got!" Bismuth called, soon after they went on outside. Smoky Quartz stood there comfortably, and casually, with her hands behind her head, though one still held the Yo-Yo string, as she just moved it up and down, unsure how to approach.

"Well, ok then, comin at cha!" Smoky said, winding up her Yo-Yo, and swinging it at her. Course, Bismuth ended up dodging it fairly easily. Smoky brought the Yo-Yo around, but Bismuth dodged that too. Smoky tried a number of tricks to get her, and while admittedly some did hit the mark, it wasn't enough to take this tough Gem down. Bismuth found it good practice, but Smoky was getting just a little bit annoyed as time went on.

"Come on, you got this," Bismuth said, in the moment.

"Shut up," Smoky quietly commented, but Bismuth didn't hear her, of course. Smoky rallied up her Yo-Yo for another little hit, but she looked less happy and more determined for a decent hit on Bismuth. Smoky was just about to get her next toss of the Yo-Yo ready, but just before she could, suddenly she felt the string become much lighter, as she swung her arm forward, only to find her Yo-Yo string had been cut in the middle of it! Smoky turned around, just to find the one responsible, using her Yo-Yo in a casual sort of manor, the string around his talon finger. Looks like Discord wanted to come and play.

"Morning, Smoky Quartz, Bismuth. How's it been?" Discord asked.

"Who're you?" Bismuth asked. Suddenly, Discord apparently crushed the Yo-Yo, and it suddenly turned into a small identification card.

"My card," Discord said, showing the card to Bismuth. Smoky was a little embarrassed that the draconequus showed up the way he did, as Bismuth looked at the small card. The picture of discord on the card suddenly came alive as it pulled himself out of the picture, a tiny Discord standing on the card. Bismuth, much like anyone else with plenty of common sense, was a little surprised seeing the draconequus do his little tricks.

"Yeah. Bismuth, this is Discord. Haven't seen you in a while," Bismuth said. Discord grew back to normal size after stepping off his card. After that though, his paw reached at the top of the screen, and pulled down a list of the previous episodes.

"I know right? I haven't been in any proper roll in this series since season two. So disappointing," Discord said, marking up the episodes in Season Two where he showed up. Smoky and Bismuth didn't had a clue what he was talking about, as he rolled back up the list and making it disappear. 

"WHOA, how're you doing that? Equestria magics?"

"You can say I got my own little world at my Talon tips," Discord stated, even holding a tiny world in the palm of his talon. This Draconequus was glad to be back in the spotlight after so long.

"Dang!"

"Heh, yep, that's Discord. So, D, what're you up to?" Smoky asked. Discord suddenly reappeared from behind her, only his head and lion paw visible.

"Oh, just thought after all your little fusion trips jumping from one to the other, I'd stop by and check in. Fun being our little fusion?"

"Eh, it's okay. Cool having a third arm," Smoky said, pointing to it.

"Oy, Discord, mind stepping aside? Less you wanna train with us," Bismuth said. Discord flew right up to her, coiling around her like a snake.

"Tempting, but I'm more of a observer than brawler. I barely got muscle in these fancy limbs, look," Discord said. He tried to show muscle in his Talon arm, but the muscle looped down instead of up, like a limp noodle. Guess he was just driving the point home. Bismuth couldn't help but chuckle.

"K, noodle," Bismuth joked, as Discord uncoiled, standing upright. The quick move though did get something to fall out of his pocket, and landing on Smoky's head. It was actually a small notifier card, kinda like a small slip of paper as reminder, and it read off a particular show Discord wanted to catch. Discord snatched it though before they could properly read it. However, that did give Discord an idea.

"Say, how about a little trip with your fellow Draconequus?"

"Trip? Trip where?" Smoky questioned.

"And ruin the surprise that fast? What's the fun in that?" Discord said. With a little old fashion magician magic, his two hands clapped together, and out came a cane when the hands separated. Discord grabbed the cane, and hooked through an area nearby, and the fabric of space opened up like the curtains on a stage. Discord was just about to go on inside when -

"Good morning, Beach City!"

Suddenly another Gem came out from these same curtains, and was soon right in Discord's face. The Gem was unmistakable, and one that Discord didn't even intend to show up. Or at least, not the way she did anyway. The Gem was glad to see everyone all the same.

"Sardonyx!" Smoky said in surprise.

"Long time no see. Sorry for the wait, haven't been ... Quite myself lately," Sardonyx said, with a good laugh. Discord backed up, as Sardonyx wiped away the curtains in question.

"And what's our little Gem fusion up to?" Sardonyx asked.

"Bismuth's having me train a bit with her, right Bismuth?" Smoky asked.

"That's right. Trying to see what she can do," Bismuth stated, playfully fluffing Smoky's hair like she usually does. Smoky smiled sheepishly, but Sardonyx had her own idea in mind for her.

"Are we now? How about we try it in my own little hotspot? Here we go," Sardonyx said, slipping through those similar curtains. Despite her size, she managed to get herself in with little trouble, although some pushing by her own arms was required. Discord, seeing where this was going, slipped in between the curtains himself, as Sardonyx's hand poked out.

"Come on, don't be shy," Sardonyx insisted. Bismuth and Smoky both decided to at least give it a try, and soon the two went right on inside, the curtains disappearing just after they went in.


~~~~~~


Bismuth and Smoky were suddenly finding themselves, for a lack of a better word, lost. The room they ended up in was completely black, and they couldn't see anything in front of them. The two stayed close for a bit, trying not to lose eachother in the dark, until Smoky suddenly ended up touching something in front of her. It felt like a chair, or some sort of couch or something. It took her a little bit, but Smoky and Bismuth did eventually find what they figured were their seats when ...

"AND welcome to Sardonyx Tonight!"

The announcement by the similar voice, a odd crowd applause from apparently nowhere, and a sudden change in light got them both to jump, leaving them confused on the situation. The two suddenly found themselves in a completely different setting. The two were sitting in guest chairs, and there was a large desk over next to them, with a décor mug with "I  E C" on it. Behind them was a large picture of what appeared to be a large city, like Manehatten. The floor was wooden, and alongside this new stage were sets of red curtains. Above them, the sign reading "Sardonyx Tonight" was read off on a neon lit sign, colors matching it's namesake. Speaking of which, Sardonyx suddenly appeared over in front of them, back to them and smiling to the camera with a microphone being held in one of her four hands. Nearby, they could see a number of Discords, in a number of spots: one as a cameraman, one above the stage, and one (possibly the main one) dressed up as an extra host seemingly. The outfit Discord had on was mainly a blue suit, and red tie to accompany it. Nothing too over the top as would normally be expected from the Draconequus.

"Thank you, thank you, you're all too kind! On tonight's show we have a couple special guests here on set. I'm so excited, I could just shatter!" Sardonyz said, suddenly tossing her microphone away. There was a glass crash and some cat meow in the distance, as she went and sat down. "Let's give a warm applause to Bismuth and Smoky, ladies and gentleman," Sardonyx said. The crowd applause again for them both, yet Bismuth and Smoky just looked to eachother in some confusion.

"Eh, what's going on?" Bismuth asked.

"Brought you both to my room, of course," Sardonyx said.

"You have a room too?" Smoky asked.

"It exists, so long as I exist," Sardonyx said, giving them both a wink. One hand grabbed her mug as Sardonyx continued talking. Discord sat down beside Sardonyx.

"So, staring with Smoky. Tell us everything there is about you. Let's not skip out on the juicy bits," Sardonyx insisted. Bismuth was ready to listen to what the fusion had in store for them. The fusion took a bit to really think things over, trying to remember. It was quite a bit ago since she first came out. Since they were on some TV show apparently, she tried to get her words out right.

"Alright, let's see now ... Well, I like to take trips to Equestria. In fact, it's there where I sorta - pow - became me. And then - pow - beat Porath," Smoky said. Might as well start from the beginning, if anywhere. This information was fairly new for Bismuth as well, the Gem not even being there when it actually happened. Discord laughed at the news, and hovered down to Smoky and Bismuth.

"Oh, that Porath. Always going about in his little ego, stompin' about and boasting up. Obviously that didn't work out for him though, isn't that right, Sard?" Discord said, the last bit nudging Sardonyx.

"Oh, indeed. That Draconian should be put back in the Kindergarten, am I right?" Sardonyx joked. A Gem joke, sure, but the crowd still laughed along with her. Even Bismuth did laugh a little as well.

"He was surely ticked off when I showed up. But in the end, you could say I grounded him," Smoky joked, another laugh from the crowd going off.

"Easy crowd. Where'd they come from, anyway?"

"Oh, I just made them. Now, Smoky, I think what we really want to know is who are you?" Discord asked, tossing the gal a microphone for some better volume, Smoky catching it in her third arm.

"Yeah, let's hear it. what is "Smoky Quartz" eh?" Bismuth said, encouraging her. Smoky went on through her mind a bit on some of the things she had done before. Between her first appearance and now, she mainly showed up for the Uktena fight when the Gems were all sick, and when she showed them her tricks after Steven's trip. but as far as casual time went aside from that, there actually wasn't very much.

"Well, between Porath, and now, I've been around for , say ... one day? So, I'm not sure ... OH!, but I can do this!" Smoky said, soon bringing back her signature Yo-Yo to show to the audience. She went out in front of the stage, and began to show off her planned act. Bismuth stood up and moved aside to give her some space as Smoky did some of her tricks. She originally planned it to show just Bismuth, but this worked just as well. She did "Around the World", "Three Leaf Clover", and a few "Walk the Dog" tricks like she showed the Gems the first time. The audience applauded her as she was doing so, along with Bismuth.

"Oh, yes, your Yo-Yo - seen it, heard it, loved it - but what other tricks to your game do you have?" Sardonyx insisted.

"Well, I'm not a deck of cards, you know," Smoky joked modestly, as she sat back down. However, something else did struck her mind. Casual, but, it was something else, anyway.

"I can lick my elbow. I got three of them now," Smoky said, even bringing her elbow up and trying to lick it herself. Bismuth found it decent, yet Sardonyx seemed to had other ideas more in mind. Discord snapped his lion paw fingers before going on.

"And we'll be right on back after a word from our sponsors," Discord said, the lights suddenly going dim.

"Huh? What's up?" Bismuth wondered.

"Smoky, may I have a little bitty chat with you for just a moment?" Sardonyx asked. Smoky wondered exactly what Sardonyx really had in mind, but before she could ask, Discord got his magic to work. In one teleportation flash, they all were suddenly off in a backstage dressing room, complete with a lit up window, and a costume rack. As they were there, Sardonyx blushed up Smoky's cheek with a blusher.

"Now, Smoky, it's a nice performance with your Yo-Yo, but we all would like to know the Yo-you," Sardonyx explained, in the nicest way she could.

"Well, I dunno. Like I said, I'm not a deck of cards, Sardonyx," Smoky said.

"Oh, don't be so modest: you're a fusion, for corn sake! Surely you got just an extra little bit for the readers out there to see," Discord said, driving the point home by pulling a colorful macaw parrot feathers outta her ear before making it disappear.

"Come on guys, I can do good Yo-Yo tricks, that's good isn't it?"

"We're not saying it's bad at all, but there's tons more potential for you," Sardonyx said.

"AND Bismuth. Smoky's got a few more episodes worth of screen time over her this season. Bet viewers want to see more of her bag of tricks, surely," added Discord. Again with the confusing talk, but Discord seemed to get the idea anyway. Bismuth was more than willing, and Smoky seemed to be up for it a bit too, though not as much.

"Alright, let's get back to it."

On the word, the Draconequus got them all back on stage, and the lights were quickly back on, and the applause were back up and playing again.

"And we're back ladies and gentleman! And we got a few new segments for you all tonight. Smoky, Bismuth, if you would kindly follow me," Sardonyx said, a finger gesturing them to follow. Discord flew off out of frame, as Bismuth and Smoky followed Sardonyx off to the left. As they were, Sardonyx started snapping her fingers as signal for the lights to turn on. Bismuth and Smoky then saw what looked like one of those hammer games to test someone's strength. There was a Gem in place at the top, but not a Gem exactly recognized by Bismuth. The number of faces on the strength score bar were easily recognized in this order: Lars, Flint, Rainbow Dash, Amethyst, Garnet, Bismuth, Carnelian, and that purple Gem fusion at the very top.

"Welcome to ..." Sardonyx announced.

"You like that, little man?" The machine said, finishing up what Sardonyx was going to say.

"Oh, she's got the right idea," Sardonyx said, giggling. Discord conjured up a set of fancy hammers for both of them to use, but while it was a nice gesture, Bismuth tossed hers aside back to the Draconequus.

"I got this," Bismuth said, her hand turning into her own hammer. Smoky Quartz allowed the confident Gem to go first, as Bismuth stepped right up to the machine. It didn't take very long for Bismuth to figure out how the machine worked, and then the Gem swung her hammer arm downward as strong as she could. As it was probably expected, the meter went straight up until it reached her own picture. Not too bad for the rainbow Gem, but for the machine ...

"Is that all you got?"

Bismuth wanted to give it another swing, but Discord gently escorted out of the way, as his tail gave smoky her hammer for her try. Mustn't be too greedy. Smoky saw what Bismuth did, and she followed up the same way. When she hit it though, Smoky didn't get up to Bismuth's level, but just under Garnet.

"Ha ha! nice try!" the machine mocked. Smoky felt more troubled again, and gave it one more swing, this time with a spin. The strength level went up to Bismuth's level.

"You. Ain't. Nothing!"

"Oh, something's not hitting right," noted Sardonyx. But, the fusion was not ready to give up on her fellow fusion just yet. "Perhaps your strong in a different way. We'll find out in just a moment, folks. Play us to stage right, Discord pal," Sardonyx said, as they began moving on. Discord moved the screen over to the right, following the others to another part of the stage (a hand literally grabbing the screen and moving it along like a hand camera). The next area was soon lit up, and this time it showed a shooting gallery. It showed what seemed to be some fake, albeit destroyed buildings, with a number of pop-ups as targets, yet they look like ponies a bit. Though these ponies were grey, with a bright green splotches. There was a picture of a white unicorn, with a black and red mane and tail, messed up in a manor to Rainbow Dash, though she had a set of revolvers by her sides, up and ready to shoot at something apparently. The title of this one is called "Ghoul Shooter" - simple enough.

"This segment, I like to call: Blackjack Shooter," announced Sardonyx. Discord stood beside her, and Sardonyx leaned over to him.

"Technically, the writer didn't include her in this fanfiction yet, do we still have to credit?" Asked Sardonyx, in a whisper. Discord simply nodded for his answer.

"Yes? Alright, fair enough."

Bummer for Sardonyx, but, what can you do? To make things interesting, Discord not only gave them fake revolvers to use, but also added a little score board nearby. Looks like this will end up being more of a competition this time

"Well ... It's not much like a Yo-Yo," noted Smoky, but she might as well give it a try anyway. For Sardonyx, Bismuth, and Discord's sake.

"See this is a two-on-two challenge segment. So, Smoky, ready to go?" Bismuth said, gun at the ready.

"As I'll ever be. Count us down," Smoky said, readying her gun.

A small clock suddenly appeared over in the corner of the screen, Bismuth and Smoky ready to start their little game of Blackjack Shooter. Soon as the alarm went off, their game quickly began. The timer for the game only read off for just thirty seconds, and the machine quickly started up, with the fake pony ghouls popping in and out for them to shoot at. Both Bismuth and Smoky didn't do so good at first. Although strength was decent on them both, and Bismuth can make a quick hit when she wants to as proven during her training sessions, it was still troubling for them. The main difference was how fast these ghouls pop in and out, barely giving either one of them time to aim and shoot. The thirty seconds ended fairly fast, and the score boards showed, much to their dismay, low amounts. However, Smoky actually did a little good; her twenty points compared to Bismuth's eighteen. For an average score, it was decent enough for them, and did show Smoky had some more quick reactions.

"Bravo, Smoky, Bismuth!" Sardonyx said, both sets of hands clapping for them. Bismuth fluffed up Smoky's hair playfully.

"Good job, kid. You surely shot down the records," Bismuth joked, a few laughs from the audience as well, as Smoky smiled and chuckled a little herself, though still modest in tone rather than confident. But still, it was a nicer detail, though Smoky didn't consider it over the top, or anything too special.

"They both did good, didn't they? But we're not done yet for tonight's show: we got one more little segment in store for everybody. Right this way you two, and we can see what you have for your big event," Sardonyx insisted.

"I want to see too," Smoky thought, as they went. Discord went right on over with them, smiling all the while.

As they began to leave though, something off screen reached out, and wrapped something around a part of the challenge, looking like either a tentacle, or the tip of a tail, and began to pull it away fairly quickly ...

"Oops," Discord said, suddenly going to the camera, and moving it over to the right again, moving it outta sight of the previous attraction. The screen shows Smoky and Bismuth ready for the last act, though Sardonyx was impatiently waiting for Discord to adjust things, her arms crossed and foot tapping. Once the camera was placed correctly, Sardonyx cleared her throat with a prominent *ahem*.

"Sorry for that delay. And now, onto our next little segment I'd like to call ..."

She clapped her hands, and Discord snapped his fingers. While the first two were pretty decent enough all things considered, this next one was a show-stopper. If the first one was testing strength, and second was quick reactions, then this one was apparently testing a number of details, possibly mixing them both to one thing. The look here showed a similar look to what Bismuth would actually use in her training when demonstrating the Breaking Point to the others. They were placed about the place, yet unlike before which it was just that, there was a flag at the center of the supposed ring of fake guards.

"Let me guess: we have to barrel our way through these thugs to get the flag?" Bismuth assumed.

"Nothing gets passed you, does it?" Discord joked, patting her on the head. Well, if this was the last one, it does seem that it'll be simple to do. Yet, she didn't had any Breaking Point to work with this time, nor did either one of them were given any fancy weapon to fight off the guards set up for them. Oh well. Sardonyx and Discord moved off aside, and soon as the alarm went off, Smoky and Bismuth began.

Both of them went right on in, and at first they both thought it'll be a bit easy. However, these guards were not as simple as the pre-mentioned models Bismuth had used. For one thing, they were made of strong platinum, and moved about a bit quicker than before as well. The first hit immediately got through to them that it wasn't going to be as easy - one whack from one of them, and Smoky was knocked right into Bismuth, knocking them both off their feet. The two jumped ahead before they could get hit again.

"Tougher than I thought. Come on, we can do this," Bismuth encouraged. They got up, but the guards were a bit more relentless in their approach, suddenly splitting up Smoky and Bismuth with a good ram, leaving them apart to reach the flag. A gasp can be heard from the crowd, yet Smoky and Bismuth ignored them.

"Ok, I'm taking you bad kids to school," Smoky said, summoning her Yo-Yo to confront the guards, and she began to swing it about with her various Yo-Yo tricks. As for Bismuth, the thrill of the fight was beginning to get to her a bit, and while easy to beat back the guards for her, she was too in the zone to continue on ahead. Smoky though, trying to keep her mind more on the goal, got closer and closer to the flag until she was a foot away.  However, she stops to look back towards Bismuth, just to see her far behind.

"Bismuth!" Smoky called, but Bismuth didn't seem to notice her, having too much fun with beating down the guards. Smoky, wanting to get Bismuth's mind more on track, swung her Yo-Yo around Bismuth, and yanked her towards her with a strong heave. Bismuth stumbled, and landed in front of Smoky, embarrassed, but alright.

"Eh, got a little carried away, huh?" Bismuth admitted.

"Yep," Smoky simply said, as she went over to the flag, and only then did she grab it. The second she grabbed it, the guards all stopped on the spot, and the challenge was complete, with the audience applauding them again, alongside Discord and Sardonyx.

"Well done, Smoky, well done," Sardonyx praised, as Discord helped Bismuth up to her feet, taking a feather duster, and cleaning her up.

"Well, Bismuth helped too," Smoky said, again her modesty coming out.

"True. It was fun to see what you're all about, Smoky, Bismuth. I'm sure the viewers can have some little food for thought, eh Sardonyx?" discord said.

"Sure they can. Oh, but I'm afraid we're out of time. I hope you all enjoyed our guests for tonight's appearance. Smoky, Bismuth, any last minute words before we close?" Sardonyx realized, as she brought down a microphone. Bismuth and Smoky took a look to each other, smiling, before continuing.

"Yeah, it's been fun hanging out with you all tonight. Been a pleasure doing Bismuth with you," Bismuth said, winking to the crowd.

"Yeah, me too. Honestly, I didn't think I'd do much, but it's sure fun to see what I can do," added Smoky.

"Well said you to. And with that everyone, stay beautiful, and goodnight!"


~~~~~~


And with that, Discord snapped his fingers, and the show stopped: lights went out, cast left, and everything quiet, the screen black for many areas ...

Well, almost all. One camera was accidentally left on the stage, still on, and low on battery by the looks of it. On screen, the guards still remained where they were even after the show ended. As the camera kept rolling, some of the statue dummies were starting to move on their own, being pulled away. The closest one to the screen showed that a tentacle was wrapping around the base of the dummy, as the others were pulled out of frame. As the last one was being moved off just a little bit more ...

The camera turned dead. And the screen cut off ...
> Once in a Blue Moon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't understand. That's EVERY book in the royal library, and NOTHING explaining that Thunderbird in Beach City," Twilight said in defeat.

And indeed, it was. All morning, Twilight had tried going through every single book through all sorts of places. Celestia allowed Twilight access to her personal library, and even then, with all the books looked over at least once through her many piles, Alicorn Twilight simply had run out of ideas at this point; Her own library had nothing, the old castle library had nothing, not even the history books of Beach city's library gave her nothing to go on. You'd think in a world of magic and talking colorful horses, one would find something about some lightning bird. Twilight slammed her face into the last open book in front of her in defeat, tired, worn out, and just plain disappointed. As she just sat there for a minute, the doors to the Canterlot library opened up, and Celestia, followed by Luna, went on in to check on Twilight.

"Twilight? Is everything okay?" Celestia asked, as her magic moved the book away from Twilight.

"Nothing. just nothing."

"What's nothing?" Asked Luna, as Celestia started putting all her books back on the shelves.

"This Thunderbird. I've looked and studied through about every single book in Equestria, and not a single one even mentions of such a creature. It doesn't make any sense."

"There, there, Twilight. It's okay if you don't always understand. If I recall, one of your friendship reports even said "there are wonderful things in this world you just can't explain, but that doesn't necessarily make them any less true"," Celestia said, as she continued putting books away. It was a very long time ago since she wrote THAT entry, but, she still remembered it pretty well.

"I know, and I'm not saying it's not real, but this is outside of Equestria: in Steven's universe. I've been with him time and again, and nothing ever before came up like that animal did. How could something like that just appear like that without any reports from Human, or Gem?" Twilight pointed out. Celestia just finished up her shelving, and she then went over to her student, as Twilight stood up.

"You know, there are somethings even in Equestria not always known. It's no surprise that Steven's Earth would house the same things. How about you go home and get some rest? You've gone through enough research."

"You sure?" Twilight asked. She didn't feel ready to just stop everything right there, but the princesses didn't want to see Twilight exhaust herself this way, and nodded in assurance. Tired, Twilight gave a yawn.

"Well. Maybe I could at least use a nap. Thank you," Twilight admitted. With that regard, Twilight went off out of the library, and began to head back home to Ponyville. Celestia and Luna wondered a little bit about this "Thunderbird" of hers, as they were aware of all sorts of creatures over thousands of moons, but this didn't sound too familiar to them. At least, not from where Twilight was claiming, anyway. Luna thought it over for just a little bit more, and then she got an idea.

"Sister? Would you like to visit Earth again?" Luna asked.

"You thought of that too? I wish I could, but the royal summit is just a hour away, and you know I can't miss that," Celestia reminded.

"Oh yeah. I'll try to find another time then," Luna decided, beginning to go off herself.

"Take care," Celestia replied, just before Luna opened up her wings, and flew out through a window. While she didn't want to push the subject herself, Twilight wasn't the only one who wanted to figure out this unique event out.


~~~~~~


Pre-dawn in Beach City. People were off and asleep in their homes, yet one little Gem dog, Blue, was just getting off outside after some pawing at the beach door. The night was clear, though icy snow still covered the ground along the sandy beaches under Blue's paws. Trotting along the shores, Blue did basically what any dog would do: bring his nose down and explore the beach. Winter brings a bit of lack luster when it comes to smells, so anything worth sniffing out will end up right on his radar. Any dog with his wife range of roaming space is bound to find something in the air for him to sniff out. Even in the cold, the white and blue pooch didn't get bothered too much by the snow under paw. As he neared the Beach City Boardwalk, the area was clear of any real activity aside from winter seagulls asleep in their nests. The street lights were still on, though the sun was rising up into the sky for a new day to arrive. It was still too early for anyone to actually be awake unless they were early birds like Blue here.

The bright side: no cars to bug him.

Blue kept his walk along the boardwalk with a sharp sense of smell leading him on his way. As far as scents go, Blue had plenty down pact over his stay in Beach City: the seawater from the east, a good smell of sea birds along the docks, a whiff of gemstones scattered about here and there, and varying scents of food and different humans all over. It's good to get the lay of the land if you're a dog. Tonight, many of the scents were mainly the same, if not dulled slightly thanks to the slushy snow around the buildings and Boardwalk due to spread out road salt, but that didn't bother him. In fact, Blue stopped a number of times at these salt patches to see what scents they sucked up. He took another moment to investigate a nearby Beach City fries garbage can for some interesting goodies. Blue got his head in, seeing a number of different fries, pretzels, and other things people thrown away. Him being a dog, he never understood why people would throw this sort of grommet food away. It's going in the same place anyway. Reaching in, Blue just managed to grab a half-eaten pretzel, and went off a few feet before dropping it. He was just about to eat his little prize when -

*KAW!*

Blue's ears shot up on seeing a pesky crow nearby, standing on the garbage can. It wasn't any seagull, but still as annoying as one. The crow was eyeing his own prize, and Blue didn't want to give it up so soon. Getting up, Blue eyed the crow, but the bird didn't fly off. Seagulls were troubling, but crows are a bit more clever than seagoing birds. The second Blue decided to rush at it, the crow suddenly flew forward in a quick beat of the wing, snatched the catch in its beak, and flew up to the rooftops where Blue can't get it.

Not only were crows clever, but they're gutsy as well.

Blue looked up to the crow, and watched as it pecked and nibbled at his prize. He was annoyed, naturally, but there was more stuff in the garbage can to take out and search, so he allowed to crow to slide on this one. Blue trotted right on back to the garbage can as the crow enjoyed its own breakfast. As it was, the crow took a extra glance over to the Beach City pier. Up on the roof, there's a good view of the coast for the bird. It could see a good view of it for sure, but as it was, something seemed to be up with some other birds squawking and circling a particular area. It looked a lot more interesting than just some piece of bread, far as the crow was concern. Blue didn't notice the flock just yet, mainly because he was preoccupied at the moment with his garbage can. Could be the crow either wanted to show Blue, or it was by accident, but then the pretzel the crow had ended up landing on Blue's back, getting his attention. After a few more calls, the crow took off, and flew over towards the general direction. Blue looked up to see the commotion, and decided to go and investigate himself.

The area along the pier was a lot more active thanks to the many birds now gathered up. Blue had seen the docks plenty of times, but not in this sort of way. On a typical day, there would be some fisherman and a few seagulls gathered up, but this morning, the birds were a bit more active this time, and a ton more than normal. It wasn't the first time this might happen, especially when a fisherman would come home with a large catch, but no fisherman were here this time, and even so, no big catch would just come up this soon in the day. The crow landed down at one of the wooden walkways, following the bird's eyes down to what they were seeing. The very sight of what was really going on made the crow shriek in shock, almost taking off again. Blue caught up with the crow, wondering what was up, when he too looked down into the water.

Fish.

Lots. of fish.

It was like looking into the largest can of sardines just under deck, although the fish species appeared to be such, the slight stopping Blue cold. Hundreds, on hundreds, on HUNDREDS of fish laid dormant in the water below, so thick around the dock that Blue couldn't see the water, or the bottom of the shallow water. This would explain why the seagulls were acting up so early, as many of them were snatching their share in the goods, plucking a fish out of the water like a robin would pluck out worms. Blue, ears tucked back, and tail in between his legs, was simply shocked at the sight of it all. While the crow was a bit surprised on this odd event unlike the seagulls, the opportunistic bird took his chance, and plucked a sardine from the fish group. Blue wasn't sure, but he swore he could see some even wriggling within the dead fish pile! The obvious question to this: HOW? Blue and the crow looked out and they could easily see that they weren't trapped within the pier. If anything, they'd want to stay away from the pier, it being a fishing dock and all, so what was this about? It'll soon be late enough for people within the city to wake up, but Blue needed some more people aware of this.

Some Gem, and Pony people.


~~~~~~


The winter day was a sight to behold over at the barn house. The fields, despite it being colder, did get hit with a very slight warm spell that made the snow more solid. With soft snow falling down in small clusters, it made it perfect packing snow. With some chill time, some of the Ponies came over to visit the Gems for some snow fun. Here, Rarity, Steven, and Connie were enjoying some snow sculpting, and the two were busily at work with making their little snow sculpture. Nearby, Peridot and Ruby were actually modeling for them, with Ruby balancing Peridot in the palm of her hand, and Peridot on one foot, and holding a star in her hand. It's a cute, and fun idea for a winter day.

"And ... Just. about ... done!" Rarity announced. On the word, Peridot simply jumped off of Ruby's hand, seeing the mirror sculpture of them both. Ruby and Peridot looked it over bit by bit, Peridot scratching her chin and Ruby walking around it.

"Come on, let's get a picture!" Steven said. Nearby, sitting on a seat, was a small camera they were going to use, curtesy of Rarity. Steven and Connie stood together over by their creation. However, while they were at the snow sculpture, Peridot had the camera, and she didn't know much about it. She did had a list of instructions though for how one of these earth cameras worked.

"Okay, you aim. get the right adjustment, and ..."

"Uh, Peridot? you have it -"

Steven was a little too late to warn her. One click, and Peridot was suddenly flashed in the face. Her eyes kinda bugged out thanks to the flash, and she was stuck blinded for a tiny bit, dropping the camera, and trying to regain herself. Ruby, having more experience on Earth and what not, got the camera turned around, and took the picture. A good photo finish, though Peridot needed to get her own eyes together.

"You okay, Peridot?" Connie asked.

"Ack! They should put a warning label on this vision capture machines!"

"You mean cameras?"

"Whatever! Oh, my vision spheres," groaned Peridot, rubbing her eyes from under her visors. It honestly was no simple toy if it had that kind of sudden flash on it. Still, even with that crazy flash, the picture in the end did come out rather nicely after it was developed.

"Well darling, it is a nice little photo op.," commented Rarity, as she looked at the picture in question. As they were going on with the picture, Connie suddenly felt her phone vibrate. 
Connie was quick to answer her phone.

"Hello? Oh, hey Fluttershy - Ok, ok, slow down! Deep breaths, deep breaths ... Aha ... Wha? You sure? ... Ok, got it. Be right there."

At this point, Peridot got her eyes properly adjusted and back to normal, as Connie got their attention.

"I think we got a problem."


~~~~~~


Down at the pier, things had become more apparent for the dead fish at the dock. Many people from Beach City were now up, and a number of them were out at the docks at this point. In the daylight it was far easier to see the full extent of this fish slaughter scene. The pile itself was packed over around the pier, being washed up underneath the walkways, reaching out up to forty feet from shore. Seagulls were still in abundance, and by the time Connie, Steven, Peridot, Ruby, and Rarity arrived, so was a few of the other Gems and ponies.

For an exact list on who was there, there was Sadie, Onion and his father, Greg, Buck, Jenny, Sour Cream, Amethyst, Fulgurite, Bismuth, Sapphire, Blue and his crow, Twilight, and Fluttershy.

"Hey dad, what's going on?" Steven called, as they hurried over to see the situation.

"It kinda speaks for itself," said Greg, and indeed it did. Kinda hard to ignore literal tons of sardines filling up the pier of all places. Fluttershy they noted was a bit shell shocked, her hooves tugging and stroking her mane in a worried sort of manor.

"What in the world?" Rarity gasped, covering her mouth with her hooves upon seeing the fish.

"Is this a seasonal event on Earth, or is it a more numerous thing?" Peridot questioned.

"You kidding me, right?" Jenny commented.

"What, it's a honest question," retorted Peridot.

"No, it's not, Peridot. It's the first time something like this happened around here," Greg said, as Onion and Blue leaned in to see the fish, Blue sniffed close to the fish. Greg looked over to Onion's dad.

"Yellowtail, you think you can take one of your fishing nets and pull the fish out?" Greg asked. Yellowtail spoke to Greg, but rather than normal words, all that came out was a series of gibberish.

"Oh. Yeah, it would get caught in the docks," Greg said.

"Shooting down your own idea, Greg?" Fulgurite asked.

"Eh, no," Greg replied. Fulgurite looked confused, yet Amethyst nudged Fulgurite.

"Got an answer for me?"

"Yellowtail's just got his own intelligible chit chat. I call it "Onion talk"," Amethyst said. Sapphire peered over the edge of the dock to the fish under her, alongside Blue, as Ruby went over to her.

"Any ideas, babe?" Ruby asked.

"It won't take very long," Sapphire concluded.

"But how did it even happen? They may not be Equestrian fish, but ANY fish wouldn't drive themselves to do this," Twilight noted.

"I'm not entirely sure. I saw this as a possibility, but I'd never guess fate will take this path," Sapphire replied. The crow gave a sudden squawk, as one fish actually breached the water, hitting Blue in the muzzle. Blue stumbled back, laying on his back as the sardine flopped about on the dock. The crow grabbed it, and tossed it into deeper water.

"Wait. You saw this happening? How?" Sadie asked.

"I have the ability to see into the future."

"Why didn't you warn anybody then?"

"It's just a possibility I see. The chances of this are extremely low," Sapphire explained.

"Better than your dog howling its head off all morning," Sour Cream said.

"That was you making that racket?" Steven realized, looking at Blue. All he got was a simple bark from Blue. More gibberish blabbered on from Yellowtail's mouth, the tone more irritated and upset.

"No need to fret, Yellowtail. Twilight, if you wouldn't mind lending over some of your magic," Sapphire said.

"Say no more," Twilight said. She knew where this was going, and she went right over to the edge of the dock. It was a basic spell she can handle well, and her horn began to glow. A purple aura spread out from under the dock, around the fish, and everybody else stayed off the dock. While the weight was hard to do, she just managed to lift up the hundreds of fish upward in the air. She gathered the fish into a sort of giant ball, and she started to shake up the ball so any live fish could get out and swim away. Amongst the hundreds, about fifty live fish got out and swam off, while the rest of the fish were loaded up onto a nearby fish steamer (where else can she put it?). Yellowtail wouldn't have to go fishing for a while. After that was taken care of, the glowing ceased, and Twilight gave a sigh of relief as she walked back inland. Some of the crowd applauded her as she went in, but Buck looked out to the sea at the other fish ...

"Alright then. The fish are taken care of, and we handled some fishing while we're at it," Twilight said.

"Poor things," said Fluttershy.

"Don't count it out yet," Buck suddenly said, pointing out to the waters. Everyone on the boardwalk just watched, as the fifty living fish suddenly high-tailed it right back to the shallow waters! These fish had a ton more room, but they weren't leaving the pier. Now the situation was a little bit suspicious. Blue hopped into the water to try and spook the fish back out to the sea, but it wasn't working. The sardines only swam in circles like they were in a tank.

"They came back?" Connie wondered.

It did seem so, and looking down below, the fish tried to keep themselves as far inland as possible while still being in the frigid water. Something was indeed wrong here, and Sapphire herself was seeing a number of things that could happen from this.

"Something's keeping them here," Sapphire concluded.

"Something? What sort of something?" Ruby asked. Sapphire didn't specify the issue here, but it was clear that something's about to happen. She gave her future vision a sort of quick check, just to be sure. Different sorts of futures came around to Sapphire's mind, though unlike her fusion with Garnet, these seemed a bit more absolute than varied - from mundane to completely obscure. Sapphire kept calm, though she was quick to pick a more obvious choice. In this case, it was pretty much mundane, and nothing too odd happening after that.

"Not sure. But it'll be alright," Sapphire said, as Onion looked down to the fish again, this time bringing out a fishing hook from one of the boats, seeing if he could catch one of them. However ...

"You sure about that?" Amethyst questioned.

"I am."

"Then what do you make of that?"

The purple Gem aimed a finger up towards where the sun is, but this time something began to show. Only now did any of them notice something else up in the sky, moving up towards the sun. None of them noticed this odd thing beforehand, mainly because it actually had a mirror texture to it, reflecting off the sky to avoid detection. As it moved to the sun, a odd shadow began to get casted over Beach City, coming in from the south and heading up north. Those standing at the pier went off inside apart from Blue and his crow. The shadow came in fairly fast, and didn't stop until the object covered up the sun. For a brief moment, the city was left in the dark, but then that same object had either activated or opened up, because light did eventually came in. However, the light was not just a typical light, and instead the light was a blue aura. Everything around, no matter the color, had a tint of blue on them now! Everyone, regardless of them being there or not, was quick to notice the blue light now covering up the entire Beach City area, and well beyond that. No one seemed to be hurt or suffering any odd affects from the light, but they were still puzzled all the same. Blue and his crow just stood there for a moment or two, contemplating what happened and if they should be scared of this or not. As for the people and Gems, it took them a bit to get themselves outside as well, their bodies all having a tint of blue hue in the new light.

"WHOA. Wicked light show," Sour Cream noted, looking around himself. Outta the crowd, only Sapphire seemed to be anywhere normal in color. Speaking of, the Gem was just left in her own state of worry. The chances of the fish coming to shore in such a way was a rare thing, yes, but then for THIS to happen? She was stopped in her tracks. She was speechless ...

She was frozen.

"Whoa! Ok, I got you," Sadie said, quickly grabbing Sapphire, and pulling her up. Her troubles ended up making a bunch of ice turn up around her, and she would've stayed frozen if Sadie hadn't pulled her out of it. Her skin felt very cold in Sadie's grip, Sapphire having a sort of gritted frown on her face - a sign of deep distress.

"Sapphire?" Ruby asked, troubled herself. Sapphire didn't answer at first, but she eventually gave a sigh, and turned to the crowd.

"No need to worry everyone. Just go about your day. The Crystal Gems will sort this out," Sapphire advised. Some weren't too sure, but Ruby will believe whatever Sapphire would say, and was all down for it.

"Alright, Let's do it," Ruby said. Sapphire saw she was ready to grab her hand, bringing her in for a fusion dance, but before Ruby could start, Sapphire backed up.

"That won't be needed, Ruby. It'll be alright. How about you introduce Rubidot to everyone, instead?" Sapphire said. Ruby was a little taken aback by this, mainly for Sapphire refusing to fuse up for Garnet. Then again, Rubidot hadn't shown up in a LONG time. However, Buck, with his open mind, was beginning to sense something else going on with the situation. However, Peridot did blush up on hearing the idea.

"Wha?"

"It's okay, Peridot. I'll go and search the peak myself," Sapphire said. Before anyone could protest, Sapphire rushed off on her way to investigate the situation. Guess they couldn't really argue with her on that decision. Onion, Blue, and Buck took a sec to watch her go.

"Rubidot. Another fusion?" Rarity asked. Ruby and Peridot took a glance to eachother before Peridot cleared her throat.

"An accidental fusion, admittedly. But, that's not the main issue here: let's go and have a look around," Peridot quickly said. The Gems did go off to do just that, along with the ponies as well, though Steven stuck around with the others. Blue went over to Steven, a little confused on this odd light, and what might actually happen around here. Guess they're going to check things out today.


~~~~~~


Steven, Connie, and Amethyst went off on their own way, checking around the areas in town for some sort of clue to this odd blue light and what that was all about. The trio checked out over at the big donut first, though it was probably because Amethyst just wanted a bite to eat mainly. The light didn't seem to alter much inside the place, mainly because of the regular lights inside. In the building, Lars was standing inside, chilling at the counter, earphones in and working on a crossword to pass the time. Sadie didn't seem anywhere around yet, or she could be over in the back and out of sight.

"YO, carb me up with some donuts," Amethyst said, as she and her friends came in. Lars didn't seem to hear them at first, and Amethyst was quick to notice. She got her arm out to alter it into a claw, but when she did that, she got a good look at her own arm. Turned out (and same thing could be said for Connie and Steven), they were still blue!

"What the? I'm still blue? I can't go home like this!" Connie realized. She promised her parents to keep out of trouble, but how would they react to see her completely blue?! Funny enough, that scream got Lars's attention, and he looked up to the three blue people showing up in the Big Donut.

"Oh, hey. New body paint?" Lars said.

"No, did you even look outside? It's blue everywhere out there," Amethyst replied, thumb aimed to outside. Apparently Lars hadn't noticed anything, since he was a bit preoccupied with his own little work on crosswords.

"What the? Oh no, not another freaky day!" groaned Lars. He wasn't much of a fan of this magic stuff, and it's been a long time since a freaky day happened. To him, that was a good thing. All the same, Lars just got to his work.

"Ok, what do you want?" Lars asked.

"Gimme all your jelly-filled donuts," Amethyst said with greedy lips. Lars, annoyed with the order, just got the whole tray out to give to her. Easier on his part, and easier on Amethyst. Here came the even odder part. So, the light turned things blue, and those that end up blue are stuck blue. But, when Amethyst grabbed the tray, her hand just needed to touch Lars's hand for the other piece to reveal itself.

Lars's skin began to turn blue! In no time at all, Lars turned as blue as they were, skin, hair and all.

"What the - HEY!"

"Uh oh."

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I don't know what happened," Connie said.

"I don't care how it happened, FIX IT! Now I'm a freak too!" Lars demanded. Of course none of them knew how. One extra thing was that nothing that was alive seemed to be turning blue, including the tray of donuts Amethyst had.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amethyst questioned.

"Not now, Amethyst. Come on, let's keeping looking," Connie suggested. Amethyst gave a short glare towards Lars, before she left with the others. Lars laid his head down on the counter.

"And it was going so well, too.," Lars groaned, beginning to feel oddly chilly ...


~~~~~~


Up over at the lighthouse, Peridot, Twilight, Fulgurite, and Ruby were just arriving to see if they can figure things out from here. Any light, or spell, or whatever, would get a pretty good aim from up here. As with many places at this point, the lighthouse was mainly a hint of blue, but the light inside the lighthouse was on, and removing the extra blue light from the inside, so the light from outside might've not affected it.

"Okay, so, just be calm, everypony, and we'll be just fine."

"You sure we have to talk to this weirdo? He assaulted Spike last time we met this guy," Fulgurite asked.

"And we gave him a good talking to after that, I'm sure he'll be a bit more reasonable this time," Twilight said, as she knocked on the door.

"You nearly blasted him to the moon with your magic beam."

"Like I said, maybe a bit more reasonable."

No one messes with her baby dragon and gets away scot free. The four waited outside a bit more, awaiting for the regular visitor to the lighthouse to come down. After a bit, they began to hear someone come down, but he didn't open up the door straight away. They began to hear some sort of extra noise, like a zipper or something, and only then did the door open up. There stood Ronaldo, but in a radioactive jump suit ...

"... I don't even wanna know," Ruby commented.

"Stay away! You'll spread the virus in here!" Ronaldo demanded, voice slightly muffled from the suit. So that's what he put together from this?

"Virus - what? Oh, nevermind. Ronaldo, had you noticed anything odd before the blue light? anything at all?" Twilight asked. If they weren't allowed inside, they could at least ask him. Ruby and Fulgurite were hoping that they wouldn't end up having to listen to Ronaldo's more crazy ideas today, but Peridot and Twilight were more into the sort of thing. Ronaldo though wanted to test a little something first.

"Maybe. How do I know you're not trying to trick me just so I get turned into one of you zombies?!"

"... Zombies? Seriously? Ronaldo, zombies don't talk, nor do they knock on the door politely, and wait for you to answer," Twilight explained.

"Hm ... Point taken. But, before you come in -" Ronaldo suddenly closed the door, and they could hear him going upstairs. After a minute or two, Ronaldo came back down, but with a unaffected mug. "- place your hoof on this."

Their only reasonable guess here was that it was to be sure this sort of thing wasn't contact-spread on anything they touch. To calm Ronaldo's nerves, Twilight placed her hoof firmly on the mug, just for nothing to happen to it. Ronaldo didn't want to take off his suit, but he did quickly get them in fast, and closing the door before anymore of the blue light could come in.

"Oh great," Ruby groaned.

Ronaldo brought them right up to his main base of operations, right at the top of the tower. The place was about the same as it has been: all sorts of conspiracies and other junk around Ronaldo was trying to study and crack. Ruby had a minor memory of the place from a long time ago as Garnet, but the others weren't as deep in with any memory of the place. They go on and looked around the place, trying to find what clue could be behind this sort of blue light. As they were looking, Peridot stopped when she glanced over to one of Ronaldo's many conspiracy studies, finding a rather familiar symbol of diamonds marked up. This picture was what Ronaldo made himself, but not in the current form Gems had been using: leaving a space for one more diamond to be placed in. A number of other schematics were made out, one of which included a picture of a jet plane with the four diamonds in full color on the tail. Red marker circled the bottom diamond symbol, and made an arrow aimed at the current symbol marked up on his drawn out current piece of work ...

"So, Ronaldo. You're someone who studies all sorts of odd things, right? Have any idea what might be going on?" Fulgurite asked, snapping Peridot out of it, and having her catch up with them. Ronaldo tried to get his head wrapped around the idea.

"There's many possibilities that this could be. I've managed to find something interesting before that may bring forth the origin of this blue plague, check it out!" Ronaldo explained, going through his various pictures. He did eventually find a particular picture to show them, though the picture showed one of Rose's cannons conveniently aimed up to the sun. No, it wasn't convincing, and they knew how the cannon worked. However, other pictures did end up coming out, and falling onto the floor, one of which was quick to catch Twilight's eye. Her magic levitated the picture up for her to see. This picture showed a shot of Yellow Pearl during her visit through Beach City a while back. This one showed Yellow Pearl outside Sour Cream's house, the Gem trying to get her limb enhancer back. What was interesting wasn't the overall picture, but what hid behind her.

"Hey guys, come and have a look at this," Twilight said. Fulgurite, Ruby, and Peridot went over to see, and they needed a bit before they saw what Twilight was seeing. Something in the picture seemed to slip away just behind the house. The figure looked very blurred, the colors a bit hard to tell. However, Twilight could make out the unmistakable colors of dark purple, and a strand of sea green. Fulgurite, Ruby, and Peridot weren't too familiar, but Twilight found it rather eerie. She immediately brought the photo over to Ronaldo.

"When did you take this?" Twilight asked, almost immediately. 

"That? Just over a week ago, when another sentient rock visited our world," Ronaldo said. Twilight looked at the picture again.

"You mean "Gem"," Peridot corrected. Twilight got her own mind to work, and took a glance outside before nodding her head.

"I think we got a lead. Come on, let's show the others," Twilight said, bringing the picture with her.

"Give that back, I'm still working with it," Ronaldo said, reaching for it. Suddenly, Fulgurite stopped him when she jumped in between them both, and reaching for his head. Ronaldo was quick to back up, worried that Fulgurite would rip off his helmet to expose him of this "blue plague" going on as he puts it.

"Sorry, Ronaldo, but I think it'll work better with us. You go back to your little theories, and we'll work with ours," Fulgurite said, as they left. Ronaldo lost one picture for him to work with, but at least he wasn't affected by the blue light.


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, back over at the beach, Blue was going on his own little look about. Any real clue with this odd blue light had actually gone right over his head, the pup not actually trying to find clues. Instead, Blue took the time to check out outside of Beach City, see what he could find. This blue light however was getting a bit buggy to the pup. Winter hadn't been a problem for him in terms of cold, but now he was getting a chill in his fur. Not normal for a dog like him to handle. The countryside snow was thick, and for the dog, almost to his stomach. Blue had to get his legs to better work, and hop along to keep going through the snow. As for the crow, who had perched up in a nearby tree, the snow was not a problem, and the blue light didn't affect it in coldness like Blue had it. The crow saw that Blue was having a bit of trouble in his wander about, so the bird called for him to come over towards the tree. Blue looked and saw the snow wasn't as thick, and he was quick to go over. Blue shook off some snow from his fur and paws, as the crow flew down to ground level. Blue grown to tolerate the bird for the time being. As he was sitting there, one whiff of the air began to pick up a rather odd scent in the air. Over the smell of the crow over by him, and the land around him, there was a unique scent of fur, and Crystalline stone. A odd mixture only matched by himself. Blue sniffed the air a little more until he got the general direction over towards a area of bushes. Strange, and curious to the gem dog. However, looking more closely, the snow looked a bit too much for him to just go through and see. Lucky for him, the crow was there to help him out. After a few little barks to talk to the bird, the crow took flight in the general direction. The crow flew up in the air for a bit over the area to get a better view, and the sharp-eyed bird looked down to see what was going on. The crow found a good perch in the bushes, just enough to be hidden yet still see what was what. 

Looking here, there actually was somepony there, and even stranger, the pony did NOT look blue shaded. She had a sort of skin tight body suit, not dissimilar to the designs worn on Homeworld Gems, down to the diamond symbol on her flank. There was a horn on her head, exposed to allow her to use her magic, and her purple and green tail flowed out behind her. She brought her hoof up to her mouth, and started speaking into it.

"Star Gem reporting to diamond control, come in diamond control."

"Diamond control here. Status on the earth inhabitants?"

"Inactive. They're informed to keep to their own lives. They're not involved."

"As hoped. Status on the Gems?"

"They're investigating the current conditions of the blue light."

"Affirmative. Prepare to return to base, Star Gem."

"Rodger that."

After hearing that, the crow flew off, and went on back to Blue. And once there, the crow squawked up on what it had just heard from this odd pony. Blue felt a bit troubled, for if this pony had something to do with, then this pony had a ton of power in her arsenal. Taking one look over back in the general direction, Blue saw the same pony beginning to gallop away through the snow. The pony didn't notice Blue at first, but she was going right to him, and it didn't take long before she jumped over Blue and the crow, and stopped to only then see them both. Blue got a good look at the hoofed worker, the pony's purple eyes locked onto his. Blue began to whimper, his ears tucked back to show submission. The pony in question didn't take Blue, nor his crow, as an actual threat, so she turned and went on her way. Blue watched her go, and when she was far enough away, he too went off on his way over back to Beach City. This was probably important for them to know about.

During his own run, Blue soldiered on through the thick snow again, taking the exact same path he took to get here to make things easier on himself. The crow stuck around with him, actually riding on his back. Even if the cold didn't affect it as much, it still was chilly for the bird to take flight again. Just as well, Blue wasn't enjoying this cold any better. The sooner he can get this done, the sooner he can get home to a nice warm fire.


~~~~~~


"Wait ... Is that? Starlight?" Rarity gasped in shock. After getting the picture from Ronaldo, Twilight and her company went down to Dewey Park to meet up with some of the others. Twilight was quick to show the picture over to Fluttershy and Rarity, who were quick to recognize the signature colors of the unicorn that nearly brainwashed them. The others didn't had too much of a clue, but if it meant a lead to this little mishap, then so be it.

"You think she's actually behind this problem?" Amethyst asked, pointing to the blue light covering the sun.

"Right now, it's the only lead we have. And she might be able to handle this kind of magic. She took away our cutie marks after all," Twilight said.

"She WHAT?!" Peridot gasped, hands over her own cutie mark. Last thing she wanted taken was her special gift. 

"I thought we agreed to not mention that little event again, Twilight," Rarity said. She had a horrible time without her Cutie Mark, especially when she couldn't figure out what was good and what was bad in design.

"No we didn't," commented Fluttershy.

"Regardless, we gotta find this Starlight pony and see if she can reverse this ... Wish I knew where she was," Connie concluded.

And right on time: Blue barked up a storm as he charged in fast. No way, no how, is Blue going to keep his discovery under wraps. Blue didn't stop running until he was at about five feet from them, skidding to a stop. His crow friend was quick to join him, landing over by the Gem dog. Fluttershy went over to him first, as Blue began to bark his message to Fluttershy. Being a pony to communicate with animals, understanding Blue was no problem for her. Blue barked up where the location was, and the crow squawked what it seem and heard from the pony.

"Well, what'd they say?" Steven asked.

"O-Oh my. I-I think they found Starlight," Fluttershy revealed, obviously worried.

"What?! She's here? Where?" Twilight gasped. The group now up in arms, and Blue quickly got the overall location down pact, and telling the message through Fluttershy. After that, Blue was quick to go off back in the direction he came from. Blue told his crow to stay behind this time, not wanting him hurt like Steven wouldn't want anyone in Beach City hurting.

"Come on, maybe we can catch her," Twilight said urgently, taking off into the air to follow Blue. If they can catch Starlight Glimmer, maybe they can get her to reverse whatever hex that is casted up on the sun here. Before anyone else could go off, someone else began to come over to them.

"Oh hey. What's up Buck?" Fulgurite asked.

"Glad I found you. Any of you seen Sapphire?" Buck asked. Now that it was mentioned, they didn't seem to actually know where she was.

"She went off to the peak, remember? She told everyone back at the pier," Peridot reminded. Buck didn't seem convinced though.

"You sure she went there for that?"

"What do you mean? She wouldn't lie to us," Ruby said. Buck took off his shades to show a concern look in his eyes.

"Ruby. You and Sapphire are very close, to have Garnet together for so long. But I think Sapphire knows something that we don't. She wouldn't just insist to stay unfused like that, even if it's not needed to deal with this blue light. She also suggested a possible other half for you before she left, Ruby."

The tones had shifted. Buck had a very proper point there. They looked around to eachother a bit, all keeping that in mind.

"You don't think she ..."

"She did it for your sake, Ruby," concluded Buck.

That was enough to convince them of the situation.

"Split up: Twilight, you take a group to go after Starlight, I'll go for Sapphire," Ruby urgently instructed. They needed to get their game on now before anything could go wrong, and thanks to Buck, Sapphire's getting her help, no matter if she wants it or not.

Soon it was decided: Amethyst, Connie, Steven, Blue, and Twilight went after Starlight. And Ruby, Peridot, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Fulgurite are going after Sapphire. As the groups went off, Buck got back on his shades.

Let's see if it works.


~~~~~~


It didn't take too long until Blue got them over to the main spot where he last saw Starlight Glimmer. Apart from some extra tracks, there wasn't much else changed in the spot, but Starlight was moving off last time he saw her, so who knows where she had ended up by now. One good thing about it though was that she left a bit of good tracks leading off away from the scene, so they had that to work with anyway. Twilight flew up into the bitter cold air to see, but she didn't seem to catch anypony around anywhere. Amethyst too changed into a bird and flew up to see. Wherever Blue saw Starlight, she was gone now.

"See anything up there?"

"Not a thing. If she was here, she's gone now. Still, we got to find where she went," Twilight sighed, as she and Amethyst landed down by them. Steven began to feel a little unfair to just jump on somepony that so happened to be here.

"Wait a minute. Twilight? You sure it was Starlight who actually did this?" Steven asked, trying to be fair about the situation at hand.

"Maybe she did, or maybe not. But why would she be here? And during this blue light, no less? Sounds a bit suspicious."

"But, doesn't that sound a bit unfair? We don't know if Starlight did it or not," Steven pointed out.

"We're not concluding that she did this, but the least we can do is ask. Come on, Steven, she can't go too far," Twilight encouraged. Blue seemed to agree, as he was already following the trail left behind by her. The scent was a bit hard to come by, but the tracks were clear enough where it wasn't much of a problem. Steven hadn't met Starlight before, but they might as well at least get her help in this if Twilight thinks so. Blue was a little bit ahead at this point, his nose to the snow under him (call it habit), and following the trail. Suddenly though, Blue stopped, both ears up and at attention. He took a few sniffs to the ground again, but this time his ears tucked back in worry.

"What is it boy? Find something?" Steven asked. Instead, Blue suddenly bolted behind the group, trying to get them to move away from the location. Blue was sending that something was very wrong here, and he wasn't having everyone else in the line of fire to find out what that is. Blue even went to pulling on Steven's coat, but they didn't get the idea straight away. Blue didn't mind humans, but it's this that he just can't stand.

"Blue, what's wrong?" Steven asked. Blue howled, and ducked down with his front paws covering his head. Obviously there isn't enough time to get through to them. Twilight turned to go back to the trail, but when she did turn, she took a good look at the land ahead ...

Something's moving.

"Uh, guys?"

"What?"

Twilight simply motioned towards the moving snow in front of them. It was rather far off, but moving in fast! And, before they could say or do anything else ...

*BAM*

In a flash, something huge exploded out of the ground below in a flurry of ice and snow. The group ended up buried, popping their heads out of the snow to see what the heck even happened.

Enter the opposition.

The group were in sight of something unreal. Twenty feet long from tip to tip in, and completely armored in brittle scales, a giant predator had found them. Its scales were mainly blue, though the back was burning red hot. The others could even feel the heat from where they were, although five feet away in snow. It had dozens on dozens of insect like legs, each leg ending in a two toes foot with dagger claws. A set of skin wings spread open like a cobra's hood down the creature's neck. Its head stared them down through a set of large, bug eyes, with a mouth made up of three bony cutters on the bottom jaw, dagger-like teeth at the top, and a set of scissor pincers. It didn't look affected by the blue light, and even if it was, the heat it was producing made it no different anyway. The monster reared back, and gave a spine-chilling, otherworldly roar down at them. This was just so random to show up, and the others didn't know how to react at first.

"Didn't see that coming," Amethyst commented. They all snapped out of it when the large monster suddenly struck at them, its head darting down like a snake. They scrambled out of the way just in time, yet the impact split the group up; Blue and Twilight to the left; Amethyst, Connie, and Steven to the right. Being out in the open, there wasn't much room for any cover, as the monster targeted the humans amongst the group. This beast was angry, and relentless.

"Dude, incoming!" Amethyst said, getting her whip out fast, and wrapping the end around them to pull them away, just before the beast could swallow them both in another lunge. Amethyst tried to whip the creature back, but her whips just bounced off the creature's hard scales like it was nothing. Twilight quickly took to the air and got her magic to try and fight the beast off with some magic beams. Better distraction, but about as much damage as Amethyst's whips. This gave the trio time to get some cover behind the nearby bushes, as Twilight kept the monster busy. Blue was quick to join them behind the bushes as well. As Twilight kept trying to get some damage, one shot actually got on the beast's underbelly. Turned out the underbelly was soft, and the magic beam got a slight cut in ...

It was bleeding.

"What is that thing?" Connie asked.

"Beats me. It's not a Gem, that's for sure," Amethyst replied. Since when do Gems actually bleed? They all knew Twilight couldn't fight the thing by herself, and the monster was getting more upset. Steven needed a plan, but Amethyst got her own idea.

"Steven, why don't we introduce our extra friend to that monster?" Amethyst offered. With her hand extended, Steven knew right away what she meant by that. Steven decided to try, and with a quick grab, they both quickly fused up. Looks like Smoky is coming out to play. Connie stepped back, surprised they would jump to this to handle the problem so quickly. The monster found them, and gave another roar.

"Alright, bug boy, you messed with the wrong girl," Smoky said, getting out her Yo-Yo to fight it. While ready to fight, the creature stopped mid lunge on seeing Smoky. It could smell human meat, but with a mix of rock, so it was a little unsure. As for Connie, there was no problem. This small distraction though got Smoky in the fighting zone to protect Connie, the Yo-Yo slamming into the beast's face. The hit stung the beast, and its anger quickly transferred over to Smoky.

"K, Connie, stay back and leave this worm to me," Smoky advised. Before Connie could stop her, Smoky rushed right in to help Twilight. The giant worm itself raised its wings out wide, flapping them down to rear back for a longer strike, this time targeting Smoky.

"Nice for you, but I already got me a big fan," Smoky joked. Smoky got up her Yo-Yo into a strong spin. With the beast's wings spread open, the wind created from the Yo-Yo was quick to lift the creature higher than normal, just enough to bring it off balance, and toppling onto its back. The beast bellowed on the sudden fall, as Smoky smirked with triumph. Twilight flew over to her, but the beast was far from out, spinning back onto its many legs. Its eyes locked over to Connie and Blue nearby.

"Oh no you don't!" Smoky yelled, her Yo-Yo wrapping around the body. However, something started to happen to the Yo-Yo weapon. The back of this creature was so hot, that Smoky's Yo-Yo actually melted! Not to mention the string was quick to catch on fire. Smoky was quick to let go before it could burn her hand, and the beast reared back again. How hot does this thing have to be to boil a Yo-Yo that fast?! The beast struck forward, much harder, and Twilight had to get a magic shield up before anyone could get hit. She did managed to, but the force was very strong for them both, and enough to push them back hard! Twilight stayed standing, but Smoky's foot struck a rock hidden under the snow, and she was suddenly toppling head over heel. Any predator can recognize a fallen victim, and this was no different. Smoky ended up on her back, and the animal was quick to rush for her, nearly trampling Twilight in the process. Like a slithering snake, the giant insect wrapped around Smoky, and got its pincers and jaws right in front of her. Connie, Twilight, and Blue were immediately starting to panic. Connie raced out blindly to help her, but there was not enough time to help her!

It sank its jaws and pincers right into Smoky Quartz's body!

"SMOKY!" Twilight and Connie gasped. The moment seemed to had frozen in place: the beast around Smoky with its mouth clamped down on the Gem fusion. There wasn't any sound, and they thought that it was a one-hit kill with what kind of killer weapons the creature had on it. Smoky was frozen herself, seeing the beast wrap its jaws open, feeling the sharp pincers in her pudgy body ...

"... Heh ... heeheehaHAHAHAHAHA! NO - HAHA - STOP!"

Even with the apparently sharp pincers, it wasn't enough to penetrate the chubby body of this Smoky Quartz. Each time the creature shook, or gnaw, or try to get a chunk out of her, it would just jiggle her belly, and make her laugh like crazy. The beast even pushed her around in the snow, but it wasn't having much affect on her in terms of pain. Twilight, Connie, and Blue did not expect this sort of result, but they were relieved that she was alright at least. Eventually, the beast just stopped, disappointed, and giving Smoky a minute to catch her breath. The beast left a slight dent, but no puncture marks anywhere on her. A groan from the beast said that the taste wasn't good either. It moved away from the fusion, and looked over to Connie and Blue again, a hiss escaping its tired jaws. Connie didn't had anything to work with, no weapon to use, no defense against it. Twilight got in the way though, bringing up a shield to protect her. The beast took a moment to rear back, hood open, but the beast began to sense something within the air. It brought its eyes to the sky, to the blue light of the sun.

It was fading away.

The beast began to feel a change in heat, and so, it began to retreat away under the snow to avoid the warming sun. As quickly as it came, the light started to return to normal up high in the sky. The blue light began to go away, and as such, so did the blue skin on each of the creatures infected by it. As strange as it began, it was over. Connie, Blue, and Twilight quickly went over to Smoky Quartz. Or least, the two people that made up Smoky. Tired, but giddy, Amethyst and Steven were laying in the snow, all smiles.

"You two alright?" Connie asked.

"Oh, yeah we're fine," Steven giggled, hands over where the beast was gnawing at earlier. Connie was very relieved on hearing that, and hugged Steven.

"Oh, Steven, don't scare me like that. I'm so sorry I couldn't help," Connie said.

"It's okay, really," Steven replied. Amethyst joined in on the hug as well, as Twilight came over.

"Well, we didn't find Starlight. But at least the light's gone. Here, let's head on back," Twilight suggested.

"But what about Starlight?" Amethyst asked. Twilight only had to aim her hoof to the mess nearby to make her point. Looking back, the footprints they were following were kinda lost in the scuffle. And even if Starlight was nearby, she would've been too far gone by now to even follow.

"Oh. Right."

Starlight Glimmer was an interesting concept, and by no means would they forget her, but they won't be able to find her now, thanks to the beast ruining their trail. Twilight did take one more look off away from the others, thinking on Starlight Glimmer again. She hadn't seen her since stopping her anti-cutie mark regime, and if she's running around here, now ...

Twilight just sighed. She'll have to come back later on, but for now, it's time they catch up with the others to help Sapphire. The blue light was gone, and that was plenty good already.


~~~~~~


"Yes ... This is the spot."

Alone, Sapphire had found the peak she promised the others she'll be in. The peak was quite a bit away from Beach City, and faced over towards the sea, and a forest just off inland behind her. The snow was a bit weaker here, and with the blue light now gone from the sky, Sapphire really had no real reason to be here anymore. The blue Gem was aware of this as well, as she was looking around to be sure that she was indeed alone. Far as she could see, and from her understanding, there wasn't any Gem, human, or pony around the area. Even with the blue light gone, it was something that kept them all busy, and away from her. For Sapphire, she took one more moment to check her Future Vision, to be sure. It didn't change much from when she last checked. What she wasn't aware of, was that Fulgurite was keeping an eye on her. Out of her group, Fulgurite arrived first, yet she kept out of sight to see what'll happen to her. Her main cover: some thick bushes nearby. Sapphire didn't seem to notice that anyone was there, and simply aimed her gaze up to the sky.

"Ok, Sapphire, what're you up to?" Fulgurite wondered, as she watched Sapphire. The blue Gem took some more time to look around in the sky above her, for some reason, as if expecting something to come down. As she was doing this, the others begin to catch up.

"Can't you wait for us for just a minute?" Ruby complained.

"Sshh, quiet," Fulgurite said, pointing out to Sapphire. They didn't really know what she was trying to do, but they kept an eye on her anyway, trying to see what'll happen.

Then they got it.

"There she is!" A voice suddenly called.

After just a while more, something started to appear around Sapphire, from apparently nowhere. Those hidden in the bushes didn't had any clue what was going on. Sapphire stayed completely still, and soon she was beginning to get surrounded by some other figures, apparently falling from the sky down to surround her. These figures looked like Rubies in a way, but much lighter in color. They all wore the typical Homeworld uniforms, though their diamonds were not blue, now yellow, but instead simply white. Where did these other Gems actually came from is unknown right now, yet Sapphire didn't even try to run away when they showed. Amongst them, there was another, more unique looking Gem amongst these Ruby look-alikes. This Gem had light gray skin, with a mix of light lavender. Her hair had a mix of purple, gray, and black, and it looked similar to a typical Quartz Gem in hair, though it did looked tossed to one side. Like the others, she had on a rather elite-looking Homeworld uniform, including visors over her eyes. Her gemstone was pitch black (despite the purple colors in her design), and located on her chest in a pentagon shape.

"So. You came in strength."

"You know I did. Are you the Crystal Gem Sapphire?" she asked.

"Correct," Sapphire responded.

"Right. And those other traitors of yours? Renegade Pearl, Bismuth, the Rose Quartz?" she questioned. Sapphire looked down to her feet.

"No others. There's only me."

"Eh? Really?" questioned the Gem, genuinely curious. Sapphire just nodded.

"Yes. They all died during our five thousand years here. None of us had enough experience here to survive -" Sapphire took a moment to wipe away a tear from her face. "- until I was only left."

"Oh ... Well, dang. K, squad, cuff her," she ordered.

"Yes, Onyx," they said, nodding to each other, and proceeding to close in on her. Those hiding were getting more and more troubled on what was going on, as the other Gems went right on, and held her down. Ruby especially wanted to go out and save her, but Rarity actually had the nerve to use her magic to keep her quiet and back out of sight. They clearly could see Sapphire didn't want them there for a reason.

"Ruby, hush. Maybe it won't be so bad, hehe," Rarity said quietly, trying her best to calm her down.

"Alright, Sapphire, you're under arrest for rebellion against Homeworld, and disobeying your Diamond," the leading Gem announced.

"M-Maybe it is that bad," Fluttershy squeaked. While they were scared, Ruby had a sudden realization moment.

Throughout the year, Sapphire kept putting Ruby away from her, more than usual, and putting her with a different Gem to get used to. It happened during her training, it happened on Homeworld, and it happened to form Rubidot. Ruby wondered why Sapphire would keep doing that to her, after being together for so long. In particular, she put her with Peridot time and time again, a Gem she, admittedly, grew more fond over time. Now they both could see why ...

"Goodbye, Ruby ..."

In a fit of rage, Ruby finally broke free from Rarity's magic restraint, but by the time she did, Onyx began to fiddle with her arm, a device on it that seemed to be a teleporter of some kind. By the time Ruby was finally running, the teleportation was activated. Ruby lunged to save her, but the teleport was too fast for her, and soon, she slammed into the Earth.

Onyx, Sapphire, and the squad were gone ...

"SAPPHIRE!!!!!!"
> The Albino Diamond PT1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yellow Diamond, over on Homeworld, stayed within her main chamber, and continued her typical work within her palace. It was a rather boring process, and as it had always been, the Diamond kept her planets in check. As far as anything interesting went, the only unique thing that did occur was the unexpected call from Onion, and that only really brought her nothing but gripe. Still, she figured that, perhaps, something had to happen one way or another, but it just hadn't come around just yet. With her Pearl gone for the moment, handling maintenance in the upper balcony, Yellow Diamond called up Blue Diamond for a chat.

"Hello, dear. Everything going well?"

"Not really. To be honest, nothing much had really occurred for me. And you?"

"I've gotten an interesting report actually, if that interests you."

And that did.

"Report? What sort of report?" Yellow Diamond asked. Blue Diamond shrunk her screen in order to show the report alongside her. The report was a simple one, and it mainly went over what had occurred down on Earth just a few hours prior, describing a sort of infectious, yet temporary blue neon light that had opened up down on the Crystal Gem Temple for a short time. The effects remained anonymous, aside from a slight chill to their skin. That wasn't the only report that came around, as an extra picture showed the same creature the Crystal Gems had fought within the blue light as well. It wasn't no attack, but it was something that Yellow Diamond found interested in anyway.

"I see. Well, Blue, do you think that we don't do as much as we should?" Yellow Diamond asked.

"What do you mean? You're a rather busy Diamond yourself, dear."

"But that's not much. The colonies aren't in any danger, the Crystal Gems don't come by very much, and we hadn't had very much incidents since the Diamond Dogs had been apprehended -"

"It's better that nothing catastrophic has happened. That just proves how in order everything is in. I'm sure you can appreciate that," Blue Diamond said. Yellow Diamond did not want to put her species at risk, surely. Yellow Diamond just sighed and nodded in agreement to her fellow diamond, but before Yellow Diamond could take away the call ...

"M-My Diamond!"

Yellow Pearl came in, quite a bit panicked in her tone. It wasn't uncommon to see Yellow Pearl look panicked over anything, although she looked a bit troubled more than normal. Here, Yellow Pearl rushed in to meet with her Diamond, trying to get her words out correctly, but she was in quite a freak out state of mind, and wasn't getting it out right.

"Pearl? What's the trouble? Can't you see I'm busy here," Yellow Diamond pointed out.

"S-Sorry, but, my Diamond, there is -"

"Whatever it is, Pearl, can't it wait?" Yellow Diamond cut in. Yet, unfortunately, the exact thing in question could not wait for Yellow Pearl to finish as it came right in. The doors swung open, and in stepped the adversary.

The figure was just taller than Yellow Diamond herself was, only taller by an inch or two without the hair, which was spiked upward and to the back of her head. Her hair was pure white, and her skin a gleaming silver. Her eyes, irises diamond shaped, were a very faint light blue, as they stared Yellow Diamond down. She looked very formal as well, with her base outfit matching with Yellow Diamond, but also having a nice flair flowing behind her from her neck, like a scarf of sorts, or a cape. Her color scheme seemed to be extremely lacking, as it mainly was made up of greys, silvers, and whites, and her own gemstone was a nice silver as well, right on her forehead. On her chest emblemed the diamond authority universal symbol, of all four diamonds: white, yellow, blue, and pink. Yellow Diamond, and by extension Blue Diamond, both looked on in sheer shock on who actually decided to just show up. There was only one Gem with that kind of gemstone ...

White Diamond!

"Surely, you weren't thinking on holding my arrival, Yellow Diamond? Or did you forget on who is who here?" White Diamond accused firmly. Yellow Diamond actually jumped to her feet.

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't receive any call on your arrival."

"Don't need one," White Diamond simply stated. Obviously it was clear on her mentality here. It was then that White Diamond saw Blue Diamond on the other screen.

"Ah, Blue Diamond, you're here too. How about you both meet me outside? I have a few questions for both of you," White Diamond instructed, as she was walking off and away. What exactly did she had in mind was unclear, but the diamonds knew better than to defy an elite of elites ...

.......

After a short while, Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond were on outside with White Diamond at front. The two Diamonds both waited quietly as White Diamond, her hands behind her back, looked over Homeworld around her. Any Gem within eyesight gave her their respects, as White Diamond expected from them to really do. Still, White Diamond had her questions, and the first one came up when she notice the new statue within the city of the Osicone incident.

"What is this? I didn't ask for this to be built here."

"It's a memorial, White Diamond."

"Memorial you say. For what exactly?"

"I-It's for the battle against the Osicone," Blue Diamond said. White Diamond did not look convinced at all. It was then her eyes drifted down to both Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl, both worried on their own levels.

"You two still kept your Pearls?"

"There's nothing wrong with them," Blue Diamond answered. White Diamond got down to get knees, judging them both. Yellow Pearl tried to look alright, but was in a cold sweat, and Blue Pearl couldn't even look at her. White Diamond's fingers graced over them, and even lifted up Blue Pearl's hair to see her singular eye. The diamond moved her hand away after that.

"Might I suggest some new Pearls to serve you. These two look rather ... tacky. " White Diamond suggested, standing up. Both Pearls felt hurt on being called tacky, and while Yellow Pearl would like to correct, they couldn't say anything against her.

"Where's your Pearl?" Yellow Diamond asked suddenly.

"You mean my pearls. They're waiting back on my space palace. I don't need them going everywhere with me, unlike you two, apparently. Did you tell them to follow you?"

"... Well, no, but -"

"There you go. And I also want to ask about my Rupee. I do believe you owe me her," White Diamond brought up. Neither Diamond had heard of that name since the first initial visits by the Crystal Gems, and as far as they know, she was not around.

"She actually got poofed, White Diamond."

"... By. Who?" White Diamond asked, nice and slow so each word wouldn't be missed. Yellow diamond took a glance at Blue diamond before she cleared her throat.

"Sources are unclear. We found her stone in tact, but she has yet to come back," Yellow Diamond answered. White Diamond rolled her eyes.

"I ask one project done, and something just happens to go wrong. Have one of your Gems fetch it for me."

"Y-yes White Diamond," Blue Diamond said. With a small motion, Blue Pearl went on back to get the gemstone. She might as well go and do that, even if the order wasn't a direct one from her own diamond. White Diamond looked over to them both.

"Now, you two, I do have one particular subject that I do want to bring to your attention," White Diamond said.

"And what's that?"

"... Earth."

Of course, that subject happens to come around at this point. And what a place to even bring it up, right out in the open. White Diamond was completely okay with it, all things considered, yet it was a bit of a long shot for the two diamonds to be with. The other gems scattered about the place watched and listened.

"I just thought I'd let you two know, that our previous quarrels with Earth had been ... finished."

"Finished?" Blue Diamond asked.

"One of my squads had located the last remaining Crystal Gem down on that petty planet of theirs. She is currently in our custody, and awaiting for further notice in her fate. Normally, I'd not bother, but since we had a ... unfortunate, history with them, I felt it was more mandatory," White Diamond explained. Blue Diamond felt a little troubled on this information. It was also rather clear that White Diamond wasn't aware of what exactly happened on Homeworld beforehand. White Diamond raised an eyebrow upon seeing that both Diamond looked a little unsure.

"Is there a problem?" White Diamond asked, sternly. Blue Diamond corrected herself fast.

"No. Nothing. I'm just impressed that any Crystal Gem would be alive still, after so long," Blue Diamond corrected. Any other Gem in earshot knew better than to butt in on the conversation, as Blue Diamond added "I would like to know on who exactly was captured. For the sake of records." while trying not to sound too sympathetic towards whoever was captured. Not suspecting anything off about the question, White Diamond complied.

"I'm unfortunate to say, Blue, that it so happened to be your own Sapphire. She'll be given her punishment in due time."

"S-Sapphire?" Blue Diamond gasped. The information was a bit hard to take, and that gasp caught White Diamond's attention.

"Oh? Why so troubled, Blue Diamond?"

"W-Well ... I haven't heard of Sapphire in such a long time, and -"

"And. What? You worry for that traitor of yours?" White Diamond suddenly said, moving over closer to Blue Diamond herself. Blue Diamond was silenced by her own boss.

"She's not a traitor ... Or, at least, doesn't mean to be ..."

"It doesn't matter what she means to be - a traitor is a traitor. And traitors need to be punished, as we all are aware. They made their choice to stay trapped together on that planet Earth, and defied us, no matter what Gem they are." White Diamond stated. There, White Diamond moved away, leaving Blue diamond a little stunned. Even Yellow Diamond seemed slightly unnerved.

"Speaking of together, perhaps you two would like to join me? After all, it's been a while since we've last spoke to one another."

"Uh, yes, of course. Come on, Blue," Yellow Diamond said. Blue Diamond just nodded. It was hard to say what was going to happen, or how they should tell White Diamond this news, but they'll figure it out eventually. White Diamond looked off passed the other diamonds, and saw Blue Pearl coming back with the gem in question in her hands, Blue Pearl trying her absolute best not to harm it any further.

"Good to know."


~~~~~~


The Barnhouse was, for the moment, rather calm and collected. Inside, Emerald was chilling out with some time towards Bismuth, as some other Gems and Ponies were doing their own thing. Up in the barn loft, after some electrical working, Emerald, Rainbow, and Bismuth got themselves some cartoons to watch after some snooping around. Outside, Flint was actually doing some much needed target practice with his Gem Spark Launchers, using them on some of Bismuth's practice dummies. Observing him were Applejack, Jade, Pearl, Pinkie, Lapis, and Jasper. As far as practice mainly went on for Flint, it was pretty well, as he made his shots at each target coming at him.

"Hey, Rainbow, you sure you don't want to come and watch?" Pearl called.

"Eh, it's cool," Rainbow replied. Suddenly, some sort of crash happened on the TV, getting the three to laugh.

"Wow, why do humans do this?" Bismuth laughed.

"Humans have that charm about them," Emerald answered, also laughing. Applejack was glad that TVs aren't too common in Equestria if they can keep Rainbow away from watching this. Still, as things were going on here, Jasper looked on into the distance, away from the barn. Looking out, she began to see a group starting to rush back towards them. It was kinda hard to tell at first, but eventually the others outside did begin to make out those within the group. Turned out, the group was Steven and company, coming back from their fight during the blue light a short time earlier. Leading the group though by a good foot or two was Ruby, fuming, panicked, and completely ticked.

"Looks like the others are back," Jasper said, as the first to arrive back was Ruby. Flint stopped what he was doing as they showed up, already seeing how ticked off Ruby looked. overall, the whole group was a bit worried, but Ruby was most troubled out of all of them. Her head was completely steaming, and her eyes wide in panic.

"GEMS, WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!!!" Ruby shrieked. That got everyone up in arms, and Emerald, Bismuth, and Rainbow to come out of the barn.

"Ok, ok Ruby, calm down -"

"NO PERIDOT, I WILL NOT!" Ruby screeched, silencing the green Gem. Peridot had seen Ruby angry, but even this was a bit much for her.

"What's the problem? A Gem beast?" Rainbow asked.

"No, worse!"

"Gem mutant?" Asked Pearl.

"Even worse!"

"A freak of nature?!" Pinkie chimed in.

"NO! COME ON, GUYS!" Ruby yelled, her anger kinda in control at the moment. Steam off her head turned to smoke, as Peridot and Amethyst tried to get Ruby to calm down. Rarity decided to come forward and say what happened.

"It's so bad! Oh, of all the horrible things to happen, this is THE. MOST. AWFUL. THING!" Rarity said, adding drama to the moment.

"Go on, stop keeping us in suspense," Jasper said.

"It's Sapphire: she's been captured by White Diamond!"

Now the news was serious, a huge amount of shock hitting practically everybody and everypony. As if being captured wasn't bad enough, but now it was the captor being White Diamond! Peridot filled in on the information as they were running off back to the others at the barn, and the news hit many of them kinda hard.

"Do I know White Diamond?" Pinkie questioned, head tinted in confusion. If they could recall right, none of them had actually met White Diamond face to face just yet, or at least not in any of their visits off onto Homeworld. Ruby, very emotional, went on to answer.

"She's the highest of elite, leader of the Diamond authority! And now she's going to kill Sapphire if we DONT GET MOVING!" Ruby yelled. The steaks were pretty high, and the panic in Ruby's voice made it pretty official. Bismuth was very confused on the subject matter herself.

"But wait, why would she capture Sapphire? Thought you said they like us now," bismuth pointed out.

"White Diamond never met us yet, and she doesn't know about the Osicone event," Twilight explained, which was true. You'd think they'd at least hear something about White Diamond while there on their visits, one way or another, but they didn't meet her once yet. So it would make sense for her to still have the old hatred towards the Crystal Gems.

"How'd the rest of you escape?"

"We didn't: We just hid off away and a squad of White Diamond's gems captured her -"

"WHICH WE COULD'VE STOPPED IF YOU'D JUST LET ME!" Ruby accused, finger aimed at her group.

"Ruby, Sapphire cares about all of us, I'm sure she didn't want anypony else to be captured as well. Why else would she say she was the last Crystal Gem?" Twilight reminded. While it is true, Ruby didn't want to hear it, especially if it meant doing nothing while Sapphire kills herself. Buck was right about her when he told them, but now there was only one thing left for them to do.

"I know, I know," Ruby said, a swell of guilt filling her up as tears came up on her face.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Come on, everybody, we gotta Gem to get -"

"STOP!" 

Everyone quickly turned over to Flint. He of course heard everything said, but he drew the line at doing anything to stop White diamond and her plans.

"Stop? what do you mean stop?!" Ruby demanded.

"We can't go and face her - no Gem anywhere can. Sorry, ruby, but Sapphire made her choice, and we have to just -"

"NO!!! NO, DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT!!!" Ruby screamed, even making the normally calm Flint jump.

"Yeah, she did so much for us before, we can't ;leave her alone," connie encouraged.

"If she didn't want any of us involved, it was probably for a good reason, and you know it! If we were to go right in and try to defy her, then we'll end up in a Gem war all over again! Besides, not even the other Diamonds could say anything to her, what makes you think -"

Ruby had finally had it with him. Without Sapphire to really control her, Ruby jumped at him! In one powerful punch, Flint was knocked off his feet, sent right down to the floor in a heap.

"Ruby, wait, stop!" Twilight said, trying to get to her. Ruby ran to Flint, wanting to beat him to the ground, but Jasper was quick to grab her. The heat Ruby made though was a bit too much for Jasper, and she quickly gave it to Bismuth. Unlike Jasper, bismuth could tolerate Ruby's heat, and keep her from going any further. Flint got himself up off the ground, as Jade, Pearl, and Steven helped him up. Ruby was not done yet, not even close.

"I can't believe you! How can you even bother to order anyone around?! You have not done ANYTHING SINCE YOU SHOWED UP, NOTHING! YOU ALWAYS LOOK FOR SOME EXCUSE TO NOT DO ANYTHING, OR AVOID ANYTHING HAPPENING!!"

"Ruby, that's not -"

"NO, DON'T EVEN SAY IT! YOU'RE COMPLETELY PATHETIC YOU DIRT-DRAGGING CLOD! DON'T GO ON TO WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN WHEN YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE EXCEPT YOURSELF! IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HELP US, THEN WHY DON'T YOU JUST SHOVE OFF!! CLOD, CLOD, CLOD, CLOD!!"

Flint stayed deeply silent, each adom at his being getting skewered by Ruby's angry words. While no one in the group really said anything, they had a bit of an agreement towards Ruby. Yes, Flint did save Steven from being corrupted, but other than that, it was mainly silent stairs when it came to him and doing anything. Had he really been that harsh? That selfish?

"Flint, wait, don't be upset. she didn't mean it," Jade said, worried, and trying to calm him down, but -

"BE QUIET! You hadn't done anything either! All you and flint did was stand around here, and bugger off!" Ruby snapped, making Jade be quiet. Flint felt even more hurt now.

"Ruby, calm down, please. It's not worth it," Fluttershy pleaded.

"No! NO! I'm AN ETERNAL FLAME, BABE, LET ME GO!" ruby screamed, as she squirmed and struggled under Bismuth's grip. As the other Gems either tried to calm Ruby down, or tried to keep from causing trouble, flint began t0o think on what Ruby had said. White Diamond is a high risk, naturally, but Flint had honestly done nothing. Jade at least went with Steven to explore the ocean that one time as he stuck home and worried. Steven fused with Connie AND Amethyst, and he didn't do anything to stop them except to complain and insist. His bigger involvements only actually benefited himself and Jade: with him repaying Garnet by turning Steven back to normal, and turning Diopside back to normal only because she was an old friend of his. Any time after that it was mainly quiet for him ...

Ruby was right.

"ENOUGH," Flint finally bellowed. The voice managed to get over the chatting crowd, even quieting ruby, as she finally got herself free. Flint got up, and turned around to face the crowd. He knew why Ruby was angry, surely. And with that in mind, he gave a low sigh, and locked eyes with Ruby for a moment before ...

"Bismuth, you go to the forge, and get all of the weapons suited up for us. We're going to need it if things do end up ugly. Fulgurite? You, Pearl, Peridot, and Jade start repairs and upgrades to the Galactic ray, and be sure to add a camouflage cloak to match a homeworld ship. White Diamond will know right away the second she sees us flying in on that thing as it is. Twilight, you and Lapis Lazuli fly on back to the Homeworld, and try to figure out where White Diamond is. If anyone knows where Sapphire will be located, it'll be those closer to her. Steven, you go and get all of the Crystal Gems together. We need all the help we can get if we are to be successful. There's no room for any trial and error, is that understood everyone?"

"YES sir!" Ruby said, much more excited this time.

"You got it, Flint," Bismuth said.

"On our way. Let's hurry, Twilight," Lapis said.

As unexpected and sudden it was, they all finally had Flint on board with a plan like this, and it does seem Flint knew very well what he was doing. With their instructions, everyone went off on their way.

"Connie, perhaps it's best for you to stay here. It's a very dangerous mission," Pearl advised. Connie was about to agree, but Flint actually denied it with a shake of the head.

"No, Pearl. In fact, she and Steven are very vital. I know it's not me for saying this, but if White Diamond is that foreign to humans, then many of the Gem technology weapons won't even work."

"Work? what do you mean?"

"The main weapon made by Homeworld that isn't a Gem weapon is a Gem destabilizer, and they only mainly work on other Gems. They don't have any lethal effects on organic life. And the fact you not only can fuse to become Stevonnie, but also have some swordsmanship, it's important for you to come."

"But my parents don't want me doing these things with you guys," Connie said. Flint got his hand on her shoulder.

"Connie, I'll deal with them. We need you."

Connie had never felt so important in her life. Flint's tone was full of admiration towards her, and the advantages to confronting White Diamond are quite a large one, and one that could make all the difference. Connie had stars show up in her eyes on hearing this come from Flint, and a smile grew on her face.

"Y-Yes. Thank you. I'll do it!" Connie beamed.

"Connie's first mission!" Steven beamed. Who'd of guessed Connie's first mission would actually be this huge? To go into the White Diamond palace to rescue Sapphire. 

Flint nodded, but before he could go, Ruby had another question.

"And what're you going to do?"

"Peridot and Jasper still have their Cutie Marks on them. White Diamond will recognize them in a moment's notice, so I need to find something to cover them up. If anywhere will have it, it'll be Equestria. Ruby, you go off and get Pinkie Pie, we'll need her on the level too," Flint instructed. Ruby was a bit humbled by Flint's sudden shift in charge. Just a minute ago, he was about as talkative as a brick wall, but now he's up in arms, and up for everything. Ruby saw the leader in him, and she went off on her task. Flint was soon off on his way as well, following Ruby off to the Warp Pad.

Time to get to work.


~~~~~~


Back over with the Diamonds, things were going on a bit ambiguous for two of the three Diamonds. The main ship that White Diamond brought them to had a special appearance, to the shape of a sort of mannequin head: spherical in shape with a diamond symbol at the center. The entire structure itself had a silver sheen to it, and looked like a moon of sorts, but made up of metal. White Diamond's teleportation was rather simple, as one of the pads within the ship itself activated, and the Diamonds were soon standing within White Diamond's ship. The room they ended up in appeared to be a sort of shipping dock, a number of White Diamond space pods all lined up in a row. The ship's all resemble the ship that a typical Ruby squad would use, but deep blue instead of red. The room was wide, white in metal, and and the slight transparent window showing space outside to show Earth far below. Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond began to follow White Diamond, along with their Pearls, which were keeping close to them. White Diamond took the lead, naturally, and she was greeted by some of her own guards, who actually happen to be differently shaded Quartz soldiers. These two were quick to let the three diamonds move pass, keeping their diamond greeting symbol salute as they went pass.

"Those Quartz are peculiar," Yellow Diamond noted, observing them a little as they walked passed them.

"Those two are other examples of my projects. Far more efficient than your typical Quartz Gem. Smarter and more obedient," White Diamond explained. The Pearls themselves were a little disturbed on that sort of regard.

Soon, the Diamonds all arrived within the main throne room. White Diamond's throne was pretty special: wide open in space, and with a space scenic view over to the left and right. Yellow Diamond had a similar look, but this was more impressive. The whole room was darker iron and impenetrable steel. The main White Diamond emblem was right behind the throne itself. The throne was on a higher platform, up by a few steps, and White Diamond was happy to go right over and have a seat on it. Pearls were also evident, eerily looking like the Crystal Gem Pearl down to color, and even Gem placement. The only real difference between these Pearls and the CG Pearl is the perfect sphere shape of the stone, and the grey Homeworld attire. There were about seven Pearls lined up, all in unison and at attention for any order. Yellow Pearl felt a bit rough on seeing the sets of Pearls, and Blue Pearl even hid behind Yellow Pearl.

"You've made some improvements," Blue Diamond said.

"Thank you, dear. The latest of technology for Gems are found here in this station," White Diamond said, though she was unimpressed with the Pearls reacting to her own set.

"So, about Sapphire ..."

"Ah, yes, Sapphire. How do you Diamonds want to handle her? Boil her in a lava pit? Strand her in an asteroid belt? Or maybe, even use her as a practice Gem for training Quartzes," White Diamond suggested, especially intrigued on that last suggestion.

"Well, may we actually see Sapphire?" Blue Diamond asked, hopefully. Blue Diamond was hoping to see her in person, but instead, White Diamond snapped her fingers, and one of the Pearls rushed off like a ninja, and quickly came back after a minute or two with a projection screen. After some quick activation, the screen in front of the Diamonds showed Sapphire in question. Sapphire was looking down to the floor of her cell, with her hand containing her Gemstone locked up tight, out of view from her sight. The cell cage matched those used for any typical Homeworld jail cell, and Sapphire can't escape out. Once more, something looked different for Sapphire. Her colors were duller, her hair shaggy, and her eye looking a little glossy.

"We had her Gem cracked as a weakening standpoint. The more she struggles, the tighter the grip. She's not going anywhere," White Diamond said proudly. Blue Diamond felt very troubled on seeing her own royal court member under such stress. And to think that this isn't the official punishment yet made it even worse.

"Sapphire ..."

The screen was put away after they saw her, Yellow Diamond more used to it than Blue Diamond was. White Diamond though was quick to catch the unsure expression on Blue Diamond's face.

"You still have trouble with seeing Gems this way? I thought you'd been desensitized by now," sighed White Diamond.

"But ... But she's a member of my court."

"She was, you mean. She rebelled, same as any other Crystal, and you know it," White Diamond informed.

"I know, I know ... Maybe we can try another way?" Blue Diamond suggested. Blue and Yellow Pearl began to feel troubled, and stepped back as White Diamond got up to her own two feet. Yellow Diamond didn't want to put herself into any trouble with White Diamond at any point, so she had to stay quiet.

"Now why would you think that?"

"Well. Just killing her, it-it's a bit much for her. She's a Sapphire, a rare Gem. There's not very many left ..."

"Oh? ... So you do have feelings for her after all," accused White Diamond, a bit harshly.

"I'm sorry. She was a member of my court, you know," Blue Diamond said. White Diamond sat down and took a moment to think a little bit more about it. She began to see something off in Blue Diamond ...

Then she got an idea.

"I suppose you're right, Blue ..."

She snapped her finger again, and this time a pair of her Pearls rushed off out of sight for a moment or two. It took them a little longer, but soon they came back, but this time with Sapphire with them! Sapphire couldn't move well, and she was slightly limp in her strength, the cuff still over her Gemstone to make sure she can't get away. Blue Diamond turned around and saw that Sapphire was there.

"My Diamond? ... Is that you?" Sapphire asked, her eye not moving. It was mediant that Blue Diamond recognized how badly Sapphire was hurt. And that was not the worst of it ...

"Blue. As Sapphire was apart of your royal court, perhaps it would be appropriate for you to finish her off. She is, after all, you're responsibility."

This was White Diamond's test. If Blue Diamond can kill Sapphire off, then White Diamond had nothing to worry about. Blue Diamond looked down to Sapphire, her eyes more worried than she had ever been. To make matters worse, one of White Diamond's Pearls even went and got her a large axe to finish Sapphire off with.

"You don't want to, White?" Yellow Diamond asked.

"I would, of course. Just testing something," White Diamond stated. Blue Diamond got her hand around the handle of the giant axe, and she looked down to Sapphire. Sapphire's glossy eye didn't move or budge, but she knew that she would just see the end of Blue Diamond's axe. She was a rare Gem. She was a Crystal Gem. And she was done for ...

"... I ... Can't do it."

Or maybe not. Blue Diamond's muffled words were hard to make out for most of them, but Blue Pearl had heard them loud and clear. White Diamond waited and waited, looking at both Blue Diamond's reaction, and her Blue Pearl and Sapphire.

"Come on, Blue, we don't have all year."

"But ... But I can't," Blue Diamond said, much clearer this time. White Diamond, albeit disappointed, nodded her head.

"Alright. You have your reasons for Sapphire. So how about a Gem with less significance?"

Suddenly, one of White Diamond's Pearls locked onto Blue Pearl, and in one quick move, Blue Pearl was pinned down, with her arms behind her back. It didn't take any rocket science to know what the less significant Gem is here.

"Huh?"

"You have enough desensetivity to handle a Pearl's death, I'm sure of it. Sapphire is a rare Gem, yes, and I'll have your tacky Pearl replaced in the upcoming weeks with a new, and more up to date model," White Diamond informed, as she waited to see what Blue Diamond would do. Perhaps White Diamond could understand why BD would be hesitant against her court member, but surely she won't have a problem finishing off a simple Pearl, right? Blue Diamond didn't know what to make of this, for Blue Pearl had done nothing wrong ...

"... I won't do it."

"Excuse me?" Questioned White Diamond.

"I said, I won't do it."

"You said you "won't" that time ... Are you questioning my authority, my dear?"

"Deja vu," Yellow Diamond thought. She asked that same question WAY long ago.

"I don't feel like loosing any of my court members."

"But that's just a Pearl. She's your personal, and expendable servant - you can't be pure enough to not finish her off, surely."

Blue Diamond couldn't take it.

"I love my Pearl. I know it's unprofessional, and unorthodox for a diamond to say, but I care deeply for those I'm close to. Love is not something to be embarrassed over."

There was a silence that hung in the air for a while after that. Was Blue Diamond serious about that? Blue Pearl especially was surprise, for she had never heard anyone say such things about her before. She was loved. Love is a very strong emotion to feel for anyone, and to her as the expendable Pearl she was, this was simply new and heartwarming.

"M-My Diamond ..." Blue Pearl started to feel a tear slide down her face, but White Diamond stood up again. White Diamond's test had proved to be a failure on BD's part, and so, there was one thing for her that was left to do. She snapped her fingers, and one Pearl released Blue Pearl, but another one took away Blue Diamond's axe, and gave it to White Diamond. Blue Diamond thought this move was going to kill off both Sapphire and Blue Pearl, and she even got in between them, scared, but protective of her people ...

White Diamond's sights were set on far bigger things ...

In one fast motion, White Diamond swung her axe hard, and the sharp end sliced clean, and quick, right through Blue Diamond's neck! For a split second, her head flew right off just before her entire body vanished in a cloud of blue smoke. All that remained was her gemstone, falling down to the ground ...

Right in front of Blue Pearl.

"How annoying," commented White Diamond, as she placed the axe down, and turning to the stunned Yellow Diamond.

"Yellow, you're the more sensible one. Why don't you pick what should be done with Sapphire? Blue Diamond was too cowardly to do the job, anyway," White Diamond offered. YD would normally, but she just saw this same Gem poof one of her own right in front of her. Yellow Diamond got an idea of her own.

"Well, I know this is a bit naive of me, but if I am to make the correct option, I insist on seeing these multiple punishments you have in mind. I'd hate to make the wrong choice. And as for Blue Pearl there, have her locked away. Can't have any free roaming Pearls aboard your own station."

"That's much better," White Diamond said with a grin. She then turned to her Pearls.

"Okay, you heard the Diamond, Pearls. Lock the Sapphire and Pearl away, and show my fellow Diamond some of our disposal tactics. Oh, and get admiral Onyx here to watch ol Blue. Have her let me know the minute she reforms," White Diamond ordered. Her Pearls went on and did just that, and Blue Pearl and Sapphire were whisked off out of the throne room. Yellow Pearl stayed very close to her Diamond, even gripping her leg, worried she would be next ...


~~~~~~


For the while to follow, things had gone very busy for the mane six and Crystal Gems alike. So many of them were highly busy in their own work in getting this all done so far, and none of them were wasting anytime with any of their tasks. After all, Sapphire's life was on a thread. None of them are to go off and leave her behind on the amount. Bismuth at her forge, was the busiest she'd been ever since the real Gem War had gone down in terms of weapon making. There was so many different types of Gems to make weapons for, from swords, to rifles, to shields. Regardless of which Gem weapon was needed to be fixed up and done, Bismuth had an absolute blast being in the zone with her weapon enhancements. As for those working on the ship, they too had their work cut out for them. It's been a long time since they had even used the Galactic Ray, mainly because they had only needed it once to go off to Homeworld and back, and it became obsolete due to the new Warp Pads made from the Alicorns, and diamonds. This meant that the ship was kind of rusty in age, and Peridot, Pearl, Fulgurite and Jade had to work on it a bit fast in order to get it properly finished. The addition of a camouflage cloak for the ship was an especially tricky trial and error for the ship, but they refused to give up on their own struggle on the task. Once again, they had their own in extreme danger, and they can't waste any time in getting the ship ready along with themselves.

After a while, they all got gathered up over by the barnhouse, and the Galactic Ray was outside and ready to go. Flint got the Mane Six over to the ship, as it was getting itself ready. Pearl, and Fulgurite met him outside the ship.

"Flint, there you are. The ship's all ready to go," Jade said with a smile. Flint nodded.

"Good. And that camouflage cloak?" Flint asked. Peridot got herself outside after Pearl and Fulgurite did, this time with a controller in her hands.

"Watch and be amazed," Peridot said, as she made a simple click of her remote. The ship's outer coat began to go transparent for a short moment, and soon the image shifted and altered until it looked very much like the usual ship that a ruby would use: red coat with a yellow window screen and three stubby legs. Just like the actual thing. Flint looked to the ship for a moment or two before sighing.

"Not exactly what I had in mind, but it'll have to do. Did Lapis and Twilight return yet with the information?" Flint asked.

"Right here!" A voice called from the air. Right on time: Lapis and Twilight flew right on down to them, and some of the other Crystal Gems had caught up with them as well, so getting them wasn't going to be an issue. Lapis and Twilight landed, and it was Twilight who gave Flint a slip of paper, folded up neatly.

"It took some time to figure out, but, one of the Blue Peridots informed us that they're on White Diamond's own station. Over near some sort of other base near Earth," Twilight explained, as Flint opened up the note with a simple flick of the wrist, and read the information on it.

"They, Twilight?" Flint questioned.

"Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond are with her. White Diamond supposedly wanted some more time with them. At least that's what the Peridot told us," Lapis said. Flint folded back up the information, and gave it back to Lapis Lazuli.

"Typical of her. Alright, is everyone here?" Flint said, addressing to everyone. Looking around through the crowd, he saw pretty much everyone, from the Ponies, to the Gems, but Connie and Bismuth seemed to be missing. This just frustrated Flint a bit more, as Ruby got right over to the ship.

"Where's Bismuth? We can't wait any longer -"

"RIGHT HERE!" Bismuth suddenly said, slamming down a large chest right in front of Flint. Connie was with her as well, actually riding on her shoulders. By the sound of the chest hitting the ground, it sounded loaded.

"Sorry for being late, Flint. We had to test a few of them first," Connie said, as Bismuth helped her down on the ground. Flint opened up the chest, and he saw weapons galore in there - each one unique and had a different affect depending on who made for.

"Nice. Bring the items in the ship. Everyone, get on board, we're about to head off," Flint instructed, as everyone began to head on in. As they were, Pearl and Emerald actually went over to him.

"Well, dang, dude, where'd you been hiding that?" Emerald asked.

"Hiding what?" quizzed Flint.

"Well, and I mean this in the nicest of ways, but you've been very quiet and withdrawn for the longest time. and suddenly, here you are taking charge of the entire operation like a true leader. I'm very impressed," answered Pearl, trying not to sound insulting about the subject. Flint already got the worst of it from Ruby, so this was hardly anything compared to that. Still, Flint just turned away, and began going onto the ship.

"It happens. Get in you two, time to go," Flint said, Pearl and Emerald heading on inside. Flint looked back to make sure no one else was outside, and sure enough, the whole place was cleared, and everyone was on board. Soon, Flint was inside the ship itself, and the mechanics began to work on the controls to get the Galactic Ray off the ground. The others got seated (some extra seats having to compensate for the extra passengers), as Flint stayed over to the back of the main room. Flint, much like an actual commanding officer, looked over the others from where he was. When Fulgurite looked back, Flint simply nodded, and the thrusters started up. It wasn't very longer until the disguised ship was off the ground, and beginning to head up higher into the sky. Since the ship was disguised as a Ruby vessel, the functions had to match one as well, so it was straight up and steady unlike the usual blast of energy the Galactic Ray would usually have. If Twilight and Lapis are correct, then it won't be too long until they end up seeing the station.

"Oh, this is so exciting," Pinkie said at one point.

"Oh yeah; now you Ponies can see the real power of the Crystal Gems in action. fighting against the authorities, just like the old days," Bismuth said, which was interesting towards a number of them.

"We're not going there just tp pick a fight, Bismuth. We're going to get Sapphire, and nothing more than that. I asked for those weapons as a last resort."

"Oh, come on, I didn't make all those weapons just to keep them here," Bismuth retorted. She REALLY wanted to try out the weapons she made, or at least see them in action by the other Gems. Flint will have to tolerate her until this was over, so arguing wasn't going to be an option at the time. As Flint turned back, Bismuth glanced over to Pearl, and gave her nudge.

"Hey, P? Mind doing a Gem a favor?"

.......

As they continued going off higher and higher into the atmosphere, the normally bright winter day started to become darker and darker, leaving Earth's atmosphere, and going on up into space. As they began to move off, just off to their left from the planet's surface ...

White Diamond's station.

"That was quick," Lapis commented.

"WHOA. A giant head," Amethyst said, Steven, Connie, and Pinkie joining her in looking at it from the front window.

"That's got to be it. Start course," Flint instructed. With a few workings of the control, they all started to move off towards the main White Diamond base. As they begin to get closer and closer, They all kept an eye out for any patrolling ships or drones that could be going on about the area, but there didn't seem to be much of any. When they begin to near the base itself, one part of it opened up for them, so it did seem that the ship recognized the ship as one of their own. The large doors revealed the area as the shipping hold - the same one the Diamonds teleported into when they arrived. The ship landed  over to the center of the hanger, and the group could see their main door just off outside leading into the place, but also with the huge Gem guards.

"What kind of Gems are those?" Connie asked.

"Quartzes ... but, they both look a bit off," noted Ruby.

"Quartz guards. Oh, they'll recognize us for sure," Rarity said.

"Not if we play our roles," Flint said.

"You mean your roles? Ponies aren't actually assigned to these things, you know," Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Don't worry, I've got it all planned out," Flint revealed.

"You do?" Peridot asked.

"Yes I do. Oh, by the way, you and Jasper better put these on," Flint said, pulling something out of his Gemstone. The two items in questions looked like transparent squares, or stickers. One orange, and one green. Something he managed to pick up while in Equestria on short notice.

"And what're these exactly?" Jasper questioned.

"These are magic cloaking sheets. It was a rather short notice item Celestia gave me before we left. These can alter their color and size to cover up your Cutie Marks from sight," Flint explained, as he placed the sticky sheets over Jasper and Peridot's Cutie Marks. After that was done, it appeared that they didn't had any Cutie Marks at all, which was good. The Mane six didn't need to hide such things, as White Diamond never saw them yet. Flint stood straight, and cleared his throat to address everybody and everypony.

"Now, listen everybody, here's what we're all going as, so pay attention. Lapis Lazuli, you're going to have to be placed as being in charge of the group."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You're a member of the royal court, they'll listen to you far better than anyone else," Flint explained. Lapis understood perfectly, and nodded her head as Flint addressed the others.

"Bismuth, Jasper, and Amethyst are hired protection. And Lapis, you also own a personal Pearl as well for extra aid. Fulgurite, Peridot, and Jade are the mechanics of the ship. The mission you have was to obtain more humans, and Equestrian Ponies for the Zoo, and here to -"

"The Zoo? ... Seriously?" Connie cut in. A rather odd reason to bring humans here.

"Y'all know that zoos are for animals, right?" Applejack added in.

"I don't have time to explain. Trust me, it'll work, and you'll figure it out eventually. For now, just stick to the roles and it'll be fine."

"... What about me?" Star asked at a point.

"Star Quartz, you, Emerald, Ruby, and Diopside are Homeworld Gem survivors left behind on Earth, and are coming back home with Lapis's aid. Now, if this all works, you all are to go on, and try to locate Sapphire.

"... If you say so."

"And what about you, Flint? You don't have anything to play as," Twilight noted. Flint gave a rough sigh.

"I don't have one. I'm staying out of sight, and scout out Sapphire from the shadows."

"Flint, are you crazy?! At least we got excuses to be around here," Ruby said.

"If they find you trying to get Sapphire free, who knows what they'll do to you?" agreed Fluttershy added, "Here, maybe you can be -"

"No, I'm not playing as anything or anyone. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, and if I find her first, I'll be sure to tell you," Flint made clear. Jade was especially worried.

"Flint, please. I know you have your ... reasons, but -" Jade was silenced when Flint brought his hand over to her mouth. The look on his face was enough to had Jade stop talking alone.

"Here's your role, Jade ... You were taken away from Homeworld by a renegade Flint Gem. During the renegade, you're accidentally launched off to Earth just after the Gem war, and it isn't until now that you're finally found ... Understand?"

"... I understand."

"Good," Flint finished, moving away from the exit of their ship. Before the door was fully open, Flint turned on his camouflage cloak, turning almost invisible.

Well, it was now or never.

Assigning themselves to their roles, Lapis and Pearl exited the ship first, followed by the other Gems, with the ponies and humans acting as if they're being forced along.

"You won't take me, you rock heads!" Steven yelled as he went along, making it more authentic. Bismuth and Jasper kept behind them, keeping them in line as it seems, as the other "rescued Homeworld Gems" followed them out. Flint, staying practically invisible, stayed close by, but still quiet and out of sight. For Amethyst, she had to shapeshift her own body to look like a Homeworld Amethyst. A simple shapeshift, but one she had to keep on going with. The other Gems too had to alter their outfits to avoid showing off their "Crystal Gem" status. Soon, the two Quartz guards stood firm in front of Lapis Lazuli.

"State your purpose," One of the brutish guards stated.

"Greetings. I've arrived with some more humans and ponies for - the zoo," Lapis said, finding it rather silly herself even. Both guards glanced to one another. Lapis and the others waited for a response from either one of them. However, one of the quartzes began to think a little bit on seeing her.

"Quite a large group for a simple retrieval," the guard noted.

"It didn't start this big. Some Gems here were actually found on Earth: Homeworld Gems, who were left behind. I had to get them back to Homeworld," Lapis explained. The quartzes thought it over for a little bit, as one of them looked over the ponies and humans that they had brought over. Before anything could continue ...

"What pray tell is going on?" A voice suddenly said. Coming up, oddly enough, looked like another Pearl in appearance. Her outfit made up of a large cloak, not dissimilar to those seem on priests within churches, or even on Blue diamond, with the hood missing. Her hands were behind her back, the four diamond symbol on her chest, and her gemstone placed on her forehead. The guards stepped aside to let her walk forward, seeing the group in question. The second she noticed Lapis Lazuli though, her look turned to intrigue. But that intrigue turned to anger towards the guards.

"What had you two been telling them? Don't you two recognize members of the royal court when you see them?" She asked, her eyes narrowed down in anger. The quartzes (surprising the Crystal Gems as well) actually backed up.

"Sorry, sorry, we didn't tell them anything," said one of the guards. The newcomer turned to the others. Peridot, out of the group, barely saw Flint starting to slip passed them as they were distracted, getting in before they did. However, Peridot didn't say anything, not wanting to blow his cover.

"Lazuli. What an interesting surprise ... Albeit unexpected."

"Eh, yes, um, I'm here to deliver these ponies and humans to the zoo."

"Oh, the zoo! It's been FAR too long since we've collected any specimens for the zoo. Yes, understood. A bit of a coincidence for you to be here: your Diamond is here as well."

"My diamond? Y-You mean Blue Diamond?" Lapis asked, looking and pretending to be surprised.

"Naturally, dear. We'll take care of the offerings. Jasmiths, take the humans and bring them over to the zoo at once," she ordered.

"Yes, your clarity," the two quartzes said. The name of the Gems was unfamiliar to every other Gem there, as the ponies and humans were split up from the main group. They did not want to cause any trouble, and while some wanted to keep them close, they couldn't do much of anything. The other Gem standing nodded to the Jasmiths, as she looked to the rest of the group.

"Now, follow me over here, and I'll get you all to your proper placements," the Gem instructed. As worried as they are towards seeing the ponies, Connie, and Steven being taken away like this, the Crystal Gems had no choice but to let them go, otherwise blowing their cover right away. If they are to blow their cover at any point, they had to at least find Sapphire first, above all else.

"If you insist. Come, everyone," Lapis said, as they begin to go off.

They were in.

.......

"Most. Interesting."

White Diamond had her eye on the security cameras, and the monitors showed Connie, Steven, and the Mane Six being forced along by the Jasmith soldiers. As she was looking, another figure peered over and looked to the screens. It appeared to be pony-shaped, and the colors were unmistakable.

"These the ones?" White Diamond asked. The pony walked out into the light, revealing herself as the unicorn the Mane Six had dealt with earlier ...

Starlight Glimmer.

"Most definitely," replied Starlight, a sinister grin on her face on seeing the ponies being pushed along. The sight of it was a nice one for Starlight.

"As expected. And those other Crystal Gems must be off after their precious Sapphire as well."

"I bet. Now when can we go and beat them down? Just wait til I come in, and get even with them, oh so help me -"

"Nah, nah. Let them have their own little fun for a while longer."

"What? But White Diamond, I didn't decide to join your group to let them go!" Starlight retorted crossly. White Diamond petted her like one would to a cat, as she saw Onyx on the screen, letting the Jasmiths pass to the zoo with their offerings.

"Easy, my little Pony. You'll get your own back. But first ... let's give them some false hope."


~~~~~~


"And here, we have our science chamber, Diamond," the Pearl said, as she brought in Yellow Diamond and Yellow Pearl to another area of the White Diamond station. Yellow Diamond had been brought around the station to a number of different examples White Diamond had mentioned. In this case, the room was where the many scientists conducted their experiments. The trip to see the many torture tactics had been, at the very least, grating. Yellow Diamond went through it all fairly well, being a Diamond of rule and protocol of the authority. Her Pearl though was a bit frazzled, and had to keep her eyes shut throughout most of the stops, or to at least wait outside. The experimentation room is just as bad as Yellow Pearl had probably guessed. The trio were out on a higher balcony, just near some stairs leading down a ways to a door.

"Pearl, wait here," Yellow Diamond said.

"Yes, my Diamond," Yellow Pearl replied, grateful that she wasn't going to follow her in there. White Diamond's Pearl stood aside to allow Yellow Diamond to go in and observe what was what. Yellow Pearl and White Pearl were standing outside the door in silence, Yellow Pearl a bit uncomfortable.

"... Soooo ... How is it being White Diamond's Pearl?" Yellow Pearl asked eventually.

"No different than yours."

"Oh ... Right. Well, my Diamond had managed to chart up five new colonies added to our star maps," Yellow Pearl said with pride, hand to her chest, and a cocky grin on her face.

"My diamond discovered ten new star systems, studied two black holes, and invented four different method to incubate and create multicolored Sapphires and Star Gems over the previous five months," White Pearl shot back, nonchalantly.

Well, she was humbled.

"Oh ... Uh ... Impressive."

"What else is expected? Not that a tacky Pearl like you would understand."

"I'M NOT TACKY. I am long-lasting, and efficient. I don't need a set of myself to get the job done for my Diamond."

"Your Diamond doesn't get enough work to require more than one Gem to accomplish. And just as well, we are the latest in Gem beings. See for yourself," White Pearl said, extending her hand as if showing off a ring or something. Yellow Pearl looked to her hand, gently placing her own hand under it. Her own skin was a bright silver, smooth like dolphin skin, and even a slight sparkle from the light. Barely, but just noticeable on close examination. Yellow Pearl looked to her other hand: yellow, no sparkle, and the same feeling as human skin. It was hard, but Yellow Pearl tried to walk it off.

"I-I'm the original. Show off what you want, but I am the original better Pearl."

"Original, old, and out-dated," White Pearl said dryly. Yellow Pearl couldn't counter her any better, and had to keep quiet. Seriously, White Pearl got her beat. Before she could continue, Yellow Diamond came back from the experimentation chamber. Yellow Diamond, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose, and trying to relax her nerves through a long breath. Whatever Yellow Diamond saw in there, Yellow Pearl was glad that she didn't see whatever was going on in there. White Pearl nodded on seeing the Diamond exit.

"Have you made your decision, diamond?" White Pearl asked, as apart of her instructions from her own diamond. Yellow Diamond wasn't so sure on what exactly to really do, as many of the options were pretty rough on Sapphire in punishments. With the circumstances, White Diamond would need some sort of answer from her, and considering Blue Diamond was still waiting to reform at the moment, and her Pearl off in custody as well, the steaks were a bit high.

"I'll think it over."


~~~~~~


"Here you are, fellow Gems. You all can wait here until after proper information, thank you," the Gem guide had said. The Crystal Gems had gotten themselves over into a sort of waiting room by the looks of things, with one main door to the room and a number of seats. No more no less.

"Thank you. That will be all," Lapis said. The Gem nodded, and she went off on her way. Not too long after she had walked off out of sight, the Crystal Gems began to get up, and checked the halls to be sure they were alone. When their guide left, no other Gem seemed evident here.

"All clear?" Asked Pearl.

"All clear. Come on," Lapis said.

Time to find their Sapphire.

.......

Sapphire shuttered, her eye glossing up some more, as she remained in her cell. The other Pearls had placed the poor Gem off back in containment, and although she was silent, she could still see futures coming around. Although that one did feature the Crystal Gems in it, Sapphire had her hope secured that they're still down on Earth, and safe from White Diamond's clutches, but the visions of her Crystal Gems AND ponies ... And Steven ... Still going around in White Diamond's station to try and get her still appeared and reappeared in her head. The cuff around her Gem hand had took its toll on her, her Gemstone cracked underneath it, and having devastating affects on her. As she stayed in her cell, she could hear voices from outside her prison cage, namely of other White Diamond workers.

"Sapphire. I-I'm so sorry," Blue Pearl said at one point, who'd been thrown into the same cell with Sapphire for the time being. Blue Pearl hadn't been cuffed up in the same way, since she wasn't technically a Crystal Gem like Sapphire, but still remained restrained.

"... Pearl, don't be ... I knew I'd be here ..."

As they stayed in there, they heard that another Gem, admiral Onyx, had got herself back over to the cell in question to check in.

"Onyx? Is that you?"

"Yeah it's me, what's it to you?" Onyx said, as she actually got the cell opened. Sapphire would run for it if she wasn't stuck this way. Onyx went on over to Blue Pearl, and actually took her, breaking her chain as she did so.

"Alrighty, you Pearl. You got a date with your Diamond soon, so get up and let's go."

"B-But she - I-Isn't she ... poofed?"

"Oh brother, blah blah blah, just follow me and shut up," Onyx said, pulling Blue Pearl along. Sapphire may not be able to see right now, but she knew well what's going on with Blue Pearl and Onyx. Sapphire couldn't do anything to help her. As Blue Pearl left, more visions of the Crystal Gems getting involved with White Diamond constantly kept showing up. In her stressed state, Sapphire tried to keep herself calm on the subject.

"No. No. They're all safely down on Earth. T-They're not here. They're alright," Sapphire kept telling herself.


~~~~~~


"Alright, in you go," one of the Jasmiths instructed. For Steven, Connie, and the Mane six were pretty much escorted along their own way through the White Diamond station. Being forced along wasn't exactly easy for them, but now the duo of Jasmiths had them forced off into another chamber. This one was the start of a tunnel, and had a odd resemblance to those bottle return machines one might find in a store, only a lot bigger - big enough to hold them all in, albeit close together.

"Ok, everypony stay calm," Twilight said. Suddenly, the floor began to move from under them, moving them along down the tunnel.

"What're they gonna do to us?" Connie asked.

"Well, we're about to find out," Twilight replied, as they continued down the tunnel. The walls of the tunnel began to go transparent. The tunnel actually passed through space for a brief moment, but when they were looking ahead, the tunnel connected to another area, and moving off right through space. The group looked around, unsure what was coming next for them. At the end of the tunnel, it seemed that it was going off to nowhere, with the end looking like it phased through some water. The humans and ponies had to sit there, as they all slipped through the water wall, and into another area of the station. As they were going through this part of the tunnel, a number of finger limb enhancers suddenly appeared in front of them. These were glowing a strong light blue, as they hovered down in front of them.

"What are those?" Connie asked. Suddenly, the various amount of fingers began to do their own work, and started to investigate. At first, many of the fingers began doing a number of physical checkups on them: checking their eyes, taking their temperatures from the mouth, checking their ears and teeth, that sort of thing. They tried to get them to quit it, but it wasn't much use. The fingers got their information on that, but suddenly, the tunnel began to split. The Mane Six ended up going in one direction, and Steven and Connie ended up in their own tunnel. Connie and Steven weren't sure what was coming next, but more fingers eventually came up again, and they had one more main thing that the preparation had to do: remove their clothes.

Yes, they were going there!

"No, no, no, no, stop!" Connie suddenly said, as the fingers began to go the extra mile, and grab at Connie's shirt to take it off! Steven lost his shirt already, but Connie was extremely desperate to not undress right now, reasons obvious. It was no use though, for in one quick move, both kids were without their shirts. Of course, Steven brought his arm up and covered his eyes, trying to make it remotely better. However, the fingers were not done yet, as a set began to reach down for Steven's pants. Steven though was quick to slap them away.

"No, I can do that myself," Steven decided. It was going to end up that way anyway, so, he just took them off himself. Connie had her back turned away from Steven as he did this, and the fingers took the pants away. It didn't take long until both kids were red-faced, and right down in their underwear. Talk about embarrassing.

"Well ... I-It could be worse," Connie managed to say.

Then came the next part. As the two were being sprayed with some disinfectant from the fingers, they both began hearing a loud thump ahead. When looking forward, Connie and Steven suddenly saw what appeared to be a pounder, slamming down onto the moving floor! Connie and Steven tried to run away, but they couldn't move quickly enough to escape the slamming mass, as it whacked down onto them both. Rather than killing them on the spot, Steven and Connie were actually given a new outfit to wear. For Steven, he was in a white robe with a blue over coat, with some sort of brown rope. For Connie, the outfit had a similar design, but with a close blue shirt instead. The two were outfitted with some purple-blue ear rings as well.

"Well ... Ok then. Robes," Steven commented. As they kept going, all of a sudden, both Connie and Steven stopped, two glass walls showing up.

"Oh great, now what?" Connie groaned.

"I'm ready for anything at this point. Come on, what do you have now?!" Steven said.

"Bring it!" They both then said.

And they got it: seconds after they said that, the whole room suddenly filled up with water! There was no time for them to even react to anything, as a hole opened up right under them, and the two were quickly sucked right down in. Connie and Steven held onto eachother for dear life, not knowing where they were going, where they'll end up or anything. Nor if Twilight and her friends will end up in the same place or not. They couldn't really see much of anything within the rushing water, so they both kept close until ...

"Whoa - oof!"

In a quick shoot out, Connie and Steven both ended up hitting the surface of some shallow water. They were glad to had not drowned on the way there, but, exactly where did they end up was more up for question. Nearby, both humans heard some breathing of some other creatures, and lucky for them, they saw the mane six. The ropes weren't on them, but they had the ear rings as well. They took a look to eachother before they looked on ahead to the shore ...

"Here we go."

It took a while for Twilight, Steven, and company to grasp what had happened, and where they had ended up. The group of eight were just off shores of what appeared to be some sort of large forest, with medium trees, and tropical plants scattered about the place. The shores were very clean with white sandy beaches, and they did seem to be alone in the center of this shallow lake. It seemed a little bit odd to see, but it was FAR off from what a zoo would usually show. The sky above, although showing a few stars still, were bright blue to show day time, as if it were down on Earth or Equestria.

"Where the hay are we now?" Rainbow asked, shaking off some of the water in her fur and feathers.

"This must be that zoo Flint was talking about. Not what I expected, really," Connie said.

"It looks ... Pretty nice here," Fluttershy said, the first to walk over to the shore, as she looked around the forest. However, when she stepped on the grass, the grass looked less like actual grass, and more like patterned carpeting, with different shades of green for the ground underhoof.

"Well, it beats cages," Rainbow said, as she flew over and landed by Fluttershy. The others moved over to the shore themselves, drying off, and looking around the forest of this zoo they were stuck in. No iron cages to get these humans and ponies stuck in, but when Connie looked up to the sky, something looked a bit off itself.

"Wait. does anyone see something off up there?" Connie asked, pointing her hoof up to the sky in question. The others looked up, and it didn't take very long until they also saw what Applejack was talking about. Looking to the sky and stars, they can make out lines to show transparent plates, going all the way around the skies above.

"I take back my "It beats cages" comment," Rainbow said.

"Well, let's try to stay calm, everypony. There's a way in here, so there must be a way out," Twilight said.

"Way ahead of ya! GERONIMO!" Pinkie said, suddenly bolting right back towards the water. Lightning quick, Pinkie Pie made a mighty leap high up into the air, and dove head first into the water where they popped up in. The idea was there: go back the way you came. However, all Pinkie Pie got was a face full of water and sand, as she slammed headfirst into the water. Her body ended up stiff on the surface when her face hit the ground. Obviously this wasn't going anywhere. Pinkie popped up out of the water, dizzy and having a bump on her head.

"Oooooo, catch the birdies," Pinkie said in a daze, her hooves trying to catch the supposed birds around her head. No, that didn't help anything.

"Pinkie, that wasn't what I was going for," Twilight said.

"No?"

"No."

Pinkie just trotted back to shore, rubbing the bump on her head. Twilight couldn't blame her for trying to go back the same way, but even if they did, how would they go all the way back the same way exactly?

"It was a good try anyway, Pinkie," Steven said, as Pinkie cringed from touching her bump on her head. But before either one of them could continue talking about the issue. They begin to hear something venture out of the forest. Looking to the forest, a human began to venture on from there, and over to greet them. He was dressed the same way as Steven was, ear rings included. His hair and skin matched Connie, though his hair was poofed like Steven, and grew upward and forward. Another human joined in on them. This one also wore the same clothes, but the human was a female, light skin and blond hair that flowed down. As some more time went, more humans, and even a number of ponies went on out to see them, the ponies and humans dressed in the same clothes and having the same earrings as the Mane Six, Steven, and Connie do. Ages varied from young kids, to elders.

"Greetings!" They all said.

"EEP!" Fluttershy shrieked, bolted off from the shore in a startle. the Pegasus ended up behind Applejack and Connie, as they looked to see what was going on.

"It's okay, Fluttershy. Just stay calm, and perhaps they can help us," Connie said quietly.

"Oh ... Uh, hello there, everybody, everypony."

"Welcome, new friends. What might you be named?" The first human asked. Connie cleared her throat.

"Well. I'm Connie."

"Wonderful to meet you, Kon Nee," the female human said.

"Eh ... Close enough. and, you are ...?"

"I am J10, and he is Y6," J10 said. These obviously weren't any normal names, if not nametags. The group, a little more relaxed this time around, went over more inland, away from the water. This time, it was Rarity who spoke, clearing her throat.

"A pleasure to meet you both, but I'm afraid we have to be on our way. We're on a tight schedule, you see," Rarity explained, starting to walk on through the ground a little bit until a rustic red pony stopped her.

"On your way where? Everything we ever wanted is right here," the pony said. Before Rarity could continue, Twilight decided to test something first before Rarity could say much more.

"Let me ask you two a question. Can either one of you tell us where Earth and or Equestria is?"

"... What're they?"

Well that concluded it. Seems rather clear that these people and ponies were a bit more foreign than expected. These humans and Ponies were here for so long, they don't have a clue on either place, despite it being the current location for both species. The new arrivals were left stunned, but, before they could continue any further, suddenly their earrings began to glow, and -

Greetings, everyone. It's for the daily routine. Please enjoy your meal during this designated eating period.

"W-What? Who said that?" Fluttershy shuttered.

"Any answers, you guys?" Connie asked.

"Kon Nee doesn't know what a little voice is," Y6 said, the other humans and ponies joining in on a good chuckle before J10 began to speak.

"Our little voices guide us through life here," J10 said. After she said that, the earrings lit up again.

You all must be hungry now.

After that, the locals began to go in, agreeing to these voices, and heading on over inland to eat. No, it didn't make the situation any better. If anything, it might've made it worse. Once they had left, only then did Rainbow get her own opinion up.

"Oh mane, not again!" Rainbow snapped, not believing what she just saw.

"They don't seem very bad. Maybe it's just a coincidence," Fluttershy said.

"Seriously? Oh, it's Starlight's village all over again," groaned Rainbow.

"Alright, alright, everypony calm down. I'll find a way out of here, but let's just play along for now. It'll probably be easier when it's dark," Twilight suggested, looking up to the sky.

"AJ's right. We might as well wait it out until we find the right moment to leave. We can't just charge off."

"Well why not?!" Griped Rainbow.

"This is a stealth mission, remember? To get Sapphire without anypony noticing?" Twilight reminded.

"Oh. Yeah. Right. Oh, fine, but we're not staying any longer this time, ok?" Rainbow made clear. Everybody, and everypony pretty much had to agree here. Twilight and the Mane six didn't want a repeat from before back with Starlight Glimmer and her village of controlled, altered inhabitants. Starlight had her magic and way of words to alter people, but this was a bit different from before. A reveal of the main one behind this won't fix it this time (they didn't know who was talking, anyway.) So, after that agreement, they went on inland to join the other locals in the "designated eating period", as Twilight flew away.

"Hope the others are doing okay," sighed Steven.


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, going around the main halls, the other Crystal Gems were trying to keep out of sight as much as they can, while they tried to look around for Sapphire. So far, they've been doing fairly good at avoiding the main threats here, but as far as finding the target, they were having a bit of trouble as they went through.

"This isn't getting anywhere. We've been wandering around for who knows how long, and we hadn't found any trace of her," Fulgurite noted.

"Tell us something we don't know, Fulgurite. Look, if we are to find her before anyone find out, then we have to split up, and scout the area," Jasper decided. It was a risky move, and one that Flint most like didn't wanted, but if it meant to get Sapphire out faster, than so be it.

"Split up? Jasper, that's crazy! They'll pick us off one by one that way," Pearl retorted.

"Do you have any better ideas that'll make this go any faster?" Jasper questioned. However, before any of them could go any further, suddenly they heard someone beginning to walk down the hall towards them.

"Onyx, did you get those humans and ponies into the zoo yet?"

"Saw those Jasmiths put them in myself, Pearlis."

"That's minister Snow Pearlis to you, Onyx."

"Everybody quiet," Peridot said, quick and quiet, as the others quickly moved off down a ways, hiding off just out of sight. Walking down the hall was Onyx, and the supposed minister, who turned out was the same Gem who escorted Lapis to the waiting room in the first place to get them in.

"Oh, you and your titles. Geesh," Onyx said casually. Pearlis rolled her eyes.

"Thank your lucky stars, Onyx, that White Diamond even remotely placed you in her rankings at all, otherwise I'd ask her to put you with the rest of the Quartzes."

"Proves I don't need to be a hybrid to keep up with the crowd," Onyx smirked. Pearlis groaned, but the idea of these hybrids roaming about the ship was a surprise to the Crystal Gems. So, Pearlis and those Jasmiths are hybrid Gems, not just regular run cut Gems?

"... Hybrid? What's that?" Star asked quietly, only to be hushed by Ruby.

"Did you handle the Blue Pearl, at least?" Pearlis asked. Onyx nodded, her hands behind her head.

"Yeah, she's good, waiting in the throne room with our Diamond. Hey, speaking of blue, what do you think they'll do to Sapphire when they're done with her?" Onyx asked, the Crystal Gems really homing in their hearing to hopefully catch where she is. Pearlis and Onyx stopped for a moment down the hall.

"Not entirely sure. Sapphire may be a rebel, like those other, more primitive Crystal Gems, but she is a rare Gem. I don't think White Diamond will just go and cut her Gem off that easily. Probably have her as a practice dummy," Pearlis wondered, a smirk and a giggle escaping her on the last part. Onyx found it a bit unneeded though.

"Don't you think we have enough of those? Seriously, we got one dummy per fighter at this point, and Sapphire's just sitting there in her cell. Why not just get Blue Pearl for it instead?" Onyx suggested. Pearlis rolled her eyes.

"That tacky thing? She'll end up in a crumbling heap in three seconds with those soldier brutes, believe me. However, perhaps an experimental placement can suit that Pearl more. Mind going off and checking in for a possible opening?" Pearlis requested. The mention of experimental placement made Onyx shutter under her skin.

"No way, man, I'm not going off and wandering in that clod house," Onyx retorted. Pearlis turned to her crossly.

"That is no clod house. That is the experiments that change the future, and you know it! How dare you stand there and insult such progress," Pearlis snapped. Onyx just casually took it in stride.

"Sure, Princess, whatever flies your ship."

Onyx and Pearlis both walked off on their way from there, the Crystal Gems having heard everything from their position. The two other Gems didn't say exactly where Sapphire is, but the fact she was in some sort of cell made the concept simple enough. Once the two were far enough away, the Crystal Gems got out of hiding.

"Did you all catch that?" Jasper asked.

"... What does she mean by "hybrid"?" Star asked.

"I think that's what Pearlis is. It's like an advanced fusion, or something," Peridot said, trying to remember correctly.

"That's the least of our problems: we got an idea on where Sapphire is located. Now come on," Ruby said, starting to run down the hall. However, Diopside went on in the way of her.

"What about Steven?! We can't leave him," Diopside said urgently.

"He's fine, don't slow me down!"

"But the zoo!" Retorted Diopside.

"Dio, we all care about Steven. I promise you, we'll go and get him, but let's get Sapphire safe first and then get the humans out," suggested Pearl. Diopside still stood in the way for a moment or two, trying to think. She wanted to help them, but she couldn't leave Steven alone to do so. Then she got it.

"Let's split up then!"

"Split up? Diopside, you know where we are right now? We're in the elite of elite's own station," retorted Peridot.

"No no no, she may be onto something. There's twelve of us, and two main locations. We'll just split into two groups, and meet up at the ship. We hop in, bolt off, and done!" Fulgurite realized.

"Makes sense to me," commented Amethyst.

"Fine, we'll do it. Split into two teams, and we'll get to it," Bismuth said.

"Who's on what team though?" Diopside asked.

"There's probably more guards in the prison hold over the zoo. Me, Bismuth, Ruby, Fulgurite, Pearl, and Star Quartz, and take the prison hold, the rest of you go for the zoo. Got it?" Jasper made clear.

"Got it," the rest of the Gems agreed. There was no time to go and disagree on much, especially now, so they needed to get themselves moving. One group went off following Pearlis, while the rest went off to the zoo. If they can get this all done, then they'll get a lot more done in shorter time. 

Even with their supposed stealth doing it well, the security got their sights all for White Diamond to see. The diamond got the screens on just as they decided to split off ...


~~~~~~


Over in the zoo, the humans and ponies within the zoo went along their daily routine instructions by this little voice in the earrings. As for this day, it was going pretty well, but the entire thing was strictly apart of instruction, and not fully on their choice. And the newcomers knew it after watching them go about. They do have their fun times, which on the surface seemed to be alright. After eating artificially grown Gem fruit, other instructions went out to them. When they went over to the food, it turned out the food did at least grow from the trees around them.

"Looks, the fruit is purple today," Y6 said, giving the fruit to AJ. If anypony had a worse problem with this, it would be the farmer pony. For a start, the fruit all grew automatically, just popping right up in the trees for the humans and ponies to eat. While the idea of fruit just coming from nowhere wasn't entirely new for Applejack, the fruit had a sort of crystal sheen to them rather than a basic fruit, despite the fact that they can bite into it rather easily. Applejack held the odd fruit in her hoof for a bit, and even took a bite of it herself. It was no apple off her family farm, but it tasted okay anyway.

This had been the basic idea throughout this routine of theirs. Things like 'time to go out and play', or 'enjoy some time in the sunshine' kept getting instructed to them. Once again, these simple activities would normally be enjoyable on a lazy Sunday afternoon, but all of these instructions and ideas were not their own at any point in their stay, and it was getting a bit troubling for some. The Mane Six had their own reactions to this, and while some like Pinkie and Fluttershy took it on easier, others just needed some more encouragement to play along with this odd game of Simon says. Steven and Connie went along with the motions too, but they both knew that they can't stay here. Even if it was so peaceful and friendly ...

now it's time to stop and smell the flowers.

This wasn't just a metaphorical statement from this little voice either, but this was a literal idea. The number of people went over to a forest field of growing flowers, where the locals began to enjoy the smell, and giving them to one another. A number of bushes had a number of flowers and buttercups on them, all about a pinkish color, and large enough to fit in both hands.

"What if I ... don't want to smell the flowers?" Steven asked J10.

"Why wouldn't you want to do that?" J10 asked, as she put the flower in Steven's hair. A nice gesture, yes, but it honestly didn't make Steven feel any better.

Eventually, the group went off to meet up at the beach soon after this. Even with these things ringing in their ears, it will give them some time to discuss what the hay to even do now. For the moment, the only ones who weren't at the beach were Twilight, and Rainbow, who'd had gone off to check for any sort of way out of this zoo. Lucky for them, the other humans and ponies were still busy with their own little instructions, so they wouldn't bother them. Not like they would help them very much anyway. As they waited, eventually, Twilight and Rainbow landed down at the shore.

"Find anything girls?" Connie asked.

"Not a thing. There's no air holes, vents, windows or anything," Twilight said.

"There better be some way out of here. I'm getting sick and tired of these things jabbing on in my head," rainbow complained, her front hoof whacking at her right earring, trying to get it off her ears. No matter how many times she could whack at it, it just wouldn't come off of her. As she was ...

Time to clean up, everyone. Let's all take a refreshing bath.

"No, shut it!" Rainbow yelled, whacking at her ears over and over again. Finally she had enough.

"Pinkie, tear these off of me," Rainbow demanded, head lowered and ears up. Pinkie was a bit hesitant about doing so, but her mouth did end up grabbing hold on one of the earrings, and she began to tug and pull on it bit by bit. Rainbow cringed on each tug and pull, but no matter how much was done, there was nothing good coming out of it besides pain. Rainbow even flapped her wings to pull against Pinkie's pulling, but nothing worked.

"Rainbow, stop, you're just hurting yourself," Connie said, making Pinkie let go of her. Last thing they needed was to get eachother torn apart before they could get out of this place. Rainbow had her ears stinging, but the stupid earrings were still on her head. Almost as if on cue ...

Aren't you going in?

"UGH," Rainbow groaned, walking out to the shallow lake, and dunking her head in it. It wasn't even her whole body, it was just her head slamming into the water. After her soaked head came out of the pond ...

Don't you feel refreshed now?

"Whatever," Rainbow simply groaned, as she walked back, embarrassed and wet, to the shore of the pond. It was simply stupid, but at least the voice did shut up for a moment.

"I can't believe the Diamonds would even make such a place for humans and ponies. I thought they didn't care much for it," Connie noted.

"Well, apparently they do. Here, let's keep looking around," Twilight said, starting to walk inland again, but Rarity went over to her.

"hold on, darling. You've been flying around all day looking for a way out. How about you just relax, and we go have a look?" Rarity offered. The unicorn wasn't wrong about that. Twilight had been flying around like a fly inside a house for pretty much since they showed up. So, Twilight just nodded, and had a seat.

"Thank you," Twilight said. After that was decided, the others began to leave, and began their search around.

For the next twenty minutes or so, Twilight just relaxed over by the shores of the zoo's pond. She'd been with the Gems for well over a year now, yet she never would've guessed that she would find that Homeworld Gems would keep humans and equestrian ponies like this. Rather elaborate too: none of the locals seemed to be harmed in such a way, or even wanted to leave by the looks of things. Twilight took a moment to look down into the pond, seeing her own reflection with the earrings on her. She twitched her ear, hearing the sound of the earrings clinking. She didn't know if Flint intended for them to fully end up inside the zoo, but regardless of the case, if they can't find a way out, then they were simply stuck here. As she sat there, her earrings glowed again.

Having fun in there?

Twilight didn't respond at first to the voice coming in from her earrings, thinking it was just some instruction to the locals again, as it had been all morning.

Don't act mute just because I'm talking, Twilight Sparkle.

Now she was paying attention. Her eyes shot open, as she jumped to her hooves, staring off into space as if trying to find the source of the noise. The voice sounded too familiar now.

"W-Wait. Starlight?!" Twilight gasped. It was indeed Starlight Glimmer: hidden in another room of the White Diamond station, managing to find where the voices were being handled in the earrings used on the humans. With some tweaking, Starlight got a more specific signal, and able to talk and hear Twilight Sparkle.

That's me. How does it feel to be in the utopia now? You might as well just give in like everypony else.

"So, this was your idea," twilight assumed, as she relaxed a bit, listening to whatever word that Starlight was going to say. 

No: the Diamonds had this idea WAY before I did.

"Where are you? how are you talking to me?"

I'm with White Diamond now. And she helped me get my own back with YOU. Now you're trapped here.

"Starlight, you're making a big mistake. If you just -"

Mistake? Ha! Says the pony who interfered in MY life, for no reason at all, ruining everything I've done to make harmony for me, and everypony else!

"This again? Starlight, listen to me. True friendship can't be forced onto somepony else, you have to earn it. Keeping me and my own friends out of the way isn't going to change that!"

Oh, bare me your overblown ego! You're just upset because I tried something different from yours. Why argue anyway? you already lost!

"Are how's that?" Twilight questioned.

Because we already are closing in on your Crystal Gems. Yeah, White diamond and I knew the INSTANT you stepped hoof in this station. I bet they'll be gone in just a few minutes. And then, you'll forever stay in that Gem zoo with no way out.

Twilight Sparkle froze up. This sort of information made her skin shiver, ears drop, and leaving the alicorn to think on the danger. Was Starlight serious about this? Twilight tried to correct herself.

"Starlight Glimmer, We never came into your village just to torment you. You kidnapped our friend, she asked us to help her escape."

And WHY didn't you just do that then, and leave me at that?

Twilight then just decided to be clear to her.

"Because we saw the dangers in your policies, Starlight. You've been trying to force ponies to be friends - true friendship isn't like that at all. you have to earn it, to befriend them, to get them to know you. Taking me and my friends away from Equestria, or even Earth for that matter, will not change that."

Oh no you don't! Don't try to throw your ego at me, Twilight. I got my revenge now, you are stuck here forever, and that is - Starlight? What're you doing? W-White Diamond! I'm just checking out your zoo, really. Is that a intercom, Starlight? This? Well, yes, but I didn't mess with it or anything, if that's what your thinking! Thought we made an agreement not to lie to eachother when I brought you here, Starlight. I can see your "Twilight Sparkle", as you put it, on the monitor. Can I help it if I want to make sure the offerings are in safely? As you say, better safe than sorry.  Then WHY are you even in here? I didn't bring you here to mock them, now get back to the throne room, and stay there. Well, if you just give me - NOW. STARLIGHT. .... And I'll be going. .......... And you heard all that I assume, Twilight?

"Yes," Twilight just said, blankly. Wow, that felt awkward. Her ears were ringing from White Diamond's bellowing, but she got it all anyway.

Figured as much. That pebble.

With that, the earrings stopped glowing, and left Twilight Sparkle distraught again, but now feeling a little awkward. Who'd of wanted to hear an argument over the phone, anyway? Still, Starlight did worry her a bit more on the subject of the other Gems being in trouble ...

"Please be careful, you guys ..." she thought.
> The Albino Diamond PT2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the zoo seemed awfully fair at the moment, anyway, some navigation from one of the Crystal Gem groups had gotten them in a ton more trouble. Jasper, Bismuth, Pearl, Star, Ruby, and Fulgurite continued trying to get around the place, trying to find the prison hold. If Sapphire is to be anywhere in this place, it would be there. The group had been walking around the place for a while, with Jasper in lead. As they continued going along, Fulgurite peered around the next corner, and from her standpoint, she them noticed a rather large door ahead, shaped like an pentagon, and having a darker sheen to it. There didn't seem to be any guards at the door, but some guards were going on inside. As they were, the Crystal Gems could hear the sounds of angry Gems inside: namely complaints and yells. Fulgurite squinted her eyes a little bit, and she could actually see some prison cells inside the room they were going.

"That's gotta be it. Come on, gang, let's go," Ruby said, as she and Fulgurite raced for the door. The others went a bit slower, as Fulgurite got there first. However, while she expected a hall, she suddenly found herself skidding to a halt. A few more steps forward in her run, and she would've fallen off her platform. The prison hold, just to start, was HUGE. much larger than any prison hold on Jasper's old ship would be. The design of the place, although, had a similar look to it by the appearance alone in the shapes of the prison cells, and the similar method to keeping the prisoners in. The guards moved along through many of the levels, which by the looks of it, went up to seven, and there was a number of halls that split it up along the  way, with bridges connecting from one side of floors to the other, and mini warp pads to teleport from one floor to the other. The warp pads were not the same as regular warp pads, for these were big enough to accommodate only one Gem at a time, and didn't extend to anywhere outside the prison itself. Think of it like a teleporting elevator. As for the guards, these weren't exactly Jasmiths as before, but instead these Gems were more like police officers: medium in height and muscle, with exceptionally large Gems on their heads, beaming light through the dimly lit prison. Each one was dark purple, and yellow in the eyes, with the outfit matching the White Diamond following. None of them were near the group, thank goodness.

"Strange. Don't recognize any of those Gems," Fulgurite noted as she was looking.

"Must be more of those hybrids Pearlis was talking about," figured Pearl, and she was probably right. They've came across two types of hybrids within the place, anyway, so these had to be some sort of mixture of sorts. But, before any of them could continue, Star looked up to about the sixth floor, on one of the bridges going across the way, and began to notice something. moving around up on the floor, as another guard had fast, some sort of transparent figure had caught her eye in the light distortion bouncing off of his body.

"Okay. There's a lot of this prison to look around, so we better -"

Before Jasper could finish, suddenly Star Quartz was soon jumping up to the bridge! One light leap did the trick, but it caught the others off guard. She landed perfectly silent on the bridge, looking at the figure. All she had to do was look down to the others for her and the figure to jump down. Star landed okay, though the other figure was a bit more rough. In the shadows, the camouflage cloak was off, and Flint was standing there.

"Flint, there you are. Did you find Sapphire?" Ruby asked, hopefully.

"Oh, nevermind that, what're you doing here? It's too risky, especially with these Carnethyst guards roaming around," flint said, quietly yet urgently.

"... you know what they are, Flint?" Star questioned.

"I heard some Jasmiths talk about it, now you need to go before they see you," Flint insisted, finger aimed to the door. If any of them got captured, and they find out what was what, it'll be all over for everyone involved.

"No way, you clod, I'm not leaving til I find Sapphire, and that's that," Ruby said firmly. Flint knew by now how determined Ruby was in finding her signature other, so he didn't push that subject further.

"Alright, fine. Where are the others though?"

"We had to split: The others are getting Steven, Connie, and the Ponies outta that Gem zoo, while we get Sapphire. I know it's dangerous, but, it'll get it done a lot faster this way."

Flint felt his worry fill up again, but rather than go out on them, he pinched the bridge of his nose, and gave a long breath. He couldn't blame them for making their own decisions without him there to get things going, and he did say to have them as offerings after all.

"Ok, ok. I've looked through three of these floors already, and I can't find her anywhere. I honestly think though she might be in here somewhere, so we better hurry up and find her fast," Flint instructed.

"Way ahead of you: Bismuth, you take Pearl and Star to the right, I'll take Fulgurite and Ruby to the left. Fulgurite, Star, if either one of your sides finds her first, tell the other, and we'll meet up back here," Jasper advised.

"You got it, J. Let's get our Sapphire back," Bismuth said.

Soon, Bismuth and Jasper's group went apart from there to have their own look around the place. Each side had about seven floors to check, along with the number of hallways to see to. So, with each side with each floor, they looked through each cell, trying to find where Sapphire was in the place. Three of the seven floors weren't searched, mainly because Flint had already gone through them himself before they arrived, so they didn't have to look around as many floors as they originally thought. That didn't make it any easier though: For Bismuth and Jasper's group, avoiding sight of the Carnethysts was no easy task. The guards moved like living drones, moving off in a straight line, rarely glancing off away from their path to look into the prison cells. The light seemed to be their main source of sight, for they didn't react to much if the Gems were outside the light. Flint had the easiest time with the stealth tactic, having his own camouflage, but the other Gems don't have any of that on them. Jasper and Bismuth had the most trouble with it.

"Sapphire? Sapphire?" Ruby called quietly, time to time again.

"Quiet, Ruby, we'll find her I promise," Jasper said, trying to keep their stealth up. As they kept going though ...


ah AH ah AH AH
ah AH ah ah ah


"Sapphire!" Ruby gasped. Fulgurite and Jasper both stopped and turned back to her.

"Ruby, can it will you? That could be any Gem in here," Fulgurite said.


ah AH ah AH AH
ah AH ah ah ah


"No. No, that is her. Only one Gem can sing like that - I'm coming Sapphire!"

Almost blindly, Ruby began to run off in front of them! She could hear her other calling her, and Ruby will NOT leave her alone! Fulgurite and Jasper tried to grab her, but even with Jasper's strength, and Fulgurite's speed, Ruby slipped past them, and ran off as fast as she could.

"Dangit. Ruby, get back here!" Jasper demanded quietly, trying to go after her. She and Fulgurite tried, but another Carnethyst suddenly appeared, and they had to stop. This gave Ruby more of an opening to find Sapphire.

"Fulgurite, warn the others," Jasper said. Fulgurite was quick to oblige, and was soon off and out of sight. Oh well, at least the others will get the warning anyway.


ah AH ah AH AH
ah AH ah ah ah


Ruby raced around the area a bit more. If there was one advantage going for her, it was her size. Any medium or large Gem would be caught almost immediately, Ruby had some more stealth going for her since she was small, and therefore, less noticeable from a distance. Ruby didn't really care much for that, her mind set on finding Sapphire above all others. She prayed to her life that Sapphire would be okay within this horrifying place, as she kept her eyes up front, and the most focus she had. The singing was stronger and louder as Ruby went down one the bottom level's right wall. When in there, the singing was especially strong. Ruby looked down each cell in the hallway for a bit. Soon, when she got to about the second cell down ...

Sapphire.

"Psst. Sapphire," Ruby said, giddy and happy. Sapphire could hear someone, but she wasn't sure at first.

"What? No it can't be. Must be imagining it."

"Sapphire!"

"Wait. Ruby?!"

It took Sapphire a bit, but she did eventually recognize the voice belonging to her beloved Ruby.

"Sshh. Don't worry, I'll get you out of here in no time," Ruby assured her.

"B-But. No, Ruby, how're you here?! You can't be here!" Sapphire asked, as Ruby tried to work the controls to Sapphire's cell lock. It was a bit complicated, so Ruby had to try her best at it a little longer.

"I am here, and you're going to be okay. I'll get you out, we'll all leave, get back to the ship, and you'll be at home safe and sound."

"All leave? Ruby, who else is here with you?"

Ruby stopped for a short moment.

"The whole gang's here, we're all here, and we're getting you out. Hold tight, I almost got it."

"Ruby, don't! Please, I'll be fine, you all have to get out of here," Sapphire pleaded.

"No way! I'm not leaving here without you! You're going to be okay."

"Ruby, stop! Please."

Ruby did pause to look to her stressed lover, her glossy eye looking right at her.

"Ruby, I-I'm so sorry. There's a reason why I didn't want anyone coming for me: White Diamond, her court, the punishment, I foresaw it all, and I don't want anyone of you to suffer in any of it! Please, Ruby. Please, get everyone else, and go back to Earth. For me," Sapphire pleaded, hoping her lover would listen to her. Sapphire meant every word of it, and the fears of any of them suffering White Diamond's wrath would be her nightmare come alive. But now they're here, Ruby made her move, and finally opened her cell wide open. Ruby looked to her lover with a confident grin. With that door open, she only had one statement to say.

"Then let's change the future."

Sapphire didn't know what to say now, as Ruby went right up, summoned her weapon, and broke the restricting cuff in one strong punch, cracking it like an egg. A relief to have her Gem released, but it was still cracked.

"Ruby ..."

"We'll fix you up soon as we get Steven here."

"S-Steven's here?!"

"Sshh. He's safe. Now come on, hurry up," Ruby insisted. Sapphire didn't know what to do. As Sapphire was being escorted out of her cell, it was then that the others just showed up to help her out.

"Sapphire, oh thank goodness you're okay," Pearl said.

"Not entirely," Jasper noted, the cracked Gem easily seen by the others.

"Oh dang, nasty. Don't worry, Sapphire, we'll get you home and fix you up, good as new," Bismuth assured Sapphire, as she picked her up. All Sapphire could do was huddle up, hiding her face in Bismuth's chest as if hiding from whatever might be coming up. Just as they were about to go.

"Where do you think you might be going?"

Pearlis found them out. Right behind her were all of the Carnethyst guards, outnumbering the group of six ten fold.

"... we're outnumbered," Ruby said.

"Ha! What else is new?" Bismuth said, her hands turning into hammers. Pearlis and the guards weren't so easily intimidated by the Crystal Gems and their own weapons, and they began to close in.

Time for a fight.


~~~~~~


its time to go to sleep. Sweet dreams, everyone.

Back in the zoo, it had turned to nighttime for the zoo creatures. All the locals, following the instructions, began to drift off to sleep. Their resting area here was mainly the comfortable bushes, and while many of the humans were sleeping, Steven and Connie were getting restless. The two were sleeping next to eachother, and it wasn't until after a few minutes that Steven woke Connie up. Connie yawned, and stretched her arms.

"Wow, I'm really getting deep in this schedule," Connie yawned. While they do want to leave, something else had been nagging at Steven's mind since they arrived, and since it was just him and Connie right now (with the locals fast asleep, and the Mane Six farther away), he might as well get it out now.

"Hey, Connie. Ready?"

"I'm always ready," Connie answered. The two quietly got up, but they both took a second to look over at the other humans ...

"You thinking the same thing, Steven?"

"Look at these people. How could they be so happy? Do they even know they've been trapped here? ... I feel wrong," Steven said.

"I know what you mean. But, these humans and ponies had been here for generations. They don't even know what their real home is anymore," said Connie. Although she didn't want to leave them either, facts are facts. Where could they go that'll be the same as their utopia they're living in now?

"But. But we can't leave them here like this ... Can we?" Steven wondered, troubled still. Connie and Steven both looked over to the other sleeping locals one more time, one of which seemed to be having trouble sleeping, even if he was supposed to. Steven and Connie didn't know if they could even pull it off with so many people and ponies at one time. Getting Sapphire was the main idea, not making another "Great Escape" happen. They both could hear whimpering from the small boy, who was laying by himself on his own bush. Steven was the one who went over to him, and all he could do was gently stroke his hair. The little boy stopped whimpering after a little bit, and actually started to smile. It was the least Steven could do. Steven did this for another minute until he got back up to his own feet, wiping away a tear from his face. Connie did the same, wiping a tear from her own eye, before they both started to walk away.

They both know that they can't do anything about it right now. All they could do was go ...

"Psst, Steven, Connie, over here," a voice whispered from the bushes. Poking her head out, Fluttershy had found there they were.

"Fluttershy. Where're the others?" Connie asked.

"They're over here. I think Pinkie Pie found a way out," Fluttershy said, as she snuck back into the bush, a hoof gesturing them to follow her.

Steven and Connie both went off after Fluttershy for a little bit more, until Fluttershy found the others over by where Pinkie Pie had said. The area in question was right by the very edge of the zoo, right at the wall, and there actually was a pentagon door, hidden rather weakly by some large tropical leaves. Steven removed the leaves, and cleared the door.

"It's the door!" Steven realized. There was no other place that would get them out, so they had to make do with the door here. Steven tried to open it first, but it didn't seem to exactly work, the door being locked up tight from outside.

"It's locked."

"I got this, stand back," Rainbow said, her hoof scraping the ground. The others knew exactly what Rainbow was going to do, and quickly moved aside, as Rainbow took a few more steps back for some extra speed. Once she had a good ten feet of distance, she gathered her strength, lowered her head, and she charged forward with lightning speed, wings beating for good measure. Even with speed that matched a cheetah, all the slam did was give Rainbow a headache, a loud bang on the door signifying Rainbow Dash's strike. Her charge didn't even deny the door, let alone open it. Rainbow sat down, eyes spinning in a daze, as she tried to gather up her senses.

"You okay?" Fluttershy said.

"Yeah. I'm cool," Rainbow replied, shaking her head.

"Here, let me have a crack at it," AJ said, moving over to the door. Instead of ramming the door, she her Apple bucking hooves up, and kicked the door over and over again. Each powerful Applejack kick is enough to bang down every Apple off of her own trees, but it still wasn't enough to get the dang door open.

"Doors harder than a platinum turtle's shell. That door ain't budging," commented Applejack, wiping off sweat from her forehead. Soon, Steven turned to Twilight.

"Hey I know! Twilight, teleport us outta here!"

"Teleportation doesn't work like that. I have to get a visual idea of where I wanna be, and I don't know White Diamond's station enough to do that. It's even harder with multiple ponies too. Sorry," Twilight said. She might be able to do it, but she didn't want to risk teleporting them into outer space. Steven snapped his finger on hearing that, but in a way of being shot down an idea rather than getting one.

"There's always a catch," sighed Steven. Before they could continue ...

"Stee van! Kon knee!"

Guess their racket had woke up the locals. Appearing out of the bushes right by the door, Y6 and J10 had woken up from their noise, and went over to investigate.

"So it is you making the noise. What are you doing?" Y6 asked.

"Is this a new game?" Asked J10 excitedly.

"Can we play?" Added Y6.

"Oh, you two. Eh, no this isn't a game: we're trying to get this door open. Any ideas?" AJ asked. 

"What's this ... door?" J10 asked. Well it was worth a shot.

"It's like a wall, but you're able to open it up," Connie said, trying to explain.

"Walls don't open up. They're walls!" Y6 stated. AJ raised an eyebrow at this. No, that didn't help, but J10 did realize something that probably could help.

"Wait! There is a old story about a door: some one was taken away through one when they got ... Hurts."

"What exactly are hurts?" Asked Y6.

"I don't know," answered J10. So, these people don't even know what pain is? However, if it meant to open the door ...

"I know what hurt is!" Steven said.

"You do?" Y6 and J10 asked.

"I'll show you. Guys, slug me in the face," Steven said, waiting for somepony to comply.

"Steven, we're not going to hit you!" Connie said.

"If it means to get outta here," retorted Steven. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie had an idea instead pop up in her head.

"Hold on a minute -" Twilight tried to say, but Pinkie quickly cut her off.

"Me next, me next!" Pinkie said, suddenly bolting off into the forest. After a bit, she came back with half of a coconut, punched two eye holes in it, and got it right on her head. Pinkie wasn't going to hit him, but she was willing to take the hit herself. Pinkie banged her coconut helmet with her front hoof, and readied for the hit.

"Eh, Pinkie Pie?" Applejack asked.

"Come on, who wants a go! come on, come on, I'm ready for ya!" Pinkie said, ready for the hit at any moment. Naturally skeptical, but at least somepony was willing. Twilight though got the coconut helmet off of her fast.

"Guys, stop. If hurt is what opens that door, Rainbow would've got it open already. She did slam head first into it, right? We better think of something else before somepony gets more hurt," Twilight pointed out. As they tried to figure things out (Y6 and J10 kinda lost in the whole thing), Rainbow Dash took a look up to the sky. Her own daredevil mind began to go to work, and then she realized something that just might work.

"Maybe the commotion isn't big enough," Rainbow decided.

"Huh?" Pinkie asked.

"Wait here. I got this. Y6, J10, you two better move away from the door," Rainbow said, wings spread wide. They first thought Rainbow Dash was going to just charge at the door again, but instead, the Pegasus shot skyward. Once she was high enough, she began to fly around in circles along the rim of the zoo, going faster and faster. Y6 and J10 did so, as they all watched what Rainbow Dash was trying to do. It wasn't until she just became a blur of rainbow colors that Twilight began to put the pieces together.

"She's not," Twilight commented. But, she was: after gaining enough speed, Rainbow bolted up to the very top of the zoo, kicking off the ceiling to shoot downward. With her increased speed, it was just fast enough for her to do the incredible.

The sonic rainboom!

Exploding mid way down, the sonic rainboom spread out all across the sky of the zoo, waking everybody and everypony up with a startle as they all saw the signature rainbow colors spread out in a ring. The locals were simply mesmerized by this sight, for they had NEVER seen anything like it before in their lives. Rainbow Dash skidded down to a stop, stopping right back where she started, wings spread and full of pride. Y6 and J10 had stars in their eyes in astonishment to the Pegasus's feat. The rainbow rings hit the sides of the zoo walls, causing a sort of Indian bell chime to ring out inside the place. The singular, long chime lasted for a good ten seconds before fading away.

"That should get them running."

"Rainbow, what're you doing?! you're going to give us away," Twilight said.

"I am, actually. now come on, hide out here, they should come any second," Rainbow said, pushing everyone behind some of the forest brush, not too far from the door. Y6 and J10 were gone at the point, heading out towards the beach to see if that rainboom would come back. Not what they figured, but still worth something. They stayed hidden in the bushes for a while more until ...

"What was that?!" asked a voice.

"It came from in here!" said another.

"Come on, open it up, the other might be in there," a voice suggested, sounding familiar.

"I'm trying my best. hold on ... got it!"

As they were waiting, they began to hear some sort of odd sizzling, and soon, as they hoped, the door to the zoo actually managed to open up, giving them the opportunity. The mane six waited to see who was actually on the other side, expecting more of White Diamond's guards, but instead they found the other Crystal Gem group! Diopside, Amethyst, Emerald, Peridot, Jade, and Lapis Lazuli were all there, and judging by the dripping acid from Diopside's mouth, she was the one who got the door open.

"Good job, Diopside," Emerald commented, as Diopside wiped her mouth clean. No point in hiding now, especially from friends.

"Guys!" Steven beamed, as the others came out to greet them. Steven couldn't help himself: he went right up and hugged his friends on seeing them.

"Steven, thank goodness. How're you, are you all okay?" Lapis asked.

"Oh, we're fine, don't worry about it. Where're the others?" Twilight asked.

"They're rescuing Sapphire. Come on, let's high-tail it to the ship before anyone sees us," Emerald said, as they began to go. They closed the door, and they were heading down the hall when ...

"Hey! The offerings are out!"

"Oh clod," Peridot gulped, turning around to see Onyx, and Jasmith patrollers behind them! The only thing left to do was run, and run they did.


~~~~~~


"Now, I'm going to ask you again. Who's in charge here?"

In the throne room, The dormant Blue Diamond gemstone was brought to her by some of White Diamond's pearls. Starlight Glimmer had just finished going through a bit of a lecture from White Diamond herself. Blue Pearl and Yellow Pearl were both standing side by side, over near the White Pearl set, and Yellow Diamond awaiting over by White Diamond herself. Starlight was standing over in front of White Diamond, pretty much stuck in place, and looking up at her.

"You are."

"Who helped you get your revenge on that Alicorn?"

"You did."

"Who is going to listen to my orders?"

"... I am."

"That's better. Now, you just stay over with my Pearls, and be a good unicorn," White Diamond instructed. Starlight got what she wanted, but this was not what she wanted outta the deal. She reluctantly moved over to where she was told, and sat down over by Yellow and Blue Pearl. How embarrassing of her to just jump at Twilight without much of word. Before anything could go any further, there was another sound from the door: Onyx had arrived into the throne room. White Diamond was about to question her, but she saw her answer when another, much larger Gem entered the room.

Blue Diamond!

However, she did not appear the same as she was before. Reformation doesn't normally take on too much dramatic change, but in this case, it was a big one. When Blue diamond removed her hood, it showed how much she had changed: Her skin was lighter blue in color, along with her eyes, with her robe still faded in color to the original dark blue. The biggest change though was her hair. It was much longer now, pure white, and stretching down to the center of her back, almost like Sapphire's hair in a way in terms of structure. In fact, her hair not only went down her back, but looped around her chest, as if trying to cradle her Gemstone. Her eyes also had darker blue eyeshadow underneath, with some black eyeliner along the bottom lashes.

"See you've changed, Blue. Now then, had you come to your senses, or do I have to break you again?"

Blue Diamond recoiled under the threat.

"N-No. I'm fine now."

"Good. Now, I wish for both of you to stay a while longer, and we'll have the Crystal Gems here shortly," White Diamond said casually, as she got up and took a few steps behind Blue Diamond.

"Wait. My Diamond, I thought we had her already? she was the last one, wasn't she?" Onyx asked, confused.

"Sapphire's are always planning ahead, Admiral Onyx, and they're always prone to lying if it means anything."

"They can't be here now!" Yellow Diamond suddenly stated.

"Course they're here! We have their Sapphire, now don't we? Besides, it's probably better to wipe out all of them while they're here."

"B-But how?" Blue Diamond asked.

"They'll tell us when I bring them here. Pearls, apprehend them! Bring them back alive ... barely. Alive."

With a nod of the head, all of the White Pearls were soon rushing out of sight, splitting up in the halls to different locations. White Diamond simply walked to the door soon after her Pearls had left, but before leaving, she turned back to the other Diamonds and Pearls still over by the throne.

"I'll only be a moment. Yellow, you actually have some common sense. Keep Blue and that pebble horse out of any mischief until I get back, okay? Come along, Onyx."

It wasn't until after she left that Blue Diamond collapsed to her knees, hugging her own body, and looking rather petrified. Blue Pearl quietly moved over to her Diamond, actually moving away her hair so Blue Diamond could see her true eye. Blue Diamond was actually in tears at this point, as Blue Pearl tried to comfort her as best as she could do. Yellow Diamond began to feel more troubled about the subject more and more, but her position as a Diamond meant that if she tried to go against her, she'll risk losing everything she had. Still, seeing White Diamond just decapitate Blue Diamond made Yellow more angered towards her. She had enough ...

"Pearl, you stay with her."

.......

"Excuse me?"

It honestly didn't take very long until Yellow Diamond had actually caught up with her. White Diamond was alone, having sent her Pearls and Onyx off on their way to apprehend.

"I just thought that, before you go and apprehend them, you should be known of some needed information about Homeworld and the Crystal Gems," Yellow Diamond insisted. White Diamond knew that now wasn't the time for such things, but since her Pearls and her other Gems were on high alert, she might as well at least hear YD out. So, she stood there, arms crossed in authority, and looked to Yellow Diamond eye to eye.

"... Go on."

Yellow Diamond sighed, and cleared her throat, having eyes closed and in professional stance.

"Well, in previous months, the -"

"Yellow, do open your eyes. How am I suppose to tell if your lying with your eyes shut?" White Diamond cut in. Yellow Diamond complied, and continued.

"Right. Well, due to previous events, the Crystal Gems and Homeworld are eh ... On more, appropriate terms."

"Oh yeah?" Quizzed White Diamond.

"You see, it turned out that this Osicone event that we thought was nothing but mere myth and legend, had come to life on us. The Crystal Gems arrived on our Homeworld a month prior to the event, and it was them who ... I know it's a little embarrassing, but ... They. Defeated it for us. They saved Homeworld, basically."

At first, White Diamond didn't really seemed to change her main expression, apart from a raised eyebrow of course, but second by second the reality of it sank in her mind. That would explain why Blue Diamond was so reluctant earlier, anyway. Yellow diamond waited for some sort of reaction to come from her, the anticipation hard enough to contend with. White Diamond was sure Yellow Diamond did not lie to her in that whole speech, although she did seem a little embarrassed on the subject - who wouldn't? A ruler like her needing ruffians to handle something so large and so world-changing. White Diamond finally spoke up after a while, taking a step forward.

"... Go back to the throne room. That sword of yours will make a excellent execution axe," White Diamond stated. Yellow Diamond couldn't believe her ears.

"W-What? Did you not hear me, White?! The Crystal Gems saved Homeworld!"

"I got that. So. you mean to tell me that your court and army had become so tacky, and incompetent, that it takes a rag tag band of ruffians, not even any aid, just ruffians alone, to do your job?" White Diamond scolded.

"I know it's embarrassing, but they -"

"THEY had rebelled against Homeworld for a thousand years since we showed up on Earth. They had attacked and killed hundreds of Homeworld soldiers during the Gem war. And it's they who need to know their place with us."

Each point WD brought up got her moving a step closer to Yellow Diamond until she was toe-to-toe with her.

"So here's what's going to happen now. I'm going to get the Crystal Gems. I'm going to punish them, and YOU are going to help me, and let me do what needs to be done. Surely you see the reasons now, among other things."

"Other. things?" Asked Yellow Diamond

"Don't play any games with me, you know it, and so do I. now, you be a good Diamond, and wait in the throne room. IS. THAT. CLEAR?" White Diamond finished. Yellow diamond knew it was a losing battle now. Rather than say anything, all Yellow Diamond did was just nod slowly, eyes closed, and gaze down. Only then did White Diamond back away.

"Good. now, off you go then. I'll be with you in a few minutes."

After that, Yellow Diamond began walking on back to WD's throne room, defeated and withdrawn, as WD casually went on her way like nothing even happened.

"And to think, I just called her sensible. Hah," WD said under her breath.


~~~~~~


Meanwhile, the other Gems further away from the oncoming guards were pretty much on the run right now. With Lapis's group ahead, they tried their best to get to the ship, but the Jasmiths and Carnethysts were not making it any easier for any of them. Seemed that every corner outta four, more guards would block them off from getting out.

"Where the hay are these guys coming from?" Asked rainbow as they ran.

"Don't know, don't care. come on, I think I see the door out of here," Emerald said, pointing ahead. What have they got to lose now: as fast as they all could, they raced right through that door, and quickly closed it behind them just before any guards could get in. To make sure no one would get in, Peridot focused her metal abilities to seal the door shut. They could hear the guards skid to a stop by the door, trying to open it, but with no luck. They banged, rammed, and tried forcing the door down until one voice seemed to creep up over the sound.

"Guards! White Diamond is coming, she'll handle them," a voice commanded. That just made them even more worried.

"ok, we gotta - ... go."

They were NOT in the right place. not at all. In fact, the room was the last place any of them wanted to be: the science chamber! 

"OH, look, I think I see the door out of here," Peridot mocked.

"Oh shut up, like you knew where we were," snapped Emerald.

"Guys, stop it. White Diamond is coming, we need to find a way out of here and quickly. Who knows what she'll do to - oof!" As Lapis was explaining, and walking along ahead down the hall, she accidentally bumped something. Looking ahead, she saw that it was a hanging tube, ending in a sort of bong or something, but inside showed a small, wrinkled, Pearl Gemstone! It wasn't their Pearl in there, but horrifying to see. Looking up, there were a lot more hanged up, different Gem types amongst them, and a sign simply saying "Gem power cells. Return when not in use." Simply, these Gems were a power source for ... Well, for something, it was unclear what.

"I think I can guess," Emerald simply said. They all began to hear the guards again, and all they could do was go on ahead down the hall for somewhere to hide, or better, somewhere out. 

What happened next seemed to be a disaster waiting to happen: as they went onto the next room, they got their taste of what the workers actually do here. The room they were in was a large one, splitting off down through other doors to different areas of the lab, and this one alone looked just like a preparation room.  Up above on the wall was a large painting of a Diamond Gem, with a DNA symbol going through it. The rooms that followed had a similar layout to a laboratory, or hospital, only on a much larger scale for a diamond to walk around in. At first it looked fairly tame, but as they continued onward, something started to present itself.

"What is this place?" Connie wondered.

"I think it's a science lab. Do Gems do these sort of things?" Twilight questioned.

"Oh, all the time. But most of them are more ... well, tame, than this," Peridot said. And it showed: as they past a apparently empty room, something charged at the glass, banging on it hard, and making them all jump. Looking inside, while hard to see at first, it looked like something - a human - stuck in a cage. Inside the cage, the human was silent, a notable stitch over his chest, and the human pacing back and forth. There was a number engraved in his arm, reading as "Cut- 52371-A". Connie and Steven froze on the horror of it, as the other Gems moved them along. Now was not the time for any sight seeing.

"What did they do to him?" Steven had to ask, quietly.

"I don't want to know what they do in here, let's just find a way out," Peridot noted. As they kept going, another sound soon went off: a bag of rocks was dumped down into another chamber with a human in it. Before it was presented to this human, the food was colored and shaped to resemble human food. The human, whom was rather thin, took the food with abandon, and unwittingly ate the rocks as of they were just food. something disturbing to both Gems and Humans alike. It seemed to be a minor test, but they passed through some more doors and found something that made them shutter.

This room had rows of cages, glass lined, many of them with humans, or other creatures from Earth or elsewhere. This was impossible to ignore, as the door was over on the otherside. This place seemed to be a storage area for them, and looking in, it was painfully clear these humans were not normal. Some had limbs missing, some had their skin different colors, some had stitches over different parts of the body (over vital areas). It wasn't only humans though: Gems filled some of these cages, and their conditions looked as horrid, or even worse: some gems had fused colors like watercolors, some had limbs flip-flopped around on their bodies, and some even showed signs of infection of some sort of them, either shown on just the Gem, or on the body in patches.

This place was for human, and Gem experimentation.

"Oh my Celestia ... come on, let's hurry," Rarity said, at last. It was enough to immediately bring on either cringes or tears depending on who it was, but they all had to get out of here, and fast. Or it could be them in those cages as experiments.

The group was quick to get on out of there, the imagery stuck with them now, and onto the next room. This room had a bit of a split to it: one door to the right, one door by a window, and a set of stairs heading off upward along the wall. For the window, it lead out into a large, white, circular room, easily large enough to fit in all the diamonds comfortably. No humans, Ponies, or Gems were in this one aside from the Crystal Gems and Mane Six.

"How could Gems do such things?" Rarity wondered.

"I thought Gems stopped doing that," Diopside noted.

"Wait, all Gems did this before?!"

"No, not all Gems. Blue Diamond actually forbade the practice on her colonies. There're some things even the Diamonds don't approve of," explained Diopside.

"I believe that," Peridot commented.

"There's got to be another way out of here. You guys want to try the door, or the stairs?" Twilight asked. Before anyone could continue, Pinkie curiously began to look inside the room from the window. As she tried to see the whole thing, a stray hoof pressed down on one of the buttons, opening the door into the large room.

"oooOOOOooo! In here!" Pinkie said, going in to check it out.

"Pinkie, get back here, this is not a game!" Twilight called, as Pinkie Pie tried to find another door. As Pinkie looked, she actually found something that she thought was it. Above the way, as the others came in to get her, Pinkie saw another door to a higher room that looked like one of the landing pods from the hanger.

"Look, up there! It's the way out! I win I win!" Pinkie beamed.

"Then Come on, let's get going," Amethyst yelled from the door.

What happened next they didn't know how it happened: as they began to head out, something happened to the door after a while. Either it was fate contriving the situation or there was some timer to the door, but soon the door automatically slammed shut! That left Peridot, Lapis, Diopside, Amethyst, and Jade trapped inside the room, as everyone else was outside. Pinkie Pie tried to get the button to unlock the door, but it was no use. Lapis tried to open the door, but it wasn't working.

"What happened! Guys, get us out of here!" Diopside called.

"It's not working from here, the button turned off," Pinkie said, trying over and over again. Turned out it was actually out of power, an drained power cell just turning off after that use. Go figure.

"This is so contrived," groaned Emerald.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out!" Steven promised, but he didn't had a clue how. Diopside and Peridot looked up to the door, and noticed something else after a closer look from Peridot's visors.

"Hey, the stairs connect to that room up there, see if you can open the door from there," Peridot suggested. They quickly got moving from there right up the stairs, and soon got right up to the room in question. The room had a number of controls to it by a control pad, and the door right there, but that was about it really. Pinkie was quick to go right to the door, and opened it up. However, the pink mare didn't find what they were looking for. The room just lead to some extra items, and actually a bin full of clothes once belonging to the zoo humans. Connie and Steven's clothes were there, and Applejack's hat ended up sitting right on the top of it.

"Alright, our old clothes! Uh, can you give us a minute?" Connie asked, wanting to change into her old wardrobe. AJ simply grabbed her hat, and got it on her head where it belonged.

"Go ahead, I need a minute to figure this out," Twilight said. As Steven and Connie changed their clothes, one at a time in the bin room, Twilight tried to make heads or tails of the controls. She couldn't seem to figure out what did what, or what it was supposed to do, so her hoof gave a simple tap on it, showing silhouettes of Gems on the control pad to activate it. When Steven and Connie changed back ...

"What did you do?!" Peridot yelled. Looking down, they saw something different with the Gems in the room. It was a little hard to tell at first, but soon they could see that all the Gems were now Peridot size! Peridot and Jade were ok, but Amethyst, Diopside, and Lapis had shrunk down until they were the same size.

"Uh oh, what happened in there, you guys ok?!" Applejack called.

"You tell me," Lapis said.

"Don't worry, we'll fix this! ... I hope," Twilight said. But how could she fix this if they didn't even know what happened? As they were looking, Rarity got an idea, and turned to the only real Gem with them.

"Excuse me, Emerald, your a Gem, can you maybe try it?" Rarity asked. Emerald just nodded, and went right over to it, having a seat at the controls. The others inside the room couldn't see exactly what was going on, but when they saw Emerald sit there, Peridot grew even more worried.

"Alright, let's see what we got here," Emerald said, just ready to get to it. When he was looking at the controls and commands though, little by little, he started to get a little puzzled with what was supposed to do what. Emerald didn't do anything at first, his finger hovering over the controls to this experiment room. Eventually, Emerald got to work, and made a few clicks to it. It didn't open the door, but it did alter the Gem bodies again, this time to match a general Quartz soldier.

"Eh ok," Emerald said, quickly clicking the screen again. However, the Gems inside then ended up VERY small, about the size of their own Gemstones!

"Dang it, uh, how about -" Emerald altered it again, and suddenly each Gem was the size of a diamond! The size made them uncomfortably squished in the room.

"Sorry bout that."

"Emerald, what're you doing?!" Rainbow snapped.

"Hey, I've hadn't used these in thousands of years, I'm a little rusty," Emerald snapped back.

"Try mandatory instead," suggested Jade. Not the best idea, but best to change them back first before opening that door. Emerald knew how to do that, but mandatory only made it even more complicated in option and direction.

"Oh geez. You know what your doing, Emerald?" Asked Steven.

"No, not really. This is far more complicated than I remember," replied Emerald. Suddenly, Pinkie pushed Emerald off, and Pinkie took control of this screen.

"Stand back, everypony! I have the perfect, unable-to-fail, fool-proof method to solve any touch puzzle!" Pinkie announced.

"You do?" Asked Connie.

"Yessir! Now watch the master. At work," Pinkie said. Like a pianist, she began to relax her front hooves as she prepared herself for the upcoming test. The others were beginning to sense that something just wasn't going to go right here ...

And Pinkie started randomly clicking the screen like a mad typist!

"Pinkie, stop!" Connie immediately yelled. Something to go wrong, and this was it. Pinkie quickly clicked around screens, and buttons, trying to get it right. The affects inside had a rather hard affect on the Gems in it. Each Gem began to morph, alter, and basically get messed up in one way or another: Diopside ended up flattened to the floor, and her head and neck shoot upward. Lapis was thin as a twig for one second, but she suddenly ended up from a water Gem, to a round water balloon in shape, her body sloshing around with her arms, and head unaffected. Amethyst felt very uneasy, and soon her body started to twist and turn like a noodle, ending up in knots. Peridot ended up with a cartoony large head, with her legs shooting her upward with extra length.

"WHAT'RE YOU CLODS DOING?!" Peridot shrieked. Connie and Steven tackled Pinkie to the ground before she could go any further.

"Pinkie, stop, that's not helping!" Connie yelled, making the mare stop doing anymore damage. Seeing the results of the Gems inside the room did not make things any better. Whatever they were doing obviously had hard affects on the Gems inside.

"Ok, ok, stay calm, stay calm," Twilight told herself, trying her best to keep calm in this situation at hoof. As they tried to figure something out, Connie then gave it a try herself, Steven alongside her.

"Wait, Nopony touch that thing!" Rainbow yelled. However, as Rainbow tried to pull them back, Steven stumbled, and shoved a bar way high up.

"Oh no," said Jade, just before their bodies turned normal for a quick second, but they suddenly began to grow again, getting squashed against eachother. They all were basically giant balls stuck in the room, their head and arms the only things not inflated into a ball.

"Watch it. If we grow any bigger, we're gonna pop!" Diopside pleaded.

"Eh, I'm fine with this," said Amethyst. But that was not the worst problem they got to contend with. After a bit, they began to hear footsteps. Something big was coming ...

"AH! Fix it, fix it, fix it, fix it!" Rainbow pleaded.

"I'm trying as fast as I can!" Connie said, trying to work the controls again. Before any more damage could be done to the other Gems inside the room, suddenly one simple flip of the switch, and everything just stopped. The controls were turned off, and door unlocked, and the Gems inside returning to their normal forms.

"Finally, much better. Thank yaaaAAAAHHHH!"

Peridot's thank you turned to screaming, as unfortunately, White Diamond was already there, and while the small problem was over, they all had nowhere left to go ...

"Allow me to present your next move."


~~~~~~


It happened.

It actually happened.

After being thrown down to the throne room floor, the Crystal Gems were all captured, and trapped within White Diamond's own grasp. When the Diamond's saw this, they weren't sure what to do. Yellow Diamond tried what she could do, but that didn't work, and Blue Diamond looked on in pure dismay. Starlight was happy to see the Mane six now at her hooves, and White Diamond was feeling a sense of pride now. At this point as well, all of WD's Pearls, Pearlis, and Onyx, and a number of other hybrid Gems were also within the room. Outta the Crystal Gems though, there was thirteen out of fourteen, but that was one thing White didn't know about. To add more pain to injury, Sapphire was brought out as well, so she could witness the fall of the Crystal Gems.

"It's a nice day for Homeworld, is it not? I hadn't visited for more than a single Earth day, and we have the entirety of Crystal Gems now at our feet. Isn't that just a lovely surprise, Diamonds?" White Diamond began, as she looked them all over. They'd attack sure, but White Diamond had a unique method to keeping them contained: a light chain attached to the Gem's stones. Any movement, and the stone will risk breaking on them. For the Mane Six, it was a platinum chain - more primitive, but it got the job done.

"And Starlight here told me a bit about you, ponies. You did quite a bit have you? A few interesting experiments can come well out of you," White Diamond said.

"You're making a mistake, White Diamond! Ok, we are Crystal Gems, but we saved Homeworld before, honest - " Diopside tried to explain.

"From the Osicone, I know. Yellow here said something about it. First of all, you can't confess for someone else. And second, while it is a bit of a stretch, it doesn't excuse the crimes you committed. Rebels of the war, right?" White Diamond cleared up. So much for explaining that to her to save them.

"THEY SAVED YOUR PLANET, YOU SHOULD BE THANKING THEM!" Bismuth yelled.

"And that was thousands of years ago, let it go dude! Some of us weren't even in that war!" Amethyst yelled.

"Doesn't matter who did what in the war, or there after. You're the Crystal Gems, and the crimes on assaulting, and attacking the elite themselves is inexcusable, and unavoidable. So, you might've did something different from before, the past CAN NOT be ignored over what you did."

"... Did what?" Star suddenly asked. White Diamond kneeled down to her level, though still towering over her.

"Don't pretend you don't know."

"... You mean the Diamonds? What Diamond? Peridot, do you know?" Star asked, a little more legitimate in her confusion. Before Peridot could answer, White Diamond stood up straight, and whacked Star right in the head, sending her off her feet!

"Hey, hey, leave her alone!" Demanded Bismuth.

"And what're you going to do about it?"

"Keep beating her up, and find out!" Bismuth threatened. Outta all the Crystal Gems, Bismuth was easily the best candidate to threaten any Diamond, let alone White Diamond herself.

White Diamond wasn't even remotely intimidated by this threat, as she began to walk over to the other Diamonds in question, Yellow Diamond first. As she was Amethyst got an idea. when looked back, their chains all connected to one machine, but it was just out of reach.

"Psst, try and keep her busy for me," Amethyst said.

When White Diamond got to Yellow, she didn't need to say anything, other than to bring her hand out. Yellow took a look to the other Gems there, looking in disbelief. What was she to do? Should she not listen to her and help them, or stay in White's graces? Honestly, she wasn't sure anymore, especially after what happened to Blue Diamond. Yellow Diamond summoned her Gem sword after a bit, and all she could do was look away, as White Diamond took it. White Diamond smiled to her, but Yellow didn't feel any better, as White moved over to the group, the sword at the ready. White Diamond looked over every single one captured, and wondered which one should get the blessing of death first. Her finger came up, and hovered over the group of captured Gems, seeing some still trying to break their restraints despite the risk. As she was looking though, she did see one Gem that saw interest. Soon, her finger stopped on Ruby first, and once that was chosen, the sword was raised up to make the finishing move on her head. Even after the poof, Blue Diamond couldn't take it, and she grabbed the sword by the blade before White could finish it.

"White, please, they don't deserve death anymore!" Blue pleaded, though it was just making White more annoyed.

"Will you just sit down and -"

"But, White -"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" White bellowed. Scared, yes, but Blue refused to give her back the sword, backing up with it as White tried to get it.

"Such stubborn Gems, aren't they? Shall I send them to the science chamber?" Pearlis suggested. Since they just saw what was there, some of the Gems, humans, and ponies shuttered on the idea. The idea was basic enough.

"The humans and ponies can, but let me kill off the Gems first, Pearlis. Good suggestion," White said. Pearlis smiled in pride, Yellow Pearl rolling her eyes along with Onyx. Then White turned back to Blue Diamond.

"This is getting ridiculous, Blue. Give back the sword, and let me finish this."

"I-I won't! They're saviors to Homeworld, White, don't you see?" Blue said again. White gave a long breath before turning to the Gems again, but only to find Yellow Diamond standing in between her and them.

"You too, Yellow?"

"Listen, White. I have all my respect towards you, but these Crystal Gems and their allies had proven themselves to us already. I'm on their side - I'm sorry to say," Yellow finally said. It was about time Yellow Diamond finally had said so on the matter, and that did get some smiles from the Crystal Gems, but White Diamond was still not convinced. 

"I'm sure Pink Diamond would have something to say about that," White growled. Pink Diamond? That name almost seemed to echo throughout the room in their ears. Some had never even heard of the name before, and others were left speechless on it.

"We will be sure to tell her once we find her, White, I promise you that," Yellow promised, as Blue Diamond got up and moved over to her.

... Everything just stopped. White Diamond's normally serious expression turned into a more confused one, along with many of her hybrid Gem followers. White Diamond took a moment to eye check them to be sure if they're lying to her or not with that statement, but they do seem firm by what they're saying. All of a sudden, a realization seemed to hit the elite diamond.

"Oooohhhh ... I see the problem here ..."

White Diamond simply turned and sat down on her throne again.

"So. What do you know about Pink Diamond? Go on," White insisted.

"We're not sure. all we know was that she disappeared from Earth, and then the rebellion started from there. No reports of her whereabouts had come since," Yellow Diamond informed.

"I see ... and who might I ask, told you this?" White Diamond asked.

"Blue Diamond told me, and she got it from one of her Gems."

"And who would that be, Blue?" quizzed White Diamond. Blue Diamond didn't want any more of her subjects to take the fall for her own, but before anyone could do anything else ...

"I did."

Everyone in the room turned over to Lapis Lazuli, who was on her feet, with her gaze to her feet. White Diamond found this interesting, and snapped her fingers again. One of her Pearls rushed over and, strangely enough, released her from her chain, just so she could come forward.

"So. You told your Diamond that Pink Diamond was missing."

"Yes, I did."

"I think you honor your Diamond."

"Yes."

"Well then, this explains a lot. Blue, Yellow, allow me to get your minds in the right point of view, and MAYBE you'll understand who's on what side, alright?" White Diamond simple stated. Everyone in the room remained quiet. As White Diamond had them busy, Steven and Connie felt something tough their own platinum chain, right behind them, and quietly trying to unlock the chain - Amethyst's extended hand. some extra skill in her body manipulation was put to the test here.

"Listen, Yellow, Blue. I can probably guess the feeling that you might not want to share some true information, on fear of upsetting those you follow. However, I'm afraid your Lapis had failed in her duty to provide the right information for you. Would explain why she had to disappear."

As White was talking, Amethyst had actually managed to cut through the chains keeping Steven and Connie down, and was moving onto the Mane Six. With a little gesture, she had them keep quiet, and stay pinned down to play it off.

"Anyway, perhaps this is why you accepted them back so easily. They rebelled, of course, but Pink Diamond. Well, she never got to see it, now did she? Tell me: had you ever wondered why she hadn't given you any sort of signal ever since leaving? not a single visit, or a simple "hello"? Or -"

"Will you get on with it, already? Sorry, but don't keep us in suspense," Yellow insisted.

"Alright, we'll play your way."

Amethyst was doing very well now, quietly going down to the last platinum chain holding down the ponies.

"Well, two of my own Pearls laid witness to what had happened. She saw it with her own eyes, didn't you Pearl?" White Diamond said. One of White Diamond's seven Pearls nodded in response as White Diamond continued.

"She reported to me exactly what happened down on Earth that day ... The rebellious leader, Rose Quartz. Do you know what she did to start the rebellion in the first place?"

White Diamond snapped her fingers again, and one of the Pearls (the one who saw it herself), raced off for a second, and came back with a dormant Gemstone. White Diamond held it in her hand for a bit, for both Diamonds to see.

"Imagine this, as Pink Diamond for a moment ... here's what that Rose Quartz started ..."

*CRACK*

In one flex of White Diamond's fist, the Gemstone cracked, and crumbled in her strength. Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond froze, as White Diamond released what remained, the shards falling to the floor in a crumbled mess. Everything there was quiet, almost as if time seemed to had stopped.

"... no ... no ... I-It's not true," Blue Diamond breathed out, tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't try to deny it, Diamonds. The Crystal Gems shattered Pink Diamond!"

Now it was out. The Diamond's souls were deeply cut with this emotional stab at their being. The two Diamonds turned to face the Crystal Gems, not saying much of anything, as the information and reality of the situation sunk into both of them. It wasn't just the diamonds though: Steven took it the worst. Never had any of the Gems even remotely told him, or any of his friends this. Ruby, Sapphire, Pearl, and Bismuth were especially quiet and withdrawn on it, Pearl the most.

"No," Steven said, tears starting to form up, "Rose Quartz would never do that! A-And, sure, she had to fight but ... but she would never shatter someone!"

Steven's words echoed around about as much as White Diamond's words did, but the elite Diamond didn't seem to care much for it. Suddenly, she went forward, got her finger under Steven's shirt, and in one swipe, tore it clean off of him, revealing Rose's Gemstone! The force was hard enough to knock Steven back a good ten feet.

"Steven!" Connie gasped. Steven couldn't hide the gemstone anymore, and he wasn't sure what to do, his mind and emotions trapped with the overall concept. White Diamond smirked before speaking again.

"Looks like I don't have to go very far. And as for you two Diamonds. Surely now that I told you this, you wouldn't have any problems with killing them, right?" White Diamond figured. Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond both still were trying to take this in, but as Blue Diamond got down to her knees, it was Yellow Diamond who re-summoned her sword. White Diamond smiled a devilish grin, as she stepped aside to let Yellow Diamond do her thing. The first Gem that she stepped up to was Steven himself, sword at her side, and eyes staring him down.

"... Rose Quartz ..."

As she kept looking though, there was something different from him. The Gems tried to get their restraints off of them like mad, but Yellow Diamond began to raise her sword, aimed down to Steven ... But she didn't move it any further than that.

"... This isn't Rose. He never knew of her death ... It's pointless to kill him."

"You can't be serious, Yellow." White Diamond could see that both Diamonds aren't going to finish things for her, even with the information she revealed to everyone.

"So be it ... SLAUGHTER THEM!"

Then it all began. The Pearls rushed forward towards the Gems to finish them off, and it was here that the ponies all sprung into action, and attacked the oncoming Pearls! Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie charged at the Pearls first, slamming them off as hard as they could. Rarity and Twilight raced over to the device keeping the energy chains on the Gems, and quickly got rid of that with Twilight's magic blast, releasing the Crystal Gems! White Diamond was surprised, but she snapped her fingers for one of her Pearls to go off to handle one extra act to make things more interesting. Jade and Lapis went over to Steven and Sapphire to lend them a hand as everyone else. The first thing they had to do: Heal Sapphire. Steven was quick to get his healing spit to work, and got it straight on Sapphire's Gemstone before they could do anything else, getting the Gem back at full strength.

"Thank you, Steven," Sapphire simply said.

As they were doing this, but Jasmiths and Carnethysts alike poured in, hearing the commotion from outside, as one of the Pearls got all the way to the top of the main throne door. After a ton of the guards got inside, only then did the Pearl activate ... something.

There was a Gem-like button right on top of the door, and once that was clicked, the room itself suddenly started to grow bigger and bigger around them. The wide open space was now large enough for a stadium, and the only door ended up locked tight. White Diamond got herself ready, when her own Gemstone glowed to summon her own weapon. Yellow Diamond had a sword, sure, but White Diamond had her own unique weapon in mind: a large, battle ready Halberd. The weapon was about as tall as she was, a perfectly sharp blade at the end of it, with a small, yet noticeable band that flowed in the movement, showing the White Diamond insignia.

"Now we're talking. Pearl, level up!" Bismuth called. This was that favor Bismuth asked Pearl to do before arriving. Just before they got off, Pearl had basically turned into the weapon chest, and now, her Gemstone glowing bright, the enhancements all came out for the Gems to use. As the Gems summoned their weapons, the enhancements almost immediately attached themselves to the weapon in question: Amethyst and her spiked ball attachments, Fulgurite and her cleats, Pearl and her spikes for her spear, Jasper and some horns for her helmet, The brass knuckles for Ruby and Sapphire, and so on. Unexpected, but it evened the odds in the fight anyway. Ruby and Sapphire, happy to be together, immediately fused back into Garnet, and got the weapon enhancements in her gloves.

"Welcome back, Garnet!" Steven said.

"Great to be back."

"Last chance to pick a side, Diamonds," White Diamond warned. Blue and Yellow Diamond both, actually, stayed aside from this.

"Please yourself."

It honestly didn't take very long until it was all out war in the arena, the Crystal Gems verses White Diamond's colony. The amount of large soldiers that the others had to face, Carnethyst or Jasmith, made the fight a bit more challenging, but with the Crystal Gems at full strength (or at least as full as it can be). Pearlis joined in on the fray herself, yet Onyx found it, while exciting, a bit too crazy for her to handle, so she stayed aside for this one. Starlight, almost naturally, was taking her own battle against the Mane Six. No way she was going to let them win against her, not again. Before it was a more unfair fight against them, but now with them all together, and with enhancements, the fight was at more even odds, or even more on the CG side than Homeworld. White diamond fought time and again, but took a moment to observe the fighting moves of the Crystal Gems. As they were fighting, it was mainly the Quartzes: Bismuth, Jasper, and Amethyst, who were more rebellious in their approach, but were doing a good job keeping up their own. Fulgurite and Pearl's main method revolved around a hit n' run: attacking fast, and not giving the enemy much time to react. Some though weren't even fighting: Fluttershy and Jade more in particular who were trying to stay aside.

Perfect targets.

Suddenly, White Diamond was running right over to them, getting the spear of hers out and at the ready to slice them all up!

"Fluttershy, Jade, run!" Rainbow shrieked. Jade for one didn't want to fight, but now she had no choice. Thinking quick, she summoned her own little Gem weapon to the playing field: a staff with a striking dragon at the end of it. In a desperate strike, Jade started to wing her staff around, and that seemed to be releasing something at White Diamond. The Diamond stopped, as one of these green projections, which looked like eastern dragons, slammed her face. The hit was minor, but it did give WD something to work with.

"Well, you got your weapon after all. I should've killed you myself when I could," White Diamond commented, her huge halberd spinning to reflect more projectiles from Jade's staff, each time getting closer and closer to them. Before she could make any final hits towards them ...

*BANG*

Something suddenly was shot at her, right at her Gemstone! The shock of the hit made her stumble back, but she didn't feel any gemstone crack or damage to it. As for the shot, the one responsible for the sharpshooting stayed high above, and White Diamond eventually saw who had shot her.

Flint.

"Flint! Eh, um *ahem* Flint. how unexpected of you," White Diamond said. Personally, she was especially surprised to see him, as he locked and loaded his weapon.

"Back away from the Jade, White Diamond, or else," Flint warned.

"Still as much of a rebel as before, Flint?" White Diamond said, her spear at the ready. But instead of fighting White Diamond right away, Flint gave a few more quick-shots to the enemy team fighting the Crystal Gems, each one actually getting knocked back to poofing on the spot! Flint got about ten or twelve Gems poofed before he jumped down into sight.

"Flint, there you are!" Garnet said.

"Sorry I took so long -" Flint shot a Jasmith in the face, poofing her "- been a bit busy with some more guards outside. How're you all holding up?"

"Right as rain," Garnet said, as she tossed two Carnethyst Guards over to Bismuth, who smashed their torsos together for two poofs with one hit.

"This what you had in mind with your plan?"

"Not at all, but guess we have to improvise," Flint just said. They were locked in, what else can they do other than fight their way out?

White Diamond continued her watch over this onslaught from both sides. Even with the Crystal Gems getting the beat down, they proved to be VERY durable Gems in battle. That, and she's seeing more and more Gems being poofed in front of her. She was still surprised to some extent that Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond refused to fight, though she figured if she didn't tell them, they'd be all over her. Soon, White Diamond saw something strong in revelation. It took half an hour of abuse, but the guards were defeated. The only one standing was Pearlis, who just stood there amongst the field of Gemstones scattered everywhere. The Crystal Gems were still standing, weaker, but alive and willing. White Diamond was now in the firing line of the group.

"Ok, White Diamond, listen, we don't have to continue this: just let us go back home, and this fight can end," Garnet said. White Diamond swung her halberd around to show off her skills for a second.

"I'm the leader of the Diamond Authority, I didn't come to existence to surrender. However, I do have to say I'm a little bit intrigued with your strength. You managed to beat my hybrid Gems, after all. Still, perhaps an all-out brawl may not be worth everyone else's necks."

"What're you getting at?"

"I'm getting at a dueling match. If you win, you all can kindly leave. If I win, then you all remain here as experimental mannequins to the science chamber. I'm sure SOME of you are aware of what goes on there, correct?" White Diamond referred, of course, to the Mane Six and whoever was with them. With the steaks high up as they are, perhaps it would be good to try such a duel, and see how well it'll go. With the door locked, what else could they do?

"Seems like a advantage to you, my Diamond. Shall I notify the science chamber?"

"Wait until after the duel, Pearlis. So, Gems, bring out Rose Quartz," White Diamond said. Garnet tried to think on the subject more, and with her future vision now working properly, she can get her mind straight. Bismuth was ready to fight, no doubt, along with some others. As they had a moment though, there was one idea that came up in Amethyst and Connie's head.

"Steven, wait, you can't go alone," Connie said.

"Let's face her together, we can do it," Amethyst added. Before things could continue, suddenly the Pearls showed up behind them, and forced Steven out into the arena. Connie and Amethyst got past the Pearls and to Steven's side.

"No other Gems are to interfere in the duel. Less you want to get killed on the spot, of course. So, you two, back off," White Diamond ordered. Amethyst and Connie didn't move away from him though, as they do want to help him face her. Steven tried to think on what to do, but White Diamond herself was getting impatient.

"I said MOVE AWAY! Only one Gem is to fight me, as if I have to say it again," White Diamond demanded. Steven, Connie, and Amethyst all looked to eachother. By themselves, they don't stand  a chance against the Diamond. But right there, thinking it over, the trio realized the loophole in White Diamond's demands.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Amethyst asked.

"It's worth a shot. We can still face her together," agreed Connie.

"Let's do it," finished Steven.

When it was decided, the three Earth fighters moved out fully into the arena, side by side, with Steven in the middle. White Diamond was about to protest when Steven raised both hands, and Amethyst and Connie raised one of theirs. Once they all gripped hands ...

Well, that was all they needed to bring out White Diamond's opponent.

"Wait. Are they? ..." Questioned Flint.

"Oh my," commented Rarity.

Indeed they were. The three glowed bright as their bodies started to fuse together! Yes, their answer was fusion - a three way fusion! As they were fusing, the earrings finally fell off of them, landing down onto the ground as their new body shifted and grew into this new being.

This fusion now was something no one had ever seen before. If Smoky Quartz and Stevonnie were both firsts in their right, then this tri fusion was the very first triple fusion Steven had ever done. For starters, the size of the fusion was exceptionally tall, almost as tall as the Diamond she was facing, with her head lining with her chest. The structure of her body was a bit of a mixed one, since two of three parts of her were thicker, so was she, though not in the same was as Smoky, but thicker than Stevonnie. Her skin was similar to Stevonnie, except being a bit duller to look like clay, and she still had Smoky's freckles on her face. Speaking of face, she had now gained an extra eye in the center of her forehead, just like Garnet, and she even had an extra set of arms now. The upper pair of arms though were slightly thicker than her lower arms by an inch or so. Her hair was a bit more brownish and prominent, leaning more towards Stevonnie than Smoky, yet it was still a bit shaggy like Smoky was, and reaching just down to the middle of her back. As for Gemstones, they still remained in the same spots and same colors as Smoky Quartz, since Connie didn't had a gemstone to alter coloration with. Her clothes were more in line with Steven, with his shorts and signature star shirt, though his shirt turned into a tank top, with a extra purple band on the right side, and sleeves only shown on the lower arms.

The fusion took a moment to check herself, trying to get her minds and body ready, as everyone looked to her with a mix of reactions. Most of these were shock, of course, but some (Pinkie, Garnet, Rainbow, Bismuth, etc.) were especially amazed. Even the Diamonds were at a loss of words when seeing her.

"Oh my stars! Oh, oh, I-I need to sit down," Yellow Pearl said.

"Amazing," was Blue Pearl's only main comment. The only one upset was White Diamond.

"What do you call this?! I said one Gem!" White Diamond bellowed.

"She is one Gem. One being. Your rules never said anything about a fusion," Flint suddenly said, realizing the loophole in her plans fairly early too.

"How dare you! You three unfuse at -"

"Pearlis, don't. If they all want to die with Rose, then so be it. Besides, it's been a while since I fought any fusion," White Diamond said, moving Pearlis back as she got her halberd ready.

"Blue, are you able to identify her?" Asked Yellow. Blue Diamond looked to the fusion in deep surprise. This fusion wasn't any regular mixture of just two Gems, by any means. Thinking over on who was in there: one was a full gem, who was a full human, and one was a balance of both human and Gem.

"... I'm sensing a strong balance in her. A perfect mix of human and Gem DNA. This is all too new to me," concluded Blue Diamond. As for the fusion, she got out her own Gem weapon, which mainly was Smoky's weapon of the Yo-Yo.

"I'm ready," she simply said.

White Diamond rushed at the fusion first, spear out and ready to skewer her, but the fusion took a quick side step to dodge, and the Yo-Yo struck WD in the back. The hit was strong enough to knock WD over, but the combat veteran was quick to get back up and recover before going back at the fusion again. This time, the fusion rushed to her, and their arms locked. While White Diamond had more strength, the fusion had the extra arms, and was using those to punch her in the stomach over and over again, rapid fire punching. It was enough to actually weaken the White Diamond enough, but not enough to stop WD to toss the fusion over her head. The fusion though landed on all four arms for good balance, and got back up faster than White Diamond had. 

"Alright, you got this!" Rainbow cheered.

"GO FUSION GO!" chimed in Pinkie. As the fight continued, Star Quartz turned to Peridot.

"... What kind of Gem is she? She appears ... different."

"You tell me, I've never seen or heard of a Gem like her before since Stevonnie," replied Peridot, referring to her being half human.

The duel went back and forth with who had what advantage, everyone around watching in anticipation on who might win. Naturally, the Crystal Gems and Mane Six were hoping the fusion would win, while White Diamond's followers were hoping on the leader. As the fight kept going on though, it was starting to become clear, that while the fusion had more tricks up her sleeves, she was getting more tired. Being half human had some disadvantages over any normal Gem fusion, and White Diamond could see that. As WD whacked the fusion with the blunt end to her halberd, the fusion got to her feet, but staggered a little as she tried to stay balanced.

"Tired already? A shame you're half human in there," White Diamond said.

"I. I'm -"

White Diamond quickly knocked the fusion off her feet. The fusion was tired, but she tried her best to keep it together, metaphorically and literally, so she can beat the Diamond to the ground. If she were to lose right now, then that's it for the Crystal Gems and Mane Six, and off they'll go to the science lab. White Diamond turned over to the fusion, her halberd at the ready to finish her off. The fusion got to her feet, and swung her Yo-Yo around, knocking White Diamond again, but this time the hit was miscalculated. The halberd in White's hands ended up flying in the air, and soon made a nosedive.

Straight for the fusion!

One of the Gems had enough: summoning her wings, she flew right for the fusion from the crowd.

"Lapis!" Garnet called.

But it was too late to stop her: Lapis knew her closest friends were in that fusion, and she wasn't going to stay by and watch them die in front of her. Lapis gave it all she got, and managed to shove the fusion out of the way. She saved her, but the gigantic blade sliced straight into her back, right on the gem! Lapis froze, and was forced to the ground, the halberd staying stuck stiff for a few seconds in her back. Lapis simply laid there on the ground, the halberd finally succumbing to gravity after five long seconds, falling down to the ground next to her, and popping out of her now sliced gem.

"Lapis!" The fusion gasped. Just to show how little she cared, White Diamond took her chance, and rammed the fusion all the way to the ground hard, her foot slamming between her two gemstones.

"You should really pay more attention."

"B-But, Lapis, did you not see what happened?!" The fusion retorted. However, White Diamond simply laughed in a civilized manor, as if the fusion made a small joke.

"No wonder there's barely any of you left. Running into danger, risking your own gem, for some pathetic pebble instead of letting them go and making it easy on yourself. Lapis is wasting her time with you," White said, moving her foot to step down on her throat!

The other Diamonds had enough.

"How can you say that?" Blue Diamond asked.

"Don't give me that, they're backstabbers anyway. Perhaps if someone had done her job right, I wouldn't have to do this myself. Besides, why should you care? You and Yellow seen Gems die before, and you could care less about any human scum like this."

"That's not the point, White. WE actually try to do good for our race."

"Doesn't mean much coming from you, does it? And as for you, fusion ..." White Diamond removed her foot, and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her up just enough so her feet were off the ground. The fusion tried and struggled to get herself free, trying to beat down the Diamond, but this time there was no release. Being half human meant she still had to breathe, and while she can hold her breath a lot longer than a normal human, it was only a matter of time before suffocation will set in. Jasper and Bismuth were ready to go in, but Garnet oddly brought her hand up to stop them both.

"Garnet, why not? Can't you -" Bismuth stopped cold when she looked to Garnet's face. While concealed by her shades, Jasper was sensing something in her that almost seemed foreign to such a level-headed leader. Something that immediately told the others that something extremely bad was wrong here ...

A face of fear.

"Looks like we'll be having some openings for the science chamber after all, Pearlis. I'll give you the honor for first experiments once i'm done here," White Diamond said.

"Th-Thank you my Diamond!" Pearlis said. 

Over at the body, Lapis remained still on the ground. The strong cut was easily evident within the poor Gem's gemstone, even going down her back from there. She could hear Steven's voice choking, and White Diamond's laughing. Both those sounds echoed in Lapis's poor head, every other sound was blocked out of her mind almost completely. She heard everything that White Diamond had said, the horrible things that she said. With her body still glitching slightly, Lapis slowly began to get up. Her muscles were tense, her fingers digging into the floor, with what water was left of her wings now started to act far more sporadic. The water was apparently as glitchy as her body was, shivering and stuttering each time a glitch happened to her. As she slowly began to get up, her movement was catching the attention of everyone. The water grew larger, and moving more rigid and erratic. White Diamond glanced over to Lapis Lazuli, and soon the Gem on the ground was glaring right at her, with teeth grinding against eachother, and her eyes now stuck as mirrors!

"Oh no," Blue Diamond breathed out, actually stepping back, surprising Yellow Diamond and their Pearls. The water grew more and more erratic, looking like there were spiked chained rings circling her, speed matching a whirlpool. She got to her feet, the water spinning extremely fast, consuming Lapis, just before she finally rocketed at her! The hit was so fast, and so strong, White Diamond was actually sent flying off into the air, slamming the button on top of her door. The hit made the room shrink down as Lapis went all out on White Diamond, shooting around at her again and again like a comet. Each hit left more cuts and scrapes all over White Diamond's body. The Diamond slammed down hard on the ground, skidding down towards her throne at one point. When the Diamond looked back to Lapis, she was up in mid air, her water power now made her look almost monstrous, several large, ice cold water tentacles whipping around erratically. The water around Lapis made the body blurred, and the eyes staring her down.

It was at that moment when White Diamond realized.

She messed up.

Next thing she knew, the spiked tentacles dug right through White Diamond's stomach like a jackhammer, and Lapis didn't relent until White finally succumbed to her injuries, finally poofing altogether. The gemstone fell down to the floor, but no one was exactly cheering at first. Lapis was still glitching, still hurting ...

"Lapis!" The fusion called. However, Lapis was suddenly charging at her in a defying screech! The fusion dodged just in time, but Lapis slammed into the wall, shooting out to attack the ponies of the group!

"Take cover!" Garnet called, everyone bolting away as multiple tentacles stabbed the floor, cracking each one of it. Lapis even saw the Diamonds standing, and lunged herself at them. Yellow pushed Blue Diamond out of the way just in time, causing Lapis to slam into White Diamond's throne, and crumbling it into rubble.

"Can't you do something, Blue Diamond?!" Onyx yelled.

"I can't! She's too far gone to remotely be reasoned with," Blue Diamond revealed. Indeed, that was the horrifying truth.

This cracked Gem had gone out of her skull.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Lapis's scream rang in their ears, as the tentacles shot out in every direction, hitting walls, floors, and anything else they can reach. Some of the tentacles tore apart the door, and the fusion quickly got out Steven's shield before any Gem or pony could get hurt by the mad flailing. Parts of the ceiling even fell down onto the floor, the rubble giving them some cover to work with.

"Lapis, stop, it's your friends remember?" the fusion called. But it was no use. Lapis was too far in to recognize anyone and anything at the moment.

"No point in trying that, anypony got any ideas?!" Rainbow asked, covering her head as more water weapons were shot at them. It was hard to watch Lapis suffering like this, and with this violent damage, it could cause more trouble for all of them if this keeps up. One hit wrong and they could all get severely hurt, or worse, get tossed into space from hitting the glass! This was a very desperate situation, and the longer they let her go, the more damage she'll do.

"Lapis, please, you have to remember something!" Twilight called. Lapis charged at the voice, and Flint quickly shoved her out of the way, saving her before Lapis struck him. One hit, and got poofed almost instantly!

"Flint!" Jade gasped. This was getting worse and worse, and Lapis chose her next target as the fusion! A huge wave of tentacles struck the fusion, strong enough to split her apart in one easy strike! It just showed how strong Lapis Lazuli actually was now, as Amethyst, Connie, and Steven fell to the floor, with the ponies rushing to their aid. One Gem who was seeing this, Jasper, was seeing just how horrifying the situation was: Lapis was out of control, White Diamond, many of her followers, and even one of their own Gems were poofed on the spot, the only person able to heal her was knocked out cold thanks to her (not to mention it would be too long until he could wake up), and Lapis was closing in on the other Diamonds. The Pearls coward behind their Diamonds for protection, but it wouldn't be much help compared to this psychopath. Jasper looked around a bit more, and soon she began to work out one solution, but it was a long shot ...

"Star. Think you can get up there?" Jasper whispered, pointing up to an area of the glass.

"Yes. Why?"

"Then go over there. Get her attention, and get ready to seal the window up once I'm done."

Star, unsure what Jasper was really meaning, did as she was told, and quickly moved over there. Lapis began to hear someone move, and turned herself around to see Star Quartz in position. The blue Gem turned herself around, her tentacles just missing the other diamonds, and she focused on Star. Jasper began to get herself ready, and with the others slightly distracted, only a few saw what she was about to do before she started to run!

"Jasper, come back!"

"It's too dangerous Jasper!"

But Jasper didn't listen to anyone. Lapis hovered slowly, the water tentacles menacingly whipping around her. Lapis roared down at Star, who was staying where she was told despite the situation. It was too late for anyone to actually stop Jasper, as the orange warrior made a huge jump at Lapis. Jasper just managed to grab her, arms wrapped around Lapis's torso, the mad gem screeching as the tentacles flailed around violently. Lapis struggled to get free, but Jasper was not going to let her go, not now. What was Jasper's plan for this? ...

The light up in the room began to glow, and both Jasper and Lapis were no longer able to be seen. The water that was flailing around grew dormant, and fell to the floor, along with a much larger figure. This figure was huge for one thing, about the size of one of the Diamonds, but she had a body design to actually match that of a centaur: a pair of large muscular arms along with two other arms for feet. Lapis's top remained, though the bottom half had Jasper's homeworld outfit design. Her skin had a mix of light and dark sea-green, the Gemstone on her nose purely lime green, along with her four lining eyes. Her hair, long and flowing upward, appeared pure white, similar to Diopside. One pair of these eyes (at the moment, the upper pair) still showed Lapis's mirror eyes over the regular eyes underneath.

Jasper's plan: fusion.

"Oh no. NO! JASPER, GET OUT OF THAT FUSION, HURRY!!" Garnet screamed, far more fear in her voice. The fusion Jasper was in turned to face Garnet, but who was in control was not yet for sure. Jasper still had to fight with Lapis's blind rage the whole time she will be fused together, and the other Gems knew that. Jasper also knew that if she were to just unfuse, then Lapis would just go after everybody again. 

"S-STAR. WINDOW, NOW!" The fusion bellowed.

"STOP! Fulgurite, stop her!" Garnet quickly ordered. Without a second thought, Fulgurite swiftly raced over to Star, who was starting to work with the window to get it open. Fulgurite managed to get up to her, but Star was a lot stronger than Fulgurite realized, and the fusion forced herself to stay over near the window. The internal struggle Jasper was having with Lapis was a harsh one, and little by little, Jasper kept feeling her control slip away, and Lapis was in control time and time again. Groans and growls escaped the fusion's mouth, as she gripped her head, trying to keep herself down, to the point of shivering. Each shiver was glitching on Lapis Lazuli's part.

"Jasper, what're you doing?!" Garnet called, worry filling her voice.

"S-Stay - Stay back, Garnet. All of you! I -She - W-We'll kill you!" the fusion warned, both sides mixing in with tones. The speaking was mixed with growls as well, which wasn't a good sign.

"Lapis! I know your in there, now calm down," Applejack said.

"I-If you don't mind that is," added Fluttershy. AJ even got very close to the fusion at one point, but the fusion snarled at the ponies, and slashed at them with her fingers like they were claws. The ponies just missed, AJ's hat getting scratched in the process. The fusion gripped her head again, Jasper coming back around.

"Jasper, what're you doing with my Lapis?!" Blue Diamond asked.

"S-Star, hurry up. She - I c-can't hold b-back much l-longer!" The fusion snarled. Star Quartz got back to dislodging the window, Fulgurite trying all she can to stop Star, but it wasn't working. Finally, in one powerful yank, the glass dislodged! Immediately, they were starting to get sucked out, all expect the fusion at a safe distance. At first, the fusion wasn't fighting it much, but suddenly Lapis took control of the fusion, the arms gripping the sides of the window!

"Lapis!" Blue yelled, blindly rushing in to grab the fusion's arm. The suction of the open window into space, outside actually showing Earth. It's a long way down back to Earth if she were to let go. Yellow Diamond grabbed Blue Diamond, trying to get some extra strength, but even then it was hard to keep her in.

"What're we waiting for, come on!" Bismuth said, rushing in and grabbing the fusion by the other arm. Many of the Crystal Gems joined Bismuth in trying to save them both. Here, Steven, Connie, and Amethyst came back around, and they were witness to the danger. Jasper took control again, and saw what the others were trying to do.

"N-No! You'll d-die standing there!"

"We're not letting you go!" Garnet yelled.

"You both won't make it!" Blue Diamond agreed. Unfortunately, the fusion was lost again, the bottom eyes now mirrors again. It was Lapis in control, but she wasn't biting or snarling. Instead, her eyes locked with her diamond ...

"I--I-I-I'm ... s-s-s-sorry ..."

She opened her mouth, and with one horrifying bite, she bit off her own hand! The other hand threw everyone else out of harm's way, enough strength to move everyone. That officially dislodged the fusion completely. The fusion roared one more time, as she succumbed to the force of the pressure and gravity. Just as she went through, Star lodged the window back in place, finally stopping the suction altogether, and calming everyone down. The horrifying ordeal was over, and Star jumped down to the others.

Jasper and Lapis were gone.

"... Everyone alright?"

"I think so," answered Twilight. The diamonds moved over to White Diamond's stone still on the ground, but their troubles were not over yet: the gemstone began to reform. Next thing they knew, White Diamond was standing again, in battle stance, just to find everything destroyed around her, and Lapis missing. Pearlis (who only now came out of hiding, rushed to her aid.

"My diamond! Are you alright?!"

"Yeah ... what happened? Where's Lapis?" White Diamond asked.

"Lapis. She's gone. Just moments ago," reported Yellow Diamond. White Diamond looked over to the Crystal Gems and Mane Six further away. That other fusion wasn't anywhere around, neither was Jasper. Many of her own Gems were missing, and the entire room was simply trashed, possibly from Lapis herself. The only ones left of her side was Pearlis and Onyx.

"You two. Tell me exactly what happened here. Every detail."

"Well, when you got poofed, that Lapis Lazuli was attacking every creature in a blind rage: the Crystal Gems, the Diamonds, everyone in sight! I never seen anything like it," said Onyx.

"Well, let's not get too carried away, but yes it was a rather impressive display. The Crystal Jasper actually fused with her, and they ended up being launched out into outer space," finished Pearlis. White Diamond could believe that after seeing what was going on with her room. The Diamond looked over the other Gems and Ponies, seeing how distraught they all were at this point. Garnet didn't had a clue what will come up this time, much of her future vision hadn't predicted this kind of outcome. She was still here, still together, and many of the others (Lapis and Jasper being the exception) were alright as well. Eventually, White Diamond sighed ...

"Well, haven't you all better be going?"

"Going?"

"Yes. A deal is a deal. Now, off you go them."

Garnet was probably the most shocked. Is she really letting them go after everything? They might as well take it.

"Come on everybody, everypony, let's go home," Garnet simply said. It took a while to get them going, but eventually the Crystal Gems and the Mane Six all began to go back to their ship. They got Sapphire back, and that's all they needed. The Diamonds and their Pearls began to leave as well, but as they were ...

"Yellow. Not yet. I have something for you."

Rather than call any of her Pearls to do this, White Diamond instead had Pearlis herself retrieve it. Being part Pearl, Pearlis understood the matter, and rushed off for a few minutes. She came back later, this time with some sort of disk in her hands, which Yellow Diamond took.

"A information disk. Feel free to use that how you will," White Diamond simply said. She didn't say what was on that disk, but Yellow Diamond took it anyway. With a nod, Yellow Diamond went off on her way. White Diamond had some repairs to do.

"My Diamond?" Asked Pearlis. White Diamond sighed.

"How embarrassing. To be defeated by a normal Lapis Gem - a cracked Lapis Gem no less ... And where's Starlight?"

"She left during the mayhem ... Shall I notify the science chamber yet?"

"No need. Onyx, go to Homeworld. Try and see how much has changed within Homeworld," ordered White Diamond Onyx nodded and went on her way, leaving just WD and Pearlis.

"B-But, that planet. Isn't that the same one?"

"It is. Consider this another test. If they can, somehow, manage to solve this problem ... Then perhaps they do deserve to stay after all."


~~~~~~


As for the Crystal Gems, their walk back to the hanger was a lot easier to do, now that many of the guards were gone. It was more of a quiet walk really, with Lapis and Jasper gone, and Flint poofed. Hard to really believe that they got out the way they did, especially after everything. They escaped the zoo, found a new fusion, saved Sapphire, and now were able to get back home. Steven and Connie still wondered how they could help the humans in the zoo, but as it stands, they really can't do all that much. Their ship wasn't big enough for all of them, and there wasn't anywhere to put them ...

"Steven? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Connie asked at one point.

"I'm thinking about a lot of things. What are you thinking about?"

"That human zoo."

Steven slumped.

"Oh, that. I don't know what to do. But I know that they can't be here."

"I know, but ... what can we do?"

Eventually Steven and Connie stopped, and turned to eachother.

"Let's make a promise. Someday, somehow, we will help these humans and ponies leave, and be free in their own world. Agreed?" Steven said.

"Agreed," promised Connie, the two shaking hands to seal that promise before going off to the others.

.......

Soon, the group did find the hanger, and were soon all in the ship. Since they were free to leave, the ship no longer had its camouflage cloak on, and the Galactic Ray began its flight off home. Still, Steven really had more on his mind, and mainly about the biggest thing that happened.

"... Why didn't you tell me about that, Garnet? That mom shattered Pink Diamond?" Steven finally asked. Garnet knew there was no hiding now.

"Rose did a lot of things that she wasn't proud of. But it was all for the Earth. For Amethyst to be herself. For Pearl to be free. For me to be together. And for you to exist. She did what she had to."

"Even if it meant shattering someone?"

"... Yes."

Steven took a moment to place his hand on his own gemstone. One can't change the past, can one? Steven only had one thing to say, as they all went home ...

"Thanks for telling me."

.......


... It's time ...